Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.law From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: law Wed, Jul 1 1992 Date: Wed, 1 Jul 92 05:20:57 EDT Message-ID: 07-01 0000 DECISIONLINE: Business Law USA TODAY Update July 1, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network 11 DON'T BELONG ON LIST: Eleven of the savings and loans on USA TODAY's troubled list, published Monday, didn't belong on the list because the government is guaranteeing the value of some of their problem assets, according to the newspaper. The list of 326 troubled thrifts was compliled from the 2,188 S&L's that report to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of Thrift Supervision. S&L'S PART OF EARLY BAILOUTS: The 11 incorrectly named S&L's didn't belong on the list because they were involved in some of the earliest S&L bailouts, in which the government made up the difference of the failed investments. These 11 thrifts, unlike the other 315, had adequate financial backup against their bad loans and repossessed property. Two of the thrifts were in Oklahoma, the other nine were in Texas. EQUIFAX SETTLES WITH 18 STATES: Credit-reporting agency Equifax settled charges Tuesday from 18 states and agreed to improve its credit reporting practices, the New York attorney general's office said. Equifax agreed to improve information gathering and reporting to prevent the mixing of credit information in their data base of 170 million consumers. The company will pay a $150,000 investigation charge to the state. STEEL COMPANIES MAKE CHARGES: The U.S. Commerce Department will investigate Tuesday's charges from U.S. steel companies that 21 countries are dumping steel below cost in the USA. The charges allege that foreign flat-rolled steel was causing billions of dollars of lost sales and thousands of lost jobs. If Commerce finds truth in the charges and the International Trade Commission sees harm to U.S. firms, duties will be imposed. R.I. RESCUE COMES TO END: Rhode Island ended its rescue of 45 failed banks and credit unions Tuesday through a private sale of $56 million in bonds. The bond issue was sold to repay depositors in the 45 institutions. The legislation that created the bailout agency Depositors Economic Corp. last year ordered the agency to repay 100,000 depositors at least 90% of their holdings by Tuesday, and it succeeded. DEPOSITORS LOST IN COLLAPSE: Depositors in Rhode Island's 45 failed financial institutions lost access to $1 billion of their money after the Rhode Island Share and Deposit Indemnity Corp., a private deposit insurance fund, collapsed. The state closed the institutions on Dec. 31, 1990. DEPCO financed the repayment through the sale of about $640 million in bonds and notes, including Tuesday's private sale. RECORD STORES MAKE CHANGES: Charges were dropped Tuesday against four Omaha, Neb., record stores accused of selling 2 Live Crew's album, Sports Weekend, to minors. Prosecutors dropped the charges when the stores agreed to continue policies of not selling records to minors that might violate the state's "harmful to minors" law. Charges were filed after teens were able to buy the album in nine record stores. SUNLITE DROPS LAWSUIT: Sunlite Inc. dropped its lawsuit Tuesday against New York brokerage firm M.S. Farrell & Co. Inc. The lawsuit charged the firm and its top officers with securities violations and was settled Friday after M.S. Farrell agreed to buy back Sunlite's investment for $300,000, said Bloomberg Business News. Sunlite had $350,000 of the firm's stock, and said the firm didn't market its stock well. BARRY'S ENDS REORGANIZATION: Barry's Jewelers emerged as a reorganized company Tuesday, only four months after filling for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with a pre-negotiated Plan of Reorganization. Barry's closed 70 of its 145 retail jewelry stores in 13 states to concentrate on the operations with the greatest potential. The closings also helped raise cash for the reorganization and to reduce its debts. MATTEL WINS PATENT BATTLE: Mattel, Inc. won a round in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. Tuesday. The court unanimously overturned a patent infringement judgment related to the track for Mattel's Hot Wheels line of miniature vehicles. The 15-year-old case involved a patent that expired in 1986. WASTE REGULATION DENIED: The House Energy and Commerce Committee rejected legislation Tuesday that would have established a federal regulatory system to reduce industrial waste pollution. Instead, a study of industrial waste will be done for another two years. Under current law, regulation of wastes is left up to the states. The House has continued to consider amendments to the nations solid waste law. FORMER BROKER SETTLES CHARGES: A former floor broker at the Chicago Board of Trade settled with Commodity Futures Trading Commission Tuesday on charges of aiding a scheme of improper trading in pork belly futures. Thomas Kenney, without admitting or denying guilt, agreed to pay a $5,000 fine, to be barred for two years from trading and not to violate trading rules again, said Bloomberg Business News. Business Law Editor: Kate Coughlin. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM