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Wiki Wiki Summary
Perfect competition In economics, specifically general equilibrium theory, a perfect market, also known as an atomistic market, is defined by several idealizing conditions, collectively called perfect competition, or atomistic competition. In theoretical models where conditions of perfect competition hold, it has been demonstrated that a market will reach an equilibrium in which the quantity supplied for every product or service, including labor, equals the quantity demanded at the current price.
Competition law Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement.
Monopolistic competition Monopolistic competition is a type of imperfect competition such that there are many producers competing against each other, but selling products that are differentiated from one another (e.g. by branding or quality) and hence are not perfect substitutes.
Competition regulator A competition regulator is the institution that oversees the functioning of the markets. And the Law in which it takes cognizance of situations having any type of impediments and distortions on the markets and correct them is the competition law (also known as antitrust law).
Bertrand competition Bertrand competition is a model of competition used in economics, named after Joseph Louis François Bertrand (1822–1900). It describes interactions among firms (sellers) that set prices and their customers (buyers) that choose quantities at the prices set.
Stock market A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include securities listed on a public stock exchange, as well as stock that is only traded privately, such as shares of private companies which are sold to investors through equity crowdfunding platforms. Investment is usually made with an investment strategy in mind.
Financial institution Financial institutions, sometimes called banking institutions, are business entities that provide services as intermediaries for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial institutions:\nDepository institutions – deposit-taking institutions that accept and manage deposits and make loans, including banks, building societies, credit unions, trust companies, and mortgage loan companies;\nContractual institutions – insurance companies and pension funds\nInvestment institutions – investment banks, underwriters, and other different types of financial entities managing investments.Financial institutions can be distinguished broadly into two categories according to ownership structure:\n\nCommercial banks\nCooperative banksSome experts see a trend toward homogenisation of financial institutions, meaning a tendency to invest in similar areas and have similar business strategies.
Mortgage loan A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any purpose while putting a lien on the property being mortgaged. The loan is "secured" on the borrower's property through a process known as mortgage origination.
Operation Mincemeat Operation Mincemeat was a successful British deception operation of the Second World War to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. Two members of British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a tramp who died from eating rat poison, dressed him as an officer of the Royal Marines and placed personal items on him identifying him as the fictitious Captain (Acting Major) William Martin.
Arithmetic Arithmetic (from Ancient Greek ἀριθμός (arithmós) 'number', and τική [τέχνη] (tikḗ [tékhnē]) 'art, craft') is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers—addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th century, Italian mathematician Giuseppe Peano formalized arithmetic with his Peano axioms, which are highly important to the field of mathematical logic today.
Special Activities Center The Special Activities Center (SAC) is a division of the Central Intelligence Agency responsible for covert operations and paramilitary operations. The unit was named Special Activities Division (SAD) prior to 2015.
Operations management Operations management is an area of management concerned with designing and controlling the process of production and redesigning business operations in the production of goods or services. It involves the responsibility of ensuring that business operations are efficient in terms of using as few resources as needed and effective in meeting customer requirements.
Special operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include reconnaissance, unconventional warfare, and counter-terrorism actions, and are typically conducted by small groups of highly-trained personnel, emphasizing sufficiency, stealth, speed, and tactical coordination, commonly known as "special forces".
Emergency operations center An emergency operations center (EOC) is a central command and control facility responsible for carrying out the principles of emergency preparedness and emergency management, or disaster management functions at a strategic level during an emergency, and ensuring the continuity of operation of a company, political subdivision or other organization.\nAn EOC is responsible for strategic direction and operational decisions and does not normally directly control field assets, instead leaving tactical decisions to lower commands.
Bitwise operation In computer programming, a bitwise operation operates on a bit string, a bit array or a binary numeral (considered as a bit string) at the level of its individual bits. It is a fast and simple action, basic to the higher-level arithmetic operations and directly supported by the processor.
Regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context.
Misophonia Misophonia is a disorder of decreased tolerance to specific sounds or their associated stimuli that has been characterized using different language and methodologies. Reactions to trigger sounds range from anger and annoyance to activating a fight-or-flight response.
