BuSINESS
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY11, 2017:: LATIMES.COM/BUSINESS
C
DOWS19,855.53▼31.85 &P 5002,268.90 Unch. NASDAQ5,551.82 20.▲ 00 GOLD$1,184.20 0.70▲OIL$50.82 1.14▼▼EURO$1.0560 .0017 U.S. T- NOTE(10-yr.)2.38% 0.01▲Wells Fargo&Co. will
changehow it paystellers
and other bankworkers,an-
nouncingonTuesdayalong-
anticipatedoverhaulof the
incentive-compensation
system thatwasatthe root
of the bank’sfake-accounts
scandal.
The bankfor years used
salesgoalsto pushworkers
to open more accounts —
checking, savings, credit
cards—for customers. Try-
ing to meet those goals,
thousands ofworkers over
thelastseveralyearsopened
as many as 2million ac-
counts withoutcustomers’
knowledgeorapproval, ac-
cording to local and federal
regulators, who fined the
bank$185 million lastyear
over those practices.
The San Franciscobank-
ing giantsaid the newincen-
tivesystemwill no longerre-
wardemployeessimply for
opening accounts but will
insteadjudgethemonhow
oftencustomers use their
accounts and whethercus-tomers aresatisfied withthe
bank’s services.
Wells Fargo executives
have beenworking on the
plan since soon afterthe set-
tlements with federalregu-
lators and the Los Angeles
cityattorney’s office were
announced in September.
The updated plan has been
consideredahigh priority
for Chief ExecutiveTim
Sloan andMary Mack, the
head ofWells Fargo’s com-
munitybankdivision—both
of whomtook thosejobs af-
terthe scandalemerged.
“Do [customers] use the
productstheyhavewithus?
Do theythink of us as their
primarybank? Arewegrow-
ing customerswho consider
us their primarybank?
These arethe metricswe are
nowmeasuring,” Mack said.
Accounts that areused
frequently, suchasthose for
whichcustomers set up di-
rect deposits or use debit
cards often, wi ll be apositive
factor for an employee’s pay.
Idle accountswill not,and
an account won’tbeafactor
towardincentives until it
hasbeenopenthreemonths.
“Ourgoal herewas to cre-
ateapay plan thatwould
restor etrust withour cus-
tomers,team members and
the public,”Mack said.
In the months since theWe llsFargo
overhauls its
payplan for
employees
The bankinggiant
changes the incentive
systemfollowing a
fake-accountsscandal.
ByJamesRufusKoren[SeeWellsFargo,C4]Formorethan adecade, the
prospect that another Frank Gehry
developmentmight rise acrossfrom
the architect’s signatureWalt Disney
ConcertHall hastantali zed down-
townLos Angeles.
Nowthe elaboratecommercial and
residential development designed by
Gehrycouldfinallygetoff theground
afteraChinese builder has put $290
million into the ventur e.
Constructiononthe $1-billion
GrandAvenueProjectwill begin next
year,accordingto NewYorkdeveloper
RelatedCos., in partbecause of its
partnershipwith one of China’slarg-
est state-ownedcompanies, China
Communications Construction
Group.
Thecompany, based in Beijing,
builds transportation infrastructure
suchasroads, bridgesand tunnels
andreports annualrevenue of more
than $67billion.The GrandAvenue
Projectistheinitialventur eintheU.S.
for asubsidiaryset upto carryout for-
eigndevelopment.
“For ourfirstproject in theU.S. we
wantto beinacitywithalarge popula-
tion andastable economy,” saidMark
Guo, director of business devel-
opment for the Singaporesubsidiary,
called CCCG Overseas Real Estate
Ltd., or CORE. “Gatewaycitiessuch
as Los Angeles arethe most attractive
targets.”
TheGrandAvenuecomplexofcon-
dominiums, apartments, shops,
restaurants andahotel has been de-
layed several times since 2004. That’s
when Relatedwasselected by cityand
countyofficialstotransform landleft
mostly vacant since the formerresi-
dentialneighborhood wasrazed
about50yearsagoinanurbanrenewal
program.
But this time, with CORE’s help,
Related willfinally be abletoproceed,Brianvander BrugLos Angeles TimesTHE GRANDAVENUEProjectat GrandAvenue and1stStreetinL.A. would replaceaparking structure,
top, across from theWa lt Disney Concert Hall, which also was designedby Frank Gehry.The complex of
condominiums,apartments, shops, restaurantsand ahotel has been delayedseveral times since 2004.
Related Cos.Chinesefunds give L.A.
