Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff and wire


Amex removing stock of Resort Income

Shares of Resort Income International Inc., a company founded by former Hawaii real estate developer Christopher B. Hemmeter, will no longer be traded on the American Stock Exchange as of April 26.

The Chicago-based company, which had announced that it was liquidating in "an orderly fashion," said yesterday it would not appeal Amex's decision to remove its stock.

Amex said RII no longer met its financial guidelines.

RII, a real estate investment trust, said it expects its stock will trade via the over-the-counter market after April 26.

State sues Goldman Sachs over Investors Equity

The state is suing Goldman Sachs & Co., a top Wall Street firm, in connection with the collapse of Investors Equity Life Insurance Co. in 1994.

State Insurance Commissioner Wayne Metcalf filed the lawsuit Friday in Circuit Court, alleging that Goldman Sachs contributed to the collapse of Investors Equity by causing it to make "illegal" trades in U.S. treasury bonds and bond futures.

Goldman Sachs caused Investors Equity to engage in "extremely risky and unsuitable" trading of as much as $200 million worth of U.S. Treasury bonds a day, Metcalf alleged.

The state's action follows a similar lawsuit against another Wall Street giant. Last month, the state sued Merrill Lynch & Co., alleging that the company's futures trading unit conducted illegal trades that led to more than $8.7 million in losses for the local life insurance company. Merrill Lynch denied the allegation.

Fed leaves interest rates unchanged

Faced with evidence the U.S. economy has overcome a weak spot early this year, the Federal Reserve Tuesday decided to hold short-term interest rates steady.

The decision by the central bank's policy-making Federal Open Market Committee had been widely expected and left the key federal funds rate that commercial banks charge each other for overnight money unchanged at 5.25 percent.



For more local, national and international business news, see the Hawaii Inc. section in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.




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