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Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Faces Big Risks from Tax Havens Tags: #Norway #oil #tax #PanamaPapers #Oslo #SWF #Fund #Investment #europe #government #money #NBIM #SPUThe original version of this article (in Norwegian) appeared today in the leading Norwegian business newspaper DN.no and can be veiwed here: http://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kronikk/Kronikk-Oljefondets-etisk-ris... The findings on which this piece is based can be found in the latest Re-Define Report: http://www.forumfor.no/assets/docs/The-SPU-and-Tax-Havens_FINAL_.pdf The Panama Papers sparked a loud, but rather limited debate on the Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund and its use of tax havens. Here we present some new facts, discuss what risks the Fund really faces and suggest concrete steps for reform. Taken together, the Oil Fund’s direct investments in tax havens amount to as much as 8%-10% of its total value. These include its investments in real estate through subsidiaries in Luxembourg and Delaware, fund managers who use tax havens and direct stakes in companies registered offshore. Most discussions so far have focussed on getting the Fund to reduce or eliminate this kind of direct use of tax havens. While this is important, the largest financial, reputation and ethical risks for the Fund arise indirectly from its investments in companies that use tax havens and aggressive tax avoidance strategies. Companies within the financial, information technology, pharmaceutical and extractive sectors (many of which are aggressive users of tax havens) account for more than half of the Fund’s investments. On the basis of conversations with specialists, we estimate that about 10% of the Fund’s total investments are exposed to an aggressive usage of tax havens and avoidance strategies that may not withstand full public scrutiny. For example, Apple, Alphabet (formerly Google) and Microsoft, all of which feature in the Fund’s top six investments, have been under investigation for their highly aggressive use of tax havens and extensive use of tax avoidance strategies. Apple, for example, is accused of having $8 bn of unpaid taxes in the EU, while Alphabet has had pay to settle with tax authorities in the UK and now in France. Microsoft has stashed almost $100 bn of earnings offshore, on which it will have to pay $30 bn in taxes when these are repatriated back to the US. For the top 10 US tech firms, many of which the Fund is heavily invested in, the earnings stashed offshore amount to more than $600 bn. The Oil Fund has also made large investments in many other firms outside of the IT sector that have been accused of, or are under investigation for, aggressive tax avoidance. DN, the Norwegian business newspaper, has reported that more than 1,105 listed firms that had subsidiaries revealed by Panama Papers lost $ 24 bn in market capitalisation over and above normal stock market movements in the week following the revelations. This highlights the significant financial risk we believe the Oil Fund exposes itself to by investing in firms that are heavy users of tax havens. Even more problematic are the Fund’s large investments in the financial sector, particularly banks. Many have been accused of and prosecuted for not just being aggressive users of tax havens themselves, but of actively promoting and facilitating tax evasion, money laundering, corruption and sanctions busting. The Oil Fund owns 4.94% of Credit Suisse, 3.08% of UBS, 2.07% of BNP Paribas and 1.98% of HSBC. This makes it one of the largest investors in companies promoting the use of tax havens. Last year BNP Paribas was fined a whooping $ 8.9 bn for its role in money laundering and sanctions busting. Credit Suisse and HSBC were also fined for such offences. In addition, Credit Suisse also paid a fine of USD 2.6 billion for its role in promoting tax evasion, and UBS has been fined $780 million so far with further action possible. Surely, as the largest shareholder of Credit Suisse, the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund bears a degree of moral complicity in the immoral, illegal and indefensible actions of that bank? Taken together, the fact that almost 20% of the Fund’s value is exposed to tax havens poses serious financial, reputation and ethical risks. What are these and what can be done to mitigate them? Let us first consider the 10% of the Oil Fund that is directly invested through tax havens. Havens such as Luxembourg also serve as offshore financial centres, which are used as “way stations” in the flow of international investments. They have honed their treaty networks and designed legal regimes to suit the needs of investors and can help reduce frictions and costs for cross-border capital flows. The Fund uses them for these reasons as well as to lower its effective tax burden. The main risk that arises then is one of complicity through legitimising the same jurisdictions, which also serve as tax havens and can be used for more nefarious purposes. The best way to tackle this is through full disclosure and transparency. NBIM, the subsidiary of the Norwegian Central Bank that manages the Oil Fund on behalf of the government must, in its next report, list every such direct investment, the justification for it and additional costs, if any, of channelling the same investments through onshore, non-tax haven jurisdictions. The judgment on whether it should bear these additional costs to avoid complicity in promoting tax havens should be left to the Norwegian Parliament. It is the indirect exposure of the Oil Fund to tax havens through its corporate investments that poses the biggest financial risks. Given the change in Zeitgeist, where tolerance of tax havens and aggressive tax avoidance tactics is on a sharp decline, policy and legislation will tighten and legal actions by tax authorities will multiply. As has happened in the past, it will seriously impact the market value and future post-tax profit expectations of the companies that are targeted. The more the Fund is invested in firms that bend the tax rules, the greater the financial risk it faces. This policy risk is significant enough that it should be measured, reported and managed alongside the present categories of market, credit and operational risks. Investments in promoters of tax havens such as Credit Suisse and UBS carry further financial risks in the form of possible large penalties, reputation risks arising from moral complicity and even legal risk for the Oil Fund, arising from negligence as one of the largest shareholders. As part of its responsibility as a large owner, NBIM should actively promote responsible tax practices in the firms it owns. As Norwegian Church Aid has suggested, “aggressive tax avoidance” should be added to the remit of the ethical council alongside “gross corruption” as a practice that is unacceptable. If the active engagement strategy fails, NBIM should divest from the most egregious offenders. In addition NBIM should, as lead sponsor, launch a group of “Investors for fairer tax”. As a sovereign investor, the Oil Fund already enjoys tax privileges not available to private investors. With such privilege comes additional responsibility. The bottom line is “do Norwegians really want their financial returns to come on the back of money laundering, corruption and unpaid taxes in other countries, both rich and poor”? Sony Kapoor is Managing Director of the International Think Tank Re-Define The findings on which this piece is based can be found in the latest Re-Define Report: http://www.forumfor.no/assets/docs/The-SPU-and-Tax-Havens_FINAL_.pdf sony.kapoor's blog

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For more information about WTP, press releases, articles, events, and webinars, please contact:PJ BrownPJ.Brown@wtpadvisors.comNews Archive2017201620152014201320122011 Tax Alert: IRS Targeting Small and Mid-sized Companies for Transfer Pricing Audits Tax Alert: IRS Targeting Small and Mid-sized Companies for Transfer Pricing Audits In September 2015, the IRS announced a reorganization of its Large Business & International (LB&I) Division that houses transfer pricing specialists. At the time, the new structure was revealed with a single deputy commissioner and nine practice areas (four regional along with these subject matter areas: Pass-through Entities, Enterprise Activities, Cross-border Activities, Withholding and International Individual Compliance, and Treaty and Transfer Pricing Operations). In addition, the IRS is taking a new approach to exams, shifting to a campaign strategy that is issue-based, focusing on potential areas of noncompliance. What wasn’t revealed in that announcement was that the IRS has expanded its scope to include mid-sized and smaller companies. In October 2015, David Varley, acting director of the IRS’ transfer pricing group in Washington, D.C., said that middle market foreign-owned businesses, were now included in this initiative. This project encompasses U.S.-based companies that fall within $10 million to $250 million in assets and foreign parent companies operating limited-risk distributors in the United States. As part of this initiative, the IRS is dropping its program of differentiating its emphasis on Controlled Industry Cases (approximately the 2,500 largest most complex corporations) and Industry Cases (the remaining 240,000 corporations with assets more than $10 million) to instead focus on the international and domestic campaigns identified above. We have already seen an increased IRS presence on international issues on smaller entities. While there hasn’t been a formal announcement that the IRS is targeting smaller companies in this project, it has been shared in meetings with IRS personnel. It is also known that the IRS has been hiring economists to increase the enforcement team. This means relatively small companies, even those with less than $100 million of global revenue, can expect additional IRS scrutiny on their transfer pricing. In addition to risks of double taxation that can result from one-sided IRS adjustments to U.S. taxable income, companies that do not maintain transfer pricing documentation may be exposed to non-deductible penalties and interest. Penalties are 20 or 40 percent of the increase in tax. Taken over multiple years, this could cost unsuspecting companies millions of dollars of tax-related costs. If you have any questions on how you should be preparing for this change, please contact WTP’s National Transfer Pricing and Valuation Services Practice leader, Guy Sanschagrin at guy.sanschagrin@wtpadvisors.com or WTP’s National International Tax Services Practice leader Brian Schwam at brian.schwam@wtpadvisors.com.

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Home > Columns & Papers > Macroeconomics >TPP negotiations and "safeguards" English translated version of "Business Prospect" on NHK Radio Channel 1 on October 14, 2014 1.I often hear the word "safeguard" on the news in connection to the TPP negotiations. Could you explain it? A safeguard is a measure taken to save domestic industries which suffer when the imports from foreign countries suddenly increase. At present, Japan and the US are negotiating over how much they should lower customs duty on Japanese beef and pork under the TPP. The US who wants to increase beef and pork exports to Japan is requesting a considerable decrease in customs duties. In TPP negotiations there is a push for the abolition, not reduction of customs duties, so perhaps the Japanese government may feel a reduction is unavoidable. However, in that case, Japanese domestic industry may suffer when imports suddenly increase. Japan and the US have been discussing possible measures to avoid this negative effect, namely a "safeguard." 2.What kind of safeguards exist? Actually, there are several kinds of safeguard. The most typical one is the measure accepted in the GATT which is the predecessor of the World Trade Organization. The conditions to take this measure were made more specific in the WTO agreement. When this safeguard measure is taken, an investigation has to be carried out and the damage to the domestic industry has to be recognized as serious enough to warrant a safeguard. Also, once a safeguard measure is taken, it may not be applied to the same product for a certain period of time. As can be seen from this, the conditions for a safeguard to be put into effect are strict. However, under a safeguard customs duty on these products can be raised above the upper limit decided under the WTO agreement. For example the customs duty of a certain product could be raised to 20% even though an agreement or a commitment has been made under the WTO agreement not to exceed 10% for this particular product. Moreover, not only an increase in customs duty but also quantitative import restriction is allowed. Of course, if higher rate of customs duty is applied, the exporting country will be at a disadvantage. Accordingly the importing country is required to offer some compensation. In a case where the importing country can not offer any compensation, the exporting country is allowed to implement measures such as raising the customs duty of another item, in order to compensate. Under the Agreement on Agriculture, made during the Uruguay Round negotiations, there is a safeguard applied only to certain agricultural products whose non-tariff measures were converted into a tariff at the negotiations. It was agreed during the negotiations that any measures to restrict imports, such as an import quota that restricts imports in excess of a certain quantity, would not be allowed and that all non-tariff restrictive measures had to be replaced by customs duties. This is called tariffication. Some of you may remember that there was objection to tariffication in Japanese agricultural circles from 1990 to 1993. Import restrictions that had been imposed on rice, wheat and dairy products were converted into a tariff in Japan. Concerning these items, an increase in customs duty is permitted without any investigation on damage to domestic industry when imports exceed a certain quantity or the price of imports become lower than a certain level. However, under this safeguard importing countries are not allowed to restrict the volume of imports. Also exporting counties are not allowed to take any measures to compensate. This is called the "special safeguard." In the GATT Uruguay Round negotiations, Japan and the US agreed bilaterally that customs duty imposed on beef and pork can be raised to the upper limit decided under the WTO agreement when imports of pork and beef to Japan exceed a certain amount. Specifically, in the case of beef, the customs duty, which is 38.5%, can automatically be raised to 50% when the amount of imports becomes more than 117% compared to the same period the year before. The difference from the two safeguards previously mentioned is that the customs duty cannot be raised more than the upper limit agreed under the WTO agreement. There are some books and essays which call this the "special safeguard," but this is a mistake. 3.What kind of safeguards have been considered in the present TPP negotiations? Basically the kind of safeguard which is similar in legal-terms to the one Japan and the US agreed in the Uruguay Round negotiations. However the current customs duty of 38.5% is going to be lowered and the upper limit will be set at 38.5% when the customs duty is triggered by the safeguard. There are some reports which claim that the US is demanding a lower limit, for example 30%. Also, concerning the agreed level of imports necessary to trigger the safeguard, there are reports that the US is demanding a level of around four hundred thousand tons - the same amount as before the decrease of exports to Japan caused by the BSE outbreak - while Japan is demanding two to three hundred thousand tons in order to activate the safeguard easily. 4.The negotiations between Japan and the US which were held in the end of this September ended in a stalemate. In the US, Congress holds authority in trade negotiations. If the Republican Party, which promotes free trade, holds a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives as the result of the midterm election next November, there will be a higher possibility that the TPA Bill, which shifts the authority of the trade negotiations from Congress to the US government, will be concluded. In that case, the TPP negotiations will move forward quickly. At the same time, if the Republican Party holds a majority, demands in Congress for an abolition of customs duty rather than a reduction will increase. I think the Japanese government has been trying to reach an agreement about the reduction of the customs duty before this situation is realized in the US. However, even if they can reach an agreement, it will be after the midterm election before it can be approved by Congress. Additionally the US government will not be able to persuade Congress unless they can win concessions regarding liberalization of trade. The Japanese government's enthusiasm for concluding negotiations before the midterm election seems to have been in vain. I think the TPP negotiations will reach their key stage at the beginning of the new year after the TPA is concluded. (This article was translated from the Japanese transcript of Mr. Yamashita's speech in the "Business Prospect" session of the radio program "First in the Morning News" broadcast by NHK Radio Channel1 on October 14, 2014.)

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"...And Justice For All...": The Case for Fiscal Equity and Equality An End to "Them That Has, Keeps" Institute Bulletin No.48 20.January.2003 Corporate Accountability: Concentration and Combination The current spate of corporate theft in North America can be traced to one overriding element in continental corporate culture. Concentration. While the debate about concentration rages, the fact of concentration continues. The only end served is not efficiency but greed. While 80% of our new jobs are produced by small business, bank credit and tax breaks go to the conglomerates. While the top 20% of our corporations and citizenry exploit the levers of legislation for their own fiscal benefits, 80% of our total taxes are collected from small businesses and workingmen and women 45% of who have no more than two weeks of cash flow in savings. In the midst of an already inequitable environment we now hear calls from the banks to allow mergers. It is incumbent upon a progressive administration to impose a two-year moratorium on all combinations involving any of Canada’s 200 top corporations. At the same time a Royal Commission on Corporate Concentration should be empowered to consider the social and political effects of mergers and monopolies, not just the economic edge that big business seeks in order to pursue its worldwide activities. This Commission would also be mandated to force the pro-merger advocates to demonstrate how increased combinations would flow through benefits to the public at large. Today, many firms merge not merely because it is efficient, but because our tax laws permit the sheltering of profits in the financial structure of the acquired firm. The techniques of accountancy make firms look more profitable than they really are, causing massive over investment and subsequent rapid divestment thereby destabilizing working men and women’s futures and security while executives get golden parachutes. Recommendations on reforms of our fiscal codes would be part of this Commission’s mandate as well. We have had wage freezes and price freezes in the past. A merger freeze would at least give us time to think before these combinations destroy whatever is left of a supposed competitive economy. The absurdity of the very people who demand a free market devising constructs of monopoly accompanied by unyielding demands on government cash and credit cannot be lost on any rational, thinking citizen. Corporate Governance: Institutional Intimacies and Unnatural Profits Several decades ago, in the midst of an economic downturn, a commentator wrote, "the money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple." Today it may well be said "the money managers have tumbled from their high perches on the tower." The intimate relationship between the funny-money specialists on the Street and the corporate titans in the boardrooms has already destroyed the financial economy of the securities markets and now threatens the real economy of the job market. We are living through a time of elimination of permanent jobs unprecedented, in gross numbers, since the Depression. It is commonplace to hear, almost daily, of corporations eliminating twenty, thirty and even forty thousand jobs in one cut. This malaise cuts across all sectors and all industries. In part, this is due to recessionary business cycles, the negative effects of which government can only seek to cushion the public from. But this is also due to mismanagement by many corporate chieftains characterized by the arrogance of avarice and a cynical smugness stemming from the incestuous intimacies between supposed competitors in the exchange of goods and services and supposed lenders and borrowers in the exchange of capital. All may be fair in a strictly private enterprise environment. But there is not one industrial or financial giant that does not benefit from government largesse. It is time to bring the behemoths to account and reduce the burdens on the ordinary citizen. A six point plan should be undertaken to reform the current climate that makes it all to easy for the irresponsible, the unethical and the greedy to undermine the stability and security of this country and the lives of the ordinary working men and women that are its foundation: 1.Prohibit all interlocking directorates in the financial services sectors. We may finally see the return of competition and an end to the lock-step approach we have today that shuts credit. and facilities to small business and the individual. We may even get better service for customers. 2.Prohibit directors of competing businesses from sitting on the board of the same bank. This would close one ready forum for collusive or anti-competitive "off-the-record" discussions between corporations and their financiers. Supposed competitors may not tell all to each other, but they do say hello far too often. 3.Open up directorships to wider groups. By legislation if necessary. The adoption of policies at the board level in return for similar corporate favors is rampant, particularly in the financial services industries. Financial decisions critical to a community are undertaken with no reference to the people these decisions affect. Banks and insurance companies are chartered, serviced, protected and regulated by government. They cannot continue to collect obscenely unnatural profits made possible by public policy and political persuasion and still demand the autonomy of a purely private operation. 4.Close the tax loopholes protecting bank profits. Excess bad debt reserves, favored capital gains treatment—such breaks simply add to the tax burden of the wage earner. 5.Require bank investments in community and socially useful purposes. Our model should be the U.S. Community Reinvestment Act. Using federal funds to insure against high risks, federal law should require that a set percentage of profits be used for community reinvestment. Particularly in poorer areas where Canadian banks have been known to close six branches in one county because the people were not wealthy enough to make it worth their while. Banks like to claim that they are in the business of "wealth management". In fact, for the past thirty years, they have been in the business of debt creation. They cannot simply be allowed to cut costs, grab fees and abandon communities where their own created debtors make it less profitable for them to operate. 6.Tax the profits hidden by life insurance companies in tax-free reserves. By using outdated actuarial tables and underestimated investment income, insurance reserve funds are swollen by tens of billions. Taxing this hidden profit could produce billions in tax revenues.Few hold protest rallies against the over-all economic practices of corporate Canada. Only about their investments abroad or their participation in globalization policies. Yet corporate Canada’s domestic policies, particularly those of banks and insurance companies, are among the most important forces behind the unfair distribution of wealth and power in our land. Protected by law (including a largely unreconstructed Bank Act from 1895), given dozens of tax breaks, permitted to hold degrees of concentrated economic power long outlawed in other areas of economic life, they have used their power to deliberately and systematically redistribute wealth, power and, more importantly, equality of opportunity, away from working people and the poor and towards the rich. Much of the needed reforms can be accomplished through existing financial and consumer legislation. Some will require radically new definitions of what corporate citizens may do, may not do and must do. But at the end of the day, Canadians will be able to eye a great prize---an equitable redistribution of power and profit, preference and privilege; and a generous redefinition of the dignity and debt owed to worker and depositor not just to stockholder and investor. Taxes: Pruning Privilege and Preference Someone making $25,000 a year spends almost all of it on the things they need to live. Food, shelter, clothing. Someone making $125,000 has a far wider range of choices. A fair tax system understands this and that is why a tax on incomes is graduated. It takes not just more, but a higher percentage of the income of the wealthy because they need a much smaller share of their incomes for necessities. A progressive tax system acts as a balance. Our system says to the wealthy, you have your wealth, but you will help pay for the schools to give all an equal chance at opportunity; and you will help finance the hospitals to give all equal and quality medical care; and you will help pay for the costs of solutions to pollution and disease caused by your industrial plants and their products. This, at least, is the theory behind our tax system. In fact however, it has been so manipulated by the legal and political hired guns that it reinforces inequality rather than forcing equity. Middle income Canadians, those earning between $50,000 and $75,000 annually, pay a higher percentage of their incomes in taxes than the richest 1% of our population. As mentioned earlier, 80% of our total taxes are collected from small businesses and working people even though they control less than 20% of national wealth. The source of these inequities flows from the special privileges granted to corporate Canada and its beneficiaries. In dozens of different ways the tax law says "All Canadians are equal, but the rich are more equal than others." The pattern of unfair tax advantage is total. The plush business lunch of executives in restaurants is deductible, but the soup and sandwich of the worker in the cafeteria is not. The cost of tax lawyers is deductible for the corporation, the cost of H&R Block for the individual is not. The truth is that money earned by the wealthy is taxed less severely than money earned by the average Canadian. The damage to our political system spawned by this pattern of privilege cannot be overstated. A $500 a week employee may not know the details of the capital gains law, but if he knows that he pays a greater percentage of his income in taxes than the people who own the plant do, that is enough to breed cynicism into the most patriotic of citizens. And when he hears politicians defend our social security programs for the poor, he knows the rich will not be paying their fair share. Low and middle income working Canadians feel squeezed from the very rich and the very poor, and as much as they may intuitively support programs fostering social justice, they rightly feel that they are carrying too much of the load. Despite the Byzantine complexities of the tax system, which by it itself amounts to a full employment program for the nation’s tax lawyers, its defenders insist that the tax code is not an instrument of social policy but merely a method of raising revenue. In fact this is total nonsense. Every exemption, deduction, credit and surcharge amounts to a statement of policy. Our system subsidizes trains, planes, and factories much more than it does people. The result that is produced is an encouragement of concentration. The use of capital to make maximum advantage of tax breaks. An economy driven not so much to start new enterprises and create new jobs, but one driven to absorb old enterprises and cut jobs. While our competition policies ostensibly encourage diversity our tax laws promote exactly the reverse. The path to reform through the thicket of tax breaks for the rich may be politically difficult but is conceptually simple. The root principle is to stop treating money earned through prior wealth more favorably than that earned through hard work. It is time to tax the real earnings of our wealthiest corporate and individual citizens. The following five initiatives are vital to core reform: 1. A drastic reduction of the favored treatment given to profits from securities. However much admiration may be due to someone with the initiative to invest inherited money into stocks and bonds, it is doubtful that they have worked harder to acquire profit than someone who operates a punch press or waits on retail customers eight hours a day. The twenty thousand dollars earned when a stock is sold should be counted and taxed the same as the twenty thousand that represents someone’s 1,000 hours of work. 2.Taxation of income no matter what the institution. If a religious institution operates a parking lot for its members on Saturday or Sunday and runs it as a commercial operation the other six days of the week it is entitled to make a profit on that operation. But it is not entitled to keep that income free of taxation. If it seeks to finance itself by running enterprises, it should do so under the same rules that apply to any other enterprise. When the religious vestments are removed and the sales apron is donned, the special privileges should not remain. When a professional association earns money from advertising placed in its journal, before that revenue is added to its lobbying budget, it ought to be taxed under the same rules as any other publication. If social clubs, universities, associations, foundations and charities maintain plush real estate holdings, they should pay the same taxes as any ordinary businessperson. 3. An end to charitable contributions that enrich the wealthy. Donations of securities, artwork and other possessions should not be deductible on their appreciated value. This is merely a method of avoiding tax that should fall on the earnings, which is the appreciation. These and other venerable dodges should be eliminated. 4. An end to depreciation and other intangibles write-offs. These kinds of deductions are given without any relation to the actual costs incurred by the company. Allowance for nonexistent "costs" should end and we should allow only true "out of pocket" expenses. 5. A flat limit on deductions for business travel and entertainment. If an executive wants to spend hundreds on a bottle of Chateau Margaux, his stock clerks should not pay more taxes because of that exercise in good taste. These expenses, and indeed the whole "expense account" form of compensation for the wealthy, are nothing but disguised income and should be treated as such.We need a conscious shaping of a tax policy that will discourage concentration of economic power, reduce the stifling tax burden on working Canadians 45% of whom have only two weeks of salary in the bank, and cripple socially disadvantageous programs. Since all tax decisions promote economic and social policies—whether intentional or not—a fair tax system should consciously promote the dispersion of economic power. Beryl P. Wajsmann Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal

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Worries over Volksbanken hit Austrian banks Simon Kennedy Firm says it's well capitalized after report it was placed on watch list SimonKennedy LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Worries over the state of the Austrian banking industry continued Tuesday after a report -- swiftly denied by the bank itself -- that Oesterreichische Volksbanken had been put on a watch list by a concerned central bank. The report in Austrian newspaper Die Presse said the country's fourth-largest financial institution was viewed as systemically important and had been asked to put forward a new strategy. It came a day after Austria said it had nationalized Hypo Group Alpe Adria, its sixth-biggest lender, on the heels of rising loan losses in Eastern Europe that threatened to bring down the bank. See story on Hypo Alpe's nationalization. Oesterreichische Volksbanken responded swiftly, saying it is well capitalized with an equity ratio nearly double the required minimum. "Volksbank is in no way comparable to Hypo Group Alpe Adria. We expect a comfortable equity ratio at the end of this financial year," said CEO Gerald Wenzel. He added that the group expects to be profitable again in 2010 but that "even under the most severe stress test conditions for next year we will still be above the required minimum capitalization ratios." The central bank also said that there is no watch list and that Volksbanken remains sufficiently capitalized, Dow Jones Newswires reported, citing a spokesman for the central bank. The response, however, wasn't enough to stop fears about the wider banking industry in Austria from sending ripples through markets. The worries contributed to a decline for the euro against the dollar, with the single currrency changing hands at $1.4564, down from $1.4653. See story on the euros decline. Banking stocks moved lower in Austria, with Erste Group Bank (EBO) down 3.1% and Raiffeisen International (RAW) down 6.1%. The country's ATX index dropped 2%, giving up 49.15 points to 2,456.38. Also see Europe Markets. Oesterreichische Volksbanken had a pretax loss of 607 million euros ($888 million) in the first nine months of the year, as it was hurt by losses linked to its exposure to Eastern Europe. Hypo Alpe Adria also suffered from heavy losses in Eastern Europe, in particular in Croatia, Bulgaria and Ukraine, which contributed to the bank's prediction last month that it would incur an annual loss of "significantly more" than 1 billion euros. Larger problem The exposure of Western European banks to once-fast-growing Eastern European economies has been seen for months as a growing risk, with Moody's Investors Service warning toward the start of the year that it was concerned about potential losses among banks' subsidiaries in the region. See archived story on Moody's warning. Greek banks were also down Tuesday, retreating amid worries about the country's debt crisis. A speech by Prime Minister George Papandreou on steps to repair its finances did little to provide support for markets. Greek markets have been under increasingly heavy pressure in recent weeks amid mounting worries about the country's ability to repay debt, including a steep fall last week when Greece's credit rating was reduced by Fitch Ratings. Shares of National Bank of Greece NBG dropped 4.9% on Tuesday, as Piraeus Bank BPIRY, +4.22% fell 4.8%. BPIRY Piraeus Bank S.A. ADR U.S.: OTC: BPIRY

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Politics 10 October 2011 Tired and cold on Wall Street, Laurie Penny finds an America she thought was lost By Laurie Penny Follow @@pennyred On a cold, wet Sunday morning, Manhattan's financial district is full of zombies. Halloween is weeks away, but members of the Occupy Wall Street protest, which has been in place for over two weeks in Liberty Plaza, have dressed up in facepaint as the "zombies of capitalism" and their presence in the large group meetings, where collective issues are shouted as one by 400 excited activists, can only be unnerving to anyone working weekends in the skyscrapers looming over the protest. From the windows of Wall Street, it must look like a scene from the Resident Evil games. The protest, which was formed as a mirror of the square and university occupations in Egypt, Greece, Spain and Britain has one simple aim: to demonstrate to the "1 per cent" of American society, who control 40 per cent of the nation's wealth, that the other "99 per cent" are still here, still human, and increasingly angry. One of the "zombies" is Max, 26, who works as a carpenter in upstate New York "basically, making beautiful homes for rich people". Max has become one of the unofficial spokespeople for this occupation, which "started out as a movement to draw attention to the fact that the top 1 per cent of the country and of the world economically controls so much of the wealth and the resources of this world," he says. "The bankers write the laws, the lobbyists write the laws, and they don't write them for us." On 2 October, merely raising this issue in a peaceful public forum saw 700 of Max's co-protesters kettled, cuffed and bussed to jail from Brooklyn Bridge, in the largest mass-arrest in US history. Numbers here have swelled since initial videos of police pepper-spraying female protesters went viral online at the end of September, and the subsequent crackdowns have confirmed the occupiers' conviction that the police are there to protect the "1 per cent" from the rest of society. Much of the press has dismissed these protesters as a bunch of overprivileged, middle-class hippies, but walking through the Plaza, I meet people from all walks of American life - laid-off middle-aged workers, a serving marine, union activists and young black men from the Bronx helping out the media team in its makeshift tarpaulin tent. Behind the drum circle, where activists with floppy clothes and floppy hair who might have teleported here from a flower power party in 1968 are chanting, "Keep the fire burning, deep inside your heart", I meet an elegant young woman in a pinstriped suit. She has worked in one of the nearby offices for eight years and holds a neatly printed sign: "Wall Street workers for realistic fiscal reform - there are more of us than you think." “We've been watching the protesters here for the last week or two, watching the marches go past from the 50th floor, and almost unanimously people empathise with the general sentiment of discontent," says the young derivatives worker, who cannot give her name for fear of losing her job. "Everyone recognises that what happened in 2008 was a real problem and that [the system] needs real reform and change." What do they want, this eclectic cast of characters? The point that much of the mainstream media has missed in its rush to criticise the occupation for not having any clear "demands" is the space itself is very much its own demand, a demand for a new kind of society set up provocatively in the uncaring shadow of Wall Street, the symbolic heart of free-market capitalism. "I'm here to learn about how to build a new community," says Max. "We've essentially built a little town right in the middle of Wall Street where people are fed, clothed, housed, taken care of." The atmosphere here is uniquely welcoming. As night draws in and the rain begins to beat down, the zombies begin to shamble more authentically, cold and worn-out from two weeks of sleeping in the open, their make-up worn and smeared. Jetlagged and full of flu, I stumble to the medical centre, where I am provided with a warm coat, hot coffee, medicine and a hug: a far cry from the pitilessness of America I'd come to believe in. Despite the cold, the exhaustion and the arrests, the occupiers of Wall Street aren't going anywhere. “My whole generation has kind of been conditioned to believe that we don't have a voice, we don't have the ability to change anything," says Max. "It's cool to believe again." Laurie Penny is a contributing editor to the New Statesman. She is the author of five books, most recently Unspeakable Things. from just £1 per issue This article first appeared in the 10 October 2011 issue of the New Statesman, The next great depression Why the value shift favours EuropeBy John Bennett

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Forum Home Page [see Broadridge note below] The Shareholder ForumTM` See related case examples of Walgreen Co. stock buyback policies "Fair Access" Home Page "Fair Access" Program Reference For graphs of specific company and related industry returns, see Returns on Corporate Capital For graphs of specific company voting for the past 5 years, see Shareholder Support Rankings Forum distribution: Lawyers debate investor interests in activism For the authoritative legal views referenced below addressing both corporate director and fund manager responsibilities to base decisions on long term investor interests, see March 20, 2015, Leo E. Strine Jr., of the Supreme Court of Delaware, published by the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Law and Economics: "The Dangers of Denial: The Need for a Clear-Eyed Understanding of the Power and Accountability Structure Established by the Delaware General Corporation Law" (43 pages, 163 KB, in PDF format) [Legal definition of board duties to serve long term stockholder interests] The American Lawyer, March 30, 2015 cover story Marty Lipton's War on Hedge Fund Activists Michael D. Goldhaber, The American Lawyer March 30, 2015 Steven Laxton In November 2012, the corporate law guru who is most revered by managers faced off against the corporate law guru who is most feared by managers, at the Conference Board think tank in New York, in a friendly debate that was about to turn hostile. Martin Lipton has defended CEOs against all comers since forming Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz 50 years ago. Lucian Bebchuk, a Harvard Law School professor, champions the "activist" hedge funds that assail CEOs in an intensifying struggle for control of America's boardrooms. Speaking with a thick Israeli accent ("Vock-tell is wrong"), Bebchuk argued that shareholder activism helps companies in both the short and long term. Lipton, whose voice carries a trace of Jersey City ("The bawd is right"), countered that activism is awful for companies and the economy over the long run. "Nor do I accept [your] so-called statistics," said Lipton fatefully. "Your statistics are all based on things like 'What was the price of the stock two days later?'" As Lipton finished the thought, Bebchuk twitched his foot. He unfolded his right leg over his left knee, and then reset his body. He licked his lips, pressed the button of an imaginary pen with his thumb, then lunged for a pad and started scribbling with a real one. Thus was born "The Long-Term Effects of Hedge Fund Activism," the paper that turned a genial debate into a nasty war over the direction of corporate America. (It's to be published in June by the Columbia Law Review.) At 83, Lipton is a blue chip stock. He's one of two people to make every list of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America since it was launched by the National Law Journal 30 years ago. (The other is Beltway legend Thomas Hale Boggs Jr., who died last September, just months after ailing Patton Boggs merged with Squire Sanders.) Wachtell Lipton remains The Am Law 100's runaway leader in profits per partner, as it has been for 15 of the past 16 years. Lipton is most famous as the inventor in 1982 of the "poison pill" defense to corporate takeovers, which enables a company to dilute the value of its shares when a hostile bidder draws near. He's also heavily identified with the "staggered board," which deters takeovers by spreading the election of a board's directors over several years. It's often forgotten that Lipton helped to pioneer the concept of the corporation that undergirds corporate social responsibility. In his seminal 1979 work, "Takeover Bids in the Target's Boardroom," Lipton argued that directors should protect the interests of not only shareholders, but all who have a stake in the company: creditors, community members and most notably employees. Lipton's whole career (and much of Wachtell Lipton's business model) has been organized around these few ideas. His lifelong goal has been to safeguard managers against hostile takeovers and, increasingly, activist campaigns conducted in the name of shareholders. Lucian Bebchuk, age 59, likes to attack blue chip stocks. His astonishing success has made him the only law professor listed among the 100 Most Influential People in Finance by Treasury and Risk magazine. A lowly student clinic led by Bebchuk—the Shareholder's Rights Project—has destaggered about 100 corporate boards on the Fortune 500 and the S&P 500 stock index since 2011. As a critic of CEO compensation, Bebchuk paved the way for the Dodd-Frank Act rules that give shareholders more "say on pay." Shareholder activism has drawn him into debates with Lipton in 2002, 2003, 2007, and more or less continually since 2012. In 2012, Lipton still referred to Bebchuk with senatorial decorum, as "my friend," and teased him about reenacting the Hamilton-Burr duel. But something soon changed. Perhaps Lipton was disturbed by the effort to debunk his deepest belief about the long-term effects of activism. Or perhaps what changed were the tides of fortune. For the only thing that the two can agree on is that, in Lipton's words, the "activist hedge funds are winning the war." And so the iconoclast is no longer amusing to the icon. With a revolving cast of big-name partners, Lipton has churned out ever more frequent and vicious memos. He called Bebchuk's paper "extreme and eccentric"; "tendentious and misleading"; and "not a work of serious scholarship." He gleefully noted that a sitting SEC commissioner called another paper by Bebchuk so "shoddy" as to constitute securities fraud. (Thirty-four professors rallied in Bebchuk's defense and jumped on the commissioner for abusing his power.) Bebchuk and Lipton lobbed posts back and forth on the Harvard corporate governance blog with "na-na-na-na-na" titles. "Don't Run Away From the Evidence" led to "Still No Valid Evidence," which led to "Still Running Away From the Evidence." When Lipton was recently asked what he'd say to Bebchuk over a cup of coffee, he could no longer contemplate the idea: "I am afraid that professor Bebchuk is so invested in, and obsessed with, his mistaken views as to business and the economy that any conversation about governance and activism over a cup of coffee, or other venue, would be a waste of time." Lipton blames "short-termist" hedge funds for America's economic stagnation and inequality since the financial crisis. He even touts a study blaming them for the financial crisis. His memos on activism are themselves obsessive, overgeneralized, and over-the-top. They also may be right. Age of the activist investor it has become a common meme that we live in the "age of the activist investor." Estimated assets under activist management in 2014 ranged from $120 billion to more than $200 billion. On the low end, that's up 269 percent since 2009, or 4,344 percent since 2001, according to the Alternative Investment Management Association, a trade group. Activists attract funds because they win. Nearly three-quarters of activist demands were at least partially satisfied in 2014, according to the data collector Activist Insight. Ernst & Young says that half of S&P 500 companies engaged with activists in 2013. But even that understates their impact, because the way to pre-empt an attack is to adopt their mindset. Boston Consulting Group advises companies to "be your own activist." Wachtell is rare among top law firms in categorically refusing to advise activist hedge funds. It helped 20 companies to quell activism in 2014, and Wachtell dealmakers spend an increasing amount of time playing firefighter. Lipton put the portion of his time devoted to manning the fire hose at 25 to 30 percent. Daniel Neff, one of the co-chairmen of the firm, estimates that activism consumes about 20 percent of his own time; he had answered an alarm from a Fortune 200 CEO just before we spoke. Lipton urges directors to go through a "fire drill" at least once a year, practicing how they would respond to an activist demand. Sometimes the fire drill takes the form of play acting. Who gets to play billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, they wouldn't say. The Wachtell lawyers didn't see the comic potential because they take activism so seriously, and so personally. When asked if the tone of their memos was perhaps a touch Scalia-esque, Steven Rosenblum, the mild-mannered corporate co-chairman, replies that activists are far more shrill. "They are flat-out uncivil, rude, loud and obnoxious," he says. "They are incredibly unpleasant and total bullies. People should not conduct themselves that way." Sabastian Niles, a young counsel whom Lipton jokingly calls the firm's activist defense department, says that over the past three months, three separate activists had said to three CEO clients of Wachtell: "I will destroy you" if they didn't do XYZ. Lipton rose to prominence in the 1980s defending against corporate raiders like Icahn, when they needed to win an outright majority of the board to gain corporate control. For Lipton, the only difference between corporate raiding and modern activism is that the Icahns of the world figured out how to get their way with only 2 percent of the share register. To seize effective control of the board, activists harness the voting power of the largest investors. Their secret is that giant stock funds outsource their votes to proxy advisory firms, which routinely side with activists. And thanks in no small part to Bebchuk, there are few staggered boards left to retard shifts in voting power. The activist trend has snowballed in recent years for several reasons, some observers say. First, share ownership has consolidated among a handful of giant asset managers, so the top few shareholders can swing control of the board. Second, the giant asset managers are rapidly losing market share to low-fee Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). That makes the institutional investors desperate to show high immediate returns. So instead of activists going hat in hand to the institutions, the institutions now approach the activists with "requests for activism." This practice is so common that there is even a name for them in the industry: RFAs. Competing perspectives Whether all this is for good or evil, or both, depends on which narrative you accept. According to the hedge fund narrative, activists champion little-guy shareholders against fat-cat CEOs of lousy companies, who feed at the corporate trough with their cronies. "Wachtell has a great business defending corporate America and particularly Lipton himself," says Marc Weingarten of Schulte Roth & Zabel, the dominant firm for activists along with Olshan Frome Wolosky. "It gives no credit to what activists are clearly doing, which is making managers more focused on maximizing shareholder value than on self-aggrandizement and lining their own pockets." According to the corporate narrative, activists are billionaire hedgies who are out to make a quick buck, while driving great companies and the economy into a ditch. Studies find that activists typically hold a stock for only nine months before bailing out. In that short time, they will aim at all costs to hack employment, R&D and capital expenditures; overload the company with debt; return money to shareholders through dividends and buybacks; and, as the ultimate goal, goose the stock through M&A activity. "At bottom, every activist campaign is one or two steps to sell the company," says Wachtell's Neff. There's truth to both perspectives, as shown by the two 2014 activist deals profiled elsewhere in this issue. Both involved takeovers­—for while Neff may overstate matters, Activist Insight confirms that 49 percent of last year's activist campaigns made public demands related to M&A outcomes. In the CommonWealth REIT deal, the Icahn protégé Keith Meister appears to have created real value for shareholders by throwing out the father-and-son directors to whom the CEO had given exclusive power to manage the REIT's real estate, and who were botching the job. Allergan, the activist standard-bearer William Ackman made a failed $53 billion run at the admired maker of Botox. Allergan typically devoted 17 percent of sales to R&D. It cut that back to 13 percent during the takeover battle, and the white knight buyer cut it to 7 percent of combined sales. Ackman's bidder historically held R&D at 3 percent. "Ackman said this is the most accretive deal he'd ever seen," notes Wachtell's Neff, who advised Allergan. "Why? Because they would slash R&D. They took out the best performer in its sector. Allergan didn't need fixing." For Neff, Allergan is a cautionary tale of killing innovation. And while Botox isn't exactly a life-saving drug, it is innovative. The author of "A Culture of Narcissism" might have noted that America is now too superficial to invest deeply in cosmetic surgery. Despite Allergan, the hedge fund account of shareholder activism prevails in the press and the legal academy. As Lawrence Fink, CEO of the giant money manager Blackrock Inc., noted last year in an interview critical of hedge funds: "The narrative today is so loud now on the activist side." Some are searching for a middle ground. Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Harvard professor Guhan Subramanian laments a debate characterized by "shrill voices, a seemingly unbridgeable divide between shareholder activists and managers, rampant conflicts of interest, and previously staked out positions that crowd out thoughtful discussion." The outspoken Chief Justice Leo Strine Jr. of the Delaware Supreme Court ["Tell Us What You Really Feel, Leo," March 2012] relates a story that lies somewhere in between the two poles. In Strine's telling, the little-guy investor needs to be protected from the self-dealing of both company managers and activist money managers. "The media and academia are captive to intellectual laziness," Strine says. "It's easier to write a story about the bad, bad managers against the innocent shareholders, as if it's still 1935. It's much harder to write about the current complexities of a system of monied interests (money manager stockholders) versus other monied interests (corporate managers), and how the poor incentives of that system often give the shaft to ordinary Americans, both as investors who have to invest through money manager intermediaries to save for retirement and college for their kids, and as workers who need employment from corporations to feed their families." At 88, Ira Millstein of Weil, Gotshal & Manges is perhaps the only corporate law guru to outrank Strine and Lipton. ("If I don't have a long-term perspective at my age, when am I ever going to have one?" he jokes.) "As far as Marty's concerned, I disagree because he's damning the whole movement," says Millstein. "I know activist hedge funds that are in the business of promoting long-term growth. I know other activists who are only interested in jerking the stock a little bit. I think there are plenty of both." Fishing with dynamite What Bebchuk does in "The Long-Term Effects of Hedge Fund Activism" is to see which narrative dominates if you ignore the anecdotes and study the data. Working with University of Chicago-trained financial economists Alon Brav and Wei Jiang, he tracked the performance of every activist-targeted company over the long term. Not over two days, but over five years. Bebchuk writes drily, "When available, economists commonly prefer objective empirical evidence over unverifiable reports of affected individuals." The finding that made Lipton go ballistic is put simply by University of Chicago professor Steven Kaplan: "When you get these activists involved, the stock price goes up and stays up, and if anything, the operating metrics improve. Done. End of story." To its critics, Bebchuk's paper is far from the end of the story. Scholars ranging from Columbia Law School's John Coffee Jr. to Yvan Allaire of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations find the data ambiguous and methodologically flawed. Both attribute any gains by shareholders to a combination of fleeting takeover premiums and wealth transfers from employees (as the result of layoffs or wage cuts) or bondholders (as the result of downgrades or bankruptcies). In other words, Ackman and some shareholders are getting rich on the back of workers and pensioners. "I don't agree with Bebchuk, because you can't prove a case with a number," says Millstein. "I'm not saying he's twisting the numbers, but he's coming up with the conclusions he believes in the first place." Says Lynn Stout of Cornell Law School: "He's trying to prove his own theories." In Stout's view, Bebchuk is looking at the wrong thing. "He should be looking at what activists do to the economy as a whole," she says. "If Bebchuk went to a fishing village, he would find that people catch more fish with dynamite than nets, and he would conclude that everyone should fish with dynamite." That doesn't mean the dynamite is good for the pond. For instance, Bebchuk's study says nothing about the fate of the many activist targets that disappeared from the sample. By Bebchuk's own numbers, activist intervention increased the chance of corporate death over the study period from 42 to 49 percent. "To me, that says we're dynamiting a lot of fish here," says Stout. Bebchuk's supporters say it takes a model to beat a model. So why doesn't Wachtell fund counterresearch? "If we wanted to phony up a model, we could do the same thing he does," retorts Lipton. He thinks the evidence, "empirical, experiential, and overwhelming," is already on his side. Roughly 95 percent of S&P 500 profits last year were funneled back to shareholders through buybacks or dividends, according to a Bloomberg projection. A study by J.W. Mason of the Roosevelt Institute found that only 10 percent of profits plus borrowings were being reinvested in public companies today—compared with 40 percent in the 1960s and 1970s. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Center for American Progress cites a recent study showing investment by private companies to be more than double today's rate for public ones. Chicago economists say that shareholders are allocating all that capital efficiently. Others, like Pavlos Masouros of Leiden University, think the shortfall in investment is retarding GDP growth, and amplifying inequality. Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers is persuaded that hedge fund activism is a macroeconomic problem. "We are having an epidemic right now of activism directed at getting management to choke off investment," he says. "It seems unlikely to me that there has been a major increase in managerial abuse the last few years. It seems unlikely to me that American business has been chronically over-investing the last few decades. That makes me think there is likely too much aggressive activism," sometimes at the expense of employees. 'How do we fix things?' Lipton speaks of the lifetime contract between a company and its employees, and Neff says that philosophy carries over to law firm management. Wachtell Lipton resisted pressure from some partners during the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, and refused to lay off a single summer associate or staffer. "We would not put a family's breadwinner out on the street and change his and his family's life so the partners can make a couple more dollars," says Neff. "That attitude comes down from the white-haired gentleman." Some critics find it a bit rich when Lipton echoes liberal think tanks on distributional inequality. They note that Lipton never met an executive pay plan he couldn't defend, including the $210 million that The Home Depot Inc. awarded in 2006 to CEO Robert Nardelli despite its flagging share price. Lipton's consistent loyalties lie not with stakeholders, they suggest, but management. "Has there ever been an issue where Marty Lipton sided with shareholders against management?" asks Yale Law School's Jonathan Macey. "I believe the answer to that question is no." Macey goes further, and queries whether Lipton's loyalty to CEOs should disqualify his law firm from acting for directors. "Suppose I'm a director of a public company, and we are faced with activist investors. Suppose the CEO says, let's hire Wachtell. If I really thought that law firm took Marty Lipton's radical view"—and Macey takes pains to say that although it is possible, he does not really think the firm would do that—"then I think it would be a violation of the fiduciary duty of loyalty to hire that firm. Because Marty Lipton is not interested in protecting shareholders; he's interested in protecting management." Lipton replies that while his memos speak only for the lawyers who sign them, they are absolutely consonant with fiduciary duties. All Wachtell lawyers advise directors to consult with activists, Lipton said, and sometimes advise them to change business strategy. "I've had clients with mediocre management," added Neff, "and I said to the activist: 'OK, you're right, how do we fix things?'" So would Lipton concede that in a bad company, activists can be good for the economy? "No!" he shoots back. "They'll push to fire more people and cut more R&D and go too far. They'll want two times too much. It's terribly macroeconomically harmful." Though his memos chronicle every shot fired across the activists' bow, Lipton knows he's still losing. The only recent development that truly comforts him is the letter sent to CEOs a year ago by Blackrock's Larry Fink. "It concerns us," Fink wrote, "that, in the wake of the financial crisis, many companies have shied away from investing in the future growth of their companies. Too many companies have cut capital expenditure and increased debt to boost dividends and increase share buybacks." As Fink later put it more succinctly, activists "destroy jobs." Fink's opinion matters more than most, because he speaks for $4 trillion in assets. Lipton will never win his war until institutional shareholders vote against activists more. He is the first to say so, and others agree. Chief Justice Strine of Delaware urges institutional shareholders to tailor their voting policies to their investors' investment horizons—and to recognize the unique long-term outlook of people relying on index funds for college or retirement. That change in mentality could be promoted through systemic reform. Summers says that policy changes to give long-term shareholders more voting power or managers more tools to fend off activists deserve serious consideration. But change could also be achieved through the exercise of old-fashioned good judgment. "Companies and pension funds are getting smarter," says Millstein. "If the real investors think the activists are wrong, then they don't have to go along." Copyright 2015. ALM Media Properties, LLC. This Forum program is open, free of charge, to anyone concerned with investor interests in the development of marketplace standards for expanded access to information for securities valuation and shareholder voting decisions. As stated in the posted Conditions of Participation, the Forum's purpose is to provide decision-makers with access to information and a free exchange of views on the issues presented in the program's Forum Summary. Each participant is expected to make independent use of information obtained through the Forum, subject to the privacy rights of other participants. It is a Forum rule that participants will not be identified or quoted without their explicit permission. This Forum program was initiated to address issues and objectives defined by participants in the 2010 "E-Meetings" program relevant to broad public interests in marketplace practices, rather than investor decisions relating to only a single company. The Forum may therefore invite program support of several companies that can provide both expertise and examples of leadership relating to the issues being addressed. Inquiries about this Forum program and requests to be included in its distribution list may be addressed to access@shareholderforum.com. The information provided to Forum participants is intended for their private reference, and permission has not been granted for the republishing of any copyrighted material. 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Bankrupting America’s Spending Daily Posted: January 2, 2013 at 5:00 pm / by Bankrupting America 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Google+0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Spending Daily | January 2, 2013 New Campaign: Talk is Cheap, Overspending is Not Bankrupting America, a project of Public Notice, announced today a new campaign, “Talk is Cheap, Overspending is Not,” holding Washington lawmakers accountable for promises to cut wasteful spending and get America’s debt and deficits under control. The campaign features advertising at Capitol South and Union Station metro stops in Washington, D.C., as well as online advertising. Bankrupting America uses quotes from the current and former presidents and key members of Congress to remind them in their own words of the importance of reducing the deficit and reining in government spending. Click here to view a sample of the ads. Fiscal Cliff Deal “will do little to address the nation’s long-term debt problem” The Washington Post editorializes, “The compromise bill passed by Congress to avert the worst effects of the ‘fiscal cliff’ is a small, imperfect package that will do too little to address the nation’s long-term debt problem. But for all its weaknesses, the bill’s enactment is far better than a failure by this Congress to act before it adjourns Thursday. Most important, the deal will delay the ill-targeted and unwise spending cuts known as sequestration and cancel sharp tax increases for most Americans. … Yet despite these desirable structural changes, the deal will not reduce future deficits much, even though Congress engineered the fiscal cliff to force ambitious budget reform.” “Analysis: 77% of Households to See Tax Increase” The Wall Street Journal reports, “The fiscal cliff bill’s impact would be far-reaching for American taxpayers, and particularly painful for very high-income households, according to a new analysis. About 77% of American households would see a tax increase compared to their 2012 tax levels, according to the analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute. The biggest impact for most households comes from the expiration of a two-percentage-point payroll-tax break that existed for 2011 and 2012. It basically hits all working people.” “112th Congress legacy: Unfinished business” Jonathan Allen writes in Politico, “The 112th Congress came in with a bang, but it is crawling out with the soft whimper of failure. For two years, President Barack Obama and Congress ignored virtually every other pressing matter to engage in an ideological war over the size of government and who should foot the bill for it. They racked up more processes than policies: a blue-ribbon White House commission, Vice President Joe Biden’s working group, bilateral talks between Obama and Speaker John Boehner, a ‘supercommittee,’ a ‘Gang of Six’ that became a ‘Gang of Eight’ and, finally, Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) coming to a deal that leaves open as many politically thorny issues as it solves. They didn’t even hit their deadline. … The deal also sets up yet another budgetary Armageddon in March, when Congress and the president will have to deal with raising the debt ceiling, the hanging sword of sequestration cuts and the expiration of federal spending authority.” California to Give Away Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Free Cell Phones The Washington Guardian reports, “California is becoming the latest state to participate in a federal program that gives away hundreds of millions of dollars of free cell phones with prepaid service to indigent and homeless residents. After four years of navigating bureaucratic red tape, California recently hired a vendor to take on the job of offering the pre-paid cell phones to an estimated 4.6 million eligible residents. At an average cost of $100 per phone, the tab in the Golden State alone could eventually reach $460 million annually.” AP: Economists Disappointed Deal Fails To Reduce The Deficit The Associated Press reports, “A last-minute deal will keep the U.S. from driving off the so-called ‘fiscal cliff,’ but higher taxes and continued political fighting in Washington threaten to shake the fragile economy well into 2013. … Many economists were disappointed that Congress and the White House couldn’t reach agreement on a broader deal to significantly reduce the deficit over the next 10 years. That could have boosted business and consumer confidence and accelerated growth. ‘Nothing really has been fixed,’ said Joseph LaVorgna, an economist at Deutsche Bank. … Lawmakers postponed tough decisions on government spending, giving themselves a reprieve from cuts that were scheduled to start taking effect automatically Jan. 1.” Gallup: Americans Believe 2013 Will Be A “Year Of Economic Difficulty” By 2-1 Margin According to Gallup, Americans “Americans believe by almost a 2-1 margin that 2013 will be a year of economic difficulty rather than a year of prosperity. … The 65% of Americans who predict 2013 will be a year of economic difficulty is one of the more negative responses to this question since Gallup first asked it in 1965. There has been, however, a great deal of fluctuation over that time period, from a high of 65% who said 1965 would be a year of prosperity, to a low of 7% who predicted 1974 would be a year of prosperity.” Samuelson: Fiscal Cliff “a massive failure of presidential leadership” Robert J. Samuelson editorializes in The Washington Post, “The ‘fiscal cliff’ is a massive failure of presidential leadership. The tedious and technical negotiations are but a subplot in a larger drama. Government can no longer fulfill all the promises it has made to various constituencies. Some promises will be reduced or disavowed. Which ones? Why? Only the president can pose these questions in a way that starts a national conversation over the choices to be made, but doing so requires the president to tell people things they don’t want to hear. That’s his job: to help Americans face unavoidable, if unpleasant, realities. Barack Obama has refused to play this role.” “Nothing Is Certain Except More Debt and Taxes” David Malpass editorializes in The Wall Street Journal, “Whatever ultimately emerges from the fiscal-cliff negotiations over the past 48 hours, the country will survive. But the damage can’t be undone. Taxes are going up for all working Americans. And so is the size of government. Businesses have been waiting to see whether a second Obama administration will encourage the economy. During the fiscal-cliff negotiations, however, the president made clear that his goal isn’t to get business going again but instead to expand government and redistribute income. He offered no real spending cuts and instead used the year-end deadline to divide America into classes—to the point of campaigning on New Year’s Eve against higher earners.” “Obama insisted on sequester buy down in final fiscal cliff deal” CNN reports, “Fiscal cliff negotiations between the White House and Congressional leaders involved late-night discussions in the Oval Office and an ultimate hardline from President Barack Obama, according to a source familiar with the process. … The source said it was the president who insisted the final deal include a pay down on the sequester, and a tax increase that hit individuals making at least $400,000 a year and $450,000 for households. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell started negotiations at $750,000, and then moved to $550,000 before giving in and agreeing to $450,000 for households.” “House pulls plug on Sandy aid bill” Politico reports, “House Republicans abruptly pulled the plug Tuesday night on their promise to take up this week an emergency supplemental disaster aid bill for Northeast states damaged by Hurricane Sandy. The decision is a stunning reversal since just hours before New Jersey lawmakers were preparing for floor debate Wednesday as outlined under a strategy promoted by no less than Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). … Absent a change of heart, the upshot now is that the Senate bill will die with this Congress on Thursday at noon.” BankruptingAmerica.org is an educational project of Public Notice, an independent, nonpartisan, non-profit, 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to providing facts and insight on the effects public policy has on Americans’ financial well-being. About Latest Posts Bankrupting America Latest posts by Bankrupting America (see all) The Reason Health Insurance Penalties Are Tempting - June 24, 2013 Surprise! Government departments DO figure out ways to handle Sequester - June 23, 2013 Scandals and waste are becoming the norm - June 23, 2013 Western Free Press Copyright 2016 Western Free Press XHouse Majority Whip Debbie Lesko Endorses Lisa Gray for Chairman of the Maricopa County Republican P…ArizonaPhoenix - House Majority Whip and Legislative District 21 Representative, Debbie Lesko has endorsed Lisa Gray for Chairman of the Maricopa County Repu…Bankrupting America's Spending Daily XObamacare in picturesPoliticsObamacare in Pictures: Visualizing the Effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act from The Heritage Foundation…