Complication (medicine) A complication in medicine, or medical complication, is an unfavorable result of a disease, health condition, or treatment. Complications may adversely affect the prognosis, or outcome, of a disease.
Comparison of DNS blacklists The following table lists technical information for assumed reputable DNS blacklists used for blocking spam.\n\n\n== Notes ==\n"Collateral listings"—Deliberately listing non-offending IP addresses, in order to coerce ISPs to take action against spammers under their control.
Reproductive toxicity Reproductive toxicity refers to the potential risk from a given chemical, physical or biologic agent to adversely affect both male and female fertility as well as offspring development. Reproductive toxicants may adversely affect sexual function, ovarian failure, fertility as well as causing developmental toxicity in the offspring.
Good Environmental Status Good Environmental Status is a qualitative description of the state of the seas that the European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive requires its Member States to achieve or maintain by the year 2020. \nGood Environmental Status is described by 11 Descriptors:\n\nDescriptor 1.
Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, commonly known as TADA, was an Indian anti-terrorism law which was in force between 1985 and 1995 (modified in 1987) under the background of the Punjab insurgency and was applied to whole of India. It was originally assented to by the President on 23 May 1985 and came into effect on 24 May 1985.
Regulation A In the United States under the Securities Act of 1933, any offer to sell securities must either be registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or meet certain qualifications to exempt it from such registration. Regulation A (or Reg A) contains rules providing exemptions from the registration requirements, allowing some companies to use equity crowdfunding to offer and sell their securities without having to register the securities with the SEC. Regulation A offerings are intended to make access to capital possible for small and medium-sized companies that could not otherwise bear the costs of a normal SEC registration and to allow nonaccredited investors to participate in the offering.
Regulation of therapeutic goods The regulation of therapeutic goods, defined as drugs and therapeutic devices, varies by jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the United States, they are regulated at the national level by a single agency.
Queen's Regulations The Queen's Regulations (first published in 1731 and known as the King's Regulations when the monarch is a king) is a collection of orders and regulations in force in the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force, and Commonwealth Realm Forces (where the same person as on the British throne is also their separate head of state), forming guidance for officers of these armed services in all matters of discipline and personal conduct. Originally, a single set of regulations were published in one volume.
Common stock dividend A common stock dividend is the dividend paid to common stock owners from the profits of the company. Like other dividends, the payout is in the form of either cash or stock.
Matthiola incana Matthiola incana is a species of flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. Common names include Brompton stock, common stock, hoary stock, ten-week stock, and gilly-flower.
Consolidation (business) In business, consolidation or amalgamation is the merger and acquisition of many smaller companies into a few much larger ones. In the context of financial accounting, consolidation refers to the aggregation of financial statements of a group company as consolidated financial statements.
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at US$30.1 trillion as of February 2018.
Convertible bond In finance, a convertible bond or convertible note or convertible debt (or a convertible debenture if it has a maturity of greater than 10 years) is a type of bond that the holder can convert into a specified number of shares of common stock in the issuing company or cash of equal value. It is a hybrid security with debt- and equity-like features.
Class B share In finance, a Class B share or Class C share is a designation for a share class of a common or preferred stock that typically has strengthened voting rights or other benefits compared to a Class A share that may have been created. The equity structure, or how many types of shares are offered, is determined by the corporate charter.B share can also refer to various terms relating to stock classes:\n\nB share (mainland China), a class of stock on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges\nB share (NYSE), a class of stock on the New York Stock ExchangeMost of the time, Class B shares may have lower repayment priorities in the event a company declares bankruptcy.
Vertical integration In microeconomics, management, and international political economy, vertical integration is an arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the supply chain produces a different product or (market-specific) service, and the products combine to satisfy a common need.
Contour integration In the mathematical field of complex analysis, contour integration is a method of evaluating certain integrals along paths in the complex plane.Contour integration is closely related to the calculus of residues, a method of complex analysis.\nOne use for contour integrals is the evaluation of integrals along the real line that are not readily found by using only real variable methods.Contour integration methods include:\n\ndirect integration of a complex-valued function along a curve in the complex plane (a contour);\napplication of the Cauchy integral formula; and\napplication of the residue theorem.One method can be used, or a combination of these methods, or various limiting processes, for the purpose of finding these integrals or sums.
