ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 27, 1997 TAG: 9702270047
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
Sumitomo chairman quits to end scandal
TOKYO - The chairman of Sumitomo Corp. resigned Wednesday in hopes of putting an end to a scandal that cost the company $2.6 billion in losses from copper trading.
Tomiichi Akiyama, 67, told reporters he was resigning to ``put closure'' on the scandal. Company officials said he was taking none of the blame, however, and would retire with the company's full benefits package.
Former star copper trader Yasuo Hamanaka has admitted in court that he forged the signatures of his bosses four times to keep secret a decade of risky trading, and that he swindled a Sumitomo subsidiary in Hong Kong out of $770 million to cover losses.
The disclosure June 13 roiled world copper markets and raised questions about supervision at Japanese corporations.
-Associated Press
Special board opens pilots' hearing
DALLAS - The special board appointed by President Clinton to mediate the pilots' dispute at American Airlines is to begin meeting today in Washington.
Three arbitrators are to hear the dispute and devise a way to resolve the pay and job-security disagreements that led to a strike Feb. 15. The strike was only minutes old when Clinton intervened by establishing the emergency board and sending the pilots back to work.
The board is to make its recommendation March 17. If either American's parent company, AMR Corp., or the Allied Pilots Association disagree with it, then they must wait 30 days before acting. At that time, the pilots could strike or Congress could legislate a contract.
-Associated Press
Briefly ...
* Microtel Inn & Suites, a three-story, 64-room hotel, is planned on Plantation Road in Roanoke County near Interstate 81. The limited-service economy hotel, with rates starting at $41, is the project of Roanoke hotelier Tarun Patel and Atlanta-based US Franchise Systems. Groundbreaking is scheduled May 1, and the facility is expected to open in November.
* MainStreet BankGroup of Martinsville on Wednesday declared a common stock cash dividend of 14 cents per share, payable March 27 to shareholders of March 12.
LENGTH: Short : 49 linesby CNB