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Oracle defends CEO's pay amid shareholder unrest Share Tweet SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Oracle is facing a potential shareholder revolt against a compensation formula that has consistently made its billionaire co-founder, Larry Ellison, one of the best-paid CEOs in the world.The business software maker staunchly defended Ellison's pay in a letter sent to shareholder activist firm CtW Investment Group in an effort to rally support for its board of directors before the 11 members stand for re-election at Oracle's annual meeting on Oct. 31.The letter released in a Wednesday regulatory filing came in response to a scathing attack that CtW launched last week against the compensation that Ellison has been receiving from the Redwood Shores, Calif., company for years.CtW doesn't own any Oracle shares directly, but the Washington D.C. group is paid to fight for shareholder causes. It is vowing to organize the pension funds of labor groups that are stockholders unless the company changes its ways. Oracle's letter gave no indication that the company is going to relent, setting the stage for an attempt to oust at least three of Oracle's directors at the annual meeting."It seems pretty clear that they aren't willing to listen to the concerns of shareholders," said Rich Clayton, a research director at CtW. A truce could still be reached during a meeting with an Oracle representative that Clayton said is scheduled for Thursday morning in Washington.Shareholders expressed their displeasure with Oracle's compensation practices at the company's annual meeting last year. About 59 percent of the shareholders voted against a "say-on-pay" proposal seeking an endorsement of the board's compensation policies. That vote was non-binding, and Oracle's compensation committee decided that no significant changes to its practices were needed, according to the company's proxy statement for the upcoming annual meeting.Oracle Corp. awarded Ellison a pay package valued at $78.4 million in its last fiscal year ending in May, down from $96.2 million in the previous year.Ellison, 69, could have made even more last year if he hadn't turned down a $1.2 million bonus. He also limited his salary to $1 annually, a symbolic measure that has been embraced by several other Silicon Valley CEOs who are already billionaires, including Google Inc.'s Larry Page and Hewlett Packard Co.'s Meg Whitman.Oracle has primarily paid Ellison through stock options and other long-term incentives designed to prompt him to boost the company's market value and enrich shareholders. Ellison's pay packages have included an award of 7 million stock options in each of the last six years. Those awards are the main reason Ellison has ranked among the top-paid CEOs in each of those years.The ultimate value of Ellison's stock options hinge on how Oracle's stock fares. In its response to CtW, Oracle pointed out that some of the stock options issued in Ellison in past years haven't made him any money because the cost of exercising them was higher than the price of the company's stock.Millions of other stock options have yielded windfalls that have helped Ellison build upon a fortune estimated at $41 billion by Forbes magazine. Since the end of Oracle's fiscal 2007, Ellison has realized gains totaling $851 million by exercising 55.4 million stock options, according to the company's regulatory filings. More than $151 million of those gains came in Oracle's most recent fiscal year.If Oracle refuses to change its policies CtW plans to wage a campaign aimed at persuading its labor union allies and other major Oracle shareholders to oppose the re-election of the three directors on the company's compensation committee.Those directors are: Bruce Chizen, a former CEO of Adobe Systems Inc. who has chaired the compensation committee for nearly three years; venture capitalist George Conrades, who is also chairman of Akamai Technologies Inc.; and Naomi Seligman, a partner at technology consultant Ostriker von Simson.Earlier this year, CtW led shareholder protests against Hewlett-Packard's board. Although the directors were re-elected, the opposition was strong enough to culminate in former Oracle executive Ray Lane's resignation as HP's chairman and the departure of HP's two longest-serving directors.In its letter, Oracle accused CtW of trying to orchestrate a misleading campaign against the company's board and hailed Ellison as "its most critical strategic visionary, a role that he has served and continues to serve our shareholders extremely well."With Ellison in charge, Oracle said it has returned nearly $40 billion to shareholders during the past decade. The company's stock rose by 28 percent in its last fiscal year, outperforming the 24 percent increase in the Standard & Poor's 500 over the same period.Even without options, Ellison benefits more than any other Oracle shareholder when the stock rises because he owns a 25 percent stake in the company.Ellison has used his wealth to buy luxurious estates around the world, as well as his own Hawaiian island, Lanai. He also bankrolled two victories in the America's Cup, with the most recent triumph in sailing's most prestigious event coming last week in San Francisco. Oracle's brand was featured prominently in the competition.

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HSBC to Pay Record Settlement to Department of Justice Eric Volkman, The Motley Fool, AOL.com Dec 11th 2012 10:57AM HSBC will pay a record $1.92 billion to the U.S. Department of Justice to settle a long-running investigation into its lack of compliance with money laundering laws and economic sanctions, the company said in a statement.The settlement includes a deferred prosecution agreement, an accord under which one party pledges to implement certain measures in lieu of standard prosecution. The bank has been tasked to improve its oversight; an independent party is to monitor the progress over the five-year duration of the agreement.Stuart Gulliver, group chief executive with HSBC, said in a statement: "We accept responsibility for our past mistakes. We have said we are profoundly sorry for them, and we do so again. The HSBC of today is a fundamentally different organisation from the one that made those mistakes." The banks said it has also "reached agreement to achieve a global resolution with all other US government agencies that have investigated HSBC's past conduct related to these issues and anticipates finalising an undertaking with the United Kingdom Financial Services Authority shortly."This is the third time since 2003 that HSBC has been penalized for failures in compliance and control, Reuters reports.link The article HSBC to Pay Record Settlement to Department of Justice originally appeared on Fool.com. Eric Volkman has no positions in HSBC. The Motley Fool has no positions in HSBC. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Compare All The Changing Landscape of Socially Responsible Investing: Q&A With an Expert Allison Kade NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- If you've ever bought shares of a mutual fund and silently grimaced at the prospect that it might be investing your money in unsavory ways--how do you feel about investing in Big Tobacco or oil companies or anything else that makes you uncomfortable?--then you might want to give a little thought to socially responsible investing. This is oft-misunderstood field suffers from a great number of misconceptions. Are socially responsible investors all a bunch of hippies? Do they have to forego portfolio returns in order to put their money where their values are? What is socially responsible investing, sometimes called simply SRI, and how do people's definitions of "socially responsible" differ? For these answers and more, we talked to Jared Peifer, assistant professor at Baruch College and expert on socially responsible investing. The author of studies on SRI and why people choose to invest this way, Peifer participated in a MainStreet Q&A on how the industry is changing and what prospective investors in SRI mutual funds should know. When people invest in socially responsible mutual funds, do they expect to earn the same or better returns than in a typical mutual fund? Jared Peifer: Most outsiders and financial types think that all people care about are returns on their investments, so I've been trying to find empirical evidence about why we're motivated to invest. It's not just about returns. Some of the research I'm doing in this vein has been finding evidence that in addition to being interested in returns, people are also moral actors. Prev Chelsea Clinton Aims for the Economic Progress of Women and Girls Around the World The former First Daughter is working on a new initiative to aggregate data on female progress over the past 20 years and make it accessible to the masses. Why Coupons and Rebates Might Help Get U.S. Health Care Costs Under Control In a world where patients have no clue how much a given procedure or medication actually costs, new initiatives offer consumers incentives to take health costs into their own hands. How to Manage the Threats to Our Privacy and Financial Security in the Digital Age From financial data to personal habits to health information, how much data are we really giving away about ourselves? Start by asking, "Can I trust this company with my data?" Simply Pretending You're an Expert Can Actually Help You Make Smarter Financial Decisions New research is showing that simply thinking like an expert can make you one—sort of. When people asked themselves what an expert would do, they overrode their own impulsivity.

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Dubai's Noor Islamic may break even in 2011 Singapore, June 8, 2011 Dubai's Noor Islamic Bank could break even in 2011, a year ahead of target, and will consider merger and acquisition opportunities later to expand overseas, its chief executive said on Wednesday. Noor Islamic Bank focuses mainly on corporate banking deals such as sukuk issues. It is 25 per cent owned by Dubai Investment Group, the investment arm of Dubai Holding which, in turn, is owned by the ruler of Dubai. Business has been unaffected by the Middle East conflict and the bank posted a profit of Dh58 million ($16 million) in the first four months of 2011, Hussain Al Qemzi said. 'We've seen a lot of flow of liquidity and cash and we've seen a growth in retail and travel,' Al Qemzi said in an interview on the sidelines of an Islamic banking conference in Singapore. 'Actually, it's not negative.' Noor Islamic had earlier said it expected to close a healthy number of Islamic syndicated loans and Islamic bonds in the first half of 2011, with Turkey emerging as an active market for Islamic finance. Al Qemzi said sukuk deals would start flowing again after a slow 2010 but most issues would be of a smaller size. Traditionally Gulf issuers have tended to sell Islamic bonds in billions of dollars. 'We are working on a few transactions, we'll do some transactions in Turkey and we're also hopeful of the Asia market,' he said. A Gulf aid package for Bahrain and Oman would also create opportunities for sovereign Islamic bond issuance, he said. In March, Gulf oil producers launched a $20 billion aid package for Bahrain and Oman to help them upgrade housing and infrastructure over 10 years, in the aftermath of widespread protests. Noor Islamic Bank could consider merger and acquisition opportunities after it becomes profitable, Al Qemzi said. 'We'll look at it in time, but I'd like to see us getting out of the woods and becoming profitable,' he said. 'For us, I will look at banks that will really give us international reach.' Noor Islamic Bank had said it has no plans to merge with any other financial institution after being named as a possible candidate to absorb troubled Islamic lender Dubai Bank, which was recently taken over by the Gulf emirate's government. When it first launched in 2008, the bank wanted to be the world's largest Islamic bank within five years through acquisitions in countries such as Indonesia, Egypt and Britain. But difficult global market conditions have forced the company to rethink its strategy.-Reuters Tags: Dubai | Noor Islamic Bank | break even | Islamic lender | More Finance & Capital Market Stories

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Unthinkable, thought The Economist presents an article on 02 DEC 2010 on How to resign from the club.The 'club' in question is the Eurozone, and resigning from it is presented as a showing how Nation States can get over a debt crisis via examining past such crises in other Nations. The EU has a problem in that it is not a Nation State but a cooperating agreement amongst Nation States and, thusly, more of a confederation than a federation (as these things are normally termed for such governmental arrangements). Thus leaving the EU would be done to localize debt to those debtor Nations within the EU and as a result end the Euro as a currency. The article presents the rationale for this, but does not come down in an advocacy position, but a neutral one as this is an article to examine the process not the implications of it beyond the economic.To start the reasons for leaving are put into question form:The idea of breaking up the currency zone raises at least three questions. First, why would a country choose to leave? Second, how would a country manage the switch to a new currency? Third—and perhaps most important—would leavers be better off outside the euro than inside it?Why LeaveFirst is the 'why' question for a country - what is the rationale for this leaving of a common currency?The primary reason is economic independence from the common currency and there is a reason for doing so for both strong and weak economies (as measured in their economic activity, debt load and state of solvency).Germany, with a relatively robust manufacturing economy that has been shedding social programs and increasing the retirement age, is seen as able to cover its debt better than other Nations in the EU. Thus their portion of the common debt would have the backing of a strong currency and even see an influx of funds from other countries from individuals seeking a 'safe haven' for their cash. This would require massive changes to the banking regulation which seeks to get at savings accounts outside the country, but that could be put down as effective for EU funds only, and those converted to other currencies (like the brand new Deutschmark) would not have that regulatory overhead. This would be kept in check, to a small extent, by keeping lines of credit open for liquidity to foster economic activity. The change-over would cause an export problem as the strong DM would mean that the value of its goods would rise as compared to under the Euro, but that would be from a stable economic base that has actual liquidity to it. Thus a transition, though hard, would not be expected to be long.Greece and weak countries, at the other end of the scale, also need economic policies that reflect their populations. The Euro has been no boon to these countries, either, as the ability of the earned Euro to purchase goods from stronger Nations within the Eurozone has decreased. Weaker economies having to compete inside the Eurozone are unable to do so and they are pressed from the outside by Asian manufacturers able to undercut Eurozone production costs. Thus, while holding to a Euro means having a more powerful currency, you have far less of it due to lack of economic activity and governmental promises on retirement and other payouts to selected groups of people within their Nations. Leaving the zone means that these countries (Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Ireland) can put out currencies that can be devalued and yet find a stable floor based on the state of the economy. These Nations would become quite poor as they have a non-economical basis for their social structure in regards to working life, labor costs, and taxing policy, all of which would return to local control without EU overhead. And independent Nation is better able to navigate social policy, as an example, than a larger Confederation forcing an end social policy via a currency and regulatory system that does not take local conditions into account. These Nations did not change their policies coming into the Euro, beyond some one year benchmarks, and continued their spending policy for a generation based on lower interest loans garnered by joining the EU. Now that all comes due with defaulting on debt looming on the horizon.How to LeaveThe 'how' part is the mechanical part - the way to get from Point A to Point B.Here the article is short and sweet, with some analysis after:How could this be done? Introducing a new currency would be difficult but not impossible. A government could simply pass a law saying that the wages of public workers, welfare cheques and government debts would henceforth be paid in a new currency, converted at an official fixed rate. Such legislation would also require all other financial dealings—private-sector pay, mortgages, stock prices, bank loans and so on—to be switched to the new currency.That plus have the printed and coined new currency ready to go, and having the banks exchange the old and new. The original set conversion ratio would last for a period of time and then the old scrip is no longer legal tender (although a minor collector's item for numismatic enthusiasts for generation after). This has been done a few times in the history of the US and happens far more frequently outside the US.Argentina is a Nation that did this during its fiscal crisis and, as a result, destroyed its own banking system with a contraction in available credit to cover losses on loans that had a more favorable exchange rate than other items so as to keep savers mollified.Germany would tend to have a stronger currency than an abandoned Euro, not only because Germany has left the Euro but due to the Euro having represented an average value across all Nations: the less capable Nations brought the value of the Euro down as they did not change social and fiscal policy to that of thrifty Nations like Germany. A new DM would gain its own adherents and those that then convert their local currencies on the basis of the DM for purposes of trade and commerce. The cost of the value of its debt would fall, over time, if it could keep its fiscal house in order and maintain a productive economy with low economic overhead by the national government. Its current holdings in other EU countries would be devalued while its own currency gained strength, and limitations on capital movement from weak countries would limit the ability of Germans to shift those funds or convert capital into liquid assets.Weaker Nations would have to set limits on the amount of withdrawals per person, per year to transfer into a DM. This is on top of the losses that all people would suffer (personal, commercial, financial and institutional) due to the sudden change in value of the Euro in regards to the currencies leaving it. Those in weak countries paid in devalued currency would not like that state of affairs and yet see that they have limits on exactly how much of that currency can leave the Nation. This acts in the form of a firewall that limits currency trading and capital flight at the expense of internal accounts being devalued. Thus some capital is retained even during a general currency devaluation. Here good laws would allow for a legal process of wealth transformation to take place so as to avoid lawsuits over the incurred costs of devaluation. The internal scrip for these Nations would be debt obligation (or IOU) scrips that would, over time, be converted to a real currency. It would be an extremely devalued currency, yes, but the only one for legal tender in the Nation after all the Euros had been converted to them.While a shrunk Euro would still have its member Nations to back it, those outside of it would be faced with the EU board acting to the interests of members... although the question of how long the Euro would survive comes into being with Germany leaving or one or more of the weak economies deciding to 'go it alone' to survive.FalloutShifting a National currency, even when done via normal means such as the need to replace one format of bank notes with another or going on/off a gold/silver standard is one that does happen for normal Nations. In the latter part of the 20th century this has happened more often than most people think as you consider the Nations that have gone off of a worthless internal scrip to create one of value: Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, East Germany (moving to the DM then Euro), and Russia. These Nations all faced a scrip that was uniform under Communist rule, but of no real value outside of its trading block. Dollars went for ten to one hundred times the official exchange rates inside these Nations, and when time came to break away their currencies got unhooked from the centralized system run from Moscow. We don't notice those change-overs, in the West, but they did happen quietly and efficiently as the Eastern Bloc vanished in a matter of years, taking Russia with it out of the Communist era.Argentina has been more problematic, but while facing a set of challenges for having a currency not pegged to a foreign currency, it is a set of problems largely under the control of the Nation and its policies. That is the goal of the exercise, to bring the financial house under sovereign control and have a Nation set its own path on what is agreeable and disagreeable to it and suffer what fate hands out to those choices.The USThe United States has many artifacts of the EU in its common currency arrangement: member States taking on huge debt load at rates that they could not normally get, a massive decrease in productivity due to the overhead of the State, and the flight of capital and individuals from some States to others. Additionally the National system has taken part in multiple Ponzi schemes for public programs, these being Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, all while enacting laws and regulation that increase the cost of manufacturing causing a flight of capital overseas for decades, thus lower the rate of economic growth. On a National level spending, regulation and social payouts are the mirror of that in some European Nations now looking to cut back on them severely: Great Britain, Germany, France. Meanwhile there is also a debtor State problem with a number of States with their own social programs that are fiscally unsound in the realm of public spending: CA, NY, IL, MI, MA all come to mind.There is already the start of a debt scrip system going on in CA as the State is now offering IOUs to those who should receive refunds on their income tax. At this point CA does not accept such scrip to pay off debt to the State, but the moment it does so it has its own and devalued currency. NY has made some similar sounds as well as a few other States so highly in debt that they cannot offer standard refunds on taxes.This state of affairs of States having their own currencies existed right up to the Civil War and is perfectly legal but how you do it is important, and CA is not headed into good territory there.Here are the powers of the Constitution in this realm:Section. 8.The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;[..]Section. 10.No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.CA is running afoul of Section 10 of the US Constitution and to complete its system of scrip would be required to offer gold or silver backing for its debt obligations. Basically a gold or silver debt scrip.Just how much gold and silver does CA have? Beyond what is in 'them, thar hills' not much due to the FDR Administration having gold taken into Ft. Knox from all over the Nation as it was illegal to have large quantities of gold. Which brings up the question: is it legal for the US federal government to have done that? As the States are permitted to make legal tender of gold and silver, does the US government have the power to stop them from doing so by confiscating the gold and silver from those States?Consider a proposal to have CA, say, ask to have its portion of the US held gold and silver reserves returned to it via population size. It would be recognized that the federal government has its own need of reserves and that could be made at 30% of the total held for the Nation.Just working with gold the US has 4,603 tons, or 147.4 million troy ounces, the latter of which is easier to work with for numbers (going via Wikipedia for ballparking here), and this isn't including other bullion reserves like those at West Point.So a proposal to keep 1/3 in reserve for the federal government means the following is available to the States via population: 98.27 million troy ounces.Current population of the US at the census site: approx 311 million people.Current population of CA: approx 37 million.Call that just a bit shy of 12% of the population, which would yield it 12% of the gold: 11.8 million troy ounces.Total long and short term debt issued by CA (Source: CA Treasurer's Office): approx. $53.3 billionNote that CA's debt is huge compared to any price of gold today.With that said the State would have the legal basis to offer a currency with a conversion rate to the US dollar for CA incurred debt. If set sufficiently above the current rate of conversion, say at $1,500 per ounce, the new Golden Bear (which I invent for this purpose) currency would have a lower valuation than US currency but have full gold backing to it. CA could start issuing this currency to those who would be getting tax refunds or other forms of funds from the State and create a dual currency system within the State for its own gold tender and standard US greenbacks. In addition CA would probably place a holding time limit for cashing out gold, so that the Golden Bear will have time to circulate and get a real value, perhaps as much as 5 years for that.CA would then have to decide if it wanted to incur debt via US dollars or its own Golden Bears. While 11.8 million troy ounces sounds like a lot, that is less than 1/3 troy ounce per citizen in the State. If CA can get its fiscal house in order in 5 years, stop the debt outflow and get a sane tax climate in place for investors, it can offer a 'safe haven' currency that is gold backed (possibly have silver backed ones as well, but it is difficult in getting the silver reserve figures) and holds the State to the value of the currency.The Golden Bear would be a 'hard' currency and if set above the current conversion price of gold, then gain few attractors but serve as a reserve system to pay off internal debts owed to the citizenry. Citizens would be faced with a currency that would take a few years to convert to physical gold (with 1 troy ounce = 1.0971428571 ounce = 31.1034768 gram) with each Golden Bear dollar only about 0.02 gram weight or waiting to get paid in US greenbacks once CA got more of those to go around... which it might do by marketing Golden Bears or converting a portion of its debt into Golden Bears for payout (possibly the short term debt). Once in circulation the value of the US greenback would float compared to the Golden Bear and it is possible that CA might even see an influx of some cash if it can get its fiscal house in order.Of course CA and probably AK would see a major uptick in the gold prospecting business as getting gold and getting gold backed tender in return makes the gold portable. CA might see an increase in gold reserves, over time, if it got its house in order. Other States might take this route to try and get some foundation to their economies and find some, final bottom to their fiscal woes as they have a new and much smaller economic platform to move to. This would mean that most of the 'services' in the way of regulations, 'entitlements' and even such things as public pensions would either get liquidated or devalued or have a final gold backed tender put into their holdings which they can sell at market prices.Congress did not have the power to stop this after the Civil War and no power was given to it during or after then to allow it to stop such things: they are allowed in Article 10 explicitly. While paying off debts to the federal government would still be done in greenbacks, if those are seen as getting worth less and less, then the States would have a means of fall-back currency by issuing gold and silver backed tender based on the holdings being held for all of the people at the bullion depositories. The US federal government would still have a substantial gold and silver deposit for the Nation, but the rest would be used by the States to create legal tender in the States for State obligations. And as it is circulated debt backed by gold, it is not normal valued currency and might be impossible to tax (can you tax debt? my guess is: no).A two-track system would be a PITA, to be sure, for each State, yes. But this might be a way to give the people of those failing States some assurance that there is a final, much smaller, fall-back position for their States that would have an opportunity to shed obligations and right their economies. And with a gold backed system the people would be assured of being able to get some useful currency after their State's bankruptcy and re-ordering to become solvent. We would still be a common Nation, but those in financial crisis would be allowed to figure their way out on their own and not put the entire Nation at peril for the spendthrift ways of the few. Future, Past All I needed to know to fix things was to read Ins... States on the brink Some thoughts on Julian Assange

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Home'Trinidad and Tobago Guardian : May 9th 2013ContentsBG6 | NEWS BUSINESS GUARDIAN www.guardian.co.tt MAY 2013 • WEEK TWO The First Citizens bank initial public offering (IPO) of shares has been postponed from May to June, said deputy chief exec- utive officer Sharon Christopher. In early January, the bank s chair Nyree Alfonso said the IPO was sched- uled to be launched in May. Christopher anticipated the issuance of shares would be a big deal. "We expect that the value of the issue to be in the range of $1 billion, so it would be big for T&T," she said. Asked the reason for moving from May to June, Christopher said: "Get- ting together the documentation for the IPO, the valuation of the bank--- the number of things that had to be done---was taking a little longer than expected. We are on the ball now. This is like the countdown period." A share price has not yet been deter- mined because the valuation process is incomplete. At each stage, Christopher said more information would be made to the public but, to the "big institutional investors, we would be going to them with some harder figures than we have now. "It is worth everyone s while to have a share in this significant indigenous institution." Asked when she anticipated a share price to be determined, Christopher said: "All these things have to be dis- cussed with the Government; it s not just First Citizens by itself. "After we get the valuation, the val- uation is going to say this is what your bank is valued at. We would then be able to say, if that is our value, we look at our share price in this kind of range, then we go back to Government and then they would agree, okay, you can do it at that price. So that should take three weeks before we have a price." Christopher said the IPO is long overdue. "When First Citizens started 20 years ago, it was always the intention that the bank would come back to the public and would be listed on the stock exchange. What is going to happen this year is really the realisation of that vision." Christopher said large institutions and the public have expressed interest in the launch. "If you look at this institution for the last three years coming out of the current financial crisis, this bank has been named by Global Finance as the safest bank in the Caribbean. Commenting on dividend payout, she said: "We expect our dividend payments to be reasonable. The reason we have been so successful is (due to) the way we have managed our busi- ness: in a very stable and consistent manner. Certainly, your return on your investment is going to be good." In January, Alfonso, commenting on dividend payout, said: "First Cit- izens expects to time the half-year dividend so that the new shareholders of the bank would benefit by receiving a distribution within 30 days of the completion of the IPO. "The bank paid out 37 per cent of its after-tax profit of $718 million as a dividend in the year ending Sep- tember 2011, and 24 per cent of the $446.4 million that the company earned in 2012." First Citizens IPO set for June Sharon Christopher, deputy chief executive officer, First Citizens Group. nadaleen.singh@guardian.co.tt NADALEEN SINGH First Citizens head office, Queen's Park East, Port-of-Spain. LinksArchiveMay 8th 2013May 10th 2013NavigationPrevious PageNext Page

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Home / News / FPA Congress sets financial planners on growth trajectory FPA Congress sets financial planners on growth trajectory Thu 1st December 2016 The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) attracted over 1,000 delegates from around the country to the 2016 FPA Professionals Congress in Perth from 23-25 November, where the ‘Future Ready’ theme was enthusiastically embraced by the financial planning community. The sold out Future2 Gala Dinner and the record attendance at the Women in Financial Planning breakfast were just two of the highlights of the Congress that featured an impressive line-up of speakers including Andrew Denton, Anna Meares OAM, Tracey Holmes, Ange Postecoglou and Catherine McGregor AM. Commenting on the success of this year’s Congress, Dante De Gori CFP®, CEO of the FPA, said, “This was the first time our annual gathering was held in Perth since 1994 and we were very pleased to see 75% of delegates make the trip from other parts of Australia, demonstrating the appeal of the program.” In the opening address, Mr De Gori revealed the future growth of financial planning will be built on three pillars: student engagement, professionalism and consumer awareness. This followed the FPA’s announcement earlier in the day that it welcomed the Government’s introduction of legislation on the Professional Standards and Education Framework into Parliament. Another significant step in the development of the profession was ASIC’s approval of the FPA’s Professional Ongoing Fees Code, which was also announced on Wednesday. “From July 1 next year, our members will have the option of signing up to a new section of the FPA’s code covering opt-in, which will remove them from the need to comply with the legislative version of opt-in contained in the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) laws,” said Mr De Gori. In line with its goal to increase consumer awareness, the FPA also announced a new online destination called Money & Life will be launched in the New Year. The website is designed to help Australians improve their financial wellbeing and will offer regular content that empowers and educates readers with up-to-date information, practical tips and inspiring real life stories to help them manage their finances. The FPA recognised the outstanding achievements of its members with a series of awards at the FPA Congress, including two new awards for 2016, the FPA Professional Practice of the Year and FPA Paraplanner of the Year award. The FPA’s first-ever Paraplanner workshop was a success, with over 100 delegates registered to attend. The FPA Professional Practice workshop was a sell-out. Thanks to the dedicated fundraising efforts of the FPA community, the Future2 Foundation announced $147,000 in Future2 grants. The grants will go to community not-for-profits around Australia, helping bring opportunity and hope to socially and financially disadvantaged young Australians. Building on the success of this year’s Perth event, the 2017 FPA Professionals Congress has been confirmed to take place in Hobart from 22-24 November, where financial planners will have more opportunities to grow, share and connect. < Prev Post Next Post > CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® and are certification marks owned outside the US by the Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd (FPSB). Financial Planning Association of Australia Limited is the marks licensing authority for the CFP marks in Australia, through agreement with the FPSB.

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Gov’t owes UDC millions A review of the Urban Development Corporation’s books by the Auditor General’s Department has shown that the Government owes millions in rent to the agency. The report highlights that the government has failed to pay $137 million in rent for office spaces it occupies. It was noted that this accounted for 71 per cent of the total $194 million owed to the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) in receivables. The remaining 29 per cent, which translates to $56 million, is owed by private tenants. It was noted that $148 million of the total receivables has been outstanding for more than 120 days. The report also pointed out that the UDC does not have an effective system in place to ensure that contractual agreements with tenants are kept current. The department said a list provided by the Corporation shows that 116 properties are leased to government and private tenants. It said 46 of those leases have expired and there were no formal agreements for another 23 of the properties. The Auditor General’s Department said the failure to collect outstanding rent is resulting in a reduction in the value of the assets and prevents the UDC from meeting its objective of transforming its receivables into cash or tangible assets. Like our new Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/gleanerjamaica Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/JamaicaGleaner radio@gleanerjm.com © Copyright Gleaner Company Limited

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commentsEx-Goldman director indicted in insider caseBy Susan Candiotti and Jessica Dickler @CNNMoney October 26, 2011: 6:00 PM ET Ex-Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta, pictured at the World Economic Forum on Jan. 28, 2010, in Davos, Switzerland (See correction below) .NEW YORK (CNN) -- Former Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble director Rajat Gupta was indicted on insider trading charges Wednesday, U.S. prosecutors say.According to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Gupta was charged with six counts of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Print CommentGupta surrendered Wednesday morning. "Today's surrender is the latest step in an initiative launched by the FBI in 2007 targeting hedge fund insider trading," said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Janice Fedarcyk. Gupta's attorney, Gary Naftalis, said that "the government's allegations are totally baseless.""He did not trade in any securities, did not tip Mr. Rajaratnam so he could trade, and did not share in any profits as part of any quid pro quo," Naftalis said in a statement. Gupta appeared in court Wednesday afternoon and pled not guilty to the charges against him. Gupta is out on bail after using his Connecticut home as collateral to post the $10 million bond.The Securities and Exchange Commission also charged Gupta with insider trading Wednesday and filed new insider trading charges against hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam after first charging him with insider trading in October 2009. According to the SEC's complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, Gupta illegally tipped Rajaratnam with insider information about the quarterly earnings of both Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble (PG, Fortune 500), and leaked the $5 billion investment in Goldman at the height of the financial crisis by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA, Fortune 500). The complaint says that immediately after Gupta and other members of the board agreed to accept that investment, Gupta tipped off Rajaratnam. A few minutes later, prosecutors say Rajaratnam bought 217,200 shares of Goldman Sachs for approximately $27 million. A day later -- and after Goldman Sachs publicly announced the investment by Berkshire Hathaway -- Rajaratnam sold those shares, generating an illegal profit of more than $800,000, according to the indictment. If convicted, Gupta faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy charge and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gain from the alleged crime. He also faces 20 years in prison on each of the securities fraud charges plus a maximum fine of $5 million for each count or twice the gain from the crime.The investigation against Gupta, who led consulting firm McKinsey & Co., stems from the trial of Rajaratnam.According to the indictment, Gupta relayed insider information to Rajaratnam with the understanding that Rajaratnam would use that information to purchase and sell securities. "Rajat Gupta was entrusted by some of the premier institutions of American business to sit inside their boardrooms, among their executives and directors, and receive their confidential information so that he could give advice and counsel for the benefit of their shareholders," said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. "As alleged, he broke that trust and instead became the illegal eyes and ears in the boardroom for his friend and business associate, Raj Rajaratnam, who reaped enormous profits from Mr. Gupta's breach of duty," Bharara said. Rajaratnam, former manager of the defunct hedge fund Galleon Group, was sentenced this month to 11 years in federal prison -- a record for insider trading -- and fined $10 million. He was found guilty on May 11 of all 14 counts of conspiracy and fraud, after netting $64 million on a long-running insider trading scam.Rajaratnam's kidney transplant could cost taxpayers $300,000Rajaratnam was accused of profiting on trades he made using non-public information.During the trial, prosecutors played dozens of wiretapped phone calls, in which Rajaratnam discussed proprietary information on big companies, including Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500).The prosecution said the recordings showed Rajaratnam receiving information from Gupta that he used to make $17 million in illegal profits. Rajaratnam managed $7 billion at Galleon before the hedge fund shut down following his indictment in 2009."There were legitimate reasons for any communications between Mr. Gupta and Mr. Rajaratnam -- not the least of which was Mr. Gupta's attempt to obtain information regarding his $10 million investment in the GB Voyager fund managed by Mr. Rajaratnam," said Naftalis, Gupta's attorney. "In fact, Mr. Gupta lost his entire investment in the fund at the time of the events in question, negating any motive to deviate from a lifetime of probity and distinguished service."Correction: An earlier version of the story contained a caption misidentifying Gupta's job. First Published: October 26, 2011: 8:41 AM ET Related ArticlesGalleon manager Rajaratnam sentenced Who are the 1%? Preet Bharara: The enforcer of Wall Street

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Governance | New Pocket Guide to IFRS By Elizabeth Kennedy July 1, 2016 The IFRS® Foundation, the oversight body of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), has published the 2016 edition of the Pocket Guide to IFRS® Standards: the global financial reporting language. Written and developed by former IASB board member Paul Pacter, the guide introduces IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) and gives an overview of the standards-setting process. The analysis of reporting standards was conducted across 143 jurisdictions (which together represent 98% of global GDP). Most of those jurisdictions permit the use of the standards, and 119 of the jurisdictions (83%) require their use by domestic publicly accountable companies and financial institutions. The guide also shows that 80 jurisdictions now either permit or require use of the 2009 IFRS for SMEs® Standard, targeted to small and midsize companies without public accountability. Additional major developments this year are in the Asia-Pacific region, where 74% of jurisdictions now require use of the standards and most others major Asian economies are progressing toward adoption. IASB Chairman Hans Hoogervorst said, “It is great to see continued strong momentum in the progress towards IFRS standards across the major Asian economies. In an ideal world, we would have one single, trusted global standard for financial reporting. Users of financial reports can now easily compare information from companies across nearly 120 jurisdictions, in every region of the world.” You may also like WHY ISN’T COMPREHENSIVE INCOME COMPREHENSIBLE? Are You Ready for Company Preparedness? No More Hiding Lease Liability Preparing for ASC 606

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Adient wins “Best Investor Relations for an IPO” award from IR Magazine Adient wins “Best Investor Relations for an IPO” award from IR Magazine Awards 3/23/17 Adient, the global leader in automotive seating and interiors, was recognized by IR Magazine for “best investor relations for an initial public offering (IPO) or spinoff” on Thursday, March 23, 2017 at Cipriani Wall Street. “The Adient team is honored to have won ‘best IR for an IPO or spinoff’,” says Mark Oswald, executive director of investor relations for Adient. “It was extremely exciting to launch as an independent company and witness the tremendous value creation for our shareholders.” Adient spun off from Johnson Controls, a world leader in building products and technology, integrated solutions and energy storage, and launched as a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange on October 31, 2016. "The success achieved was made possible thanks to the enormous contributions from those that support Adient’s IR efforts… including the company’s leadership team… in particular our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bruce McDonald and our EVP and Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Stafeil, Adient’s investment banks, market intelligence team, public relations & marketing team, and the New York Stock Exchange," said Oswald. Nominees for the IR awards are identified by in-depth research and any publicly traded company is eligible for consideration. Tens of thousands of analysts and investors then vote on each category. Adient plans to continue strengthening the market, diversify revenue base and further margin enhancement. For more information about Adient’s investor relations, please follow this link.

