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Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence 611

2016-30/0359/en_head.json.gz/4378

Bloomberg Anywhere Remote LoginDownload SoftwareService Center MENU Homepage Markets Stocks Currencies Commodities Rates + Bonds Economics Magazine Benchmark Watchlist Economic Calendar Tech Silicon Valley Global Tech Venture Capital Hacking Digital Media Bloomberg West Pursuits Cars & Bikes Style & Grooming Spend Watches & Gadgets Food & Drinks Travel Real Estate Art & Design Politics With All Due Respect Delegate Tracker Culture Caucus Podcast Masters In Politics Podcast What The Voters Are Streaming Editors' Picks Opinion View Gadfly Businessweek Subscribe Cover Stories Opening Remarks Etc Features 85th Anniversary Issue Behind The Cover More Industries Science + Energy Graphics Game Plan Small Business Personal Finance Inspire GO Board Directors Forum Sponsored Content Sign In Subscribe FacebookTwitterEmailPrintShareEditorial BoardTaxes on Millionaires Make Great Politics, Poor EconomicsMarch 19, 2012 7:00 PM EDTIn this age of austerity, many governments are looking for ways to fill gaps in their budgets by taxing the rich more. These proposals make for great politics, but terrible economics.This week, the U.K.’s coalition government will produce its budget for the next year. Among proposals being discussed between the coalition partners is a so-called mansion tax -- an annual 1 percent levy on homes worth more than 2 million pounds ($3.2 million).In Russia, meanwhile, President-elect Vladimir Putin has put forward a luxury tax to be levied on purchasers of high-end cars and real estate. In France, the Socialist Party’s presidential candidate, Francois Hollande, is proposing a 75 percent tax rate on earnings above 1 million euros ($1.3 million). His conservative opponent, President Nicolas Sarkozy, has parried with proposals to tax the worldwide revenue of large French corporations and to collect taxes from fiscal exiles.Hollande’s plan may in turn have been inspired by the debate in the U.S., where President Barack Obama has proposed a surtax on Americans with incomes of more than $1 million. The plan is known as the Buffett Rule, after Warren Buffett, who argued for higher taxes on billionaires like himself.Buffett should surely not pay a lower tax rate than his employees. But few of these proposals would make a dent in the budget deficits facing the countries involved. Buffett’s own effective tax rate is lowered by the large proportion of his income that comes from dividends and capital gains, which incur lower tax rates than regular earnings. It isn’t clear a surtax on the rich would change that.Take the mansion tax idea in the U.K., which Prime Minister David Cameron has been trying to get his Liberal Democrat coalition partners to drop. The tax would raise about 1.7 billion pounds annually, according to a Liberal Democrat estimate, which the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a nonpartisan think tank in London, says is about right. That would barely scratch the budget deficit, which the institute projects to be 124 billion pounds over the next year.The French Socialist party has estimated that its planned millionaires’ tax would raise 200 million to 400 million euros, an insignificant figure. And analysts say revenue from the tax might well prove lower still, depending on how France’s superrich respond.As for the Buffett Rule in the U.S., the billionaire investor’s “Je m’accuse” was laudable, but it also switched debate from whether to raise taxes on the top 1 percent of U.S. income earners, to whether to raise them on the top 0.1 percent. As we’ve said before, that’s plain silly. Based on 2009 figures from the Internal Revenue Service, doubling the tax rate for the top 0.1 percent might raise approximately $190 billion a year in additional revenue, or 1.3 percent of gross domestic product -- one-sixth of the deficit reduction economists estimate would be needed to fix the U.S. government’s long-term finances.To give an idea of the distorting effect of ill-conceived taxes on the rich, consider the 50 percent tax rate for people earning more than 150,000 pounds that Gordon Brown, the U.K.’s last Labour prime minister, introduced just weeks before losing elections to Cameron in 2010. The U.K. Treasury estimated the increase would generate an extra 2.4 billion pounds a year, adjusted for all the people who would respond by leaving the country or designing ways to avoid the tax. If no one changed their behavior, the tax change would raise more than double that amount, 7.8 billion pounds. Cameron’s government says it wants to reverse the 50 percent tax rate, just two years after it was introduced.There is no single answer to fixing the tax systems of all developed economies, as their tax structures and cultures differ widely. But governments should clearly avoid the temptation to focus on the superrich alone and instead reach down to touch the upper middle classes. Doing so would be politically more difficult, because it would hurt more voters. But it’s the only way to produce the kind of revenue that would really bring down budget deficits.Just as important, governments should start real tax reform aimed at simplifying overly complex tax codes and eliminating exemptions and loopholes that distort behavior and favor above all the wealthy. That’s an area where tax-resistant Americans and free-spending Europeans may find they have more in common than they think. To contact the senior editor responsible for Bloomberg View’s editorials: David Shipley at davidshipley@bloomberg.net. ©2016 Bloomberg L.P. All Rights ReservedTerms of ServicePrivacy Policy

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State’s ‘foreclosure prevention van’ rolling into town By Jonathan D. Epstein on October 16, 2012 - 12:11 PM State banking regulators are bringing their foreclosure prevention road show back to Western New York this week, as housing counselors and state specialists will be in Amherst and South Buffalo over two days to provide help to struggling homeowners.The Department of Financial Services’ “mobile command center” will visit the Cazenovia Resource Center, at 155 Cazenovia St., between Abbott Road and Seneca Street in South Buffalo, on Thursday and the Eggertsville-Snyder Library, at 4622 Main Street in Amherst, on Friday. Assistance will be available both days from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.“It’s important that homeowners who start to see financial problems know that there are more options available to them if they act sooner, rather than later,” Benjamin M. Lawsky, superintendent of financial services, said in a press release. “The foreclosure prevention program allows homeowners to meet one-on-one with foreclosure prevention specialists who are knowledgeable and can offer practical guidance.” The two visits, which follow an earlier stop in Buffalo by the state’s foreclosure prevention program, represent the state’s latest outreach effort to offer help to consumers burdened by unaffordable mortgages and at risk of losing their homes. The program was started in January under the direction of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, and has visited more than a dozen sites with high foreclosure rates across the state. While the five counties with the highest levels of foreclosures in the state are all located in the New York City area, the sixth-highest county in recent years has consistently been Erie County.“It’s great that Governor Cuomo’s DFS van is getting the word out that free foreclosure prevention is available to homeowners through housing counselors and legal services attorneys,” said Lauren Breen, attorney at the Western New York Law Center in Buffalo.The program allows for confidential meetings with state foreclosure experts who can assess where homeowners are in the foreclosure process and what help can be provided. The state can help consumers apply for mortgage modifications, help them communicate with or intervene on their behalf with mortgage lenders or servicers, or take complaints for investigation.“The Department of Financial Services Mobile Relief Unit continues to bring important exposure to the prolonged foreclosure crisis and to the availability of foreclosure prevention services,” said Sandra Becker, senior housing programs manager, Belmont Housing Resources for WNY. “By going to varying neighborhoods across the State it has also increased the accessibility to these services. Foreclosure is not just an urban issue, it is effecting every community, neighborhood and economic class.”Homeowners who can not meet in person can call the state’s foreclosure hotline at 800-269-0990, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or they can file complaints online at www.dfs.ny.gov.The state also warned consumers to be wary of anyone asking for an upfront fee to help them get a loan modification, save a home from default or stop a foreclosure or tax sale. Such fees are generally prohibited by state law. Homeowners should also avoid anyone who offers to save a home if the consumer signs or transfers the deed over while the homeowner catches up on payments, and should never make payments to anyone other than the mortgage company. email: jepstein@buffnews.com

