European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 15, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters thursday december 15,1994 today s rates following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel for personal use British Pound. 1.60 dutch Guilder. 1.71 German Mark. 1.53 note the rates above apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the. British Pound other currencies to the Dollar following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign Curren cies. " /  Schilling. 11.0625 Bahrain Dinar. 0.37675 belgian franc 32.32 British Pound. 1.5625 Canadian Dollar. 1.3875 danish Krone 6.1615 dutch Guilder. 1.7588 French franc .5.4135 German Mark 1.5715 greek drachma. 243.06 italian lira. 1,637.00 Kuwait Dinar. 0.29965 norwegian Krone. 6.863 portuguese escudo. 161.26 of Audi Riyal. 3.7505 Spanish peseta 132.25 Swiss franc 1.328turkish lira. 36,950.00 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $378.35 an ounce Silver quote $4.78 an ounce sources merchants National Bank & Trust co. And the associated press because of associated press trans Mission problems Stock Market figures were  probes to see if Banks misinform clients by Jonathan  Washington Post Washington the chairman of the Federal Deposit insurance corp. Announced tuesday that the Agency has hired a private firm to use mystery shop pers to find out whether Banks Are adequately informing customers that Mutual funds Are not insured by the government. Market trends inc., a Bellevue  research firm Mil Send trained testers into As Many As 4,000 Banks around the country Odic chair Man Ricki r. Tigert said. The probes will pose As Bank custom ers and ask about Mutual funds annuities and other no Deposit  will record whether and How effectively Bank personnel and literature explain Mutual funds. A a the Odic is responsible to the american people to make certain they understand what is insured and in t insured Tigert said tuesday. To he Odic irresponsible to the american people to make certain they understand what is insured and in tinsured.1 chairman Ricki a Tigert in addition Tigert said the Odic will hold 10 meetings across the country Early next year to instruct Bankers of what is insured and what is not insured and How they need to disclose that  the information that is collected will be reported to the Odic probably by june Tigert said. The results of the study could Lead to investigations of institutions that do not make sufficiently Clear which of its products Are insured by the govern ment and which Are not. Sales practices for Mutual funds be came a hot topic after customers and some former brokers alleged that some Banks do not make Clear that investors could lose Money. Three former nations securities brokers have alleged that their employer engaged in deceptive sales practices to encourage Consumers to buy Mutual funds that the firm managed and profited from rather than other products that might have been More appropriate. Testers won t solve the problem though said Jonathan Alpert a partner at the Tampa Law firm of Alpert Josey & Hughes who is representing the three former nation securities brokers. Banks and brokers know when they Are being tested he said. Rather than using secret shoppers someone has to get in and make these people obey the Law he said. Several studies have shown that Al though consumer understanding of Dif Ferent products Banks sell is improving there is still uncertainty about what is insured and what is riot. Intel refuses to recall flawed Chip re i i Trade curbs Cost study reports Washington a japanese Trade barriers Cost that country s Consumers up to $110 billion a year or at least $600,000 for every Job saved a study said wednesday. The study found that the japanese used Tariff and no Tariff barriers to protect a wide Range of Domestic products from Rice and tobacco to computers and telecommunications equipment from foreign Competition. The Cost to the japanese consumer is the equivalent of a 178 percent Price markup across the 47 product categories studied according to the report. The study was conducted by three Jap anese economists working for the Institute of International economics a Washington based research group that promotes free Trade. In a study last year analysing the Impact of . Trade barriers on american Consumers the Institute found that in 21 highly protected . Industries Consumers were paying the equivalent of a 35 percent Border tax with textiles being the most protected . Industry. Although the new 124-nation general agreement on tariffs and Trade will slash tariffs by 38 percent globally the report noted that Many no Tariff barriers will remain in place and that consumer benefits in such highly protected industries As textiles will take up to a decade to be Felt. The Clinton administration has frequently attacked Japan for protecting its High technology industries such As computers from foreign Competition. But the Institute report found that the Cost to japanese Consumers of the High Trade barriers was heavily concentrated in areas in which Japan is least competitive agricultural and natural resource products. Such highly protected industries a wheat soybeans and Rice frequently enjoyed the equivalent of 400 percent tariffs the Institute said. By Catalina Ortiz the associated press san Jose Calif Intel corp. Stood by its position that a flaw in its pentium microprocessor is too rare to Merit a Gen eral recall even though ism has refused to sell personal computers that use the Chip. _ a /. \ the Chip maker continued tuesday to offer replacements Only to businesses and Consumers who show that they use their computers for very precise calculations. Most people do walk away satisfied Intel spokesman John Thompson said. Intel disputed a claim by International business machines corp. That the flaw is More serious and can result in frequent miscalculations. Ism has More to gain than to lose from its decision. It is developing its own rival Chip called Power pc. And it has sold relatively fewer pentium based pcs than other manufacturers. A recall of the Chip would be costly and difficult and the company is trying to discourage Consumers from seeking a new Chip. But if Yogi insist the Chip needs re placing. No matter what. You la get a new Chip Thompson said. The company has replaced thousands in the past month. Analysts estimate 3.5 million to 4 Mil lion personal computers using the pentium Chip will be sold this year. Nearly All have the flawed Chip. Replacing the chips Intel corp. Acknowledges that its pentium microprocessor is flawed but says it will offer replacements to Only certain customers. Would take a skilled Engineer 30 minutes to an hour for each pc a solution that seems unworkable with so Many on the Market. -. / because the flaw apparently affects Only some types of division calculations few experts believe every pc owner needs to worry about it. This is one of those things where perception has actually exceeded the actual damage said Bob Djurdjevic of Annex research in Phoenix. But he added Intel must do what Ever it takes to physically remove the faulty product from the marketplace Swallow hard and take its lumps and carry on with  Intel Sells to pc makers some of whom have said they will replace flawed chips for customers. None of the manufacturers has said it will Stop Selling pentium based pcs except ism. New airline plans to begin service in Caribbean Kingstown St. Vincent a a new Barbados based regional Carrier will get off the ground in february airline directors said after they signed a $4.8 Mil lion loan agreement with the european investment Bank on monday. The loan was the last step needed to launch the new Carrier carib express which will compete with the struggling Antigua based airline Liat. Investors have put up an initial $15 million. Private investors from the East Ern Caribbean own a 70.1 percent share British airways 19.9 percent and five Eastern Caribbean governments 10 per cent. The countries Are Barbados do Minica Grenada St. Lucia and St. Vin cent and the grenadines. Prime minister James Mitchell of St. Vincent and the grenadines said the amount borrowed from the Luxembourg based Bank was equivalent to the funds pledged by the private Caribbean investors. Mitchell led the carib express team in a visit to Luxembourg last month to negotiate the loan whose terms weren t disclosed. Tourism is the biggest growth area in the Region and it was recognized that we needed to have transport that will move passengers from the far regions quickly and smoothly in and around the Caribbean said Geoffrey Cave the barbadian chairman of carib  intend to York with All the major carriers serving the Caribbean chief executive officer Roy Barnes said. We Hope to make a major contribution to the development of the Economy of the Cal