Biz Bits: Fluke Networks of Everett moves to buy California-based network monitoring company
Published 8:56 pm Sunday, January 3, 2010
Fluke Networks of Everett moved to acquire a California-based network monitoring company, its second significant acquisition this year. The deal with ClearSight will provide Fluke with technology that helps customers resolve problems before they occur, said Arif Kareem, president of Fluke Networks. He said ClearSight offers analysis of high volume networks to spot bottlenecks and other traffic interruptions. ClearSight technology founder Sam Li called the deal “a natural fit.” Earlier this year, Fluke Networks acquired AirMagnet, a wireless testing company also based in California.
The year of the Ponzi scheme: In a special project, the Associated Press scoured the country for Ponzi schemes that unraveled in 2009 and found more than 150 in the nation’s court systems. That’s about four times what there were in 2008. Tens of thousands of investors lost $16.5 billion in Ponzi schemes last year. Named for the late Charles Ponzi, the money-making schemes involve using a constant stream of new investors to pay off old ones. The largest such scheme recently was the $50 billion investor fraud pulled off by Bernard Madoff in 2008.
Regulators watch bank: The Lynnwood-based Bank of Washington is the latest to receive more careful scrutiny from state and federal regulators. It was one of 34 banks issued a cease-and-desist order in November from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The censure is intended to warn the bank that it needs to boost its capital by halting high-risk loans and reducing its loans in land development, acquisition and construction. The bank’s executives have also been directed to notify regulators of high-level management changes. Bank of Washington has branches in Everett, Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mukilteo, Issaquah and Redmond.