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Steve Tobak In defense of Goldman Sachs (MoneyWatch) COMMENTARY My first reaction to Greg Smith's scathing public resignation from Goldman Sachs (GS) was where's this guy been? I mean, didn't we cover all this back in 2010? To refresh your memory, Goldman sold synthetic CDOs -- what Smith calls an "opaque product with a three-letter acronym" -- to its customers without disclosing its own short position, something Goldman executives referred to as "the big short." So Goldman both perpetuated and benefited from the subprime mortgage mess. A Senate subcommittee had a problem with that, raking Goldman executives over the coals for days and exposing all sorts of juicy emails, like this one from Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein: "Of course we didn't dodge the mortgage mess. We lost money, then made more than we lost because of shorts." And the result: self-righteous indignation by congressional leaders and regulators whose own hands were anything but clean in terms of the financial crisis. The SEC got its pound of flesh from Goldman -- $500 million worth, to be exact -- which went right back into the same coffer from which the bank bailout came. Yawn.Goldman: A leadership ethics dilemmaWho's responsible for the financial crisis?The financial crisis for dummies Then I got to thinking about something Smith said, that what's changed at Goldman is the way it thinks about leadership. He said, "Leadership used to be about ideas, setting an example and doing the right thing." Now it's all about how much money you make for the firm. Okay, I thought, that's something worth talking about. Smith is accusing Goldman of maximizing profits instead of doing what's best for customers, customers that are institutional investors and high net-worth individuals, professional investors who are supposed to read the prospectus of those "three-letter acronym" products. If you think I sound a little cynical, you're right -- because I think Smith sounds more than a little naive. Unless, of course, the company did something illegal, in which case you can call Smith a whistleblower. But Smith said he witnessed nothing illegal. So we're back to the 2010 moral dilemma and self-righteous indignation thing. Only this time, Smith's diatribe rings pretty hollow because, after all, he was part of the Goldman culture for more than a decade, an executive director or vice president of the bank. Sure, Goldman has like 12,000 of them, but still. I haven't heard a thing about him donating the millions of dollars he made at the firm to charity, have you? Then there's Smith's method for dispensing his naive, late-to-the party advice. It's one thing to write a scorching internal memo, like former Yahoo (YHOO) VP Brad Garlinghouse did with his famous Peanut Butter Manifesto, a document that was both accurate and eerily predictive of the company's lack of strategy that still exists to this day. It was clear that Garlinghouse was trying to do the right thing for his company. It's another thing entirely to publish a blistering resignation letter in The New York Times over a change in culture that, incidentally, just so happens to coincide with its change from a private to a public company. Smith talked about doing the right thing. Well, in my book, if you don't like what management is doing, you tell them. If they don't listen, then at least you know you've done the right thing. And if you've really got a problem with it, then you quit. In that order. It's not clear whether Smith discussed his concerns with his management, but he didn't mention it and nobody else is talking. So, this really comes down to why. Why did Smith take this unorthodox route that isn't even a moral high road compared to those he criticized? Maybe he's disgruntled because he got a crappy bonus this year or he was passed over for a promotion to partner. Maybe he's had enough with banking and he wants to be the next Michael Lewis of Liar's Poker fame. Smith is certainly radioactive when it comes to the banking industry and he did do quite a bit of self-promoting and selling in his oddly well-written op-ed piece. Hmm. Or maybe he feels guilty about being part of this unethical culture, for taking all the money and doing nothing about it for 11 years. And, like a lot of people, instead of taking a good hard look in the mirror and taking personal responsibility for his actions, he's lashing out at the big, bad company management. He certainly dialed into a theme that's been playing out on the world stage for some time now: The subprime mortgage meltdown and financial crisis, bank bailouts and bonuses, congressional investigations, SEC actions, Wikileaks, Occupy Wall Street, the whole Wall Street vs. Main Street thing. When you look at it that way, Smith isn't just late to the party; he brought a six-pack to a kegger when everyone's already hung over. One thing's for sure: Smith knew nobody would go out on a limb and defend Goldman Sachs, the evil empire, the Vampire Squid. After all, there's no sympathy for the devil. No, Goldman Sachs doesn't need my or anyone else's sympathy. But I think Greg Smith might. Of all the possible scenarios for why he did what he did, none of them reflect well on the guy. Guess he'd better be a darn good writer. © 2012 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved. Comment View all articles by Steve Tobak on CBS MoneyWatch »Steve Tobak is a consultant and former high-tech senior executive. He's managing partner of Invisor Consulting, a management consulting and business strategy firm. Contact Steve or follow him on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

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Beazer Gets Grand Jury Subpoena In Probe of Mortgage Business Friday, 30 Mar 2007 | 11:53 AM ETReuters Beazer Homes USA said it has received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office, which is seeking documents relating to it mortgage origination business. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the sixth-largest U.S. home builder said the subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of North Carolina was issued upon application of the Office of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General. Beazer Gets Grand Jury Subpoena A look at the Beazer Homes grand jury investigation and its impact on the housing market, with Kenneth Heebner, CGM Realty Fund portfolio manager, and CNBC's Liz Claman Beazer Gets Grand Jury Subpoena Friday, 30 Mar 2007 | 10:15 AM ET Beazer's shares have fallen sharply recently on news of the probe. The sixth-largest U.S. home builder said it has been in contact with the U.S. Attorney's Office and is cooperating with the investigation. Earlier this week, a representative at the FBI office in Charlotte, N.C., said the agency was "conducting a potential fraud investigation" into Beazer, which builds houses for many first-time buyers. Atlanta-based Beazer said it has not received a request for information or documents from the FBI or Internal Revenue Service in this regard. Beazer earlier said that the U.S. Attorney's Office has made no allegations of wrongdoing by Beazer Homes and that the statements made by an FBI spokesperson about an investigation and the scope of the investigation were unauthorized and should not have been made. BusinessWeek has reported that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice opened a probe into Beazer's lending practices, but neither the U.S. attorney's office in Charlotte nor the IRS would comment. According to BusinessWeek's online publication, the probe stems from a series of articles that appeared in the Charlotte Observer earlier this month. The series described questionable lending origination practices and high foreclosure rates among some Beazer customers in the area. Beazer has said it has found no evidence to support the accusations in the articles. Related Securities

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Saudi Arabia Builds Up Crude Inventories: Goldman Yousef Gamal El-Din Wednesday, 25 Apr 2012 | 7:10 AM ETCNBC.com Saudi Arabia appears to have been building crude oil inventories in lower domestic demand months in a scramble to offset the risks of “limited” effective spare production capacity, Goldman Sachs said on Wednesday. In a note to clients, Goldman Sachs cited a crude oil inventory build of 35.4 million barrels in the period December-February, based on numbers from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI). The reason the increased production was not pooled into exports, Goldman Sachs analysts argue, is grounded in an anticipation of “a substantial increase” in demand that cannot be covered by “simply raising production levels”. The logic behind the build-up in stocks, which amount to 390,000 barrels per day (bpd) in that period, is not the possibility of shortages resulting from escalating tensions with Iran. Rather, it is primarily in preparation for the strains of peak domestic demandthat the summer heat brings to the Kingdom. In the past, oil-fired power generation often took its toll on Saudi Arabia’s export volumes. The situation has become more pronounced than it has been due to what Goldman Sachs analysts describe as a market that has remained “very tight, despite the return of Libyan crude oil production”. "This is consistent with our view that Saudi crude oil production is unlikely to be sustained over 10.5 million b/d in the near future,” the note said. In November 2011, production reached the highest level in 30 years, hitting 10.047 million bpd. Since then, it has hovered just below the 10 million bpd mark, according to JODI. Demand Won't Affect Exports: Saudi Officials Officials of the world’s largest oil exporter have long maintained that total production capacity was 12.5 million bpd, and repeatedly dismissed suggestions of domestic demand affecting exports. "Warnings last year about what would happen to Saudi oil exports if current levels of domestic usage were left unchecked were taken as fact. But we are not leaving domestic energy consumption unchecked,” Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi told a conference earlier this year. In its report on April 14, the International Energy Agency(IEA) forecast total Saudi consumption to see a “notable deceleration” this year, with direct crude burn forecast to decline by roughly 100,000 bpd from an average of 660,000 in the April-September peak period in 2011. Ramped-up government spending, taking into account energy-intensive infrastructure such as desalination plants, are seen as supporting demand in a year where the IMF expects economic growth to reach six percent. As part of the drive to safeguard oil export levels, national oil company Saudi Aramco announced earlier this week it had increased production capacity at Karan, its offshore natural-gas project ahead of schedule. The Kingdom sits on the fourth-largest gas reserves in the world. But whether the ramp-up in gas production will be successful in sufficiently alleviating pressure off crude oil for power generation remains to be seen. Goldman Sachs analysts pointed out that “the implied direct crude burn has grown from 140 thousand b/d in 2003 to 520 thousand b/d in 2011 as Saudi natural gas production growth failed to keep pace with rising electricity demand”. It also maintained its expectation that Brent crude oil prices will rise again in in the second half of this year, to average $120 per barrel, and reach $130 per barrel in 2013. Yousef Gamal El-Din is CNBC's Middle East Correspondent and contributes to the channel’s flagship shows, as well as analysis for CNBC.com. Stay in touch with him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/youseftv @youseftv Yousef Gamal El-DinFormer host of "Access: Middle East" and "Access: Africa"

