Bank of America Announces More Than $22 Million in Grants to Housing Nonprofits

Bank of America Announces More Than $22 Million in Grants to Housing Nonprofits



The Bank of America Charitable Foundation today announced that it is awarding $22 million in grants to nonprofits that build and rehab affordable housing, offer foreclosure prevention services and homeowner counseling, and provide other services intended to revitalize neighborhoods and help working families find and keep suitable homes.

These grants will support more than 650 national and local community nonprofits in 34 states. In addition, information provided by the nonprofit grantees estimates the funding will benefit more than 31 million people, providing nearly 8,000 new affordable housing units and rehabbing over 11,000 units. Supporting housing nonprofits is one component of the company’s community focus on housing, jobs and hunger – three areas that are critical to stimulating the national economic recovery. Bank of America recently issued a request for proposals for nonprofits providing education, job training and workforce success programs and will issue a similar request related to critical needs, including hunger later this year. The company continues to focus on low- and moderate-income communities that have been hardest hit in the economic downturn.

“Bank of America recognizes that housing plays a critical role in stabilizing communities and advancing economic development, and we continue to look for ways to support innovative programs that will help individuals and families access and retain affordable housing,” said Kerry Sullivan, president, Bank of America Charitable Foundation. “Our partnerships with local and national organizations that address housing needs are just one of the ways we’re working to help improve local economies across the country.”

As part of the company’s integrated approach to addressing community challenges, about 42 percent of the nonprofits receiving support from Bank of America offer housing services alongside other programs designed to strengthen families’ financial stability, such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly the Food Stamp Program). Additionally, some of these nonprofits also work to ensure that affordable housing is energy efficient, which not only reduces environmental impacts but also lowers energy costs for renters and homeowners.

One of the national grant recipients is Mercy Housing, Inc., which will receive $375,000 to support the preservation of existing affordable housing, develop new units and provide integrated services that help families facing foreclosure stay in their homes, achieve financial stability and build assets. Mercy Housing has programs in Alabama, California, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, South Carolina, Washington and Wisconsin.

Most of the funding announced today supports local nonprofits like Plymouth Housing Group in Seattle, Washington, which works to eliminate homelessness and support low-income people in downtown Seattle. The $25,000 grant will support the expansion of a new initiative, The Recovery Support Program, which will assist homeless adults recovering from addiction with housing, counseling and in-house support. The Recovery Support Program will be available at The Williams Apartments, a new 81-unit building now under construction in the South Lake Union neighborhood. Half of the 81 residences will be reserved for homeless veterans. The Williams Apartments will be a LEED®-certified, sustainably-built building.

In addition to financial support, Bank of America’s employees give their time, passion and expertise to address housing needs through volunteerism. In 2011, bank employees donated more than 455,000 service hours in partnership with organizations like Habitat for Humanity, Rebuilding Together and Operation Homefront.

Philanthropic and volunteer support are just a few of the ways that Bank of America continues to address the foreclosure crisis and help revitalize neighborhoods. The company has completed more than one million loan modifications since 2008 and participated in more than 1,000 mortgage outreach events since 2009. Bank of America has also opened 50 customer assistance centers in 25 states hardest hit by foreclosures, providing distressed homeowners face-to-face counseling and assistance.

Bank of America is the largest investor in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), with more than $1 billion in capital in more than 200 CDFIs in 45 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, financing affordable housing, community facilities, nonprofits, small businesses and micro-enterprises. In 2011, the company invested more than $443 million in CDFIs that primarily fund affordable housing initiatives across the U.S.

Bank of America Corporate Social Responsibility
Bank of America’s commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a strategic part of doing business globally. Our CSR efforts guide how we operate in a socially, economically, financially and environmentally responsible way across more than 100 markets around the world, to deliver for shareholders, customers, clients and employees. Our goal is to help create economically vibrant regions and communities through lending, investing and giving. By partnering with our stakeholders, we create shared value that empowers individuals and communities to thrive and contributes to the long-term success of our business. We have several core areas of focus for our CSR, including responsible business practices; environmental sustainability; strengthening local communities with a focus on housing, hunger and jobs; investing in global leadership development; and engaging through arts and culture. Learn more at About.BankofAmerica.com and follow us on Twitter at @BofA_Community.

For more Bank of America news, visit the Bank of America newsroom.

