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T. Rowe bars some American Airlines workers from fund trading

Gary Haber[1] Staff Reporter- Baltimore Business Journal Email[2] | Twitter[3] T. Rowe Price Group has permanently barred some participants in American Airlines’ 401(k) retirement plan from trading between several of Price’s mutual funds offered in the plan. Bill Benintende[4], a T. Rowe spokesman, declined to discuss details but said in a statement that the move comes after the firm “issued several warnings about excessive trading by a small minority of plan participants over a number of years.” “T. Rowe Price has a fiduciary obligation to protect the interests of all fund shareholders against excessive trading that may disrupt portfolio management and negatively impact performance,” Benintende said in a statement. Reuters reported Monday[5] that the ban affects about 1,300 American Airlines (OTC: AAMRQ) workers — less than 2 percent of the 80,000 employees in the airline’s $uper $aver retirement plan. The plan participants who are affected will still be able to put new money into the mutual funds through payroll deductions, or take their money out of the funds, Benintende said. In addition to the 1,300 American workers receiving the permanent ban, warning letters were sent to another 800 workers, Reuters reported. Benintende declined to identify the mutual funds to which the ban applies. Reuters reported that they are T. Rowe’s High Yield, Science & Technology, MidCap Growth and New Horizons funds. Benintende declined to discuss what prompted T. Rowe (NASDAQ: TROW) to put the trading ban in place. But Reuters reported that it came comes after temporary restrictions on trades by some plan participants who subscribe to the EZTracker LLC investment newsletter aimed at American Airlines employees. If a large number of shareholders trade into or out of a mutual fund at the same time, that can be disruptive for the fund’s other shareholders. Gary Haber covers Banking, Finance, Insurance,…
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BusinessWoman of the Year ... the styles, the scene, the party

Alexis Muellner Props to the TBBJ's Events Manager Darrah Winkler and her team, and anyone at Innisbrook that was responsible for these lovely floral mood setters. Alexis Muellner[1] Editor- Tampa Bay Business Journal Email[2] | Google+[3] | Twitter[4] | LinkedIn[5] Our Gatsby-themed BusinessWoman of the Year event attracted a packed house at the Innisbrook Golf Resort Friday. If you weren't able to join us this year, see the SLIDESHOW to the right to share now in the festivities you missed. If you were there, thanks again for coming. This event has great memories for us. My first week in Tampa Bay as editor in August 2004, I was handed a scary task. I held the "envelope please" envelopes for the TBBJ's very first BusinessWoman of the Year event, won by Fowler White Boggs[6] CEO Rhea Law[7] in 2004. Luckily, "the envelope guy" didn't stick as a nickname. Learn more about our 2013 winner Ami Forte[8]. Learn more about the business chops[9] of all our finalists. Alexis Muellner is Editor of the Tampa Bay Business Journal. References^ Alexis Muellner (feeds.bizjournals.com)^ Email (feeds.bizjournals.com)^ Google+ (plus.google.com)^ Twitter (twitter.com)^ LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)^ Fowler White Boggs (feeds.bizjournals.com)^ Rhea Law (feeds.bizjournals.com)^ 2013 winner Ami Forte (www.bizjournals.com)^ the business chops (www.bizjournals.com)...
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Chambers Street snaps up Las Colinas office campus

Chambers Street Properties of New Jersey purchased Carpenter Corporate Center I and II, a two-building office campus in Las Colinas. Candace Carlisle[1] Staff Writer- Dallas Business Journal Email[2] | Twitter[3] | Twitter[4] | Google+[5] Princeton, N.J.-based Chambers Street Properties[6] (NYSE: CSG) has snapped up a two-building office campus in Las Colinas, which is 100 percent leased. The two, three-story buildings -- Carpenter Corporate Center I and II total 226,822 square feet -- are the company's third office asset acquisition in Dallas-Fort Worth. Terms of the deal were undisclosed. Earlier this year, Louisville, Ky.-based health and wellness company Humana Inc.[7] announced its pharmacy management company, RightSource, planned to open a mail order pharmacy call center and support operation[8] at Carpenter Corporate Center II at 2001 W. John Carpenter Frwy. in Irving. The new operation, which was scheduled to open this month, was expected to create more than 620 new jobs over the next three years. The two buildings were constructed in 2008 and 2009, and sit on 16.6 acres of land. The two-building property includes an on-site cafe, fitness center and 1,107 parking spaces. "This was a terrific opportunity to acquire another prime office asset, 100 percent leased to an investment grade tenant," Chuck Hessel[9], senior vice president of acquisitions, said in a written statement. Chambers Street, a industrial and office real estate investment trust, owns more than 2.5 million square feet of warehouse and distribution property in North Texas. Candace covers commercial and residential real estate and sports business. References^ Candace Carlisle (feeds.bizjournals.com)^ Email (feeds.bizjournals.com)^ Twitter (twitter.com)^ Twitter (twitter.com)^ Google+ (plus.google.com)^ Chambers Street Properties (www.bizjournals.com)^ Humana Inc. (www.bizjournals.com)^ planned to open a mail order pharmacy call center and support operation (www.bizjournals.com)^ Chuck Hessel (feeds.bizjournals.com)...
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Chicago Stock Exchange to pay $300,000 fine

