LITTLE ROCK — Fed sponsors talks on regulatory change
The Little Rock branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis will sponsor a discussion on financial regulatory overhaul on Dec. 7 at the Peabody Little Rock hotel.
The meeting will begin at 11:30 a.m. and conclude at 2:30 p.m.
The discussion will focus on the financial and economic implications of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.
Speakers at the meeting include Curt Bradbury, chief operating officer and director of Stephens Inc.;
Reynie Rutledge, chairman and chief financial officer of Searcy-based First Security Bancorp; and Tim Yeager, an associate professor of finance and the Arkansas Bankers Association chairman at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
Robert Hopkins, senior branch executive of the Fed in Little Rock, and Julie Stackhouse, St. Louis Fed senior vice president of banking supervision and regulation, will give opening remarks.
For more information or to register online, visit www.stlouisfed.org/ event/057B.
Wal-Mart to provide
legal aid program
The Wal-Mart legal department announced on Monday that it will create a program for its attorneys, paralegals and staff to participate in legal aid projects in Arkansas.
The company will participate in the national Corporate Pro Bono Challenge, which encourages corporations with staff attorneys to provide free legal services. Wal-Mart is the 100th company to accept the challenge, sponsored through a partnership of the Pro Bono Institute and the Association of Corporate Counsel.
In addition, the Wal-Mart legal department and the Wal-Mart Foundation announced a $115,000 donation to Legal Aid of Arkansas and the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission.
Arkansas Index up 0.39 in mixed session
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 0.39 to 191.68 Monday.
“U.S. stocks finished slightly lower Monday as bank and oil stocks moved lower,” said Chris Harkins, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock. “The Arkansas Index closed mixed as eight stocks rallied while nine declined.”
Tyson Foods surged more than 6 percent after announcing better-than-expected earnings on Friday, Harkins said. Tyson has rallied by 35 percent this year, he said.
Volume was 27.2 million shares, compared with average volume of 26.4 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business, Pages 23 on 11/23/2010