The go-to guru.If ethnic banks are numerous in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County, could a consultant be fat behind? Not at all. A. Wade Francis of Long Beach has been helping ethnic banks pretty much since he started his bank consulting business in 1989. "Most Asian banks in L.A. County have been my clients," Francis said. Many of the needs of ethnic banks are similar to most other banks. Banks might call on him to help them comply with regulations, or they'll hire him to review their loans or audit their operations. However, ethnic banks often need a little cultural interpretation. In fact, explaining what regulators really want is a fair part of his work. "It's very different doing business in a foreign land," he said. Taiwanese bankers, for example, often find the U.S. regulatory system a bit fuzzy fuzz·y adj. fuzz·i·er, fuzz·i·est 1. Covered with fuzz. 2. Of or resembling fuzz. 3. Not clear; indistinct: a fuzzy recollection of past events. 4. . Regulators in Taiwan not only identify a problem but prescribe pre·scribe v. To give directions, either orally or in writing, for the preparation and administration of a remedy to be used in the treatment of a disease. a solution; American regulators identify a problem and set a deadline for the bank to fix it. That's when the bank may ask a consultant to help explain what the regulators really want. Francis figures he's done most everything from helping ethnic banks get started to helping them die. One Thai bank decided it was time to leave, and it hired Francis to liquidate To pay and settle the amount of a debt; to convert assets to cash; to aggregate the assets of an insolvent enterprise and calculate its liabilities in order to settle with the debtors and the creditors and apportion the remaining assets, if any, among the stockholders or owners of the its holdings, including some real estate that the bank had previously foreclosed upon. Francis suddenly found himself running five hotels and a recreational vehicle park until he sold them. Francis said he strives to live up to the name of his company--Unicon (or one consultant) Financial Services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. Inc. For example, he acted as kind of a real estate broker by helping one Asian bank find a location, then acted as a party planner to help it with a grand opening shindig shin·dig n. 1. A festive party, often with dancing. Also called shindy. 2. See shindy. [Probably alteration of shindy. . One of his people once figured a good way to make money for a foreclosed-on hotel in Florida was to sell the side of the building for an Orange Bowl ad. One advantage to working in the Asian community is that relationships and reputations count for a lot. Shortly after opening his business, Francis, a former bank examiner Noun 1. bank examiner - an examiner appointed to audit the accounts of banks in a given jurisdiction examiner, inspector - an investigator who observes carefully; "the examiner searched for clues" for the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency Comptroller of the Currency A government official, appointed by the President of the United States, who keeps control over all national banks, and receives reports from the banks at least quarterly, to be published in newspapers. , spoke at a meeting of the National Association of Chinese-American Bankers in Hollywood. He quickly got one job from a Chinese bank after that meeting, then another, then another. "I got lots of referrals," he said. So many, in fact, that he doesn't need to advertise. Asian businesspeople tend to stay with those they know, too. "Once I have a customer, I pretty much have them for life." |
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