Staff Chicago Business Journal Chicago Stock Exchange has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle regulatory claims that it violated market rules aimed at ensuring investors get the best prices. Some brokers were able to abuse a component of the exchange’s order-matching system to obtain better prices at the expense of other investors, Bloomberg reported,[1] citing an order from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC said from 2006 to 2010, the exchange failed to implement policies meant to detect and prevent these types of violations and also didn’t implement surveillance procedures to monitor brokers’ use of its system from 2006 to 2008, reports Bloomberg. “The validated cross system permitted institutional brokers to execute transactions at stale prices within previously captured NBBO,” or national best bid and offer, the SEC said in the order[2]. “The system was thus not reasonably designed to prevent validated cross trades from trading through the NBBO prevailing at the time of execution.” The Chicago Stock Exchange, which only accounts for about 0.4 percent of U.S. equities trading volume, is the fourth exchange to be fined by the SEC in less than a year, as part of efforts to crack down technology problems and rule violations, according to the Wall Street Journal[3]. By volume, the CHX, owned by parent CHX Holdings Inc., is the 11th-largest U.S. stock exchange. The exchange agreed to settle the charges without admitting or denying any wrongdoing. "We're very happy to come to a resolution and put it behind us," Chicago Stock Exchange Chief Executive David Herron[4] told Reuters[5]. Herron added that the exchange decommissioned the validated cross system program in December 2010, before the SEC starting investigating the matter. "This was one small part of our functionality and has long been disabled and is no longer an offering of the CHX," Herron…
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Westerville getting $13.5M from Ohio EPA to upgrade water plant

Kristen Alexander This is a stock photo of a water treatment plant. Brian R. Ball[1] Staff reporter- Business First Email[2] | Google+[3] | Twitter[4] | LinkedIn[5] The city of Westerville is getting a $13.5 million loan to upgrade its water treatment plant. The Ohio EPA has extended the financing from the Ohio Water Supply Revolving Loan Account at a rate of 2.59 percent over 20 years. The agency said the discounted rate will save the city about $3 million over market-rate financing. Ohio EPA spokeswoman Erin Strouse[6] told me the loan will cover the entire cost of the city project that include the installation of granulated carbon pressure filter for the secondary filtering and absorbing of organic materials and the upgrade of chemical storage and feeding system. The project also calls for replacing chlorine with the safer sodium hypochlorite and improvements to the water treatment facility’s control room. More than $1 billion has been loaned through the fund since its inception in 1998. Brian R. Ball covers real estate, allied construction industries, development and the hospitality and hotel sectors for Business First. References^ Brian R. Ball (feeds.bizjournals.com)^ Email (feeds.bizjournals.com)^ Google+ (plus.google.com)^ Twitter (twitter.com)^ LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)^ Erin Strouse (feeds.bizjournals.com)...
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Fed maps Minnesota bank failures

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis A nationwide map of bank failures puts the Twin Cities situation in perspective. Jim Hammerand[1] Staff reporter- Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal Email[2] | Twitter[3] | Google+[4] A new Fed project has mapped Minnesota's bank failures from Access Bank[5] to RiverBank[6]. The Google-powered map from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis actually charts all bank failures nationwide since 2007 by size, which puts the Twin Cities situation in perspective. [7] Minnesota's historically had more banks per capita than other states, but also had more banks go under in the years immediately following the financial crisis than all but a handful of the hardest-hit states[8]. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis[9] officials expect 2013 to bring fewer Minnesota bank failures[10] than prior years. So far, only one has failed: Andover's 1st Regents Bank[11], back in January[12]. The surviving — and thriving[13] — Twin Cities-based banks reported that they were well capitalized as of the end of June, according to a Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal analysis of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.[14] data. That doesn't mean Minnesota's banks aren't still fighting economic headwinds[15] and new regulatory burdens. Even the state's star performer, U.S. Bancorp[16], lost steam compared to last year[17]. Top finance executives are still split[18] on whether our financial system remains dangerously unstable[19]. But making money is more fun than losing it, as American Bank of St. Paul[20] CEO Tom Palmer[21] told me this morning. After recording 20 straight quarters of losses[22], a streak that started before he came on to lead a turnaround[23], the bank made more than $4 million in the first half of 2013. "We've turned a corner. We feel good about it. It makes our employees feel good, it makes our customers feel better. It's very positive. It makes a long…
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