Risk Factors
AMERICANWEST BANCORPORATION Item 1A Risk Factors AmericanWest Bank faces strong competition from financial services companies and other companies that offer banking services, which could negatively affect business
AWB is facing strong competition from financial services companies and other companies that offer banking services, which could negatively affect business
AWB conducts its banking operations primarily in Central and Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho
Increased competition in that market may result in reduced loans and deposits
Ultimately, AWB may not be able to compete successfully against current and future competitors
Many competitors offer the same banking services that AWB offers
These competitors include national banks, regional banks and other community banks
AWB also faces competition from many other types of financial institutions, including without limitation, savings and loan institutions, finance companies, brokerage firms, insurance companies, credit unions, mortgage banks and other financial intermediaries
In particular, AWB’s competitors include several major financial companies whose greater resources may afford them a marketplace advantage by enabling them to maintain numerous banking locations and ATMs and conduct extensive promotional and advertising campaigns
Additionally, banks and other financial institutions with larger capitalization and financial intermediaries not subject to bank regulatory restrictions have larger lending limits and are thereby able to serve the credit needs 13 ______________________________________________________________________ [39]Table of Contents of larger customers
Areas of competition include interest rates for loans and deposits, efforts to obtain deposits, and range and quality of products and services provided, including new technology driven products and services
Technological innovation continues to contribute to greater competition in domestic and international financial services markets as technological advances enable more companies to provide financial services
AWB also faces competition from out-of-state financial intermediaries that have opened low-end production offices or that solicit deposits in the market areas
If AWB is unable to attract and retain banking customers, AWB may be unable to continue to grow the loan and deposit portfolios and the results of operations and financial condition may otherwise be adversely affected
Changes in economic conditions, in particular an economic slowdown in Washington or Idaho, could materially and negatively affect business
AWBC’s business is directly impacted by factors such as economic, political and market conditions, broad trends in industry and finance, legislative and regulatory changes, and changes in government monetary and fiscal policies and inflation, all of which are beyond the Company’s control
A deterioration in economic conditions, whether caused by national or local concerns, in particular an economic slowdown in Washington or Idaho, could result in the following consequences, any of which could hurt the business materially: (1) loan delinquencies may increase, (2) problem assets and foreclosures may increase, (3) demand for products and services may decrease, (4) low cost or noninterest bearing deposits may decrease, and (5) collateral for loans, especially real estate, may decline in value, in turn reducing customers’ borrowing power and reducing the value of assets and collateral associated with existing loans
The states of Washington and Idaho and certain local governments in the market area presently face fiscal challenges of which the long term impact on their economies cannot be predicted
A downturn in the real estate market could negatively affect business
A significant downturn in the real estate market, especially in those markets served by AWBC, could negatively affect business because a significant portion, approximately 62prca as of December 31, 2005, of the existing loans are secured by real estate
Substantially all of the real property collateral is located in Central and Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho
Real estate values could be affected by, among other things, an economic slowdown, an increase in interest rates, or drought and other natural disasters particular to Washington and Idaho
AWBC’s ability to recover on defaulted loans by selling the real estate collateral would then be diminished and the Company would be more likely to suffer losses on defaulted loans
AWBC is dependent on key personnel and the loss of one or more of those key personnel may materially and adversely affect prospects
AWBC is currently dependent heavily on the services of the president and chief executive officer, Robert M Daugherty, and a number of other key management personnel
Daugherty’s services or that of other key personnel could materially and adversely affect results of operations and financial condition
AWBC’s success also depends in part on the ability to attract and retain additional qualified management personnel
Competition for such personnel is strong in the banking industry and the Company may not be successful in attracting or retaining the personnel required
AWBC is subject to extensive regulation which could adversely affect business
Because the banking business is highly regulated, the laws, rules and regulations applicable to the Company are subject to regular modification and change
