Business news in brief

2 fined for advising without licenses

Two insurance agents reached a settlement with the Arkansas Securities Department last week and were fined $2,500 each.

Christy Coffman of Sherwood and Trent Dodds of Searcy, who received the fines, participated in a seminar on Social Security in Fort Smith along with two other insurance agents.

Coffman and Dodds met later with a 64-year-old retired Arkansan and his wife, who were looking for a second income stream, the department said Friday in a statement. Coffman told the man that his securities were not totally safe from a creditor and Dodds said one of the retiree's accounts was not doing well.

The agents suggested the man liquidate 60 percent of his holdings and replace them with an equity indexed annuity, the department said. After agreeing to the annuity, the man had second thoughts and called the Securities Department. The transaction was canceled.

The department found that Coffman and Dodds, who were not registered investment advisers, acted in that capacity in recommending replacing the securities with an annuity.

-- David Smith

Texas site chosen for SpaceX launchpad

Billionaire Elon Musk's Space Exploration and Technologies Corp. plans to build the world's first commercial launchpad near Brownsville in South Texas, Gov. Rick Perry's office said.

The state is providing $2.3 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund to draw an estimated 300 jobs to the launch site, which will put about $85 million of capital investment into the economy, according to a news release. The state is offering another $13 million from the SpacePort Trust Fund to support the development of infrastructure. Local officials also are awarding incentives.

"Texas has been on the forefront of our nation's space exploration efforts for decades, so it is fitting that SpaceX has chosen our state as they expand the frontiers of commercial space flight," Perry said in the statement.

Emily Shanklin, a spokesman for SpaceX, said the company isn't issuing a separate release.

In the region near the proposed launch site, at Boca Chica Beach in the state's southernmost tip, two of five residents live in poverty. Leaders of the border town are seeking to make it as well known for space travel as Houston, home of NASA's Johnson Space Center.

-- Bloomberg News

33 P.F. Chang's affected by data breach

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- P.F. Chang's is providing more details on its ongoing investigation into a security breach, saying data may have been stolen from certain credit and debit cards used at 33 P.F. Chang's China Bistro restaurants in the U.S.

P.F. Chang's confirmed in June that data from credit and debit cards used at its restaurants was stolen, but didn't specify the locations at that time. On Monday, the company provided a list of locations. They include P.F. Chang's restaurants in Baltimore; St. Louis; Pittsburgh; Austin, Texas; and Charlotte, N.C.

A list of all 33 locations, as well as the dates that cards may have been compromised, can be found at pfchangs.com/security. The company said that potentially stolen data includes the card number and may also include the cardholder's name and/or the card's expiration date in some instances.

P.F. Chang's said the security compromise has been contained and that the company has been processing credit and debit card data securely since June 11.

Data breaches have occurred at other major U.S. corporations recently, including Target Corp., Neiman Marcus, Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. and Michaels Stores Inc.

-- The Associated Press

Walgreen's top finance officer replaced

Walgreen's top financial officer is leaving the nation's largest drugstore chain as it nears a key decision about its future that could involve a politically touchy overseas reorganization.

Walgreen said Monday that it had replaced Wade Miquelon with former Kraft Foods executive Timothy McLevish as executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective immediately. Miquelon had served as a senior leader in the drugstore chain's collaboration with Swiss health and beauty retailer Alliance Boots.

The circumstances of Miquelon's departure are unclear, though Walgreen characterized the split as amicable. Reached over the weekend, Miquelon declined to address why he was leaving the company.

"I think my record speaks for itself, as it always has," he told a Bloomberg News reporter.

Walgreen Co. bought a 45 percent stake in Alliance Boots a few years ago and will announce soon whether it plans to buy the rest. It also is considering an overseas combination called an inversion that could reduce its corporate tax bill. This type of corporate move is raising concerns in Washington over possible lost tax revenue.

-- The Associated Press

Business on 08/05/2014

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