BUSINESS MEMO: COUNTERFEITING DETERRENT

One year after its introduction, the newly designed $100 bill appears to be accepted at home and abroad and -- more importantly -- seems to be deterring counterfeiting.

In the largest attempt to date, four men from Kingston, Jamaica, were charged earlier this month with printing more than $10 million in bogus $100 bills in Miami. In January, three men were arrested in St. Petersburg, Russia, after trying to sell 14 phony bills at a shopping mall.

While the Secret Service declined to comment on specific cases, it says some counterfeits have attempted to duplicate some new security features, but none are "highly deceptive."