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Thursday, March 04, 2004

TODAY'S EQUIPMENT LEASING HEADLINES

"Sen. Grassley Proposes Amendment With Tougher Lease Curbs" "US Tsy Snow Urges Congress to Ban Tax-Avoidance Ploy" "House Panel Chief Seeks Accord on Tax Break for U.S. Exporters" "Status Quo Advised on Reserves" "Interpool Completes, Files March 2003 Form 10-Q With Securities and Exchange Commission" "ELA National Funding Exhibition—Over 40 Funding Sources All in one Place and Ready to do Business!" "ELA Captive and Vendor Finance Conference Addresses World Class Customer Service Relationships" "Do You Have the Technology to Implement the Software-Driven Streamlined Sales Tax?" "You Might be Eligible to Win the ELA 2004 Business Technology Solutions Award!" "CIO magazine Tech Poll Shows Continued Optimism"

TODAY'S EQUIPMENT LEASING NEWS

"Sen. Grassley Proposes Amendment With Tougher Lease Curbs" Bond Buyer (03/04/04) P. 29 ; Ferris, Craig T. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) has introduced a new, more stringent proposal to restrict tax-advantaged leasing deals between municipalities and corporations. Grassley began pushing the tighter restrictions as part of the pending corporate tax bill Wednesday in response to pressure from the Treasury Department. The new amendment would bar state and local governments from leasing facilities financed with tax-exempt bonds. In response to Treasury and congressional complaints that sale-in, lease-out (SILO) deals are tax shelters, the new standards would require firms to have some capital at risk when entering the deals. Both leasing firms and local government groups are lobbying against the tighter standards because they say SILO deals help municipalities pay for public infrastructure projects. Fifteen transportation deals have already been halted because of the Treasury's demands for restrictions, representing a possible loss of $200 million in local government revenues. If approved, Grassley's amendment would take effect as of Jan. 1, 2004, not Nov. 18, 2003, as Grassley suggested previously. (Link to Source/Publication)

"US Tsy Snow Urges Congress to Ban Tax-Avoidance Ploy" Dow Jones Newswire (03/03/04) ; Christie, Rebecca During a speech Wednesday at George Washington University, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow encouraged lawmakers to take action against sale in, lease out transactions. The so-called SILO transactions, Snow said, allow companies to use leasing arrangement to avoid paying taxes. According to Snow, the Treasury Department has estimated that companies have entered into $750 billion of SILO arrangements over the last four years. Snow stressed the need for lawmakers to ban the leasing arrangements before SILO transactions become even more popular. (Link to Source/Publication)

"House Panel Chief Seeks Accord on Tax Break for U.S. Exporters" Dow Jones Newswire (03/04/04) P. A4 ; Wells, Rob Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Ways and Means panel, is trying to achieve a compromise with Senate leaders concerning a U.S. tax break for exporters, which has been ruled an illegal subsidy by the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO upheld a European Union (EU) charge that the extraterritorial income exclusion is an improper subsidy; companies like Boeing and Caterpillar get some $4 billion per year from it, but the EU has begun imposing trade sanctions on U.S. businesses because of it. Thomas has been touting a package of tax breaks on the overseas income of U.S. multinational companies, while the Senate is working on a bill to settle the problem. Thomas is discussing revenue-raising provisions like a crackdown on corporate leasing abuses to reduce the government costs of his program. (Link to Source/Publication)

"Status Quo Advised on Reserves" American Banker (03/03/04) ; Davenport, Todd The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' standards-setting committee has curbed its plan to overhaul accounting for loan and lease losses, according to a number of federal regulators. The regulators say that banks should use existing guidelines to calculate reserve levels. The accountant group has been working on revamping loan-loss accounting since 1999, but has run into resistance from banking regulators and others and finally reduced its goals on the grounds that its mission is to interpret existing standards. Banking regulators say that the Financial Accounting Standards Board may pick up the ball in turn. (Link to Source/Publication)

"Interpool Completes, Files March 2003 Form 10-Q With Securities and Exchange Commission" Business Wire (03/03/04) Interpool Inc. has named James Walsh to the office of CFO, effective February 26, 2004. Walsh came to Interpool in November 2003 as executive vice president of finance after serving in senior financial positions at several companies in the leasing industry, including GE Capital and Polaris Aircraft Leasing. Walsh used his new powers to sign Interpool's Form 10-Q report the company recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The report, which was for the three months ended March 31, 2003, discloses that the company has obtained new waivers under its debt agreements from its lenders and other financial institutions for its 2003 Form 10-Q filing, its Dec. 31, 2003, Form 10-K report, and its 2004 Form 10-Q reports. Interpool says it plans to complete and file these reports before the deadlines reached with its financial institutions. The company also expects to be in full compliance with SEC filing requirements later this year. Interpool's filings have been delayed due to financial restatements for the years 2000 through 2002. (Link to Source/Publication)