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Harvard Economist: US Should Phase-Out All Currency Larger Than $10 Bills By Barbara Hollingsworth | September 16, 2016 | 11:24 AM EDT Harvard Economics Professor Kenneth Rogoff. (Harvard University) (CNSNews.com) – The Unites States should phase-out all denominations of the U.S. dollar larger than a $10 bill to thwart money launderers and tax evaders, Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff told attendees at a Council on Foreign Relations event this week in Washington, D.C.“Cash is not used in ordinary retail transactions. It’s used by tax evaders and in a lot of crime of all types, including drug trafficking, human trafficking, extortion, racketeering, you name it,” said Rogoff, a member of the economic advisory panel of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and author of The Curse of Cash.“Cash is being used less and less in ordinary transactions,” Rogoff pointed out, noting that the average middle-class American holds about $150 in cash, compared to more than $100,000 in total assets.“Cash is nothing,” he said.Rogoff envisions a gradual phase-out of bills larger than $10 over a 15-to-20 year period “to deal with the unintended consequences” of moving to a cashless economy, and scoffed at those who fear the government would then be able to monitor every transaction. “If you don’t trust the government and all your money is in cash, you’re pretty stupid,” he said.According to the Federal Reserve, there were 38.1 billion Federal Reserve notes in circulation last year. An order to print 7.1 billion more in 2017 worth $209 billion has been submitted to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The order includes 2.4 billion $1 bills and 1.5 billion $100 bills.“There are 11.1 billion $100 bills in circulation, and about 75% of them are held in other countries, in part because the U.S. dollar is the dominant international reserve currency,” according to the Wall St. Journal.Noting that many of the $100 bills in circulation are used for “illegal activities abroad by Mexican drug lords, Colombian rebels and Russian oligarchs,” Rogoff argued that the “wholesale elimination” of high-denomination bills would mostly affect organized criminals and tax evaders. “Every transaction inevitably leaves a trail. Cash doesn’t,” he said.(AP photo)“Big [cash] purchases are dirty money,” the Harvard economist stated. “Cutting crime by 5 percent would be a good trade. And if the government can collect 15 percent of taxes that it is not getting, you could cut everybody’s taxes."The Nordic countries have already reduced cash transactions to about 5 percent of the total, he noted. The impetus to go cashless in Europe was terrorism. “Something bad could spark things here, too,” he said.But Dr. Louise Shelley, director of the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at George Mason University, pointed out that many criminals use “trade-based money laundering,” such as exchanging banned elephant ivory for Chinese imports.CNSNews.com asked Shelley if eliminating most cash – which Rogoff said he did not recommend for developing markets and emerging economies – would stop terrorist groups and other criminals from laundering money.“You have to be kidding!” she replied. “They [terrorists] are at the forefront of inventing new methods and refining old methods of trade-based money laundering. Illicit trade has exploded with the Internet.”In May, Shelley testified before Congress that such illicit trade makes up an estimated 8 to 15 percent of the global economy and “is growing in almost all identified categories,” providing funding for terrorist groups and drug cartels.“But this illicit trade does not exist in a vacuum. It is supported by banks, it is supported by law firms, it is supported by professional services that write contracts, that develop contracts, and help mask the illicit trade,” she testified. “You can hide money in a shell corporation in Delaware, no questions asked,” agreed Porter McConnell, director of the Financial Transparency Coalition. “It’s so easy to do. It’s actually quite easy to move billions.”Criminals and terrorists use phony invoices, inflate prices of intangible intellectual property, and other tricks to launder money, McConnell told CNSNews. “This stuff is such a bigger game than cash. You can’t move billions of dollars in a briefcase.” Rogoff also argued that reducing the amount of cash would also give the Federal Reserve another monetary policy tool because it would eliminate the current constraints on cutting interest rates.“My basic take is that it’s a good idea to get rid of big bills, period, over the longer term,” Rogoff said, especially since U.S. banks may follow the lead of Switzerland and Sweden at some point and “effectively use a negative interest rate policy.”“Cash is in the way because if you charge a relatively large interest rate to hold money,” large institutional depositors such as pension plans and insurance companies “will take it out,” he explained.“Right now, central banks are at a loss about what to do about monetary policy. European banks are looking at negative interest rates. We need to be able to do something,” he said, adding that “central bankers are doing a lot of things more dangerous, such as buying 20 percent of the corporate bond market in the next round.”Rogoff added that he was not worried that criminals would just switch to alternative currencies such as gold or Bitcoin (“which is not really anonymous”) if most cash transactions were eliminated. “There are creative ways to do anything, but you can only use them [alternative currencies] sometimes,” he said. “The government can just say to the banks and retail stores: ‘You can’t take that’,” he explained.CNSNews asked Rogoff how people could get their money out of a failing bank if large denominations are phased out.“If the bank wants to give you the money, it can do so with an electronic transfer,” he replied, adding that "we still insure deposits up to $250,000.”But not everybody at the event was convinced that phasing-out currency was a good idea.Routine cash-based transactions not only ensure privacy, but protect people from credit card and financial fraud as well as identity theft, Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, pointed out, adding that "the greatest abuser of cash is the government, which sent pallets of cash to Iraq to pay out money without accountability."Related: Terrorism Expert: ‘Radicalized Criminals’ Pose New Terror Threat to Europe, US FollowBarbara HollingsworthBio | ArchiveMore from Barbara Hollingsworth Printer-friendly version

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Mortgage horror: Lender won't help after couple's child dies By: Jen A. Miller, December 04th 2012 Your sick child means nothing to your mortgage lender. Not even if he dies. You've drained your life savings. Pay me. You've gone deep into debt. Pay me. You've buried your boy. Pay me. Your tragedy is an "insufficient hardship." What happened to Noel and Debra Lesley is the biggest horror story I've seen to come out of the real estate mess of the last few years. But were it not for the death of their son, Brad, the family's situation would be just another sad example of how screwed up the home loan business really is. Instead, their story shows something more. The lenders and the companies that service loans lack a basic moral compass. They appear incapable of doing the right thing. Refinancing, then illness In 1998, the Lesleys bought their Orange County, Calif., home. In 2006, they refinanced on the basis that the property was worth about $400,000. They did the refi with a 3/1 adjustable-rate mortgage from Countrywide Financial, the reckless subprime lender later bought by Bank of America. Two years later, Brad fell gravely ill after being diagnosed with cancer. Insurance wouldn't cover the cost of treatments, so Noel and Debra drained their savings and maxed out their credit cards to pay the medical bills. And then their 17-year-old son died of heart failure attributed to his cancer. Loan modification denied Grieving and saddled with debt, the value of the couple's home also had plummeted to about $200,000, leaving them unable to refinance, according to the couple’s attorney, Anthony G. Graham. So, they asked for a loan modification in 2008, knowing the payments would balloon in 2009 when the loan was scheduled to reset at a much higher 8.05% interest rate. They sought no principal reduction but were looking for a fixed-rate loan of 3%, which would have reduced their monthly payments by about $750. “They’re not moochers," Graham says. "They want to pay the full balance on the loan,” which is about $350,000. In May 2009, Litton Loan Servicing, which serviced the Lesleys' loan on behalf of Bank of America, denied the request, writing in a letter that the death of a child was not a "sufficient hardship," according to a lawsuit filed in Orange County. That Lesleys' lawsuit outlined several allegations, including breach of contract. The suit argued the only "justification" for Litton and the other defendants to deny the modification was "to cause as much emotional pain … as possible." Unbelievably, the lender and its paper-pushers absolutely failed to show "basic humanity," the lawsuit alleged. “I wish I could say any of this surprises me a little bit, but the fact is, none of it surprises me," says Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates. But, Rheingold says, “The callousness of it is breathtaking. Absolutely breathtaking.” Lender fails again Who is modifying loans? Permanent modifications CitiMortgage GMAC Mortgage Source: Propublica.org, June 2012 Unfortunately, the torment doesn’t end there. After Noel and Debra sued, they fell further down the awful rabbit hole that is the loan modification process. And this is where the story starts to look familiar to anyone who has tried to get the terms of their loan changed. The lawsuit did what the Lesleys' initial plea for help didn't: It got the lender's attention. In June 2009, all parties agreed to put the lawsuit on hold in an attempt to reach an agreement. The couple filed the required paperwork as part of the modification request. Then they were asked to file again. They didn’t get the modification offer until February 2011, when they were told by Bank of America they would be granted a modification if they made three trial payments, which would be held in a trust. The Lesleys did so. And heard nothing until January 2012 when Bank of America sold their loan to Ocwen Financial Corp., a firm that specializes in servicing "high-risk loans." I should note here that Ocwen also owns Litton. This is important because in March, Ocwen rejected the loan modification, claiming the Lesleys failed to make trial payments — payments Litton had already said it had received. In fact, the Lesleys made timely trial loan payments for eight months last year. And yet, through pure incompetence, the Lesleys have incurred $72,000 in penalties and fees. The Lesleys’ credit was wrecked after the loan was reported to credit reporting agencies as in default. Their credit score dropped from 720 to just above 500. And so they sued again this year, arguing that Bank of America (which has since been dismissed from the lawsuit), Litton and Ocwen breached their contract to modify the loan and have intentionally inflicted emotional distress. “What more can they put this poor family through?” Rheingold asks. “The family’s done everything they were supposed to do, and the servicer just keeps screwing up because they can.” Ocwen Financial did not respond to a request for comment. I did talk to Bank of America. A spokesman declined comment other than to remind me that the bank no longer holds the loan and therefore is no longer part of the lawsuit. I can only hope Ocwen is shamed into settling this mess, but that would mean it has to find some of that "basic humanity" the defendants in this case are sorely lacking.

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New Home Building Approvals Up By 6.9 Percent In WA by Christopher Levay Despite the news on the negative sentiment of the economy of Western Australia, new home building approvals in the region rose to about 17 percent in August this year. This new figure was reported by HIA. In a press release which covered the overall status of the Australian new homes market, HIA reported that Western Australia is considered to be the third fastest growing region for new homes in the country just after South Australia and Tasmania. The figure likewise revealed that new home approvals in New South Wales and Victoria are declining. During last August, the total seasonally adjusted new building approvals in South Australia grew by 27.9 percent, Tasmania by 17.3 percent, Western Australia by 6.9 percent and Queensland by 4.5 percent. The seasonal adjusted approvals registered declines in Victoria and New South Wales by approximately .7 percent and 28.5 percent respectively. According to the trend patterns, the approvals increased by about 8.3 percent inside the Aussie capital territory. But the figure declined by .7 percent in its Northern Territory. A senior economist at HIA noted that the new building home market in Australia registered record levels of activities during the years 2014 and 2015. The new dwelling commencements reported to have reached about 215,000. The figures released showed that while the approvals for buildings which are multi-unit are weighed on the overall result, the approvals for detached building structures remained to be strong in August as confirmed by the Housing Industry Association. The HIA is the official voice of the residential building industry in Australia. Last August, the total number of homes for approval was declined by about 6.9 percent in the seasonally adjusted terms from the level of the previous months. The approvals declined during the month despite of a 4.4 percent growth in detached house approvals. The sector of the home renovations Perth will likely be affected also by this development in the market. Compared to a year ago, the activity is still higher on both of the sides in the market. The increase of detached house approvals only amounted to 3 percent compared to August 2014. Comments Off on New Home Building Approvals Up By 6.9 Percent In WA Posted in Business, Home Improvement, World

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Paulson Says Wachovia Was Systemic Risk Sep 29 2008, 8:52AM After the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury facilitated the acquisition of Wachovia by Citigroup, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the failure of Wachovia posed a systemic risk to the U.S. economy, and he praised the FDIC's handling of the situation. "I commend the action taken by Chairman Bair and the FDIC today to facilitate the sale of Wachovia Bank to Citigroup in an orderly fashion to mitigate potential market disruptions," said Paulson. "The FDIC's actions help to mitigate potential systemic risk to our financial system." All of Wachovia's deposits are protected and the move should help limit the financial market disruptions, added Paulson. The Treasury Secretary pledges to continue taking all necessary measures to help protect the U.S. financial system and economy. The news comes just as the U.S. Emergency Economic Stabilization Act reaches the House floor on Monday for vote. Assuming it passes, the bill could give the Treasury the authority to purchase up to $700 billion in various illiquid assets in the U.S. financial system. By Erik Kevin Franco and edited by Sarah Sussman©CEP News Ltd. 2008

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Lending industry pushes for statewide regulation - KFDA - NewsChannel 10 / Amarillo News, Weather, SportsMember Center:Create Account|Log InManage Account|Log Out Lending industry pushes for statewide regulation Consumer Service Alliance of TexasFort Worth Star-Telegram ArticleUniversity of Texas Industry Study Amarillo, TX -- Business and government in Texas are traditionally at odds - the Texas mentality is usually the less government oversight, the better. But the lending industry is pushing the legislature for more regulation. Payday and auto title loans are meant as short-term solutions to help someone through a financial rough patch. But both lenders and their critics say the status quo has to change for the good of the industry and consumers. Currently, there are about 4500 short-term loan businesses in Texas, and their clientele tends to be largely poor. And many customers take out multiple loans to pay off other loans, which perpetuates a cycle of poverty and debt and opens the door to predatory lending practices. "I have no doubt that industry has really helped folks out," says Matt Adams, an investment analyst at Money Methods in Amarillo. "There's been situations to where they have really been a lifesaver, so to speak, to somebody who's really in desperate need. However, there's a fine line between providing that need and taking advantage of somebody in a situation like that." The Consumer Service Alliance of Texas is an industry group that pushes for rules and regulations that benefit business while protecting consumers. This legislative session, CSAT is hoping lawmakers will make some key changes, as CSAT spokesman Rob Norcroff explains, "What we've done in the best practices and other things that are being discussed by the legislators are limits on the number of times you can refinance a loan, no fees, no costs, extended payment plans, and mandatory principal reductions on other types of loans. The goal is to put someone on the path to repayment in a time certain, regardless of the type of loan obtained." Payday lending is actually banned in twelve states, and some states have caps on the maximum loan amount - Texas does not. If you'd like to learn more about the lending industry or its ongoing efforts in Austin, follow the links attached to this story. Today's Local News HeadlinesToday's Local NewsMore>>

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Banks Losing Billions in Fees Due to Overdraft Policy Implemented in 2010; Loss Could Affect Banks' Ability to Lend Article ID: 584754 Released: 17-Jan-2012 10:30 AM EST Source Newsroom: University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Business Ethics, Economics Tim Yeager, University of Arkansas Newswise — FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A new study by finance researchers at the University of Arkansas shows that U.S. banks are losing anywhere from $3.8 billion to $5.3 billion in annual revenue due to the Federal Reserve’s 2010 changes to overdraft policy. “The lower fee revenue may further impair the ability of banks to lend money, which will prolong economic weakness,” said Tim Yeager, associate professor in the Sam M. Walton College of Business. “This comes at a time when bank revenues are already strained by reductions in interchange fees, a weak economy and ongoing weakness from the financial crisis.” Yeager and student Kyle Mills examined the impact of changes to Regulation E, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and found that low opt-in rates by consumers decreased the number of accounts from which overdraft fees were generated and thus adversely affected bank revenue both nationally and in Arkansas.Until recently, most banks automatically enrolled consumers in an overdraft protection service that charged a fee for one-time debit card transactions and automated teller machine withdrawals that exceeded a customer’s account balance. However, effective July 1, 2010, changes to the Electronic Fund Transfer Act required that consumers opt-in to these overdraft services. Accounts created after the mandatory compliance date of July 1, 2010, were immediately subject to the new opt-in procedure. If an existing account holder did not opt-in to a bank’s overdraft protection service by Aug. 15, 2010, then the bank was required to remove the fee-based, overdraft protection service from the consumer’s account. The overall effect of the Federal Reserve’s new policy has limited the banking industry’s ability to generate fees through overdraft protection services, Yeager said.He and Mills surveyed Arkansas banks and found that only 31.4 percent of all account holders opted for overdraft protection on one-time debit transactions and ATM withdrawals. Because their sample size was small, the researchers validated the accuracy of the low opt-in rate by comparing their study to a recent Center for Responsible Lending study, which revealed a similar rate – 33 percent.To quantify the revenue decline, Yeager and Mills analyzed quarterly report data from 7,034 U.S. banks from the fourth quarter of 2008 through the second quarter of 2011. They focused specifically on changes to quarterly deposit service charges relative to transaction deposits. Their analysis controlled for the effects of bank size, deposit growth, changes in deposit insurance and county unemployment rates, which can affect deposit service charges depending on whether customers overdraft more often to cover cash-flow shortfalls. The researchers found that for the median Arkansas bank, the estimated annual revenue loss was between $154,000 and $168,000. For U.S. banks with the same amount of deposits, the estimated annual revenue loss was between $105,000 and $120,000. “Clearly, changes to Regulation E have adversely affected bank revenue nationwide,” Yeager said. “It will be interesting to see how banks respond. Because the drop in revenue is quite sizeable, I think many banks will take steps to reduce overhead expenses or raise fees elsewhere to offset the lower revenue.”Yeager holds the Arkansas Bankers Association Chair in Banking. He was an economist at the Federal Reserve in St. Louis. Permalink to this article

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How to account for school fees Paying for children’s education can be a costly business but options are available for parents who want to ensure they get a head start. Sue Hoban Many parents bracing for the inevitable post-Christmas influx of back-to-school bills might now be rueing the fact they didn’t put money aside earlier to help take the sting out of rising education costs.If you’re one of them, you’re not alone. The latest evidence suggests about 60 per cent of Australian families fail to make provision for future education costs and of those who do, most fall well short of the funding needed. Cosy arrangement ... Kelly Kent has been putting money aside for her son Mason's education. Photo: Sahlan Hayes An obvious reason is that in the preschool period, many families are going to be stretched to the limit just trying to pay the rent or the mortgage, particularly if they lose their second income during the early child-rearing years.Yet financial advisers such as James Gerrard, a partner at PSK Financial Services, contend that even small amounts set aside regularly can make a meaningful difference.‘‘It doesn’t have to be a massive burden on their cash flow; it could be as little as $100 a month and that will compound over a period until the child is ready to go to school and they need to draw down on some expenses,’’ he says.Gerrard suggests that another possible reason for inactivity may be that, apart from setting up a bank account in a child’s name – a potentially problematic option – many people just don’t know what strategies are available to them. There are a few different ways to organise education savings. A popular and tax-neutral strategy is to make extra payments off the home loan to get ahead and then draw back down on it when the bills start coming in.If, as a couple, you are on higher marginal tax rates, you might be better off with the tax-paid options of investment bonds or special education savings plans, where the issuer pays tax on the growth at amaximumof 30 per cent.Or you might prefer to rely on traditional investments, such as high-interest savings accounts, managed funds or direct investment in shares or property.There is no single most tax-effective solution for everyone. Selecting the right one for your family will depend on a range of factors, such as your incomes and marginal tax rates, how much you can afford to put in, how long before you need the money, your saving discipline, investment experience and tolerance for risk.Never too late While it’s advisable to start early to maximise the benefits of compound growth and allow moregrowth-focused investment choices, financial advisers insist it is never too late to start, particularly with rises in education costs continuing to outstrip inflation and wages growth and the prospect of hefty HECS fees beyond the school years.The director of NavigateWealth, Peter Alvarez, suggests that whatever strategy you adopt, investing for education should not be done in isolation; rather, it should always be considered as part of a holisticwealth-creation plan.‘‘It is going to be a lot more powerful if you can meet not just your education savings objectives but your other objectives at the same time; rather than trying to meet one but, really, failing in all the others that are maybe just as important things,’’ he says.Another factor to consider when deciding on an education savings strategy is in whose name the investment should be held. Since federal government changes six months ago, it has become even less advisable to put any sizeable investment in your child’s name.It used to be possible for minors to earn income up to $3333 a year tax-free from sources such as dividends and interest. In a bid to avoid parents diverting income to children’s names to avoid tax, this has been reduced to $416 and any non-work income minors earn between $417 and $1307 attracts the penalty tax rate of 66 per cent, with 45 per cent applied beyond that – a trap grandparents inclined to put lump sums aside for future education should also be aware of.In most cases, it’s best to put the investment in the name of the lowest-earning family member, a non-working parent or even a grandparent.Using your mortgage The simplest method of setting money aside for education is to earmark a certain amount each month to pay off your home loan, then use an offset account or redraw facility from which to draw down later as the money is needed.‘‘When you do that, you are effectively generating a 6 or 7 per cent return because you are not paying that in interest on your home loan,’’ Gerrard says.‘‘The big advantage is the simplicity. There is no third company involved, so you also save on management and investment fees, and it’s easy to understand and implement the strategy.’’But a word of warning – be careful if you lack financial discipline.‘‘That’s the big negative here,’’ Gerrard says. ‘‘You have to be disciplined, first to put that money away off the home loan each month and then not be tempted to redraw it for any other expenses.’’Investment bonds These are long-term managed investment products which, because of the time frame, can be an attractive vehicle for education saving.Because earnings and capital gains are tax-paid at 30 per cent and are not included as part of your taxable income – providing they are held for the minimum 10-year period – they are worth considering if you are on higher marginal tax rates.However, additional contributions cannot exceed 125 per cent of the previous year’s deposit, otherwise the 10-year period restarts.Locking money away for this length of time to achieve a tax advantagemay not appeal to everyone but it does reduce the likelihood you will be tempted to use the money for anything other than education.The managing director of Eureka Financial Group,Greg Cook, says investment bonds are now a more attractive proposition than they were in the past.‘‘The products have got more competitive,’’ he says. ‘‘They used to be old life insurance companies with fairly heavy management fees but they have got leaner and there is now a much wider range of investment options available.’’Managed funds This is a similar instrument to an investment bond, with similar fees and charges but without the restricted time frame– or concessional tax treatment. However, that won’t be an issue if you are an average-income earner on a marginal tax rate of 31.5 per cent, including the Medicare levy, or you want to invest in the name of a non-working parent.Managed funds offer greater flexibility in being able to access money, the investment term and the scope you have to make additional contributions. They also offer a wider choice of fund options to suit your risk profile.Education savings plans These are education-specific managed investment products, or scholarship plans, set up by friendly societies, again offering a tax advantage (30 per cent paid within the fund) if you are on higher marginal tax rates. Although heavily marketed, they have been a less popular option among financial advisers because of the relatively high fees charged for the amounts being managed and historically lower returns.But they do offer a simple, disciplined approach for education savings and can be made either via weekly contributions, lump sums or a combination of both.The most prominent are offered by Lifeplan and the Australian ScholarshipGroup. But be aware that under the ASG model’s foundation program, all earnings fromthe pooled funds are used to provide scholarship benefits to students who go on to post-secondary study.If your child does not, you will get back no more than the capital you put in. Make sure you do yourresearch and check the experiences others have had with this option.High-interest savings accounts Setting up a dedicated education savings account is a good starting point if you are putting aside regular small amounts or trying to grow savings to the minimum level required for one of the managed investment options.Like other traditional forms of investment, interest earnings will be taxed at your marginal rate but you will retain full control over your money. Online savings accounts, now paying about 6 per cent interest, have lower fees and charges and can be linked to a bank account to allow a regular transfer from your wages.Gerrard says another option is BankWest’s Kids’ Bonus Saver account, which pays 10 per cent interest for the first 12 months. You only qualify for that if you maintain monthly deposits between $25 and $250 but the catch is that after 12 months, the rate drops back to 0.25 per cent.‘‘I recommend that parents make a calendar note every 12 months to go downto the bank, close the account and restart it again so they keep getting the 10 per cent,’’ Gerrard says.Direct investment Creating your own investment portfolio of shares or property as a vehicle to save for education could suit if you are an experienced investor prepared to take a more hands-on approach, or if you get advice from a professional who deals in direct investment.It is potentially more risky than other options but, according to Alvarez, is more tax-effective for those who can invest enough to make it feasible.‘‘That’s because you control the buying and selling and the realisation of any capital gains or losses,’’ he says.‘‘You can choose not to buy and sell as often as funds that are managed by the institutions,therefore you are not going to be liable for capital gains tax as often.’’Alvarez says setting up a sufficiently diversified portfolio of eight to 10 stocks would probably require a minimum initial outlay of $40,000 to $50,000.Future-proof with a nest egg WHEN salon owner Kelly Kent sets herself a goal, she isn't easily sidetracked. That determination has worked for her in business and now it is working to ensure she has the financial resources available to put her eight-year-old son, Mason, through school - and possibly university."I started putting money aside when I was six months' pregnant because I wanted to have choices as to where I sent him to school," she says."I just knew that if I wanted to send him to a private school, it was going to be very expensive and I wanted to make sure I had that money sitting there, if and when I needed to use it."Despite running a successful business for the past 15 years, Kelly was not prepared to leave anything to chance."You don't have a guaranteed income when you have your own business," she says. "You don't know what you are going to get each week and I didn't want to be six years down the track and not have the option of sending him where I wanted."She started by putting $100 a week into a credit union account, where her balance wasn't going to be eroded by fees, until she had built up a tidy nest egg."I wanted to buy a managed fund because I knew the money would accrue a lot more quickly and I wanted to get a wholesale one because I figured you get a lot more bang for your buck, so I spoke to my accountant and he recommended a balanced fund," she says."I don't have time to learn about the stock market so, for me, it was far better to have a managed fund run by people who know what they are doing. It was also good because if something happened where I really needed access to the money for some other reason, I could get it, it wasn't locked away."However, that hasn't proved a temptation. Kelly has continued to add to her initial $10,000 outlay - now putting in an extra $500 every month - and has never had to dip into it."While I can afford to pay the school fees, I don't touch it," she says. "At times, when I was renovating the salon or buying a different property, it would have been tempting to have used that money but even though I pay it, I don't consider it my money. It has always been about Mason's education.''Now I have a buffer that will get him through school if anything happens and then if he wants to go to university, that money will be sitting there ready for him." Buying property with your super fund has drawbacks Chasing returns in super usually a losing bet How to protect yourself from housing bubble downside I spent three years paying someone else's tolls Profile: Anh Do Follow Fairfax Money The fake offset accounts that could make your savings vanish The best-performing asset class of the past five years

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Vitter wants clean slate of overseers after Ponzi victims get no help Friday, July 18 2014 BATON ROUGE- In another blow to people who lost around $1 billion in a Ponzi scheme, the SEC lost its appeal to recoup money for victims of R. Allen Stanford. Stanford was convicted and sentenced in 2012 of using investors money to fund companies that went out of business. It is believed Stanford had more than a thousand accounts in the capital area. People who lost money in the scheme have been trying to get some money back. The SEC appeal was before the Securities and Exchange Commission, a target of U.S. Senator David Vitter who, in the wake of the scheme, has called it a broken system that is not working to protect people. "I urge the SEC to continue its fight against SIPC and appeal this decision to the Supreme Court. However, the ruling today is exactly why we need to reform SIPC - both their members, and how they compensate fraud victims," Vitter said. "The organization was created and tasked with the sole purpose of protecting investors and victims of fraud. The previous chairs of the board were only interested in protecting Wall Street, but the president has an opportunity to fix that now with new nominees." Vitter has urged the president to nominate new members to the SIPC. Stanford will likely die in prison, serving out his sentence related to the scheme.************Follow the publisher of this post on Twitter: @treyschmaltz More News

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The reversal of reforms on the New Pension System? In December 2002, the NDA made a very big move in pension reforms. They decided that from 1/1/2004 onwards, all new staff recruited into the government would be switched out of the traditional defined-benefit pension and instead placed into a new individual-account defined contribution pension system. This was one of the major achievements of the economic reforms of that period. For a conceptual picture of the New Pension System (NPS), see this article, and for a story of that period, see this article. An essential feature of the NPS was that it was a defined contribution system. India has a long history with getting into trouble with guaranteed returns. UTI's assured return schemes turned into a problem for the exchequer. EPS, run by EPFO, is bankrupt. When pension promises are made, they require peering into many decades into the future and arriving at estimates of longevity and asset returns. In the best of times, it is hard to make such estimates; honest mistakes are possible. In addition, when governance is weak, there are political pressures to make extravagant promises, which will look popular right now but generate staggering costs for the government in the future. As an example, rough calculations show that the implicit pension debt on account of the traditional civil servants pension in India (the one which was replaced by the NPS) stand at roughly 70% of GDP. This is a very big price to pay, for a tiny sliver of the workforce. The NDA did the unpopular work of switching new recruits out of the defined benefit pensions. But the UPA did not follow through appropriately. At first, many years were lost in hoping that the CPI(M) would come on board the reform. After that, the legal engineering was put into place in order to get an NPS up and running without requiring the legislation. This process was slower than what one might have desired, but it has been making inexorable progress. But now, a new existential threat seems to have come up : the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance seems to be saying that the fundamental idea of the NPS -- defined contributions -- should be scrapped. This would amount to a major reversal of India's economic reforms. On this subject, see: Reportage in the Hindustan Times. How PFRDA Bill proposals change NPS structure, by Deepti Bhaskaran, in Mint. Editorial in Mint. pension reforms, AnonymousWednesday, 7 September 2011 at 21:39:00 GMT+5:30Is this the only reversal. Look at what is happening to Sebi and it's chairman and members, look at the fact that Uti has no chairman for the last 6 months. Is anyone even caring?ReplyDeleteAdd commentLoad more... Is there a case for supervision of alternative inv... Two seminars at NIPFP What in the world is happening to the rupee? Seminar: "Contagion in international financial mar... Paying for liquidity provision on exchanges The reversal of reforms on the New Pension System?...

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DiscoveryNew PBS Television Program Highlights NSF-funded Economics Research NOVA's "Mind Over Money" examines 2008 stock crash The New York Stock Exchange, focal point of the 2008 stock market crash. Credit and Larger Version The popular PBS science television program NOVA asks two simple questions: Why did mainstream economists fail to predict the stock market crash of 2008, and why do people so often make irrational financial decisions? NOVA's producers seek answers from a slew of past and present National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported researchers in a new documentary program called "Mind Over Money," premiering Tuesday, April 27, 2010, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on PBS stations.Jennifer Lerner, Harvard University professor and director of the Harvard Decision Science Laboratory, was interviewed for the NOVA program."One of the main reasons people make irrational decisions is the influence of immediate emotion," she says. "Being in a fearful state propels us toward risk-averse choices, whereas being in an angry state propels us toward risk-seeking choices. And we are typically completely unaware of these influences; they are opaque to introspection."Lerner has studied decision science for more than 15 years, and she argues that emotion played a significant role in the economic downturn. Her research and training have been supported by NSF for many years, starting with a graduate research fellowship when she was a doctoral student. Currently, she receives support from NSF's Decision, Risk, and Management Science program, as well as from NSF's Social Psychology program.Others whose research had NSF sponsorship and who participate in the program are University of Chicago Nobel Prize recipients in economics Gary Becker and John Cochrane. Richard Thaler, University of Chicago professor of behavioral economics, another former NSF award recipient, who regularly consulted with Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, is also among the participants. In addition, Mind Over Money interviews Robert Shiller, professor of economics at Yale University, and Brian Knutson, professor of psychology at Stanford University, who also received some sponsorship from NSF.In the aftermath of 2008's stock market crash, NOVA's producers wanted to understand what happened. Why did classical economic theories about the stability of markets fail? How can too many spending choices overwhelm rational decisions? And can a new science--behavioral economics, which aims to incorporate human psychology into finance--do better at averting an economic crisis?To get answers, NOVA observed a number of experiments and talked to the experts. In one NSF-supported experiment at Harvard, scientists fitted executives with sensory skull caps to see how their decision-making processes compared to those of people with less high-profile and less stressful careers.The goal was to determine ways in which a person's skill at emotion regulation influences decision making. Lerner hinted that the research team found a number of interesting connections, which may be explored in detail in the NOVA program."The experiments, combined with insights from leading experts, offer a compelling look at the world of finance and investment as well as the saving and spending habits of individuals," said executive producer Howard Swartz. "The economy is a timely topic, so I think audiences will be fascinated by the scientific experiments in "Mind Over Money," which illustrate how mood, decision making, and economic activity are all tightly interwoven."NOVA calls "Mind Over Money" a "show that reveals surprising, hidden money drives in us all and explores controversial new arguments about the world of finance." Jennifer Lerner Related Institutions/Organizations Massachusetts Connecticut Illinois California Related Programs Decision, Risk and Management Sciences Related Awards #0820441 Leadership Decision Making Total Grants Related WebsitesNOVA | Mind Over Money: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/money/

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New J.P. Morgan Jam Bank Faces U.S. Action on Antimoney-Laundering Practices Dan Fitzpatrick And Robin Sidel Regulators are expected to serve J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. with a formal action alleging weaknesses in the bank's antimoney-laundering systems, said people close to the situation. The cease-and-desist order from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is part of a broader crackdown on the nation's largest banks, the people said. The OCC is expected to require J.P. Morgan to beef up its procedures and examine past... By Dan Fitzpatrick And Robin Sidel

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Insights from a Top Five Star Fund Manager on Drug Pipelines (Part III) Recently, Larry and I met with an interesting person, Ken Kam. Ken manages the Masters 100 Fund (MOFQX) and is a Morningstar Five Star fund manager. He has been regularly beating the S&P 500 Composite Stock Price index. Ken believes that his approach to investments using virtual portfolios to derive real investment decisions will be the wave of the future. Ken’s approach can be checked out at www.marketocracy.com. Earlier in his career, he had managed a technology and healthcare fund and had also run a medical devices company. During our meeting, we learned about his current holdings and what he thinks about the future of the pharmaceutical industry. This is the third and final of three blogs based on that interview. This is my third and final blog based on a meeting that Larry and I had with Ken Kam, the fund manager of the Marketocracy’s Masters 100 Fund (MOFQX). In my two earlier blogs, I reviewed Ken’s thinking on the current and future prospects for Elan Corporation PLC. When Ken began talking about the future of Elan, he was touching on some of the current issues in the drug industry. That’s when Larry and I started to ask him questions about the industry in general and its future prospects. Ken said that the industry will respond as in the past but that it can’t shortcut research. The old hit or miss approach to drug research is dead. More specifics will be required. Ken says that Genomics will drive much change and that new drugs will have a Genomics element. Large drug companies will have to find early stage drug research and then purchase it. When looking to make future investment decisions, Ken says that he considers two stages. First, the beginning when the drug is unknown and it’s not known yet whether it will work. It’s tough to invest until the clinical trials are done. Next, once the trials are successful, it’s the basic blocking and tackling to run the business that counts. He cites Amgen as an example of a company that had been here with its drug Epogen but had to bring in a partner that had a sales force with preexisting relationships with doctors. Ken says that it’s hard to get into doctors’ offices with only one product. But, it can be done as Amgen and Genentech have demonstrated. Ken thinks that Elan may get there. Also, Ken notes that manufacturing drugs is tough, there aren’t that many people who know how to do it, and even the big players get it wrong once in a while. Start-up’s only have scientists and this second stage is equally as important as the first. Hot IPO markets sometimes let start up’s fund these activities. Other times, it’s the big companies that provide the funding. Ken thinks that we’re in these later times right now. Also, what the business model looks like becomes a factor in making an investment decision. Outsourcing services and support to gain a cost advantage become important considerations. Both Larry and I enjoyed our meeting with Ken Kam and we would like to take this opportunity to thank him and his team for arranging this opportunity for us. As always, we welcome your feedback. Please contact us at larryrothmansblog@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you. Contributed by Guy de Lastin Posted by 5 Star Fund, Biotech Investments, Ken Kam, Marketocracy, MOFQX, Morningstar, nanocrystals, Pharmaceuticals, Insights from a Top Five Star Fund Manager on Drug... FDA Hurdles May Provide a Win-Win Opportunity for ...

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the "voice" of the promotional products industry. Skip Navigation LinksCase Studies > Management - Develop a Business Succession Plan Management - Develop a Business Succession Plan A Guide To Transitioning Your Family Company Aug 1, 2013 – by Shane Dale Tweet If you're content to wait until retirement to create a family business succession plan, Sally Stolen Grossman feels you're making a big mistake. "I think it's never too early to start. Succession planning is just so important," says Grossman, co-editor of the Business Succession Planning Answer Book. "I see far too many owners who wait until the last minute, and it's much, much harder to do the planning then." But succession planning doesn't have to be a headache. Here are some suggestions for making the process easier on you and the rest of your loved ones. Decide on a Successor Grossman believes choosing an in-family successor among competing children is probably the most difficult decision that entrepreneurs will face. "Assuming that you have family that might be interested in the business, you have to do some soul-searching about what the job involves, and whether your kids have the skills and the desire," she says. That's why Grossman strongly recommends bringing in an outside organization to conduct a professional assessment of family members. The assessment should include skill and interest testing to find out whether the family members you have in mind are well-suited to grab the company reins when that time comes. "There are professional family business consultants who specialize in that, and they're very good at it," Grossman says. Set Ground Rules During the succession planning process, Grossman advises business owners to determine specific expectations so everyone knows what they're getting into. "It's very difficult to completely remove the emotion from the process, and I think that's because, by definition, it's a family business," Grossman says. "When you talk about business, you may talk about it at the Thanksgiving dinner table. But there are some things you can do to minimize the emotion. One is to set some ground rules." Among the questions Grossman suggests answering are: Is the process going to be confidential? Is it going to be shared with somebody? Are spouses going to be involved in these discussions? Once you establish the process, the next step is to try to prevent triangulating. "You don't want to have a situation where Johnny's going to come to Dad and say, ‘Suzy said this,' or, ‘I'm upset with Suzy about this.' Make people deal with each other directly," Grossman says. "That healthy relationship stuff is a good place to start." Keep Communication Lines Open Grossman feels regular conversations and transparency during the consulting process is crucial so everyone involved can be happier, both personally and professionally. "You may not want to lay out all of your preliminary plans," she says, "but at least to some extent in the information-gathering process, I think it's good policy along the way to communicate. Even if it's to say, ‘Here's where we are in this process, we've interviewed all family members, we're taking into account what you think, and the next step will be X.' The more communication, the better, because when you don't talk, people start to spin their own story about what's happening." The Tampa Bay Business Journal's Jo-Lynn Brown, author of the article "Succession planning in a family-owned business," agrees that a lack of communication can lead to unnecessary drama, "particularly if you're dealing with multiple generations – children, grandchildren, cousins, brothers and sisters," she says. "Any drama during a time of transition can be very harmful to a company. You can lose customers and revenue." Brown says transparency needs to be sustained all the way through the succession planning process, and even after the process is complete. "Make a very clear outline of what you want the family to do in the event of someone passing unexpectedly or just retiring," she says. Think About Fairness Differently Grossman says the best family succession plans are fair-minded, yet logical. In other words, trying to keep all family members happy simply for the sake of fairness is not a winning business formula. "A lot of owners come to me and say, ‘I have four kids and I want to treat them all fairly, so I'm going to give them all one-quarter of the voting stock.' I shake my head and say, ‘Usually, that's not a good plan,' " Grossman says. "Usually, one of those kids is active within the company, and the other three aren't." So then, what exactly should your approach be? "What we do is help the entrepreneur find a way to equalize – to treat the other kids fairly – but to get off the idea that it has to be identical," Grossman says. "And once people know they're being treated fairly, that helps cut down on the emotion." Consider Company Culture Having a child with experience lead your company is certainly a plus, but Brown says it's just one component that owners need to consider in developing a succession plan. "Something I think might get overlooked is the leadership style of whoever you're considering to take over the reins," she says. "Every company has a culture, and that can really affect the dynamic of the company, the management style, and the leadership quality that the new ownership might possess. Will the person stepping into that maintain a sense of normalcy for the employees of the company?" Selecting a family member whose personality or overall business vision may be drastically different from yours may upset a delicate employee dynamic. "For example, if you look at a company like Google as opposed to a company like Bank of America, they have different ways of doing things and different expectations from employees of those companies," Brown says. "You don't want to have someone step in who drastically changes the feel of the company – the way it functions or some of the traditions. You might lose a lot of your employees that way." Be Open to Outsiders It may not be easy to accept, but if consultants find out that none of your kids really want to carry on the business, you have to think about leadership alternatives. "We know this has happened before: The parent wants to leave his oldest child the company and keep it in the family, and the child doesn't want it. The next generation wants to do something else," Brown says. "The goal of every business is to continue to grow its profits and revenue. It really does no good to leave your business to someone who's ultimately going to destroy the business." Grossman says there are always other options if family members pass on running your company. "You can transfer the business to other shareholders, managers or employees," she says. Update Your Plan Often Whatever succession plan you ultimately choose, Brown says it should be revisited on a regular basis. "It needs to be updated frequently – every year or every other year – because the dynamic of a family-owned business can change," she says. "Somebody gets married, somebody gets divorced, or somebody has a child. So, particularly for family businesses, there needs to be some follow-up to it. You can't always know when an emergency situation will take place and the company will need to start going through a transition process." Sponsored By: Tweets from @asi_widget/counselor-team Counselor Promogram © , The Advertising Specialty Institute®. All Rights Reserved.

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Expert predictions on what lies ahead for GreeceGreek debt is running at 197% of GDP. Tim Mullaney, special to CNBC.com Monday, 6 Jul 2015 | 2:45 PM ETCNBC.com Who's exposed to Greece? Monday, 6 Jul 2015 | 1:46 PM ET | 01:37 On Sunday, Greek voters decisively rejected a proposal from the nation's creditors to swap new refinancing of Greece's 342.5 billion euro in debt in exchange for tax increases and deep cuts in public spending, especially on pensions. With the unemployment rate stuck near 26 percent and the economy sinking deeper into a depression that has already cut gross domestic product by 30 percent since 2010, Greeks decided not to bet on the idea that more austerity would return their country to prosperity. Nonetheless, Greece missed a 1.6 billion euro payment on its debt last week and remains "in arrears,'' according to the International Monetary Fund, which, along with the European Central Bank and European Commission, represents Greece's creditors. Nearly all of Greece's debt is held by official creditors, who bought up most of the holdings of hedge funds and other private investors years ago. Until the default is fixed, the IMF says, it won't lend Greece more money. Read MoreGreek future unclear after 'no' vote With the nation once again running a budget deficit after briefly achieving a so-called primary surplus—meaning, a surplus before interest payments—Greece clearly needs more money soon. Here are some of the key questions and answers about what's going on—and what might happen next. Yannis Behrakis | Reuters A Greek flag during a rally in Athens. What do the creditors want? Going into the election, their proposal was to cut pensions by another $2.5 billion or more and to raise taxes, especially value-added taxes on tourism to the Greek islands. Since tourism generates almost one-fifth of Greece's GDP and is the nation's only industry besides petroleum refining that generates as much as $2 billion a year in exports, a proposal to boost the VAT on island tourism to 23 percent from 9 percent was a tough sell. Read MoreA timetable for Greece's coming hurdles Creditors' proposals also included selling off publicly owned airports and electricity transmission and cutting military spending, as well as raising corporate income taxes and cutting tax subsidies for diesel fuel and heating oil. The creditors have little else to work with: IMF research director Olivier Blanchard wrote June 14 that pensions and salaries for government workers are 75 percent of the remaining Greek government budget, since everything else has already been "cut to the bone." Pensions alone eat up 16 percent of Greek GDP—almost as much as tourism brings in. By contrast, in the U.S. the old-age and survivors insurance program within Social Security costs less than 5 percent of gross domestic product. Even a 25 percent cut in Social Security benefits would reduce U.S. growth by 1.5 percentage points in the first year, according to an analysis by the American Association of Retired Persons. How has earlier austerity affected Greece? The nation has cut spending by 30 percent since 2008 in response to creditor demands, and GDP has dropped from a high of $355 billion in 2009 to $238 billion last year—about 33 percent—according to Trading Economics. The U.S.boosted spending during the recession and has cut since, with spending now slightly lower than in early 2008, Trading Economics claims. Read MoreHow to protect your portfolio from the Greek crisis The moves were enough to put Greece briefly into a surplus in 2013. Creditors had expected the austerity measures in a 2012 deal to push Greece's surplus to 4.5 percent of GDP by next year. But the chaos in Greece's economy has driven down the amount expected to be received from privatizing government assets, including those held by banks, and tax collection has remained abysmal. show chapters What are creditors asking from Greece? Monday, 6 Jul 2015 | 6:14 AM ET | 02:53 What now? There's little chance Greece can repay its full debt, and basically no chance that it can run its government without access to credit, so more talks to try to find a deal are forthcoming. Greece's finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, who has had a contentious relationship with creditors, resigned after the election in an apparent attempt to pave the way for more negotiations. In a report last week, the IMF conceded that it's likely the international creditors will have to "take a haircut" by reducing the principal amount of the debt they hold so Greece can make its payments. How much? In 2012, hedge funds agreed to write down about 70 percent of their remaining debt, setting one potential parameter. The IMF's report floated the idea of writing down the debt by about 53 billion euro, which would make the rest of the debt sustainable if Greece's economy grew 1 percent a year and the government ran consistent surpluses of 2.5 percent of GDP. What's the best that can happen? The best-case scenario could take either of two forms, depending on whether a deal is reached. The path the parties will try first is to make a deal, but that would require Germany to back off its opposition to reducing the principal amount of Greece's debt. On Monday, Greece's creditors said the ball was in Athens' court to present a credible deal. With a deal, Greece makes some cuts that are largely offset by a reduction in the payments it has to make to its creditors, whether for interest or for principal reduction. This wouldn't be likely to deliver actual prosperity soon, but might prevent the situation from worsening. Read More Bye, Yanis, hello Euclid. Can this man save Greece? The best-case scenario for Greece without a deal is that it follows the path Argentina did in 2001 and 2002: Devalue its currency, which in Greece's case means abandoning the euro in favor of its own money, hoping that the drop in the cost of tourism and other Greek exports draws enough customers to begin delivering prosperity in a year or two. However, Varoufakis dismissed this idea in a May blog post, saying, "Greece cannot pull off an Argentina.'' What's the worst that can happen? There's little chance that Greece's fundamental economic problems will have much effect on either the U.S. or the rest of Europe, Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi said last week. Moody's doesn't think that any financial contagion from a Greek default will force any run on the debt of other struggling euro zone economies, like Spain or Italy, and indeed, yields on their 10-year bonds stayed stable last week amid Greece's uncertainty. Within Greece, however, the short term looks very difficult in any scenario. Any deal is likely to raise taxes and cut spending to some degree, hampering an already shrinking economy. If Greece leaves the European currency union, whatever currency it issues is likely to be sharply devalued. If Varoufakis is right, the rest of Europe wouldn't generate enough tourism or shipping revenue to make up for the value of savings lost in the devaluation, and Greece's human suffering would intensify. Bottom line: No one will be really happy with whatever outcome emerges. "These are tough choices, and tough commitments to be made on both sides," Blanchard wrote on his blog.

