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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 26, 2008

TAMPA BAY AREA
Labor Survey Pans Pulte

Fifty-nine percent, or 236, of 400 Pulte and its Del Webb homeowners surveyed in Arizona reported construction defects in their homes in a report released Friday by Building Justice, which represents labor unions. Respondents with defects described faulty electrical wiring, peeling paint and bad air conditioners. The labor group says it plans to conduct the survey in other states where Pulte builds, including Florida. Pulte spokesman Mark Marymee said the group's motivation is to unionize the workers of subcontractors who build Pulte homes. Pulte has done well on other quality surveys, he said, such as J.D. Power & Associates'. "That is the survey we care about," he said.

Allstate Spillover Feared

The Florida Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors on Friday called on state Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty and Allstate executives to settle the dispute that led McCarty to ban Allstate from doing business in Florida. The association, made up of agents and advisers from many insurance companies including Allstate, fears that the adversarial tone between Florida and Allstate will spread to other insurers. McCarty's order was lifted by a Tallahassee court, but it briefly affected about 1,200 Allstate agents. The court recently received McCarty's request to reinstate the ban. McCarty maintains that Allstate is stonewalling on subpoenas relating to how it sets its homeowners insurance rates.

NATION

Banks May Need More

Banks that raised $72 billion to shore up capital depleted by subprime-related losses may require $143 billion more should credit rating firms downgrade bond insurers, say analysts at Barclays Capital. Banks will need at least $22 billion if bonds covered by insurers led by MBIA and Ambac are cut one level from AAA, and six times more for downgrades of four steps to A, Paul Fenner-Leitao wrote in a report published Friday. Barclays' estimates are based on banks holding as much as 75 percent of the $820 billion of structured securities guaranteed by bond insurers.

WORLD

Scottish & Newcastle Sold

Brewers Carlsberg and Heineken will buy beer maker Scottish & Newcastle for $15.3 billion, the companies said Friday. If the deal is completed, Carlsberg will gain sole ownership of Baltic Beverages and S&N's French, Greek and Chinese operations, and Heineken will take control of its British, American and Indian markets.

A staff and wire report

Watch the Tribune's Business report at 5, 6 and 11 a.m. Tuesday to Friday and 9 a.m. Saturdays on WFLA-TV.

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