European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 07, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday August 7, 1991 the stars and stripes c Page 17 two Manhattan Brothers Steven and Jeffrey Stegman Are making custom earpieces designed to stay in place even when the wearer is jogging. The earpieces radio partner custom ear sets look rather like hearing aids. The Stegman Brothers Are audiologists who make custom fitted earpieces for hearing aids. They came up with the idea about three years ago. Since then their company radio partners inc., has sold More than 3,000 sets. The earpieces fit snugly into the ears stopping music from escaping and allowing stereos to be played at reasonable  rates London up a tuesdays rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted at $357.75 an ounce Silver at $3.96. British Pound. Aug. 5 aug 6 1.7125 .1.708 German Mark. .1.722 1.7125 French franc. .5.908 5.825 dutch Guilder. .1.9565 1.9257 belgian franc 33.7475 35.33 italian lira. .1,284.50 1,280.75 Swiss franc. .1.499 1.4945 greek drachma. .191.28 188.75 turkish lira. .4,411.90 4,395.80 saudi arabian Riyal. .3.7504 3.7504 Spanish peseta. .108.69 107.03 portuguese escudo. Canadian Dollar. .148.83 146.53 .1.1496 1.1482 austrian Schilling. .12.203 12.0225 norwegian Krone. .6.783 6.696 danish Krone. .6.7175 6.6175 these Are unofficial rates As reported by wire service and banking sources and they Are listed to give some idea of daily currency fluctuations. The Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will be 1.67 wednesday based on tuesdays noontime  imports decrease in Japan again Tokyo up High interest rates and a slowing Economy sent july imports of new cars into Japan downward compared with 1990, the seventh straight monthly drop the automobile importers association reporter tuesday. Registrations for new car imports in july dropped 3.9 percent from the year ago period to 19,518 cars the association said in its monthly report. Chronically High interest rates discouraging Consumers from buying luxury goods and an economic slowdown plaguing Japan contributed to the decline an association spokesman said. The number of cars from the United states Rose 2.4 percent boosted by a 54.6 percent increase in Honda Usa imports. Honda led the american contingent with a total of 1,368 cars imported in july followed by general motors with 929, up 21.3 percent from july 1990. German automobiles led All countries with 11,589 vehicles although that represented a 2.1 percent from the previous year. German cars were led by Volks Wagen Audi with 5,011. Mercedes Benz and Bow followed with 2,939 and 2,883 vehicles respectively. Report details Bocci s links with failed Bank in Florida Washington a an a interlocking relationship existed Between the failed entrust savings Bank of Miami and the indicted Bank of credit and Commerce International a congressional report said monday. The links included a joint contribution to a philanthropic foundation run by former president Carter. Also involved was a entrust reimbursement of a Bocci officials Purchase of airline tickets to transport six French chefs to a dinner party. The report on a entrust a failure was submitted by sen. Orrin g. Hatch r Utah to the Senate judiciary subcommittee on antitrust monopolies and business rights. Hatch a member of the panel assigned someone on his personal staff to write the report which recommends subcommittee hearings. The report found virtually no evidence of politicians pressuring Federal regulators on behalf of entrust. Entrust failed in 1990 at a projected Cost to taxpayers of $2 billion the report said. A it is a Story of greed and mismanagement on the part of David l. Paul the entrust chairman who squandered the institution s resources to support a lavish personal lifestyle a the report said. It said there was a an interlocking relationship which should be further investigated by the subcommittee Between entrust and the Bank of credit and Commerce  the report said. The link was through saudi investor Ghaith r. Pharaon a 28 percent shareholder in entrust a who reportedly owned or has owned substantial Stock in Bocci Quot the report said. The report said that on july 27, 1988, Pharaon reimbursed entrust for half of i. A.$100,000 contribution to the Carter Quot Quot Center a philanthropic foundation run by the former president. On Jan. 9, 1989, the report said entrust reimbursed Pharaon $36,600 for airline tickets he had purchased of transport the six French chefs to a dinner party at Paul a Home. And on feb. 18, 1988, entrust wired Pharaon $13,920 for a contribution to the arts the report said. Pharaon met with Federal regulators the report said to push for approval of a $200 million entrust Sale of subordinated debentures in 1988. A there was at least one meeting Between Pharaon and Federal Home loan Bank Board chairman m. Danny Wall a the Hatch report said. The report said Bocci later participated in a a cosmetic transaction to make entrust s books look better by buying $25 million of the debenture which was not Selling Well. Two months later entrust bought Back at Par the $25 million in its debentures that Bocci had  entrust bought Back the debentures from other buyers at an average of Only 62 cents on the Dollar according to the report. Paul s desk calendars and Telephone logs for 1984 to 1988 showed he was in frequent and sometimes daily Contact