Barnwell joins Big Isle development groups

A subsidiary of Barnwell Industries Inc. has entered into two limited liability partnerships to acquire 19.6 percent passive interests in three entities that own certain real estate and development rights interest in the Kukio, Maniniowali and Kaupulehu portions of Kukio Resort, a private residential community on the Kona Coast of Hawaii island.

Barnwell said Wednesday it borrowed approximately $4.14 million under a new bank loan to partially fund the acquisition and that the company expects that it will pay approximately $1 million in the coming months to fund the remainder of the acquisition.

The partnership agreements provide for a priority return of Barnwell’s investment prior to profit distributions and also an 8 percent return while the investment is outstanding.

EU fines banks $2.3B for market rigging

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS » The European Commission has fined a group of major global banks a total of $2.3 billion for colluding to profit from the manipulation of key interest rates.

The banks that received fines, which include JPMorgan, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank, are accused of manipulating for years European and Japanese benchmark interest rates that affect hundreds of billions of dollars in contracts globally, from mortgages to credit card bills.

Switzerland’s UBS bank escaped a whopping 2.5 billion-euro fine only because it informed the Commission, the EU’s executive arm, of a cartel’s existence and cooperated with the subsequent investigation.

New-home sales jumped in October

WASHINGTON » Americans ramped up purchases of new homes in October after three months of soft sales, evidence that the housing recovery is improving fitfully.

Sales of new homes grew 25.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 444,000, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

That was the largest monthly percentage increase since May 1980.

But the increase came after sales had fallen 6.6 percent in September to a 354,000 annual rate, the weakest since April 2012. And sales in August and July were revised lower to 379,000 and 373,000, respectively.

U.S. firms added 215,000 jobs in November

WASHINGTON » A private survey shows U.S. businesses last month added the most jobs in a year, powered by big gains in manufacturing and construction.

Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday that companies and small businesses added 215,000 jobs in November. And ADP said private employers added 184,000 jobs in October, much stronger than its initial estimate of 130,000.

The ADP numbers cover only private businesses and often diverge from the government’s more comprehensive report. Last month, the Labor Department said private businesses added 212,000 jobs in October.

The Labor Department will report November job growth on Friday.

Newsweek to resume printing next year

NEW YORK » Paper copies of Newsweek will again roll off the presses starting next year.

Editor-in-Chief Jim Impoco says the newsmagazine’s owners, IBT Media, want to "hit the reset button" and move to a business model where a weekly print magazine would be mainly supported by subscription fees instead of advertising.

Impoco said Wednesday that officials haven’t decided how much the magazine will cost, but it’s expected to be less than $10 per issue.

After struggling for years, Newsweek ceased print publication at the end of 2012.

Banks failing with settlement, report says

Three of the United States’ largest mortgage lenders are still failing to comply with key requirements of a national settlement over mortgage abuses, according to a new report that suggests that some borrowers are still trapped in a tangle of red tape and errors as they try to save their homes from foreclosure.

Citibank, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase failed tests of seven of the settlement’s requirements, according to a report from Joseph A. Smith Jr., the court-appointed monitor of the settlement terms. The rules say mortgage servicers must eliminate mistakes, misinformation and lengthy delays from the process of granting loan modifications.

Wells Fargo passed all the tests in the first half of this year, as did Ocwen, which now services the bulk of the mortgages once held by Ally Financial.

ON THE MOVE

Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has hired:

» Arnold Brady will be joining the firm’s Kahala office. He was a Realtor associate for IProperties Hawaii.

» Rose Medina Kemna will be joining the King Street office. Her experience includes more than 20 years in sales and marketing, property management and hospitality management.

Island Fender has been awarded with the Assured Performance Certification. The certification program recognizes auto repair businesses in the U.S. for meeting the highest industry standards with automotive manufacturers in collision repair. The certification also allows Island Fender to be officially recognized by Chrysler, General Motors and Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa will donate $100,000 to Make-A-Wish Hawaii during a ceremony at the hotel’s Great Hall today. The money was raised during the seventh annual Swing for Wishes golf tournament fundraiser in October.