Wells Fargo has begun a consumer redress review program for customers harmed by the banks’ alleged violations of consumer protection laws. Bank customers who did not receive full restitution for the violations can now seek account reviews by a Wells Fargo escalation team for possible relief, the Florida Attorney General’s office said.
A new report from the Federal Trade Commission says there were more fraud complaints in Florida than any other state in 2018. Among the top 50 metros, Tampa-St. Pete ranked No. 14, with 748 fraud complaints per 100,000 persons. The local area was No. 26 for identity theft complaints, with 157 complaints per 100,000 persons.
Dynasty Financial Partners hired a Raymond James veteran as director of operations. Angela Gingras is the inaugural hire for the firm’s new headquarters in St. Petersburg. Dynasty plans to have up to 40 people in the new HQ by year's end. Gingras worked for Raymond James since 1997, most recently as a vice president responsible for the compliance oversight program.
CoAdvantage Corp. expanded its California operations, hiring several experienced leaders for key roles and moving into a larger office in Pasadena. CoAdvantage, based in Tampa, is one of the nation’s largest professional employer organizations, providing human resources for small to mid-sized companies.
Tampa-St. Pete is one of 20 metros in the U.S., and one of four in Florida, where average monthly rents are higher than average mortgage payments. Rent averages $1,192 in the Tampa metro, while mortgages average $1,072, a study by LendingTree said. Low wages and too few rental units contribute to Florida’s rental affordability crisis, the study said.
Shimrit Perkol-Finkel, co-founder of ECONcrete, is one of 50 women leading startups that are pushing the frontiers of innovation, according to a report from Forbes. ECONcrete, with environmentally sensitive concrete solutions, participated in the Florida-Israel Business Accelerator and has an office in St. Petersburg.
Raymond James Financial (NYSE: RJF) will increase its stake in ClariVest Asset Management from 45 percent to 100 percent in April. Raymond James invested in ClariVest, with services such as mutual funds and pensions, in 2012. ClariVest has $7.3 billion in assets under management.
The main entrance and traffic light to enter and leave St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport will be relocated. The airport’s website has a map showing the changes, which take place starting Feb. 28, and are the result of the Gateway Express Project.
1347 Property Insurance Holdings (Nasdaq: PIH) in Tampa is selling its homeowners’ insurance operations to FedNat Holding Co. for $51 million in cash and stock. FedNat also will repay $18 million in debt. 1347 PIH will use the proceeds for a new growth strategy focused on reinsurance, investment management and investment opportunities.
Sykes Enterprises (Nasdaq: SYKE), a Tampa call center operator, posted $1.6 billion in 2018 revenue up 2.5 percent from 2017. Net income for 2018 was $48.9 million or $1.16 a share, compared to $32.2 million or 76 cents a share last year. The loss of a financial services customer was offset by new client wins in other sectors.
KnowBe4 entered the Brazilian market by purchasing El Pescador. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal allows Clearwater-based KnowBe4 to deliver new cybersecurity training content, Stu Sjourwerman, CEO, said in a news release.
Dozens of Schneider National Carriers employees in the Tampa Bay area will lose their jobs after Lowe’s terminated its contract with the logistics and transportation services company. Schneider will lay off about 156 employees statewide after losing the Lowe’s business, the company said in a notice to the state.
