Aloha United Way expands donor choices
Aloha United Way’s annual application process for local nonprofits to be eligible for designations through Aloha United Way’s 2012 campaign has expanded. The deadline to apply is Dec. 16. Beginning with its 2012 pacesetter (spring) and general (fall) campaigns, Aloha United Way’s Donor Choice program — whereby donors can designate their donation to their favorite nonprofit — will be expanded to include a variety of organizations such as arts, cultural, environmental, animal rights and more in addition to the health and human service agencies it currently supports.
Aloha United Way will not accept designations to grant-making foundations, capital campaigns, memorial funds, agencies that are organized for political purposes or agencies with missions or objectives that are antithetical to the mission and goals of Aloha United Way.
For more information, call 536-1951 or visit www.auw.org.
Microsoft to look at Yahoo’s books again
Microsoft is officially kicking the tires at Yahoo again, three years after it failed to buy control of the company.
The software giant has signed a confidentiality agreement with Yahoo, according to a person briefed on the move, joining other potential bidders like the private equity firms Silver Lake and TPG Capital.
Behind the broad interest in Yahoo is what investors believe is a trove of riches that could be unlocked by providing stronger management. The Yahoo of today is in a weaker position than in 2008, having fallen behind Google and newer Internet players like Facebook. But Yahoo remains a formidable destination, with its news site alone attracting 81.2 million unique visitors in August.
By signing the nondisclosure pact, Microsoft will get a closer look at Yahoo’s books. This time, however, it is unlikely to pursue its own takeover attempt. Instead, it may aid others. A growing number of parties have signed confidentiality pacts with Yahoo, an indication that there is dwindling resistance to certain requirements of the agreement, including one that prevents potential bidders from talking to each other.
Nokia Siemens to lay off 17,000 worldwide
HELSINKI, FINLAND » Wireless equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks will slash 17,000 jobs — almost one-quarter of its work force — in a move to cut annual costs by $1.35 billion by 2013, company officials said Wednesday.
The joint venture between Finland’s Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG of Germany said it would focus on mobile broadband networks and services as it slims down with a view to becoming an independent company. Nokia Siemens has struggled to make a profit amid stiff competition in the global market for network infrastructure — the technology and services needed to run mobile and fixed-line networks.
Retail groups sue over debit card fee rules
NEW YORK » A coalition of retail groups sued the Federal Reserve this week, claiming the regulator ignored the law by setting too high a cap on the fees that banks can charge merchants for handling debit card purchases.
The National Retail Federation and other groups claimed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., that the Fed buckled under pressure from bank lobbyists when it set the cap at an average of about 24 cents per transaction in late June. The previously unregulated fees used to average around 44 cents. The cap, which took effect Oct. 1, was initially proposed at 12 cents.
American Bankers Association CEO Frank Keating accused retailers of "seeking more profits from government price controls" by filing the suit, and maintained that retailers have not passed on the savings that resulted from the cap to their customers.
The merchant groups said that in raising the cap, the Fed considered expenses that the law did not allow. Their lawsuit maintains that the board dropped its earlier view that the only costs that should be considered in the fee were those involving the authorization, clearing and settlement of a transaction. Instead, the retailers claim, the Fed added costs, such as fraud losses, associated with a bank’s debit card operations that were not included in the law. The result is that merchants sometimes now pay more in debit transaction fees.
Soap opera rescue plan falls short
In July, after ABC canceled "All My Children" and "One Life to Live," Jeffrey Kwatinetz and Rich Frank licensed the shows and promised to bring them back to life on the Internet.
But Wednesday they rewrote the storyline, saying they had underestimated the time it would take to win over cast members like Susan Lucci, the star of "All My Children," and groups like the Writers Guild of America. Another union involved, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, said it remained hopeful "that an opportunity to revive these two popular series will emerge in the future."
ON THE MOVE
Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has hired Bill Deuchar and Kathryn Pak for its Kahala office. Before joining CBP, they were realtor associates at Prudential Locations.
YMCA of Honolulu has appointed Kerri Van Duyne to vice president of development. She has 20 years of experience in development, including as assistant vice president-Manoa leadership gifts at University of Hawaii Foundation as well as director of annual giving and the president’s club at the University of San Diego and director of development and alumni relations for California Western School of Law.
Richard L. Allen has joined dck worldwide, a parent company to Pacific operating entities dck pacific construction and dck pacific guam, as vice president of Global Healthcare Services. He has 25 years of senior executive experience, including working for the former Forbes Health System, St. Clair Hospital and Butler Health System.