BUSINESS BRIEFS

VIRGINIA

Official urges support of Va. peanut industry

WASHINGTON -- Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Todd Haymore is urging Virginians to support the state's peanut industry.

Haymore said yesterday that the industry has been hurt by a decline in consumption caused by the recall of peanut products in a nationwide salmonella outbreak. The recall affected products made by Lynchburg-based Peanut Corp. of America in plants outside of Virginia.

Haymore said the state's peanuts haven't been implicated in the recall. Most of Virginia's peanuts go into shelled or in-shell nuts and specialty products.

He also appealed for donations of peanut butter to food banks in the state. Haymore said peanut butter is a staple for food banks.

Partners and Reymet credit unions merge

Partners Financial Federal Credit Union in Richmond and Reymet Community Federal Credit Union in Chesterfield County have merged, effective today.

Reymet Community FCU members now have access to five more branches, including some with Saturday hours and extended Friday hours. New services for these members include financial and investment management services, first mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit.

Partners Financial FCU members will gain Reymet's drive-through location on Reymet Road.

Partners Financial has about 14,500 members. Reymet Federal Credit Union, which served employees of Reynolds Metals Inc., was expanded in 2002 with a community charter. It has about 4,600 members.

Capital One completes Chevy Chase Bank buy

McLean-based Capital One Financial Corp. announced yesterday that it has completed its acquisition of Chevy Chase Bank, making it the largest consumer and commercial banking institution in the Washington area.

"With the addition of Chevy Chase Bank to our company, we are combining the strength of national-scale lending with customer-focused excellence in local-scale banking," said Richard D. Fairbank, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Capital One.

Chevy Chase Bank was headquartered in Bethesda, Md. Capital One has significant operations in the Richmond area.

BusinessWeek: U.Va.'s McIntire School is No. 1

The McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia was ranked No. 1 in BusinessWeek magazine's annual rankings of undergraduate business program announced this week. It rose from No. 2, dethroning the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School for the first time since the rankings began in 2006.

The Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond was ranked No. 12, rising from No. 20 in 2008.

The Mason School of Business at the College of William and Mary was ranked No. 30 and James Madison University's College of Business was ranked No. 44. THE NATION

GE's dividend cut is first since Depression

For the first time since the Great Depression, General Electric Co. is cutting its quarterly dividend, a move that allows the struggling conglomerate to save $9billion a year as it braces for a tough 2009.

GE, one of the nation's largest companies, said yesterday it will pay shareholders a 10-cents-per-share dividend beginning in the third quarter, 68 percent lower than the company's original plan of 31 cents.

The dividend cut -- long predicted by Wall Street -- is the company's first since 1938 and follows similar actions by other industrial companies amid the worst financial crisis in seven decades. Dow Chemical Co. announced its first dividend cut in 97 years earlier this month.

Deposit-insurance fund aims to raise $27 billion

WASHINGTON -- Facing a cascade of bank failures depleting the deposit-insurance fund, federal regulators yesterday raised the fees paid by U.S. financial institutions and levied a hefty emergency premium in a bid to collect $27billion this year.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. now expects that bank failures will cost the insurance fund around $65billion through 2013, up from an earlier estimate of $40billion. The bank failures, 14 already this year following 25 last year, reflect the ravages of rising unemployment and falling home prices that have sent loan defaults soaring.

The industry's biggest trade group said the new insurance fees would place an extra burden on the nation's banks and thrifts, and suggested regulators could reduce the premiums if their economic assumptions end up being overly severe. THE WORLD

Eastern Europe's banks to get $31 billion in aid

LONDON -- Eastern Europe's struggling banks will receive $31 billion worth of emergency help to shore up their battered finances, leading international financial institutions said yesterday ahead of a meeting of regional leaders this weekend.

The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank said they will provide the package to the region's banking sector to help fund lending to businesses hit by the drying up of previously cheap lines of credit and the contraction in world trade. -- From Staff and Wire Reports