(I am reposting this message because there is some
        indication it never went out due to Fidonet changes
        at the end of the year.)
 -=> Quoting Joe Nicholson to Bill Mitchell <=-
 BM> I guess I've been around long enough to have seen all the tricks, I
 BM> was just wondering if Associates had a history of shoddy practices.
  
 JN> I wonder if it is one that is being investigated by the Justice
 JN> Department for unfair credit card practices.  Delaware seems to
 JN> be a haven for those crooks.
 JN> Thousands of customers may be due refunds if the FTC gets an
 JN> affirmative ruling in court.  Be sure to save all your "late
 JN> payment" notices and correspondance with that outfit.
        Virtually all major credit card banks are incorporated in
Delaware, because Delaware laws are favorable to the banking part
of the operation.
       The headquarters of the parent companies, and the addresses
at which they process remittances, are often--perhaps usually--not
in Delaware. 
       Is it the Justice Department or the FTC that is investigating
a bank for unfair credit practices?  If it is the FTC, they issue
a notice when they are conducting an investigation.  The Justice
Department often does.
       A publicly traded corporation fails to make public any
material information that would be relevant to someone who might
be considering buying or selling securities of that corporation is
required to make this information public.  Any major credit card
bank is part of a publicly traded corporation.
       So the name of the bank, if such an investigation actually
exists, must be publicly available.
--- Blue Wave/Max v2.20 [NR]
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