Heartland Bank subsidiary Marac Finance has settled with the Commerce Commission after deciding to refund 1000 customers more than half a million dollars.
The finance company has paid out $567,000 to customers who had repaid loans early but had not been refunded premiums for their loan insurance.
The commission's view was that Marac had breached the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act, which requires lenders to refund an appropriate portion of a premium if a loan is repaid early.
The commission said Marac was likely to have misled customers by telling them that their insurance would be rebated, potentially also breaching the Fair Trading Act.
The government watchdog's general manager of competition, Kate Morrison, said the settlement was "a timely and cost-effective way of achieving the right result".
"We are pleased that Marac has agreed to do the right thing by its customers and make these payments," she said.
The refunds apply to affected customers who repaid their loans early between 2006 and 2010.
The commission said Marac had immediately changed its practices when the matter was brought to its attention in late-2010.
Morrison warned that borrowers relied on the information lenders provided, and often had no way of knowing if the balance owing was correct.
"Borrowers should be aware that if a loan is being repaid early, insurance may be rebated, and they can ask the lender if there are any rebates due to them," she said.
Marac Finance merged with CBS Canterbury and Southern Cross Building Society in January 2011 to form Heartland, which became the country's newest registered bank last year.
FROM MTV NEWS A big night in Hollywood for the Oscars meant a pretty light weekend everywhere else at the box office. The Melissa McCarthy holdover "Identity Thief" reclaimed its top spot on the charts in its third week in release and beat Dwayne Johnson's latest action effort "Snitch." The comedy took in a modest [...]
By Tim Heaney and Nicholas Minnix Edited by Nicholas Minnix and Tim Heaney
Fantasy baseball sleepers, undervalued: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
Fantasy baseball busts, overvalued: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
Championships aren't won in the first few rounds of fantasy baseball drafts. Winning selections come in the middle and late stanzas, when fantasy baseball sleepers and undervalued players pop up.
Jonathan Lucroy, Milwaukee Brewers
A broken right hand cut short a magical May that probably would've pushed him to a campaign of 15-plus homers. That .299, seven-homer second half says he recovered just fine. He bolstered his clip versus righty pitchers in a significant sample size, meaning even if his torrid numbers versus southpaws taper off, his sound plate control will give him some margin for error. Evidence of budding power: He cut his infield-fly rate from 2011 in half.
In his age-27 season, he'll settle into the heart of a stout order. Lucroy boasts top-five backstop upside this year for mixed leaguers. -TH
Victor Martinez, Detroit Tigers
They won't put him behind the plate much, if at all, following his absence from the entire 2012 campaign. Will that lack of games played affect his eligibility in your league? It's more of a pain to carry him with a utility-only qualification, and his thump is on the way down.
But for his opportunity at full-time at-bats from DH with a run-producing lineup and spot and skills reflective of a .300 clip, there's a distinct advantage in placing him in a catcher spot near the back end. -TH
Alex Avila, Detroit Tigers
It's a Detroit double dip behind the dish. Avila hit five homers over his first 22 games last year, but he basically cratered after knee tendonitis forced him to miss some games in May. Jim Leyland also thinks his top receiver wasn't being aggressive enough, something they hope to remedy this year. Sure, he was fortunate on in-play connections last year, and his value relies on pop, but they're not rushing to give Victor Martinez or Brayan Pena extra time.
Restoring his 2011 peripherals would still boast a walk-friendly bat that, despite strikeouts, should approach 20 taters, even if he continues to underwhelm versus southpaws. For about the price at which he went before his breakout year, you can wax nostalgic all the way to the bank. -TH
John Jaso, Oakland Athletics
The A's plan to go with a platoon behind the dish. The left-handed-hitting Jaso, 29, is on the favored side of that scenario, and he specializes in a skill that the club was sorely lacking last season: getting on base (lifetime .359 OBP, .394 OBP in 2012). Derek Norris, 24, has plenty of power. The catching prospect is a liability in that area if he hits poorly, though, and his plate discipline is a work-in-progress.
Jaso is unlikely to rip double-digit homers again, as he did last season with the Seattle Mariners, in Oakland. However, the prospect of 400-plus plate appearances, some of them possibly coming near the top of the order, qualifies him as solid No. 2 catcher material in deep mixed leagues. -NM
Fantasy baseball sleepers, undervalued: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
Fantasy baseball busts, overvalued: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
Salmon may use magnetic field as a navigational aidPublic release date: 7-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Nathan Putman Nathan.putman@oregonstate.edu 205-218-5276 Oregon State University
CORVALLIS, Ore. The mystery of how salmon navigate across thousands of miles of open ocean to locate their river of origin before journeying upstream to spawn has intrigued biologists for decades, and now a new study may offer a clue to the fishes' homing strategy.
In the study, scientists examined 56 years of fisheries data documenting the return of sockeye salmon to the Fraser River in British Columbia and the route they chose around Vancouver Island showed a correlation with changes in the intensity of the geomagnetic field.
Results of the study, which was supported by Oregon Sea Grant and the National Science Foundation, were published this week in the journal Current Biology.
"What we think happens is that when salmon leave the river system as juveniles and enter the ocean, they imprint the magnetic field logging it in as a waypoint," said Nathan Putman, a post-doctoral researcher at Oregon State University and lead author on the study. "It serves as a proxy for geographic location when they return as adults. It gets them close to their river system and then other, finer cues may take over."
Earth has a predictable, consistent geomagnetic field that weakens as you move from the poles toward the equator. The magnetic North Pole has an intensity gradient of roughly 58 microtesla, while the equator is about 24 microtesla.
Salmon originating from Oregon that have spent two to four years in the northern Pacific Ocean off Canada or Alaska would return as adults, the scientists speculate, journeying southward off the coast until they reached a magnetic field intensity similar to that of their youth.