with Pharaon the report said. His Calendar for june 24, 1988, showed breakfast with Bocci attorney Robert Altman followed by a meeting with Wall. Altman is president of first american Banks arcs a Washington Bank secretly purchased by Bocci according to the Federal Reserve. The desk calendars also show at least 120 individual contacts with elected officials or their staffs the report said. But it added a there is no evidence of pressure on regulators by elected officials in behalf of entrust Quot except for a 1987 letter by three lawmakers from Florida sen. Bob Graham a Democrat rep. Bill Mccollum a Republican and former rep. Bill Nelson a Democrat. That letter which Graham said had been requested by the Florida savings and loan league asked whether Federal banking regulations were being fairly applied because Florida thrifts were complaining that they were not always Given the first crack at taking Over failing institutions in the state. Graham on monday dismissed the Hatch report As Quot old  he said his dealings with Paul were entirely proper were not designed to restrain regulation of entrust and did not Lead to Campaign contributions. Car sales fall 7.6% during july but firms still see signs of Hope Detroit up a a 6.7 percent decline in . Sales of North american made vehicles during late july caused vehicle sales for the full month to slide 7.6 percent compared with the same period a year ago automakers said monday. However Industry executives said that the latest performance still marked a slow recovery from Many months of dismal sales and that individual buyers were finally venturing Back into showrooms. Sales of domestically built cars alone during last month declined 5.6 percent from a year ago while . Sales of Light duty trucks fell 11 percent. Import car sales were estimated at 189,645 units Down 12.9 percent from 209,299 sold in july 1990. Imports accounted for 24.5 percent of the . Car Market last month Down from 26.1 percent a year ago. But sales of transplant cars or cars assembled by japanese automakers in North America Rose to 19.1 percent of the total . Car Market last month from 15.9 percent a year ago. The annual sales rate for domestically built cars a the most common measure of Industry performance a was 7 million cars during july compared with 7.4 million last year. The Selling rate for late july was 7.3 million compared withj7.7 million units a year ago. Despite the lower Overall sales Industry executives said the Market still shows signs of emerging from the recession. A we continue to see evidence of modest improvement in the retail climate As people Are becoming convinced the worst of the recession is Over a said Robert Rewey vice president of sales for Ford motor  North american automotive operations. By volume the 10 companies reported combined sales of 583,231 cars and 341,068 trucks during july. This compares with 593,999 cars and 368,323 trucks sold during july 1990, automakers said. By company . Sales of general motors  domestically made cars slipped 2.6 percent during july although its truck sales skidded 16.7 percent from the same month a year ago. Second ranked Ford posted an 11.2 percent decline in car sales and a 14.9 percent slide in truck sales. Chrysler  car sales fell 33.8 percent while its Light truck sales including jeeps and minivans slipped 1.3 percent Over the combined total a year ago. Among the larger asian based companies building cars in North America american Honda motor co. Saw its sales slide 12.3 percent. Counting its import cars Honda a total . Sales during july fell 25 percent from a year earlier. Delta pan am seek Quick of on routes Atlanta up Delta air lines said monday that it has joined pan am corp. In filing an application with the . Department of transportation requesting Quick approval for a Transfer to Delta of most of pan am a trans Atlantic routes. A a a the routes Are included in Delta spending $310 million proposal to Purchase a number of assets belonging to pan am which is operating under chapter 11 bankruptcy Protection. The application by the two airlines stressed that the transaction represents Quot a unique Opportunity to replace a critically weakened Carrier with a Strong Carrier resulting in a strengthened .-Flag competitive presence in the important trans Atlantic  a approval of the route Transfer a ill give Delta a critical mass of trans Atlantic operations necessary to be a More effective competitor against . And for eign Flag rivals a the application said j Delta said pan am a Detroit London and Miami London routes will a significantly strengthen its competitive position in the .-London Market. Delta said it urgently needs those two London routes to be Able to counterbalance the a Quot strength of the dominant . And British carriers including United american and British airways. The application requests a final department of transportation order no later than oct. 1 and said an expedited approval of the filing is essential for pan am to remain a viable competitor and to save jobs. Pan am expects to Lay off about 5,000 employees during the next few weeks and May furlough even More. The new Yolk based airline said the layoffs representing almost 25 percent of its 22,000 employees Are due to much deeper cuts than Normal in its Peak summer schedule. Pan am also has sold some of its key routes to Ual corp., Parent of United airlines for $260 million