There are currently proposed laws, rules and regulations that, if adopted, would materially impact operations
There can be no assurance that these proposed laws, rules and regulations, or any other laws, rules or regulations, will not be adopted in the future, which could: (1) make compliance much more difficult or expensive, (2) restrict the ability to originate, broker or sell loans or accept certain deposits, (3) further limit or restrict the amount of commissions, interest or other charges earned on loans originated or sold, or (4) otherwise adversely affect business or prospects for business
AWBC is exposed to risk of environmental liabilities with respect to properties to which title is acquired
In the ordinary course of business, AWBC may own or foreclose and take title to real estate, and could be subject to environmental liabilities with respect to these properties
AWBC may be held liable to a governmental entity or to third parties for property damage, personal injury, investigation and clean-up costs incurred by these parties in connection with environmental contamination, or may be required to investigate or 14 ______________________________________________________________________ [40]Table of Contents clean up hazardous or toxic substances, or chemical releases at a property
The costs associated with investigation or remediation activities could be substantial
In addition, as the owner or former owner of a contaminated site, AWBC may be subject to common law claims by third parties based on damages and costs resulting from environmental contamination emanating from the property
If AWBC ever becomes subject to significant environmental liabilities, the financial condition, liquidity and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected
Only a limited trading market exists for AWBC’s common stock which could lead to price volatility
AWBC’s common stock was designated for quotation on the Nasdaq National Market in May, 1995 under its predecessor’s name, United Security Bancorporation, and trading volumes since that time have been modest
The holding company’s name was changed in 2001 to AmericanWest Bancorporation
The limited trading market for the common stock may cause fluctuations in the market value of the common stock to be exaggerated, leading to price volatility in excess of that which would occur in a more active trading market of the common stock
In addition, even if a more active market in AWBC’s common stock develops, AWBC cannot assure that such a market will continue or that shareholders will be able to sell their shares
AWB’s allowance for credit losses may not be adequate to cover actual losses
In accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, AWB maintains an allowance for loan losses to provide for loan defaults and nonperformance and a reserve for unfunded loan commitments, which when combined is referred to as the allowance for credit losses
The allowance for credit losses may not be adequate to cover actual credit losses, and future provisions for credit losses could materially and adversely affect operating results
AWB’s allowance for credit losses is based on prior experience, as well as on an evaluation of the risks in the current portfolio
The amount of future losses is susceptible to changes in economic, operating and other conditions, including changes in interest rates that may be beyond the Bank’s control, and these losses may exceed current estimates
Federal regulatory agencies, as an integral part of their examination process, review the loans and allowance for credit losses
While the Bank’s management believes that the allowance for credit losses is adequate to cover current losses, AWB cannot assure that the allowance for credit losses will not be increased further or that regulators will not require an increase in this allowance
Either of these occurrences could materially adversely affect earnings
AmericanWest Bank may be unable to integrate the proposed combined operations with Columbia Trust Bank successfully and its business and earnings may be negatively affected as a result
The merger involves the integration of companies that have previously operated independently
Successful integration will depend primarily on AWB’s ability to consolidate operations, systems and procedures and to eliminate redundancies and costs
No assurance can be given that AWB will be able to integrate its post-merger operations without encountering difficulties including, without limitation: the loss of key employees and customers, the disruption of its respective ongoing businesses or possible inconsistencies in standards, controls, procedures and policies
Estimated cost savings are projected to come from various areas that AWB’s management has identified through the due diligence and integration planning process
The elimination of duplicate tasks is projected to result in annual cost savings
If AWB has difficulties with the integration, it might not fully achieve the economic benefits it expects to result from the merger
In addition, AWB may experience greater than expected costs or difficulties relating to the integration of the business of CTB, or may not realize expected cost savings from the merger within the expected time frame
Finally, shares of AWBC common stock eligible for future sale, including those that may be issued in the acquisition of Columbia Trust Bancorp and any other offering of AWBC common stock for cash, could have a dilutive effect on the market for AWBC common stock and could adversely affect its market price