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From the December 5, 2012 issue of Credit Union Times Magazine • Subscribe! Women to Watch: Shari Storm Shares Leadership Lessons By Myriam DiGiovanni December 05, 2012 • Reprints For Shari Storm, senior vice president at Verity Credit Union, periodically applying and interviewing for other jobs has helped reinforce that she is exactly where she belongs. “A mentor I always admired told me a long time ago to interview for other jobs every six months,” said Storm, who is also the author of Motherhood is the New MBA. “Not only as a way to practice interviewing because when you go for that big job you really want, it shouldn’t be the first interview you’ve done in 10 years, but you’re also always able to articulate your market value. The most important reason though is if you do get an offer, by deciding to turn it down you recommit yourself to your current job. Sometimes people stay in a job just because they are either too lazy, scared or nervous to try to do something else. I think it’s really pertinent in the credit union industry where sometimes people stay for decades. If it’s passion keeping them there great but if they are staying because they don’t want to step outside their comfort zone it’s not fair to them, the credit union or the industry as a whole.” As someone who has always embraced change or try things, she may not necessarily be good at, the latest individual to be recognized by Credit Union Times as a Woman to Watch tends to take life and challenges as they come. “Being a working mom of three young daughters, at this stage of my life, my basic tenet is that I start my day with a cup of coffee; I end my day with a glass of wine and hope that everything works out in between,” said Storm. She almost wasn’t a part of the industry. When a friend suggested she go for a job at the Seattle-based Verity CU, Storm thought a career in the financial industry sounded boring. “She convinced me to go, and I fell in love with everyone on the executive team. They were interesting, nice and smart so you could say I joined credit unions not for the industry but for the people,” said Storm. “I also thought the way our CEO Bill Hayes conducted the interview where he sat me down to work on a problem the credit union was challenged with was a brilliant way to do an interview and get to really know one another.” By the time Storm left, she was completely sold on Verity and paid to put together a video of her 72 television appearances during a stint in public relations. She went in the next day, handed the video to Hayes and said, “Here is some work I’ve done in PR.” Now every time Storm celebrates an anniversary or milestone at the over $397 million credit union, Hayes mentions how she is the only person who’d ever given him a video. “I’m hardwired in sales,” said Storm. “I don’t think ever dreamt about a certain career. I know I always been drawn to jobs where I can make an impact and have creative license to do unusual things. The fact that we here jumped into social media way before everyone is just one of the many ways I can flex my creative muscles here and do things out of the ordinary.” She added that sales has often gotten a bum rap and helps make a difference in getting ideas off the shelf and into the market. “You need someone on your team who can paint that picture, overcome objections and bring people along because you have to have that buy-in from not just the CEO and executive team but the board, tellers, IT department, members–everyone–or that idea will just die,” said Storm. “Always remember to unfold the story slowly. I’ve learned if you drop a new idea saying, ‘Here you go, what do you think?’ it never works. You’ve got to set the stage, bring it along slowly, then listen, get feedback and be prepared to adjust course. Everyone likes their own idea best, so the more you can incorporate those ideas into the one big idea there will be more buy-in.” That sense of transparency and encouraging the flow of information and ideas has been a cornerstone of Storm’s approach to leadership. “I try to be fair and forthright. I like to change things up to avoid complacency,” said Storm. “The two talents I am most proud of is my ability to hire and keep really good people and my ability to spot trends. Innovation has a dose of creativity but equal measures of profitability. You can’t embrace a new idea just because it’s cool and fun, there has to be a good business reason for doing it. I think the best innovators have creativity, good business acumen and are very persuasive.” Some of the top three initiatives she’s been most proud of at Verity exemplify how small changes can make a big impact. The first was some 10 years ago when Storm convinced everyone to use Outlook to schedule meetings rather than having to coordinate and book meeting rooms through the receptionist. It was a simple change that saved time and helped foster greater collaboration. The second initiative of creating a team of loan modification specialists who looked over members’ financials, sources of income to provide a deep, detailed cash flow analysis, helped Verity stay ahead of the curve when the economy started to crash. “With the old model people would call up, say they can’t make their payment, we’d ask what can you afford and the consumer, who didn’t really know their actual cash flow situation, would just give us a number and we’d try to make it work but everyone would be frustrated,” said Storm. “Now the counselor figures out the real situation and we know this person has $700 a month to pay their mortgage and go from there for the loan modification. So rather than saying here are our rules, play by them, since 2010 this approach has resulted in millions of dollars in loans under management and kept hundreds of members in their homes.” The third was Verity Mom, the initiative that focused on moms to bring in the whole family, has helped lower the age of its membership. In three years since the launch, the average age of new members has dropped from 39 to 36 years old. She added that relevance remains key to the industry thriving. According to Storm, some of the questions that need to be asked include are we sure we know what consumers want-both today and tomorrow? How do we step outside the great echo chamber that our industry often is and how do we add diversity to our board of directors? “I do think the credit union industry can benefit by infusing our volunteer board of directors with new perspectives. I respect and value the wisdom that board members with long tenure bring to our credit unions. I also believe we need to compliment that wisdom with a fresh understanding of today’s environment,” said Storm. She added that the solution is more nuanced than simply getting some young people on the board. A few suggestions for board recruitment include searching for individuals with the following abilities: Can discuss the benefits of the new Windows Phone over the Android and the iPhone for at least 10 minutes. Extra points if they use the term Jelly Bean in the conversation. Uses PayPal, Serve or Venmo to pay a roommate. Has used or has donated to KickStarter, Indigogo or Slated to fund a project. Knows the difference between Reddit, Tumblr, 4chan and 9gag. Uses the words YOLO or cray cray in a sentence without sounding embarrassed. “It’s challenging to compete in today’s market place. It’s tough to see some of your members struggling to meet their obligations,” said Storm. “Our number one top challenge today is how to grow our loan portfolio. Second is determining what our business model will look like three to five years from now. Changes are coming at us rapidly and we need to sort out what the winning strategy is. Lastly, I think a major challenge is preserving the essence of credit unions, that thing that sets us apart from other financial options. I worry that we might lose sight of that while we fight for market share.” « Prev Caren Gabriel Knows When to Lead the Team and When to Ride the Bench: Women to Watch As avid a University of Alabama sports fan Caren Gabriel, president/CEO of Tullahoma, Tenn.-based Ascend Federal Credit Union may be,...

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Commentary | Trade and Globalization Getting tough with China Commentary • By Robert E. Scott • January 23, 2009 January 23, 2009 In a written statement submitted to the Senate Finance Committee on January 22, 2009, Timothy Geithner, the Obama Administration’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, said that China was “manipulating” its currency. This suggests that the new Administration may be willing to take tougher steps against China’s illegal efforts to artificially cheapen its imports, thereby subsidizing and stimulating exports to the United States and other countries.1 This statement represents an important shift in attitude from the Bush Administration and former Treasury Secretary Paulson, who followed a policy of accommodation with China on currency issues through a series of “Strategic Economic Dialogues”. Although the yuan did gain about 20% in value between July 2005 and June 2008, the best estimates are that it needs to rise at least 30% more in value (Cline and Williamson, 2008). China has violated all established currency manipulation standards, as Josh Bivens and I previously demonstrated. The most direct and important measure of currency manipulation is China’s massive accumulation of foreign exchange reserves. In the past four years alone they have purchased $1.3 trillion dollars in foreign exchange, and about 70% of its reserves are held in U.S. treasuries and other dollar-denominated assets. China’s total reserves reached almost $2 trillion by the end of 2008, as shown in the Figure below. Between April 2007 and April 2008, China acquired more than $500 billion in reserves in that single year, alone. China’s currency manipulation and cheap currency has resulted in soaring exports to the United States which have decimated U.S. manufacturing. Between 2001 and 2007, the growth of the U.S. trade deficit with China eliminated 2.3 million jobs in the U.S., and more than two-thirds of those jobs lost were in manufacturing. China is responsible for a growing share of the U.S. trade deficit. In 2008 China’s share of the trade deficit in non-petroleum products reached 75%. It remains to be seen whether Secretary Geithner will use all the tools at his disposal to get tough with China about currency issues. In our Trade policy recommendations to the Obama transition team we recommended that The Treasury should immediately review and update the most recent “Report to Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies.” There is ample evidence that China maintains large and persistent current account surpluses and engages in massive foreign exchange intervention in order to maintain a weak real exchange rate. China meets the standards set out in section 3004 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 of currency manipulation, and should be identified as a currency manipulator by the Secretary. However, the Bush administration repeatedly discounted all available evidence in these reports and consistently concluded that “Treasury has not found that any major trading partner of the United States met the standards identified in Section 3004 of the Act during [any] reporting period.” The true test of Geithner’s willingness to get tough with China is whether he will be willing to identify China as a currency manipulator in the next International exchange rate report. This action will require the administration to enter into negotiations with the Chinese, and to work with the IMF to confront China about the destabilizing impacts of its currency manipulation. Lastly, it is important to address concerns that China could sell off some of its vast hoard of treasury securities if it is displeased by administration actions on the currency issue. This is a false threat. China is averse to any form of economic instability, especially in currency markets. The mere threat that China might sell off some Treasuries could cause a run on the yuan by private investors, resulting in its rapid and unavoidable appreciation. This is precisely the thing China most wants to avoid. The Obama administration needs to work with China to ensure that is completes its own economic stimulus plan, and follows up with additional stimulus as needed, while it raises the value of the yuan and weans itself from excessive reliance on export led growth. The U.S. can no longer afford to be the consumer of last resort for all of China’s surplus manufactured products, nor the employer of last resort for its workers. References Cline, William R. and John Williamson. 2008. “New Estimates of Fundamental Equilibrium Exchange Rates.” Washington, D.C.: Peterson Institute. PB 08-7. Notes 1. The Chinese currency is called the Renminbi, and the unit of account is the yuan, unlike most other currencies which use the same name for both purposes. The Chinese yuan was “pegged” or fixed against the U.S. dollar for many years. China began a tightly controlled “float” of the yuan in July 2005. It gained about 20% in value between 2005 and June 2008, but its value has stabilized since that time. Since the yuan is pegged to the dollar, it loses value relative to other currencies when the dollar falls, as it did between February 2002 and July of 2008. See related work on Trade and Globalization See more work by Robert E. Scott See related work on Trade and GlobalizationSee more work by Robert E. Scott Track EPI on Twitter Tweets by @EconomicPolicy

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Annual Meetings 2003 2003 Annual Meetings: News Releases, Speeches, Committee Papers, Documents and Background Information Statements Given on the Occasion of the IMFC Meeting September 21, 2003 Documents Related to the September 21, 2003 IMFC Meeting Japan and the IMF Statement by the Honorable Toshihiko Fukui Governor of the Bank of Japan and Alternate Governor of the IMF for Japan International Monetary and Financial Committee Dubai, September 21, 2003 I. The Global Economy and Financial Markets 1. The World Economy I welcome the positive signs of recovery that are emerging in the world economy, and the resulting improvement in global equity markets. While due attention should continue to be paid to downside risks, such as a fall in the prices of goods and assets in some regions, I expect the world economy to continue to gradually recover in the second half of 2003, supported by policy efforts in many countries. The Asian economy is expected to continue its strong growth thanks to the diminishing adverse impact of SARS as well as receding uncertainties surrounding the world economy. In order for Asian countries to maintain sustainable growth over the medium and long term, it is important for them to develop regional bond markets, with a view to better utilizing the region's high level of savings for long-term investments that is necessary for economic development. In this context, the Finance Ministers of ASEAN countries, China, Korea, and Japan (ASEAN + 3) agreed in August 2003 to intensify their efforts to develop regional bond markets. With respect to emerging market economies, I am pleased to note the increasing market confidence as a result of appropriate policy management, particularly in Brazil. However, it is essential for these countries to press ahead with structural reform, including fiscal consolidation, in order to achieve sustainable economic development.I welcome the IMF's approval yesterday of a new arrangement with Argentina in the context of its medium-term economic program. However, Argentina still faces many structural problems, which call for far-reaching reforms under the new IMF-supported program. It is also necessary for the Argentine authorities to proceed promptly with good-faith negotiations with a large number of external creditors under the principle of equitable treatment of all creditors. 2. The Japanese Economy The Japanese economy is showing signs of recovery: stock prices are keeping a rising trend and there has been an improvement in corporate profits. According to recently released data, Japan's real GDP in the second quarter of 2003 grew by 3.9 percent in annualized terms, supported primarily by well-sustained private consumption and business investment. This was the sixth consecutive quarter of positive growth. In order to achieve sustainable growth, the government will continue to pursue structural reform in an integrated manner in such areas as regulation, the financial sector, taxation, and government expenditure. With regard to fiscal policy, the government intends to maintain in its FY2004 Budget a restrained fiscal stance and to pursue greater prioritization and efficiency in budget allocation, taking into account Japan's difficult fiscal position. As for medium-term fiscal management, the government's goal is to achieve a primary surplus by the early 2010s through the realization of private demand-led sustainable growth and continued efforts to improve the fiscal balance. The government will also address comprehensive tax reform from a medium-term perspective, with the aim of re-invigorating society as well as the economy, and of regaining the confidence of the people. As for the financial sector, under the "Program for Financial Revival" announced in October 2002, the government set a target of halving by end-March 2005 the major banks' nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio as of end-March 2002. Financial statements of major banks as of end-March 2003 show that progress in lowering ratio is well on track. The government has also taken rigorous measures to improve the quality of financial institutions' capital, including the bold and prompt injection of public funds into an institution whose capital adequacy ratio had fallen below the minimum regulatory requirement in order to pre-empt any financial crises. The Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan (IRCJ), which was established in April 2003 for the purpose of revitalizing Japan's corporate sector, is set to purchase financial institutions' loans to potentially viable firms. Recently, the IRCJ selected a few companies as the first batch of candidates to receive assistance. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has been providing ample liquidity to the markets under the policy framework of quantitative easing in order to help stabilize financial markets and to put an end to deflation expeditiously. Furthermore, the BoJ in July 2003 introduced a scheme whereby asset-backed securities would be purchased as part of an effort to strengthen the transmission mechanism of monetary easing. The BoJ is firmly committed to maintaining its current policy stance until the consumer price index stably registers zero percent or above. The government, together with the BoJ, will make continued efforts to maintain the stability of the financial and capital markets as well as to overcome deflation. II. Strengthening IMF Surveillance and Promoting International Financial Stability Despite the IMF's efforts in the area of crisis prevention, financial crises have occurred in a number of countries in recent years, highlighting the need to further strengthen the measures for crisis prevention and resolution. 1. Crisis PreventionIn the area of crisis prevention, an important issue to be addressed is the strengthening of the IMF's surveillance together with the implementation of sound policies by each country to reduce external vulnerability. I welcome the progress being made by the IMF on various fronts, including the refinements of the framework for debt sustainability analysis and the deepening of vulnerability assessments. I hope further steps will be taken toward strengthening surveillance in the context of next year's biennial review of the IMF's surveillance. The Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) is well under way, with many member countries having already completed the assessments. I hope that many more countries will participate in this program with a view to preventing future crises. The Contingent Credit Line (CCL), which was set up as a facility for crisis prevention, is due to expire at the end of November 2003. However, the need for an effective framework to promote sound policies and to prevent contagion remains unchanged. I hope that the IMF's Board of Directors will discuss and come up with effective measures for crisis prevention before the CCL expires. 2. Crisis Resolution For crisis resolution, it is essential to promptly restore the debt sustainability of a country in crisis through an appropriate combination of policy adjustment, official lending from the IMF and other international financial institutions, and private sector involvement (PSI), including debt restructuring as necessary. With regard to PSI, I welcome the introduction of collective action clauses (CACs) by a number of emerging market economies, including Brazil, South Africa, and Korea, following Mexico's lead. I also welcome the Uruguayan government's successful debt exchange using CACs in the Japanese market. I hope that other countries will follow suit in introducing effective CACs in their sovereign bond issues under foreign jurisdiction. With regard to a Code of Conduct for crisis resolution, it is important to secure widespread agreement among various related parties, including debtor countries and private sector creditors, and to secure voluntary compliance, since the Code will be a set of general principles with no legally binding effect. In order to ensure the effectiveness of the Code, I hope that interested parties will make further progress in the discussion of its various elements, including the role of the IMF. I also hope that work will continue on issues of general relevance to the orderly resolution of financial crises, such as aggregation of debt, which were raised in the discussion of the statutory approach to crisis resolution. 3. IMF Quotas and Governance On the IMF's quota, it is essential that the IMF maintain a sufficient level of financial resources for effective crisis resolution. Changes in the world economy and financial markets can be abrupt and hard to predict. The IMF should therefore continue to examine quota issues and be prepared to act promptly whenever the need for a general quota increase arises. In the review of quotas, we should bear in mind that the distribution of quotas should reflect the current realities of the world economy as well as the relative position of member countries' economies. III. Accelerating Poverty Reduction and Strengthening Sustainable Economic Growth in Low-Income Countries I believe that the IMF should play a significant role in economic development and poverty reduction in low-income countries, both of which are important objectives of the international community. In this context, the IMF needs to play a leading role in helping its members formulate sound macroeconomic policies and in analyzing the sources of their economic vulnerabilities, areas where the IMF has expertise. At the same time, it is also important for the IMF to contribute to the growth of low-income countries through efficient and effective collaboration with the World Bank and other international financial institutions that have expertise in such areas as fostering private sector development and other structural issues, which are also essential for the growth of low-income countries. IV. Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism The threat of terrorism remains serious. It is therefore important for the international community to strengthen measures to combat the financing of terrorism. From this standpoint, I welcome the revision of the 40 recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The revised recommendations have set a new international standard in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. I also welcome the substantial progress in the assessments of member countries' compliance with the AML/CFT (anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism) standard in the context of a 12-month pilot program by the IMF and the World Bank. Based on the results of these assessments, technical assistance should be provided to help, countries implement the AML/CFT measures. Japan will continue to contribute to such assistance based on the needs of recipient countries.

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Moody's upgrades JBS credit rating Organic growth and debt management help support stable outlook. MeatPoultry.com, 3/22/2013 by Meat&Poultry Staff SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Moody's Investors Service upgraded JBS S.A.'s ratings to Ba3 from B1 with stable outlook. "The upgrade reflects the significant improvement in JBS's credit metrics over the last few quarters, mainly as a result of its focus on organic growth and deleveraging strategy, as well as good performance of its Brazilian beef operations," said Marianna Waltz, Moody's vice president. The ratings agency noted that volatility in the protein industry — animal cycles and diseases, weather conditions and supply imbalances — present challenges to JBS. Also, factors such as "the unfavorable cattle cycle momentum" in the US will pressure the US beef market, which JBS's main operating segment. Despite improving supply and demand conditions with the closing of Cargill a slaughtering unit and easing export restrictions to Japan, Moody's still anticipates potential earnings pressure in the region. But JBS's diversification also supports the company's upgraded ratings, according to Moody's. JBS is one of the world's largest protein producers with products including beef, chicken, pork, lamb and leather. The company has production facilities in five continents and exports products to more than 150 countries with no single country representing more than 15 percent of total export revenues, Moody's said. Positive results in high-performing segments can offset poor results in underperforming segment of the company, the ratings agency said. "The stable outlook reflects our view that the company will remain focused on organic growth, remain committed to conservative liquidity management and make further progress in reducing its financial leverage and maintain liquidity at near current levels," Moody's said.

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Banks and Finance Lord Myners: 5,000 bankers earn more than £1m At least 5,000 bankers will earn more than £1 million this year, according to the Government's City minister Lord Myners. Treasury Financial Services Secretary Lord Myners Photo: PA By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor 10:00PM GMT 02 Dec 2009 He called on major shareholding institutions as well as the trade unions to tackle the issue immediately before it was too late. His comments came as it emerged that Royal Bank of Scotland intends to pay out bonuses of well over £1 billion to its workers. Lord Myners' estimate is considerably higher than that given by Sir David Walker, who calculated that over 1,000 City workers were paid more than £1 million a year. Sir David, author of a report into remuneration and corporate governance, said last week that banks should be forced to disclose how many of its staff were paid over £1 million. Lord Myners, speaking in the House of Lords, said there was "precious little evidence" that people at the top of banks appreciated "the concern about these extraordinary levels of income". He said: "I would estimate that at least 5,000 people working in the banking industry in the UK will receive, if nothing is done, remuneration in excess of £1 million this year. Related Articles Chancellor needs an extra £15bn, ITEM says Sir David Walker accused of ducking issue on bank pay "I think the real responsibility here must lie with the shareholders. Accordingly I have written to the National Association of Pension Funds, the CBI and the TUC urging them to use their influence to persuade trustees to ask their fund mangers: 'What are you doing to stop these quite unreasonable and unjustified levels of remuneration?"' If his calculations are correct, at least £5 billion will be shared by 5,000 workers. Lord Myners added: "The decisions about bonuses are going to be made over the next six to eight weeks and it is important our major institutions engage now with the companies and say that 'we will not support grotesque payments and if you persist in paying them we will exercise our votes to remove from the board the people who authorised them'." His comments came as the head of RBS, the bank which has received £45.5 billion of taxpayers' money, warned that it could lose valuable staff if it could not pay bonuses of over £1 billion. The Government has insisted on restricting the payment of bonuses to RBS staff, with the Treasury saying it will veto any payment that it considers too high. But Stephen Hester, the chief executive, told the Scottish Affairs Committee in the House of Commons: “If RBS is unable to retain and motivate staff in any part of RBS it would be very difficult to be successful in our role of making the bank safe, serving the customers, or the taxpayers having any chance of getting their money back.” It is understood that RBS's board of directors has sought legal advice about whether they can resign in protest at the Treasury taking control of its bonus pool. Last year RBS paid £900 million of bonuses to staff at its investment bank division and it has indicated to the Treasury that it hopes to pay more this year, because it has generated greater profits this year. Banks and Finance Politics » Harry Wallop » In Banks and Finance Free bank accounts 'dead within a decade' 'Last frontier' for investors opens up in Saudi Arabia and Africa New Virgin Essential Current Account - is it worth switching to? The best banks for customer service in 2015 Which banks offer the best bribes to join? Telegraph Investor»

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Credit Scores Poised To Get More Personal | The Network Journal Credit Scores Poised To Get More Personal By: MARY ELLEN PODMOLIK Friday, October 21, 2011 Home Owner Many consumers applying for a mortgage are going to start sharing more personal information with lenders next year, like it or not.FICO scores, the industry standard for determining credit risk in mortgages backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration, largely have been based on a person’s credit history. But in an attempt to develop a more well-rounded picture of a person’s finances beyond credit, tools are being developed to help the lending industry dig deeper.Fair Isaac Corp., or FICO, the company behind the widely used scoring formula, and data provider CoreLogic last week announced a collaboration that will result in a separate score that will be available to mortgage lenders and incorporates information that will include payday loans, evictions and child support payments. In the future, information on the status of utility, rent and cellphone payments may also be included.Separately, last month, the big three credit reporting agencies, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, began providing estimates of consumer income as a credit report option. And earlier this year, Experian began including data on on-time rental payments in its reports.The new information could prove to be a double-edged sword for consumers: It may open the door to homeownership to some consumers who have, according to industryspeak, a “thin file” or worse, a “no-file,” meaning they lack sufficient credit histories.On the other hand, the extra information may make a borderline borrower look even worse on paper. And it’s unlikely to quiet critics who complain that too much emphasis is put on a single number.Still, there is thought among researchers that consumer transparency, if it demonstrates both good and bad behavior, has its place.“You’re trying to convince someone to loan you an awful lot of money at a low interest rate,” said Michael Turner, president of the Policy and Economic Research Council. “Only you know whether you’re going to pay it back. There is a harmony in this data exchange.”The FICO-CoreLogic partnership won’t result in a credit score that will rule out a borrower for a mortgage backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the FHA, which together own or guarantee at least 90 percent of the mortgages being written. That’s because the “tri-merge” report required for such a loan does not rely on CoreLogic data. But it could mean either more or fewer mortgage fees or a higher or lower interest rate charged by lenders that in today’s cautionary lending environment have heartily adopted risk-based pricing.“We’re fascinated to see, as we get into the data, whether that may expand the universe of people who can get a mortgage,” said Joanne Gaskin, director of product management global scoring for FICO. “Banks are saying, ‘How do I find ways to safely increase loan volume, to find the gems out there?’ ”As a result, there’s a rush by credit reporting agencies to provide financial companies, whether it’s a mortgage bank or a credit card provider, with a wealth of information on individual customers.“Before the (housing) bubble burst, there was a huge amount of interest in targeting the unbanked,” said Brannan Johnston, an Experian vice president. “It was a desperate dash to try and grow and go after more and more consumers. When the bubble burst, that certainly dialed back some. They want to grow their business responsibly by taking good credit risks.”FICO scores have been around since the 1950s, but they didn’t become a major factor in mortgage lending until 1995, when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began recommending their use to help determine a mortgage borrower’s creditworthiness. The score, which ranges from 300 to 850, factors in how long borrowers have had credit, how they’re using it and repaying it, and if they have any judgments or delinquencies logged against them.The change comes at a time when the average FICO scores of homebuyers who qualify for loans continue to rise, as mortgage lenders reward the most creditworthy borrowers with low rates and tack extra fees onto loans for those with lower credit scores.In a report last year, the Woodstock Institute, a Chicago-based research and advocacy group, found that residents in Illinois’ “communities of color” were far more likely to have lower, “non-prime” credit scores compared with people in predominantly white communities. Statewide, 20 percent of people had a credit score of less than 620, which meant they had a hard time qualifying for a mortgage as well as other forms of credit.Among other ideas, Woodstock recommended that businesses report on-time and delinquent payment histories for items such as rent, health care, utility and cellphone bills, to truly determine a person’s default history.“Any time you can get a fuller picture of a customer’s risk profile, it makes it more likely that they can get the product they are most suited to,” said Tom Feltner, Woodstock vice president. “The concern, of course, is what is that information and does it reflect the rate of default?”There also are concerns about whether inquiries and charge-offs from payday and online lenders should be included. “Payday loans are extremely onerous,” said Chi Chi Wu, a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. “They trap people in a cycle of debt. To report on them is to cite that person as financially distressed. We certainly don’t think that’s going to help people with a credit score.”The extra information may also help more affluent homeowners who aren’t on the credit grid.Two years ago, David Pendley, president of Avenue Mortgage Corp., worked with a client, a college professor, who didn’t believe in using credit. “He was putting down 40 percent and he had the hardest time getting a loan, even though he had $120,000 in the bank and he was 22 years on the job.”Eventually, Pendley secured a loan for the customer through a private bank, but he paid for it. “He didn’t get the lowest rate possible,” Pendley recalled.Source: MCT Information Services View the discussion thread. Related Articles Insider Secrets from Realtors That’ll Save You Money Estate Planning for Snowbirds The Outlook for Mortgages, 2017 It Just Got a Bit Easier to Buy a Higher-Priced Home

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Month: May 2016 Startup Lessons from the English East India Company On May 31, 2016May 30, 2016 By alanbuxtonIn BusinessLeave a comment The Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies was founded in 1600 as a scrappy startup trying to disrupt a spice trade dominated by the Dutch. Over the next two centuries it evolved into a solid financial performer, a regulated monopoly and then into a branch of government. Please put aside for the rest of this post any concerns about the various and many reprehensible things done by, or in the name of, this company. Just look at it from the perspective of what it can tell us about growing and evolving a business. Turns out that plus ca change. Much of what we obsess about in the world of startups today would be very recognisable to an observer in the 1600’s. In the 21st Century how companies get created and develop is not all that different to 400+ years ago. Shouldn’t be surprising as ultimately we are still people and people haven’t changed all that much over the centuries. The quotes below are from John Keay’s The Honourable Company. On being an early stage investor The first voyage didn’t live up to founder or investor expectations but it was a pretty impressive feat nonetheless. Now there’s a sentence that could easily apply to every MVP I’ve seen. It set out in 1601 in search of the spice islands and their cloves. Didn’t quite make it but managed to return in 1603 with plenty of pepper. [T]he 218 petitioners who in 1600 had become the Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies had subscribed for only one voyage. The majority now wanted their money back; they were not amused when instead they were told that for every £250 they had subscribed, £200 must be reinvested in a second voyage. (p25) Same lesson applies today to any early seed investor. Make sure you’ve kept enough money aside for a top-up later on. Whatever you put in now won’t be enough. On the importance of dog-fooding England had one huge commodity at the time: wool. The Company was desperate to find a market for wool and thought that Japan might be a good bet. Unfortunately not so. Keay quotes John Saris, leader of this expedition who in 1613 wrote that: The natives were now more backward to buy than before because they saw that we ourselves were no forwarder in wearing the thing that we recommended to them. ‘For’, said they, ‘you commend your cloth [wool] unto us but you yourselves wear least thereof, the better sort of you wearing silken garments, the meaner fustians [made from cotton] (p58). Product Managers take note: use your product and be seen to use it 🙂 On the roller-coaster of investing in a growth stock “£100 of stock purchased … in 1657 had slumped to £70 by 1665 but thereafter appreciated dramatically. By 1677 it was valued at £245 and by 1683 was selling at anything between £360 and £500.” (p170) Now look at the stock price chart of Facebook 2013 vs Facebook 2016. On becoming a solid financial performer If the 17th Century was about a scrappy startup trying to figure out its business model, in the 18th Century the bean counters took over. By 1710 it was regularly sending to the East ten to fifteen ships a year, each of around 300 tons… Thirty years later the number of sailings had risen steadily … to around twenty, each ship being usually of 490 tons. (Over 500 tons and the ship’s company had to include a chaplain.) … Naturally prices and profits fluctuated but there was none of the erratic boom and bust so typical of the previous century. Shareholders came to expect their annual 8 percent dividend and when in 1732 it was proposed to reduce it to 6 per cent there was such an outcry that the directors had to think again. India stock had become the eighteenth-century equivalent of a gilt-edged security, much sought after by trustees, charities and foreign investors. (p220) Interesting to see the emphasis move from capital appreciation to income generation. On dealing with the haters Naturally success breeds detractors and the Company had plenty of those. From a 21st Century perspective it’s really interesting to see 17th Century people struggling with trying to make sense of international trade. When the first voyage returned in 1603 it faced some hostility back home: “Already there were those who failed to see how exchanging precious bullion for an inessential condiment like pepper could possibly be in the national interest.”(p24). One recurrent criticism … was that the Company must be impoverishing the nation since it exported treasures and imported only luxury items. In the case of Indian cottons these were manufactured goods which must be killing off English manufactures… But in 1620 Thomas Mun, a director of the Company, met … objections in his Discourse of Trade unto the East Indies. Mun argued convincingly that there was nothing inherently wrong with exporting precious metals provided that values of such exports was less than the value of the imported goods. ‘For let noe man doubt that money doth attend merchandise, for money is the price of wares and wares are the proper use of money, so that coherence is inseperable.’ (p119) We may not be so worried about exporting gold any more. But there are plenty of similar debates about trade vs. protectionism still going on. On the role of telling a good story to the financial markets (and of investing in yourself) Robert Clive, already a powerful presence in the Company, was sent from England to run their interests in India in 1764. He was so excited at the opportunities he found that he “gave instructions for ‘whatever money I may have in public funds or anywhere else and as much as can be borrowed in my name’ to be invested in Company stock.” (p376) Clive was massively over-optimistic about what he could deliver. The huge annual surplus he foresaw was “sweet music to the ears of the directors” and when news of these predictions reached London in 1766 they had a profound effect on Company stock. [T]he Company’s stock, a normally unexciting performer on the financial markets, suddenly began to climb. It added …. about five percent in a single day and it went on climbing, nearly doubling its value over the next eight months. Clive’s friends …. bought heavily; but as word of his optimistic calculations … leaked out, outside investors also leapt on the bandwagon. On the Amsterdam and Paris markets the bubble went on growing and as the wilder speculators moved in, the greater became the pressure to keep the bubble from bursting. An obvious way of preventing such a catastrophe was by boosting confidence still further with a hefty increase in the annual dividend … Accordingly, in September 1766, the General Court of Proprietors moved from an increase from six to ten percent… As a result, stock values continued to climb. (p378) Turns out he had been massively over-confident and the stock price crashed later on. But just goes to show much people have always been driven by story telling and their animal spirits. And finally, on how to eventually turn philanthropist Of those who remained in the Company’s service the American-born Yale brothers proved the shrewdest operators. In the late 1680s Thomas Yale handled their affairs in Siam while Elihu Yale maximised their profits as Governor of Madras. Eventually both attracted the Company’s censure and were dismissed for abusing their positions. Elihu was not, however, disgraced and … he was able to retain his Indian fortune. Part was donated to his old school, then known as His Majesty’s College of Connecticut. In 1718 the grateful trustees renamed it ‘Yale College’ in his honour. (pp199-200)

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THE CANADIAN IDEAL OF GOOD BUSINESS. The CPA Profession CPAs and what we do Female leaders in accounting: Jolene Kendrew Female leader and CPA Jolene Kendrew discusses her career path in the accounting field. Share Title: Acting Deputy Director of Finance, City of Colwood, Colwood, B.C. Number of company employees: Approx. 80 University: 2006, Bachelor of Commerce, University of Victoria Designation year: 2009 Nine months before writing the UFE, Jolene Kendrew changed employers. She left her senior accountant position at Victoria’s KPMG and moved into an internal finance job in municipal government, working for the City of Colwood, located about 25 minutes down the road. This was a risky move, given that the resources and support necessary for success on the exam could be lost and that earlier, she had been absent from work and school when her dad passed away. The ambitious student, however, was more than ready for the three-day September trial. She scored the top mark in the country. That earned her the Governor General’s Gold Medal and $5,000 from the Chartered Accountants of Canada. “This opportunity came up due to a leave of absence,” she says. “In this role, I’ve been able to show some management and leadership skills that my previous position wouldn’t have given me the chance to demonstrate.” Responsible for overseeing the day-to-day financial management of the city, she has also made some big changes. “I’ve been in charge of implementing new financial processes and a new, core financial IT system. My role has a significant ‘change management’ component, as well as developing training material and introducing processes to staff.” She is also involved in discussions at the management level regarding the strategic direction of the city, and is responsible for three staff members. Leadership skills, she believes, are both innate and developed. “I think leaders need to be able to read people and identify what they need and want so they can interact in a way that is effective and comfortable for both parties. Leaders also have to have strong ethics, and practice the competencies that they want to see in others.” Her training has been mostly observation and first-hand experience. Her parents regularly took on leadership roles, summer-camp jobs often put her at the wheel, and she still looks up to her UFE mentor. One big lesson learned was that it’s essential to share the load. “You can only lead if you have time to make the important decisions,” she says. “I learned to delegate through experience. I quickly realized that without working as a team, the job wasn’t going to get done.” The essence of her formula for success to date is threefold: drive, outstanding work and initiative. “I think wanting to get better and better led me to gain the skills I needed to move into a management position and help others improve themselves too. I make sure my work is done to a high standard, and I’ve taken the initiative to make changes without being asked.” Since receiving the medal, she has been doing contract work with the CPA School of Business, and plans to work more in the education field through CPASB or in post-secondary institutions. But after hours, Kendrew and her husband try to leave work behind. “I find it’s important to schedule work-free time or the stresses of a leadership role can be overwhelming,” she says. May to Aug. 2005 and Jan.: April 2006: Co-op, KPMG Sept. 2006 to Dec. 2008: Senior Accountant, KPMG Jan. 2009 to Nov. 2009: Senior Accountant, City of Colwood Nov. 2009 to present: Acting Deputy Director of Finance, City of Colwood 2013 UPDATE: Kendrew moved on from her government position with the City of Colwood in January 2011 to pursue her goal of getting more involved with education. Now, the UFE gold medallist teaches financial accounting and taxation at Victoria’s Camosun College in the School of Business. She is also an instructor at the CPA School of Business and is very involved with the development of materials for their CFE preparation program, including case authoring and editing. She particularly enjoys mentoring students, coaching them through the CFE process, and helping them plan their careers. The ONE national conference 2017 September 18, 2017 Jointly presented by CPA Canada and CPA Ontario, The ONE is the must-attend, multi-track event of the year, designed for all CPAs who want to be at the top of their game. Find an accounting firm Our Firm Directory allows you to search for Canadian CPA firms using our interactive map as well as other criteria. Batten down the hatches. It’s tax time April 10, 2017 You’re in the eye of the storm amid a swirl of slips, forms and receipts. Chart your way through tax-time turbulence with these updates and resources. Social Channels

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Stephen Solaka Stephen Solaka is a Managing Partner and co-founder of Belmont Capital Group. Prior to founding Belmont, Stephen was a Director at Dorchester Capital Advisors where he marketed the firm’s fund of hedge funds to institutional and high-net worth investors. Stephen previously advised clients at UBS Private Wealth Management, a division of UBS focused on families with over $10 million in investable assets.Prior to UBS, Stephen was a VP of Equity Derivatives at TD Options, a division of Toronto Dominion Bank. At TD he held responsibility for the firm's media and telecom options portfolio. This involved proprietary trading and market making on over 200 individual equities and sector ETFs. Stephen also held equity, ETF and index option market making positions at Bear Wagner Specialists and Stafford Trading. He was formerly a member of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade and American Stock Exchange.Stephen holds a B.A. in finance from the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University

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The Real Reason Ben Bernanke Resists the Gold Standard In a recent series of college lectures, Bernanke made it known where he stood on the issue of a possible return to the gold standard. He believes that there is no place for gold in the current financial system. One expert says the reason he spends so much time on this subject is because the idea of a new gold standard is gaining attention and is a threat to Bernanke's beliefs. By James Rickards April 30, 2012 Gold IRAs Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the most powerful central banker in history, had a long and distinguished career as an academic prior to joining the Fed. He is routinely described as one of the leading scholars of the monetary causes of the Great Depression of 1929-1940, ranking only behind Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz whose magisterial A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960 is considered the definitive work on that subject. Bernanke's work is no less distinguished and his book Essays on the Great Depression is essential reading for those trying to understand how Bernanke applies the lessons of the past to policymaking in the new depression. Bernanke's views were on full display in his recent series of college lectures given to students at George Washington University. Of particular note was the time Bernanke devoted to explaining why the gold standard contributed to the Great Depression and why the world cannot return to the gold standard today. Bernanke has been adamant that gold has no role to play in the monetary system and claims that the existence of a U.S. gold supply is merely a matter of "tradition." Yet, if that were all there were to gold, Bernanke's best approach would be to ignore it completely. The fact that the chairman devoted substantial time to the subject suggests that the idea of a new gold standard is gaining traction and that some public rebuttal was required. That's interesting because for decades mainstream economists of the Bernanke type have disparaged the role of gold. If a new consensus is emerging that gold has some role to play, this is a threat to the beliefs of Bernanke and others such as Paul Krugman who take the view that money-printing capacity is essentially unlimited. Bernanke's public attack on gold comes down to two propositions, both demonstrably false: Gold cannot be used as a monetary standard because there's not enough gold. This is one of the most frequent charges used by gold standard opponents. In fact, the quantity of gold is never an issue; the issue is one of price. There are approximately 31,000 metric tons of gold held by central banks today and another 130,000 metric tons in private hands. It is true that if this gold were valued at the current market price of about $1,650 per ounce, a money supply of equivalent value would be far less than the current money supply. This would be highly deflationary and probably result in a contraction of world trade and gross domestic product. However, the same quantity of gold valued at, say, $10,000 per ounce would support today's paper money supply at a reasonable ratio of gold-to-paper in line with historic gold standards. So, the issue is not the quantity; it's the price. Central bankers do not want to face up to the fact that they have printed so much paper money that a return to sound money would involve a one-time hyperinflationary spike in all hard asset values and a concomitant destruction of paper wealth. This adjustment will take place eventually—it always does. The issue is whether we will face up to the reality sooner than later in a studied and orderly way or wait for a disorderly and catastrophic day of financial reckoning. Gold is discredited as a monetary standard because it helped to cause the Great Depression. Again, this argument misreads history and confuses the role of gold with the role of price. It is true that the gold exchange standard of the 1920s and 1930s proved highly deflationary and did constitute one of the causes of the Great Depression. However, this owed to the fact that the United Kingdom and United States joined the new gold standard after World War I at the prewar price of about $20 per ounce notwithstanding that paper money supplies had expanded greatly since 1914 to pay for the costs of fighting the war. If the two great financial powers had re-entered the gold standard at a more realistic price of $50 per ounce in 1925, the effect would have been mildly inflationary and the Great Depression might have been avoided entirely. Indeed relaunching a gold standard today at $1,600 per ounce would be to commit the same blunder as relaunching the gold standard in 1925 at $20 per ounce. It's all about the price. The lesson in 1925 and the lesson today is that a gold standard can work but only if monetary authorities are honest about the extent to which money has already been debased by rampant printing. It is understandable that central bankers do not want to admit this. Above all, central bankers want to retain their ability to print money without limit—something the gold standard would definitely curtail and with good reason. Bernanke's public efforts to put a lid on the emerging conversation about gold are becoming more obvious and vociferous. Bernanke insists that gold has no role in a modern monetary system as if money were a recent invention. The chairman doth protest too much, methinks. To see original article CLICK HEREPrevious External Article:Our central bankers are intellectually bankruptNext External Article:US Mint Commemorative, Gold Coins Poised for Price Increases

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Posted on 27, September 2016 by EuropaWire PR Editors | This entry was posted in Awards, Business, Financial, Investment, Management, Media, News, Portugal and tagged 7th annual Business Leadership Awards Gala, ABO Capital, Africa, African Leadership Magazine, Angola, Award, Entrepreneurship, honor, Kristie Galvani, Lisbon, Lusiada University, MOROCCO, Movicel Telecommunications, Nazaki Oil & Gaz S.A., New York, Oshen Group, Rwanda, S.A., SONAIR, Sonangol, Sphera Bluoshen S.A., St. Regis Hotel, Zandre Campos. Bookmark the permalink. Zandre Campos honored at African Leadership Magazine CEO of ABO Capital receives special recognition from the African community LISBON, Portugal, 27-Sep-2016 — /EuropaWire/ — ABO Capital, a leading international investment firm headquartered in Angola, announced today that its CEO Zandre Campos was named one of the Top 25 Business Influencers and recipient of the Distinguished Business Excellence Award by African Leadership Magazine. The honor which is in recognition of Mr. Campo’s outstanding posturing as one of Africa’s top business influencers was celebrated at last night’s 7th annual Business Leadership Awards Gala held during the International Forum of African Leadership at St. Regis Hotel, New York, USA. “It is a great honor to be recognized by an organization who shares a similar mission of promoting innovation, entrepreneurship and development throughout Africa,” said Zandre Campos. “We are committed to bringing excellence to Africa through diversification and economic development.” The African Leadership magazine focuses on bringing the best of Africa to a global audience, telling the African story from an African perspective; while evolving solutions to peculiar challenges being faced by the continent today. In addition to being honored at the awards gala, Mr. Campos and the work he is doing in Africa will be featured in a special October 2016 edition of the African Leadership Magazine. About ABO Capital ABO Capital, formerly Angola Capital Investments, is an international investment firm that invests in companies in the healthcare, technology, energy, transportation, hospitality and real estate sectors throughout Africa. The mission of ABO Capital is to create global value for developing countries in Africa, while contributing to their economic development. About Zandre Campos Zandre de Campos Finda is one of the great, innovative business leaders and global entrepreneurs emerging out of Africa. Currently, he is chairman and CEO of ABO Capital, an international investment firm headquartered in Angola with holdings throughout Africa and Europe. Prior to founding ABO Capital, Mr. Campos was CEO of Nazaki Oil & Gaz S.A. He has held the positions of CEO of the mobile phone company Movicel Telecommunications and an executive in the office of the president of SONAIR, S.A., a subsidiary of Sonangol, Angola’s state-owned oil company that oversees oil and gas production. He began his career as a legal advisor with Sonangol Holdings. Mr. Campos also sits on the board of Sphera Bluoshen S.A., a subsidiary of Oshen Group and part of Sphera Global Healthcare. Sphera is committed to bringing high-quality healthcare services to nations around the globe with current activities in Angola, Morocco, and Rwanda. Sphera is dedicated to healthcare equality and accessibility. He is also a board member in Bluoshen S.A. and Boost – Communication & Strategy, S.A. and other organizations across the globe. Mr. Campos graduated from Lusiada University, Lisbon, with a degree in Law. Mr. Campos has dedicated his career to helping advance Angola and other developing nations. His work makes him one of the most socially forward and conscientious business leaders of our time. Through his entrepreneurial spirit and diverse business portfolio that is ever-expanding, Mr. Campos is creating thousands of new job opportunities and building stronger communities. Kristie Galvani Rubenstein Public Relations kgalvani@rubensteinpr.com 1611 PR reads 1 PR reads today ← Telekom Deutschland GmbH appoints Walter Goldenits as new Director of Technology effective January 1, 2017 LCH’s ForexClear service now with 24 members; $100bn in notional cleared last week →

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Santa Cruz to Punish Bank Felons What exactly does it mean for a big Wall Street bank to plead guilty to a serious crime? Right now, practically nothing. But it will if California’s Santa Cruz County has any say. First, some background. Five giant banks – including Wall Street behemoths JPMorgan Chase and Citicorp – recently pleaded guilty to criminal felony charges that they rigged the world’s foreign-currency market for their own profit. This wasn’t a small heist. We’re talking hundreds of billions of dollars worth of transactions every day. The banks altered currency prices long enough for the banks to make winning bets before the prices snapped back to what they should have been. Attorney General Loretta Lynch called it a “brazen display of collusion” that harmed “countless consumers, investors and institutions around the globe — from pension funds to major corporations, and including the banks’ own customers.” The penalty? The banks have agreed to pay $5.5 billion. That may sound like a big chunk of change, but for a giant bank it’s the cost of doing business. In fact, the banks are likely to deduct the fines from their taxes as business costs. The banks sound contrite. After all, they can’t have the public believe they’re outright crooks. It’s “an embarrassment to our firm, and stands in stark contrast to Citi’s values,“ says Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat. Values? Citigroup’s main value is to make as much money as possible. Corbat himself raked in $13 million last year. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon calls it "a great disappointment to us,” and says “we demand and expect better of our people.” Expect better? If recent history is any guide – think of the bank’s notorious “London Whale” a few years ago, and, before that, the wild bets leading to the 2008 bailout – JPMorgan expects exactly this kind of behavior from its people. Which helped Dimon rake in $20 million last year, as well as a $7.4 million cash bonus. When real people plead guilty to felonies, they go to jail. But big banks aren’t people despite what the five Republican appointees to the Supreme Court say. The executives who run these banks aren’t going to jail, either. Apologists say it’s not fair to jail bank executives because they don’t know what their rogue traders are up to. Yet ex-convicts often suffer consequences beyond jail terms. In many states they lose their right to vote. They can’t run for office or otherwise participate in the political process. So why not take away the right of these convicted banks to participate in the political process, at least for some years? That would stop JPMorgan’s Dimon from lobbying Congress to roll back the Dodd-Frank act, as he’s been doing almost non-stop. Why not also take away their right to pour money into politics? Wall Street banks have been among the biggest contributors to political campaigns. If they’re convicted of a felony, they should be barred from making any political contributions for at least ten years. Real ex-convicts also have difficulty finding jobs. That’s because, rightly or wrongly, many people don’t want to hire them. A strong case can be made that employers shouldn’t pay attention to criminal convictions of real people who need a fresh start, especially a job. But giant banks that have committed felonies are something different. Why shouldn’t depositors and investors consider their past convictions? Which brings us to Santa Cruz County. The county’s board of supervisors just voted not to do business for five years with any of the five banks felons. The county won’t use the banks’ investment services or buy their commercial paper, and will pull its money out of the banks to the extent it can. “We have a sacred obligation to protect the public’s tax dollars and these banks can’t be trusted. Santa Cruz County should not be involved with those who rigged the world’s biggest financial markets,” says supervisor Ryan Coonerty. The banks will hardly notice. Santa Cruz County’s portfolio is valued at about $650 million. But what if every county, city, and state in America followed Santa Cruz County’s example, and held the big banks accountable for their felonies? What if all of us taxpayers said, in effect, we’re not going to hire these convicted felons to handle our public finances? We don’t trust them. That would hit these banks directly. They’d lose our business. Which might even cause them to clean up their acts. There’s hope. Supervisor Coonerty says he’ll be contacting other local jurisdictions across the country, urging them to do what Santa Cruz County is doing. Posted by felons, End Fracking Now - Demonstration Happy Birthday - Medicare Sanders on Racism- at the SCLC Sanders Campaign and Racial Justice Forum: The Sanders Campaign Demand Justice for Sandra Bland Bernie Sanders and the Campaign for Hope We Are All Greeks Now - NationofChange Leisa's Children's Hope 2015 Journal #1 -- "Little... Germany Got Bailed Out- Why Not Greece ? Defying Troika, Greece Chooses 'Democracy Over Fea... Bankers lose. Greek People Win Santa Cruz to Punish Bank Felons What do we celebrate on July 4 ? Bernie Sandes and Progressive Democrats