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Investor: I'm Pulling Out of SAC as Insider Probe Widens Javier E. David | Special to CNBC.com Wednesday, 21 Nov 2012 | 2:42 PM ETCNBC.com Amid an insider trading investigation involving a former SAC Capital employee, one fund manager has decided to yank his investment from the firm, while a second investor called the scrutiny a "witch hunt." Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged Matthew Martoma, a hedge fund manager who worked at CR Intrinsic Investors, a unit of SAC, with insider trading. Officials called the trades, which allegedly led to $276 million in gains, the "most lucrative" insider trading scheme ever. SAC Capital's founder, Steven A. Cohen, has not been charged in the case, and his firm is cooperating with authorities. Still, according to the court filing, Martoma did speak to a party identified as the "Hedge Fund Owner" — a person widely understood to be Cohen — about the trades at the center of the case. (Read More: Insider Trading Probe: Who's Being Targeted?') n Wednesday, a hedge fund of funds manager told CNBC that because of concerns among some of his own investors, he planned to pull his company's entire investment from SAC — a dramatic move that normally takes place only in cases of extreme market turbulence or reputational damage to a firm. Who is Steve Cohen? SAC Capital's Steve Cohen is a pretty low key guy, and is the 40th richest American according to Forbes' list, reports CNBC's Kate Kelly. Who is Steve Cohen? Wednesday, 21 Nov 2012 | 2:22 PM ET The fund of funds manager, who asked not to be named publicly, said on CNBC that he was making the move reluctantly, even saying that he was "sick" over the decision because SAC had generated such positive returns in recent years. He also said the size of his investment at SAC was in the tens of millions — a "rounding error" given the size of SAC's $14 billion investment chest. Still, it raised the question of whether the firm faced a wave of redemptions that could begin to take a toll on the firm, which charges some of the highest fees in the $2 trillion hedge fund industry, and has offered investors high returns this year in a turbulent market. Anthony Scaramucci of SkyBridge Capital — an SAC investor — staunchly defended the firm's internal processes to CNBC's "Halftime Report." He branded the media scrutiny as a "witch hunt" that appears overblown. (Read More: SAC Capital Grows Fund as Legal Battles Mount.) Although "rogues" in the hedge fund industry are committing "nefarious" acts, Scaramucci said, "SAC Capital has the tightest insider trading protocol in the industry. … There are people in our industry who are rogues, but I don't think Steve Cohen is one of them." _ CNBC's Kate Kelly provided reporting for this story. ______________________________________________________Got something to to say? Send us an e-mail at fastmoney-web@cnbc.com and your comment might be posted on the Rapid Recap. If you'd prefer to make a comment, but not have it published on our Web site, send those e-mails to fastmoney@cnbc.com.

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From the April-22, 2009 issue of Credit Union Times Magazine • Subscribe! PEOPLE April 22, 2009 • Reprints SOUTH Grow Financial Federal Credit Union, Tampa, Fla., announced that Jeff Merwin has joined the credit union as vice president/retail operations. In his new position Jeff will be responsible for the management of all 18 branches throughout the Tampa area. Jeff brings an extensive financial services background with him to the credit union. SAFE Federal Credit Union, Sumter, S.C., announced the re-election of three incumbents to its board of directors. The incumbents, Vern Disney, James King and R.G. Reynolds will all serve another three-year term. The SAFE Board also elected officers for the 2009-2010 year. Kay Oldhouser-Davis was elected chairperson, Kenneth PriVette was named vice chairman, Helen Smith was named secretary and Vern Disney was selected treasurer. Five Star Credit Union, Dothan, Ala., announced the addition of Bridget Riley as internal auditor. Riley has 15 years of financial industry experience that spans positions as varied as branch management, business banking, commercial lending and compliance. Redstone Federal Credit Union, Hunstville, Ala., announced two new members of the business retail department of the credit union. John N. Cook, will serve as assistant vice president, business services. Cook will have oversight of business lending and retail marketing of business deposit accounts. Neil A. Carville will join the credit union as a business loan officer. Carville will be responsible for making commercial loans. He has experience in all areas of branch management as well as commercial and consumer lending. Telhio Credit Union, Columbus, Ohio, announced three new additions to its management team. Todd Bullock is now vice president of residential real estate. Bullock will oversee the mortgage sales force for the credit union. Jerome Jones has joined the credit union in the position of vice president of business services. He will be responsible for the business loan department. Marc Stock has joined the credit union as a business development representative. He will be responsible for maintaining and building relationships as well as the generation of new members. Heritage Federal Credit Union, Newburgh, Ind., announced that three members were elected to the board of directors. Re-elected to the board were Mike Beeler, Stephen Crow and Kenneth Wilson. These members will work in conjunction with Don Bowen, Thomas Hendricks, JoAnn Jacob Krantz, Fay McCool, Joe Seibert and William Yockey on the board. The board of directors then appointed officers: Don Bowen will be chairman, Stephen Crow will serve as the first vice chairman, JoAnn Jacob Krantz will serve as second vice chairman, Fay McCool will serve as secretary, while Thomas Hendricks will serve as treasurer. Continental Federal Credit Union, Tempe, Ariz., named Thomas Martin as its president/CEO. Martin previously worked with Arizona Central Credit Union. Martin has a thorough financial background, and he brings more than 12 years of diverse credit union leadership experience to the position with him. El Paso Employees Federal Credit Union, El Paso, Texas, announced the promotion of Gloria A. Guerra to manager of the credit union's collections department. Guerra joined the credit union last year. She brought with her a comprehensive understanding of the financial services industry as well as customer service and management experience. CU Members Mortgage, Fort Worth, Texas, announced that Randy Shannon will be the new wholesale correspondent business development manager. Shannon brings with him extensive mortgage experience and a comprehensive understanding of the credit union industry.

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Unemployment rate slows down By Elizabeth Hamilton May 6, 2009 4:00 a.m. The Development Authority of Dawson County announced April 23 that the county’s unemployment rate slowed during the month of March, even though the rate was higher than the previous month. The March 2009 county unemployment rate was reported at 10 percent. This is the preliminary rate as released by the Georgia Department of Labor. The department also released the revised final numbers for February that placed the county unemployment rate at 9.8 percent. Even with only a modest increase over the previous month, the March unemployment level represents the eighth straight month of rising unemployment in Dawson County. “If there is good news in these numbers it is that the steep monthly increase in unemployment seems to be moderating,” said Charlie Auvermann, executive director of the authority. “I would hope that this is a sign that more jobs may be available on the horizon.” The state seasonally adjusted unemployment rates also appear to be stabilizing at 9.2 percent for the month of March, according to information released by the department of labor. Auvermann noted that the March county figures still placed Dawson higher than the overall Georgia unemployment level. “Many officials at the state level perceive our county to be very wealthy. In terms of those unemployed, that would certainly not appear to be the case,” he said. Dawson County is not eligible for many state grant programs because of its ranking as a more affluent county. The unemployment rate this time last year was only 4.9 percent. Unemployment in the county has more than doubled in 12 months. “We are all optimistic that the rate of increase finally seems to be tapering off,” Auvermann said.