"That should get them to within 50 to 100 kilometers of their own river system and then olfactory cues or some other sense kicks on," said Putman, who conducts research in OSU's Department of Fisheries and Wildlife.
Vancouver Island provides a natural laboratory for the study of salmon, the researchers point out. Salmon returning to the Fraser River must detour around the massive island to reach the mouth of the river, choosing a southern or northern route. In their study, the scientists found that the "drift" of the geomagnetic field correlated with which route the salmon chose.
When the normal intensity level for the Fraser River shifted to the north, the sockeye were more likely to choose a northern route for their return. When the field shifted slightly south, they chose a southern route.
This "field drift" accounted for about 16 percent of the variation in the migration route, Putman said, while variations in sea surface temperatures accounted for 22 percent. The interactive effect between these two variables accounted for an additional 28 percent of the variation in the migration route.
"Salmon are a cold-water fish, and all things being equal, they prefer cold water," said Putman, who earned his Ph.D. in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "But the fact that they also demonstrate geomagnetic fidelity in choosing a route shows that this could be a major instrument in their biological toolbox to guide their way home."
Putman said that his previous studies of the Columbia River have shown that the magnetic intensity shifts less than 30 kilometers in either direction over a period of three years, which is about the length of time many salmon spend in the ocean.
"Salmon have to get it right because they only have one chance to make it back to their home river," Putman said, "so it makes sense that they may have more than one way to get there. The magnetic field is amazingly consistent, so that is a strategy that can withstand the test of time. But they may also use the sun as a compass, track waves breaking on the beach through infrasound, and use smell."
Putman and OSU fisheries biologist David Noakes plan to follow through with experiments on varying the magnetic field for salmon in a laboratory setting, using the Oregon Hatchery Research Center in Oregon's Alsea River basin.
###
Other authors on the study include Kenneth Lohmann, University of North Carolina; Emily Putman, an independent researcher; Thomas Quinn, University of Washington; A. Peter Klimley, University of California, Davis; and David Noakes, Oregon State University.
Note to Journalists: A map of Vancouver Island is available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oregonstateuniversity/8445450328/in/photostream
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Salmon may use magnetic field as a navigational aidPublic release date: 7-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Nathan Putman Nathan.putman@oregonstate.edu 205-218-5276 Oregon State University
CORVALLIS, Ore. The mystery of how salmon navigate across thousands of miles of open ocean to locate their river of origin before journeying upstream to spawn has intrigued biologists for decades, and now a new study may offer a clue to the fishes' homing strategy.
In the study, scientists examined 56 years of fisheries data documenting the return of sockeye salmon to the Fraser River in British Columbia and the route they chose around Vancouver Island showed a correlation with changes in the intensity of the geomagnetic field.
Results of the study, which was supported by Oregon Sea Grant and the National Science Foundation, were published this week in the journal Current Biology.
"What we think happens is that when salmon leave the river system as juveniles and enter the ocean, they imprint the magnetic field logging it in as a waypoint," said Nathan Putman, a post-doctoral researcher at Oregon State University and lead author on the study. "It serves as a proxy for geographic location when they return as adults. It gets them close to their river system and then other, finer cues may take over."
Earth has a predictable, consistent geomagnetic field that weakens as you move from the poles toward the equator. The magnetic North Pole has an intensity gradient of roughly 58 microtesla, while the equator is about 24 microtesla.
Salmon originating from Oregon that have spent two to four years in the northern Pacific Ocean off Canada or Alaska would return as adults, the scientists speculate, journeying southward off the coast until they reached a magnetic field intensity similar to that of their youth.
"That should get them to within 50 to 100 kilometers of their own river system and then olfactory cues or some other sense kicks on," said Putman, who conducts research in OSU's Department of Fisheries and Wildlife.
Vancouver Island provides a natural laboratory for the study of salmon, the researchers point out. Salmon returning to the Fraser River must detour around the massive island to reach the mouth of the river, choosing a southern or northern route. In their study, the scientists found that the "drift" of the geomagnetic field correlated with which route the salmon chose.
When the normal intensity level for the Fraser River shifted to the north, the sockeye were more likely to choose a northern route for their return. When the field shifted slightly south, they chose a southern route.
This "field drift" accounted for about 16 percent of the variation in the migration route, Putman said, while variations in sea surface temperatures accounted for 22 percent. The interactive effect between these two variables accounted for an additional 28 percent of the variation in the migration route.
"Salmon are a cold-water fish, and all things being equal, they prefer cold water," said Putman, who earned his Ph.D. in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "But the fact that they also demonstrate geomagnetic fidelity in choosing a route shows that this could be a major instrument in their biological toolbox to guide their way home."
Putman said that his previous studies of the Columbia River have shown that the magnetic intensity shifts less than 30 kilometers in either direction over a period of three years, which is about the length of time many salmon spend in the ocean.
"Salmon have to get it right because they only have one chance to make it back to their home river," Putman said, "so it makes sense that they may have more than one way to get there. The magnetic field is amazingly consistent, so that is a strategy that can withstand the test of time. But they may also use the sun as a compass, track waves breaking on the beach through infrasound, and use smell."
Putman and OSU fisheries biologist David Noakes plan to follow through with experiments on varying the magnetic field for salmon in a laboratory setting, using the Oregon Hatchery Research Center in Oregon's Alsea River basin.
###
Other authors on the study include Kenneth Lohmann, University of North Carolina; Emily Putman, an independent researcher; Thomas Quinn, University of Washington; A. Peter Klimley, University of California, Davis; and David Noakes, Oregon State University.
Note to Journalists: A map of Vancouver Island is available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oregonstateuniversity/8445450328/in/photostream
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 7-Feb-2013
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