One Bank executive
told to cease, desist
The federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a cease-and-desist order last month against Wilson Daniels Bynum, an executive with One Bank & Trust of Little Rock.
The order was issued Aug. 4 but not released by the banking regulator until Friday. Bynum consented to the order but did not admit or deny any wrongdoing, the regulator said.
During the period of March 2009 to September 2011, Bynum was president of mortgage banking at One Bank.
The regulator found that Bynum participated in the origination and sale on the secondary market of residential mortgage loans for family members of an executive officer of the bank, and that those loans were based on false income and employment information.
It also found that Bynum participated in the origination of his own residential mortgage loans with the bank.
If Bynum is employed by any bank, the regulator ordered him, among other things, to avoid conflicts of interest, recuse himself from participating in any transaction of the bank and recuse himself from being involved in the loan application or approval process of any executive officer at the bank.
-- David Smith
Construction jobs
in state up by 500
Arkansas was one of 34 states that added construction jobs in the 12 months ending in August even though construction employment fell steeply in the final month, according to an analysis of U.S. Labor Department data by the Associated General Contractors of America released Friday.
State construction employment totaled 50,400 last month, which was 500 more jobs than the 49,900 construction jobs Arkansas recorded in August 2016, the data showed. The increase amounted to a 1 percent gain, which ranked the state 31st in construction job growth in those 12 months.
The total construction employment in August included the largest month-over-month drop among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Last month's construction employment was 1,500 jobs fewer than 51,900 that Arkansas recorded in July, a 2.9 percent drop.
-- Noel Oman
State index climbs
1.49; P.A.M. surges
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, climbed 1.49 to 351.41 Friday.
Ten stocks advanced, seven declined and one was unchanged.
P.A.M. Transportation Services rose 4.6 percent in heavy trading.
For the week, 14 stocks advanced and four fell.
Murphy Oil climbed 8.4 percent for the week.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 09/16/2017