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Why Greece should leave the Euro Now that the Greek referendum's results have come in, I would like to briefly chip in with my views on the Greek financial crisis. In a nutshell, I think Greece should default and leave the Euro, for its own and everyone else's sake. First of all, let me state that I am not against European integration as such. I think that the whole of Europe trying to move towards common laws and standards makes sense, and allowing Europeans to travel and live freely throughout the continent is a wonderful step forward. On the other hand, I feel that creating a single currency for such a lot of countries with quite different levels of economic development and differing political and economic systems has turned out to be a real mistake. Looking back, it might have been better if only the richer countries of Northern Europe (Germany, Austria, the Benelux countries, Finland and at most France) had adopted the Euro. All of the weaker countries within the Eurozone (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Greece) have paid a heavy price for giving up on their own currencies. And Greece, the poorest country to adopt the Euro, has paid the heaviest price of all. The truth is that Greece is not, in spite of popular perception, a Western European country. Socially and politically it belongs to the Balkans, or even the Levant. That it should be using the same currency as Germany and the Netherlands makes little sense. The responsibility for the mistaken decision of allowing Greece into the Euro has to rest mostly on the shoulders of the richer and more powerful countries in the EU, and of the European Union as a whole. It is of course true that Greece engaged in some "creative accounting" in order to qualify for the Euro. But is it really believable that the other European governments and the European Central Bank didn't know about this? Misplaced idealism and an eye on quick profits obviously took precedence over caution. On the other hand, Greece's ruling class also has to take some of the blame. In 2002 the vast majority of Greece's elite, just like the vast majority of the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese elites, where entirely in favour of adopting the Euro. It is quite understandable that the ordinary people were enthusiastic as well, seeing the adoption of the Euro as proof that their country had finally "arrived" and was going to turn into a little Germany on the Mediterranean. The politicians, on the other hand, might have seen what was coming. Much of the public in Northern Europe takes the easy way out and blames the Greeks for not paying their taxes and being corrupt. The Greek system is indeed not on a par with Germany or Belgium in terms of efficiency and transparency, and that should have been assessed before allowing the country into the common currency to begin with. Blaming the ordinary people of Greece, most of whom have toiled honestly and paid their taxes all their lives and now find themselves suddenly tasting destitution, is unfair. I am no expert on the Greek economy in particular or on the terms of the bailout. All the same, at the risk of sounding naive, I am going to state my opinion that the best course of action for the Greeks in the long run might well be to leave the Euro and adopt the Drachma again. They can then devalue their currency until the economy gets back on track. As for the huge foreign debt the country faces, defaulting might be the best solution. Other European countries and the IMF have already poured a lot of money into Greece so that it could be used to pay back its debt to foreign banks. To a large extent the tax-payers of Western Europe paid to bail out their own banks. Now Greece is left with a huge debt to other European countries and the IMF, which it will keep having to borrow to repay. There will never be a route out of this crisis unless the debt stops being repaid, once and for all. franmau I quite disagree this time. Surely the economy, the social attitude and so on of Shanghai business distrect are very different from the remote countryside. Yet they do manage to have a single currency. Surely the same holds for NY financial district compared to a small rural town in the States. And yes, they do manage to have a same currency.The problem is not the currency. The problem is that what has been done is not enough. The solution is not to run away, but quite the contrary, to improve the integration system, to arrive to a political union. We need people and goverments who first think about themselves as Europeans, likewise Chinese and US people do. @Franmau: quite honestly, the comparisons you make don't make sense. We're not talking about the difference between a big city with a small town. We're talking about different countries. Different languages, cultures, histories, and governments. Not the same thing at all. I want more integration too, but I think integration shouldn't start with a common currency for everyone. That should come at the end, after everything else has been standardized. For the time being, Greece (at least) has to leave the Euro. Lanny Yeh Gariele, the way you are explaining this sounds like Social Constructivism, which fits in my thinking about the crisis.Alexander Wendt calls two increasingly accepted basic tenets of Constructivism "that the structures of human association are determined primarily by shared ideas rather than material forces, and that the identities and interests of purposive actors are constructed by these shared ideas rather than given by nature"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(international_relations) "Different languages, cultures, histories"... wait! that sounds like China! Even looking at the banknotes you can see that :) @Franmau: superficially it may seem like that, but there's really no comparison between Europe and China in terms of diversity. 90% of China population is classified as Han. They are all basically one people. Yes there are regional differences and different dialects, but the basic culture is the same. They have had the same written language and the same emperors for millennia. The cultural differences between the Han from the extreme North and the extreme South of China are smaller than those between the French and the Germans. Much smaller, in fact.Yes, there are ethnic minorities in China, whose languages you can see on the banknotes, but they are small groups who can do nothing to affect the majority. You could regard them mostly as curiosities. @Lanny: I don't know about that. I think ten years ago there was a "shared idea" in Greece and Germany. People were genuinely enthusiastic about the Euro in both countries, and in the whole of the Eurozone in fact. What got in the way of the shared idea was harsh reality. If Greece were a bank, it would have been saved long ago. This is the most intelligent comment I have heard from a Dutch historian. Tell me the Dutch historian is wrong. FOARP A few points:1) Greece was not the poorest country to adopt the Euro. Slovakia (who are, ridiculously, contributing for Greece's bail-out) is much poorer.2) I notice you don't include the UK as a joinee - perhaps because most British people oppose EU membership? 3) "is it really believable that the other European governments and the European Central Bank didn't know about this?" - I've seen a lot of people saying this, but they never provide any evidence as to why people should have known that things were as bad as they were. Taking China as our example - we all know that GDP growth is over stated, but wouldn't you be surprised to suddenly discover that GDP growth was a quarter of the official figure? Yet Greece was understating its budget deficit by nearly four times (i.e., they were saying that it was 3.5% of GDP when it was really closer to 13%). 4) "To a large extent the tax-payers of Western Europe paid to bail out their own banks." - I've read some people saying this with the heavy implication that all the creditors were doing was paying money to themselves, when in reality they were making good Greece's debts and transferring the debt (after a 50% hair-cut that mean private investors got back 50 cents for every Euro they lent Greece) into low-interest loans on easy terms.However I agree with your central point: Grexit might actually be better than staying in, but only because it might enforce discipline on the Greeks, and allow them to recover through devaluation. It won't, however stop the Greeks blaming everything on other countries, and it would have catastrophic consequences for the Greek economy resulting in in compulsory austerity in the short and medium term. Indeed, one view-point is that the Greek government has already resigned itself to leaving the Euro, they just want to make it look like it is not their fault. July 9, 2015 at 2:10 PM Urp, pressed "publish" too soon, this should read:"2) I notice you don't include the UK as a potential joinee - perhaps because most British people oppose Euro membership? " @Foarp:1) Actually Estonia is poorer than Slovakia.2) I don't include the UK because it's obvious they will never agree. Most Brits don't even want to be in the EU at all. If they wanted to be in the Euro, they certainly would qualify.3) This is not China we are talking about, I'm sure that finding out some real information wouldn't have been difficult. The point is that nobody wanted to. Thanks to Greece adopting the Euro, Germany exported masses of products there in 2002-2008.4) It's not that the creditors are "paying money to themselves", rather the taxpayers are paying money to the banks. It's true that the creditors are making good Greece's debts by bailing it out. But does it strike you that if certain European banks made a bad decision to loan money to Greece, maybe they should face the consequences, without the tax-payers helping Greece to repay its loans? If banks loan to the wrong person or entity, they should lose their money. Of course the Greeks tend to blame everything on other countries - they're human. Unfortunately that is to be expected. If Greece had its own currency, it will be much harder for the public to blame Germany or others for their problems. As for the "catastrophic consequences" for Greece of leaving the Euro, would they be any worse then what's happening now? justrecently The real tragedy - after the tragedy of "admitting" Greece into the Eurozone - is the successful "Euro" propaganda. Greeks are caught between the hunch that there is nothing to gain from staying with their Eurozone "partners" for now, and the idea (and quite possibly a misconception) that switching to a currency of their own again would spell the end of days.Argentina might be a good model for a Greek default. But that would require a strong Greek political will. EU political will, too, because Greece will continue to epend on EU support, just as it did prior to 2001.Besides, I'm afraid, Argentina's institutions are stronger than Greece's. But what is really poisonous is a climate where Greece is forced into one destructive round of "saving money" after the other, without any chance that it could solve the problems.Sovereignty counts - no less in Europe, than anywhere else. A few interesting facts about the Taiping Rebellio... 78th anniversary of Japan's invasion of China Foreigners who speak Chinese

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Highly Regulated Companies Tiptoe Into Social Media Some healthcare providers, financial services firms and other companies in highly regulated industries are taking full advantage of social media, even though they're awash in rules. Here's how they do it. By Linda Melone Analytics Boost Social Marketing Efforts 6 Ways Social Media Affected the Enterprise in 2012 Innovative CIOs Show How to Make Money With IT Facebook drones will deliver Internet from the sky Social networking is serious business within regulated industries. Posts pertaining to finance, insurance and healthcare, in particular, require adherence to strict government and industry regulations. However, even with the rule-a-palooza, some companies in these industries have not only found ways to keep regulators happy, but have also made social networking a productive and key part of doing business.The How-To Guide for Social BusinessThat said, the phenomenon is still in fairly early stages. Only around 10% of the companies in regulated industries have a "truly social" enterprise where multiple social media tools have been integrated into general content consumption, according to Toby Ward, founder of Toronto-based Prescient Digital Media, a consulting firm for Fortune 500 companies."It depends on the organization and their level of savviness," he says. Companies where executives start their own blogs, for example, are more likely to use social media effectively and adopt it widely, according to a recent study by Prescient. "Almost all major banks have been in social media for at least a few years," Ward says. Show Me the RegulationsBanks are embracing social media despite the fact that the financial services industry may be subject to the strictest compliance requirements and regulatory mandates. In just one example, in January 2010, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published guidelines for blogs and social networking sites that, among other things, outline specific record-keeping responsibilities and supervision requirements.That hasn't stopped MassMutual, a Springfield, Mass.-based financial services firm, from using social media. "We developed our social media strategy by forging a partnership with key contacts in our company's legal and compliance departments," says Marie Politis, MassMutual's vice president of online experience. "Regulatory requirements are even more stringent when it comes to communications by individual members of our salesforce."MassMutual is working with Actiance, a Belmont, Calif.-based social media consultancy, to roll out a pilot program that meets FINRA's requirement to review and archive initial, or static, social media posts. ("Static" is a term used by FINRA to describe initial posts; once the audience engages with the content, the resulting conversation is considered "interactive.") Another MassMutual goal for its pilot program is to monitor interactive communications, which must be reviewed. The benefits of connecting with existing and potential customers through social media make the effort worthwhile, practitioners say. "Money is a highly sensitive topic," says Michelle Peluso, global consumer chief marketing and Internet officer at New York-based Citigroup. "One of the things social media allows us to do is to listen in to hear what people say about our brand, our competitors, our industry, products and services, and our people." Even given all those advantages, though, "we have to think hard about the regulatory challenges," she admits.When customers have a bad experience with Citi, they may complain about it in the Twitterverse or on a blog. "We don't let the fact that we're a regulated industry dehumanize us," says Peluso, who has a team of customer service reps who are trained to help people who criticize Citi on social media."We don't use the same scripted response every time, which you may find with other banks that use a standard answer approved by Legal," she says. "Our reps can use their real 'voices' and personalize a response."In addition, Citi reps have been trained to move customers off of public feeds and into a private chat environment, where issues can be resolved confidentially and securely.Social media can also be used for more traditional marketing efforts, such as making sure people are getting the information they need and that the information is accurate, says Peluso.Rebuilding Trust in Banks"One current challenge we face is that many people have a deep-seated anger with the banking industry," says Renee Brown, social media director at San Francisco-based Wells Fargo. "Consumers are not trusting us right now." That makes it especially important to engage customers constructively via social media, since many people hit social sites when they have complaints.But the need to, for example, retain client records for seven years and make sure company reps comply with the rules and regulations can delay efforts to get involved with social media. Wells Fargo partners with consultancies that help make sure the bank meets regulatory requirements and is still "able to interact with customers, clients and potential clients," says Brown.Wells Fargo's vendors include Hearsay, Socialware and Actiance. "These companies offer software to help with pre- and post-review options to ensure content is appropriately vetted, helping to streamline our internal processes," says Brown.The two most regulated areas involve broker-dealers. They include investment banking and Wells Fargo's brokerage unit, as well as its home mortgage consultant network, says Brown.One of the first steps in resolving customer issues is to separate actionable complaints from people who simply want to vent, says Brown. From there, helping customers resolve problems must exclude, by law, giving financial advice via social networks."While you may post a note to a friend about an investment, when you are licensed, you can't use certain terms such as mutual fund without it triggering the need for a disclosure," says Brown. "We make sure we go through the right compliance reviews before it's posted so nothing gets out there that shouldn't be posted."This involves the bank's vendors "along with our legal and compliance partners to ensure we have the right oversight in place, but also the ability to be timely in posting and responding on social media channels," Brown says.Best PracticesTips for Going Social in a Regulated Industry1. Work with the legal department, human resources and other groups to understand regulatory and legal requirements and create policies and procedures that work for all constituencies: regulators, employees and customers.2. When in doubt about whether you're in compliance, take a public conversation into a more private venue, like email or the telephone.3. Educate anyone in your company who's involved in social media about your policies. Explain why those policies exist, and discuss the best ways to use social media while remaining in compliance with regulations.4. Like a company in a less regulated industry, develop a social media voice that's true to your brand, respond quickly to negative comments, and provide lots of relevant and updated content -- so people have a reason to come back.5. Always disclose your connection to your company (including your title and the department you work in) when you comment or ask a question on social media.- Linda MeloneSimilar RulesInsurance industry regulations also require due diligence regarding social media interactions. Generally speaking, these are "the same rules that apply to advertising," says Michele Wingate, social media manager at American Family Insurance in Madison, Wis.Conversations or interactions posted by agents -- or anything on a social network -- must be archived in case they are needed for a response to any future legal challenge, Wingate says. To do that, American Family uses social media management software from Shoutlet, a provider of cloud-based social marketing tools.Wingate admits it can be a challenge. "Our agents are eager to tap into other networks, but in order to comply with regulations, we can only use those for which we're able to archive content," she explains. Currently that list includes Facebook and Twitter, and it may be possible to archive LinkedIn content later this year.Interestingly, the largest response to an American Family corporate Facebook stream had nothing to do with insurance. Instead, it was tied to the company's "Celebrating and Protecting" social media messaging effort, says Wingate. Conversations about National Chili Dog Day in July garnered more than 1,000 engagements (likes, shares and comments) -- a record number, says Wingate. "It was a happy thing, and those interactions kept us top-of-mind," she says.The Need for SpeedSocial media has changed not only the way people interact, but also the speed at which customers expect problems to be solved. "Prior to social media, people wrote snail-mail letters if they had a problem," says Leslie Youngdahl, social media analyst at Consumers Energy's digital care team in Lansing, Mich. "Now, through social media, they expect an immediate response."Like other utilities, Consumers Energy is regulated by various state agencies, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other entities. The company has a digital team made up of Youngdahl and two other employees who strive to acknowledge customers' remarks within an hour. They do this via a special email account that each team member can access.The team members also post content on social networks, and when they discover a customer concern, they notify people in the company who can address the matter. "Even if it's two or three people talking about a subject, we always forward it to the appropriate people," says Youngdahl.A recent social media conversation, for instance, alerted the digital team to a problem with the wording on the company's website that made it difficult for customers to log in. Youngdahl relayed the posts to the company's Web team and IT department and showed them a report on the trending topic and related keywords. The Web and IT teams then made the necessary changes."The conversation on that topic died down within a week after we made the change," says Youngdahl.Consumers Energy primarily uses social media for customer service and to post updates about outages during storms. But as it reaches out to customers via social media, the company must ensure that it protects their privacy. For example, says Youngdahl, a customer might reveal his account number during an online conversation. When that happens, she says, "we delete it immediately and take the conversation offline."Healthcare: Patient Privacy First"As a healthcare service, our No. 1 concern is protecting our patients," says Susan Solomon, vice president of marketing and public relations at St. Joseph Health, a 14-hospital healthcare provider serving California, West Texas and Eastern New Mexico. "It's mainly about privacy issues, but there absolutely are ways to stay within the regulations and make social media work. You simply have to set boundaries up front."Slideshow: Top Challenges Facing Healthcare CIOsSt. Joseph's social media goals include reaching out to people to carry on conversations about their health long after they've left the hospital, Solomon says. For example, the subject of a recent St. Joseph Facebook post was, "How do you use superfoods?"The organization also uses Facebook and Twitter to drive users to a landing page where they can sign up for a newsletter, make an appointment or otherwise securely interact with hospital staffers. For example, a recent breast health campaign included posts on the hospital's Facebook timeline that directed women to a landing page where they could schedule a mammogram.Physicians also use social media to relay credible information to patients who may be searching the Internet for medical information only to find bad advice from unreliable sources.That's why Boston Children's Hospital makes sure all of its 60,000 pages of online content goes through a peer-review process, says Margaret Coughlin, senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer at Boston Children's.With over 741,000 likes, Boston Children's has the second-highest number of Facebook followers of any children's hospital -- St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis is No. 1.Coughlin says Boston Children's "got ahead of the curve" by studying the way people choose hospitals and doctors. This involved developing a proprietary model based on primary and secondary research of patients and nonpatients to see how many social media sources they and their families and friends turned to when researching illnesses and healthcare facilities.The hospital also tracked how people interacted with these information sources. "We wanted to know where and how patients were getting their information and the likelihood of them going back to a certain social media site for information," says Coughlin.It became clear that word-of-mouth and references from friends and relatives were most important to consumers. "Social networking gives word-of-mouth a whole new meaning, as those friends could include their online friends as well," Coughlin says.The research also yielded a surprise. Whether a child had cancer or hip pain, the number of sources searched was not that different, says Coughlin. "This made us realize we needed to expand the information we provide to patients in as many social media platforms as possible."Interestingly, some patients aren't concerned with their own privacy. "We have patients who want their lab test results via Twitter, which isn't appropriate," Coughlin says, "but it tells us that people are interested in fast information." In response, the hospital created a secure portal called MyChildren, where patients can get their lab results and other information.As for employee social networking rules, no one outside of Coughlin's department is allowed to blog as a representative of Boston Children's Hospital. And no employees can dispense medical advice via social media, although general information and links to helpful sites is fine.When social media first came on the scene, some executives at companies in regulated industries resisted, in what Prescient's Ward calls a knee-jerk reaction to new technology. But with a few precautions, these companies can engage, connect and converse with customers as effectively as organizations in any other sector.Melone is a freelance writer based in Orange County, Calif. She specializes in consumer topics ranging from health to technology and business. Contact her at Linda@LindaMelone.com.This version of this story was originally published in Computerworld's print edition. It was adapted from an article that appeared earlier on Computerworld.com.Read more about internet in Computerworld's Internet Topic Center. This story, "Highly Regulated Companies Tiptoe Into Social Media" was originally published by Next read this: Microsoft's ad missed the mark but opened eyes Related: Social Media Lifecycle by the Numbers Sponsored by Atlassian Atlassian Shares 4 things the Highest Performing IT Teams Do That Others Don’t Banking on Bots: The Move towards Digital Labor in Financial Services

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Yellen Defends 'Forceful' Fed Easing The Federal Reserve is still aggressively stimulating an anemic U.S. economic recovery that has failed to bring rapid progress on employment, Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen said on Monday. In a rare address to the AFL-CIO, a politically influential labor union, Yellen, seen as a potential successor to Fed Chair Ben Bernanke next year, focused on the anomalously weak nature of the recent economic expansion. "The gulf between maximum employment and the very difficult conditions workers face today helps explain the urgency behind the Federal Reserve's ongoing efforts to strengthen the recovery," Yellen said in her prepared remarks. "We have taken, and are continuing to take, forceful action to increase the pace of economic growth and job creation." The U.S. economy contracted slightly in the fourth quarter and, while that decline was seen as temporary, continues to grow at or below 2 percent, far below the rate economists say is needed to bring down the 7.9 percent jobless rate. Economy Not As Bad As Bears Think? Yellen pointed to erratic U.S. budget policy as a source of weakness in the recovery. "I expect that discretionary fiscal policy will continue to be a headwind for the recovery for some time, instead of the tailwind it has been in the past," she said. In response to the deep financial crisis and recession of 2007-2009, the Fed lowered interest rates to effectively zero and bought over $2 trillion in mortgage and Treasury securities in an effort to keep down long-term interest rates. It began a new, open-ended round of $85 billion monthly bond purchases in September. (Editing by Andrea Ricci)

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BUSINESS PEOPLE; A Shareholder Advocate Plans More Active Role By LESLIE WAYNE Robert A. G. Monks, a businessman who has turned into a shareholder advocate, is starting another venture that should put him even more at odds with many corporate executives. Mr. Monks said yesterday that he was resigning as president of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., a Washington firm that advises pension funds on how to vote their proxies. The firm, which he founded, consults on corporate governance issues to a client base that includes more than 100 of the nation's largest pension funds. His new venture is called Institutional Shareholder Partners and it is intended to allow Mr. Monks to take a more activist and less advisory role. In the past, Mr. Monks has served as an unpaid adviser to the Dallas investor Harold C. Simmons in his proxy battle for control of the Lockheed Corporation and has worked with the Texas investor Richard E. Rainwater to halt two anti-takeover proposals at the Honeywell Corporation. These actions, however, led to charges of conflict of interest with Mr. Monk's consulting business. To eliminate any possible conflict, Mr. Monks is giving up his majority position in the firm and starting anew - after taking an interlude to write a book on corporate governance. He said he would begin his new business in earnest after Dec. 1, when his book manuscript is due. He said he was not certain of the specific form his new activism would take. But he said he was entertaining such notions as forming a corporate governance fund that would invest in companies or possibly getting groups of pension funds to band together and take companies private. He said his new status would give him greater freedom to get issues of shareholder rights put on proxy ballots. ''I will try to act as a connector between different kinds of institutional owners and find ways in which I can represent them and get their views known to managers,'' Mr. Monks said. ''I want to go from the theory of corporate governance and take it a step further and make it happen.'' Mr. Monks, 56, a Harvard-educated lawyer, was the former head of the Labor Department's pension and welfare benefits program. He was also head of a family oil and coal business, former chairman of the Boston Company and a two-time Republican candidate for the Senate from Maine. Nell Minow, 38, the general counsel of Institutional Shareholder Services, has been named president of the firm and Howard D. Sherman, 29, director of the firm's proxy advisory service, has been named vice president. Photo: Robert A. G. Monks, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (The New York Times) Inside NYTimes.com Health » Too Hot to Handle

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5 Of The Most Expensive Diamonds In The World Marilyn Monroe sang about them, Elizabeth Taylor named her perfume after them and women all over the world dream about getting one of their own. Diamonds have been a favorite stone of many for centuries. From movie stars to kings, they’ve been coveted, collected and cherished. However, not all diamonds are equal. Here are 5 of the most expensive diamonds in the world so that you can see which ones stand out from the rest. 1. The Kohinoor Diamond- Priceless http://www.thepicky.com The Kohinoor diamond is a staggering 105 carats making it the largest in the world. The name Kohinoor means Mountain of Light and is known to be the Madnayak or the king of jewels. The rock was first discovered in India, fought over by many rulers and is now in the possession of the British crown and is on display where tourists are allowed to view it. 2. The Sancy Diamond- Priceless mineralogy-gemology.factoidz.com The Sancy diamond weighs in at 55.23 carats and is light yellow in color. Another brilliant rock originating from India, the Sancy was named after Nicholas Harlai, Seignor de Sancy who was the French Ambassador for Turkey. Although it was passed from king to king for many years, today it can be found at the Louvre. 3. The Cullinan Diamond- $400,000,000 famousdiamonds.tripod.com Although it’s a rough quality stone, the Cullinan, also known as also known as the Great Star of Africa, is the most expensive diamond in the world weighing in at 3,106.75 carats. The stone was first found in a mine owned by Sir Thomas Cullinan, but today it is mounted on the Sceptre with the cross which is a sceptre belonging to the British crown jewels. 4. The Hope Diamond- $350,000,000 http://www.scienceviews.com The Hope Diamond is 45.52 carats and is another stone originating from India and worn by English kings. Besides the beautiful quality of the stone, its unique blue color also attributes the price. You can view this infamous rock at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. 5. The DeBeers Centenary Diamond- $100,000,000 http://www.overabillion.com The DeBeers Centenary Diamond is both colorless and flawless. Using an X-ray imaging system this stone was first introduced in the rough for the Centennial Celebration of De Beers. No one knows for sure who is the owner of this stone, but rumor has it that an 18 year old entrepreneur owns it. This post was submitted by the DuMouchelle Diamond Exchange and the DuMouchelle Silver & Gold Exchange

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This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, click the "Reprints" link at the bottom of any article. October 9, 2013 H.D. Vest Hires LPL Vet to Lead Marketing, Recruiting Ruth Papazian will be chief marketing officer; Adi Garg to head information services H.D. Vest said Wednesday that it had tapped Ruth Papazian, a former executive of LPL Financial (LPLA), as the firm’s chief marketing officer and head of recruiting. It also named Adi Garg, previously with Cash America (CSH), as its chief information officer. “We are very pleased and honored to welcome Adi Garg and Ruth Papazian to our extraordinary management team at H.D. Vest,” said President and CEO Roger Och, in a press release. “There is a large and rising demand among mass-affluent investors for holistic advice that encompasses both tax and wealth management guidance, and there is no broker-dealer that better positioned to meet that demand than H.D. Vest,” Och said. Both Adi and Ruth will be a crucial part of the next phase of our growth strategy.” The independent broker-dealer, which has roughly 5,000 affiliated advisors — many of whom are also tax professionals — is based in Irving, Texas. (Earlier the company said it had about 4,600 advisors with some $30 billion in client assets.) Wells Fargo (WFC) sold H.D. Vest to Parthenon Capital Partners, a private-equity firm, in 2011. "I wanted to stay in the independent broker-dealer space and focus on change agents and growth. H.D. Vest fit that to a T,” Papazian said in an interview with ThinkAdvisor. “We are rebranding our firm and rolling out a whole new campaign that synthesizez what we do: 'Reinvent yourself.' " Most recently, Papazian led Papazian Consulting, after service as chief marketing officer at LPL from 2007 to 2011. Prior to that post, she led marketing efforts at Ameriprise Financial (AMP), Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Evergreen Investments/ Wachovia. She also has worked for Wells Fargo Securities and Colonial Investments during her more than 30 years in the business. Garg, who has 22 years of experience as a technology executive, has been with Citibank (C), Cash America and FedEx (FDX). “H.D. Vest has truly positioned itself as a leader and innovator in helping tax advisors provide a holistic range of financial advisory services to their clients, who — now more than ever — have come to recognize the inherent value of guidance that combines tax and wealth management expertise,” he said in a press release. “I am honored to be part of this team, and look forward to ensuring that H.D. Vest’s advisors continue to be supported by cutting-edge technology that integrates their tax and investment advisory operations and positions them for further growth and success,” Garg added. In March, H.D. Vest picked Socialware as its partner in an April social-media pilot program for 50 advisors. Around that time, Papazian began working as a consultant for the broker-dealer, focusing on its website. (A few months later, she moved from Boston to the Dallas area after accepting a new job with the broker-dealer.) “We wanted to attract more interest to the platform and didn’t have much of a digital presence. I worked to adjust the e-marketing and direct mail, so we could put it all together into a strategic plan and [raise] the lead capture system for recruiting,” she explained. As for the rollout of the social-media platform, “The learning curve is higher than expected,” she said, but the firm hopes to have it fully rolled out by year-end. Check out A Trust Company With a Tech Attitude on ThinkAdvisor. Senate Votes to Advance Acosta as Labor Secretary ‘No Evidence’ DOL Rule Is Hurting Recruiting: Raymond James Wells Fargo Securities Evergreen Investments

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National Grid Prepares Its New Dividend Policy Stuart Watson, The Motley Fool, AOL.com Mar 1st 2013 10:01AM LONDON -- National Grid shareholders were cheered today when the company said it had agreed U.K. price controls with Ofgem covering the next eight years. Although at first glance this may appear to be a somewhat obscure announcement, it's important for investors, as it has cleared the way for National Grid to set its new dividend policy.For the current financial year, ending on March 31, National Grid's plan is to increase dividends by 4%. This is down from its recent level of dividend increases, which has been 8%.The new dividend policy will take effect from April 1, 2013, and National Grid said it expected to announced it on or before its next set of results are published on May 16, 2013.Steve Holliday, chief executive of National Grid, said in response to today's news:I am pleased to confirm agreement of the RIIO price controls for our U.K. businesses. This is the culmination of a new process that started over three years ago, and represents another opportunity for National Grid to deliver further shareholder value.These arrangements give our U.K. businesses their longest ever period of regulatory clarity. This enables us to focus on driving efficiency across our operations while building the infrastructure that the country needs and at the same time realize the benefits of excellent performance for both customers and investors.Given that this was arguably the biggest uncertainty facing the company right now, the share price response seems rather muted, with a gain of just 1% to 730 pence. This is the highest level the shares have been for over four years, but it's still about £1 short of the all-time high set at the tail end of 2007.National Grid is profiled in this special free report from The Motley Fool, where we highlight why our advisors like its long-term income prospects, and the reasons why it escapes a lot of bad press endured by other utility shares. Get your copy of this free report today.link The article National Grid Prepares Its New Dividend Policy originally appeared on Fool.com. Stuart Watson has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends National Grid plc (ADR). Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Globalisation of China's yuan widens - gold to reclaim role The latest in trading is moves towards trading in Chinese yuan which could lead to the death of the dollar as the world's global reserve currency and as a result of this gold will likely return to the monetary system and reclaim its role. Author: Julian D. W. Phillips Posted: Wednesday , 28 Dec 2011 Mineweb BENONI - Japan and China are to promote direct trading of yen and yuan without using dollars and will encourage the development of a market for companies involved in the exchanges, the Japanese government said over the holiday weekend. Japan will also apply to buy Chinese bonds next year, allowing the investment of Yuan that leaves China to Japan to remain in China, the Japanese government said. Encouraging direct yen-yuan settlement should reduce currency risks and trading costs. China also announced a 70 billion yuan ($11 billion) currency swap agreement with Thailand last week as part of a plan outlined in October to promote the use of the yuan in the Association of Southeast Asia Nations and establish free trade zones. Central banks from Thailand to Nigeria plan to start buying yuan assets as the global Yuan market continues to be developed quickly. Investing in Chinese debt has become easier for central banks as issuance of yuan-denominated bonds in Hong Kong more than tripled to 112 billion yuan ($18 billion) this year, and institutions were granted quotas to invest onshore. Japan will start to buy "a small amount" of China's bonds, a Japanese government official said, on condition of anonymity because of the ministry's policy, without elaborating. Yes, it is small, but the systems are now in place. Expansion of these is happening and has the potential to burgeon! China is Japan's biggest trading partner with $340 billion in two-way transactions last year. The pacts between the world's second- and third-largest economies mirror attempts by fund managers to diversify as global, financial markets remain volatile and decaying. It marks a major leap forward of the internationalization of the Chinese currency, a step that has been developing for the last few years, from tiny beginnings. It signals that the Chinese banking system has developed to the stage where it can handle international transactions of note. The development of the banking system is clearly far advanced, so expect the enlargement of the international Yuan market to pause, as this leap in size settles in and any teething problems eliminated. The next step after that is to go completely global! First Step of Many: Chinese Trade Bloc the initial target not the deposing of the Dollar It would be wrong to see these moves as purposely attacking the dollar. China's motive is as simple as the world has seen new world power gain strength. We're witnessing the post-initial steps of the growth of a Chinese empire, encompassing its Asian trading partners and bringing them into a new Asian Yuan currency bloc. Initially, Chinese economic development has focused on internal growth spreading from the South and Eastern parts of China into the hinterland north and west of the country as the nation slowly but steadily lifts itself out of poverty. Financially, China isolated its currency from global influence as its banking system was so underdeveloped. But with government pressure and the capabilities the Chinese people banking is now racing to catch up. The Chinese government wants Chinese banking and trade to succeed and throws its full weight behind these developments. This has resulted in far quicker-than-anticipated entry into the global financial world. Careful to ensure that China benefits fully from these developments and not foreign businesses, China is sucking knowledge and wealth out of the developed world in its quest to fully develop its 1.3 billion people. It is naive on the part of the developed world -whether it is Europe or the US-to think that China will assist them with their debt and banking problems unless it ties directly into the development of China. This is a financial war, involving, not lives but livelihoods, and China is winning every step of the way. The financial world may belittle the present moves as still very small in money terms in a global context, but structurally the move should make the developed financial world jump to attention. Developed World Losing Power and Heads into Deeper Crisis The reason why the developed world has seen the debt and banking crisis wreak such havoc, so far, is that its growth has diminished to the point where it is having difficulty employing its young. With such reduced cash flows, the size of debt burdens becomes overwhelming. When the developed world enjoyed strong growth, the present debt burdens were manageable. But not any more! The central banks of the developed world have had to create new money to fill the holes left by the dropping value of financial assets and try to hold such money printing at those levels or see inflation take off. There will, however, come a time when the developed world will have to pay more interest to raise loans as trust in its currencies diminishes. Should this happen, the debt mountain will be completely unsustainable, not only in Europe but in the United States as well. Should interest rates rise -and the Fed will not let that happen by choice-because of falling foreign investment in the dollar, then Treasury and other Fixed interest markets in the developed world would be in danger of collapsing. US DOLLAR AS THE SOLE, GLOBAL RESERVE CURRENCY TO END! Of considerably more importance is the impact on global foreign exchanges and the role of the U.S. dollar as the world's sole global reserve currency. For more than two years now we have been predicting that the day would come when Chinese exporters/importers would offer and bid prices for goods in the Chinese Yuan. Well it has arrived, albeit confined to Asian trade at the moment. As of now, $350 billion in global trade will disappear, replaced by Yuan/Yen trade. Where will these dollars go? Over time they will be sold off and head home through a falling exchange rate. That's why we'll see the Yuan appreciate, but only initially, as the Chinese ensure that demand is met by foreign sales of Yuan for non-U.S. currencies. As time passes the process of the internationalization of the Yuan will primarily be at the expense of the dollar. At some point in this process, the rise of the Yuan and the fall of the dollar from its throne will become visible on foreign exchanges and in the financial picture inside the U.S.A. and Europe. At best, we'll see the Yuan join the world's current leading currencies in global trade, but rising in the future to potentially the prime global, reserve currency at worst. But this process could take more than five years or less if the Chinese government pushes it hard. The consequential pressures on the global currency system, which presently is dependent on the U.S. dollar for its credibility, will undermine the entire global monetary system. When control of the monetary system was entirely in the hands of the developed world, both sides of the Atlantic, gold could be side-lined. But with this new Chinese empire, the new currency bloc has divergent interests from the developed world. The developed world is seeing the beginning of its loss of control over gold! Asia, as well as emerging nations worldwide, have seen the importance of gold in their reserves and continue to press for an increase in their holdings - almost preparing for the day when global cooperation is reduced by trade wars, protectionism and the like. The spectre of a world split into two financial and trading parts is now in front of us. While this is still in the future, it's a visible probability. In such a financial climate, consistent with its history, gold being independent of national obligations and links must return to the system in one form or another. To see original article CLICK HEREPrevious External Article:2012: Gold Above $2,000, BRIC Bubble Pops, Sarkozy, Merkel and Obama Re-ElectedNext External Article:China's Central Bank Clamps Down On Gold, The Only Safe-Haven Left

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Chicago, IL – October 5, 2011; City Capital Advisors, LLC is pleased to announce that The Chas. Levy Company LLC has sold its sole operating subsidiary, Levy Home Entertainment LLC (“Levy”), to Readerlink LLC, an affiliate of Treesdale Investments, Inc. Transaction Summary City Capital Advisors, LLC was hired as the exclusive financial advisor to Levy. Dennis E. Abboud, Managing Partner of Treesdale Investments, and President of Readerlink LLC, previously served as an executive at Chas Levy Company, from 1994-2000. "Our Company will strive to become the 'reader link'-- the essential link between our publishers, our retail partners and their customers. Our new strategy will help us compete in our industry's newest frontiers, from eBooks, to ecommerce fulfillment, to proprietary publishing. Most importantly, we will pursue these initiatives while continuing to focus on, and invest in, our core full-service print book distribution business," said Abboud. Prior to the acquisition, Levy Home Entertainment had been continuously majority-owned and controlled by the Levy family since its founding in 1962. Barbara Levy Kipper, Chairperson of Chas Levy LLC, said, "This transaction will allow Levy Home Entertainment to focus on continued growth and investment in its core competencies while leveraging new expertise in digital media and direct-to-consumer fulfillment. We are pleased to have identified the right buyer and are confident the business, its customers and its publisher partners are in good hands." City Capital contacted both strategic and financial parties and managed a competitive process toward a fully-negotiated definitive agreement and subsequent closing with Treesdale Investments, Inc. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. About Levy Home Entertainment Levy Home Entertainment is the largest full-service distributor of books in the United States, providing distribution, category management and other services to leading retailers in the mass merchant, grocery, drug, warehouse club and specialty retail channels. About Treesdale Investments, Inc. Treesdale Investments is an independent investor as well as a consultancy firm specializing in the delivery of divestiture and performance solutions to businesses of all types and sizes. About City Capital Advisors City Capital Advisors, a FINRA registered broker-dealer, is a results oriented investment and merchant banking advisory firm. Client engagements are managed exclusively by experienced senior investment bankers who deliver business owners optimal performance in capitalizing on the value of their companies and meeting their objectives as shareholders. City Capital’s investment banking professionals have successfully advised clients on merger and capital markets transactions totaling in excess of $60 billion. Member of FINRA and SIPC

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Home | Noticias | Comentario Sectorial | Support Services sector mergers and acquisitions comment – March 2010 Support Services sector mergers and acquisitions comment – March 2010 With a 6th May election date now confirmed election fever is firmly upon us. The main political parties are working overtime and the leaders are ready for battle. But behind the spin, the media stunts, the visits, the events, the speeches and the advertising campaigns the overriding issue is the economy and its recovery. Regardless of which party wins, public sector cuts are inevitable and maximum value will be driven from every public sector pound spent in an effort to repair the black hole in public finances, although neither party has yet come clean about their proposed “efficiency savings”. Whilst the widely anticipated cuts will have a negative impact for many UK companies exposed to public sector contracts, the outsourcing giants look set to reap the benefits. Shares in Capita and Serco have reached record highs in the last couple of weeks, evidence that investors share the belief that outsourcing will be at the forefront of the impending government’s agenda. Perfect timing then for Babcock which has finally shook hands on a deal to buy rival, VT Group. The £1.33bn merger will create one of the UK’s largest outsourcing firms with scale enough to take advantage of government defence procurement contracts. One of the first big casualties of the public sector purse strings is construction services giant Jarvis, who this month called in the administrators. The once thriving business who was, at one time, the UK’s biggest construction company has been hit by cutbacks in railway maintenance work. The company came close to collapse in 2004 after running up huge debts on over-ambitious bids for Private Finance Initiative contracts. Since then it had sold off several operations to concentrate on rail maintenance, leaving Network Rail as its biggest customer. On a more positive note, M&A activity looks set to continue across the sector with major overseas corporate’s announcing their intentions to buy in the UK. Aramark, the US based food and facility services business announced it is seeking bolt on acquisitions in the facilities space following its acquisition of Veris plc; and Hinduja Global Solutions, the India based outsourcing specialist, has confirmed its plans to seek opportunities in the UK. The arrival of spring has also seen a flurry of activity in the sector from Private Equity with LDC’s £10m stake in energy efficiency equipment supplier Matrix, Sovereign’s £20m investment in drain inspection company Euro Environmental and Gresham’s £12.3m investment in outsourced claims management company, Lanes Assistance Services. A sure sign there is confidence again in the market. As for the election, whoever wins faces profound challenges, not only in the economy but in restoring faith in the government, not an easy task. Sovereign Capital Partners invests £20m in the management buy-out of Euro Environmental Group (EEG), a Scottish based provider of drain and sewer cleaning, inspection and repair services. Founded in 1997, EEG operates from nine sites across Scotland and England. Sovereign sees this as a strategic investment due to the predominantly Victorian sewage infrastructure across the UK, which requires ongoing maintenance. LDC invests £10m in Matrix, one of the UK’s leading integrators of building energy management systems and consultancy services. Matrix which is headquartered in Manchester, operates a UK-wide network of regional offices, and is one of the largest independently-owned integrators of building energy management systems, with expertise in remote monitoring and energy optimisation services. LDC invested its £10m of equity for a significant minority stake in the business with bank funding provided by HSBC. Newcastle-based environmental and engineering consultancy Entec bought by Amec plc for c. £61m, five years after being bought by its management for £30m. Entec has a leading position in the water services and wastewater sector. It also provides renewable, nuclear and other energy services, industrial engineering, contaminated land and regeneration services, environmental planning and project management services. It has 13 offices in the UK and employs 700 professional staff with expertise in the water, waste, energy and infrastructure developments. Growth Capital Partners (GCP) backed the MBO of Entec from Northumbrian Water in October 2005. The acquisition is in line with Amec’s Vision 2015 strategy of assured growth and broadens the Earth & Environmental division’s geographic footprint in Europe and strengthens its capabilities in the water and energy sectors. Ceridian, the specialist HR consultancy acquires Intellinet, a provider of workplace management solutions. Intellinet, which was founded by Alan Christopherson and Ian Jones in 1992, provides software systems for a range of businesses including major retailers such as Matalan, Halfords and Republic. The firm employs around 12 staff, and in the year to September 30, 2009 it made a pre-tax profit of £341,540 on turnover of £1.7m. Ceridian also recently announced it was set to create 200 new jobs following the relocation of its offices in Renfrewshire. Northgate is to become the second-largest HR provider following the acquisition of Convergys’ human resources outsourcing division. Northgate paid £66m to buy the division which will substantially boost its presence in the key North American market and increase its appeal to large multinational companies looking to outsource on a global basis. It is the second big deal completed by Northgate since it was taken private by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 2007 after the US private equity company backed the acquisition of Anite’s public sector division. Building services group T Clarke plc, acquires Lancashire-based D&S Engineering, for a cash consideration of up to £11.6m. D&S provides a range of facilities management services to a blue-chip UK customer base. For the year ended 30 September 2009, D&S Engineering reported turnover of £16.6m and pre-tax profit of £0.5m. The acquisition is part of T Clarke’s strategy to broaden its range of services to provide its customers with a more comprehensive offering. The acquisition follows an announcement from T Clarke stating pre-tax profits had dropped 49 per cent in 2009 against a turnover which fell 19 per cent. The contractor’s profit was hit by £1.4m of restructuring costs and £1.9m of bad debts. Recruitment specialist Meridian Business Support acquires independent recruiter Westaff. The acquisition adds a further 18 branches to Manchester-based Meridian’s network, establishing a total of 90 branches nationally. The acquisition puts the company on track to hit its £200m turnover target. The deal was funded by Barclays Bank. Distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl plc acquires Swiss firm Weita Holding AG and its subsidiaries. Weita supplies cleaning and hygiene, foodservice, retail, healthcare and safety consumable products to both redistributors and end users throughout Switzerland. The acquisition will extend Bunzl’s operations into these sectors in Switzerland and significantly increases the size of its existing retail supplies business there. Financial details were not disclosed. Thomson Reuters acquires Round Table Group, a leading provider of expert witness consulting services to litigators. Round Table provides litigators with expert witnesses on hundreds of subject matters to assist them in pleading their cases. The company features a network of over 100,000 expert witnesses, including industry experts, corporate executives and academics, and a database of proprietary expert content reaching over 750,000 records. Financial details were not disclosed.