Community Development

Community Development
In order for communities to thrive, they need a stable housing base. To help achieve this, we are helping customers in need of housing assistance. We do this through our outreach efforts, business activities, philanthropic giving and nonprofit partnerships, including home retention, homeownership and affordable housing options. In fact, since 2009 we’ve participated in more than 800 outreach events, meeting over 125,000 customers and have opened 50 Customer Assistance Centers in 25 states for customers to meet face-to-face with our representatives.


The Bank of America Charitable Foundation recently awarded $22 million in grants to more than 650 nonprofits addressing housing needs across 34 states.  Funding will help build and rehabilitate affordable housing, offer foreclosure prevention services and homeowner counseling, and provide other services intended to revitalize neighborhoods and help working families find and keep suitable homes. In addition, we partner with nearly 600 HUD-approved nonprofit organizations to educate and counsel homebuyers, helping them understand the benefits and responsibilities of home ownership. We also focus on the revitalization of low- and moderate-income communities through our philanthropic efforts and creation and preservation of affordable housing, vibrant retail and commercial options across the U.S. As part of this commitment, through our Community Development Banking business we provided more than $1.6 billion to help create more than 12,000 affordable housing units for individuals with special needs, families, seniors and veterans in 2011.

Promoting Economic Growth

Promoting Economic Growth
Our goal is to help strengthen the economic and social well-being of communities. We strive to do this through preserving affordable housing in neighborhoods, lending to minority- and women-owned businesses and providing charitable funding to nonprofit organizations that address the critical needs of individuals, families and community members most in need.
STRENGTHENING ECONOMIES IN ACTION
Bank of America Announces More Than $22 Million in Grants to Housing Nonprofits

Jul 30, 2012

The Bank of America Charitable Foundation today announced that it is awarding $22 million in grants to nonprofits that build and rehab affordable housing, offer foreclosure prevention services and homeowner counseling, and provide other services intended to revitalize neighborhoods and help working families find and keep suitable homes…  learn More about Bank of America Announces More Than $22 Million in Grants to Housing Nonprofits
 

A Mother-Daughter Team’s Salon Dream

Jul 19, 2012

When she was a little girl, Maria Poulos would watch her mother, Sofia, style women’s hair. Using her “finger scissors”, Maria would pretend to cut her friends’ hair as Sofia worked with customers…  learn More about A Mother-Daughter Team’s Salon Dream
 
Empowering Students to Make Their Dreams a Reality

Learn more about how we enabled KIPP DC to grow from an Anacostia church basement to a school campus; in its 10th year, KIPP has empowered 1,500 kids to achieve the dream of college…  learn More

Careers in Investment Banking

Careers in Investment Banking

 Welcome to a comprehensive web site on investment banking careers. Investment Banks help companies and governments issue securities, help investors purchase securities, manage financial assets, trade securities and provide financial advice. The top investment banks including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are said to be in the bulge bracket.

Other investment banks are regionally oriented or situated in the middle market (e.g. Piper Jaffray). Others are small, specialized firms called boutiques which might be oriented toward an industry vertical, bond-trading, M&A advisory, technical analysis or program trading. Firms have lots of different areas and groups within them. In most firms, there is sales and trading which works with owners of securities, investment banking which works with issuers of securities (firms and governments) and capital markets which goes in between the other two.

Further Information on Investment Banking

Skills & Talents Required in Banking
Getting in the Door
Job Options in Investment Banking
Salaries for Bankers
Links, Books & Resources to Learn More
Facts & Advice About Investment Banking
Top Investment Banks and League Tables
Job Market Outlook
Job Listings
Life as an Analyst
Life as an Associate
Investment Bank List
Making a Trip to New York
After the Cataclysm: Finding an Investment Banking Job in 2010
Best Resources

Investment Banking Explained: An Insider's Guide to the Industry
Provides a complete overview of investment banking in its modern form; defines key terms and discusses the functions of investment banks.
Monkey Business: Swinging through the Wall Street Jungle.
By John Rolfe and Peter Troob.
Many a starry-eyed megalomaniac has followed the siren song of Wall Street. Money, prestige, and power await them as they waltz off into the promised land...or so they think. The promised land, it turns out, is always one more twenty-hour workday ... Monkey Business is the hilarious confession of two young investment bankers.
An Introduction to Investment Banks, Hedge Funds, and Private Equity: The New Paradigm.
By David Stowell.
Provides a very good introduction to the role of investment banks and how they interact with hedge funds and private equity firms. This book provides a very readable introduction to how the financial system is working now and is a great backgrounder for anything contemplating banking as a career.
Too Big to Fail.
By Andrew Ross Sorkin.
One of the best books ever written about the investment banking industry. Tells the story of the rescue of the banks in the depths of the financial crisis.
Investment Banking Interview Study Guide.
By Sean Miller.
This is a timeless guide to help you in prepping for finance interviews, particularly for Investment Banks and Private Equity funds.
The Best Book on Getting An IBanking Internship: Written By A Former Banking Intern At UBS, JPMorgan, and FT Partners.
By Erin Parker.
Internship expert, Erin, has fought for her spot at top bulge bracket banks and boutique firms. She knows how stressful it can be to face case study questions at interviews, and she wants to help you stand out from the thousands of other applicants to earn your position at JP Morgan. Erin guides you step-by-step from interview preparation to conquering the 90-hour work week. Erin's tips will give you an unfair advantage over your toughest competitors as you network at info sessions, nail your interview questions, and rise to the top of your internship class.

