Briefcase

Citigroup says hackers stole data on 360,000 card accounts

HONG KONG – Hackers stole information for 360,000 Citigroup Inc. U.S. credit card accounts in a recent data breach, although the actual number of customers affected was not much higher than originally reported, the bank said Wednesday.

Citi said last week that about 1 percent of its credit card customers had account information hacked online but did not say exactly how many. The actual number of customers affected was thought to be about 210,000, based on Citi’s 2010 annual report, which said the company had roughly 21 million North American credit card customers.

In a statement posted late Wednesday on its website, the company said 217,657 people were sent new cards along with notification letters starting June 3.

Hackers gained access to a total of 360,083 accounts but because many of the accounts were duplicates or already closed, they weren’t affected and did not need to be sent replacement cards, Citi said.

Associated Press

Dickinson leaving DSP for Sterling Savings Bank

Marty Dickinson is leaving the Downtown Spokane Partnership to become senior vice president and corporate marketing communications executive at Sterling Savings Bank.

Her last day at the DSP, where she has been president for six years, will be July 1.

Marla Nunbeg was named interim president by the DSP executive board of directors.

Dickinson said the opportunity to work for Sterling, a Fortune 500 company, was one she could not pass up, but added that the decision was a difficult one.

“There are a few lucky individuals that have the chance to have a job they love so much that it is really not a job at all,” she said.

Dickinson said she takes particular satisfaction in development downtown, and in the University District.

DSP Board Chairman Mark Aden noted Dickinson’s efforts to find new housing for low-income residents displaced by redevelopment at the Madison and Otis apartments.

Bert Caldwell

Energy Transfer reaches deal for Southern Union Co.

NEW YORK – Energy Transfer Equity LP said Thursday that it has agreed to acquire natural gas company Southern Union Co. for about $4.2 billion, creating one of the country’s largest natural gas pipeline companies.

The combined company would have more than 44,000 miles of natural gas pipelines and about 30.7 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas transportation capacity.

Associated Press

Paper clips

• Toyota says it expects to return to full North American production in September, faster than expected after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

• Insurance provider Allstate Corp. says that severe storms have boosted catastrophe losses to $2 billion so far in the second quarter.

• Shares of luggage maker Samsonite International S.A. plunged in their first day of trading amid waning investor interest in IPOs as global stock markets slide.

• Chrysler is recalling more than 11,000 cars, minivans and other models because their steering could fail.

• Bangladesh has signed a production-sharing contract with energy giant ConocoPhillips to explore for gas in the virtually unexplored deep waters of the Bay of Bengal.

• Capital One Financial says it’s buying ING Direct USA in a deal valued at $9 billion.