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Spilman named lead independent director for Harris Teeter's board August 17, 2012 | By Allison Cerra CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Harris Teeter has appointed a lead independent director for its board. Harris Teeter's board — which recently approved an amendment to the company's bylaws to permit such a role — said that Robert Spilman Jr. would serve as lead independent director. Spilman, who has been on the retailer's board since 2002, will preside at the executive sessions of nonmanagement and independent directors, serve as the principal liaison between the chairman of the board and the independent directors, as well as consult with the chairman of the board regarding information to be sent to the board, meeting agendas and establishing meeting schedules. Spilman will continue to serve as chairman of the board's corporate governance and nominating committee. In related news, Harris Teeter's board declared a quarterly dividend of 14 cents per share to be paid on Oct. 1 to shareholders of record on Sept. 7.

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Keep 3-D Printing Companies in Your Crosshairs OK, maybe I was wrong after all. Maybe gunmakers Smith & Wesson Holding (NASDAQ: SWHC ) and Sturm, Ruger (NYSE: RGR ) should start to worry. After the debut of the first all-plastic 3-D-printed gun, I said there were a lot of limitations that meant gunmakers didn't have to worry about mass manufacturing that would threaten their profits. The plastic gun could only withstand the stresses of firing a single shot, and it needed an expensive, high-end printer to create it. With the government quickly shutting down Defense Distributed's spec-distribution website, and with printer maker Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS ) repossessing the first printer the company leased (the plastic-gun maker subsequently used a second-hand model to print the gun), the pace of technology's advance in the 3-D space is moving much faster than anticipated. Now comes a 3-D-printed gun that can be printed on a consumer-grade printer, can fire multiple rounds -- and can be made for just $25! The so-called "Lulz Liberator," named after both Defense Distributed's breakthrough weapon and the desktop printer it was printed on -- a $1,725 Lulzbot A0-101 -- took just two days to make, according to Forbes, and used just $25 worth of consumer plastic. Although the process hasn't been perfected yet and the latest iteration has a few more metal parts than the original Liberator did, it's clear the toothpaste is out of the tube and this is just the opening salvo in a battle between a government that wants to contain access to guns and libertarians who want information to be free. So it's only natural that this "war" also has its own special 3-D-printed ammunition. A separate engineer has achieved success in printing and firing two plastic shotgun slugs because, as he told Wired magazine, "a real gun shooting plastic bullets is more fun than a plastic gun shooting real bullets." But how long before the two concepts are melded and we have plastic guns shooting plastic ammo? Two weeks ago I would have thought it would be years before we saw such an event. At the pace the 3-D industry is moving at today, it could be just a matter of days. And that's where the problem for Smith & Wesson and Ruger could arise. The demand for guns is huge. As has been well documented, the massive number of background checks by the FBI is at unprecedented levels, which, as I pointed out last time, has surpassed in the first four months of 2013 all of the background checks completed in 2004 . With gunmakers reporting a huge growth in backlog, it's only a matter of time before a proliferation of plastic weaponry begins to soak up part of that excess demand -- demand that is also creating ammo shortages. Coupled with the Department of Homeland Security's submitting numerous purchase orders for billions of rounds , there's a dearth of ammo in the marketplace. Major ammo makers such as ATK, Hornaday, and Winchester have stated that they have shifts working around the clock, seven days a week, trying to keep up with demand but are simply unable to do so. So perhaps plastic ammo, like plastic guns, could be the solution to the problem. I still see the profits of Smith & Wesson and Ruger remaining intact, but the industry innovations under way do give me pause at the ability of Stratasys and 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD ) to maintain their leadership in the face of low-cost, open-source alternatives. They've been some of the prime movers driving the industry forward, and also some of its biggest beneficiaries. Stratasys' stock is up 80% year over year, while 3D Systems is 170% higher, but with both companies trading north of 30 times earnings estimates, they may see their returns miss the target. Because 3-D printing is still in its infancy, it may be you can still successfully invest in either Stratasys or 3D Systems and still shoot out the lights. 3D Systems is at the leading edge of a disruptive technological revolution, with the broadest portfolio of 3-D printers in the industry. However, despite years of earnings growth, 3D Systems' share price has risen even faster, and today the company sports a dizzying valuation. To help investors decide whether the future of additive manufacturing is bright enough to justify the lofty price tag on the company's shares, The Motley Fool has compiled a premium research report on whether 3D Systems is a buy right now. In our report, we take a close look at 3D Systems' opportunities, risks, and critical factors for growth. You'll also find reasons to buy or sell the stock today. To start reading, simply click here now for instant access. Fool contributor Rich Duprey has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends 3D Systems and Stratasys; owns shares of 3D Systems, Stratasys, and Sturm, Ruger; and has options on 3D Systems. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't 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. at 2:10 PM, 3DStockHub wrote: Hello Rich,What I don't think has been made public yet by 3D Systems Corporation (DDD), is that they're already selling the Cube online on China's largest B2C retailer.http://3dstockhub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=19&pid=24...Regards,Gary Anderson CAPS Rating: RGR Sturm, Ruger and C… CAPS Rating: SSYS CAPS Rating: SWHC Smith and Wesson H…

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Why Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. Shares Are Less Merry Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis. What: Shares of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MACK ) , a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing cancer therapies, fell as much as 23% after reporting results from a mid-stage study involving MM-121 in combination with Paclitaxel for the treatment of platinum-resistant or refractory-advanced ovarian cancer. So what: According to Merrimack's press release, MM-121, which is being developed in collaboration with Sanofi (NYSE: SNY ) , did not meet its primary endpoint of improving progression-free survival in a mid-stage trial. The hazard ratio of 1 signifies that there was no statistical difference between the MM-121 with Paclitaxel arm and the control arm with just Paclitaxel. In addition, certain side effects like diarrhea and vomiting were more prevalent in the group taking MM-121. If there was a bright spot, it was that a certain subset of patients with two specific biomarkers did demonstrate a hazard ratio for PFS of 0.37, signifying a 63% improvement over the Paclitaxel control arm, and may encourage new research geared toward patients with these biomarkers. Now what: The development of MM-121 is still very much in the early stages, but today's news certainly wasn't encouraging. There was no benefit demonstrated via the hazard ratio compared to the control, and the increase in side effects relative to the control arm is to me a bit concerning. Merrimack and Sanofi could certainly still find success with MM-121 as the biomarker subset showed, but I'd rather wait on the sidelines for Merrimack to deliver solid late-stage results than be left pondering what happened on a day like today. Two revolutionary biotechs you should be watching insteadThe best way to play the biotech space is to find companies that shun the status quo and instead discover revolutionary, groundbreaking technologies. In the Motley Fool's brand-new FREE report "2 Game-Changing Biotechs Revolutionizing the Way We Treat Cancer," find out about a new technology that big pharma is endorsing through partnerships, and the two companies that are set to profit from this emerging drug class. Click here to get your copy today. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't 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. Merrimack Pharmace…