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NaWiPoMo: The Great Depression Governor-General John McDowell The Great Depression was an economic crisis that struck the Confederation of North America in 1880 and lasted for two and a half years. The effects of the Great Depression were far worse than those of the Panic of 1836, since the economy was so much more complex. The Great Depression resulted from the outbreak of the Franco-German War in the late autumn of 1878. The war took Europe's bankers by surprise, and a panic struck the money markets of Paris and Berlin, and spread from there to London and New York City. However, markets in both London and New York recovered within a week, and the monetary crisis eased soon afterwards. Although the immediate financial crisis had passed, there would soon be a second shock. British Prime Minister Geoffrey Cadogan reacted to the outbreak of war by ordering a mobilization of the British army and doubling the naval appropriation for 1879. The higher taxes that resulted, combined with rising interest rates and fears that the war would spread to the British Empire, caused investment in the C.N.A. to drop off. Beginning in early 1879, British bankers began to call in their loans to the C.N.A., and by the end of the year the money being withdrawn from North America surpassed new investments. North American banks attempted to cover British withdrawals for the first three months of 1880. Then, in April, the North American Trust closed its doors and announced its insolvency. The following week, North American Steel announced that it was closing down two mills due to lack of capital. Thomas Edison's National Electric declared bankruptcy in May, and this set off a panic that struck every confederation. Although Sobel does not explicitly say so, the effects of the Great Depression were undoubtedly increased by the collapse of international trade resulting from the wave of insurrection and chaos that struck Europe during the Bloody Eighties. Governor-General John McDowell responded to the withdrawal of British investment by ordering the Treasury to make deposits in key financial institutions throughout the C.N.A., assuring their liquidity. When the National Electric declared bankruptcy, McDowell arranged for an emergency loan fund to be administered by the newly-created National Financial Administration. Under Administrator Howard Carson, the N.F.A. made 354 loans totalling more than N.A. £3.5 million from 1880 to 1884. Carson was able to revive the Northern Confederation Trust, prevent the bankruptcy of North American Steel, and prevent a wave of foreclosures from striking Michigan City.McDowell also helped farmers by establishing the Rural Credit Association, which was empowered to grant loans of up to N.A. £400 to farmers whose holdings were endangered by foreclosures. In response to McDowell's measures, the C.N.A. Businessmen's Association called him "the strongest and wisest leader our nation has ever had." Carl Bok, the president of the Mechanics National Union, ended his labor union's traditional political neutrality by offering McDowell "the support of our members throughout our land, and this definitely extends to the political campaign of 1883." In spite of McDowell's efforts, the C.N.A. was plagued by looters, rioters, and an upsurge of radicalism in the early 1880s. The Confederation Bureau of Investigation, originally established to expose government corruption, was repurposed to combat radicalism and subversion. The C.N.A. was also the recipient of a wave of immigration from Europe, as some 1.5 million people fled the economic and social chaos there until McDowell closed the C.N.A.'s borders in 1882. In his Age of Renewal speech on 11 October 1882, McDowell promised more widespread reforms to be undertaken in his second term, and his Liberal Party went on to win a majority of 82 seats in a Grant Council that was split between his party, the Conservative Party, and the radical new People's Coalition. The growing radicalism of the North American voters allowed the P.C. to replace the Conservatives as the official opposition, and left them poised to take advantage of any mistakes McDowell might make. Sobel's sources for the Great Depression are Arthur Watkins' The Great Depression of 1880-1883 (London, 1915); Hector Welles' The People's Coalition During the Great Depression (London, 1967); Abner LeFevre's The Age of Renewal: The First McDowell Administration (New York, 1968); and Sir Monte Barkins' Long-Term Dislocations in the C.N.A Economy in the Great Depression (London, 1970). Posted by NaWiPoMo: Daniel Webster NaWiPoMo: Michael NaWiPoMo: Schuyler Stanley NaWiPoMo: The Battle of Williams Pass NaWiPoMo: The 1908 Grand Council Elections NaWiPoMo: Felicio Montoya NaWiPoMo: The Great Northern War NaWiPoMo: The Battle of Chapultepec NaWiPoMo: Winthrop Sharp NaWiPoMo: Homer Sheridan NaWiPoMo: The Russian Revolution NaWiPoMo: Quentin Ritchie NaWiPoMo: Amisdad Treaty NaWiPoMo: Pedro Sanchez Dressed up to the eyes NaWiPoMo: British Empire NaWiPoMo: Prime Minister NaWiPoMo: First Imperial Conference NaWiPoMo: Civil Rights Act of 1879 NaWiPoMo: Meta NaWiPoMo: Port Superior NaWiPoMo: Transportation Control Act Some sweet company NaWiPoMo: Indiana Northern Railroad NaWiPoMo: Northern Confederation Central Railroad NaWiPoMo: Railroad NaWiPoMo: Confederation Transportation Authority NaWiPoMo: Wilton Harmaker NaWiPoMo: The Simmons Toll Road Bill NaWiPoMo: General Education Bill No NaWiPoMo NaWiPoMo: Chester Phipps

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WASHINGTON — The head of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve began discussions on Thursday with team owners on what could become the biggest bailout in Major League Baseball history. While details remain to be worked out, the plan is likely to authorize the government to buy unreasonable player contracts at deep discounts from owners.The proposal could result in the most direct commitment of taxpayer funds so far in a player salary landscape officials say is the worst they have ever seen."What we are working on now is an approach to deal with systemic risks and stresses in the labor markets," said Commissioner Bud Selig. "And we talked about a comprehensive approach that would require legislation to deal with the illiquid assets on ballclubs' balance sheets," he added.One model for the proposal could be the Resolution Trust Corporation, which bought up and eventually sold hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of real estate in the 1990s from failed savings-and-loan companies. In this case, however, the government is expected to take over only albatross-like contracts, not entire team payrolls.The bailout discussions came on a day when Barry Zito was scheduled to start his 31st game of the season against the Los Angeles Dodgers.Rumors about the Bush administration’s new stance on baseball contracts swept through the fantasy leagues Thursday afternoon. By the end of trading, ownership of potential buyout targets such as Eric Byrnes, Andruw Jones, and Gary Matthews, Jr. sunk to near zero from already-historic lows."The fantasy owners voted, and they liked the proposal," said Laurence H. Meyer, vice chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers.The scale and complexity of the project are almost certain to create huge philosophical differences among baseball fans, which could make barrom conversations difficult to say the least. Still, lawmakers said the goal was to work through the coming weekend and to have both the House and Senate vote on a measure by the end of next week.(inspiration found here) bigcatasroma I'm going to be sick to my stomach . . . Nice parody, Craig. Seriously, I think it points out the ABSURDITY of the government's plan. Why can't the government, meaning tax players like you, bail me out of my decision to by those expensive non-stick cooking pans that stick, a bigscreen tv that isn't a flat screen, and a car that goes 8/mi a gallon? Doesn't anyone want these products???? Or am I stuck with them, eating the losses, without tax payer bailout? You know, Craig, that's just not fair to me . . . Jason @ IIATMS Dude, that rocks. You guys know the Federal Reserve isn't owned by the US government, right? You can thanks President Wilson for signing away your freedom. I hear you guys on bailouts in general, but I haven't heard an argument against creating another Resolution Trust Corporation that doesn't revolve around moral hazard. That is, I haven't heard anyone informed say "The world economy will be fine if we let these banks fail."Everyone on CNBC seems to be saying that we're in serious trouble without this. And didn't the RTC actually turn a profit for taxpayers the last time around? I can't claim to be a guru on this topic, but it seems to me that there is an awful lot of blame to go around on this. The SEC was incredibly lax in enforcing rules on short selling, the government pushed banks to make loans to people who wouldn't qualify otherwise, financial institutions overextended themselves, and, of course, people bought more house than they could afford.Don't get me wrong...these bailouts bother me a lot...but in the context of our big-government culture they're basically par for the course, and as long as we're gonna give everyone else a pass on this, we might as well finish the deal and not risk serious damage to the world economy just because we've decided that, now that Wall Street is in the crosshairs, we suddenly care about moral hazard. tHeMARksMiTh I'm so confused ... This makes no sense to me. Even the real story makes no sense. I just don't understand what's going on. Let me just say that one advantage of the bail-out is that the government would then have the power to renegotiate the mortgages to terms that might actually prevent (or at least reduce) the foreclosures. MarkSmith: My understanding is that the problem is the short-term survival of the institutions: they can't raise money because their stocks have plummeted and nobody is sure they'll be around tomorrow. Because of the uncertainty in the market, investors have flocked to treasury bills, which are the safest investment around because they're backed by the US government. Basically, the banks can't raise money to stave off failure but the government can. The idea of a resolution trust corporation is that the government would buy the bad debt from these banks at a discount rate (Jim Cramer said 30 cents on the dollar yesterday) which would alleviate the pressure on the banks by allowing them to get rid of bad debt. As Rob mentioned, it would also allow the government to renegotiate terms to allow people to stay in their homes and make good on their loans. Ted Spradlin Bud and the owners found their perfect storm. Wall Street exploited housing, now lets get them to exploit bad baseball contracts. The owners can sell their crummy contracts (Zito, Andruw, Sarge Jr, Wells, Rios, etc) to the surviving Wall Street banks at par or even at a premium. Wall Street can take $1bb in contracts and turn it into $3bb in new SIV's, Derivatives, Credit Default Swaps, Options, ETF's, Contract Backed Securities, etc. The GM's get to experience Brian Cashman's luxury of wasting money on over the hill players with no recourse. Ned Colleti and Brian Sabean don't look so stupid after all. The owners already got the money for selling off the contract and don't have to pay Lloyd's for contract insurance. Players and agents are thrilled with the unprecedented salary boom. "Miguel Cairo is a premium utility player and the market recognizes that," said Scott Boras at the press conference introducing Miguel Cairo as the highest paid utility player in history at $12,500,000/yr. Bud has a great new revenue source and "new media" explosion on mlb.com. He can create a Fantasy Contract Derivative League where people can trade all these new fancy financial instruments of crummy players, just like a real Wall Street trader. MLBTV airs 2-3 hours of "Fast Contracts" and "Squawk Box Baseball," ala CNBC. Jim Kramer was rumored as a host, but loses out to Erin Andrews, which turns out to be a ratings bonanza. This opens up an entirely new world of quantitative analysis for Sabermetricians as well. Rob Neyer never saw it coming. VORP and OPS are a thing of the past. Bud Selig needs to pounce on this opportunity. Baseball needs it and Wall Street needs it. The infrastructure is already in place. If something goes wrong, march to Congress for taxpayer relief because these institutions are "too big to fail." I think the bailout plan would actually raise the market prices on Byrnes et. al., since somebody is actually willing to pay for these "toxic" assets now.

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American Heritage FCU Sped to Savings Goal June 14, 2013 • Reprints American Heritage Federal Credit Union has reached a yearlong lending goal in just six months. The Philadelphia-based credit union had set the goal of helping its members save $13 million in refinanced consumer and home loans in 2013 but has reported that it reached $13.1 million in refinances on June 1. “Going into the new year, we wanted to put together a promotion that would really focus attention on the fact that we are saving our members thousands of dollars by refinancing the loans they have elsewhere with American Heritage," said CEO Bruce Foulke. "To do that, we had to do two things. First, we put a “savings tracker” banner on our webpage and in our branches, which keeps that growing number in front of members at all times. Second, we wanted to make sure that focus on refinancing was part of the conversation our employees were having with members.” Foulke said the credit union’s member service officers ask each member, “Have you heard about our goal for 2013?” and then follow up with “We want to save our members $13 million in 2013. Let me show you how much I can save you.'" American Heritage's information systems team designed a tracking report within the credit union's account cross-sell module where employees could then track member's savings compared to the loan that was refinanced. Individual employees could then share with members how much they personally had saved the members they have serviced, the branch could determine its total member loans savings and the credit union as a whole could track the total number of all loan channels combined. "We're very excited about the results," says Foulke. "Mortgage refinances continue to drive the total and our new consumer loan volume is up $4.2 million year-to-date versus 2012. We've even adjusted our goal to $33 million by year-end 2013." American Heritage FCU has 121,000 members and $1.33 billion in assets.

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Vets translating military skills into the world of high finance By Jasen Lee , Deseret News Published: Saturday, May 17 2014 8:55 p.m. MDT A trader works in the Goldman Sachs booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (Richard Drew, Associated Press) SALT LAKE CITY — Quick thinking under pressure to solve complex challenges, strong problem-solving skills and the ability to adapt to ever-changing workplace environments. Those skills at play in the U.S. Army by attack helicopter pilots and other military personnel are now targeted in a program created by one of the world’s largest investment banks to find veterans who can transition into the financial services industry. Tiffani DeMayo, 34, a West Point graduate and now retired military pilot, found herself under enemy fire just 42 minutes into her first combat mission serving with the 25th Infantry Division in Taji, Iraq just north of Bagdad in January 2004. “You have that element of chaos with so many things going on — the heat, the helicopter, the .50 caliber weapon firing a foot away from your leg. There is a lot of noise and chaos,” she described. “Even in that scenario, you’re able to pause and figure out, “What’s my priority?”” She flew for seven years, mostly in combat environments in the Middle East before deciding to leave the military. While serving in a civilian capacity for the Dept. of Defense, she learned about Goldman Sachs’ Veterans Integration Program last November. Launched in 2012, the eight-week paid internship program provides service men and women transitioning out of the military with an opportunity to develop professional skills and prepare for potential careers in the financial services sector. “(I was) just looking to grow and expand (career-wise) and this program came up,” she said. “The ability to grow in a career within an organization was very appealing. It’s a phenomenal company and you can take the skills you learned in the military and apply them in this capacity and learn some new (skills).” She said the military training that most naturally transitioned into business has been leadership, communication and the ability to break complex problems into small, manageable tasks, along with the “drive for excellence.” “It’s something that people in the military have that as well as the people (at Goldman Sachs),” DeMayo said. “The vocabulary and type of work are much different, but the intangibles definitely help set people up for success in their transition.” Helping veterans The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in March that there were more than 21 million men and women veterans in the U.S. Of those who became veterans since 2001 — since the Gulf War — about 9 percent remained unemployed as of 2013, according to the same labor report, well above the unemployment national average of 6.7 percent at that time. Current Goldman Sachs employee and VIP grad Ben Van Horrick, 29, made the move into the corporate world after completing the program last year. A former active duty member of the Marine Corp., he specialized in logistics while in the military supplying infantry units with necessary equipment for their day-to-day operations. Today, he uses that training in his new position in operations for the legal entry management team, where he helps manage regulatory risk for the firm and its clients. Horrick said veterans are often “pigeon-holed” into jobs where they are working with or for the government because of their background and highly coveted security clearance. But Goldman Sachs program shows that the company understands that their experience and training could be beneficial in other avenues. “They recognize that we as veterans have developed a mindset that we are able to find creative, timely and ethical solutions to problems, all the while managing risk,” he said. “It’s directly applicable to what we do here at Goldman.” From the Goldman Sachs perspective, the program enables the company to recruit talented people who are moving from the military to the civilian workforce. The program is currently run in Goldman Sachs’ offices in Dallas-Irving, Texas, Jersey City, New Jersey, New York City and Salt Lake City in the U.S., as well as the company’s London office in Europe. Skills that are second nature to military veterans like leadership, teamwork, and problem solving are in high demand in our industry, explained Bruce Larson, managing director and chief administrative officer for Goldman Sachs in Salt Lake City. “Our industry is one full of stress, deadlines and juggling multiple circumstances at one time,” Larson said. “While (veterans) bring many different skills, (among) the things they bring is a background of dealing with an environment that is unclear, there is a lot of pressure, timeliness and attention to detail are critical and maintaining a cool head about you is very, very important.” All of which fits very well with what the company does on a daily basis, he said. Financial training Outside of their day-to-day responsibilities, participants complete a curriculum including a series of trainings on financial markets and products, as well as networking opportunities and events with Goldman Sachs leaders who share career experiences and insights into the firm’s culture. While in the program, each VIP participant is paired with a “peer buddy” and a mentor from the company’s Veterans Network. The program offers qualified veterans the chance to explore diverse career opportunities. To qualify, applicants must have completed at least one year of active military service, have a bachelor’s degree and demonstrate an interest in financial markets. Thus far, 16 participants have completed the VIP program in Salt Lake City, with 75 participants enrolled nationwide this year, Larson said, up from 33 participants last year and 15 in the inaugural year of 2012, he added. Larson said the company hopes to expand the program in the coming years. In addition to VIP, the company has also developed the Goldman Sachs Veterans Network to help in the recruitment of talented troops who are transitioning to the civilian workforce. The network works internally to enhance the professional development and retention of veterans at the firm, including those currently serving in the National Guard and military reserves. In 2013, the Network launched a mentoring program to support the integration, professional growth, promotion and retention of analysts and associates within the network. Larson said the company is taking a proactive approach to engage and retain qualified veterans who bring talent and value to the organization. While DeMayo and Horrick transitioned to Goldman Sachs through VIP, another West Point grad took a slightly different path from the military into finance services. Ryan McQueen, 36, a vice president for reference data operations in Salt Lake City, was also an attack helicopter pilot stationed in Iraq who served combat missions with the 4th Infantry Division. He said those experiences prepared him to face various unknown challenges in his new career. “Some challenges were unique to me as I figured out what an equity derivative was when everyone around me was an expert, and more importantly how to face challenges for the team when none of us knew exactly what to do,” McQueen explained. “Without being a subject matter expert, I could apply my experience and calmly prioritize multiple tasks that were sent our way, organize our team to address them appropriately and communicate to many other (Goldman Sachs) teams.” That approach organized the team and got them moving towards an answer in an organized manner, he said. Additionally, after resolving issues the team got into a habit of discussing what happened and sharing the learning points so that they could perform better the next time, he added. “Exercising informal leadership through situations like this helped me get my teams through many different challenges and ultimately earn me the right to take on more and more responsibility here in the firm and develop my career,” McQueen said. E-mail: jlee@deseretnews.com, Twitter: JasenLee1

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Volume 18 • Issue 29 | December 2 - 8, 2005 Downtown Express photo by Elisabeth Robert Henry M. Paulson, Jr., C.E.O. of Goldman Sachs, Mayor Bloomberg, Sen. Clinton and Sen. Schumer at the firm’s groundbreaking ceremony in Battery Park City Tuesday. Pols hail Goldman for building new headquarters By Josh Rogers Four years after the Civil War, Marcus Goldman went to 130 Pine St. to set up what was to become one of the world’s largest investment banks, Goldman Sachs. His eventual successor, Henry M. Paulson, Jr. said Tuesday that he wants the firm’s stay in Lower Manhattan to extend into the 22nd century. “I hope this will be our headquarters for more than 100 years,” Paulson, Goldman’s C.E.O. and chairperson, said at a groundbreaking ceremony in Battery Park City. The 740-foot, 2.1 million-square-foot building will be catty-corner to the World Trade Center site, at West and Vesey Sts. and is expected to open in 2009. The project, which many view as crucial to Downtown’s redevelopment, looked like it could be dead earlier this year and the ceremony drew almost all of New York’s most powerful politicians: Gov. George Pataki, Mayor Mike Bloomberg, U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, whose district includes the W.T.C. site. “This was not always an easy process,” Pataki said. “There were days when we doubted whether Goldman Sachs was going to be on this site.” He said he never feared a move to New Jersey, but “they didn’t have to be in Lower Manhattan.” Pataki said in May 2004 that the Goldman deal would be complete, but then the firm joined the growing opposition to his plan to build a tunnel under West St. and pulled out of the deal. Speaker Silver, a tunnel opponent who lobbied Goldman to stay Downtown, said the tunnel was one of the most important reasons the deal was delayed. “It was the issue,” he told Downtown Express this week. “That and the fact that they found out the Freedom Tower could not be built as was originally proposed.” He is happy to see the Goldman construction start, but he said the delays in burying the tunnel issue and repositioning the Freedom Tower further from West St. ended up costing taxpayers more money. Goldman was originally going to get $1 billion in tax-free Liberty Bonds, but that amount was increased by $650 million to entice Goldman to stay Downtown. Paulson confirmed that concerns about the tunnel and the rest of the W.T.C. plan were major holdups to the deal. After the Goldman and Freedom Tower setbacks, Pataki appointed his chief of staff, John Cahill, to oversee Lower Manhattan development and focus on convincing the bank to change its mind. The governor, Bloomberg and others at the ceremony said the Liberty Bonds and about $150 million in tax incentives will come back to the state and city many times over in added tax revenues. But mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer cricticized the deal during his unsuccessful campaign. Bettina Damiani of Good Jobs New York said the incentives were wasted money since Goldman was most concerned about security. “We would have gotten this [tax revenue] money without the subsidies,” she said. Linda Belfer, a longtime Battery Park City resident and the chairperson of the neighborhood’s Community Board 1 committee, said there will be short-term construction pain, but it was well worth it because the building will draw more people and much needed new retail stores. In addition, the firm’s presence will create pressure to improve pedestrian safety crossing West St., she said. “They need to keep their people safe too,” said Belfer, who is confined to a wheelchair. “So Goldman will have a positive effect on the neighborhood.” Goldman will also contribute $4.5 million for a neighborhood library and a community recreation center nearby in Tribeca. Schumer said the building will not only create jobs for the wealthy, but also for the “poor immigrant out in Queens.” “If Goldman builds here,” he added, “others will come and we need others to come.” Josh@DowntownExpress.com WWW Downtown Express Email our editor View our previous issues Report Distribution Problems Who's Who at our latest family addition:

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LinuxInsider > Business > Boardroom | Icahn Leads New Pitch to Win Dell Shareholders By Enid Burns • E-Commerce Times • ECT News Network May 11, 2013 5:00 AM PT Two of Dell's largest stockholders, Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management, have teamed up to propose an alternative to Michael Dell's plans to take his computer company private. The new deal on the table, issued in a letter to board members, involves a leveraged recapitalization that will pay investors and keep them on as shareholders in a public company. A leveraged recapitalization is typically a transaction that takes a company private. In this proposal, however, Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management plan to offer shareholders a distribution of US$12 per share in cash, or $12 in additional shares valued at $1.65 per share. As part of the deal, "both Icahn and Southeastern would elect to receive additional shares rather than cash," the letter stated. Both parties will hold controlling interests in Dell if the deal is approved. Michael Dell continues to push his proposal to take the company private with investments from Silver Lake Partners, as well as from Dell himself. The company, in a quiet period until it announces its Q1 earnings on May 21, declined to comment. A special committee of the Dell board of directors, however, posted a response to the latest proposal. "Mr. Icahn and Southeastern have outlined a potential leveraged recapitalization transaction that they want the Dell Board either to recommend at this time or to consider if the existing going-private transaction is rejected by Dell shareholders. They have also proposed replacing the Board with a slate of new directors who they say would approve such a transaction," the letter said. "Consistent with the Special Committee's goal of achieving the best possible outcome for all shareholders, we and our advisors are carefully reviewing the potential transaction to assess the potential risks and rewards to the public shareholders." Two Deals for One Company Following the February announcement to take the company private, Dell entertained a counteroffer from Blackstone Group that has since been withdrawn, along with a previous offer from Icahn. The letter from Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management leveled criticisms at Dell and its management, saying the plan to go private "leaves all of the upside to Michael Dell and an opportunistic buyout group with only their own interests in mind." "It's interesting that now Carl Icahn and Southeastern have come back with another proposal," Craig Stice, senior principal analyst for compute platforms at IHS iSuppli told the E-Commerce Times. "It's interesting that it's a fairly aggressive comeback, and what appeared to be some fairly aggressive criticisms. It shows signs of frustration and unhappiness." While Icahn and Southeastern have outlined a deal, it lacks some details. "I think the plan that they are proposing is not yet completely clear to all investors, and they need to do a better job explaining exactly what they are going to do," MGI Research Managing Director Igor Stenmark told the E-Commerce Times. "Whether they stay private or public, people don't care anymore, what's more important is time," he said. "They're going to waste a year and fall father behind." Dell and Silver Lake Partners have pledged money, which will fall through if the Icahn and Southeast Asset Management deal is approved. "The deal is not going to fly without Michael Dell's cooperation," said Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates. "By not cooperating, he can make it about $6.5 billion more expensive for them to swing it, and I doubt they have the stomach. $2 billion is the Microsoft debt, which is exclusive to Silver Lake, and the other [approximately] $4.5 billion is the founder's contribution, which they'd have to do without," Kay told the E-Commerce times. "He wants control of governance -- it's one of his conditions. They have to put up a lot of dough if they mean business, an unlikely event," he added. "But if they do, he'd be happy to sell them his shares and walk away. I'm not much convinced by partial offers." A Dell Without Michael Dell If taken private under Dell and Silver Lake, Dell will remain head of the company. It is possible that Icahn and Southeast will put someone else in charge. The takeover is an opportunity to change the culture at Dell, Stenmark said. "Michael Dell, being the founder of this company, he casts a very wide shadow. It may be time to make a change," he said. After Dell left and returned to the company ,"he had some interim success at one point, and things began to deteriorate again. The company may need to have a different team. Maybe Michael Dell stays involved in some shape or form." Dell, however, is the name of the company. "Dell is Michael's baby. He still very much wants it to succeed," Stice noted. "Going private does allow them to make bigger decisions." As a private company, Dell or whoever would be in charge could make strategic decisions for the company without having to get board or shareholder votes. Yet Icahn's proposal outlines some bold moves to steer the company. Icahn and Southeastern would have controlling interests, but would still be subject to shareholder approval. Whichever deal is approved, Dell the company is still in for a struggle. "The PC market is in a pretty significant downturn right now," Stice said. "Dell is slowly inching their way, not out of the PC market, but slowly not striving to be the number one PC maker worldwide." Dell's assets are somewhat perishable, said Stenmark. "Whoever is coming in to rescue Dell will really need to think about what needs to be done." More by Enid Burns

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ATK Announces Pricing of 5.25 Percent Senior Notes Due 2021 ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- ATK ATK, -0.29% announced it has priced its previously announced private offering of $300 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2021 (the "Notes"). The Notes will have an interest rate of 5.25 percent per annum and will be issued at a price equal to 100 percent of their principal amount. The Notes will be general unsecured unsubordinated obligations of ATK and will be guaranteed on a general unsecured unsubordinated basis by certain of its existing and future subsidiaries. ATK intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund a portion of its previously announced acquisition of Bushnell Group Holdings, Inc. ATK intends to use the additional net proceeds, if any, for general corporate purposes. The Notes and the related subsidiary guarantees will be offered in the United States to qualified institutional buyers in reliance on Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and outside the United States only to non-U.S. investors pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act. The Notes and the related subsidiary guarantees will not initially be registered under the Securities Act or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from registration requirements or a transaction not subject to the registration requirements of the Securities Act or any state securities laws. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of Notes in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. ATK is an aerospace, defense, and commercial products company with approximately 15,000 employees and operations in 21 states, Puerto Rico, and internationally. News and information can be found on the Internet at www.atk.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/atk, or on Twitter @ATK. Certain information discussed in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although ATK believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Among those factors are: assumptions regarding the timing and certainty of the acquisition of Bushnell Group Holdings, Inc.; changes in interest rates or credit availability; and changes in the business, industry or economic conditions or competitive environment. ATK undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For further information on factors that could impact ATK, and statements contained herein, please refer to ATK's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Media Contact: Investor Contact: Amanda Covington Tom Sexton Phone: 703-412-3231 Phone: 952-351-5597 Email: amanda.covington@atk.com Email: thomas.sexton@atk.com SOURCE ATK Copyright (C) 2013 PR Newswire. All rights reserved WS Atkins PLC U.K.: London: ATK

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The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan The principal author of Business Plan Pro, the country's bestselling business plan software, simplifies the business planning process and reveals how to create business plans that grow with the business. Providing adequate guidance for every situation and every stage of business, readers are trained to ignore the traditional, formal cookie-cutter plans that other business planning resources offer and to focus on tailoring a plan to their company; allowing them to literally plan as they go and to, ultimately, steer their business ahead while saving time. Clear-cut instructions help business owners quickly build the type of plan that works for them--one that helps them take total control of their business, improve profits, raise capital, operate a profitable enterprise, and stay ahead of the competition. Very comprehensive, yet easy-to-understand, this business tool offers more than just the nuts and bolts of writing a business plan--the author also provides invaluable insight through real-life examples illustrating key points and avoidable mistakes as well as cutting-edge information for the 21st century entrepreneur. This guide is designed to be a reliable tool for those entering into the world of starting and owning their own business. Buy The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan book by Tim Berry from Australia's Online Independent Bookstore, Boomerang Books. Imprint: Entrepreneur Press Publisher: Entrepreneur Press Publish Date: 1-Sep-2008 Country of Publication: United States Reviews » Have you read this book? We'd like to know what you think about it - write a review about Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan book by Tim Berry and you'll earn 50c in Boomerang Bucks loyalty dollars (you must be a Boomerang Books Account Holder - it's free to sign up and there are great benefits!) Author Biography - Tim Berry Tim Berry is the founder and president of Palo Alto Software, the manufacturer of Business Plan Pro, the country's bestselling business plan software, of which he is the principal author. He's also written three other books on business planning and is a popular blogger and speaker on the topic of business plans. Books By Author Tim Berry 3 Weeks to Startup

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Release Date: January 7, 2004 For immediate release The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday released the report of the private-sector Working Group on Government Securities Clearance and Settlement and endorsed its recommendations. The Working Group, formed by the Board following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, recommended nine steps to mitigate risks to the financial system from the interruption or termination of the services of a clearing bank as the result of either operational or non-operational problems. All of the major participants in the U.S. government securities markets depend on one of two commercial banks to settle their trades and facilitate financing of their positions. The terrorist attacks demonstrated how operational disruptions to a clearing bank's services could disrupt the trading, clearance, and settlement of government securities. Those events also reinforced government officials' long-standing concerns about the potential consequences of voluntary or involuntary exit from the business by either of the two clearing banks. The Working Group recommendations are: Regulators should monitor and test implementation of the clearing banks' plans to satisfy the regulators' sound practices and implementation timelines for core clearing and settlement organizations as described in the Interagency Paper on Sound Practices to Strengthen the Resilience of the U.S. Financial System, issued April 8, 2003 by the Board, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The private sector should develop a secure and resilient telecommunications infrastructure for clearance and settlement of U.S. government securities. The official sector should support this effort. Market participants, regulators, and others in the official sector should encourage further efforts to reduce the specific threats posed by cyber-terrorism. To minimize the adverse impact of any temporary reduction in clearing bank capacity, market participants should act now to: (1) review their existing documentation for U.S. government securities and repo transactions and seek to clarify their obligations to counterparties in the event of a future temporary disruption at a clearing bank; and (2) ensure that the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation's existing netting and guaranteed settlement services are used as much as practical. With the same objective, regulators should review their authority to temporarily liberalize or suspend various regulations where such actions could contribute to the restoration of orderly markets or where compliance with such regulations may be unusually costly during a temporary disruption. As an element of their contingency planning, regulators should consider in advance the costs and benefits of liberalization or suspension of such regulations. Likewise, they should review their authority to suspend trading or settlement activity and consider in advance the costs and benefits of such measures. In the event of a temporary reduction in clearing bank processing capacity: (1) market participants should explore changes to the settlement cycle for U.S. government securities and limitations on collateral substitutions in repo transactions; (2) the Federal Reserve should consider altering the operating hours of the Fedwire system, liberalizing the terms of its government securities lending program, and, where necessary and appropriate, injecting additional liquidity into the marketplace; and (3) consistent with their contingency plans, regulators should consider liberalizing or suspending relevant regulations where appropriate to mitigate adverse effects on the trading and settlement of government securities. Market participants and regulators should support efforts, such as The Bond Market Association's effort to enhance the value of its Emergency Subcommittee, that would provide a source of real-time information on the functioning of the government securities clearance and settlement system and offer a potential sounding board for actions being contemplated by market participants, the Federal Reserve, SEC, the U.S. Treasury, or other regulators. In the event of a permanent exit of a clearing bank, every effort should be made to sell the exiting bank's clearing business to another well-qualified bank. Additional work should be undertaken to further develop the concept of creating a new bank (NewBank), a dormant entity, ready for activation in the event that a clearing bank permanently exited and no well-qualified bank steps forward. The Board supports these recommendations and plans to establish another private-sector working group to work on developing the NewBank concept. The Working Group, established by the Board in November 2002, was chaired by Michael Urkowitz, Senior Adviser to Deloitte Consulting. Its members included senior representatives of the two clearing banks for government securities (J.P. Morgan Chase and the Bank of New York), the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation, securities dealers, an interdealer broker, a custodian bank, a money market fund, The Bond Market Association, and the Investment Company Institute. Staff of the Federal Reserve, the SEC, and the U.S. Treasury participated in the Working Group as observers and technical advisers. The Working Group grew out of public comment offered in response to the Interagency White Paper on Structural Change in the Settlement of Government Securities: Issues and Options, issued May 9, 2002, by the Board and SEC. The White Paper explored the merits of possible approaches to structural change to existing clearing arrangements that would involve creation of some type of industry utility to assume the critical functions of the clearing banks. The public comments suggested that government policymakers should focus on mitigating risks within the existing structure of two clearing banks rather than on fostering development of a utility. The Working Group's report to the Board, which was delivered in December 2003, is attached. Attachment (109 KB PDF) 2004 Other announcements Home | News and events Last update: January 7, 2004

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Li Ka-shing still has what investors want By Una Galani October 23, 2013 By Una Galani The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own. Li Ka-shing may be an octogenarian but he still knows when to buy and sell. An analysis of 16 listed parts of the Hong Kong tycoon’s telecoms-to-energy empire, with a combined market capitalization of more than $170 billion, shows a mixed record of delivering shareholder returns. Yet Li’s flagship holding companies have matched or beaten the market over the past two and five years. For investors, it pays to invest as close as possible to the man himself. Graphic: Does Li Ka-shing still have his golden touch? Start at the top of the chain. Total shareholder returns from Cheung Kong Holdings, in which Li directly owns a 43 percent stake, and Hutchison Whampoa have outpaced those of the Hang Seng Index by as much as 3 percentage points over the past two years, and 5 percentage points over five years, according to Datastream. That’s despite a substantial discount to the sum of their parts that dates back to when Li began to invest in 3G technology in 2000. Both companies trade around one-third below their net asset value, according to brokerage CLSA. Look further down the chain and returns are more mixed. The worst-performing bits of Li’s empire have been Hutchison Whampoa’s telecom business in Hong Kong and Hong Kong-listed property investment vehicle Hutchison Harbour Ring. The best have been some of Li’s real estate investment trusts, owned partly by Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa. Cheung Kong Holdings’ local subsidiary CK Life Sciences has also delivered outsized returns. Li’s latest cash-raising manoeuvres will add complexity. The upcoming listing of Hong Kong Electric, which could be accompanied by raising debt, could release as much as $8 billion for acquisitions, according to one banker close to the deal. After failing to sell supermarket chain ParknShop, Hutchison may now float all or part of its wider retail assets with a likely market value north of $20 billion. Where those funds will go remains a mystery. The challenge of delivering high shareholder returns is growing with the number of cash-flush buyers in Asia. While Li made his fortune in Hong Kong, his investments are increasingly focused on other markets. But the outperformance of the companies that sit closest to Li shows that the Hong Kong tycoon remains a shrewd manager, at least when his own money is on the line. U.S. forges risky new weapon for mortgage battle Next Post » The no-return decade in stocks makes dividends look good No comments so far

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Financial Jolts Signal Greater Depression Published Aug 10, 2011 7:24 PM From: Workers World The downgrade of U.S. government credit and the gyrations of the stock market signal greater budget cuts, another downturn in the economy, and more unemployment and suffering unless there is a strong, mass fightback. Now is the time to fight for jobs, stop layoffs and foreclosures, defend Social Security and other entitlements under attack, and rebuff the bosses’ attempts to unload the deepening crisis of the profit system on the backs of the workers. The downgrading of Treasury bonds by Standard & Poor’s credit agency from AAA to AA+ was a message from a section of the bankers and bondholders that they want deep cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The downgrading had very little to do with the immediate credit worthiness of the U.S. government. It was all about budget cuts. It was a message to the political parties that Wall Street is not satisfied with the debt-ceiling deal that promised only $2.1 trillion in cuts and was too light on entitlements, in their view. The message was mainly to the Democratic Party, but perhaps also to the Tea Party for being so tactically rigid that it failed to seize upon Obama’s concessions on entitlements. S&P downgrade all about entitlement cuts All rating agencies depend on payment by the banks for their services. The S&P rating agency announced months ago that it wanted at least $4 trillion cut from the deficit — and that cuts in entitlements were the key to achieving that goal. Republican speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama were working on just such a deal when it was broken up by the ultra right and the Tea Party. S&P made this clear. In their statement to the government explaining the move, they wrote that the downgrade was due to their “pessimism” about the prospect for deeper cuts. They said they lowered the U.S. long-term rating because they believe that “prolonged controversy over raising the statutory debt ceiling” indicates that “further near-term progress on containing growth in public spending, especially on entitlements,” will be contentious. It said that what the Congress and the administration agreed to “falls short of the amount we believe is necessary” to achieve financial stability in the next decade. More explicitly, they complained that “the plan envisions only minor policy changes on Medicare and little change in other entitlements,” whose “containment” they regard as “key to long-term fiscal sustainability.” Just to emphasize that the downgrade was a political attack on entitlements, the statement said that “We view the federal government’s ... monetary credit attributes, which form the basis for the sovereign debt rating, as broadly unchanged.” In other words, the financiers behind S&P are worried that if the government continues to fund the people’s needs there may not be enough money in the future to pay the millionaire and billionaire bondholders and bankers their interest. Debt-ceiling struggle a political war by the right wing The debt-ceiling crisis was purely political in nature. The ultra-right Tea Party forces and the more traditional right-wing conservatives of the Republican Party have been in a bloc, waging a political war trying to cut back, if not destroy, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and to undermine President Obama. As in any war, the right seized upon a point of advantage — the legislative requirement that Congress has to approve the debt ceiling of the government. They held entitlements hostage, threatening to force the government to default up until the final hour of the deadline. The downgrade by Standard & Poor’s was a pure act of retribution because the debt-ceiling deal did not cut deep enough. S&P included a threat of future downgrades if the politicians don’t cut more. Stock market plunge and fear of “double dip” The subsequent plunge in the stock market, while affected by the downgrade, was fundamentally a reaction to the threat of a “double dip” or a new downturn in the capitalist economy. The slowing growth of the U.S. economy — a growth rate of only 0.8 percent in the first half of this year — means that unemployment has gone up, in spite of the official government statistics declaring that unemployment declined in the month of July from 9.2 percent to 9.1 percent. Everyone knows that this is a vast understatement of true unemployment. There are at least 30 million workers either unemployed, under-employed or who have dropped out of the workforce altogether. Cutting the government budget on spending for services, entitlements, public projects and the like only promises to aggravate the economic crisis in the U.S. In Europe, the same process is gaining momentum. Greece, Portugal and Ireland have already been bailed out by the European Central Bank and the IMF. Now, Italy and Spain, much larger economies, are in crisis. The 90 largest banks in Europe hold $425 billion in Italian government bonds alone. U.S. banks hold $14.3 billion. The bankers of Europe are demanding gigantic budget cuts from the indebted European countries as the price of a bailout. This will drag down the already slowing economies of Europe. Bailing out banks, austerity aggravate economic crisis The capitalists and their politicians are in a contradiction that has no way out. Because of the economic crisis, government revenues have fallen and the bankers’ interest payments are being put at risk. The governments are stepping in to guarantee the bankers’ payments. But in order to guarantee the bankers their interest, the governments have to cut back spending. Cutting back spending on the people means the workers have less money in their pockets and the economic crisis deepens. In order to guarantee the banks their pound of flesh, the economic crisis must be made worse by austerity measures. That is what was behind the debt-ceiling struggle. That is what is behind the European debt crisis. The only way out of this vicious cycle is to fight the banks and bondholders and put jobs and workers’ needs first. New layoffs that would come in the wake of a new capitalist crisis could threaten a collapse. A financial crisis in Europe that spread to the U.S. could trigger global crisis. All these calculations were part of the wild sell-off of stocks. From capitalist impasse to downturn The working class must take these warning signals to heart. For the past two years of so-called “recovery,” the capitalist system has been in a state of impasse. It has been held up from crashing by massive government bailouts of the banks and government spending in general. That is the basis of the debt crisis, not only in the U.S. but in Europe and Japan. While there was no further downturn, the capitalist economy was unable to grow at anything but a snail’s pace. While the corporations have been piling up profits, not a dent has been made in the mass unemployment. Now the profit system is in danger of sliding from the impasse to a downturn. The bosses have invested in job-killing technology. They have speeded up workers, forced them to work every single second they are on the job, cut their hours to the bone — making them work part time or be temporary workers. Production goes up, but with fewer and fewer workers. The economy is now nearing the same level of Gross Domestic Product that it was at before the crisis, but with 10 million fewer workers on the job. This means fewer and fewer workers are producing more and more output and services in less and less time for lower and lower wages. All in order to increase profits. The profit system itself is in crisis. And the workers are being asked to suffer. There is no way out of this contradiction on the basis of the capitalist profit system. Calling upon the capitalists to create jobs when they don’t need more workers is an illusion. The only way to create jobs right now is for government to launch a huge jobs program. Which is exactly what the government refuses to do, given the obsession in the capitalist establishment about cutting spending and deficits. Need a mass fight for jobs Capitalist commentators of all types are aghast at the prospect of a new crisis arising in a situation of already-existing long-term mass unemployment. The demand for a jobs program is beginning to take on momentum even from bourgeois voices — from Times op-ed writer Paul Krugman to MSNBC news show host Chris Matthews, and many more. President Obama has been virtually silent on a real jobs program that can begin to put the millions upon millions of workers back to work. And now there is the threat of a greater unemployment crisis. The AFL-CIO leadership is beginning to stir on the question and has called for demonstrations around the country in early October. Other forces are joining in the call. This is a positive, if long overdue, step. However, the working class, the community, students and all who need jobs and are affected by unemployment, directly or indirectly, need to mount a rank-and-file, militant movement to fight this economic crisis. The message of fightback must be carried to work places, community centers, housing projects, churches and street corners in working-class areas, among all races and nationalities, to build a fighting movement. City halls, statehouses and the federal government as well as corporations must feel the pressure and the anger of the people. The capitalists are sitting on trillions of dollars in cash. But they won’t hire, are lowering wages and are getting ready to fire more workers if the economic slowdown turns into full-scale contraction. The banks are getting hundreds of billions of dollars in interest payments from governments at every level. The Pentagon and military corporations are getting trillions of dollars to pay for three wars. Those funds should be used to pay for jobs programs and social needs, not to further enrich the already super-rich. Socialist fighters, trade union militants, community activists, radicals and progressive organizers must come together as a matter of urgency to build a national fightback movement to combat the crisis. In the 1930s the Unemployment Councils organized workers and tenants under the slogan “Don’t Starve, Fight!” They had a program for jobs and income. Today’s movement needs a similar fighting approach and a determination to organize at the grassroots level for struggle. It is necessary for the movement to win victories at whatever level is possible. The program can include the fight for jobs, above all, in the midst of the worst capitalist crisis since the 1930s. But it can also include defending unions, collective bargaining and the rights of undocumented workers; it can fight for food, food stamps and housing; it can oppose foreclosures and evictions, budget cuts and school closings. In other words, it can defend the interests of the workers and oppressed wherever they are under attack.

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1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+ When applying for a home loan this is how the banks will asses you “It is vital to be honest when declaring true income and expenses. We all want to own that dream house, but it’s worse to see that same house being repossessed due to defaults on the monthly repayments,” says Van Staden. This is according to Albertus van Staden, Head of Credit at FNB Housing Finance, who says in order to give yourself the best shot at being granted a loan for your dream home, it is important to understand what the bank uses to assess your affordability.“One of the major reasons that a home loan application is declined is because the potential homeowner unable to afford the monthly repayments,” he says. While there are online tools that will give you an indication of what you will be granted, Van Staden says these are estimates. In order to determine a final bond amount the bank will use your income, credit and living expenses to perform an affordability assessment. “An affordability assessment is vital to the home loan process as it will determine what the bank grants as the final home loan amount,” says Van Staden. “Everyone wants to show that they earn enough income to afford the house they want, but you also need to be realistic about what you can actually afford.” 1. Your income The first port of call is to determine your income, says Van Staden. Typically an income is received through a monthly salary, however, salaries can vary according to the work and payment structures of individuals, he says. For example, some people may receive a fixed amount while others may receive commissions due to the nature of their jobs. A salary may also include additional forms of income such as allowances, overtime and bonuses. The bank also considers other forms of income that are derived from investments such as rental income on other properties. “We will base the loan amount on the expected monthly income you receive,” says van Staden. “This means that for a person with a fixed monthly salary, meaning the ‘take home’ pay is the same every month, the bank may take this entire amount into consideration.” However, he says if you are a commission earner, or receive income on an irregular basis such as overtime, they will use the average income over the last few months, with a minimum of three months. “Some lenders prefer to look at an even longer period as income can sometimes be seasonal or exclude income such as overtime, as this is not guaranteed every month.” 2. Your expenses After ascertaining your income, the bank will consider your expenses. “Taking just your income into account is not an accurate assessment of your affordability, as there are expenses that will have to be maintained along with your bond repayments,” says Van Staden. There are three different types of expenses that will need to be included in your application: credit, living and additional expenses. Credit expenses are monthly instalments for debt obligations such as credit card or car repayments. Living expenses are categorised as essential expenses. These are expenses that you can’t live without, such as transport, food, education, medical and electricity and water, to name a few. Finally, additional expenses are those that are not vital for everyday living, such as satellite TV, airtime or assurance premiums. “If you cannot afford it, save for a bigger deposit or look for something that is within your means.” PROPERTY24 Gauteng

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Middle-income question: Were you better off in the 1990s? Middle-income families with kids did far better in the 1990s than in the 2000s. So what policies should we pursue in the 2010s? By Jared Bernstein, Guest blogger / It’s hard to take seriously those who claim that 'supply-side' tax cuts, as in the Bush years, will help the middle class, compared with the more progressive tax regime of the Clinton years. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been collecting stuff on kids and their economic well-being. Here are a couple of figures that provide an intersection of a number of points I’ve tried to stress a lot in recent weeks.It’s just a simple plot of real median income for families with kids, 1989-2010, followed by two bars showing the trough to peak of income growth in the two recovery periods. The difference between how middle-income families fared in these two periods is really quite remarkable. I mean, when it comes to income growth, there are always lots of moving parts, but at first blush, if you’re a middle-income family with kids, you might want to keep these pictures in your mind when listening to the economic agendas of those who would be President. That is, it’s hard to take seriously those who claim that “supply-side” tax cuts, as in the Bush years—large breaks tilted toward the top that are supposed to trickle down to the middle—will deliver for the middle class, compared to the more progressive tax regime of the Clinton years. It’s even harder to imagine how “shuttering the EPA” will make the difference.There were important, real differences between these periods: the job market was much tighter in the former decade, job growth was about four times as fast on an annualized basis—importantly, the 1990s recovery lasted longer than that of the 2000s, in part because the only way for many families to get ahead amidst the flat income growth of the latter period was through cheap, easy credit. (In other words, there’s a linkage here between flat middle class incomes, the debt bubble, and the big crash.)But so far, the road map I’m hearing from the R’s sounds like that of the 2000s, and that shouldn’t inspire anyone in the middle class on down. GDP rising: Is middle-class prosperity rising, too? (+video) As America's middle class disappears, the upper middle class is thriving If the deficit goes down too fast, unemployment goes up

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Tyrells goes to Amplify for £300m Alternative investment products company Investcorp has agreed to the sale of Crisps Topco Limited (Tyrrells) to Amplify Snack Brands for £300m. Founded at Tyrrells Court Farm, Herefordshire, in 2002, Tyrrells is a manufacturer of hand-cooked potato and vegetable crisps, popcorn and other savoury snacks. Tyrrells has built on the brand strength of its core product offering to diversify into other premium snack categories, including popcorn, tortilla chips and vegetable crisps. Investcorp acquired Tyrrells in August 2013 for £100m and says it has overseen an extensive transformation of the company in which sales and EBITDA more than doubled and employee numbers grew by over 70% globally, 30% of which were new employee positions created in the UK. International markets now account for close to 40% of sales compared to 20% three years ago. Under Investcorp’s ownership, Tyrrells has grown organically and through acquisitions in Australia and Germany, further expanding its healthy snacking portfolio into organic and gluten-free products, creating a diversified premium snacks player. Investcorp says its knowledge and expertise in bringing together family-run businesses proved instrumental in the acquisitions, further expanding Tyrrells’ global reach. Investcorp also notes that it oversaw significant investments in Tyrrells’ manufacturing capacity and brand. Completion of the sale is subject to competition clearance. “Tyrrells is a great British success story which we’ve been delighted to play a part in,” said Carsten Hagenbucher, Managing Director in Investcorp’s European Corporate Investment team. “Three years ago we saw the opportunity to export a fantastic domestic brand and that has been our focus, through two transformative acquisitions – both of which were proprietary deals – and by driving growth in the UK and many international markets. We wish David and his team the best of luck in this new chapter.” “From the outset when Tyrrells was acquired by Investcorp we projected ambitious growth strategies and that’s exactly what we have delivered,” said David Milner, Chief Executive of Tyrrells. “It has been a hugely successful partnership resulting in a business which is in great shape for further international expansion.”

