Regional Briefs
Galvin Comes Down On 'Structured Products'
Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin has charged Boston-based Cantella & Co. Inc. with failure to supervise its representatives in the sale of structured products and with making false and misleading responses about its structured products business.
A "structured product" is defined by Galvin as "securities derived from or based on a single security, a basket of securities, an index, a commodity, a debt issuance and/or a foreign currency."
"These 'structured' instruments are highly complex and it is essential not only that investors be informed of the risks as well as the benefits of investing in them but that representatives thoroughly understand the instruments they are selling to Massachusetts investors," Galvin said.
The securities division of Galvin's office made inquiries in July of a number of firms offering structured products to their clients.
As a result, Cantella & Co. faces an administrative complaint that "focuses primarily on Cantella's materially false and misleading responses to inquiries made by the division as to its retail products business, and on Cantella's overall failure to create, implement and enforce adequate policies and procedures that would enable reasonable supervision of its registered representatives," according to the division.
Mass. Knows Its Business
Massachusetts is the state most able to compete in knowledge-based business, according to the new "State Knowledge Economy Index" released by Georgia-based Aelera Corp.
The state ranked first in seven of the 13 indicators the company considered.
Aelera, a marketing and consumer support company, based the rankings on states' human capital, innovation capacity, research and development and public education.
The company said the Bay State's number one ranking was due in part to its history of high-tech research and development and Gov. Deval Patrick's plans to improve education.
Medical Device Centers Nab Funding
The Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (or M2D2), a collaboration of UMass Lowell and UMass Medical Center in Worcester, has received a $500,000 grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's John Adams Innovation Institute.
The grant aims to help entrepreneurs develop new medical device ideas. M2D2 is now working with companies from around the state to develop products including a system to prevent elderly people from falling, a dissolvable heart stent and a system that uses contact lenses to deliver glaucoma drugs.
M2D2 already received $150,000 from the institute, and UMass Lowell is seeking funding from the state life sciences board to transform the Institute for Plastics Innovation, which houses M2D2, into an innovation center for life sciences.
CVS Fined For Wage, Safety Violations
Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS Pharmacy Inc. will pay a $226,598 fine and pay back wages totaling $38,151 to 51 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found several violations at pharmacies all over the northeast.
Department investigators found that 78 minors were exposed to the hazards of loading, unloading and operating cardboard compactors and balers at various CVS locations; seven minors were found to have been employed in violation of the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act's time standards; and 51 employees were found to be due a total of $38,151 in back wages, mostly because of the improper editing of their timecards by store managers.
The department said 43 of the 63 sites investigated had FLSA wage and/or youth employment violations. For the youth employment and wage violations, the department has fined CVS $226,598.
The department was prompted to look into widespread violations this year when previous investigations found violations at some pharmacy locations. The most recent investigation took place in stores in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. CVS has more than 6,000 stores in the U.S.
MBA Says Home Loan Apps. Up
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its mortgage applications survey for the week ended Dec. 7 showed a market composite index of 811.8, an increase of 2.5 percent compared to the previous week.
On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 1.4 percent compared with the previous week and was up 14.2 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.
The MBA's survey covers about 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted weekly since 1990.
Taxes, And More Taxes
A new study commissioned by the Associated Industries of Massachusetts Foundation has found that Massachusetts businesses' total state and local tax payments increased by 45 percent, or $4.2 billion, between 2002 and 2007.
In contrast, non-business state and local taxes rose only 33 percent during the same period, according to the study.
Richard Lord, AIM's president and CEO, said the new figures should go a long way towards clearing up any questions as to whether business is "paying its fair share."
Since the end of the recession in 2002, business-related taxes grew at an annual rate of 7.7 percent, from $9.3 billion in 2002 to $13.5 billion this year.
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