Wednesday, February 5, 2014
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“[Satya Nadella] has all the qualifications to take over, but the question for investors is, ‘Will he be able to change things up?’”
Daniel Ives, FBR Capital Markets & Co. analyst, on Microsoft’s new CEO Article, 1D
D.C. firm now a UA trade center partner
Normandy Group LLC, a nonpartisan government-relations firm, is the newest corporate partner of the World Trade Center Arkansas in Rogers.
Matt Sagely, a partner with the Washington, D.C.-based Normandy Group, will become a member of the World Trade Center Board of Advisors. He is an Arkansas native and served as chief of staff for Sen. John Boozman in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Boozman was elected to the House in 2001 and the Senate in 2010.
World Trade Center Arkansas is part of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. It provides trade services to Arkansas companies, agricultural producers and entrepreneurs and educates students in global commerce, according to the trade center’s website.
Fort Smith country club to get overhaul
The Fianna Hills Country Club in Fort Smith is getting a $20 million face-lift.
A representative for FSM Redevelopment Partners announced Monday a large-scale renovation for the 40-yearold club that will include 51 guest suites and larger meeting areas. The building is currently 27,000 square feet and is planned to expand to 85,000 square feet.
Club President Jim Shields said members have had mixed emotions, but many have been in favor of the renovations.
“As the project progresses, more people will elect to stay members under the new ownership,” he said.
Shields and Dave Mille sold the club to FSM Redevelopment in October.
Recently, FSM Redevelopment, which is owned by Lance Beaty and Steve Nelson of Nelson and Beaty Properties LLP, entered into an agreement with Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Troon Golf to evaluate needed improvements, Beaty said in a release.
Troon is the largest golf-management firm, according to Golf Inc. Magazine.
On Friday, Beaty and Nelson met with Fort Smith Planning Commission to discuss the project.
As of Tuesday, the Planning Commission had not received a project submission, said Wally Bailey, director of development services for the commission.
U.S. sells shares of aided Harrison bank
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has auctioned preferred stock of Community First Bancshares of Harrison for $13.2 million.
Community First owed money borrowed from the government in the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Community First has about $460 million in assets and four branches.
The auctions are part of a strategy that the Treasury outlined in May 2012 for winding down its remaining Troubled Asset Relief Program bank investments. The department has recovered more than $273 billion through repayments, dividends, interest and other income. The department lent about $245 billion to banks through the program.
Community First is the second Arkansas lending institution to have its preferred shares auctioned. The first was Corning Savings and Loan Association.
$2.5 million subsidizes airline for Wichita
WICHITA, Kan. - Southwest Airlines received $2.52 million in subsidies from Kansas’ Affordable Airfares program to help underwrite losses from its service out of Wichita during the first quarter of the fiscal year.
The Dallas-based airline, which began service in June from Wichita, has daily flights from Wichita to Dallas, Chicago and Las Vegas. Southwest received the $2.52 million in subsidies for service provided during July, August and September, said Chris Chronis, Sedgwick County chief financial officer.
Southwest is eligible for up to $6.5 million per fiscal year to help underwrite losses on its Wichita service.
Southwest hasn’t applied yet for funds for service after September, Chronis told The Wichita Eagle.
Kansas allocates $5 million a year for its program, which was formed to provide more flight options, more competition for air travel and more affordable airfares.
Funding must be approved by the Legislature each year.
Above the state’s portion of the funding, Wichita and Sedgwick County equally contribute the balance.
Symantec’s damages risk is $145 million
Symantec Corp., the biggest maker of computer-security software, said it may be required to pay as much as $145 million in damages as a result of a U.S. government investigation into its sales and pricing practices.
The figure was disclosed in a meeting Symantec had with government representatives in January when the company was informed about the assessment of its potential liability, Mountain View, Calif.-based Symantec said in a regulatory filing.
Symantec said in 2012 that the civil divisions of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia were investigating the company’s compliance with government-contracting rules.
“We are fully cooperating with the investigation and in January 2014 met with representatives of the government who presented us with an initial analysis of our actual damages exposure in the amount of approximately $145 million,” Symantec said Monday in the filing.
Madoff tie costs JPMorgan $543 million
JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s $543 million settlement with the trustee for Bernard Madoff’s defunct securities company was approved Tuesday by the bankruptcy judge overseeing the liquidation.
The accord, reached Jan. 7, was approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein in New York. The deal resolves a lawsuit by the trustee, Irving Picard, and two class-action lawsuits by Madoff victims who accused the bank of negligence.
With the JPMorgan deal, Picard’s recoveries for victims topped $10 billion, or 59 percent of the $17 billion in principal lost by thousands of investors in Madoff’s investment advisory business. Picard alleged the bank facilitated Madoff’s scam for years by ignoring signs of fraud.
Madoff’s JPMorgan account was used to perpetuate the fraud, according to Picard and U.S. investigators. Madoff deposited money from new customers into the account instead of investing it in securities and made withdrawals to pay back earlier investors.
Business, Pages 26 on 02/05/2014