Investment Banking:

Investment Banking:

Going into 2011, the industry has a new landscape following the 2008/09 financial crisis and its attendant stunning failures and near-failures of blue chip firms like Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers; bank bailouts; and pronounced slowing of the capital markets. M&A activity has come back strong--stronger, in fact, than other business lines at most of the remaining bulge bracket firms. The two tables below, based on data the New York Times assembled from Thomson Reuters, list the top ten firms by dollar volume of M&A activity from the beginning of 2010 to the end the third quarter. The first table gives worldwide rankings; the second rankings based on US activity. We also have detailed historical listings of top firms, below the second table. Reviewing the similarities and differences between the historical and current league tables is an exercise both instructive and sobering for those pursuing a career in investment banking.

CANADIAN PRIVATE SECTOR REPRESENTATIONS

Extensive experience representing Canadian businesses and financial institutions in public and private placements, cross-border M&A around the globe, acquisition financing, project financing, commercial mortgages, real estate and other matters.



GOVERNMENT OF CANADA REPRESENTATION
We have represented the government of Canada in all of its US dollar financing activity, which has included SEC-registered offerings of US dollar and foreign currency denominated bonds registered on Schedule B, credit facilities with US bank syndicates, the Canada Bills program and a medium-term note program.

We have also represented the Export Development Canada and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Canadian Federal crown corporations, in all of their respective securities activities in the US, including their US registered offerings, Euro medium-term note offerings and US commercial-paper programs. EDC and CMHC have been particularly frequent and innovative users of the international capital markets. Additionally, we represented the Canada Housing Trust in connection with Rule 144A/Regulation S offerings of Canada Housing Bonds and The Canadian Wheat Board in connection with establishing its multi-billion dollar US commercial paper program.

We were also retained to represent the Ontario Securities Commission to negotiate with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the development of the Multijurisdictional Disclosure System with the US, and to provide counsel in the enhancement of the Ontario dealer, self-regulatory and customer protection fund regulatory systems.

Black Gold Drilling LLC

Black Gold Drilling LLC, sponsored by Brazilian conglomerate Grupo Schahin, has closed an $800 million syndicated loan with more than fifteen international financial institutions to finance the development, construction and operation of two semi-submersible drilling platforms that will be built in China and then chartered by Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company. The international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, led by partner Dan Bartfeld, represented the lenders in negotiating, structuring and closing the transaction -- which represents one of the largest Brazilian project financings in the oil and gas sector. The lead arrangers were Mizuho Financial Group, Standard Chartered Bank, UniCredit (HVB) and WestLB, and the syndicate included Chinese banks and the IFC.

Mr. Bartfeld commented, “The transaction highlights the liquidity which exists for well structured transactions in the oil and gas sector. This financing is one of the largest Chinese-related loans ever into Latin America, and highlights the fact that Chinese banks (including China Development Bank) will be a reliable source of liquidity for the sector in the future. Our experience working on many Petrobras-related financings gave us an unparalleled understanding of Brazil’s oil and gas industry, and enabled us to work closely with the lead arrangers to develop a structure that met the needs of all parties.”

Roland Estevez, the lead Milbank associate on the transaction, added, “Despite the current volatility in the global credit markets, the success of this transaction proves the resilience of the market for Latin American companies with attractive growth prospects and solid fundamentals.”

In addition to Mr. Bartfeld and Mr. Estevez, the Milbank team representing the lenders included Global Project Finance associates Brian Murarescu and Ari Bessendorf.

About the transaction:
The $800 million project financing was coordinated by mandated lead arrangers (“MLAs”) Mizuho Corporate Bank, UniCredit, Standard Chartered Bank and WestLB with a syndicate of more than fifteen international lenders, which included the International Finance Corporation and China Development Bank. The MLAs also provided interest rate swaps and foreign currency hedging as part of the transaction.