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by Zvi Bodie and Robert C. Merton Keywords: Finance; Format: Print Bodie, Zvi, and Robert C. Merton. Finance. NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. (Translations in modern and traditional Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Russian, Korean, and Polish.) John and Natty McArthur University Professor, Emeritus Working Paper | 2015 Customers and Investors: A Framework for Understanding Financial Institutions Robert C. Merton and Robert T. Thakor Financial institutions have both investors and customers. Investors, such as those who invest in stocks and bonds or private/public-sector guarantors of institutions, expect an appropriate risk-adjusted return in exchange for the financing and risk-bearing that they provide. Customers of a financial intermediary, in contrast, provide financing in exchange for a specific set of services, and do not want the fulfillment of these services to be contingent on the credit risk of the intermediary, even when they are not small, uninformed agents lacking in sophistication. This paper develops a framework that defines the roles of customers and investors in intermediaries, and uses the framework to provide an economic foundation for the aversion to intermediary credit risk on the part of its customers. It further explores the implications of this customer-investor nexus for a host of issues related to how contracts between financial intermediaries and their customers are structured and how risks are shared between them, as well as the consequences of (unexpected) deviations from the ex ante optimal contractual arrangement. We show that the optimality of insulating the customer from the credit risk of the intermediary explains various contractual arrangements, institutions, and regulatory practices observed in practice. Moreover, customers and investors are often intertwined in practice, and so this intertwining provides insights into the adoption of "too-big-to-fail" policies and bailouts by regulators in general. Finally, the approach taken here shows that financial crises may be a consequence of observed but unexpected deviations from the ex ante optimal risk-sharing arrangement between financial intermediaries and their customers. Keywords: Financial Institutions; Citation:Merton, Robert C., and Robert T. Thakor. "Customers and Investors: A Framework for Understanding Financial Institutions." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 21258, June 2015. View Details CiteView DetailsFind at Harvard Article | Harvard Business Review | July–August 2014 The Crisis in Retirement Planning Corporate America began to really take notice of the looming retirement crisis in the wake of the dot-com crash, when companies in major industries went bankrupt in large part because of their inability to meet their pension obligations. The result was an acceleration of America's shift away from employer-sponsored pension plans toward defined-contribution (DC) plans—epitomized by the ubiquitous 401(k)—which transfer the investment risk from the company to the employee. With that transfer has come a dangerous shift in investment focus, argues Nobel Laureate Robert C. Merton. Traditional pension plans were conceived and managed to provide members with a guaranteed income. And because that objective filtered right through the scheme, members thought of their benefits in those terms. Ask a member what her pension is worth and she'll reply with an income figure: "two-thirds of my final salary," for example. Most DC schemes, however, are designed and managed as investment accounts with the goal of accumulating the largest possible pot of savings. Communication with savers is framed entirely in terms of assets and returns. Ask a saver what his 401(k) is worth and you'll hear a cash amount and perhaps a lament to the value lost in the financial crisis. The trouble is that investment value and asset volatility are simply the wrong measures if your goal is to secure a particular future income. In this article, Merton explains a liability-driven investment strategy whose aim is to improve the probability of achieving a desired retirement income rather than to maximize the capital value of the savings. Citation:Merton, Robert C. "The Crisis in Retirement Planning." Harvard Business Review 92, nos. 7/8 (July–August 2014): 43–50. View Details Journal Article | Journal of Portfolio Management | winter 2010 Tribute to Paul A. Samuelson Citation:Merton, Robert C. "Tribute to Paul A. Samuelson." Journal of Portfolio Management 36, no. 2 (winter 2010): 1. View Details

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Warren Buffett’s new real estate brand wants to learn from — and recruit — millennials 'REthink Council' gathering input from 10 top-performing young Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices agents Paul Hagey Almost sold out - grab your Connect SF ticket before they disappear! A group of younger agents will help Warren Buffett’s new real estate franchise brand, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, buck the aging agent trend and connect with the perspective of a younger generation. The Irvine, Calif.-based franchisor has selected 10 agents, all 35 years old or younger, to serve a two-year term on the “REthink Council,” from a pool of more than 40 applicants, based on their ideas and proficiency — transaction sides, sales volume and awards. The council will provide input to BHHS leadership on how to connect with millennials, the 20- and 30-somethings born during the early 1980s through the turn of the century. The new franchise network — which 51 brokerages have committed to affiliate with — wants to become an attractive brand for younger agents, and share innovative ideas with member brokers and the industry at large. The dearth of younger agents was part of the motivation for establishing the REthink Council. Millennials are not only scarce among the ranks of real estate buyers and sellers, but underrepresented in the ranks of real estate agents. Agents under the age of 40 made up just 11 percent of the Realtor population in 2013, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2013 member profile, down from 20 percent in 2003. NAR’s member statistics show that the median Realtor’s age has climbed to 57, the highest in 15 years, and that agents who are 55 and older make up 58 percent of the agent population. We (as agents) don't want to be perceived as used-car salesmen." --Margaux Pelegrin Source: National Association of Realtors “The REthink Council is an opportunity to harness the ingenuity of these young professionals and turn that power to the advantage of the network and the industry,” said Earl Lee, CEO of HSF Affiliates LLC, in a statement. “It’s a new era in real estate, and this council will better connect us with a large and emerging generation of homebuyers and sellers.” HSF Affiliates, a HomeServices majority-owned joint venture with Brookfield Asset Management, manages the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Prudential Real Estate and Real Living franchise networks. Prudential Real Estate and Real Living haven’t had a council like this before, said Melissa Kandel, BHHS’s council liaison. Part of the impetus, she said, was the newness of the brand and the desire to deliver on the idea of being a game changer. The group runs a Facebook group dedicated to sharing best practices among younger agents, and will put out a periodic newsletter and meet periodically with management to shape BHHS’s relations with younger agents, Kandel said. The council has already been meeting online, she said, and is scheduled for a two-day conference in January at BHHS headquarters in Irvine. Council member perspective Margaux Pelegrin, a 32-year-old agent with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach in Philadelphia, is one of the BHHS-affiliated agents on the council. (HomeServices acquired the brokerage in August and transitioned the company to the new brand on Nov. 12.) Pelegrin and her mother, Mary Colvin, operate a two-person team at Fox & Roach, and Pelegrin says the gap between her generation and her mother’s is palpable. An agent for 8 1/2 years, Pelegrin says part of what sets the millennial generation apart is the desire of its members to constantly discover new ways of doing things. Younger real estate professionals are eager to find the next solution that will make them more efficient, better agents, she said. Real estate is stuck in the dinosaur age in some ways, she said. When Pelegrin started her career in real estate in 2005 after working in a law firm, she recalled, someone pointed her to a typewriter when she needed to create some labels for files. “Are you kidding me?” she said of the moment. The anecdote illustrates the stuck-in-time mindset that lives in some corners of the real estate industry, she said. That’s why she’s excited to be on the REthink Council with other young, proficient agents — to share ideas and best practices with other top-notch young agents, and advance the new brand and, perhaps, the industry. Sometimes it’s difficult for agents to share ideas with other agents, even those in the same firm, because they’re competing. But Pelegrin’s excited that agents recruited to serve on the REthink Council should be comfortable brainstorming successful practices and strategies. The REthink Council will also be valuable as an asset for first-time, young agents — a place to go to get help, perspective and community, she said. “We (as agents) don’t want to be perceived as used-car salesmen,” Pelegrin said. “We want to have a great reputation.” She thinks the industry has an opportunity to shift its message to attract younger agents. “Millennials are very independent,” she said. “If they knew more about the benefits of being in real estate, they would be more interested,” she said. “We have a need for innovative, smart young professionals. Real estate is a missed opportunity for them.” Another REthink Council member, 34-year-old Mark Brace, shares Pelegrin’s view that the council will be a good resource for first-time agents. Brace — who’s an agent with a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based brokerage that will soon rebrand as Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Michigan Real Estate — said sometimes agents don’t get the training they need, so a structured mentorship program could be good for new agents. Another member, 33-year-old Carl Guild, an agent with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties in East Hampton, Conn., said his primary motivation was to learn from other productive, young agents. Guild says he’s also eager to share his recruiting tips with BHHS about recruiting younger agents. Like Pelegrin, he says that highlighting the profession’s freedom and independence is a way to attract younger agents. He said another way is to focus on communication mediums younger people engage with like social media and communication methods like memes. Brokers more likely to lose sleep over recruiting than tech issues Millennials more likely to choose limited service Keller Williams hires REDCareers to boost recruiting Brokerage Related Articles

