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USDA provides loan for water park

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has given a $5 million conditional loan commitment to develop a water-theme park in Lahaina, Maui, U.S. Rep Ed Case announced yesterday.

USDA Rural Development will provide a guaranteed loan to Jerome E. Metcalfe's Lahaina Theme Park Inc. for a park and a family entertainment center, a project expected to create 34 jobs. Further details were not available.

2 new shops at Royal Hawaiian

The owners of Abhasa Spa in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel have added two new shops at the hotel. One is Cina Cina, an Asian-European gallery of designer apparel, accessories and works of art. The other is Tifare, which sells wedding gowns and tuxedos. The store started by offering those items to Japanese bridal parties who could order from Japan and finish the purchase when they arrived for their Hawaii wedding. Tifare has now opened to Hawaii residents, said Venere Corp., which owns the spa and the two new retailers.

Brides can get beauty treatment at the spa and then pick up their gowns at Tifare, the company said.

Whalers Village completely leased

The Whalers Village shopping center at Kaanapali, Maui, has three new tenants. The biggest is Pacific Sunwear, which will open a 3,500-square-foot shop tomorrow  selling clothing and accessories aimed at the "surf and skate culture" and those who like that sporting style. Hatworld Inc., which has nearly 450 headwear outlets nationwide, opened an 850-square-foot Lids store in June.

The other new tenant is Mr. Sub Sandwiches, which opened a 384-square-foot deli in the food court in May.

Whalers Village is now 100 percent leased, said asset manager Don Reaser.

UBS settles broker oversight claim

NEW YORK >> Investment firm UBS agreed to pay $500,000 yesterday to settle federal regulators' charges that it had failed to supervise a stockbroker who looted tens of millions of dollars from clients of its former PaineWebber unit between 1994 and 1998.

The broker, Enrique E. Perusquia, pleaded guilty to securities fraud last year and is serving a 6 1/2-year sentence for secretly investing client funds in highly speculative gold mines in exchange for kickbacks, and other unauthorized trades.

He was ordered to make restitution of $68 million and has been barred from the securities industry for life.

Continental relaxes scheduling rules

HOUSTON >> Continental Airlines relaxed rules for passengers who need to reschedule flights. The Houston-based airline's announcement yesterday came a day after Fort Worth-based American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, announced similar plans.

Continental said customers with nonrefundable tickets that allow changes would, as of yesterday, have up to a year from the original date of travel to reschedule flights without losing the ticket's value. Previously, the airline required those travelers to rebook flights and obtain new tickets no later than the date of the original departure.

In other news ...

>> ConAgra Foods has stopped offering stock options to its top executives as debate continues over executive compensation, restricting stock in fiscal 2003 to chief executive Bruce Rohde and other top managers.

>> The "For Sale" sign is going up at Enron Corp.'s headquarters. Granite Partners LLC, a New York real estate investment banking firm, announced yesterday it has been retained to sell the 1.2 million-square-foot, 50-story glass tower at a time when top-notch office space in downtown Houston is cheap and plentiful.