The proceeds of the $800 million loan to the borrower, Black Gold Drilling LLC, will finance the development, construction and operation of two semi-submersible oil and gas platforms, which are designed to operate at water depths of up to 2,000 meters and 2,400 meters, respectively, each with a drilling depth of 7,500 meters below sea level. The rigs are being built by Singapore’s Yantai Raffles Shipyard Company at its shipyard in China, with delivery expected in 2009 and 2010. The oil rigs will be operated under five and seven-year contracts with Petrobras. Schahin won the two-rig contract from Petrobras as part of a Brazilian government-sponsored program to develop its domestic offshore services industry. The total estimated project cost, including interest during the construction period, is estimated at $1.013 billion.

About Milbank

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a preeminent global law firm that is recognized for more than 140 years for providing innovative legal solutions in many of the world’s largest, most complex, “first-ever” corporate transactions, including capital markets, corporate finance, project finance, acquisition finance and other major fields of law practice. Milbank clients range from prominent multinational financial, industrial and commercial enterprises to governments, institutions and individuals. The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, DC.

big ticket sold for 11.5

Sold for $11.5 Million

Marilynn K. Yee/The New York TimesSales have been picking up at 15 Union Square West, the building that once housed Tiffany & Company.

The sale reflects not only the continuing demand for ultraluxury penthouses, but also the resurgence of a building that had seen some rough early days. The three-bedroom 3,164-square-foot condominium had been under contract in spring 2008 when sales at the building, 15 Union Square West, were first announced. But the market collapsed that fall, the contract fell through, and transactions in the building stalled.A duplex penthouse apartment overlooking Union Square, with an outdoor fireplace and an infinity pool on its more than 2,000 square feet of terrace space, was the biggest apartment sale of the week, at $11.5 million, according to city records.

More than three years later, that same apartment has sold for more than its contract price at the peak of the market in 2008, said Shlomi Reuveni, a broker at Brown Harris Stevens, which is handling sales in the building.

The buyer bought the property anonymously through a limited liability company, according to city records.

“We have experienced a really incredible few months,” Mr. Reuveni said. The building is now 80 percent sold, he said; five units remain. 

Buildings occupying this Union Square West site have taken various forms over the years, but they have all been associated with luxury and money.

In 1837, Charles Lewis Tiffany opened a stationery and fancy-goods shop on the corner. As the business prospered, in 1869, he financed the construction of a grander building, which The New York Times described at the time as a “monster iron building.”

Tiffany & Company eventually moved uptown, and the building was sold to Amalgamated Bank. In 1952, an accident involving a falling piece of cast iron led the bank to strip the facade and cover it with a white-brick skin.

When the bank sold the building in 2006, the buyer, Brack Capital Real Estate, decided to restore what it could of the original cast-iron facade, and also to employ a tinted glass skin.

The result met decidedly mixed reviews. But with more than $70 million in sales over the last six months, the money has voted, and it seems to be declaring Tiffany’s former palace of jewels fit for this era’s elite.

Big Ticket includes closed sales from the previous week, ending Wednesday.

hvb bank chinese shipbuilding

Even whilst onlookers hold their breath in anxious expectation of a coming supply gut, 2006 was another record year for newbuilding orders with an estimated $110 billion in value added to the global orderbook. Clarkson estimates that the total value of the global orderbook is now upwards of $300 billion. Considering the financing commitments required for vessels on order and the uncertainties involved in many of those vessels being built as promised and delivered on schedule, this is a number that holds sizeable implications for the ship finance community.

Yet even as the scale of financing required grows, so do the complications involved. Established yards in countries like Japan and Korea have been seeing increasing competition from innumerable new yards in China, and now yards in other developing areas such as India and Vietnam are entering the picture. European yards for the most part have been forced to specialize in higher end products to remain solvent, yet at the same time those in Eastern Europe are facing the prospect of privatization, meaning growing demands in terms of profitability and a rapidly disintegrating safety net.

Meanwhile ship finance has come more and more into the mainstream, so added to the uncertainties presented by developing yard markets are concerns about risk control in increasingly competitive lending markets, where 90% debt financing happens and even 100% is possible. Equity markets largely shy away from a market that make them wait a year and more before seeing any returns, requiring that owners provide much of their own equity to finance ship construction, but also that lenders undertake a significant amount of risk.

