BRIEFCASE.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Former Vans VP admits kickbacks

A former vice president of Vans Inc. on Monday admitted taking more than $4.7 million in kickbacks from Chinese factories that made shoes for the Santa Fe Springs-based company.

Scott Andrew Brabson, a former Goleta resident who headed procurement from overseas manufacturers, pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy, conspiracy to launder money, foreign travel to promote commercial bribery and wire fraud.

Authorities said Brabson, 50, demanded and received money from suppliers for about three years. The kickbacks continued until December 2000 when he left the company.

Hilton Hotels has 3% decline for Q4

BEVERLY HILLS - Hilton Hotels Corp. said Monday its profit fell 3 percent in the fourth quarter, as the company pushed through price increases at many of its big-city hotels.

However, the Beverly Hills-based hotel operator said it expects to be helped this year by pent-up demand for travel and an industry shortage of first-class hotel rooms in most major cities.

Net income fell to $65 million, or 16 cents a share, from the prior year's $67 million, or 17 cents a share.

Time Warner inks Univision accord

Time Warner Cable announced Monday that it will offer all of Univision Communication's television products - the Univision Network, TeleFutura Network and Galavision Network - to its customers nationwide.

The companies reached a multiyear agreement providing Time Warner Cable with access to the Univision networks and broadcast stations.

T-Bill rates climb to three-year high

WASHINGTON - Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction to the highest levels in more than three years.

The Treasury Department auctioned $20 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 2.475 percent. An additional $17 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 2.710 percent.

The three-month rate was up from 2.320 percent last week and was the highest since three-month bills averaged 2.560 percent Sept. 17, 2001. The six-month rate was up from 2.610 percent last week and was the highest since 3.120 percent Sept. 10, 2001.

In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable-rate mortgages, rose to 2.89 percent last week from 2.87 percent the previous week.

L.A. can't impose mortgage rules

Local governments cannot regulate mortgage-lending operations that saddle heavy interest rates on home buyers who would not qualify for traditional loans, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday.

The 4-3 decision prevents Oakland and Los Angeles from enforcing local mortgage rules, which were stayed pending the high court's ruling, and blocks other cities from adopting lending ordinances.

Ruling in a challenge to Oakland's ordinance, the divided court said that only the California Legislature can set lending controls, which it did in 2001. Allowing cities or counties to expand upon state mortgage laws would create a hodgepodge of unworkable rules, Justice Janice Rogers Brown wrote for the majority.