European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 19, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday. January 19, 19b6 the stars and stripes Page 19 business news shopping for a Good Bank makes sense Washington a Bankers knew it As the on two three Rule pay savers i percent interest for their Money lend it out at 2 percent and be on the vol course by 3 . Although things were not quite that simple in the not so old Days when interest rates were set by govern ment decree deregulation has forced Bankers into a new world of Competition. Many Consumers have been slow to realize they can Benefit by shopping around for financial services just As surely As they Benefit by shopping around for a automobile. The most obvious category is interest rates both How much competing institutions pay for savings and How much they charge for such things As automobile Loans. Just As important to millions of checking account customers is How Long a Bank holds their Check deposits be fore making the Money available to them. And that too is something that varies from Bank to Bank. A customer who does t want to live with the inconvenience of not being Able to gel at the Cash from his or her payroll Check for several Days usually can find a Bank willing to make the Money available at once or at least within a Day or so. Legislation pending in the House of representatives would phase in limits on the hold period a Bank could place on a deposited Check. After five years checks drawn on local institutions would have to be available the next business Day but some checks still could be held As Long As five Days. Initially the maximum hold periods would be even longer up to 10 Days. The fact remains that Consumers with Access to More than one institution should be Able to strike a better Deal on their own if they re willing to make the Effort. In a two year series of congressional hearings on the legislation banking leaders steadfastly denied that the purpose of holding customer checks was to earn interest on the float created by those funds. Emphasizing that policies vary widely from Bank to Bank Industry leaders said the justification for Check holds is to guard against fraud and losses from bounced checks. Whatever the motivation it is accepted that holds on customer deposits caught in the float earn millions of dollars a year for Banks. No one has been Able to come up with a meaningful estimate of How Many millions mostly because the Banks themselves generally do not break it out As a separate accounting item. Consumer advocates who Are pushing Check hold legis lation say the harm to individual Bank customers is not financial but loss of convenience. It s not that they lose float and lose interest but that they Bounce checks and lose Access to funds Allan Fox a banking specialist with the consumer federation of America said in an interview. The people who complain arc the people who say. I deposited my Check and i needed that Money to pay for something else and i could t get Access to it " he said. The Cost to any one customer would be Only pennies per month but it adds up for the at the same time. Fox said i think it s accurate that they Banks probably Don t keep track of it. My impression of Bank accounting is that a lot of things arc not Well developed such As the Cost of maintain ing an account he said. The need to do things like that is so new. Until recently Banks were protected from com petition and a lot of things just gel put into big David Ernest an economist with the Washington consulting firm Evans economics inc., said Banks make a tremendous amount of Money by not crediting depositors accounts even when they have received the it is fact that Banks profit from float said Ernest. In most cases the hold is longer than it has to be and the Bank is making Money off your Money in a very Subtle Way. It s not a lot of Money from any one individual but when you add them All together it is a lot for the Ernest said established customers generally can get Quick Access to their Money by pushing Bank officials and if that does t work by going elsewhere. Foreign firms Cash in on wave in . New York a foreign Compa Nies made 141 new investments in . Manufacturing and 211 investments in the non manufacturing sector during the first three quarters of 1985, the Confer ence Board has reported. The private business research group said acquisitions accounted for about two thirds of All foreign manufacturing investments in the january september period and the rest involved construction or expansion of existing plants. Latest data suggest that foreign companies Are finding new opportunities in the restructuring wave that is sweeping . Industry the group said in a press statement about the findings based on data collected by the Commerce depart ment s International Trade division. Japanese companies made 35 new manufacturing investments during the first three quarters leading All other countries the statement said. No. 2 and 3 were the United kingdom with 32 and West Germany with 16. The . Chemical Industry captured the largest number of foreign manufacturing investments at 36, followed by the electrical machinery Industry with 22. The number of investments in non manufacturing enterprises was not Dis closed but the statement said it included new office buildings shopping centers and business services. California attracted the largest num Ber of foreign manufacturing investments with 21, followed by new York with 