U.S. banks to send checks in foreclosure settlement

WASHINGTON >> The nation’s largest banks will begin sending payments this week to millions of Americans who may have been wrongfully foreclosed during the housing crisis.

A total of $3.6 billion in cash will be distributed to 4.2 million borrowers who lost their homes or were at risk of foreclosure, the Federal Reserve and the Comptroller of the Currency said Tuesday. Payments will range from $300 to $125,000. About 90 percent of borrowers whose mortgages were serviced by 11 of the banks will receive payments by the end of April, the agencies said.

The last group of payments is expected in mid-July.

State health network reaches 1,000 users

The state Health Information Exchange, which was set up in 2010 to build an electronic network for health care providers to exchange patient medical information, said Tuesday that 1,055 providers in Hawaii are now using electronic health records.

HIE said it has put in place a secure, encrypted electronic information sharing system for providers to exchange and refer patient information. The agency said 587 providers have connected to the state Health Information Exchange network.

Hilo-based practice Gastroenterology Associates Inc., a 23-year-old practice with three physicians, uses the electronic health records system for patient referrals from primary care providers.

"The state HIE alleviates the need to make repetitive phone calls and faxes to other providers for the majority of referrals that come through the network," Chelsy Furuli, computer specialist at Gastroenterology Associates, said in a news release.

HawTel’s parent firm to ring NASDAQ bell

Executives from Hawaiian Telcom HoldCo Inc. will ring the closing bell Friday at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City’s Times Square.

"We’ll proudly represent all of Hawaii’s residents and businesses as we help to close the trading week at the NASDAQ Exchange," said Eric Yeaman, Hawaiian Telcom president and chief executive officer, in a statement.

Others attending the bell-ringing will include Chief Financial Officer Bob Reich; Brian Tanner, director of Investor Relations; and the company’s board of directors: Chairman Richard Jalkut, Kurt Cellar, Walter Dods, Warren Haruki, Steven Oldham and Bernard Phillips.

CPB initiates pair of new loan ventures

Central Pacific Bank has launched two new joint ventures — Haseko HomeLoans and Island Pacific HomeLoans — to provide residential mortgage loan services in Hawaii. The companies are an addition to Central Pacific’s two existing residential mortgage joint ventures, Gentry HomeLoans and Pacific Access Mortgage.

Haseko HomeLoans is a joint venture between Central Pacific and Haseko (Hawaii) Inc.; Island Pacific HomeLoans is a joint venture between Central Pacific and M&A Enterprises LLC. The bank said the new joint ventures will allow it to better support those two companies with financing for home purchases.

Haseko (Hawaii) Inc., established in 1973, has been developing residential, commercial and resort projects in Hawaii for almost 40 years. M&A is a newly formed business.

Central Pacific, the state’s fourth-largest bank with $4.37 billion in assets, originated more than $1 billion in residential mortgage loans in 2012.

Ad 2 Honolulu seeks board members

Ad 2 Honolulu, a nonprofit professional organization for advertising industry members age 32 and younger, has issued a call for volunteer board members.

Volunteers for all positions are sought, including seats on the board of directors as well as eight committee chairmanships. The nomination process is handled via email at info@ad2­honolulu.org. The club encourages self-nomination as well as nominations of others for the leadership year, which runs from July through June 2014. Further details are available on the Ad 2 website at ad2honolulu.org.

Texas city to get ultrafast Google Fiber

AUSTIN, Texas » Google Inc. picked tech-savvy Austin, Texas, on Tuesday as the next city where the search giant will wire homes with ultrafast Internet connections, but it did not say how much customers will pay or when the fiber-optic experiment might expand elsewhere in the U.S.

Austin and Kansas City, Mo., are the only places to get Google Fiber — a broadband service that is an alternative to cable or satellite TV providers.

The rollout is an expensive undertaking and gamble for Google, which must first build costly new broadband pipelines that can handle "gigabit" speeds. Google hopes the rollout will drive innovation and pressure phone and cable companies to improve their networks, because Google benefits when people spend more time online.

Google expects Austin homes to begin receiving Google Fiber in mid-2014.

Herbalife, Skechers auditor KPMG resigns

NEW YORK » Accounting firm KPMG has resigned as the auditor for dietary supplements maker Herbalife and shoe retailer Skechers after a KPMG partner allegedly leaked information about the companies to someone who then used the information to trade stocks.

KPMG said it has fired the partner and has no reason to believe there were any problems with the financial reports of Herbalife or Skechers.

Still, the development is a headache for the companies. KPMG withdrew its recent audit reports of both companies, because it felt its own independence had been compromised.

On the Move

The Queen’s Health Systems has named LiAnn Yoshi­mura director of health information systems. She was previously a manager of IT projects at the Queen’s Health Systems as well as CIS project manager at Hawaii Medical Center.

ABC Stores has promoted: 
>> Dan Omura to store manager of ABC Store No. 27, at 2462 Kuhio Ave. His has worked for ABC Stores as a sales associate, assistant store manager and associate store manager.
>> Carol Sulfelix to store manager of ABC Store No. 68, at 2255 Kuhio Ave. She has worked for ABC Stores as a sales associate, shift manager, assistant store manager and associate store manager.

The First Insurance Company of Hawaii Charitable Foundation has donated more than $49,000 to local nonprofit organizations, including the Hawaii Community Foundation, Hawaii Charter School Network, American Red Cross and Helping Hands Hawaii. All FICOH associates are automatically members of the First Community Action Team, who is affiliated with Hawaii Meals on Wheels.