The Federal Reserve said Friday it will begin issuing a new report twice a year assessing the stability of the U.S. financial system.
The Fed said the first report will be issued on Nov. 28. It will provide information on potential financial vulnerabilities tracked by the central bank such as valuations for bank loans, borrowing by businesses and households and bank funding risks.
“We learned from the financial crisis that a resilient financial system is critical for a healthy economy,” said Fed board member Lael Brainard. “The publication of the Financial Stability Report will be an important step in providing the public with more information about the board’s assessment of financial stability.”
The Fed said the new stability reports would be issued every spring and fall.
After the financial crisis, Fed officials decided bank regulators had done a poor job in monitoring financial market threats and the central bank created a new division to focus on these threats.
Randal Quarles, the Fed’s vice chairman for supervision, said in a speech Friday that the central bank is currently reviewing possible changes to the annual stress tests it performs on the country’s largest banks. The Fed began conducting the tests in the wake of the 2008 crisis.
“Our stress testing regime — like the banking and financial system that it evaluates — will and should evolve as we continue to learn from experience in the management of this tool.”
Quarles will testify before House and Senate committees next week discussing the central bank’s supervision activities this year.
Athenahealth Fetches $5.7B Cash Buyout Offer
A prominent athenahelath investor and a private equity firm will spend about $5.7 billion on the medical billing software maker and take it private.
Veritas Capital and Evergreen Coast Capital said Monday they’ll pair athenahealth with a company Veritas bought earlier this year, Virence Health.
Athenahealth stock owners will receive $135 in cash per share, a roughly 12 percent premium over the company’s closing price on Friday.
Athenahealth, based in Watertown, Massachusetts, makes medical record, revenue cycle and care coordination products and delivers most of it through the cloud.
Athenahealth investor Elliott Management has been critical of the company and offered about $6.5 billion to take it private last spring. Evergreen Coast Capital is an Elliott affiliate that invests in technology.
Shares of athenahealth jumped in early trading.
Blue Eyes Special: Frank, Barbara Sinatra Auction Upcoming
More than 200 items belonging to Frank and Barbara Sinatra ranging from movie scripts to jewelry are going up for auction.
Sotheby’s on Monday unveiled the contents of Lady Blue Eyes: Property of Barbara and Frank Sinatra, which will go on the block in a series of auctions in New York in December. Sotheby’s says the items were gathered over the couple’s 22-year marriage and portray their public and private lives.
Barbara Sinatra’s 20-plus-carat diamond engagement ring, which Frank Sinatra presented to her in a glass of champagne, is among the jewelry up for bid.
Copies of scripts include “From Here to Eternity,” for which Sinatra won an Academy Award, and “Ocean’s 11.”
Paintings, signed letters and personal accessories also are available.
A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center in Rancho Mirage, California.
SAP Buying Qualtrics for $8B in Cash
SAP says it has agreed to pay $8 billion cash for survey-software provider Qualtrics International Inc., which was preparing for an initial sale of stock to the public.
SAP said Sunday that the deal was approved by boards of both companies and Qualtrics shareholders. The sale is expected to close in the first half of next year.
Prove, Utah-based Qualtrics filed last week for an IPO. Its products help companies get feedback from employees and customers. Qualtrics said in a regulatory filing that it has more than 9,000 customers including more than 75 percent of Fortune 100 companies.
For Germany’s SAP, the deal is one of its biggest. In 2014, it paid about $8.3 billion for Concur, which makes software to manage employee travel and expenses.
Jury Tells Aetna to Pay $25M to Late Cancer Patient’s Family
jury has ordered Aetna to pay more than $25 million to the family of an Oklahoma City woman who died a year after the insurance company refused to cover a type of radiation therapy.
Jurors found that Aetna doctors didn’t spend enough time reviewing Orrana Cunningham’s case before denying her coverage for proton beam therapy in 2014, The Oklahoman reported . The jury ruled that Aetna recklessly disregarded its duty to deal fairly and in good faith with Cunningham, who had nasopharyngeal cancer.
Aetna is considering whether to appeal the ruling, which was issued this week. Company attorney John Shely said the insurer tries to do the right thing.
“If it’s in our control to change, that’s what we’re going to do,” Shely said. “Aetna has learned something here.”
An Aetna doctor denied Cunningham coverage for the therapy in 2014, deeming it experimental. Two other in-house doctors reviewed and upheld the decision.
The Food and Drug Administration had approved proton beam therapy, which is also a treatment covered by Medicare, according to Doug Terry, the family’s attorney. He alleged that Aetna denied coverage for financial reasons and that its doctors were unqualified, overworked and biased when making decisions. Court records show that one doctor complained to the insurer about having to review more than 80 cases a day.
After she was denied coverage, Cunningham and her husband decided to mortgage their home in Meeker, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Oklahoma City, to pay for the therapy in Texas. She died in May 2015 at age 54.
“My wife, her goal, was to make this fight,” Ron Cunningham said. “Her comment was, ‘If we can save one person and stop Aetna from doing what they traditionally do on every claim, it was worth the battle.'”
Hawaii Printer Shuts Commercial Printing, Citing Tariffs
A major Hawaii printer is closing its commercial printing business and laying off 93 people in part because of tariffs the U.S. slapped on imports of Chinese paper.
A news release from Hagadone Corporation Hawaii Holdings says the import duty increased the cost of the company’s roll stock paper by 25 percent. President Clint Schroeder said Friday this added expense came on top of increased costs for other raw materials and electricity.
He says many publications Hagadone once printed no longer exist, find it cheaper to print on the mainland or have gone digital.
The company is giving affected employees 60 days notice and will provide job training. Hagadone will honor all printing commitments through Jan. 11 and will help customers find other printers.
Hagadone Media Group and Hagadone Digital will continue operations.
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