LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY "The general economic recovery is weak
for one reason: Because the housing recovery is weak." David Crowe,
chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders Article, 1D
4 Arkansas firms on Newsweek list
Arkansas-based companies got mixed reviews in Newsweek magazine's inaugural "green" rankings of the 500 largest U.S. companies' environmental initiatives.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville received the highest ranking at No. 59 overall and No. 6 among retailers. Kohl's Inc. was the top-ranked retailer and 18th overall.
Murphy Oil Corp. of El Dorado placed 383rd overall and No. 23 in the oil and gas sector. Marathon Oil was top ranked in the sector and 100th overall.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. of Lowell ranked 429th overall and fifth in the transportation and aerospace category. United Technologies Corp. led the field and ranked 33rd overall.
Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale ranked 479th overall and 25th in the food and beverage sector. Coca-Cola Enterprises led the sector and ranked 36th overall.
Newsweek said it worked with three partners to compile the rankings: KLD Research & Analytics Inc., which advises institutional money managers and other investors on environmental, social and governance factors; Trucost Plc, which maintains a database on companies' environmental impacts; and CorporateRegister.com, a global online directory of company environmental and sustainability reports.
The magazine said the companies chosen are the largest in the nation as measured by revenue, market capitalization and number of employees.
Bank to pay $1 million in fraud case
MIAMI - Regions Bank has agreed to pay a $1 million penalty to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint that it had a role in a fraud targeting thousands of Latin American investors.
The SEC claimed in court papers Monday that the Birmingham, Ala.-based bank served as trustee for two investment plans that charged investors hidden fees. Regions Bank's involvement gave the scheme an air of legitimacy, according to the SEC.
Ultimately more than $255 million was raised by the investment plans from about 14,000 investors from Latin American countries.
Regions Bank said it cooperated with the SEC and worked to resolve the issue. The arrangement was begun in 2001 by Union Planters Bank, which merged with Regions in 2004.
Regions is the second-largest bank in Arkansas with about $4.2 billion in deposits and 115 branches, according to June 2008 data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the most recent statistics available.
Dollar hits year low; euro tops $1.48
NEW YORK - The dollar sank to its lowest point in a year Tuesday against several currencies ahead of a meeting by of the Federal Reserve on interest rates and the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh this weekend.
The 16-nation euro broke past $1.48 for the first time since September 2008, rising as high as $1.4821 before settling back to $1.4776 in morning trading in New York. On Monday, the euro was worth $1.4677.
The British pound gained to $1.6360 from $1.6194, while the dollar slid to 91.12 Japanese yen from 92.13 late Monday in New York.
The dollar also dropped to its lowest point since last September against an index that tracks six major currencies.
Traders have been ditching the dollar for other currencies as signals point to an economic recovery and since the Group of 20 finance officials recently pledged to maintain government spending, low interest rates and increased money supply to shore up the global economy.
Those moves should help boost economic activity and liquidity in financial markets, increasing investors' appetite for assets around the world at the expense of the dollar.
UBS to inform clients on U.S. tax list
BERN, Switzerland - Swiss bank UBS AG said Tuesday that it will inform American clients whether their bank accounts are among the 4,450 that will be revealed to the U.S.
Justice Department in a tax evasion investigation.
UBS said it would comply with Monday's ruling by a Swiss court in favor of two U.S. clients seeking clarification on whether their account details would be handed over to Washington. The information transfer is part of an agreement last month that ended a long dispute between the two countries over wealthy Americans hiding money at the bank.
Switzerland and UBS have so far refused to name the individuals in public. U.S. authorities, meanwhile, have hoped that the identities of the individuals on the list would be kept secret for longer so that more Americans with undeclared assets abroad might come forward under an amnesty program.
UBS spokesman Serge Steiner said the bank has taken note of the decision by the court in the southern city of Lugano and would honor it.
"UBS is currently examining which client relationships fulfill the government's criteria of 'tax fraud or the like,"' Steiner said in a statement. He said this process would take "some months," but UBS will tell clients if they are affected once a decision is reached.
UBS has already informed the first 500 clients whose information has been sought by U.S. authorities.
Antitrust guidelines set for update
WASHINGTON - The federal government's antitrust enforcers said Tuesday that they will update the 17-year-old guidelines used to determine whether a proposed corporate acquisition threatens competition.
The Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department, which share antitrust enforcement powers, said they will hold workshops in December and January to discuss potential changes to the guidelines. The two agencies also will take public comments for several months. The guidelines have been in place since 1992.
Jon Liebowitz, chairman of the FTC, said the goal of the overhaul is to "demystify the process and provide more accurate guidance than practitioners and the courts have been getting."
Bert Foer, president of the nonprofit American Antitrust Institute, which supports stricter enforcement of antitrust law, said the guidelines currently put too much emphasis on whether a combination in a particular industry will cause prices to increase. More attention should be paid to preventing too much consolidation within a sector, which he said can hinder innovation even if prices remain low.
Changing the guidelines in such a way "could mean that a higher percentage of ... mergers actually get investigated," Foer said.
Business, Pages 28 on 09/23/2009