Bankoh parent concludes Southern California sale

Pacific Century Financial Corp., parent of Bank of Hawaii, has concluded the sale of assets of its Pacific Century Bank subsidiary on the mainland to U.S. Bancorp.

In the deal first announced in June, U.S. Bancorp bought 20 PCB branches in Southern California and the bank's retail, small business and commercial accounts. The buyer picked up about $700 million in deposits, $570 million in assets and 300 employees.

Michael E. O'Neill, Pacific Century Financial chairman and CEO, said the sale was part of the company's plan to concentrate on its core markets -- Hawaii, the Western Pacific and Samoa.

The transaction was formally completed at midnight Friday, Pacific Coast time.

Pacific Century has said the sale and coming liquidation of the rest of PCB's assets would free up capital of approximately $250million.

Japanese stock index sets fresh 17-year low

TOKYO >> Tokyo stocks closed sharply lower today, with the market's main index setting a fresh 17-year low amid worries that U.S. economic troubles may prolong the global slump.

The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average closed down 321.10 points, or 3.05 percent, to 10,195.69. It was the lowest finish for the index since Aug. 2, 1984, when it closed at 10,086.87.

On Friday, the average closed down 133.54 points, or 1.25 percent.

The Nikkei moved lower with selling led by banking issues and technology stocks, following Wall Street's sharp retreat Friday after worse-than-expected U.S. unemployment data.

Yasuo Fukuda, Japan's top government spokesman, said the Tokyo market's decline was hurt by weak stock markets overseas and that current stock prices did not reflect Japan's economic fundamentals.

AT&T-AOL cable deal could win approval

Washington >> AOL Time Warner Inc. and AT&T Corp. may receive conditional approval of a merger of their cable-television operations after a rigorous review by U.S. regulators, analysts said.

AOL Time Warner, the second-biggest U.S. cable-TV provider, is in talks to merge its cable business with that of larger rival AT&T to form a company that would be 60 percent owned by AT&T, people familiar with the talks said.

The deal would be a test of the Bush administration's approach to merger analysis, which would focus on the combined cable businesses' power to limit programming choice or shut out rival cable companies, analysts said. Antitrust reviewers probably would require the merged company to open cable lines to rival Internet service providers.

A merger of New York-based AOL Time Warner's cable operations with AT&T Broadband would result in a standalone company with 22.5 million customers. AOL Time Warner's stock rose $2.13 today to $34.41 while AT&T's shares lost 5 cents to $17.65.

[TAKING NOTICE]

NEW JOBS

>> Susan Weander was named director of group sales at The Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki Hotel. She most recently served as director of travel industry sales at Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites in California.

Erica Condon was hired as group sales manager at the hotel. She joins the Ilikai after serving as an account executive at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental.

And Czarina Lam has been named front desk manager. She was most recently employed as front office relief supervisor at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort and Spa.

>> Sherrill L. Goode and Buddy Gendrano have been named loan officers at Irwin Mortgage. The two will work out of the company's retail office in Honolulu.