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About UsWhy St. Columbanus? Banking In Switzerland Who Was St. Columbanus? Banking plays a central role in the Swiss economy. Among the most important attributes of Swiss banks, safety is among the most prominent. All banks operating in Switzerland are licensed and regulated by FINMA, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. FINMA is a member of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which formulates standards covering the safety as well as the prudential guidelines for equity and capital adequacy of banks worldwide. In Switzerland, however, Swiss law demands capital adequacy standards even higher than those required by the Basel Accords (Basel I, Basel II, & Basel III). As a result, Swiss banks can certainly be counted among the safest in the world. Most Swiss retail banks do not require a minimum deposit for an ordinary current or savings account. However, some of the private bankers and other banks offering private banking and wealth management services do require a minimum deposit. St. Columbanus AG has partnered with both retail and consumer oriented banks as well as with private banks in order to offer each client a full range of options to ensure both high quality financial services and the strongest available deposit protections. SHARE: Questions? Please complete the Information Request Form in order to receive information about St.Columbanus AG products, or to contact one of our representatives. © St. Columbanus AG 2017 • Follow Us

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People on the Move, March 17, 2013 Ameriprise Financial Inc.Michele E. Stahl, financial adviser, received the 2012 "Protect. Grow. Give." award from RiverSource Life Insurance Co. The award recognizes financial advisers who have reached outstanding benchmarks for helping clients protect income, grow assets and leave a legacy by implementing RiverSource. First National Community Bank Jennifer Jenner, BankCard relationship manager, has become the only certified payments professional serving Northeast Pennsylvania. Ms. Jenner was granted the designation of ETA Certified Payments Professional through a professional certification program administered by the Electronic Transactions Association. In her role, Ms. Jenner oversees the bank's Merchant Services Program. Ms. Jenner is a graduate of Penn State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business and the ABA School of Bank Marketing and Management. She resides in Eynon.Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn law firm Attorney Brian P. Stahl has been named a partner in the law firm of Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn. Mr. Stahl, who practices in the firm's Kingston office, is a member of the firm's Commercial Litigation Department with a primary focus in real estate and corporate law. Mr. Stahl earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh and his law degree from the Dickinson School of Law. He and his wife, Lauren, live in Forty Fort.Ken Kurtz BuilderKen Kurtz was awarded the Pennsylvania Builder Association's Best Community Service Project award during the association's awards banquet. Mr. Kurtz was recognized with the statewide award for the Homes for Our Troops project coordinated through the Lackawanna Home Builders Association.King's College A manuscript by Dr. Bernard Prusak, associate professor of philosophy and director of the McGowan Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility at the college, titled "Parental Obligations and Bioethics: The Duties of a Creator," has been accepted for publication by Routledge Press in the series Annals of Bioethics. Mr. Prusak also published the cover story, "A Riskier Discourse: How Catholics Should Argue against Abortion," in the November issue of "Commonweal." His review of Michael Walzer's "In God's Shadow: Politics in the Hebrew Bible" was also published in the November "Commonweal." The review was titled "On Earth, Not in Heaven." Mr. Prusak also presented a paper, titled "Paying for the Priceless Child," at the annual meeting of the American Catholic Philosophical Association and participated in a panel discussion on Marcellus Shale at Wyoming Seminary.Lewith & Freeman Real Estate Inc.The company honored its top producers and longtime employees with an awards ceremony at the Westmoreland Club, Wilkes-Barre. More than 70 professionals received awards, including the company's top five producers: Anita Reber, top producer's award; Terry Donnelly, Joan Matusiak, Rae Dziak and Lisa Joseph. Longtime sales professionals who were recognized for their years of service to the organization included Nancy Palumbo and Corine Sworen for 20 years of service; and James Graham, Patricia Genetti, Marcie Petrucelli, Geri Wisnewski and Terry Nelson for 15 years of service. Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co.David M. O'Malley has been appointed chief operating officer. Mr. O'Malley previously served as the company's executive vice president and chief financial officer. In his new position, Mr. O'Malley will continue to be responsible for all of the company's operating areas, including financial management, product development and management, new business and underwriting, producer and client services, information management and technology, the project management office, and Hornor, Townsend & Kent Inc. Pennstar BankTop performers for sales and service excellence in 2012 recognized by the bank include: John Wiedman, manager of Pennstar's Carbondale office, and Ed Mott, manager of Pennstar's Mountaintop office, were named Branch Managers of the Year. Pennstar Bank of Steamtown was honored as Branch of the Year. Reuther+Bowen Timothy J. Norton, P.E., has joined the firm as a structural engineer/detailer. He will be responsible for preparing detailed plans, drawings and other documents for the steel fabricator in the construction of commercial, industrial and residential projects. Mr. Norton holds a professional engineer registration in Pennsylvania and earned a Bachelor of Architectural Engineering degree from the Pennsylvania State University. He resides in Avoca.Daniel J. Horn, P.E., passed the exam to become a registered professional engineer. A graduate of the Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science in structural design/construction engineering, he joined the firm in 2011. Mr. Horn and his wife, Christine, reside in Scranton with their children, Sophia and Grayson.David Mancuso will be taking on additional responsibilities as office manager. In this capacity, he will be responsible for human resources, accounts receivable and management of the firm's technology systems and software. Mr. Mancuso earned associate degrees in solar heating technology and architectural engineering technology from Pennsylvania State University and resides in Carbondale Twp. with his wife, Margaret, and son, Danny.United Neighborhood Centers The governance committee of the board of directors of United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania appointed three new board members for 2013. New members include Bobby Lynett, CEO of Times-Shamrock Communications; Ida Castro, vice president of community engagement and equity at the Commonwealth Medical College; Michael Hanley, UNC executive director; and Lackawanna County Judge Terrence Nealon.Weiler Corp. Bill Dwyre has the joined the company as vice president, strategic marketing. Mr. Dwyre has more than 25 years of international sales and marketing experience. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in engineering from Lafayette College and a master's degree in business administration from Indiana University.Wells FargoFor the second consecutive year, John Tosi, certified financial planner, has been designated by Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network as a member of the firm's Premier Advisors Program. Mr. Tosi has been a financial adviser for six years. He has a Bachelor of Science in finance from King's College.Wilkes UniversityWilkes University communication studies faculty members presented a panel discussion on "What Small Programs Do Best - A Discussion of Effective Strategies for Strengthening Each Student's Writing" at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association in Orlando, Fla. Jane Elmes-Crahall was chairwoman of the panel and discussed "Integrating the Student-Run PR Agency into PR Writing Courses"; Evene Estwick discussed "Using Reflective Writing to Create Dialogue in the Freshmen Foundations Course"; and Loran Lewis discussed how he incorporated multimedia packs into the newswriting course in his presentation, "Teaching Multi-Media Journalism at a Smaller College." Joining the Wilkes faculty on the panel was Lindsey Wotanis, assistant professor of communications at Marywood University, who discussed "Using Facebook for Editing the Campus Newspaper" as a way to provide immediate online discussion of news stories.SUBMIT PEOPLE ON THE MOVE items to business@ timesshamrock.com or The Times-Tribune, 149 Penn Ave., Scranton, PA 18503.

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"Angry Birds" maker eyes Hong Kong IPO The company which created "Angry Birds," the world's most popular computer game, is considering a stock market flotation in Hong Kong, joining the many foreign firms who have gone public there. Continue Reading Below "In Asia there are growing markets -- the people and the money," Peter Vesterbacka, marketing chief of Finnish company Rovio, told Reuters. Finnish weekly Tekniikka&Talous reported on Friday the firm was looking at 2013 for the IPO but Vesterbacka said no decision had been made. Other large global firms to have gone public on the Hong Kong exchange include fashion house Prada, luggage maker Samsonite and cosmetics maker L'Occitane . Companies benefit from access to high liquidity from Chinese pension funds and retail investors and the bourse offers higher valuations in some sectors. Rovio might also go to New York for the IPO. Continue Reading Below In May Rovio Chief Executive Mikael Hed told Reuters the firm was aiming for a stock market listing in 2-3 years time in New York, which is seen as the key market for technology start-ups due to its dedicated investors. "Angry Birds", in which players use a slingshot to attack pigs who steal the birds' eggs, has stayed top game since it was launched for Apple's iPhone in 2009. VALUE TARGET Vesterbacka told Tekniikka&Talous the aim is to build the company into a media giant with a market capitalisation similar to Walt Disney Co, which is valued at $65.3 billion. "That is the target. There is no reason why we should not be able to build a company of that size," Vesterbacka was quoted as saying, adding Rovio's 2011 revenues would be around $100 million, compared with $10 million a year before. The weekly said estimates of Rovio's value range from 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) to 7 billion euros ($9.1 billion). It has reached a record 600 million downloads in two years, compared with rival Electronic Arts' hit game Tetris which reached 100 million mobile downloads last year. Rovio has unveiled two more "Angry Birds" games and Vesterbacka told the paper the firm would launch 5-6 more games with the same characters in 2012. Rovio is also expanding its brand to toys and playgrounds, and is taking the birds to the big screen. Vesterbacka told the weekly the first full-motion animated movie featuring the characters was still 2-3 years away. Earlier this year, Rovio raised $42 million from venture capital firms including Accel Partners, which previously backed Facebook and Baidu, and Skype founder Niklas Zennstroem's venture capital firm Atomico Ventures. Rovio was founded in 2003 after three students including Niklas Hed -- CEO Mikael Hed's cousin and now Rovio's COO -- won a game-development competition sponsored by Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia Oyj and Hewlett-Packard CO. ($1 = 0.7694 euros) (Additional reporting by Elzio Barreto in Hong Kong; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and David Cowell)

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THE STATIC WORLD OF THE FTSE CEO – HOW THE GAME HASN’T CHANGED Sean Farrington, RVP Northern Europe & MD UKI, Qlik, discusses the reasons and implications behind the average CEO remaining remarkably the same in spite of a constantly-changing business landscape. It almost goes without saying that the world of business is in constant flux. We’re always reading about the changing face of organisations, whether how they are gradually changing their working processes through remote connectivity to internal systems, or using data to highlight how they can better be streamlining fundamental operations, from HR to finance and even customer service. One thing is undeniable, as we move deeper into a digital age; the business landscape has changed considerably across all businesses – even from as little as five years ago. But what’s happened to the people at the helm of these organisations? Sean Farrington We all have our ideas of what makes up the average CEO, and these notions tend to be based upon the people running our companies decades ago – boardrooms akin to those that go back almost a century-ago, such as the famous Board at the bank in Mary Poppins, through a couple of decades to eighties-set American Psycho or Wall Street – still dominated by men of a certain background and around middle age. The CEOs we tend to read about the most – those in charge of some of our largest, multi-million pound organisations – are actually challenging this convention. Think about Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg or Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer, who are consistently in the press. Both actually challenge our notions of the aforementioned ‘traditional’ CEO. But how well do these personalities represent the average C-level executives within our largest companies? With these examples, you’d be forgiven for assuming that the ordinary person heading up our most successful organisations has altered to coincide with the ever-changing business landscape. Yet, this is far from the case. Recent research we conducted into the backgrounds of FTSE 100 and 250 CEOs showed it’s remarkably surprising how conventional the majority of these business leaders are. The typical CEO of a UK-listed company in 2013 is essentially very similar to the average CEO from around fifty years ago that we see in the Mad Men landscape of the sixties. In fact, we found that 96% of the FTSE 100 and 250 CEOs are male, with an average age of 46, and that Oxford or Cambridge were the most popular universities to attend en route to the chief executive spot. Further to this, Domo used data from Harvard Business Review earlier this year to conduct research looking into the attributes of those heading up the 100 most successful companies across the globe. Again, the overwhelming majority (98%) was male, had a university education and was middle-aged. So, what does this tell us about the world of business? The way we carry out our work has changed, the ultimate organisational landscape has changed, but why exactly hasn’t business leadership changed? Is there a reason why this traditional form of a CEO has stubbornly remained the same for decades – centuries even? As I mentioned above, the most notorious CEOs in our society could lead us to believe that our top companies are actually being led by very different personas to what we expect from the conventional C-suite, but this is far from the case. Why hasn’t the view from the top generally progressed – and why hasn’t a move towards convention-defying CEOs been embraced across UK business as a whole? Here we get ourselves into a ‘chicken and egg’ causality. Is the reason for the average CEO not changing due to a choice from certain individuals to not push for a top-level position, or is it perhaps that companies still expect only a certain type of employee to head up their organisation? Which is the cause and which is the effect? When it comes to the issue of there not being more female CEOs, there have been many discussions pertaining to the reason why. Although the overall business landscape is one of equality, this just doesn’t seem to have seeded itself at the top. After all, our research showed only 4% of FTSE 100 and 250 CEOs are women, while a study by BoardEx showed this figure to be even lower among our top private companies. Some people argue that a lack of women CEOs comes down to a choice from women themselves not to pursue the very top level positions, and many still think this comes down to putting family ahead of a career or simply women not being as competitive as their male counterparts. On the other hand, a lot of people think that business ‘at the top’ just hasn’t moved forward as much as we would like to think. It’s thought that women in business still have more social pressure on them than men in the boardroom. A recent poll by LinkedIn saw 46% of women cite ‘institutional barriers’ as the main reason for their not being able to break through to CEO roles. Here, it’s been strongly argued that traditional ‘old boy’ networks stand in the way of women getting the support they need in business to be able to progress in the same way that men can. Even if there’s no conscious decision or motive behind it, existing business networks, and even traditions themselves, come from a ‘like for like’ approach that result in a lack of diversity and could also explain the prominence of highly educated Oxford and Cambridge graduates in our current list of FTSE 100 and 250 CEOs. Whatever the reason is for the staid CEO, a lack of diversity among board groups is likely to hold businesses back from reaching their full potential. As a matter of fact, research from the UK’s Department for Business last year showed male-dominated boards will fall behind their rivals and will fail to progress at the same rate as they miss out on fresh, creative ideas from women, while hiring people from across different backgrounds and of varied educations can help bring new perspectives to a number of situations and debates. Clearly change is needed where it just hasn’t happened. We’re being drawn into a false sense of the business world having taken on a completely different shape, where everyone has the same opportunities to reach their goals, but it’s overwhelmingly evident that there’s still some form of glass ceiling in place that’s hindering true diversity at the top and organisations could be suffering from stilted evolution, or even regression as a result. Ultimately, the business landscape on a whole may be evolving at a phenomenal pace, but boardrooms really need to hurry up and follow suit. Technology can take you so far. It’s then down to the individuals and the company culture to encourage change.

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MoneySpend & Save Low-risk speculators find they're on the wrong track By Melanie Bien Sunday 17 December 2000 00:00 GMT The poor stock market debut and subsequent performance of Bradford & Bingley shares over the past two weeks are partly due to the fact that the bank is too small to get into the FTSE 100.The poor stock market debut and subsequent performance of Bradford & Bingley shares over the past two weeks are partly due to the fact that the bank is too small to get into the FTSE 100. This means it hasn't been snapped up by tracker funds - passive investments that track an index, as opposed to a fund manager picking stocks. Trackers are popular with investors because they are cheaper, seen as lower risk, and produce returns at least as good as actively managed funds but without the volatility. The bad news for investors in trackers is that their returns have been hit hard by the recent stock market turbulence, proving that they are not immune to share-price volatility after all. "They are a simple choice, not a safe choice," says Steve Lipper, global marketing director at Lipper. "People feel that investing in their home market through a tracker is less risky than investing across borders. But this is purely an emotional assumption. "A global equity fund that extends to other countries ends up being a much more stable ride than a single-country fund. I would say to someone investing for the first time to go for a global equity fund. If you already have one and want to increase your UK exposure, a UK tracker fund is a decent choice for a second investment." Trackers are perceived to be lower risk because they offer a low-cost means of diversification to limit exposure to under-performing shares. They enable individual investors to spread their money over a wider range of stocks than anyone but the largest investor could afford to buy directly. Some trackers are more diversified than others because they follow a smaller index. Investors should bear in mind that FTSE 100 trackers, for example, comprise fewer and bigger companies - the top 100 blue-chip firms - than, say, FTSE All-Share trackers, which invest in more than 900 companies. Those who in-vested in the latter would have seen a 15 per cent return over the past two years, against 9 per cent in a FTSE 100 tracker, according to Datastream. To make matters worse, because the composition of the FTSE 100 changes regularly, it does nothing for the stability of tracker funds that have to buy the various components. Earlier this month, five companies were ejected from the FTSE 100, including Bookham Technology, Baltimore Technologies and Sema Group, to be replaced by firms such as Rolls-Royce and Safeway. The popularity of tracker funds has grown largely because they are cheaper than active funds, which typically charge up to 5 per cent in upfront fees along with an annual charge which tends to be about 1.5 per cent. Trackers are much cheaper as they have no upfront charges, while annual fees can be as little as 0.3 per cent. So what should investors who relied on tracker funds to limit volatility do now? If you are determined to stick with trackers, it is worth opting for the ones with the lowest costs: with no stock-selection skills needed, these should do best. Legal & General's UK Index tracker, which invests in the FTSE All-Share, is one of the top performers in its field because it has no entry charge and an annual management fee of just 0.5 per cent. L&G has about £2bn in retail tracker funds, with a further £40bn in institutional tracker funds. A spokesman says that while trackers can be risky, its UK fund spreads its exposure by following the FTSE All-Share. "Any form of investment carries a risk of one shape or form," he says. "The more stocks you buy, the more you diversify and reduce risk."Looking for credit card or current account deals? Search here

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ARABIC عربي ALF Scholarship Dinner 2017, Guest Speaker, Mr Carlos Ghosn, The University of Sydney UAE, Australia discuss ways of developing commercial, investment exchange BreastScreen NSW Community Engagement Program Bank of Sydney’s Canstar Awards UAE donates $100 million to Yemen Syria: The Tillerson Proposal to the Russians Hon Michael Sukkar MP launches The Salvation Army UAE fully committed to UN's 'Every Woman Every Child Everywhere' initiative: official Caves in Oman hold rich tourism potential Mohamed bin Zayed, Putin discuss friendship, cooperation, regional and international issues Kuwait strongly condemns Paris terrorist attack PREVENTING DISABILITIES IN THE ELDERLY Kingdom Holding & PineBridge Establish a Joint Venture to Invest in Africa Kingdom Holding & PineBridge Establish a Joint Venture to Invest in Africa Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), chaired by HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, and PineBridge Investments Middle East (“PBME”) a global multi-asset-class manager have signed a memorandum of understanding “MOU” on Monday 30th June 2014 to establish a joint venture platform (“JV”) to invest in direct private equity opportunities in Africa. The MOU was signed by both Dr. Adel Alsayed, KHC’s Executive Director for Private Equity and International Investments, and Mr. Talal Al Zain, Chief Executive Officer of PineBridge Investments Middle East. The signing ceremony was also attended by Ms. Heba Fatani, Senior Executive Manager, Corporate Communications Department, Mr. Fahad Bin Saad Bin Nafel, Executive Assistant to HRH the Chairman and Ms. Dina Kasrawi, Managing Director Global Marketing and Communications, PineBridge Investments Middle East.The joint venture between KHC and PineBridge will invest in African companies, in response to rising investor demand for exposure to the continent’s fast growing economies. Key focus sectors include manufacturing, consumer driven sectors, infrastructure, financial services and other sectors. Prince Alwaleed commented: “The investment in this platform is a continuation of KHC’s successful investment strategy in Africa that began in 2003, and reflects our confidence in achieving long-term returns for investors in this venture.”Mr. Al Zain commented: “We have strong conviction that the African continent is going through positive socio-economic transformations. PineBridge has a long track record of direct investing in Africa since the 1990s, with extensive experience in investing in sectors including infrastructure, banking and consumer sectors. The firm has offices in South Africa, Kenya and Uganda, investing in equities, credit and private markets. ”KHC and PineBridge are long-established in Africa and have extensive emerging and frontier markets experience. Over the 2003 to 2011 period, KHC and Zephyr Management (Zephyr) combined their efforts in execution of an African investment strategy. In 2011, KHC and Zephyr reached an agreement for the acquisition of Zephyr’s interest in KZAM and was subsequently renamed to Kingdom Africa Management (KAM). KHC is now the sole shareholder in KAM and continues to pursue an African investment strategy. Founded in 1980, KHC is a publicly traded company which was listed on Tadawul (the Saudi Stock Exchange) in 2007. KHC is one of the world’s most successful and diversified business organizations, highly respected in the field of investments and recognized as an elite player in the Arabian Gulf region, and internationally. The Company is recognized as one of the largest foreign investors in the United States. KHC’s portfolio has its major interests in investment categories ranging from luxury hotels management hotel companies (Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Fairmont Raffles Holding Intl and Mövenpick Hotels, Resorts AG and Swissotel) and real estate (Kingdom Tower and the projects in Jeddah is the “Highest Tower” under construction and Kingdom Riyadh mega project) to hotel real estate investments such as (The Plaza, New York, Savoy Hotel, London and Four Seasons, George V Hotel, Paris and other hotels). KHC also has investments in Petrochemical (Tasnee), Media and Publishing (News Corporation and Saudi Research and Marketing Group), as well as in Entertainment (Euro Disney S.C.A). In addition, Finance and Investment services (Citigroup), Social Media and Technology (Twitter and Jingdong). Moreover, the Company has investments in Education (Kingdom Schools), Health Care (Medical Services Projects Company) that owns Kingdom Hospitals, Aviation (NAS Saudi Arabia) and Agriculture (Kingdom Agricultural Development Company - KADCO Egypt). In addition to KHC’s investments in the emerging markets such as Africa.PineBridge is a global asset manager with nearly 60 years of experience in emerging and developed markets, delivering innovative alpha-oriented strategies across asset allocation, equities, fixed income and alternatives. PineBridge manages approximately US $71.4 billion, as of 31 March 2014.PineBridge Investments Middle East B.S.C (c) (PBME) is a member of the PineBridge Investments group. PBME is headquartered in Bahrain and regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain as a Category 1 Investment Firm. PBME offers world-class investment management services, with a global perspective and a regional focus across four core areas: real estate, private equity, investment management, and global distribution. Click here to view our Latest Issue HOME | ABOUT US | ADVERTISE | ARCHIVES | SUBSCRIBE | CONTACT US Copyright 2007 mideast-times.com

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SEC Not Prepared for the Registration Flood? Hedge fund managers continue to procrastinate with February deadline approaching NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com)--Hedge fund managers are still procrastinating when it comes to registering with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but the SEC also may be lagging in its preparedness, according to one consulting firm. After a brief analysis of completed registration statistics through Sept. 5, Carbon360 predicts that the SEC will be caught off guard in the coming months, as the number of registration applications swells to unprecedented levels with hedge funds rushing to beat the Feb. 2006 deadline to register as investment advisers. Only a portion of the hedge fund universe has registered with the U.S. regulator--213 managers to be exact, which would be a far cry from the 50% of the hedge fund industry that SEC officials claim to have already processed. The SEC's New York and Boston offices, which oversee New Jersey and Connecticut respectively in addition to those cities' states, will likely be the hardest hit; Carbon360 estimates that another 1,900 managers will begin the registration process shortly. "It doesn't take much to look at the tea leaves," said Brian Shapiro, president of Carbon360, a research and advisory firm that works with hedge fund managers. So far many of the industry's recognizable names have yet to hit the Investment Advisory Registration Depositary, which is the electronic filing system used by managers to register with the SEC. Still, there may some variables at play. Many larger firms are thought to have increased their lock-up periods to two years in order to avoid registration. Mr. Shapiro believes that for the most part those hedge fund managers are not as concerned with the rigors of registration as they are with liquidity issues, and they are more interested in keeping the majority of assets invested rather than in cash reserves held in case of large investor redemptions. Taking into account the number of single managers that may offer single funds or funds of hedge funds with lock-ups of two years or more, Carbon360 is standing by its initial estimate of 1,900 hedge fund managers registering with the SEC for the first time. "Given that filings are averaging about 100 a month, we would expect the SEC to be flooded with new registrants come December or January as managers rush to make the deadline," Mr. Shapiro said. SEC has said that it expects to see an 8% to 15% increase in its pool of registered investment advisers thanks to its new hedge fund rule that requires most funds to register. The agency already oversees 9,025 asset managers. Carbon360 officials found the increase in registrants measured against the universe of managers will actually be in the range of 22%. The flood of registration applications may end up being approved by default, since the SEC and its Division of Investment Management have 45 days to review and deny a registration request. If they choose to not take action, the manager automatically becomes registered, Mr. Shapiro said. New registrants should expect an initial examination or audit within the first year, with the largest investment managers becoming subject to review every one to two years after that under the SEC's assumption that they pose a greater risk to a greater number of investors. This may mean that the smaller managers that historically have been the source of SEC litigation industry may not be getting the attention that they deserve, according to Carbon360. The SEC is under a time crunch and has been forced to focus in on firms it determines are high risk through examination sweeps, similar to what some hedge fund firms saw earlier this year. Such sweeps help examiners weed out the firms at risk for foul play, the regulators say. Mr. Shapiro sees potential problems. "How adequately are they defending investors if they too are overwhelmed?" he asked. The new hedge fund registrants will translate into the need for at least 316 more staff people to handle initial examinations of the new registrants, according to Mr. Shapiro. The SEC will be short 193 examiners, according to Carbon360's analysis of the SEC's 2006 congressional budget request. which totals an all-time high of US$888 million. SBarreto@HedgeWorld.com

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We invest in coloradofor Colorado + Team + Team Team Founder & Managing Partner Jim is a managing director and co-founder of Vestar Capital Partners. Prior to forming Vestar in 1988, he was a private equity executive with the First Boston Corporation in New York. Before Jim’s career as an investor, he practiced law with a leading Colorado law firm. Currently a director of Presence Marketing, St. John Knits and HealthGrades, Jim previously served as a director for Celestial Seasonings, Del Monte Foods, Consolidated Container, Michael Foods and Wabtec, among others. He is also a board member at The Nature Conservancy Argentina and The Piton Foundation | Gary Community Investments. Previous community boards include the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, The Denver Foundation, the Clayton Foundation and Great Outdoors Colorado. Jim earned a B.S. from the University of Northern Colorado, an M.B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame. Originally from Colorado, Jim is married with three children and lives in Denver.

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Insights Industries Services Events KPMG Capital Careers Alumni Media Social About Contact Global (English) Select KPMG member firm site and language Taxation of international executives IFRS News Frontiers in Finance Taxation of cross-border mergers and acquisitions Brexit: Article 50 triggered Brexit is a global issue – see how KPMG can support your Brexit plans. KPMG’s global network of transformation professionals focus on building enterprise-wide business value. KPMG is committed to providing long term support to our clients as they tackle challenges. 2016 Global CEO Outlook KPMG’s Global IFRS Institute Our global insight and guidance on the key changes to IFRS are now available Tax rates online The online rates tool compares corporate, indirect, individual income, and social security rates. Value of Audit Dialogue with Investors 6th Annual KPMG Global Power & Utilities Conference Big data means big opportunities for chemical companies 2016 KPMG Global Energy Conference Highlights from KPMG's participation in the 2017 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. Value of Audit: Dialogue with Investors Value of Audit - Dialogue with Investors: ICGN Kuala Lumpur, 12 July 2017 KPMG Capital KPMG Capital: portfolio of investments Astrus: third-party risk management Customer compass: customer insights Financial microscope All KPMG Capital Solutions for Clients If you are like many companies, you may be altering your business strategy and processes. Opportunities for Partners Do you have cutting-edge technology for data and analytics (D&A)? KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. Denmark: Investments for North Sea hydrocarbons Denmark: Tax incentives, investments for North Sea hydrocarbons The Ministry of Finance in Denmark on 27 March 2017 announced a political agreement has been reached concerning the framework agreement regarding investment incentives for the North Sea hydrocarbon activities. The draft law proposal has not been published. Tax incentives and provisions A tax incentive “window” from 2017 to 2025 would apply to motivate investments in hydrocarbon infrastructure assets in the North Sea. The investment window includes the following: The annual depreciation rate on the large assets would increase from a maximum of 15% to 20% (e.g., drilling rigs, production platforms, etc.). The hydrocarbon Chapter 3A “uplift” would increase from 5% per year over a six-year period to 6.5% per year over a six-year period. Currently, depreciation/uplift deductions can be initiated when the asset has been acquired, completed, and assembled to a state that it may be used in the operation according to its purpose. According to the agreement, the timing would be changed so that the depreciation/uplift would be available when payment has been made (likely, only available for new investments in the investment window period). To provide for a balance between the hydrocarbon producers and the Danish government in instances of future increases in oil prices, a repayment obligation would apply. Companies choosing to take advantage of the investment window would be subject to a “windfall tax.” Starting in 2022, if the price per barrel increases to an average of U.S. $75 (2017 prices) or more over a year, an additional tax of 5% would be levied. If the average price increases to U.S. $85 (2017 prices) or more, the additional tax would be increased to 10%. The trigger prices would be adjusted at 2% per year from 2022. The windfall tax would be payable out of the profits from hydrocarbon activities before interest and tax (EBIT). To keep track of the repayment obligation, a separate repayment balance would be required to be kept. When the investment window ceases in 2025, no further amounts would be added to the repayment balance. The repayment balance woud be inflated at a rate of 4.5% from 2022. If the repayment balance has not been repaid in 2037, the balance would cease (without being repaid). The windfall tax would be maximized to an amount equal to 20.1% of the investment expenses incurred in the years 2017-2025. Anti-avoidance rules would be introduced so that for a buyer of a hydrocarbon activities take-over (succession), the seller's liability to pay the repayment balance and that restructurings could not eliminate the repayment balance. A joint liability for seller would also be introduced to satisfy payment of the repayment balance. Third-party access As part of the framework agreement, it is the intention to improve the third-party access to the central hydrocarbon infrastructure. Third-party access means that other companies (i.e., than the owners of the infrastructure) could have access to use the infrastructure (platforms, pipelines, etc.). Accordingly: The pipeline law would be amended to make it more flexible to reserve capacity in the oil pipes. The tariff system would be amended so that operating expenses are calculated according to actual use; the capital costs would be calculated according to reserved capacity, etc. The “underground law” would be amended so that the Danish Energy Agency is granted clear authority to insert conditions in approvals for expansions of facilities/developments of facilities to reserve capacity for third-party option to use the facility. A number of other conditions would be made so that third-party access is made easier at reasonable terms.

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April 27th, 2015 Largo Signs Term Sheet for Debt Restructuring Raj Shah | April 27, 2015 (Source: CNW) — Largo Resources Ltd. (“Largo” or the “Company“) is pleased to announce that it has signed a term sheet from its consortium of lenders (“Lenders“) to defer its debt amortization schedule and extend the maturities for its construction debt facility (“BNDES Loan“) and its export credit facilities (together, the “Facilities“) for its Maracas Menchen Mine. As described in a press release dated February 23, 2015, the restructuring package contemplated an additional one-year grace period on the amortization repayment schedules for the Facilities, a two-year extension of maturity for its export credit facilities and a three-year extension of maturity for the BNDES Loan. The final restructuring package includes the following: An additional one-year grace period on the amortization schedules for the Facilities A two-year extension of maturity for its export credit facilities. A three-year extension of maturity for the US dollar component (as defined below) of the BNDES facility and no change in the maturity of the R$ component (as defined below) of the BNDES Loan. The BNDES Loan is denominated in Brazilian reais (R$), but approximately 63% or CDN$111,497 (R$257,676) of the facility is indexed to the U.S. dollar (“U.S. dollar component”), while 37% of the facility is not indexed (“R$ component”). The signed term-sheet provided by Largo will now be submitted for final approval from each of the Lenders’ credit committees and will be dependent on the fulfillment of certain conditions precedent by the Company prior to closing. Largo anticipates that the process will be concluded prior to the commencement of the existing amortization period for its Facilities. Mark Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer for Largo, stated: “We are extremely pleased with the significant advancements we have made in discussions with our Lenders and believe that the signing of the term sheet by Largo is a strong indication that the terms set forth are largely as anticipated and are agreeable to the Company. We remain confident that a finalized agreement will be reached in the very near term.” He continued: “In addition to the strides we have made with regard to restructuring our Facilities, we are further encouraged by the positive trend we are seeing in our production performance at the Maracas Menchen Mine.” Appointment of Mark Smith to Board of Directors: Additionally, Largo announces the appointment of Mr. Mark Smith, who is already serving as Largo’s President and Chief Executive Officer to the Company, to its Board of Directors. About Largo Largo (TSX-V: LGO) is a growing strategic mineral company focused on continuing to ramp-up production at its Vanadio de Maracás Menchen Mine. Largo’s Maracás Menchen Mine boasts the highest grade vanadium deposit yet discovered and is expected to be a low cost producer. With an off-take in place with Glencore, Largo is well positioned to become a leading producer of vanadium globally and is expected to generate substantial cash-flows. Vanadium is primarily used as an alloy to strengthen steel and reduce its weight. Vanadium enhanced steels are used in a vast and growing range of products that are used and encountered every day; including, rebar, automobiles, transport infrastructure etc. With a compound annual growth rate of over 6% for the past several years (Roskill, 2013), vanadium is a bourgeoning commodity which lacks opportunities for investment in the wider market place. As trends in the steel industry now demand increasingly stronger and lighter products for advanced applications, the use of vanadium is expected to continue this growth over the medium and long term. Largo also has interests in a portfolio of other projects, including: a 100% interest in the Currais Novos Tungsten Tailings Project in Brazil; a 100% interest in the Campo Alegre de Lourdes Iron-Vanadium Project in Brazil; and a 100% interest in the Northern Dancer Tungsten-Molybdenum property in the Yukon Territory, Canada. Largo is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “LGO“. This press release contains forward-looking information under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to completion of any financings; Largo’s development potential and timetable of its operating, development and exploration assets; Largo’s ability to raise additional funds necessary; the future price of vanadium, tungsten and molybdenum; the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources; conclusions of economic evaluation; the realization of mineral reserve estimates; the timing and amount of estimated future production, development and exploration; costs of future activities; capital and operating expenditures; success of exploration activities; mining or processing issues; currency exchange rates; government regulation of mining operations; and environmental risks. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”. All information contained in this news release, other than statements of current and historical fact, is forward looking information. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Largo to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to those risks described in the annual information form of Largo and in its public documents filed on SEDAR from time to time. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made. Although management of Largo has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Largo does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Readers should also review the risks and uncertainties sections of Largo’s annual and interim MD&As. NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE (NOR ITS REGULATORY SERVICE PROVIDER) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE

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One Day Vision Opportunity We own a decent stake in ophthalmology business Vision Eye Institute (VEI) and have spent the past week working on a capital raising to fix the company’s balance sheet once and for all. For the most part, we’ve been working to stop broker Bell Potter from stitching us up (only partly successfully, unfortunately). But that’s all by the bye. There’s an interesting opportunity on offer, potentially for today only. The company is undertaking a 2 for 3 rights issue which, in conjunction with a $4.5m placement, will raise about $27m. The deal was announced yesterday and the shares trade ex-rights tomorrow. The shares closed at $0.51 yesterday, and the rights are priced at $0.34. If you buy at $0.51 and take up your rights, your average cost per share will be $0.44. Those investors who don’t want to take up their rights will be much better off selling on market today as the share price will drop tomorrow when they trade ex-rights. More importantly, those investors who can’t take up their rights have to sell on market today. Only investors who are resident of Australia or New Zealand are entitled to participate in the offer, so if you are an overseas holder of Vision you are being forced to sell your shares*. I have no idea what percentage of the register they represent but, even if it’s relatively small, forced sellers create opportunities. Ingenia internalised its management back in June and issued new securities as part of the deal. The consequences were the same, non-residents of Australia and New Zealand were not allowed to purchase the securities – so were forced to sell prior to the meeting. The share price traded from $0.23 in March down to $0.18 at the time of the meeting, despite a significant amount of good news. Post the meeting it bounced back to $0.24 in less than six weeks. I doubt we will see as pronounced an effect with Vision, but I reckon it will trade higher than the theoretical ex-price tomorrow and perhaps meaningfully higher over the next few weeks. If not, today’s buyer will be left with a stock trading on a price-earnings ratio of 6-7 times, with a conservatively geared balance sheet, $27m of franking credits and likely to recommence dividends in August 2013. You could be stuck with worse. *Vision has applied to ASIC to allow them to issue the ineligible shareholders’ rights to Bell Potter, for Bell Potter to exercise them and then sell the shares on market and pass the proceeds back to the original shareholder. This eases the pressure on forced sellers to an extent, but with ASIC approval yet to be received it is an uncomfortable option. Both funds managed by Intelligent Investor Funds have interests in Vision Eye Institute, have participated in the placement and sub-underwritten a portion of the rights issue.

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Download our plug-in for Chrome to get customizable, real-time news alerts OCC's Curry Takes Lead At Bank Supervisors Council By Evan Weinberger Law360, New York (April 1, 2013, 5:29 PM EDT) -- An interagency panel charged with setting uniform guidelines for bank supervision on Monday named Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry as its new director.Curry will serve a two-year term as chairman of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. He takes over from National Credit Union Administration Chairman Debbie Matz.The FFIEC is responsible for crafting uniform principles, standards and reporting forms for federal bank regulators and the institutions they supervise. The council also has the power to make recommendations about ways to make banking... Twitter Inc. Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council

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American Eagle Gold Proof The American Eagle Gold proof is a collectible version of the popular American Eagle Gold bullion coin released by the United States Mint. There are limited supplies minted each year of these proof coins, which are available in four weights: one ounce, one-half ounce, one-quarter ounce and one-tenth ounce. Four coin sets are available and contain one coin of each weight. They will typically sell out after each run. Exquisite in design, these coins are struck in West Point, New York.The obverse of this beautiful coin features a depiction of Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ breathtaking Walking Liberty, first introduced on the $20 gold piece in 1907, when President Theodore Roosevelt authorized Saint-Gaudens and others at the time to redesign coins in an attempt to beautify U.S. coinage. To Liberty’s left, you will find the date, and 50 stars representing the 50 states encircle her body. From 1986 to 1991, the date was in Roman numerals. Since then, the coin has used Arabic numerals for the date.The design on the reverse is by Miley Busiek, which shows an eagle in flight, delivering an olive branch to a nest that holds its young. “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” arches across the top, while “E PLURIBUS UNUM” (left) and “IN GOD WE TRUST” (right) balance the design. Beneath the nest, you will find the weight of gold in the coin, and its face value, or denomination.The process of creating an American Gold Eagle proof coin is meticulous. Mint experts use special dies and manual feeding of the blank coins. To ensure a detailed coin design, the blanks are struck multiple times. Each American Gold Eagle proof is presented in an elegant presentation case with an official U.S. Mint Certificate of Authority that represents the U.S. government’s guarantee of the coin's gold content, weight and purity.Today, American Eagles Gold proof coins are the only collectible proofs that the U.S. government allows to be used for Individual Retirement Accounts. Weight: 33.931 g American Eagle Gold Coin Call for Price American Eagle Silver Proof Call for Price

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Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute-MAS MAS holds A Roundtable on the Investment opportunities within public-private partnership Wide Participation and Candid Roundtable Discussion on "Private Sector Compliance with Minimum Wage” MAS holds A Roundtable on the FY 2017 budget MAS Continues the National Dialogue on Food Security and Nutrition with International Agencies and Organizations MAS Launches a National Dialogue on Food Security and Nutrition MAS Hosted the IMF Presentation “Regional Economic Outlook for the Middle East and Prospects for the Palestinian Economy” HOMEMAS ACTIVITIESPUBLICATIONSLIBRARYABOUT MAS Home » MAS Featured Economist » Jomo Kwame SundaramMAS has the honor to select Jomo Kwame Sundaram, better known as Jomo KS, as its latest featured economist. A Malaysian national, his contribution to economic knowledge and service to improving the collective bargaining position of developing countries in the international economic order has gained worldwide reputation, especially through his service in the United Nations system. Jomo was Professor in the Applied Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya until November 2004, Founder Director (1978-2004) of the Institute of Social Analysis (INSAN) and Founder Chair (2001-2004) of IDEAs, International Development Economics Associates (www.ideaswebsite.org) where he now serves on the Advisory Panel. He was also on the Board of the United Nations Research Institute on Social Development (UNRISD), Geneva (2002-4). During 2008-2009, he served as adviser to the President of the 63rd United Nations General Assembly, and as a member of the [Stiglitz] Commission of Experts of the President of the United Nations General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System. In his capacity as the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development and Social Affairs (DESA) from 2005 until 2012, he built international consensus towards ensuring economic and social policies for balanced, sustainable and inclusive economic development. Thereafter, he became the Assistant Director-General and Coordinator for Economic and Social Development at the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) where he continued to advocate for sustainable development until his retirement in 2015. He has since returned to live and work in Malaysia. Jomo has written extensively and widely on topics spanning across Southeast Asian economic development, industrial policy, institutional economics, economic liberalization, international trade, development theory to the relationship between economic growth and inequality. He has authored over 35 monographs, edited over 50 books and translated 12 volumes besides from numerous academic essays. While he undoubtedly regarded as one of the most significant Southeast Asian economists, his expertise, and the lessons he has to offer, go beyond the region. During his 2009 Inaugural Yusif Sayigh Development Lecture held by MAS, when the global economy was still reeling from the shocks of the financial crisis, Jomo offered an astute analysis of the causes of the crisis, its effects on developing countries and outlined ways to overcome it. Jomo was in a prime position to do so after having been one of a handful of economists who warned of an impending global economic collapse. In 2007, his wide contribution to the theory, policy and practice of economic development was recognized by awarding him the Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. A link to some of Jomo’s articles published in the media can be consulted here This site is supported by Mui’n Bseisso St. – al-Masyoun -Ramallah P.O. Box: Jerusalem 19111, Ramallah 2426 Phone: +970 (2) 298 7053; Fax: +970 (2) 298 7055 The First National Bank InternshipVacanciesFacilitiesSite Map

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Popular Community Bank inaugurates new NY HQs Written by Michelle Kantrow // June 26, 2015 // Banking, Financial District // 1 Comment Popular Inc. CEO Richard Carrión leads Thursday’s inauguration of the bank’s new Manhattan headquarters. NEW YORK — High-ranking Popular Inc. executives were in this city this week to inaugurate the new headquarters for its Popular Community Bank business in North America, with expectations that the operation will generate more than $100 million in revenue over the next two or three years. The new 35,000 square-foot offices at 85 Broad Street shift Popular’s operations to Manhattan from Chicago, a market it exited as part of a major restructuring last year that also called for Puerto Rico’s largest bank to pull out of California and Central Florida. “Earlier in the year, we completed a pretty complex restructuring of our U.S. operations. It was a very difficult process from a personal level because a lot of our fellow colleagues moved on in different ways,” said Ignacio Álvarez, president of Popular Inc. “Clearly, it was never our intention to leave, but to work on our strengths we consolidated in markets we thought had the best growth potential and were easier to manage and integrate into our Puerto Rico operations,” he said. Following the sale of its assets, Popular reduced its North American footprint, maintaining presence only in New York, New Jersey and Miami, Fla. “Popular is committed to the U.S. market and is looking for opportunities for further growth,” he said. Popular has 37 branches in the New York/New Jersey area and another 18 in Miami. Recently, the financial institution added three new branches and about $1.3 billion in deposits in Midtown Manhattan, through its Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-assisted acquisition of the defunct Doral Bank. “The addition of those three branches strengthens our business in this important part of the city,” said Manuel Chinea, CEO of Popular Community Bank. Popular is still completing the integration of the former Doral Bank, with plans to convert systems and migrate customers to its network by late July. Aside from expanding its physical presence — by establishing smaller 1,000 square-foot satellite branches in sectors of New York and New Jersey currently not served — Chinea said Popular Community Bank is pursuing other areas of growth, specifically in its construction and commercial real estate portfolios, as well as healthcare financing. “As part of the restructuring process, we had a business that used to be operated out of Chicago that focused on healthcare financing,” Chinea said. “That’s a big area of focus for us. We’re been able to hire a very talented team here in New York that we’ve assembled and are seeing tremendous growth opportunities in that segment.” From left: Manuel Chinea, CEO of Popular Community Bank and Ignacio Álvarez, president of Popular Inc. Meanwhile, Álvarez said a third market, condominium financing, is another area of opportunity for Popular Community Bank, particularly in South Florida. “That’s where our most profitable specialty business is located, and is one that doesn’t require retail branches and offers services nationwide,” he said, referring to a $500 million operation that lends to condominium associations across the country. As for healthcare financing, Popular Community Bank is working with a very specific segment of the industry — skilled nursing, assisted living facilities, long-term acute care providers — to facilitate funding to operators that manage these facilities. That division generates $109 million a year, and the expectation is to double that by the end of 2015. To mark the official opening of the new headquarters, where some 120 people are employed, Popular Inc. illuminated the Nasdaq billboard on Times Square Thursday morning, gathering the bank’s top officials, led by CEO Richard Carrión. Share this:TweetEmailWhatsApp One Comment on "Popular Community Bank inaugurates new NY HQs" Rosemary Maysonet September 27, 2016 at 4:24 PM · Reply who is your CEO/ Is it Mr Richard Carrion or Mr.Manuel Chinea/ President of Popular Inc is Mr Igancio Alvarez; I am going to write a letter to them in regard to Human Resources Department or Headquater Office. My name is Rosemary Maysonet I had work for your company/ job training on 09/11/2001; I also work at two different branch 752 East Tremont Avenue Bronx NY 10457 and 615 West 181th Street NY NY 10033; My employee ID # 27982; I am requesting a letter or statement history of my record; that I was an employee from your company; date hire and end date. Looking forward to hear from you soon; once again thank you for your service. Rosemary Maysonet

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The Canadian ‘good banks’ myth By Murray Dobbin Murray Dobbin's Blog The sorry spectacle of Conservative cabinet ministers flying around the world defending banks from a tax to cover their next, inevitable, meltdown is bad enough. What is perhaps worse is that it is being largely justified by the perpetuation of the myth that Canada did not have to bail out its banks. We are, according to the IMF, actually the third worst of the G7 countries, behind the US and Britain, in terms of financial stabilization costs. First, we put up $70 billion to buy up iffy mortgages from the big five banks, through the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, taking them off the banks’ balance sheets. That is almost the exact equivalent the US bailout – it spent ten times as much, $700 billion, and its economy is about 10 times as large. Secondly, the Harper government established a fund of $200 billion to backstop the banks – money they could borrow if they needed it. The government had to borrow billions – mostly from the banks! – to do it. It’s euphemistically called the Emergency Financing Framework – implying that our impeccable banks might actually face an emergency. It is effectively a line of low-interest credit and while it has not all been accessed, it’s there to be used. Could it help explain why credit has not dried up here as much as it has in the US? Third, the government now insures 100% of virtually all mortgages through CMHC eliminating risk for the banks – and opening the door to the ridiculous flood of housing loans we have seen over the past few years. The result: housing has become unaffordable for tens of thousands of Canadians and new rental housing has dried up. Why all this extraordinary effort? If Canadian banks are such paragons of conservative virtue and prudent behaviour why did the federal government have to relieve them of mortgages that, presumably, were all carefully vetted and the borrowers scrutinized? And why is Mr Flaherty not making any connection between the growing housing bubble (which he now reluctantly acknowledges) and the banks which lend virtually all the money (backed by CMHC) that is growing that bubble? One of the reasons that Canadians (and international commentators, other finance ministers and global financial institutions) buy this Canadian banking fairy tale is the way the government accounts for the money borrowed to support the banks. As Bruce Campbell of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives explained in 2009: “These measures are considered ‘non-budgetary’ or ‘off book.’ They do not show up as expenditures, which increase the federal deficit and debt. Rather, they appear on the books of CMHC and the Bank of Canada. But they have increased the government’s borrowing from $13.6 billion in 2007-08 to $89.5 billion in 2008-09, or double the fiscal deficit now projected for 2009.” Not only has the Harper government felt it necessary to prop up Canadian banks it was this same government which created financial system risk in the first place. In 2007 the Harper government allowed US competition into Canada which prompted the CMHC to dramatically change its rules in order to compete: it dropped the down payment requirement to zero per cent and extended the amortization period to 40 years. In August 2008 Flaherty moderated those rules in response to the US mortgage meltdown. CMHC then “securitized” an increasing number of its loans into bond-like investments (if you have a typical Canadian mutual fund, you’ve got some.) At the end of 2007 there were $138 billion in securitized pools outstanding and guaranteed by CMHC –17.8 per cent of all outstanding mortgages. By June 30, 2009, that figure was $290 billion and by the end of 2010 it was $500 billion. In an effort to prop up the real estate market in 2008 (when affordability nose-dived), the Harper government directed the CMHC to approve as many high-risk borrowers as possible to keep credit flowing. CMHC described these risky loans as “high ratio homeowner units approved to address less-served markets and/or to serve specific government priorities.” The approval rate for these risky loans went from 33 per cent in 2007 to 42 per cent in 2008. By mid-2007, average equity as a share of home value was down to six per cent — from 48 per cent in 2003. At the peak of the U.S. housing bubble, just before it burst, house prices were five times the average American income; in Canada in late 2009 that ratio was 7.4:1 — almost 50 per cent higher. While it was CMHC that insured these loans it was still the banks that put up the money. And they knew they were effectively sub-prime. How do we know? Because they avoided direct risk like the plague - in the two years from the beginning of 2007 to January 2009, the banks themselves took on virtually no new risk. According to CMHC numbers Canadian banks increased their total mortgage credit outstanding by only 0.01 per cent. But they were happy to put Canadian taxpayers at risk by lending to high-risk borrowers knowing their money was protected by CMHC. Conservative? Prudent? Responsible? In a pig’s eye.