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Howard Gold's No-Nonsense Investing It’s time to stop listening to Bernanke Howard Gold Commentary: Does the Fed have too much influence on equities? HowardGold Remember those great commercials from the early 1980s for the now-defunct brokerage E.F. Hutton? “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen,” was the famous tag line. Well, today’s version of E.F. Hutton is Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Whenever Bernanke speaks, investors and traders stop what they’re doing and listen with rapt attention. And sometimes, they act on his words, as they did a month ago, when Bernanke’s musings about the possible end of the Fed’s latest bond-buying program (QE3) started a massive selloff in stocks and bonds. Getty Images Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks during a news conference June 19, 2013 at the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC. But market pros and the media pay far too much attention to the Fed chairman’s utterances. Not that they’re unimportant; as I wrote earlier this year, the late Martin Zweig called Fed policy “the dominant factor in determining the stock market’s major direction.” Read Gold’s piece on what Marty Zweig’s wisdom teaches us now in MoneyShow.com. But Bernanke has said many times that the Fed’s actions depend entirely on economic events that are unpredictable and beyond his control. And unlike the imperious Alan Greenspan, who hung around for 18-and-a-half years, Bernanke will go quietly when his second term ends in January. Then he may write a memoir and earn millions in speaking fees. But he’s already a lame duck. On the first point — being at the mercy of unpredictable economic events — here’s what he said at a June 19 news conference: “If the incoming data are broadly consistent with this forecast (of moderate improvement in the economy), the Committee currently anticipates that it would be appropriate to moderate the monthly pace of purchases later this year … (and) we would continue to reduce the pace of purchases in measured steps through the first half of next year, ending purchases around mid-year.” (Italics added.) Literal-minded traders took that as a definitive statement of the Fed’s intentions. Starting on June 19, the S&P 500 index tumbled from an intraday high of 1652.45 to a low of 1560.33 on June 24, a drop of 5.5% in just four trading days. Yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which have been trending upward since last fall, peaked at 2.7% a couple of weeks ago. They’d gained half a percentage point since the day before the news conference. Next Fed Chief: Race Between Summers, Yellen(4:49) The race to become the next leader of the Federal Reserve looks increasingly like a contest between two economists: Lawrence Summers and Janet Yellen. Jon Hilsenrath explains. Photo: Getty Images. Terrified that stocks could — heaven forfend — actually go down, other Fed governors and Bernanke himself stepped in to “reassure” markets. Equities then moved to all-time highs, while a countertrend rally in bonds drove 10-year rates back down to 2.5%. Actually the Fed chairman has made similar statements going back to May, and the gist of them is: All things must come to an end and so will QE3. But when it occurs depends strictly on the economy. Or as he testified before Congress last week: “I emphasize that because our asset purchases depend on economic and financial developments, they are by no means on a preset course.” Bernanke prides himself on his transparency, and indeed his Fed is an open book compared with the “Secrets of the Temple” days under the great Paul Volcker. Back in the 1980s,the Fed didn’t hold news conferences nor did it even announce interest-rate moves. Fed watchers employed by Wall Street firms had to glean the news indirectly. But with openness has come confusion, especially when Bernanke lays out all the options in classic “on the one hand, on the other hand” economist fashion. The truth is the Fed can’t commit to a future course of action that depends on what actually happens in the economy, because that’s unpredictable by definition. Meanwhile, investors keep looking for certainty in an uncertain world. June’s experience showed that sitting tight would have been the smart move. And yet everybody seemed to miss the single most definitive thing Bernanke said at that ill-fated June 19th press conference: “Any need to consider applying the brakes by raising short-term rates is still far in the future.” Ending QE3 may take the froth out of stocks and it would likely cause bond rates to move higher. Read Gold’s recent piece, “What to Do as Bonds Crack,” in MoneyShow.com. But it won’t kill the bull market in equities, as raising short-term rates very well may. And as Bernanke said, that’s “far in the future,” and will be decided by his successor. Whether that turns out to be vice-chair Janet Yellen or — God help us — former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, the FOMC is likely to continue the easy money policy we’ve seen under both Greenspan and Bernanke. The economic recovery is just too weak and inflation too low for this Fed to tighten soon, especially with China slowing and Europe and Japan just bumping along. “With unemployment still high … and with inflation running below the Committee’s longer-run objective, a highly accommodative monetary policy will remain appropriate for the foreseeable future,” Bernanke reiterated last week. He won’t testify again before Congress as Fed chairman; he’s scheduled to give two more news conferences this year. He’s clearly using the rest of his term to shore up his legacy and point the way for a successor who may or may not follow his path. And while he’s still the most important central banker in the world, his influence is waning daily. That’s why as Ben Bernanke prepares to move on, so should we. Howard R. Gold is a columnist for MarketWatch and editor at large for MoneyShow.com. Follow him on Twitter @howardrgold and see his workshop, “Your Ideal ETF Portfolio for Now,” at the San Francisco MoneyShow, August 15-17.

