Credit oversight to rise
NEW YORK >> The companies that determine Americans’ credit scores are about to come under the oversight of the nation’s new consumer watchdog. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Monday it will supervise the 30 largest firms that make up 94 percent of the credit-reporting industry, including giants Equifax Inc., Experian and TransUnion.
Lanai Airport to upgrade runway safety area
Plans are under way to upgrade the Lanai Airport’s runway safety area to meet Federal Aviation Administration compliance standards, but the length of the 5,001-foot runway will remain the same.
"It’s supposed to be complete by 2015, but it doesn’t have anything to do with lengthening the runway," Caroline Sluyter, spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, said Monday. "Just like the standards for highways are constantly getting upgraded, the standards for the runway safety area have been upgraded since the airport was built. The FAA is mandating that the airport be in compliance with runway safety areas."
Sluyter added that the DOT has had no talks with Oracle co-founder and CEO Larry Ellison to lengthen the runway. Ellison, the third-richest man in America, bought 98 percent of Lanai last month from fellow billionaire David Murdock, owner of Castle & Cooke Inc. The sale included the two resort hotels, golf course, water utility and roughly 88,000 acres.
The FAA defines the runway safety area as "a defined surface surrounding the runway prepared or suitable for reducing the risk of damage to airplanes in the event of an undershoot, overshoot, or excursion from the runway."
The last time the runway was extended was in 1966.
Pilar Financial gets cease and desist order
A preliminary cease and desist order and a hearing notice have been issued against a former Hawaii securities salesperson by Hawaii Commissioner of Securities Tung Chan.
The state issued the order against Leoncio Prudencio Raralio Pilar; Pilar dba Pilar Financial Services Investments and Tax Strategies; and Pilar Investments LLC.
The order alleges that Pilar and Pilar Investments violated a 2001 consent order from the State Securities Commissioner by selling unregistered securities and committed fraud, when they, along with Pilar Financial Services Investments, solicited investors for securities that Pilar claimed would yield high fixed rates of return. The order alleges the investors never received the returns promised by Pilar and that the accused used the money from investors to pay returns to other investors in a Ponzi-like fraud and for Pilar’s own use. The order further alleges that money from at least one investor was also used to make restitution payments under the earlier 2001 Consent Order. The accused allegedly concealed their fraud from investors by issuing account statements to investors falsely showing earnings and interest payments.
Chan asserts that Pilar and related businesses sold unregistered securities in the form of investment contracts to four Hawaii investors in the total amount of $304,194.22 and violated the state’s anti-fraud provisions. The order seeks total penalties of $250,000 in addition to a permanent injunction against transacting securities in the state, cancellation of the contracts and restitution for investors.
The voice mailbox of Pilar Financial Services is full and is no longer accepting messages.
Anyone who has been solicited by or transacted business with Leoncio Prudencio Raralio Pilar; Pilar dba Pilar Financial Services Investments and Tax Strategies; and/or Pilar Investments LLC, or who may have information regarding this matter, is urged to contact the State Securities Enforcement Branch at 586-2740 on Oahu or by email at seb@dcca.hawaii.gov.
Gerontology conference set for September
The Hawaii Pacific Gerontology Conference on Sept. 10 and 11 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village will feature a special long-term care segment among an array of guest speakers and presentations on the newest technologies for seniors.
More than 400 people are expected to attend the event for sessions titled "Tai Chi for Fall Prevention," "Cutting Costs by Verifying Home Care Services" and "Opening the Door to Your Independent Living," among many others.
Online registration is available at www.hpgs.org/ advocacy-outreach.htm. The cost of registration ranges from $130 to $240.
Forecaster of dot-com bubble dies at 79
NEW YORK » Barton Biggs, the former chief global strategist for Morgan Stanley who warned three years before the crash in dot-com companies that stocks were too expensive, has died, the bank said Monday. He was 79.
Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman confirmed Biggs’ death in a memo to employees. A bank spokeswoman said Biggs died after a short illness.
Biggs co-founded one of the first hedge funds, Fairfield Partners, in 1965, Gorman said. Biggs joined Morgan Stanley in 1973 and founded Morgan Stanley Investment Management in 1975. He served on the bank’s board until 1996.
Biggs retired from Morgan Stanley in 2003 and formed another hedge fund, Traxis Partners.
Biggs predicted the bull market in U.S. stocks that began in 1982 and warned investors away from Japanese shares in 1989 before they collapsed. He sealed his fame telling investors to sell technology companies as they soared in the late 1990s, a judgment dismissed by the press and other investors until the dot-com bubble burst.
On the Move
Kaiser Permanente Hawaii has appointed:
>> Terry Garrison as director of account management. She has more than 20 years of experience in client account management, sales and group benefits consulting.
>> Connie Salgy as director of product innovation. She has more than 20 years of health care experience.
Hunt Cos. has hired Blair Suzuki as an assistant development manager. He was a commercial real estate officer and assistant vice president at Bank of Hawaii.
North Hawaii Community Hospital has appointed Robert K. “Bob” Lindsey to the hospital’s board of directors. He has many years of political, cultural, business and community experience and was a director, social worker and park ranger.