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UK economy: think again, Mr Osborne, before it's too late The editorial in today's Observer says that George Osborne has to admit that his strategy is doomed to failure. I took the opportunity to add a comment - something that I have been doing a lot recently. Indeed, if you are interested to see what I've been commenting on, you can look at all my comments on the Guardian/Obsever Comments page here. I've also added a link on the right of my blog. So, as a sampler, here's what I posted today. "I'm going to say it again. Read the first line of Bank of England's report for the BIS Triennial report, which can be found here. It states that "Net average daily turnover during April 2010 in the UK foreign exchange market was $1,854 billion per day," Assuming 250 trading days per year, let's call that $464 trillion a year or around 300 trillion pounds. That's 300 000 000 000 000 GDP. The UK is directly responsible for 37% of the world total. Congratulations. The part of this which is actually necessary for business is almost certainly minuscule. The rest is pure speculation - and has absolutely no value whatsover. It's the result of employing the brightest and best mathematicians and scientists from our universities to come up with a fractionally better way of siphoning money out of the system and stuffing it into the pockets of traders and bankers. How tragic that they have nothing more useful to do. I defy anyone reading this post to explain why 300 trillion pounds of foreign exchange does anything useful. Liquidity has nothing to do with it. On the contrary, this ridiculous activity is not only totally pointless, it is actually extremely dangerous. It makes the foreign exchange markets completely unstable and allows the markets (or rather the mindless algorithms that are running on the supercompters in the City of London) to paralyse the ability of governments to implement the reforms that are so essential. Dare to even mention regulation of the financal markets, and the "markets" will make you pay. The solution is blindingly obvious. It has been voted in by the European Parliament on the 8th of March. It is being actively pushed by Sarkozy and Merkel. But as long as George Osborne sticks to his policy of making everyone in the UK pay for the mess except those responsible, then nothing will happen. Introducing a 0.05% Financial Transaction Tax, as proposed by many groups including the Robin Hood Tax people, Europeans for Financial Reform, plus a very large number of economists, would have one of two effects (or a combination). Either (1) it would raise 0.05% of 300 trillion - namely 15 billion pounds of revenue for the govenment, or (2) it would slow down or maybe even completely prevent speculative trading on the foreign exchange markets. Both are highly desirable. And if anyone from the banking sector tries to tell me that it is vital for currency transactions to be totally free of transaction charges, then they will have to explain to me why the banks charge me over 10% for changing euros into pounds or vice versa, and over 39% for cashing a cheque in dollars. If the UK government persists in blocking such extremely sensible measures, they would not only be preventing the Eurozone countries from getting out of the current mess, they would be acting directly against the interests of the British tax payers. It's time for the LibDems to pull the plug on George Osborne. Vincent Cable - wake up!"

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Investment Expert Madison Street Capital Helps WLR Automotive Group April 14, 2017 yeahyouknow Madison Street Capital is now advising WLR Automotive Group on a sale of over thirteen million dollars. Madison Street Capital is an international investment banking firm, and they are helping WLR Automotive Group in this 13.2 million dollar transaction lease. WLR Automotive Group, located in the Maryland and Tri State Region, is a car wash and lube company, which helps repair automotives. They are a leader in their industry. The transaction was completed by SCF Realty Capital, which is based on Texas. The announcement of this transaction was made by Charles Botchway. Charles Botchway is the CEO of Madison Street Capital. Barry Petersen helped lead the transaction. He is the senior Senior Managing Director at Madison Street Capital. This deal adds to already the growing and well respected Madison Street Capital Reputation. Madison Street Capital is dedicated to integrity and honesty. They are dedicated to excellence and leadership. They help businesses manage their finances so that they can succeed. An example of this is their advisory for the above mentioned transaction of WLR Automotive Group. They help businesses evaluate their strategies. When they undertake a project, the goals of the client become their own goals. They focus a lot on emerging markets. Doing this, they have been able to help many clients become successful in their finances and transactions. They provide services to both publicly held and privately owned businesses. They have locations in North America, Asia and Africa, so you can take advantage of their services no matter where you are located around the world. They have lots of experience in helping clients in all markets, including technology, healthcare, retail, energy and solar, manufacturing, construction and real estate, mining of minerals and natural resources, media and telecom, transportation, medical devices, financial services, and also aerospace and defense. This is not a comprehensive list, as there are many other industries where they have helped an untold number of clients. Other transaction they are known for include the Hatch Chile Company, Fabtrol System, InteriorMark, GMS Pavillion Properties, and many many others. They have received many awards and M&A awards, including the M&A advisor awards in 2015 and 2016, along with M&A emerging leader awards, M&A turnaround awards, and international M&A awards. They donate a lot to charity. For example, they helped United Way a lot, when disasters struck all over the world. Through their donations to United Way, many communities have been helped. For more information, visit http://madisonstreetcapital.org/. George Soros Is Improving His Political Capital April 13, 2017 yeahyouknow George Soros has been reported by Politico as taking steps to ensure his progressive ideas will make their way in the public discourse. He has been looking for ways to pull people together who will help donate to the cause, and this article explains how the donors who are meeting with him are giving him the means to fight against Donald Trump. There are many things that may be done to help improve the situation in America, and people who are looking at ways to keep their progressive ideals moving forward must look to George for assistance. #1: He Is Meeting With Donors George has started to meet with donors to ensure that they will give to the causes that are the most important to changing the elections in 2018 and 2020. George has many targets in American politics that he wishes to fight against, and he will continue to send funds to those who will help in his fight. He knows that he may help quite a lot of people by doing this, and he believes that it is much better that many partners working together for the common good. #2: Who Are His Targets? The targets that George has chosen include many conservative politicians who have shown that they are not acting in what he believes are the public’s best interests. He wants them to be removed from office by any means necessary, and the donors he has found will ensure there is enough to be used for these purposes. They may spend years in court fighting against people they think are not good for the public, and they will continue to fight until they are certain that there is a way to remove each person who is not acting properly. #3: The Summit Was Important After Hillary’s Loss Hillary Clinton’s loss in the Presidential election is one that has caused the summit to occur, and there are many people who gave money to her campaign as George did. He gave as much money as possible, and he knows that he must do something to follow up the loss. He will begin to work for the more progressive policies that he believes in, and he knows that he may make a large difference in the world simply by fighting for the common man. The people that have been collected by George Soros to help with the midterm elections in 2018 all met with him in Washington. They have taken steps to raise as much money as possible to ensure that they may get back on a progressive agenda. They will continue to give their money, and they will help garner more donations by reaching out to other progressives. George Soros established the Open Society Foundations. The Importance of Social Security as Explained By David Giertz February 28, 2017 yeahyouknow When asked about the importance of social security, Senior Vice President of the insurance company Nationwide Financial Services, David L. Giertz, highlighted in an interview with the Wall Street Journal at http://www.wsj.com/video/speak-to-your-clients-about-social-security/8B2F5FA4-B0E8-4D71-A1E3-D29AA2711CC5.html about having a comprehensive, well-crafted retirement plan. With regard to this, he mentioned how financial advisors are often hesitant about discussing social security with their clients, which serves as a problem when it comes to making the most out of social security. Optimum benefits can be reaped from social security only when it is availed at an appropriate retirement age, in order for it to be an aid to retirees and not a means to fund retirement. In his interview, David Giertz discussed a research that he conducted based on the importance of social security to retirees and employed people ten years away from retirement, and found that the majority of clients considered changing their financial advisors if the advisors refrained from discussing social security with them, which only emphasizes the value of social security to clients. David Giertz currently holds the post of a financial advisor for Nationwide Investment Services, working from Columbus, Ohio. Working in the field of finance, he has amassed more than 30 years worth of experience and has achieved success in four exams, thus securing registration with the FINRA of a Broker. David Giertz’ job entails being a part of the sales and financial distribution personnel with various brokerage firms and conducting businesses in investment products and services like stocks, bonds, and security transactions. Giertz has previously worked as the Vice President of sales for FI/WH from 2009 to 2013 and is currently serving as the Vice President of Distribution and Sales at Nationwide Financial since 2013 on Facebook. His vast experience at such high posts enabled him to look at the downside of using social security too early, and thus carried out studies to prove the optimal time for when social security should be availed, keeping considerations like health and taxation in mind, and looking at how they influence the entire retirement experience on Finra.org.

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What Does CE Stand for in Stocks? What Does CE Stand for in Stocks? By Hunkar Ozyasar eHow Contributor Hunkar Ozyasar Follow Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images CE stands for common equity, also known as common shares, common stock or ordinary shares. Common equity is the most common type of share traded in stock markets around the world. Unless otherwise noted, the share price quoted for a corporation is that of its common equity. Other types of equities include preferred shares and warrants. Common Equity Common equity is the ordinary stock in a publicly traded firm. CE holders are entitled to a share of the firm's profits when such distribution is approved by the board of directors, and have the right to vote during the annual stockholder meetings. As a result, any individual or collective group holding more than 50 percent of all common equity can exert absolute control over the firm. While most large corporations issue other types of equity as well, many small firms have only CE. Even when other equity types are present, the vast majority of all shareholder equity tends to be in the form of CE. Preferred Stock Holders of preferred stock in a corporation are entitled to a predetermined annual payment in perpetuity. Therefore, preferred equity is more similar to a bond than ordinary shares. The biggest difference, however, is that annual dividends on preferred shares can be postponed in perpetuity by the board of directors, while bond payments must be honored or bondholders can take legal action. When both common and preferred stock is present, the preferred stockholders must be paid in full before any payment can be made to CE holders. When payment to preferred equity is postponed -- as is often done during hardship -- all accrued past payment must be made in full before common shareholders can be paid anything at all. Warrants Although warrants are technically considered a form of equity, they are in fact more akin to long term options. A warrant is simply a contract that allows its holder to purchase the issuing firm's stock at a particular price at some point in the future. The key difference between options and warrants is that the latter tends to have a far longer expiration date. In addition, options can give the holder the right to buy as well as sell the underlying stock at a predetermined price depending on how the options contract is structured, while warrants always give the holder the right to buy the underlying stock. Super Stock In rare instances, an additional class of shares can be issued with special voting rights. Such shares are sometimes colloquially referred to as super stock, while their technical notation may be more along the lines of class A shares. The holders of this type of stock share the profits of the firm equally, but have greater voting rights. While each common stock gives the holder one vote, every super stock could provide five votes, for instance. Such shares are commonly issued when a founding family wishes to retain control of the firm with a relatively small investment. Related Searches The Financial Pipeline: Equity Basics Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images Promoted By Zergnet What Does NASDAQ Stand For? The acronym NASDAQ originally stood for the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations. The association formed in 1971 to provide electronic... What Does PC Stand for After a Business Name? PC after a company's name doesn't have anything to with computers. Instead, PC is short for professional corporation, a type of company... What Is Common Stock Equity? Common stock equity represents ownership rights to a corporation. Investors must become familiar with the purpose of the corporation, the structure of... What Does ADR Stand for in Stocks? American Depository Receipts, sometimes called American Depositary Receipts--or ADRs--allow the shares of foreign companies to trade on U.S. stock exchanges. ADR shares... What Does CC Mean at the End of a Web Address? CC is the country code top-level domain assigned to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Top-level domains are the highest ranking domains in the... What Does FTSE Stand for in Stocks? The FTSE, an acronym for the Financial Times (FT) and London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a group of indexes that trade in... Check It Out 4 Credit Myths That Are Absolutely False You May Like What Is Share Equity? What Is a Paid-In Capital Stock Warrant Account? Nine Types of Stockholders' Equity Accounts How to Value Stock Warrants How Do I Calculate Preferred Stock Cost Basis? How to Trade Preferred Stocks

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SOURCE: National Association of Realtors NAR Presents Realtor® Bruce Aydt With Distinguished Service Award WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - Nov 12, 2012) - Bruce Aydt, a Realtor® from the St. Louis, Mo., area, has received the National Association of Realtors® 2012 Distinguished Service Award. Out of 1 million Realtors®, no more than two are recognized with this award each year. The recipients were announced in Orlando today during NAR's annual Realtors® Conference and Expo. NAR established the DSA in 1979 to honor Realtors® who have made outstanding contributions to the real estate industry and are recognized as leaders in their local communities. The award is considered the highest honor an NAR member can receive; recipients must be active at the local, state and national association levels, but must not have served as NAR president. NAR President Moe Veissi presented the award to Aydt. "Bruce's leadership and hard work has greatly impacted NAR and the real estate industry," said Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc., in Miami. "He is truly deserving of this award. Bruce's commitment to helping counsel, educate and train real estate professionals is a noteworthy endeavor that demonstrates the principle of service above self." Aydt is a second-generation Realtor® and has been in the management of real estate companies for 35 years. As senior vice president and general counsel for Prudential Alliance Realtors®, Aydt works daily to provide counsel and advice to real estate agents during transactions, as well as fill the role of the company's risk manager, defending agents against legal claims. In addition, Aydt has a vibrant teaching and training business for a variety of real estate classes nationally, covering topics such as professional standards, mediation and risk management. "I am tremendously grateful and honored to accept the Distinguished Service Award," said Aydt. "My father, who was a Realtor®, instilled in me a sense of duty and obligation to give back to the industry that has been so generous to me during my lifetime. I've carried that belief with me throughout my Realtor® career and I'm proud to be a part of an organization that helps build strong communities and works toward improving people's quality of life through homeownership." Aydt has served in a number of positions within the Realtor® community. He was appointed a committee liaison under three NAR presidents. Under 2006 NAR President Tom Stevens, Aydt served as committee liaison for the Information, Communications and Education Group. The previous year, in 2005, he was appointed committee liaison by NAR President Al Mansell to the Law and Policy Group. Aydt also served as a committee liaison to the same group under 2003 NAR President Cathy Whatley. In addition, Aydt chaired or vice-chaired five major NAR committees and subcommittees including the Legislative Work Group, Risk Management Committee, Legal Action Committee, and Professional Standards Committee. Aydt has chaired and vice-chaired six task forces or work groups and has served on four key Presidential Advisory Groups. On the state and local level Aydt is active and involved in his Realtor® associations. He served as president for both the St. Louis Association of Realtors® and the Missouri Association of Realtors®. Aydt was also named Realtor® of the Year for both associations. While on the leadership team at his state association between 2004 and 2007, Aydt was part of a complete renovation of the association's 20 year-old headquarters building. In 1990 as president of his local association, Aydt led the association in changing its name from the Real Estate Board of Metropolitan St. Louis to the St. Louis Association of Realtors® -- that was one of the first years it was possible for associations to use the word "association" in their name. In addition to real estate, Aydt also has a passion for training and education. Every year he visits anywhere from seven to 15 states teaching professional standards, mediation, risk management and GRI and ABR courses to Realtors®. He is a co-trainer for NAR's Mediation Training Seminar. Aydt has helped train more than 1,000 Realtors® in the past 12 years to serve their local and state association members in mediation as NAR's preferred dispute resolution system. For 18 years Aydt has also served as a co-trainer for NAR's Professional Standards Education Seminar. With NAR Board Policy staff and co-trainers, he presents an advanced professional standards seminar to Realtors® and association staff members. Aydt has taught more than 500 classes and estimates to have taught more than 20,000 Realtors® in his teaching career. Aydt is a co-author and founding partner of the Seller Representative Specialist (SRS) designation. SRS has a cadre of national instructors in both the U.S. and Canada and fills a need in the real estate business for specialized seller agency education. More than 5,500 Realtors® have taken the SRS designation course since it began almost six years ago. Aydt has been married to his wife, Lisa, for nearly 32 years and has two grown daughters, Erin and Jamie. The National Association of Realtors®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org. This and other news releases are posted in the "News, Blogs and Video" tab on the website. Contact Information Leanne Jernigan 202-383-1290Email Contact NAR News and Commentary

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MFDF - Mutual Fund Directors Forum - Event Details HomeEvent Details Event Details Details Uncategorised 14 May 2015 Created: 14 May 2015 Print Email  5398 Fund Director Compensation: The MPI Annual Survey (2017) Management Practice has conducted an annual survey of mutual fund director compensation for over 20 years. Each spring MPI releases its "Survey of Mutual Fund Director/Trustee Compensation and Organizational Practices", which provides aggregate compensation data received through confidential questionnaires, as well as SEC filings submitted by all fund industry complexes. This webinar will provide highlights from the most recent survey. This webinar will be broadcast live from 2:00 to 3:00 Eastern time on Wednesday, May 17, 2017. To receive member pricing, login to the site before clicking register. If you need assistance, call the Forum at (202) 507-4488. Forum Webinar Series Meyrick PayneManagement Practice, Inc. Meyrick Payne has been actively involved in the preparation of information required by independent fund directors for the renewal of management and advisory contracts for over 20 years. Meyrick has served as an expert witness on behalf of independent mutual fund directors and has counseled others during troubled times. He has presented at numerous MFDF, ICI, NICSA and IFIC conferences regarding fund governance. Meyrick has written widely on issues relating to mutual funds, including numerous MPI Bulletins and three plays about mutual fund governance. He formerly served as the CFO of Reeves Communications Corporation, a public television production and direct marketing company, and worked for McKinsey & Co., where he consulted in the Banking and Finance practice. He qualified as a British Chartered Accountant and a CPA while working for KPMG Peat Marwick in London, New York, Houston and Denver. He received his M.B.A. from Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College (1969). His early education was completed in England where he served in the British National Guard. Jay KeeshanManagement Practice, Inc. Jay Keeshan started his career in mutual funds in 1991 at Charles Schwab during the startup of their Mutual Fund One Source program. He has worked in general management consulting in the US and Europe for Fortune 500 companies including AT&T, DaimlerChrysler, and Coca-Cola. Jay has a BS in Business Administration from the University of Connecticut. He received an MBA in International Finance in 1998 from the University of South Carolina and the Economic University of Vienna, Austria. Jay has worked for Management Practice since 2004 and focuses on the areas of trustee compensation, contract renewal, and profitability analysis. Jay also does financial planning and is pursuing CFP certification. MEMBERS: NON-MEMBERS: Loading.. ARCHIVE MATERIALS

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Home / The Fed What do we do about the Fed showering the US with an ocean of currency? *Dow Theory Letters, by Richard Russell, February 27, 2008“I want to be honest about this. I have always objected to the very existence of the Federal Reserve. The Fed was sneaked into the system during 1913. The Fed was organized by a secretive group of bankers, and it was steered through Congress under very suspicious circumstances. The Fed, in effect, is a private banking monopoly. The original idea of the Federal Reserve, following close on the Panic of 1907, was to allow for an elastic monetary system. The Federal Reserve act turned over to certain banks control of the monetary system of the United States. Its legality was never placed before the Supreme Court. Nor was the Federal Reserve even presented to the American people as a Constitutional amendment. Under the Federal Reserve system, monetary discipline is exercised via a group of bankers and advisors. Before the advent of the Fed, monetary discipline was brought about by gold. In 1971 Richard Nixon took the US off the gold standard. Now “we’re all Keynesians,” he said. Once having removed the discipline of gold, inflation in the US accelerated and the dollar lost purchasing power year after year. Let me be blunt — if it was up to me, I’d get rid of the Fed and have the US Treasury issue its own money. Had we stuck to this process in 1913 and thereafter, we’d have much less inflation, we might have had the same number of recessions, the nation would be on a much more stable basis, and there’d be little need for an income tax. Finally, the US would not be pressured by a national debt that has now reached the absurd total of over $9 trillion. But the reality is that we do have a central bank that we call the Federal Reserve. And the Fed is charged with two duties — guarding the purchasing power of the dollar. And insuring that the nation is prosperous. The Fed is entrusted with those two tasks. Ben S. Bernanke, the latest Fed Chief, has moved into the Fed Chairmanship at a difficult time. The previous Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan, left the nation in a precarious state. Greenspan left his job with housing and the big banks in arguably their worst condition in US history. Bernanke, a former Princeton professor, is an expert on the Great Depression of the 1930s. He is also an expert on the long Japanese recession of the 1990s. Bernanke is well aware of the danger of deflation. Bernanke knows that once deflation holds the economy in its grip, it is difficult and close to impossible to turn the situation around. The Fed can create inflation, the Fed can dampen inflation, but it is far from certain that the Fed can turn deflation around, once deflation is well-established in the economy. The fact is that Bernanke does not want to find out whether the Fed can turn deflation around. So what’s the best defense against deflation. In a word — it’s inflation. You inflate in order to forestall deflation. I posted a message from Fed vice Chairman Don Kohn at the beginning of this site. Kohn is a veteran Fedsman. He’s been around a long time, and his words carry a lot of weight. Kohn is saying that the Fed is far more worried about the US economy than it is about potential inflation. Translation — the Fed will ACT to stimulate the economy but when it comes to fighting inflation — the Fed will resort to TALK. Put yourself in Bernanke’s place. What else can he do? Really nothing. He will do as much as possible to reliquefy the banks. He will do what he can to save as many homes as he can. He can hope that a rising stock market will work its magic on the psyches of America’s consumers. And he will shower the US with money in the hopes that this added ocean of currency will somehow float the US out of trouble. Question — Is Ben S. Bernanke doing the right thing? Russell answer — Under the current system, which is the only system we have, yes, Bernanke is doing what he’s being paid for. He’s charged with keeping the nation prosperous, and he’s trying to do that. He’s also charged with guarding the purchasing power of the dollar — well, right now it’s not possible to do that — so he’ll have the various Fed governors telling anyone who will listen that “inflation isn’t that bad.” OK, fine — but what should you and I do? We will deal with reality and try to protect ourselves from the loss of purchasing power due to inflation. To protect ourselves we buy gold and we buy silver.”

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Game Digital reveals 30% surge in sales GARETH MACKIE Video games retailer Game Digital, which returned to the stock market in June, today said its annual profits were on track to meet City hopes after it enjoyed a jump in sales during the second half. Following a “solid” second-half performance, the group said total sales were about 30 per cent higher than a year ago, and it was confident that underlying operating profits would be in line with analysts’ forecasts of about £43.7 million. The chain, which operates across the UK and Spain, said it gained market share in both territories and now has more than 16 million customers signed up to its reward programmes. Chief executive Martyn Gibbs said: “Our consistent focus on improving the group’s specialist customer proposition has delivered a strong performance and positions the business well for the future.” Full-year results are due to be released on 16 October.

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Deals Online betting venue Betfair to IPO punters: We're worth $2.4B Riley McDermid 0 The world’s largest online betting exchange, Betfair Group, today set a price range for its upcoming initial public offering and listing on the London Stock Exchange that would value the company at as much as $2.4 billion. The British company, which allows bettors to skip the age-old process of going through a bookie to make bets or give odds on everything from soccer to horseracing online, said it would sell a stake to public investors at £11 to £14, or $17.50 to $22.30, a share. Betfair also owns a nascent financial exchange, LMAX, whose early successes—or failures—may eventually weigh on any final IPO price. Betfair was founded a decade ago by JP Morgan trader Edward Wray, Internet entrepreneur Josh Hannah and well-known professional gambler Andrew Black. Hannah left the company in 2004 and is now a venture capitalist at Matrix Partners in Silicon Valley. Betfair has since seen revenues climb a steady 10 percent year-over-year, with the Wray and Black now owning 23 percent of the company. As of April 30, Betfair had seen a 13 percent gain in 2010 and listed its revenue at $543 billion. The company earns a 2 to 5 percent commission on any bets placed through the site. As part of the new IPO, Black and Wray have said they will sell at least 10 percent of Betfair, while selling an undisclosed amount of existing shares. Betfair said in a statement it would not issue any new shares in the public offering, although a group of 600 smaller investors, who hold a quarter of the company’s existing shares, will have the option to sell when the firm lists on the LSE. The company’s 14 largest shareholders (including Wray and Black) currently hold about 75 percent of Betfair’s stock, with its biggest investor being Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank Corp. Betfair said that Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs will act as bookrunners and joint sponsors for the IPO, while Numis and Barclays Capital will help solicit investors as co-managers. Topics > IPO online betting blog comments powered by Disqus

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The Austin Business Journal's Face 2 Face series delivers some of the brightest industry leader to Austin's business community for informative and inspiring discussions. Personal stories, stories from the boardroom and opinions on today's ever-changing business environment are tackled in a fireside chat format with ABJ Editor Colin Pope. The Face 2 Face breakfasts are usually held the second Tuesday of each month at Whole Foods' world-famous headquarters in downtown Austin. The breakfast starts at 8:30 am with a half hour of networking followed by a one-hour Q&A session with our featured guest. This discussion is fueled by questions from the audience, and most often centers on business-to-business topics that both educate and entertain. With 25 properties under his belt, Doug Guller has fast become one of Texas' most prolific businessmen. In accord with his goal of diversifying and building his company, ATX Brands has rapidly expanded with a number of high profile acquisitions since its inception in 2006. Guller started his first business, called 1-800-CHOICES, at the age of 23 with little success. Deciding that he needed more savings and business savvy he re-entered the corporate world where he quickly became the youngest vice president at Allegiance Telecom. After deciding that the time and the idea was right, he moved to Austin, Texas where he opened his first Bikinis Sports Bar and Grill. Bikinis is the world's only official "Breastaurant," as Guller trademarked the term in 2013. Guller has found the winning combination with Bikinis – cold beer, great food, beautiful girls and sports - there are currently 13 locations grossing $25 million a year. Between 2008 and 2010, Bikinis gained 78.8 percent in annual compounded growth. The first Bikinis opened in 2006 in Austin and the growth is spreading rapidly through Texas and Oklahoma. Bikinis was named to Inc magazine's 500/5000 in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and honored as one of the Fast 50 by the Austin Business Journal three times. The company now employs almost 700 people. Two years ago, Guller bought a small town located six miles from the infamous Luckenbach and 10 miles from Fredericksburg and renamed it Bikinis. The story garnered national press from outlets such as CNN, TIME, ABC News, Fox Business News and more. The news of a destination town in Texas named Bikinis also made a significant dent worldwide. Guller unveiled Bikinis, Texas as a premier destination spot for extravaganzas, weekend retreats, and more in July 2013. Guller also owns Austin music & bar venues including the Parish, Historic Scoot Inn, Guller Hall, and Parish Underground, as well as the popular restaurant Pelons Tex Mex and the adjoining 508 Tequila Bar, which is on its way to becoming a staple in Austin's growing Red River downtown district. Vinyl and Upstairs on Trinity opened earlier this year on the city's fabled Sixth Street to join already-established Chicago House. In addition to his entrepreneurial success, Guller is dedicated to charity work that benefits the local community including hosting Operation Turkey, a non-profit that serves over 12,000 meals in Texas on Thanksgiving Day, at Bikinis Sports Bar and Grills across Texas. He also hosts the Santa Pub Crawl every December, which benefits the Austin Sunshine Camps and kicks off at Guller's Chicago House. Guller is based in Austin, Texas and has a degree in finance from Villanova University. Monthly from 8:30 - 10 A.M. Whole Foods Market Global Headquarters Plaza Level 550 Bowie Street For questions or to register contact Abby Mellott at 512-494-2544 or amellott@bizjournals.com Interested in sponsoring an event? Contact Doug Pogemiller at 512-494-2530 or dpogemiller@bizjournals.com

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Your Email: Your Name: To: Subject: Message: Menlo to acquire Cougar Holdings Pte, Ltd. Companies sign purchase agreement, US$33.9 million deal to close in 90 days pending regulatory clearance, shareholder approval.Cougar Logistics Corporation, Ltd., which owns logistics operations in Singapore and Southeast Asia, and Menlo Worldwide, LLC, the global logistics subsidiary of Con-way, Inc. announced they had signed a definitive agreement whereby Menlo will purchase Cougar Holdings Pte, Ltd., and its primary subsidiary, Cougar Express Logistics, in a transaction valued at US$33.9 million. The purchase price includes a $28.2 million cash payment to Cougar and the assumption of $5.7 million in debt. Cougar Express is a leading Southeast Asia freight forwarding, warehousing, logistics and distribution management company with personnel, facilities and operations in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. A profitable, long-established enterprise, Singapore-based Cougar Express covers 12 operating locations in the region with a client base of nearly 200 Asia-based and global businesses. In its most recent fiscal year, Cougar Express recorded US$23 million in revenues. “We are excited to become part of the Menlo Worldwide organization,’ said Heinz-Peter Faust, CEO of Cougar Express. “The synergies between the domestic distribution business and the contract logistics business across a greater geographical sphere offer significant opportunities for development. With the resources of Menlo, we will accelerate our growth and offer our customers an expanded regional service portfolio in Asia as well as access to Menlo’s extensive global capabilities. It is a winning formula that benefits our customers and employees and will make our combined organizations a much more formidable competitor in the market.’ “This acquisition is an excellent fit for Menlo, expanding our footprint in this important region with a successful logistics company that’s complementary in every respect,’ said Robert L. Bianco, Jr., president, Menlo Worldwide. “Cougar has a loyal customer base, talented employees with proven expertise, a track record of growth and solid market share. We’re gaining new capabilities that enhance our presence in Singapore and expand the value and breadth of services we can offer to customers throughout Asia.’ Strategic Benefits Faust and Bianco cited several strategic benefits for both organizations that are expected to result from the business combination: Both organizations have well-established customer relationships and a strong presence and focus on the same key industry verticals: automotive, consumer and industrial and high-tech. The firms also share several common customers. Menlo deepens its service portfolio with the addition of Cougar’s ocean freight consolidation/deconsolidation, freight forwarding, cross-border customs brokerage and inland trucking capabilities in Singapore. Menlo expands its capabilities in the automotive vertical, gaining Cougar’s extensive operations for finished vehicle logistics, under which the company pioneered car freighting services in Singapore in 1993 to current market leadership. This operation facilitates the transfer of imported motor vehicles from the Port to the various distributors’ centers throughout the country, provides open space suitable for customs bonding for storage of such imported vehicles, and offers a wide range of value-added services such as inventory control, maintenance and yard management. Menlo gains a major foothold in the wine and spirits distribution market in Singapore, where Cougar has emerged as the dominant player in the alcoholic beverage logistics segment, controlling the market for import distribution and transportation business. Cougar will be able to supplement and enhance its well-regarded local services and expertise in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, with the broader regional and global resources and service offerings available through Menlo’s extensive infrastructure and operations. Cougar will be able to participate in significant new business o http://www.ajot.com/news/menlo-to-acquire-cougar-holdings-pte-ltd

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Saving Pakistan’s Economy L to R: Joseph Snyder, Khaleel Ahmed, Mosin S. Khan (Asia Society) WASHINGTON, December 3, 2008 – Since late 2007, Pakistan has been faced with a set of serious issues: an unstable political climate, increasing domestic security threats, diplomatic pressure from the United States, and over the last year an economy on the brink of failure. How did Pakistan get into this situation and how can the country regain economic stability? At a discussion co-hosted by Asia Society and The Atlantic Council, panelists Mohsin S. Khan, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute and former director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department of the International Monetary Fund; Khaleel Ahmed, chief investment officer in IFC's Global Financial Markets department, and moderator Joseph Snyder of The Atlantic Council, provided insights and possible solutions to Pakistan’s economic troubles. Khan provided an overview of the Pakistan’s macro-economic situation. He remarked that the GDP growth rate is 2-3% this year,which implied a recession considering Pakistan’s high population growth rate. Inflation is hovering around 25%, having tripled since the period 2004-2006. The central bank’s gross foreign reserves tumbled to $3.5 billion in November, representing less than one-month’s import value, and at the same time the government is running an $11 billion budget deficit. In brief, Pakistan needs $10 billion to bridge its current financing gap. Accroding to Khan, there were a number of factors that led Pakistan to this dire economic situation, but the two main causes were a rapidly rising subsidy bill for spiraling energy costs in 2008 and extremely low tax revenues, which combined to cause an increasingly large fiscal deficit. The government tried to finance this deficit by borrowing from the central bank, but the increased liquidity, in turn, caused double-digit inflation and a significant loss of foreign exchange reserves. The fact that the former government was running for reelection, coupled with ongoing political and security instability, discouraged Pakistan’s politicians from dealing with many of these key economic issues. Khan believes it will take Pakistan four to five years to recover from this economic crisis. However, there are recent signs of improvement. The newly-elected government has agreed to accept a $7.6 billion loan over a 23 month period from the IMF. In return, they have adopted a program which aims at phasing out government subsidies, eliminating the government’s borrowing from the central bank, tightening monetary policy, and shifting energy oil payments to market prices. Once the IMF Agreement was signed, several other countries and international financial institutions such as the World Bank, ADB, China, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia also pledged support funds for Pakistan. Ahmed’s remarks were focused on Pakistan’s banking sector, which he said is in a "much better situation" since the denationalization of the banking sector, which started in 1994. Nevertheless, although it is now private, the banking sector is still greatly influenced by the Ministry of Finance. The Central Bank’s supervision of commercial banks needs to continue to improve and a key issue is whether the central bank can become more independent of government officials and policy during aperiod of increased political and security instability. Overall, the financial sector has been buffeted by both internal and external turmoil and it is expected that there will be some consolidation of financial institutions.

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Cisco CEO: More Dividend Hikes May Be Coming Justin Menza | @JustinMenza Wednesday, 15 Aug 2012 | 5:13 PM ETCNBC.com Once you start adding dividends, our thought is to keep increasing them over time, Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Wednesday after the networking giant announced a 75-percent increase to its dividend. Getty Images “This was the time to do it,” Chambers said of the dividend increase.After making $11.5 billion in free cash flow in the last fiscal year, Chambers said that “we were very comfortable in our ability to pay that (dividend) even without repatriation.” Chambers was referring to the cash the company holds overseas that would be subject to additional taxation if it was brought back to the U.S. In a subsequent interview on CNBC, Kenneth Langone, CEO of Invemed Associates, said that Cisco's dividend increase showed that "there's no incentive to put the money back into the business because of what's going on in the country." (Watch a clip of the Langone interview.)Cisco had what Chambers characterized as an “unusually strong quarter — especially in Asia-Pacific.” Chambers said India is coming back and China had a very good quarter.“We feel good about Asia," Chambers said. "Part of it is market-share gains but part of it is we see their economies doing okay.” “The U.S. saw some positive trends,” Chambers added. "Europe was a bit challenged.” Chambers expects Europe to get tougher before it gets better. Chambers Explains Cisco's Earnings John Chambers, Cisco chairman & CEO, offers insight on the firm's latest quarter. Q4 was unusually strong, he says, particularly in Asia. “In the U.S., we started to see especially in the second half of the quarter, very slight improvement in enterprise, very slight improvement in the commercial marketplace. We’ve seen state and local government come back. Federal government is going to be tough for the next couple of quarters.” The company earned 45 cents a share on revenue of $11.7 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter, both ahead of expectations. “Our market-share gains have probably never been better than in the last 12 months,” Chambers noted. Justin Menza Cisco Systems Inc Closing Bell Consumer Earnings Technology

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From the August 15, 2012 issue of Credit Union Times Magazine • Subscribe! Trailblazer 40 Below: Fernandez Takes Career Path Less Traveled August 12, 2012 • Reprints As an electrical engineer, Fred Fernandez never imagined when he was just lending a hand at Bethex Federal Credit Union that it would lead to a permanent career. “I never thought I’d be in the financial sector. In college, I had interned at IBM and Citibank on IT/financial matters but studied to be an electrical engineer and moved to California,” said Fernandez, who is vice president of IT/remittances at the Bronx, N.Y.-based credit union. “I left California after 9/11 to go back home to the Bronx because I wanted to give back to my community. At the time, I thought the credit union was a good way to do that until I found a real job. I mean an electrical engineer, credit union. It just seemed incompatible. But I learned so much and being able to do everything possible to help meet member expectations, develop and deliver solutions that make a difference in members lives, I knew this was where I wanted to be full time.” A natural curiosity for figuring out how things work has helped Fernandez to constantly look for opportunities to help the over $25 million credit union function like a $50 million institution. “One key question every credit union, large or small, needs to be asking themselves is how do they stay relevant with their members and employees?” said Fernandez. “How can we do that? If you don’t have a strong bond with your members, a better rate has them going somewhere else. We have to be mindful of a changing environment and focus on how do I help the members solve their issues? Don’t shy away from the issues. At the end of day that’s what it’s all about, staying relevant by really being in tune with our field membership and that may take challenging ourselves in new ways or even new partnerships to make real change.” Some of the many advancements of delivering more value have included the implementation of a state-of-the-art Check 21 system that has helped the credit union prevent nonsufficient funds checks. The remittance program, which accounts for one-third of Bethex FCU’s income, was based on a first-of-its-kind remitter compliance program created by Fernandez when Bethex became the first credit union in the country to serve money service businesses. He also developed a spreadsheet application that monitors MSB account holders and supports the billing process for each account. He has been the credit union’s point person in negotiating new MSB accounts and providing the account holders with quality customer service. He currently heads four staff members who manage day-to-day business operations for some 60 MSB accounts, which continues to grow. In 2011, Bethex’s fee income grew to $1.95 million, an increase of 47% over 2010 and 83% over 2009. Fee income from MSBs accounted for 41% of the total. As in all small credit unions, Fernandez plays many roles, in addition to his expertise in computer technology, he has become a certified anti-money laundering specialist and serves as treasurer and compliance specialist. “With limited staff, one employee wearing 20 different hats is a way of living especially at small credit unions,” said Fernandez. “I’m a multitasker so it’s something I enjoy. To me, innovation has to be defined as the ability to bring new products, services and technology to the membership without adding additional cost to their use as far as member adoption. Sometimes at smaller credit unions when you have just one or two folks doing the bulk of the day-to-day work, thinking about and launching innovative solutions can look insurmountable. But we’ve got to overcome the fear of the workload and possible failure. It’s really an opportunity for us to be creative.” To Fernandez, there are no obstacles that can’t be breached. There is always a workaround. It’s just a matter of finding it and that means getting input and buy in from staffers. “New technology is not always well-accepted, and my goal with any solution has been to involve the employees and get them as much information as I can, so they too have a vested interest in how to move from A to B,” said Fernandez. “When I was in school, the professors kept telling us that getting the solution is not the goal. It’s great to have that, but the process of how things work, how you got there matters. So it’s a multiple stage solution of knowing where you’re headed and how to get there in the most efficient way by making it a team effort.” He added that it may be time to rethink the competition. “I think all financial institutions have a place in the marketplace, the members we serve are not typically served by the banks, so I think the challenge with competition is to overcome the competition in our mind first. It’s almost a mental state where in general we’re so reactive to the marketplace that we miss an opportunity to concentrate on the membership, look at how we can serve them in a way that they are not being served by the completion. Or focusing on ways we can become more relevant and create a bigger bond rather than looking at what the competition is doing. Our competition isn’t the banks or even other credit unions. It’s ourselves. We should be figuring out new ways to work as a team to provide unique solutions tailored for the members.” A regular contributor to the We Care initiative that provides local community development credit unions with much needed volunteer resources, Fernandez lives for collaboration. When We Care donated a server and printer to Transfiguration Parish FCU he was on hand to set up the credit union’s computer system. A small faith-based credit union participating in We Care that was on the brink of insolvency, Fernandez teamed up with another volunteer from the network and wrote up a complicated bond claim free of charge. He said it’s been those opportunities to help make a difference everyday whether in members’ lives, staffers or other credit unions that keeps him excited about being a part of the industry. Along those lines Fernandez said it’s past time to develop a national succinct, easily grasped national identification for credit unions. “One of the challenges credit unions have had is being able to define ourselves in the larger picture,” he said. “It’s important to better define ourselves in terms of communicating what we do on a national level that resonates with members and nonmembers alike. Think of what has happened in the last five years and when I think about what could happen in the future, this is the time for credit unions. We have the potential to make this change and educate the public about what we are and how we can better serve them.” While wildly optimistic about the good credit unions do looking ahead, it’s remaining relevant that he said will be the industry’s greatest challenge. “When I was about to graduate in 1994, I got a Mac. Apple was going bankrupt and everyone had written them off. But look where they are now. Serve the member, stay relevant and significant,” said Fernandez. “I had a professor who told me don’t concentrate on the grade, just learn the materials, and the grade will come from your understanding of what you’ve learned. We can’t just focus on the competition or even on just making a profit. If we as an industry can concentrate on making members’ lives better or provide a service they didn’t think they could obtain, the income aspect will fall into place. We’ve got to keep being persistent in exploring the options, trying new approaches to common issues and it’s something I try to live.” Show Comments

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From the August 29, 2012 issue of Credit Union Times Magazine • Subscribe! Advantis CU Picks Bob Corwin as CEO By August 27, 2012 • Reprints Bob Corwin will become the new president and CEO of the $930 million Advantis Credit Union of Milwaukie, Ore. on Oct. 15, the credit union said. Corwin currently serves as the CEO of Meritrust Credit Union of Wichita, Kan. Under his leadership, Meritrust CU has grown from $550 million in assets in 2008 to its current $830 million. Corwin also has served as the executive vice president and chief operating officer of the $5 billion First Tech Credit Union, then based in Beaverton, Ore. First Tech is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif. “I am excited to return to my home state of Oregon, and I am looking forward to the opportunity of serving as president/CEO at a credit union highly recognized for its member advocacy,” said Corwin. Advantis Board Chair Jake Jensen said Corwin was selected because he is a well-known and highly respected industry leader with a proven record of delivering strong operating results. “The board saw Bob as a great fit to continue Advantis’ tradition of creating exceptional financial value for our members,” Jensen said in Friday’s announcement. Corwin will succeed Ron Barrick, who announced his planned departure last September in order to give Advantis’ board of directors ample time to conduct an executive search. Barrick served as Advantis president and CEO for more than 25 years. During Barrick’s tenure, Advantis has been recognized 30 times among its peers as the No. 1 credit union in the U.S. in returning financial value to its members, according to Callahan & Associates, the credit union said. Last August, Barrick was appointed as vice chair of the Twelfth District’s Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Show Comments

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Republic of Mozambique and the IMF Press Release No. 98/35 IMF Approves Third Annual ESAF Loan for Mozambique The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the third annual loan for Mozambique under the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF)1 in an amount equivalent to SDR 25.2 million (about US$33 million), to support the government’s economic program for 1998/99. The loan will be disbursed in two equal semiannual installments, the first of which is available on September 1, 1998. Mozambique’s economic performance has improved significantly in recent years. GDP grew by 12.4 percent in 1997, inflation came down dramatically to 5.8 percent in 1997 and continued to decline during the first seven months of 1998, the external current account deficit narrowed by about 9 percentage points of GDP during 1996-97, the nominal exchange rate has been stable, and the net international reserve position was comfortable at four months of imports by end-1997. Confidence in the economy is improving steadily, and private investment is rising in what can be seen as a validation of the economic policies put in place over the past two years and supported by the first two loans under the ESAF (see Press Releases 96/33 and 97/28). Against this background, the IMF Executive Board determined last April that Mozambique qualified for assistance under the Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)2 (see Press Release 98/12). Delivery of assistance under the HIPC Initiative for Mozambique at the completion point in June 1999 is conditional upon the successful conclusion of the midterm review of the program supported by the current third annual arrangement, the approval at a new three-year ESAF loan, and adequate progress in implementing social policies. The 1998/99 Program Mozambique’s medium- and long-term goals are to create the conditions for poverty-reducing sustainable economic growth while lowering the country’s dependence on external aid. The government’s medium-term strategy is to capitalize on gains achieved in both macroeconomic stabilization and economic liberalization to encourage rapid private sector expansion. The program for 1998/99 aims at a real GDP growth (excluding large projects) of about 7 percent in 1998 and 1999, an end-period inflation of 6-8 percent in 1998 and 1999, and the maintenance of net international reserves at about three to four months of projected imports. Theslowdown in economic growth relative to 1997 mainly reflects expectations of slower growth in the industrial, energy, construction, and services sectors, which led the growth spurt in 1997. To these ends, the program projects a decline of the overall fiscal deficit, before grants, by one half of a percentage point in 1998 because of higher revenues resulting from improvements in customs and internal tax administration. In 1999, the budget is expected to be adversely affected by fiscal reforms, including tax cuts and a wage decompression in the civil service, that will widen the overall deficit before grants, but this will be accommodated by higher concessional external financing. Structural Reforms The authorities’ program of structural reforms seeks to remove impediments to economic growth and stabilization that remain, despite progress achieved in economic reform and liberalization in the past decade. The program focuses on increasing private investment t

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