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Industry News: JBT Redesigns Credit Report; Alex & Ani Suit Dropped; Steinmetz Indicted August 21, 2019 (0 comments)
JBT Releases Redesigned Credit Report; Makes Financing Decisions Easier
Warwick, RI—The Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT)’s newly redesigned Credit Report is now available. Redesigned from scratch and completely reorganized, the new credit report includes:
- A new front-page overview section, placing the most critical business credit information upfront in an organized and easy-to-review format.
- Clear presentation of both current and historical credit rating, and what the credit rating means.
- New Payment Pattern charts, clearly showing trends in trade payments based on agreed terms.
- New Trade Performance charts showing the degree to which payments are slow or prompt.
- Completely redesigned Principals, Operations, Business Relationships, and Legal sections making it easy to find this critical information.
- Live linking of summary information to its source, making it easy to find supporting details such as the number of claims placed against listing, the number of trades and amounts, and branch locations.
Although completely redesigned, the new Credit Report retains the level of detail and analysis that made JBT the benchmark for credit information in the jewelry industry for over 135 years, including:
- Business History and Principal/Owner antecedent details, including prior business histories of the owners as well as current affiliations and business failures that are tracked on a daily basis by a dedicated group of analysts in JBT’s credit reporting department.
- Operational details, including type of business, square footage and number of employees and other nonfinancial information helpful in arriving at credit decisions.
- Trade payment information provided directly by our members.
- Claims information from JBT’s collection services.
“We spent many months working closely with our members developing a report that better serves their needs to make real-time credit decisions in today’s rapidly changing jewelry industry. Our objective was to provide additional information in a format that’s now easier to read and understand,” said JBT president Rich Weisenfeld. “We couldn’t be happier with the results.”
Mike Kaplan, JBT chairman and president of Rocket Jewelry Box, added, “JBT is the only association providing credit, collection, and marketing services intended solely for the jewelry industry. It is JBT’s job to provide our members with insightful and accurate credit information. That is why we’ve invested in new technology and a redesigned credit report.”
The report will be rolled out to JBT’s current membership over the next month. Members wishing to gain access to the new report ahead of the rollout should contact their member representative or email jbtinfo@jewelersboard.com.
For more information on JBT’s new credit reports and other services, visit www.jewelersboard.com, email jbtinfo@jewelersboard.com, or call (401) 467-0055.
Blue Nile Gets New CEO, Again: Taps Former Nursing Home Referral Executive
Seattle, WA--Sean Kell has been named CEO of diamond e-tailer Blue Nile, the latest in a string of appiontments to the chair. Kell, the third outsider out of Blue Nile's four CEO's of the last two years, formerly headed A Place For Mom, an online referral service for senior living and long-term care facilities. Read more here.
Legal News: Alex & Ani Drops BofA Suit; Diamantaire Steinmetz Indicted
Cranston, RI—Jewelry brand Alex & Ani has dropped its lawsuit against Bank of America. The jewelry firm, which last month filed a $1.1 billion lawsuit against the bank alleging gender discriminiation in lending, withdrew its suit Monday. An attorney for the jewelry brand said the two parties reached a confidential settlement. The suit was dismissed with prejudice, which means it is permanently finished and can’t be reopened.
Related: Alex & Ani Jewelry Sues Nation’s #2 Bank For Gender Discrimination
Separately, diamond magnate Beny Steinmetz was indicted in Switzerland for allegedly bribing officials in Guinea for a license to mine cobalt. Steinmetz lives in Switzerland and some of the alleged bribes went through Swiss bank accounts. He and his company, BSG Resources (BSGR), deny any wrongdoing. Read more here.