NEWS FROM ELA

"ELA National Funding Exhibition—Over 40 Funding Sources All in one Place and Ready to do Business!" “Surf’s Up” 2004 ELA National Funding Exhibition April 21-22 Fairmont Hotel, Chicago The tide of your business is rising. In order to ride it, you need capital from a variety of sources. The ELA National Funding Exhibition has those sources—more than 40 of them—in one place, at one time! The Funding Exhibition is the most efficient, effective way to meet and do business with funders looking to invest in leasing. Check out these Funding Sources: As of March 4 ACC Capital Corporation All Points Capital Corp. Bank of the West Cherry Creek Capital Partners, LLC CIT Technology Financing Cobra Capital, LLC Comerica Leasing Corporation Commonwealth Capital Corp. The Debt Exchange Emigrant Business Credit Corporation Equilease Financial Services, Inc. Excel Bank, N. A. Fifth Third Leasing First Eagle National Bank Fuyo General Leasing (USA) Inc. GE Commercial Finance GE Commercial Finance-Vendor Financial Services ICX Corporation IFC Credit Corp. Information Leasing Corp. Lakeland Bank LaSalle National Leasing LFC Capital Marcap Corporation MB Financial Bank, NA ORIX Financial Services, Inc. Pentech Financial Services, Inc. People’s Capital and Leasing Popular Leasing USA Pullman Bank & Trust Company RBS Lombard, Inc. Rockwell Financial Group, Inc. SBC Capital Services Silver Mark Capital (div of Sterling Bank) SunTrust Leasing Corporation TCF Leasing, Inc. Tokyo Leasing (U.S.A.) Inc. U.S. Bancorp Equipment Finance Inc. US Bancorp Manifest Funding Services Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, Inc. Wells Fargo Foothill, Inc. If you haven’t registered, you can do it today, AND schedule appointments in advance online at the ELA web site http://www.elaonline.com/events/2004/FundExHome.cfm Simply follow the instructions. It’s the FASTEST and EASIEST way to get the best appointments with Funding Source Exhibitors. Don’t Wait! Appointments are filling up fast! "ELA Captive and Vendor Finance Conference Addresses World Class Customer Service Relationships" Creating and/or capturing value with customers is critical to all lessors. That’s why the planning committee for the ELA Captive and Vendor Finance Conference made sure to include this important topic on their program, scheduled April 18-20, 2004 at the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club at Ponte Vedra Beach (Jacksonville), Florida. Topics addressed at this session include: What drives the relationship with your customers? How do you know how good you are? Measurement systems – do you have them? What are you measuring and why? What and when to ask your customers (internal and external). Is giving your capabilities in terms of averages good enough? Session will be moderated by Rose Wynne Brooks, GE Commercial Finance. Speakers include Dave Gallo, VP, GE Vendor Financial Services and Zachary Brice, Managing Partner, Six Sigma Qualtec. Please note: Make your hotel reservations before March 17th to ensure the special conference rate of $250 for a deluxe ocean front room. Contact the hotel at (800) 234-7842. Let the clerk know you are attending the ELA Captive and Vendor Finance Conference. To review the complete agenda and to register for this conference please go here: http://www.elaonline.com/Events/2004/captive/index.cfm "Do You Have the Technology to Implement the Software-Driven Streamlined Sales Tax?" ELA has scheduled a must-attend 90-minute web seminar on Thursday, April 8, 2004 for all interested parties charged with implementing the software-driven Streamlined Sales Tax System (SST) enacted by state governments. Participants will review integration with certified automated systems and certified service provider systems provided by Taxware. Using their systems as a representative example of the SST platform, Taxware tax and technical representatives will explain how lessors will need to accommodate the transaction tax criteria established for the new software-based tax regime. Discussion will focus on the linkage between the accounting systems used by industry and SST-mandated tax systems, including: • What Is Streamlined Sales Tax and How Will it Change Your Operations? • Will Your Origination, Tax and Accounting Software Integration Meet System Criteria? • Learn Streamlined Sales Tax Technology Options: Certified Service Providers and Certified Automated Systems The web seminar is scheduled from 1:30 – 3:00 pm Eastern Time. We invite you to attend this important event. To register and to learn more about the agenda, please go here: http://www.elaonline.com/events/2004/SST/ "You Might be Eligible to Win the ELA 2004 Business Technology Solutions Award!" Has your company developed or implemented an innovative use of technology to improve operations, enter new markets or build overall ROI? If so - you might be eligible to win an award! The innovative use of technology is frequently a differentiator between highly successful organizations and those that simply survive. The ELA has initiated the Business Technology Solutions Award to recognize the innovative spirit within ELA member companies, and to help others become aware of unique approaches to opportunities. Those recognized will be organizations that have distinguished themselves in a particular area. Specifically, the 2004 award will focus on companies who have: • Grown their businesses with the aid of technology and innovative operational practices • Measured ROI to ensure that business value is derived from IT and operations investments • Used proactive management techniques to ensure the IT and business strategies are aligned Winners of the award will be recognized at the Business Technology Solutions Conference, scheduled June 23-25, 2004 at the Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana. All ELA member companies are eligible to submit their technology solutions for consideration. Nominations for consideration must be submitted no later than midnight Eastern Time, Monday April 5, 2004. Click here to learn more about how to submit your technology solutions for award consideration: http://www.elaonline.com/Events/2004/bustechsol/BTSAward.cfm "CIO magazine Tech Poll Shows Continued Optimism" The February CIO magazine Tech Poll results are in. February results were slightly less "exuberant" than January's results, optimism still rules. Results include poll panel respondents saying their IT budgets will grow by 7 percent over the next 12 months. This is down from the 8 percent in January. Companies to last year, however, the budget increase is significantly higher (February 2004 - 7 percent versus February 2003 - 5 percent). Other results: -- Among the panelists, 50% plan to spend more for computer hardware, down from 51% in January. -- Security software continues to be the strongest sector with roughly 55% of respondents planning to increase spending (a decrease from 60% in January) while only 3% plan to decrease spending. -- When asked if the *Bonus Depreciation* provision of the 2003 Jobs and Growth Tax Reconciliation Act would boost IT investment this year, 68 percent of the panelists indicated that it would not. Another 14 percent of the panelists reported that the provision would help somewhat, while 6 percent indicated that it would be moderately beneficial. The remaining 13 percent of the panelists were unsure of the impact. For more on the CIO Magazine Tech Poll results, go to http://www.cio.com/techpoll