Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
[ HAWAII INC. ]
PROMOTIONS
>> Bank of Hawaii has made three senior-level appointments in its investment services and commercial banking division. Vincent E. Barfield has been appointed retirement plan services manager. He will be responsible for directing a team of 33 staff members who manage $2 billion in retirement plan assets. He previously was the development and sales manager for the bank's Hawaii Commercial Group. Michael R. Curtis replaces Barfield as development and sales manager. He previously served as the bank's efficiency improvement manager. Kieran A. Yap has been appointed Personal Trust Department manager. He will be responsible for managing integrated sales and service teams that offer private banking, investment, trust and insurance to affluent clients. He previously served as trust administration manager.>> Hilton Waikoloa Village has promoted two employees within its executive committee. Warrene Ching has been promoted to finance director. She has over 20 years of hotel accounting experience at leading destination resorts in Hawaii. Douglas Oesterreich has been promoted to revenue management director. He began his career in the industry with Starwood Hotels.
HAWAII
Connie Lau ranks high in industry magazine Connie Lau, president and chief executive of American Savings Bank, was named the 11th most powerful woman banker and the nation's top fast-tracker by U.S. Banker magazine.
The October edition of the banking industry trade publication selected Lau not only for her efforts of "transforming a sleepy thrift in the 50th state into a fast-growing player," but also for her community involvement and ability to be a master of big-picture thinking.
Lau, who has been with the bank for five years, topped the fast-trackers list for rising to the bank's lead position in a relatively short time compared with the others. She joined the bank from sister company Hawaiian Electric Co. in 1999 and became president and chief executive in 2001.
U.S. Banker, which sifted through 5,000 nominations, chose 25 women bankers for its article. This was the second year that the magazine has published the rankings.
Meeting has $1.4 million impact
The 13th annual meeting of the North Pacific Marine Science Organization began yesterday at the Hawaii Convention Center and will continue through next Friday, bringing an estimated $1.4 million in spending to the state.More than 400 people from Japan, China, Korea, the United States and other countries are expected to attend the event. The organization, known as PICES, promotes and coordinates marine research in the North Pacific area.
Hawaiian Electric to ring NYSE bell
Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. will ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange at 10 a.m. today to mark the company's 40th year of being listed on the Big Board.Appearing on the podium will be Bob Clarke, the company's chairman, president and chief executive officer; Eric Yearman, chief financial officer; Mike May, Hawaiian Electric Co. president; and Connie Lau, American Savings Bank president.
Hawaiian Electric, which trades under the ticker symbol HE, closed yesterday at $26.61, up 12.4 percent for the year.
NATION
U.S. takes aim at security concerns U.S. officials began an overseas media campaign yesterday aimed at dispelling anxieties about a new security program that requires foreign travelers to be fingerprinted and photographed when they enter the United States.
A full-page newspaper ad taken out in Le Monde in France by the Department of Homeland Security advised travelers: "The flight to America takes about eight hours. Only a few extra seconds will make your trip safer."
Similar American advertisements are running in major newspapers in England, Germany, Japan, Belgium and Australia at a cost of almost $1 million, officials said. The countries are among an expanded group of more than two dozen nations whose U.S.-bound travelers are required to undergo digital index-finger scans and have their photographs taken at U.S. airports and seaports under a program that began last month.
Ex-Rite Aid leader gets 10 years in prison
HARRISBURG, Pa. >> Former Rite Aid Corp. Vice Chairman Franklin C. Brown will serve 10 years in prison for playing a leading role in the accounting-fraud scandal that financially crippled the nation's third-largest pharmacy retailer.Brown, 76, said he was "deeply sorry and regretful" that people were hurt by the financial crisis but did not admit any guilt.
"Being accused and convicted of a crime has been the most painful and humbling experience of my life," he told U.S. Middle District Judge Sylvia H. Rambo yesterday at his sentencing. Afterward, he ignored reporters' questions.
Rambo recommended Brown, who received a pacemaker last week, be placed in a federal medical facility.
Gay-directed Internet company goes public
SAN FRANCISCO >> There was no big stir on Wall Street, but a San Francisco-based Internet company marked a cultural milestone yesterday by becoming the first gay-directed business to trade its stock on a major exchange.PlanetOut Inc., which operates several gay and lesbian-themed Web sites, made an initial public stock offering of 4.65 million shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares gained 16 percent on the first day of trading, closing at $10.40. In a nod to both its mission and as a statement of gay pride, PlanetOut adopted "LGBT" -- an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender -- as its ticker symbol.
WORLD
Study finds cell phone tumor risk A Swedish study suggests that people who use a cell phone for at least 10 years might increase their risk of developing a rare benign tumor along a nerve on the side of the head where they hold the phone.
One of the researchers behind the preliminary study, Anders Ahlbom, said the results were surprising and more research is needed.
Previous studies have investigated whether the use of cell phones is linked to an increased risk of brain tumors. Although experiments have shown radiation from mobile phones can affect brain cells in a lab, more relevant studies on people have found no evidence that the phones pose a health risk.