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Thomas Evans, 86, a Takeover Expert, Dies By NICK RAVO Thomas Mellon Evans Sr., a financier who was one of Wall Street's most feared corporate raiders in the 1950's and 1960's and later the breeder of champion thoroughbred horses, including a Kentucky Derby winner, died yesterday at his home in Manhattan. He was 86. The cause of death was complications from a recent fall, said his secretary, Pamela McKay. Mr. Evans, who was also a philanthropist, earned fame and fortune as a master of mergers and acquisitions, an asset stripper whose takeover tactics were a forerunner of those employed by many of the leveraged buyout artists of the 1980's. During the days when Wall Street was as boring as a gray flannel suit, Mr. Evans was one of its more daring and rapacious characters, waging waves of takeover battles. Sometimes, he was victorious, as with the Crane Company, and a cement maker, the Medusa Corporation. Sometimes, he was defeated, as he was with Anaconda and Westinghouse Air Brake. After shutting down several companies in New Jersey in the 1960's, a Democratic Congressman there, Representative Frank Thompson Jr., called Mr. Evans ''the corporate embodiment of Jaws, the great white shark.'' More often, though, he was called a financial genius. ''He was never really an operator; he was a financial guy -- a balance sheet buyer,'' one of his sons, Robert Sheldon Evans, told Forbes magazine in 1995. ''He would buy something for less than book value and figure the worst that could happen was he would liquidate it and come out O.K. What he didn't want to do was lose money on the deal. If he knew his downside was covered, then he figured the upside would probably take care of itself. ''It was a very shrewd policy in the 50's and 60's, when there were highly inefficient markets: buying undervalued assets, running them for cash and selling off pieces. The 80's leveraged buyout guys were just taking a lot of his deals to their logical extension.'' A native of Pittsburgh, Mr. Evans began his financial career at the bottom, despite his gilded middle name; his grandmother's first cousin was Andrew Mellon, the famous banker. After graduating from Yale University in 1931, Mr. Evans landed a $100-a-month clerk's job at Gulf Oil, then owned by the Mellon family. He invested shrewdly, and along with a small inheritance, bought bonds in a troubled steam locomotive manufacturer, H. K. Porter. The company eventually went bankrupt and in 1939, when it was reorganized, Mr. Evans, as its largest bondholder, became its president. H. K. Porter did well during the next decade, diversifying into steel, construction material and hardware. Later, in 1959, he won a bitter proxy fight and acquired the Crane Company, which traded mainly in plumbing supplies and became a conglomerate consuming some 30 other concerns captured by Mr. Evans. For a time, he also owned his own stock brokerage company, Evans & Company, to save fees on transactions. Known for his candor and cantankerousness, Mr. Evans even battled in the board room with his sons. In 1994, for example, he backed a leveraged buyout of the Crane Company by outsiders to keep Robert Evans from taking control of the company. The board, however, sided with his son, and the senior Evans sold what was left of his shares back to Crane. Similar treatment also befell Robert's older brother, Edward. In the late 1970's, Edward ran H. K. Porter, which had grown into a conglomerate of businesses bought by Mr. Evans. That group of businesses included a stake in Macmillan, the publisher. Edward Evans moved to Macmillan after being dismissed from H. K. Porter. His father, irritated by the move, impulsively demanded that Macmillan buy out H. K. Porter's shares in the company. It did, for about $50 million. Unfortunately, afterward, Macmillan was bought by the rogue financier Robert Maxwell for an amount that would have netted Mr. Evans about $500 million. Patience, however, was never a virtue of Mr. Evans. He did, though, spend his last years on a farm in Virginia, breeding horses, a pastoral pursuit he entered decades earlier for pleasure rather than profit. In 1956, he bought a 495-acre Gainesville, Va., cattle ranch from the owners of Gallagher's Steak House in New York. He switched the ranch, Buckland Farm, from Black Angus to thoroughbreds in 1964. He also owned a 360-acre farm in Lexington, Ky., and bred many horses over the next four decades, including Pleasant Colony, winner of the 1981 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Although he raced dozens of other stakes winners, Mr. Evans said the 1981 Derby was the most exciting moment in racing. Pleasant Colony also won the Wood Memorial and the Woodward Stakes in 1981, and was honored with the Eclipse award as the nation's top 3-year-old that year. He was the first of three champions to be ridden by jockeys wearing the Buckland Farm silks of dark blue with a white triangle and white sleeves. A decade later, Pleasant Stage won the 2-year-old filly championship after winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies race at Churchill Downs in 1991, and the following year Pleasant Tap was voted top older horse, having won the Suburban Handicap and the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park and finishing second in the Breeders' Cup Classic. Among Mr. Evans's other stakes winners were Dance Colony, winner of the 1989 Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga; Stage Colony, winner of the 1991 Fort Marcy Handicap at Belmont Park, and Cherokee Colony, winner of the 1988 Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah. His trainers included Leroy Jolley, John Campo, Christopher Speckert and Angel Cordero Jr., the former jockey. A member of the Jockey Club, the Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association and the Virginia Thoroughbred Association, Mr. Evans was also a member of the Board of Directors of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. In 1981, along with Mr. and Mrs. Bertram Firestone, he received the award as the year's outstanding breeder as voted by the New York Turf Writers Association. Besides his work with thoroughbreds, Mr. Evans was active in numerous charities and arts organizations including the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, New York University Hospital and Carnegie-Mellon University. He is survived by his third wife, Betty Barton Evans; three sons, Thomas Jr. of Vermont, Edward of Manhattan and Robert of Greenwich, Conn.; four grandchildren, and two stepchildren. Photo: Thomas Mellon Evans Sr. Inside NYTimes.com Health » Too Hot to Handle

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Search this site: THE TOUGH CUSTOMER- Payday lenders: Beating back rate caps in Richmond By ALAN ZIMMERMAN | TOUGH@READTHEHOOK.COM Published online 9:00am Thursday Jan 31st, 2008 and in print issue #0705 dated Thursday Jan 31st, 2008 Halfway through the 2008 General Assembly session, it looks like allegedly predatory interest rates on payday and car-title loans will continue to hound Virginians for the foreseeable future, notwithstanding a high-profile battle being waged by both sides. Proposed legislation to cap interest rates at 36 percent is unlikely to even get out committee, much less pass, according to one of the legislation's supporters, State Senator Roscoe Reynolds (D-Martinsville). In addition to supporting a rate cap, Reynolds has proposed one bill to revoke the authority of payday lenders to operate in the state. Payday lending interest rates in the state averaged 378 percent in 2006, and have been known to reach as high as 782 percent, according to published reports. State Senator Creigh Deeds (D-Bath), who hopes to be the Democratic Party's nominee for governor in 2009, has called these rates "unconscionable." Reynolds explains that the General Assembly first regulated payday lenders in 2002 because the lenders were already operating, and some oversight seemed better than none. The legislative recognition, however, triggered a proliferation of the industry. As of late last year, there were 88 licensed payday lenders in the state with 800 offices, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Reynolds says he got involved in the issue several years ago when he started hearing from consumer assistance groups in his district about the unending spiral of debt high-interest payday loans impose on their clients. Reynolds, whose Southwest Virginia district is rural, says people who think payday lending is mainly a urban problem need to think again. On a per capita basis, there are more payday lenders in Southside and Southwest Virginia than anywhere else in their state, he says, sucking money out of those already economically hurting areas. The payday lending industry maintains it serves as a lender of last resort for many borrowers who cannot access cheaper credit, although critics and consumer advocates question that assertion. Some 434,000 Virginians took nearly $1.3 billion in payday loans last year. The average customer takes out 8.3 loans per year, often using one loan to repay another. The industry maintains that capping rates at 36 percent would effectively drive it out of business, and having donated some $470,000 to Virginia political coffers last year, it's not going gentle into that good night. The industry has proposed an alternative bill that would include several reforms, such as establishing a state-wide database of borrowers and limiting the number of times consumers could borrow. Reynolds says it's "interesting" that the industry itself believes it needs reform, but he ruefully adds that one needs look no further than last year's session– when an effort to cap rates gathered only eight votes in Senate– to see that the prospects for a rate cap– what he sees as the most effective solution– are dim. Still, both groups have stepped up efforts this session, with industry opponents bringing 300 supporters in to lobby lawmakers earlier this month, and payday lenders busing hundreds of their employees to Richmond to do the same. Governor Tim Kaine, who has said he supports a cap, has been making an effort to broker a deal among the competing sides. The Newport News Daily Press reported on a meeting two weeks ago organized by the Governor's office, but not on its results. Reynolds confirms that he has heard about the meeting, but he says he wasn't there. Kaine's office did not return a telephone call. Reynolds predicts that if there's a compromise, it will be around legislation that's acceptable to the industry. As a practical matter, that would seem to mean no rate cap. Reynolds says he can live with a compromise if it is a "dramatic improvement over what exists today." Delegate Rob Bell (R-Albemarle) echoes Reynolds' view, noting that given past futility on this issue, he will support any solution– even the industry-proposed one– around which a consensus can form. If there's a consensus forming, however, it seems to be that doing something is better than another year of doing nothing. But as the General Assembly's first foray into this issue in 2002 suggests, the law of unintended consequences can mean that's not always the case.