15 and Texas with 11, the statement said. The surge of investment alter Early 1985 included Large purchases of . Facilities by base of West Germany Superfon . Of Denmark and Holder Bank financier Claris of Switzerland. The conference Board also noted that Imperial chemical industries of Britain bought out the chemical division of Bea Trice cos., while Royal dutch Shell of Britain and the Netherlands bought up All of Shell Oil co. That it did not already own. Nestle of Switzerland purchased Carnation co. For s3 billion and Klockner Humboldt Cutz purchased Allis Chalmers agricultural division for $107 million. Investor s guide by William a. Doyle q. My wife and i own a Large number of municipal Bonds in bearer form. As we Are both past 80, clipping the interest coupons As they come due is quite a bother. Sometimes we Don t clip the coupons on Lime. We would like to have our Bonds changed o registered form. What is he safest and least costly Way to do this would you advise us to Bate our Bank handle it and give us a receipt listing the Bonds by name and Cusp number a. Although you could take it on As a do it yourself project and possibly save some Money my advice is to turn the chore Over to your Bank. Of course get a receipt which the Bank should naturally provide. A listing of the Bonds by names of issuers intercut rates and maturity dates should be sufficient. But Cusp numbers will provide further identification. Every Stock and Bond Issue has a Cusp number As signed to it by the committee on uni form Security identification procedure. Most municipal Bonds issued in bearer form can be changed from bearer to registered form. While your Bonds Are in bearer form your name does not appear on the Bond certificates or on the record books of the issuer. After the change your name will be on the Bonds and on the issuer s records. You la get your inter est checks by mail. However the change cannot be made with some municipal Bonds. Your Bank should Check that out with each Bond. Your Bank will Send each Bond that can be changed to the registrar of that particular Issue. The registrar will print your name on the Bond and record it on the interest paying agent s books. The remaining interest coupons will be Cut off the Bond and destroyed. Your Bank almost certainly will charge a fee for the time and Effort that goes into this. But if you own Many different Bonds the Bank s service fee might be less than the costs you would incur doing it yourself. When you Send any securities through the mail you should do it by insured registered mail return receipt requested. Q. I was surprised to read in your column that no municipal Bonds have been issued in bearer form since june 30,1983. How about corporate and is. Treasury Bonds Aren t they still issued in bearer form a. Nope. No corporate Bonds have been issued in bearer form since dec. 31, 1982. The same thing applies to Treasury Bonds issued after sept. 5, 1982, and Treasury notes issued after december 1982. Beginning sometime in 1986 Treasury Bonds and notes will come Only in Book entry form recorded on computers with no certificates issued. . Treasury Bills have come Only in Book entry form for Many years. Many new issues of municipal Bonds also Are Only in Book entry form. Many municipal corporate and Treasury Bonds issued in bearer form before the dates mentioned above Are still around and can be bought and sold in the marketplace. Nonetheless bearer Bonds Are gradually becoming a thing of the past. Q. Until a year or so ago my Bank never charged when i presented interest coupons from my bearer Bonds and deposited the Money in my account. Now it charges $5 for each such transaction. The semiannual Coupon on one of my Bonds is for $30. The $5 Bank fee reduces that interest to s25 quite a Jolt. Would t it be Wise for me to have that Bond changed to registered form a. Sure. The change on that Bond alone will save you $10 a year. While you re about it Why not have All your bearer Bonds changed to registered form. Besides saving Bank charges that will give you the convenience of receiving your interest by checks through the mail and eliminate Coupon clipping. I m aware that some people still like bearer Bonds often with thoughts of ducking taxes. However Over the past few years tightened reporting rules have just about put an end to that Dodge. Q. I m a retired civil servant and will never draw social Security. However my wife will Start receiving is benefits in 1987. We have most of our savings in vested in municipal Bonds. How will the Rule taxing is benefits effect us a. The same Way it applies to every married couple one or Botn of whom col Lect is benefits. Q. Where can i get specific details on How to calculate what income tax my wife and i will have to pay on is benefits because we receive municipal Bond inter est. A. That information along with worksheets for determining what tax if any is due on is benefits is included in the instruction Booklet that comes with your Federal income tax return. For 1984 returns it was on pages 10 and 11 of the form 1040 Booklet and pages 13 and 14 of the form i040a Book Lei. It will probably be in about the same places for 1985 returns. Kino features columnist Dovle Welcome written questions but he can provide answers Only through Tho column. You can write to him in care of the Stan and stripes Apo 09211, . Forces Stock pulse United Prats Knem atonal copyright i a Friday. 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