DETROIT -- A compensation fund set up for victims of faulty ignition switches in General Motors vehicles says the switches were responsible for 124 deaths and 266 injuries.
The fund, run by attorney Kenneth Feinberg, has finished processing the 4,342 claims it received by the Jan. 31 deadline. Of those, 91 percent were deemed ineligible or deficient. Claimants could not appeal Feinberg's decision.
Victims' families are being offered compensation of at least $1 million each.
GM recalled 2.6 million Chevrolet Cobalts and other small cars last year but acknowledged it knew about the ignition switch problems for more than a decade.
As of March 31, GM had paid $200 million to settle claims filed with Feinberg. The company has said it expects to pay up to $600 million.
Comcast to start streaming video service
NEW YORK -- Comcast will introduce a streaming video service as it faces growing intrusions from companies such as Netflix and a rising number of customers who are becoming more mobile, using tablets and phones for entertainment.
The nation's largest cable company said the new service available to its Internet customers, called Stream, will cost $15 a month. Anyone using the service will be able to watch live TV from about a dozen networks, including HBO, on phones, tablets and laptops. The service includes on-demand movies and shows.
Comcast Corp. said Monday that it will introduce the service in Boston at the end of the summer, followed by Chicago and Seattle. It plans to make it available to all its Internet service customers by early 2016.
The Philadelphia company is the latest to recognize the shift toward streaming. Verizon Communications and Cablevision Systems Corp. have set up options for people who have canceled cable services, many of them younger viewers, who have grown less willing to pay for a full slate of channels and who want more mobile options for entertainment.
U.S. finds no single reason for swing day
WASHINGTON -- The Treasury Department and other government agencies are unable to pinpoint a single reason for a period of extreme volatility that occurred in the market for Treasury securities on Oct. 15 last year.
Agencies, including Treasury and the Federal Reserve, issued a joint report saying that a variety of factors, such as record trading volumes, may have contributed to the volatility. Yields on 10-year Treasury bonds gyrated wildly for a brief period during the day.
Republicans have charged that the volatility could be linked to the overhaul of financial markets that Congress approved in 2010 to try to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis. But officials say they found no evidence that regulatory changes from the Dodd-Frank Act were a factor in the Oct. 15 volatility.
Franklin's $3.4B adds chemicals, cutlery
Disposable cutlery and chemicals for mobile phones are set to become the latest additions to Martin Franklin's business empire after he announced two takeovers valued at $3.4 billion in a single day.
His consumer company Jarden Corp. agreed to buy plastic cutlery and plate maker Waddington Group Inc. for $1.35 billion while Platform Specialty Products Corp., Franklin's investment vehicle with Nicolas Berggruen, is to acquire electronic chemicals maker Alent PLC for $2.1 billion.
Franklin, who started out as manager of British stationery maker DRG in his early 20s, has mostly used acquisitions to build Jarden into a sprawling $10 billion company with products ranging from K2 skis to Yankee Candle. The Alent deal shows his goal to also build a chemical empire, and he plans to integrate the asset with peer MacDermid, purchased in 2013 for $1.8 billion.
Platform, founded by Berggruen and Franklin and backed by billionaire Bill Ackman, has been on a spending spree since 2013, agreeing to takeovers totaling $9.3 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
-- Bloomberg News
Trump golf club files for bankruptcy
Trump International Golf Club Puerto Rico filed for bankruptcy protection Monday as Donald Trump, the billionaire real estate mogul who lent his name to the property, makes a bid for the White House.
The petition filed by Coco Beach Golf & Country Club S.E. in bankruptcy court in San Juan listed assets of $9.2 million and as much $78 million in debt. The filing was made as Trump seeks the Republican presidential nomination.
The Puerto Rico resort, which opened in March 2004 as Coco Beach Golf, renamed itself in 2008 after licensing the use of Trump's name. Trump, an avid golfer, is affiliated with 17 golf properties worldwide, according to his website. The golf division of Trump Organization Inc. owns and manages most of courses.
The golf club, which features two 18-hole championship courses in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, was designed by professional golfer Tom Kite. The 1,000-acre property features a 46,000-square-foot clubhouse. It hosted the 2008 Puerto Rico Open, according to the Trump website.
Rhona Graff, a spokesman for New York-based Trump, didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the filing.
-- Bloomberg News
Family owners retain Ashley Furniture
MILWAUKEE -- Ashley Furniture Industries Inc., reported last month to have been exploring a possible sale, will remain in the hands of its current owners, chiefly the Wanek family.
The Arcadia, Wis.-based company said in a statement Monday that its shareholders, "after exploring potential investment options earlier this year, have decided to retain all of their Ashley stock."
"After many discussions with several great firms, we concluded that the best option for our customers, our employees and our future is to continue our current path," Chief Executive Officer Todd Wanek said in the statement.
"While Ashley, like all U.S. manufacturers, must address a challenging environment, it has the benefits of stable ownership, passionate employees, loyal customers, exciting products, and lots and lots of opportunity for continued growth."
The family-owned company, with nearly $4 billion in sales last year, is the largest furniture retailer in the U.S.
Ashley employs more than 3,000 people at its headquarters plant in Arcadia in western Wisconsin and at least 400 more in a factory in nearby Whitehall.
-- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Business on 07/14/2015