So what is a banker to do? The question probably has almost as many answers as there are shipping banks, but here we take a closer look at how exactly the market has shifted and what one particular bank has done to address the situation with a value-adding proposition.

Production Moves East

According to Domenik Nizet of HVB, there has been a pronounced geographic shift in the shipbuilding industry, with 80% of the shipbuilding community now being located in Asia and only 20% in Europe and the entire rest of the world. This has happened as direct and indirect labor cost differences mean that global shipyards can offer increasing cost advantages over their European counterparts while turning out vessels of similar quality.

In response to this European yards have changed their focus to smaller or more specialized ships such as cruise, where higher costs of labor can be better justified. Meanwhile, Mr. Nizet notes, there has been a paradigm shift in China, as its rapidly developing shipbuilding industry has proven itself capable of turning out worldclass ships. The trick in China, however, is finding the yards that can and will do this. Some of the biggest yards in China are state-owned and state-driven and function reliably. The concern centers more around the medium-sized yards with less established reputations. At these yards it requires a great deal more expertise to know whether the quality level and delivery dates promised are likely to be delivered.

Even as China's shipbuilding market matures and finds its place in the industry, the footprint of the global shipyard industry is expanding beyond China to countries including India, Indonesia and Vietnam, among others.

Matters are further complicated by commercial banks newly entering or rapidly growing their exposure to the shipbuilding industry simultaneous with the many changes that are taking place within the industry itself.

Meanwhile new yards are having their own troubles in obtaining the requisite financing due to ratings problems and other challenges. A resultant inability to pre-finance supplies and wages as necessary can lead to delayed vessel deliveries even for yards with the necessary technical expertise and the best of intentions. Figure 2 shows an example of the liquidity gap that developed in respect to a vessel order at one yard due to construction delays and higher than anticipated costs.

As a result of the difficulties being faced by developing yards, owners are being asked to provide more capital earlier in the building process yet given less control over how it is deployed by a yard once received, leading to serious concerns over transparency. Owners naturally look to banks for assistance with their growing pre-financing commitments, drawing the banks into the situation.

It is easy to see how an owner and a bank, in a case where both have relatively little experience with yards in a particular region, could find themselves in an unfortunate situation if they do not first obtain the appropriate technical and project advice.

HypoVereinsbank, or HVB, a member of the UniCredit Group, has identified the root of the many difficulties that arise as a lack of influence on the part of banks who provide newbuilding finance over the distribution of capital post loanapproval. A bank may disburse capital as agreed upon for the construction of a particular vessel, but a yard may then use that capital in whatever way it considers to be in its best interest. This creates challenges for banks in assessing the risk of lending against contracts with a yard without the appropriate internal knowledge and expertise.

A New Breed of Risk Taker

Against this backdrop, many yards in Eastern Europe are seeking privatization as governments strive to meet EU requirements. This despite the fact that many of these yards with the exception of those in East Germany, are also facing bankruptcy. As such it is imperative to find investors with a belief in the industry and an ability to identify yards with potential for development and profitability and those without. Unfortunately many potential investors are not well versed in the shipyard industry and lack the necessary expertise. Many financing banks, by contrast, have a better understanding of the industry and are more comfortable assessing the risk, leading these banks to be more and more the risk takers.

When a contract is cancelled by a yard, even if the appropriate refunds are provided, both bank and shipowner lose business. The shipowner clearly cannot earn money from a vessel that does not exist, while the banker loses the pre-delivery loan from his portfolio as well as the potential for a post-delivery facility. So while refundment guarantees are well and good as collateral and can help mitigate risk, the reality is that for both the shipowner and the bank a good deal means a timely delivery of a quality vessel.

Creating Value

This is a positive development for those banks that know what they're doing as competitive pressure on margins translates to pressure on returns. It is important for lenders to find a way to add value beyond margins, ideally through bringing something new to the table and achieving something together with the customer that is worth more than simply lower margins. Standing with the shipowner and recommending yards is one way for banks to do this in the realm of shipbuilding finance. By connecting banks, investors, owners and yards with its shipyard consulting services, HVB achieves just that under the leadership of Head of Global Shipping Ingmar Loges and Relationship Manager Domenik Nizet.

The bank has created a unique selling product – USP – that does not compete with classification societies, brokers or researchers, but is rather a new product based on the expertise of those who spend their time visiting and assessing shipyards and as such can really understand what is going on in many far-away and exotic locales, as well as right next-door. HVB developed this product by chance when a customer was having substantial problems at a yard. The firm sought to help and ultimately assisted the customer in getting the ship out – a little late, but still in a good market. At that point they realized the need for bankers with access to up-to-date and thorough information on a rapidly changing global shipyard industry.

