June 29, 2010 at 1:41 p.m.
Filed under:
Government
By Clout Street
A measure to permanently bar contractors convicted of fraud or other felonies against City Hall is headed for a City Council vote.
The Budget Committee today recommended approval of the measure, which also would prevent firms charged with such crimes from doing business with the city and related agencies.
“What we’re saying is that if you’ve been charged with these crimes against the city, we’re not interested in doing business with you — until you prove that you’re innocent,” said Mara Georges, City Hall’s top lawyer.
June 29, 2010 at 5:57 a.m.
Filed under:
China,
Government,
International,
Internet
By Reuters
Internet giant Google Inc said it plans to stop automatically redirecting users of its Google.cn site to its Hong Kong page, in a bid to secure renewal of the company’s China service license. Get the full story »
June 28, 2010 at 6:30 p.m.
Filed under:
Bank failures,
Banking,
Government
By Dow Jones Newswires
A government watchdog has detected key deficiencies in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s internal controls that led to errors in the agency’s 2009 draft financial statements for its deposit insurance fund.
The errors, which involve the FDIC’s estimates of the loss-share transactions it has used to resolve bank failures, have been corrected. Get the full story »
By Tribune newspapers
The Supreme Court largely affirmed Monday the legitimacy of an accounting regulator created by a post-Enron antifraud law, striking down only a minor provision of it.
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board was established in 2002 as part of the Sarbanes-Oxley law, which Congress passed after the Enron Corp. scandal exposed a wave of accounting chicanery used by some companies to pump up their stock prices during the late-1990s bull market. Get the full story »
June 28, 2010 at 6:07 p.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Consulting,
Government,
Personnel moves
By Becky Yerak
Roberto R. Herencia has left Midwest Banc Holdings Inc., whose Midwest Bank unit failed last month, but has signed a consulting agreement that could pay him $25,000 a month.
In May, Midwest Bank, a $3.17 billion-asset lender that was among the first community banks to get federal bailout funds, was seized by regulators after failing to raise capital it needed to stay independent. Get the full story »
June 28, 2010 at 5:32 p.m.
Filed under:
Conventions,
Government,
Politics
By Kathy Bergen
Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday named two attorneys and an organized labor representative to the interim board of the agency that operates McCormick Place and Navy Pier.
The appointees are:
Carmen H. Lonstein, a partner in the Chicago office of Baker & McKenzie, chairs the firm’s financial restructuring, creditors’ rights and bankruptcy practice group in North America. She is on the board of the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture. Get the full story »
June 28, 2010 at 4:28 p.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Litigation
By Reuters
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected Monday an effort to patent a way to smooth energy costs, but pleased some high-tech industries by saying the current test for business method patents may be too narrow.
The case had been closely watched by a wide range of interests.
Some software and biotechnology companies wanted a broad definition of what can be patented because they license processes. Others, such as some financial institutions, wanted restrictions on business method patents to avoid lawsuits. Get the full story »
June 28, 2010 at 4:07 p.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Government
By Becky Yerak
Aurora-based Old Second Bancorp Inc., which lost $60 million last year, has disclosed that it’s operating under an agreement with U.S. regulators to increase its capital to levels higher than what’s usually considered “well capitalized.”
The publicly traded lender, which has assets of $2.5 billion, outlined its capital-raising plans in a filing last week. Get the full story »
June 28, 2010 at 11:48 a.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Telecommunications,
Wireless
By Dow Jones Newswires
President Barack Obama on Monday signed a memorandum to nearly double the amount of federal and commercial spectrum available for smartphones and wireless Internet devices.
The move is aimed at spurring investment, economic growth and job creation as demand for broadband surges with the boom in wireless Internet devices such as iPhones, BlackBerrys and laptops. Get the full story »
June 28, 2010 at 11:27 a.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Health care,
Pharmaceuticals
By Alejandra Cancino
Abbott Laboratories said Monday that the Food and Drug Administration approved a new diagnostic test that allows for the detection of two sexually transmitted diseases.
Abbott’s RealTime Chlamydia trachomatis/neisseria gonorrhoeae (CT/NG) assay and Abbott’s m2000 System can detect gonorrhea and chlamydia, a disease that often goes untreated because of its lack of symptoms. Get the full story »
By Tribune staff report
As legislators on Capitol Hill trumpet a final agreement on sweeping financial reform, consumers might be wondering, “What’s in it for me?”
They will benefit in a big-picture way from many of the provisions in the bill, likely to be passed by Congress next week. It is meant to provide a more stable financial system, prevent government bailouts of banks and protect investors. Get the full story »
June 25, 2010 at 4:30 p.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Government
By Reuters
Toyota Motor Co. is recalling and temporarily halting sales of its 2010 Lexus HS250h gasoline-electric hybrid due to a potential fuel leak problem, the company said on Friday.
In a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Toyota said the recall and stop-sale order affected approximately 17,000 sedans that have been manufactured for sale in the United States. Get the full story »
June 25, 2010 at 3:52 p.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Government
From Crain’s Chicago Business | The financial reform bill was stripped of a provision calling for an FDIC examination of all bank bailouts since January 2009, sparing ShoreBank such an investigation.
June 25, 2010 at 2:45 p.m.
Filed under:
Fraud,
Government,
Housing,
Taxes
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
Another report is out looking at fraudulent activity related to the homebuyer tax credit and this one’s got a new wrinkle.
Almost 1,300 prisoners in jail – including 241 serving life sentences — wrongly received $9.1 million in credits for home purchases they purported to make while in jail. Another 2,555 improperly received $17.6 million for home purchases made before the tax credit became effective, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
According to the Internal Revenue Service, 1.8 million taxpayers received $12.6 billion in homebuyer credits before March.
But that doesn’t mean 1.8 million homes were sold. The agency found that 10, 282 taxpayers received a credit for buying the same home as was used by other taxpayers for the credit. In fact, 67 taxpayers used one house. Auditors said the erroneous credits are likely to add up to tens of millions of dollars.
By Dow Jones Newswires
Multiple U.S. regulators are examining the role of derivative markets run by CME Group (CME) in fostering volatility in dairy prices, Assistant Atty. Gen. Christine Varney said Friday.
Dairy farmers have long blamed the derivatives markets for distorting prices and are becoming increasingly vocal about the effect of big retailers on competition in the sector. Get the full story »
