Merc trader fined, banned for fraud

Chicago Mercantile Exchange trader Mark Fornelli was ordered topay a $125,000 fine and banned for 18 months from the the Merc'strading floor after an exchange committee found him guilty of fraud.From August, 1987 to June, 1988, Fornelli "engaged in fraudulentactivities that resulted in a significant loss to his employer,"according to the exchange. During the time in question, Fornelliworked for member Curtis Lautenslager. A Merc spokeswoman declinedto reveal more information about Fornelli's activities.

HFC PROCESSING CENTER: Household Finance Corp., a unit ofProspect Heights-based Household International, said it will open a$20 million processing center in Elmhurst that will provide some 400new jobs in suburban Chicago. The center is scheduled to open inJune. Household said it considered other sites in Illinois, Indianaand Wisconsin before deciding on the Elmhurst site.

EAC COMPLETES SALE: Chicago-based EAC Industries said it hascompleted the sale of the business operations and assets of itsStalker Corp. subsidiary to Chromalloy Compressor Technologies Corp.Terms were not disclosed.

LIMITED SELLING UNIT: Clothing retailer the Limited plans tosell Lerner Woman, a larger-size women's clothing unit, to itsmanagement for an undisclosed amount of cash and securities. Thetransaction is expected to be completed in June. Lerner Woman had$223.7 million in 1988 sales, and has 382 stores nationwide.

FIRST BOSTON CUTTING JOBS: First Boston Corp. told its employeesMonday that it is cutting about 200 jobs due to poor conditions inthe securities business, a source close to the company said. Thefigure brings to 1,000 the number of jobs cut at one of the mostprestigious Wall Street houses since the October, 1987 crash, leavingtotal employment at about 4,700. First Boston has had periodiclayoffs since the crash. The problem that First Boston faces is onedogging the entire securities business, which has been dragging alongin the 18 months since the crash despite the recent rally on WallStreet.

BANK DE-SEXES NAME: The First Women's Bank of New York saidMonday it has changed its name - and dropped the genderidentification - to reflect a shift in the markets the bank nowserves. Effective immediately, the bank, founded in 1975 primarilyto serve the financial needs of women entrepreneurs, will be known asthe First New York Bank for Business. The reason for the switch isthat the name First Women's Bank "no longer connoted the directionthat our marketing efforts were taking us," said Chairman Martin A.Simon. "It was too confining."

BUDGET MOVES UNIT: Budget Rent a Car will move its Midwest DataCenter to a floor and a half at 35 E. Wacker. About 100 people willbe added by the company, which will keep its headquarters with about450 employees at 200 N. Michigan. The computer center will operate24 hours a day in part of the 28,000-square-foot space, and otherBudget units will take the rest. Frain Camins & Swartchild brokersDavid Tropp, Peter Block and Scott Brandwein negotiated the lease onbehalf of Toronto-based Dorechester Corp. and Marex Properties, thebuilding owners.

TREASURY RATES RISE: Interest rates on short-term Treasurysecurities rose in Monday's auction after falling sharply last week.The Treasury Department sold $7.2 billion in three-month bills at anaverage discount rate of 8.66 percent, up from 8.57 percent lastweek. Another $7.2 billion was sold in six-month bills at an averagediscount rate of 8.72 percent, up from 8.59 percent last week. Therates were the highest since April 10, when three-month bills soldfor 8.71 percent and six-month bills averaged 8.78 percent. The newdiscount rates understate the actual return to investors - 8.98percent for three-month bills with a $10,000 bill selling for$9,781.10 and 9.25 percent for a six-month bill selling for$9,559.20.

IBM UPS DIVIDEND: IBM said Monday it had raised its quarterlydividend to $1.21 a share from $1.10. IBM last raised the dividendin the third quarter of 1984, lifting it from 95 cents. Speaking toshareholders at the company's annual meeting, Chairman John Akerssaid the increase was a show of confidence by IBM management in thepace of the company's restructuring.

CORRECTION: American National Corp., parent of American NationalBank, reported first-quarter earnings of $18.7 million, a 20 percentincrease from the year-ago period. American National's profit wasincorrectly reported in Tuesday's editions of the Chicago Sun-Times.