Research in Motion shares climb

TORONTO >> Shares of Research in Motion Ltd. jumped nearly 14 percent Friday as investors seemingly grew more optimistic about a February launch of the Canadian company’s much-delayed BlackBerry 10 smartphones.

RIM will release the latest version of its smartphone after a Jan. 30 launch event. The new phones are seen as critical to RIM’s survival as the smartphone pioneer struggles in North America to hold on to customers who are abandoning BlackBerrys for flashier iPhones and Android phones. RIM shares closed up $1.41, or nearly 14 percent, to $11.67 Friday in an abbreviated trading session on Wall Street.

Bankoh network OK after 2-hour problem

The Bank of Hawaii said all branches and ATMs were able to dispense cash to customers as of 11:38 a.m. Friday, following a two-hour computer problem that stopped ATM and debit card use and some transactions at branches.

Stafford Kiguchi, the bank’s spokes­man, said the two-hour problem prevented customers from using ATM and debit cards or conducting in-bank and online transactions.

The problem came at the height of Black Friday shopping.

"We recognize this is a bad day for this to occur and sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this caused customers," Kiguchi said in an email.

McKay to lead BP’s global ‘upstream’ unit

The British oil group BP said Friday that it had appointed Lamar McKay to run its exploration, development and production operations worldwide, as the company wrapped up a restructuring of the unit following the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

McKay is taking over from BP’s chief executive, Robert W. Dudley, who took over management of the so-called upstream unit in an effort to improve risk management in the wake of the spill. McKay, who is currently chairman and president of BP America, is to start in his new role at the beginning of next year. He will report to Dudley.

"During the past two years, we have successfully introduced a more centralized organization to our upstream, BP’s largest organizational change for two decades," Dudley said in a statement. "I believe it is now timely and appropriate to appoint a fully dedicated chief executive to this, our largest business."

Cattle futures rise amid increased demand

Cattle futures extended a rally to a record amid shrinking supplies of U.S. beef and increasing demand for the meat as grocers boost purchases before the Christmas holiday.

U.S. commercial beef output in the 10 months through Oct. 31 fell 1.1 percent from the same period in 2011, the government said in a report today. The herd as of July 1 shrank to the smallest since at least 1973. Ranchers culled herds after the worst drought since 1956 eroded crop yields, sending corn, the main ingredient in feed, up as much as 68 percent since mid-June.

Grocers are stocking up on beef, which is often served as part of the Christmas meal, before the Dec. 25 holiday, said Christian Mayer, a market adviser at Northstar Commodity Investments Co. Consumers might pay as much as 6.5 percent more for the meat in 2012, the biggest increase of any food item, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today.

Multimillion-dollar fine for UBS expected

LONDON » UBS is expected to face a multimillion-dollar fine in connection with the $2.3 billion trading loss caused by a former trader, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The potential fine by British authorities against the Swiss bank may be 30 million pounds to 50 million pounds, or $47 million to $80 million, and could be announced as early as next week, according to one person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

On Tuesday former UBS trader Kweku M. Adoboli received a seven-year jail sentence on two counts of fraud in connection with the loss for abusing his position at the Swiss bank from 2008 to 2011. Adoboli was found not guilty on another four counts of false accounting.

The Financial Services Authority, the British regulator, and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority opened a joint inquiry last year into the enormous trading loss. On behalf of the regulators, the accounting firm KPMG conducted a $20 million investigation into the internal failures at the Swiss bank that led to Adoboli’s trading loss.

App’s success draws investors to Finland

The success of "Angry Birds" is helping Finland’s other mobile-game fledglings take wing.

Enticed by the title’s rapid rise to fame, venture-capital investors are flocking to the Nordic country in search of the next hit. The game developers attracting attention include the makers of "Clash of Clans," "Hay Day" and "Hill Climb Racing." Each of those has had millions of downloads, joining "Angry Birds" in Apple Inc.’s application store’s top lists.

Expanding at an annual pace of 57 percent, gaming has emerged as a niche growth industry for the country of 5 million seeking to diversify its economy as once-dominant mobile-phone maker Nokia Oyj shrinks and cuts thousands of jobs. "Angry Birds" maker Rovio Entertainment Oy attracted $42 million in venture money in 2011 and has helped local rivals including Supercell Oy and Grey Area Oy also lure international backers.

KKR agrees to buy Alliant from Blackstone

KKR & Co., the private-equity firm run by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, agreed to buy brokerage Alliant Insurance Services Inc. from Blackstone Group LP for an undisclosed price.

Employees of Alliant, which is based in Newport Beach, Calif., own 45 percent of the company and will roll over a "substantial" amount of their investment in the company under KKR’s ownership, the companies said today in a statement.

On the Move

Paul “Kalama” Kim and Patrick Graham were selected to the Hono­lulu Board of Realtors’ board of directors starting Jan. 1. Kim will serve a three-year term as member-at-large. He is senior vice president and branch manager of Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties’ Kapo­lei Office. Graham will serve his second two-year term as Windward/North Shore regional director. He is a Realtor associate with CBP’s Windward Office.

Aloha Petroleum Ltd. presented the American Red Cross, Hawaii Chapter with a check for $4,341 to support the organization’s mission to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies.