Columbia unit names Moore investment chief

Bank of America's Columbia Management unit said it named Colin Moore chief investment officer. Moore, 49, will oversee all investment activities at the company. He replaces Keith Banks, 51, who remains Columbia's president and will still oversee Moore's work. Moore was previously head of equities for Columbia, the Boston investment management division of Bank of America, in Charlotte, N.C. (Ross Kerber)

US Bankruptcy Judge Kevin J. Gross approved the sale of upholstered fabric maker Quaker Fabric Corp. to Gordon Brothers Group, a Boston investment firm, for about $27 million. Gordon Brothers is buying most of Quaker Fabric's assets and turning them over to Canadian textile company Victor Innovatex Inc. Victor Innovatex intends to continue to operate the textile business, according to the textile firm's bankruptcy lawyer. Quaker has seen growing domestic and foreign competition eat away at its sales since 2004. Gross also approved an offer by Atlantis Charter School to buy 66 acres of undeveloped land in Fall River, known as Bleachery Pond, for $2.6 million. (Dow Jones/AP)

Raytheon Co., the world's largest missile maker, agreed to purchase Oakley Networks to expand sales of computer security systems to the Defense Department. The terms of the transaction weren't disclosed, Waltham's Raytheon said. Raytheon spokesman Jon Kasle declined to provide a figure for closely held Oakley's annual sales. Oakley creates systems to protect information such as product designs and customer databases against "insider" threats, according to its website. The systems monitor networks for information leaks or theft, and secure data on laptop computers in the event a device is stolen. Customers of the Salt Lake City company include the Pentagon and corporations. (Bloomberg)

The government introduced a new $5 bill that includes purple ink, several watermarks, and other security features to deter counterfeiters. The bill features a large, purple numeral "5" on its back side and a purple seal on the front, continuing the increased use of color. The new bill, which will go into circulation in 2008, will include two watermarks - a large numeral "5" to the right of the portrait of President Abraham Lincoln, and a column of smaller "5"s to Lincoln's left. (AP)

Countrywide Financial Corp , which will fire up to 12,000 workers by December, needs to fix a "poorly designed" executive compensation policy that may cause chief executive Angelo Mozilo to be overpaid, a corporate governance research group said. Compensation for Mozilo totaled $42.98 million in 2006. The group said Countrywide now links more of Mozilo's pay to performance, but is awarding him unnecessary perks. (Reuters)

Thirty-eight people, including former and current employees at major Wall Street firms such as Morgan Stanley and Oppenheimer, ran elaborate kickback and bribery schemes in the stock loan industry, federal authorities charged. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged the people in a series of fraudulent schemes involving phony finder fees and illegal kickbacks in the stock loan industry. The traders conspired with stock loan "finders" to skim profits on transactions, pocketing more than $12 million from 1998 until June 2006, the SEC said. (AP)

SLM Corp. said it expected Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to "honor their commitments" to buy the largest US college loan provider for $25.3 billion, after the bidders planned to seek a lower price. The banks are members of an investment group led by New York buyout firm J.C. Flowers & Co. that intends to press SLM to reduce the cost, said people familiar with the matter. The bidders had warned that legislation might scuttle their takeover. The House and Senate this month approved a five-year, $20.9 billion cut in education loan subsidies over five years that could hurt the profitability of lenders including SLM. President Bush plans to sign the measure. (Bloomberg)

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