HVB's product has matured into a standard yard due diligence procedure that includes a 100% partnership with technical consultant Bohn, Domazet & Associates GMBH. Together the firms offer "competent support and sound advice" in accurate evaluation, risk reduction, coordinating the various business aspects and optimizing solutions. They "help to orchestrate the complex relationship among banks, shipowners, public authorities, and investors".

The partners are keenly aware of the influence of productivity on cost as well as the influence of yard liquidity on the timely delivery of a vessel. This allows for "the evaluation of the technological and organizational competence of a yard even before shipbuilding orders have been placed." If problems do arise in the process, or had already arisen when the firms' services were engaged, HVB emphasizes the difference between typical and exceptional delivery problems; i.e. whether the problem was endemic to the yard, or if the yard's capabilities had simply been waylaid by extenuating circumstances and it retains the ability to complete the project.

Key to the success of these efforts is the creation of transparency in the target yard and the development of transparent liquidity management. This allows the bank to anticipate liquidity issues and sometimes even solve them before they become problems, such as by assisting a yard in winning state financing for their general operations, allowing an owner's payments made for a particular vessel to go toward that vessel and the yard to continue to function properly as a whole.

Figure 3 shows an example of a series of vessel orders that had run into timely delivery problems. HVB was engaged as problems surfaced with vessel 001, then for 002 installed a pilot project management team to oversee the shipyard. By vessels 003 and 004 a qualified project management team was set up, the result being that all deadlines concerning the delivery of the new vessels were met, and, in some cases, the vessels were even ready to sail ahead of schedule.

The shipyard consulting service has become so broad-based as to win a mandate to advise the Croatian government on the restructuring of its shipbuilding industry. The position of UniCredit as HVB's parent means that the firm has a large group with capabilities including investment banking that will be important in the privatization part of the project, while HVB's technical expertise, industry knowledge and contact base provide a requisite foundation from which to offer sound advice and determine which yards are and which yards aren't prepared to make the jump to the next level.

Sherlock Reloaded: The Advent of Online Private Investigation

Private investigation has a lot of imagery and clichés attached to it. There is the “lone wolf” investigator who, for one reason or the other is unattached to the government. There is the trusty sidekick/chronicler who manages to either accidentally make discoveries which are crucial to the case or get himself into a situation where he needs rescuing. There is also the scene where the hapless client (often a beautiful blonde) goes to the office of the private investigator to seek his help. However, this last scene is slowly becoming obsolete simply because of the advent of online private investigation

Online private investigation can be defined in two ways. It could be the usage of the internet to contact private investigation agencies. It could also be the actual investigation of internet crimes through private agencies.

Let us discuss the first definition. Private Investigation agencies need clients in order to keep the business rolling. This means that they have to advertise. The internet is the best media to advertise in today. This is because it also allows people to contact a private investigation agency directly.

People who contact private investigation agencies often need discretion. Because of the advent of online private investigation a client doesn't even need to show his or her face to anyone in order to present a case. Online private investigation services will only ask the required information and the method of payment. After that, you only need to wait for the results of your inquiry.

Another thing that people need is convenience. In the past, private investigation agencies were often located in “seedy” parts of a city where rent is cheap. This means that people needed to go to great lengths in order to even present their case to a private investigator. However, online private investigation services now allow people to access the services of a private investigator right from their homes. In fact, because of the development of mobile technology, people today have access to the services of online private investigation from practically anywhere in the world.

Let us now talk about the other form of online private investigation. As we all know the internet is open to all types of people. There are those who make use of the internet to make their lives a little easier and there are those who use the internet to make others' lives harder. Because of this, many people call on the services of experts to make sure that their internet lives aren't interrupted or in any way vandalized by hackers.

There are also certain crimes which are done through the internet. Some, like embezzling and stealing electronic funds need experts in order to solve them. Online private investigation involves the investigation of various electronic records in order to crack a case.

There are experts in the field who specialize in internet security. There are also those online private investigation agencies which specialize in tracking hackers. These online private investigation agencies actually have the expertise and the training required to break through the defenses of hackers. This is because of the fact that most online private investigators used to be hackers themselves.

Online private investigation is just one way of showing how much technology has changed our lives. Online private investigation shows both the good and the bad sides of progress. On one hand, we have easier access to people who might help us with our problems. On the other hand, we create whole new areas where we are vulnerable to attacks.