Finance news. My opinion.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland signed House Bill 285 this week, a measure that gives one free pass to small businesses in the state that rack up first-time paperwork violations.

The measure, introduced about a year ago and cleared in both chambers of the Ohio General Assembly earlier this year, waives fines or civil penalties for small businesses’ first paperwork violation. The waiver applies to a wide range of state agencies, including the Department of Taxation, Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Natural Resources.

The bill also stipulates that fines and penalties remain intact if the violation could cause serious harm or involve a criminal offense.

H.B. 285 garnered support from small businesses and trade groups, including the state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business.

State legislators roundly backed it as well creditreports. The measure in March passed unanimously in the House of Representatives and went on to receive unanimous Senate approval last month.

As the measure was moving through the General Assembly, Strickland also signed an executive order calling for state agencies to adopt a common-sense approach when reviewing and applying rules and regulations governing Ohio businesses.

With Strickland’s signature on the measure Tuesday, the law takes effect in mid-September.

Source

Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said central banks need to look at more than just current inflation rates to develop policies that aim to prevent economic bubbles before they occur.

“If we focus narrowly on the current observed inflation rate, there is a risk that the necessary monetary policy adjustments might be delayed, inducing large fluctuations in economic activities,'' Shirakawa said in a speech in Tokyo today. “It is important to design a policy and institutional framework less prone to the formation of a bubble ex ante.''

Shirakawa said Japan's “extremely subdued'' inflation during the asset-price bubble of the late 1980s meant only a minority of economists were calling for higher interest rates. The bursting of the bubble caused asset prices to plummet and led to more than a decade of economic stagnation and deflation.

“The perception that Shirakawa respects economic theories is penetrating among investors,'' said Mamoru Yamazaki, chief Japan economist at RBS Securities in Tokyo no teletrack payday loans.

Economists expect the Bank of Japan to keep its benchmark interest rate at 0.5 percent this year as economic growth slows and costlier oil and raw materials fan inflation. The bank last month dropped a call for gradual rate increases and slashed its growth forecast in its twice-yearly outlook.

Shirakawa said the current U.S. financial-market turmoil, like Japan's bubble, has caused asset prices to tumble and “exerted adverse effects on the real economy.''

“Be it in Japan or in the U.S., many of recent bubbles occurred, quite paradoxically, following a continued low interest-rate period after price stability was achieved or deflation scare heightened,'' he said.

Source

Susquehanna Bancshares said Wednesday that its first-quarter earnings increased by 35 percent.

The Lititz, Pa., company said its net income was $28 million, or 33 cents per diluted share, compared to $20.7 million, or 40 cents per share, for the first quarter of 2007.

The bank completed an $860 million acquisition of Community Banks Inc. in November, which largely contributed to Susquehanna increasing its assets over the past year from $8 billion to $13 billion.

Excluding the Community Banks acquisition, Susquehanna said it grew its net loans and leases by 17 percent but saw deposits decline by 6 percent since March 31.

Susquehanna Chairman, President and CEO William J. Reuter said the challenging credit environment could impact some borrowers so the bank increased its loan loss reserve by $21 million instant payday loan.

Loan loss provision for the first quarter was $9.8 million, exceeding net charge offs by $4.4 million, and allowing the bank to build its reserve to 1.05 percent of total loans from 1.01 percent on Dec. 31.

Susquehanna Bancshares (NASDAQ:SUSQ) is a financial services holding company with assets of about $13 billion. It provides financial services through its three commercial banks at more than 230 branch locations in the mid-Atlantic region. Susquehanna Bank, one of the subsidiaries, has significant operations in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Source

A dated system that treats some state workers like tenured professors will likely allow one of them to retire next week with full benefits — despite having confessed to forging dozens of bridge inspection reports.

David Simmons, a nearly 30-year veteran of the Georgia Department of Transportation, admitted he falsified 54 reports since last fall after superiors noticed he and partner Gerald Kelsey recorded a much higher number of inspections than possible in the time allotted.

Kelsey has resigned — although he admitted no wrongdoing — after nearly 10 years with the department.

The pair was assigned some 1,300 bridges in portions of DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett and Rockdale counties. GDOT will re-inspect 400 of those bridges, including the 54 Simmons admitted lying about.

Commissioner Gena Abraham said the department does not believe any of the bridges are unsafe but is still investigating fast cash online.

At the same time, she decried the protections granted to state workers like Simmons, a "classified" employee whose privileged status would make it hard to force him to resign or strip him of his benefits. Simmons plans to retire effective Feb. 11.

Abraham said she has been inundated with requests from GDOT staff to investigate other "issues" and will be looking into them as part of her mission to weed out inefficiency and other problems in the department.

"I'm still very uncomfortable that we're getting eight hours of work for eight hours of pay," Abraham said. "I hope this sends a clear message to my employees."

Source