Gehryproject aboost
Architect’s$1-billion GrandAvenue development downtown will
breakground in 2018,helpedby$290million fromaBeijingbuilder
ByRogerVincent
‘Wedon’t just
want toinvest,
takethe money
andgo.We
want to stayand
work withU.S.
peopletobuild
good things.’
—MARKGUO
director of business development
for CCCG OverseasReal Estate [SeeProject,C6]WASHINGTON—Ener-
gized by Republican moves
to roll back the Affordable
CareAct,leadingpatientad-
vocates,consumer groups,
labor unions and Demo-
craticofficials aremobili-
zing anationwide campaign
to defe nd the lawand pro-
tect millions ofAmericans
whodependonthe lawand
other government health
programs.
The campaign, whichis
quickly ramping up aheadof
President-elect Donald
Trump’sinaugurationnext
week, aimsto reshape the
debateoverthe lawafter
years in whichthe public
conversation has been
dominated by its critics.
ButObamacaresupport-
ers believe thatas Republi-
cans pushto gutthe 6-year-
old law, Americans, includ-
ing many whovoted for
Trump,willcometoappreci-ateitsprotectionsandfight
to keepthem.
“This is about one of the
mostimportant things in
everyperson’s life :thebasics
of your health,” outgoing
Health and Human Services
SecretarySylvi aM.Burwell
saidinaspeechMonday.
“Thisisreal,anditaffects
everyone’s lives.... That is
what’sdifferent, when the
conversation shiftsfrom the
rhetoricto reality.”
Already,therearesignsof
this newdynamic asagrow-
ing number of Republicans
voice concerns aboutrush-
ing to repeal Obamacare
withoutfirst outliningare-
placement, something the
GOP hasyettodo.
Polls showthinsupport
for the Republican strategy
to repeal nowbut delayare-
placement.No majororgani-
zationsrepresenting pa-
tients, physicians, hospitals
or others in the nation’s
healthcaresystemback the
GOP approach. And Trump
enters office with histori-
cally lowpublic confid ence,
aweakness that Obamacare
defendersfigu re to exploit.
Democraticsenators
kept up the pressureMon-
day,takingto the SenateSYLVIA M.BURWELL,secretary of Health and
Human Services, defends Obamacare on Monday.MarkWilsonGetty ImagesDemocratic allies
gird forbattleto
save Obamacare
Their effort aimsto
reshape debate over
health lawamid GOP
movesto repealit.
ByNoamN.Leveyand
Michael A. Memoli[SeeObamacare,C4]Snap maydodge
tax criticism
The L.A.-based maker
of Snapchatwill
collectmuch of its
overseas ad revenue
in London.C2Agencychief’s
ouster is urged
TwoGOP senators
askPresident-elect
Trump to remove
Richard Cordrayfrom
consumer bureau.C2Claim against
O’Reilly settled
FoxNewspaystoend
aclaimthataformer
network personality
was sexuallyharassed
by BillO’Reilly.C3MovieProjector.....C3
MarketRoundup...C4Videogamesasaprofes-
sional sportmadenosense
to Lars Windhorst,aEuro-
pean oil and agriculturein-
vestor ,until asummereve-
ninginSeoul. Beforehim lay
an impressivesight: Thou-
sandsofkids in lawnchairs
outdoors watching teams
battle in the 2012 champi-
onship for “League of Leg-
ends.”
“It wasexotic,” Wind-
horstrecalled. “Hugeenergy
and enthusiasm.”
Over the next fouryears,
his firm Sapinda Group in-
vested upwardof $40 million
in Azubu, aSherman Oaks
start-up developed to
stream suche-sports
matches online.
But in the lastyear,sev-
eral employeesresigned and
the only other major in-
vestorclawedbackfunding,
exposing long-simmering
troubles inside Azubu.Windhorst, 40,now ad-
mitshedevotedinsufficient
attentionto Azubu, allowing
featurestolaunchmonths
lateand itsrecently de-
partedchief executiveto
work from Canada. And
Windhorst acknowledges
his loansto Azubuwereun-
usual by Silicon Valley
standards.
Sapindadrip-fedfunds—
$1 million or soamonth—in
atacticintendedto acceler-
atethe company’smarch
towardprofitability. In ef-
fect, the strategycon-
strained budgeting, con-Abnormal funding setup
put e-sports ventureatrisk
Azubu,cash starved
andreliantonone
source,wassaidto be
nearcollapsein2016.
ByPareshDave
[SeeAzubu,C5]