July 7, 2011 –  By David Henry

NEW YORK – JPMorgan Chase & Co is close to vaulting past Bank of America Corp to become the biggest bank in the United States, but it will likely get there in an odd way — by shrinking less than its rival.

Both JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are getting smaller as they shake off the excesses of the years leading up to the financial crisis.

If JPMorgan becomes the biggest, chief executive Jamie Dimon could see the validation of his cautious management before and during the crisis. Bank of America’s drop to second would illustrate how former Chief Executive Ken Lewis saddled the bank with bad acquisitions that are hampering current CEO Brian Moynihan.

But bigger might not be better. Being the largest does not necessarily translate to higher profitability, or a higher market value. Gl

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Uruguay’s Union Agriculture Group Corp. filed plans Tuesday to sell up to an estimated $287.5 million of common shares in an initial public offering.

The company is one of the largest corporate agricultural landholders and operators in Uruguay, as well as a leading producer and exporter, according to its prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It said it is focused on acquiring high-quality but underutilized agricultural land and developing it for efficient, sustainable output, such as by planting soybeans or rice on land previously only used for cattle grazing, it gave as an example.

It plans to use proceeds from the offering to acquire more farmland.

The company was formed in January 2008. Last year it recorded $1.6 million in sales from agricultural produce, as well as “biological assets and services rendered.” It posted a loss of about $358,438, hurt by production costs and operating expenses amid sales and real-estate gains.

The company has applied to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol UAGR.

A fresh new revolving loan fund program is to be set up for existing small businesses by the North Iowa Corridor Development Corporation. This program is going to fill in the gaps in financing that small and emerging business of Cerro Gordo County encounter. Small businesses that concentrate on job creation and focuses on capital investment shall find the requisite fund with this new revolving loan grant program.

Cerro Gordo County received Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2008 for creating a fund pool so as to extend help to small businesses. It is the repayment of the RBEG by US businesses that allowed the formation of a new fund, the “North Iowa Corridor Small Business Revolving Loan Fund” for the region. This has been made possible due to close co-ordination between the corridor and USDA.

This fund is used to provide gap financing whereby loans are disbursed to small businesses when other financing sources have closed their doors. The requirements to qualify for the grant are businesses should have a presence in Cerro Gordo County, should employ less than 50 workers, have gross annual sales of at-least less than $1 million and should also fulfill other criteria. The

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Airport tariffs will increase by not more than 37% in the coming three years, the regulator said on Thursday.

“There is no exact nominal amount … As regulator, we just discharge specific increases that needs to be implemented by Acsa (Airports Company South Africa),” said regulating committee member Unathi Mntonintshi.

“But in terms of the grouping of passengers, the groupings of the size of the planes and the different prices to be charged, Acsa will have that detailed information.”

Tariffs in the current financial year were at 35% and would increase to 37% in the next financial year, said Mntonintshi.

“It will come down again in the third financial year,” he said without giving more details.

He said what would come out of the increase was not linked to global standards.

When pressed for numbers, transport director general George Mahlalela said it was “almost impossible” to tell how much more a passenger would have to pay [per destination].

The briefing followed a meeting between the department, regulators, Acsa and other representatives from the industry.

Mahlalela said they would review Acsa’s economic regulatory framework in order to facilitate predictable, transparent and balanced tariff determinations in the future.

He said his department, together with industry players, will have intensive and accelerated program in the next six months to address some of the gaps in the economic regulatory framework for airline industries.

“Moving forward it is also important to put in place new funding models for airports,” he said. Full Post…