BofA’s Moynihan remains as chairman and CEO
Bank of
Brian Moynihan will keep his dual role as America’s chairman and chief executive after shareholders voted to ratify governance changes made last year.
Preliminary results showed the resolution passed with about 63 percent of the votes, the company said Tuesday. The Charlotte, N.C.-based lender had called the special meeting after angering some investors by undoing a 2009 shareholder-backed bylaw requiring an independent chairman.
JOS. A. BANK’S MAKEOVER DIMS DISCOUNTS
Jos. A. Bank, the clothing chain known for startling discounts, no longer expects customers to buy four suits at a time. But two might be nice.
Under new owner Men’s Wearhouse, the company is making its promotions less outlandish — though not abandoning them altogether — and modernizing a 110-yearold brand that hasn’t caught on with millennials. Men’s Wearhouse chief executive Doug Ewert is expanding Jos. A. Bank’s big-and-tall options, slim-fit styles and the shoe collection, aiming to broaden the chain’s appeal.
The strategy will be unveiled this fall when the retailer eliminates “unnatural” discounts in favor of more targeted sales, like offering one suit for $229 or two for $400, Ewert said.
OIL’S PLUMMET HAS COLOMBIA PAYING UP BIG
Stung by oil’s collapse, Colombia is being forced to pay more in the bond market.
The Andean nation sold $1.5 billion of notes due in 2026 to yield 2.45 percentage points over similar-maturity U.S. Treasuries on Monday. That is 1.03 percentage points more than it paid when it last issued 10-year debt in October. In the same span, average borrowing costs in emerging markets have risen 0.67 percentage point, data compiled by JPMorgan Chase show.
Colombia is turning to international debt markets to help plug a budget deficit next year that the government forecasts will be the biggest since 2010. Colombia depends on oil sales for about 40 percent of its exports and 17 percent of government revenue. The price of oil has plunged 50 percent in the past year.
FLORIDA FACES TOURISM CHALLENGES
With Florida on pace to host a record 100 million visitors this year, the state’s tourism infrastructure is being challenged like never before.
Florida’s four large-hub airports and five major seaports are undergoing billions of dollars in renovations and construction, but some experts says Florida will have to adapt to even further increases in demand to remain competitive.
Florida’s airports are getting more crowded as the state’s airports add direct flights to far-flung cities and tourism numbers surpass pre-Great Recession levels. Half of Florida’s visitors arrive by air. Florida’s seaports also are growing more crowded as the cruise industry builds bigger ships, attracts more international tourists and continues to be the fastest-growing segment in the tourism industry.
FRANCE OPENS A TRADE OFFICE IN IRAN
France has opened a trade office in Tehran, leading the charge of European countries angling for a share of the Iranian market, after the July nuclear agreement.
The opening occurred at the end of a two-day visit that brought more than 130 representatives of French companies, including Airbus, the carmakers Renault and Peugeot and the oil giant Total.
Several European and Asian business delegations have been visiting the Iranian capital since the signing of the nuclear agreement, meeting with ministers and business leaders. The United States, however, continues to be a political outcast here, at the order of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
GOLDMAN SACHS’ BLANKFEIN HAS LYMPHOMA
Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive of Goldman Sachs Group, said he has a “highly curable” form of lymphoma and will undergo chemotherapy over the next several months.
“My doctors have advised me that during the treatment, I will be able to work substantially as normal, leading the firm,” Blankfein, 61, said Tuesday in a statement.
SKYPE DISRUPTED FOR SOME USERS WORLDWIDE
Skype, Microsoft’s Internet calling unit, said that some of its users worldwide were not able to make calls or sign into the service on Monday.
Customers in Europe, the United States and Japan, starting early morning European time, were affected, according to reports on social media. Skype did not specify how many of its roughly 300 million global users could not use the service.
In a statement, the company said an undisclosed technical issue had caused people’s online contacts to be shown as offline, even when they were signed into Skype.