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Banking & Finance Register / Login Search " PrintEmail Now ReadingCash is a big bonus but there are other means of just reward Hong Kong Business›Banking & Finance MR. SHANGKONG Mr. Shangkong by George Chen Cash is a big bonus but there are other means of just reward Bankers are eagerly awaiting word of their added value but financial benefits are not the only way companies can retain their employees PUBLISHED : Monday, 31 December, 2012, 12:00amUPDATED : Monday, 31 December, 2012, 8:55am Comments: George Chen Share MR. SHANGKONG This time of year, the annual bonus is the talk of the town. Expectations in banking circles are running high, but the talk itself is kept pretty low. That's because since the 2008 global financial crisis, rewarding bankers has become a particularly sensitive topic. At the mainland's home-grown top investment bank, China International Capital Corp, Swiss bank UBS and Wall Street's Goldman Sachs, bankers are eagerly awaiting a bonus letter from their human resources managers. These banks were involved in several big initial public offerings (IPOs) in Hong Kong in the second half of 2012. And bankers have come to expect that if they make money for the bank, the bank shows its appreciation with a bonus. It's been a win-win relationship. Of course, the size of the bonus depends on the size of the contribution you or your team makes to the bank's coffers. Take, for example, the US$3.1 billion listing of People's Insurance Company (Group) of China. It was the largest IPO in Hong Kong in two years, and any banker who brought in a major so-called cornerstone investor to ensure a successful launch will definitely be considered a hero in-house. Over at Goldman Sachs, there are several who convinced American International Group to chip in for US$500 million worth of shares. For those bankers who haven't done a single deal, a year-end bonus is likely to remain the stuff of dreams. And they should be worried about keeping their jobs, no matter what their level. Judging by the market buzz, many middle-ranked bankers at firms deemed to be in relatively good business shape expect to get a bonus equal to at least two or three months' salary. People who think they've put in a heroic performance will also push for a promotion to, say, managing director from executive director rank. Some big mainland investment banks are likely to pay one or two months' salary as a bonus to their Hong Kong-based employees, regardless of their deal flow. Companies that can't justify paying cash bonuses this year should take note of the results of a recent survey by HR consultants Robert Half: of 100 HR directors polled in Hong Kong, 91 per cent found that offering non-financial benefits, such as letting staff work from home, was an effective way to attract and retain employees. About 40 per cent of respondents said they already had policies enabling staff to work remotely, while 54 per cent said they would consider allowing individuals to work outside the office. And according to the survey, 68 per cent of Hong Kong's top HR bosses provide workers who need them with mobile devices such as smartphones, laptops and iPads. The reality is that some companies have to wait until March or April, when their financial year ends, to wire the annual bonus to the bank accounts of their employees. That's when many staff opt to change jobs, especially those who missed out. So, here's a practical suggestion to hold on to talented staff: if you can't afford to pay a bonus in cash, how about trying to make employees happy in other ways that don't hit your bottom line? George Chen is the Post's financial services editor. Mr. Shangkong appears every Monday in the print version of the SCMP. Like it? Visit facebook.com/mrshangkong This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as:Cash is a big bonus but there are other means of just reward More articles byGeorge Chen Last but not least, let’s talk about freedom once again and why it makes a difference for Hong Kong 13 Dec 2015 - 5:43pm Money may make the world go round but a philanthropic mission makes tech start-ups more likely to stick around Tencent blocks Uber on WeChat, so what ‘fair play’ can we expect in China? 6 Dec 2015 - 5:06pm Flood claims show China poorly underinsured for disasters Brexit wreaks havoc on UK economy as recession risk rises Why Hong Kong was at its best in the late 1980s

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Explaining Southern California's economy Worry at the LA port as holiday shipments fail to materialize Matthew DeBord | October 14th, 2011, 12:34pm David McNew/Getty Images A truck passes shipping containers at China Shipping at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the busiest port complex in the U.S. (File photo 2008) If you believe that the Port of Los Angeles is a reliable indicator of the holiday retail season, then signs for a Merry Christmas are not very good. This from the L.A. Times: International trade is one of Southern California's most important sources of relatively high-wage blue-collar employment. More than half the state's 1.1 million cargo-related jobs are located in the region, where a boost in cargo would have had an immediate effect on the amount of work available to dockworkers, truck drivers, warehouse and distribution center staff, railroad workers and others.Instead, cargo traffic through the Port of Los Angeles showed a slight overall decline in September, down 0.8% to 705,623 cargo containers, compared with 711,613 a year earlier. Imports through the nation's largest container port were down 0.2% to 372,655 containers. The only bright spot was in U.S. exports through Los Angeles, which continued on a course toward a new record, up 26.6% to 176,954 containers.Read More... Saving the economy: Infrastructure spending isn't enough Matthew DeBord | October 14th, 2011, 11:29am Eric Richardson / Blogdowntown Participants in Occupy Los Angeles rally on the steps of City Hall after marching from Pershing Square on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011. At Business Insider, Henry Blodget offers a plan to save the economy. In the process, he says that he's choosing sides in a religious-econo war, between the big-spending Keynesians on one side and the no-spending Austrian School economists on the other (this is a super-shorthand version of the major economics debate of the past 100 years). His solution? Massive infrastructure spending: The government should construct and pass a long-term budget plan that Minimizes short-term pain, while Getting the long-term deficit under control This budget plan should be designed to benefit all Americans, not just special-interest groups or different classes or industries This budget plan can theoretically include an increase in short-term spending designed to minimize the country's pain, as long as it also includes a decrease in long-term spending (again, right now, the world is willing to lend us as much money as we want) One form of government spending that unequivocally benefits all Americans is infrastructure spending (when the projects are finished, America has the infrastructure) Infrastructure spending would help America address another reality that has emerged in the past three decades—the reality that the infrastructure of many countries in Europe, Asia, and other regions has vaulted past that in the US and made the US look like a second-world country Infrastructure spending would boost employment in one sector of the economy hammered by the recession—construction Infrastructure spending would involve fewer of the conflicts and misaligned incentives that infuriate many Americans about "entitlement programs," extended unemployment benefits, welfare, food stamps, and other government expenditures that seem to encourage sloth and laziness and "socialism" The 10-year government budget designed to get us out of our current predicament, therefore, should probably include a massive, multi-year infrastructure spending program. This makes a lot of sense and sticks to the Great Depression playbook, when Harold Ickes oversaw the Public Works Administration and built much of the heavy-duty infrastructure that we assoiciate with that period and the recovery from the crisis. But just as it wasn't enough on its own in the 1930s, it won't be enough in the 2010s. For that, the other half of the Great Depression playbook needs to be used. This is the Works Progress Administration, overseen by Harry Hopkins. Its focus was simple and short-term: jobs, jobs, jobs. Infrastructure spending is the perfect way to find detente between the Keynesian spenders and the Austrian no-spenders because it represents investment rather that, bluntly stated, waste. If you're going to spend, spend long-term and build what the country needs to be competitive in the future. Who can argue with that? In fact, there's aready bipartisan enthusiasm for infrastructure spending. But what do you do about, for example, 12 percent unemployment in California — right now? If you follow the Hopkins rules, you throw money at the problem, spending now and asking questions later. At best, you restore dignity and save citizens from the threat of long-term unemployment; at worst, you pump money into some pointless endeavors that won't yield much of anything in 30 years, but will at least attack the problem of idle human capital. Occupy Wall Street and its offshoots have shown us that there's a lot of rage and frustration in the land. Rebuilding the nation's infrastructure is a great, partial solution. But if we're going to stave off the potential social fracture that now looms, we need to get the unemployed to work, and we need to do it a lot faster than the time we'll need to approve bridges, tunnels, and roads. The state of venture capital and tech investment Matthew DeBord | October 14th, 2011, 9:38am Araya Diaz/Getty Images for TechCrunch SAN FRANCISCO, CA - SEPTEMBER 14: (L-R) TechCrunch Founder and Co-Editor Michael Arrington,500 Startups Venture Capitalist & Founding General Partner David Mclure, Tasty Labs Co-Founder and CEO Aydin Senkut, Freestyle Capital Founding Partner Josh Felser, SoftTech VC Managing Partner Jeff Clavier, and SV Angel angel investor Ron Conway speak onstage at Day 3 of TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2011 held at the San Francisco Design Center Concourse on September 14, 2011 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Araya Diaz/Getty Images for TechCrunch) If you aren't reading Fred Wilson, you should. He's a venture capitalist who runs Union Square Ventures in New York and regularly writes about being a VC at his aptly named blog, AVC. Many people who are pondering the woeful state of the U.S. economy are looking to tech as something that may lead us out of the woods. Problem is, tech costs money. And tech is extremely competitive. And there's been some discussion of late that VCs are having trouble raising money to fund new companies. Wilson breaks it down. Here's what I think is his most interesting point: 5) The internet investing market is transitioning. Social was the driving force for the past three or four years. In the wake of Facebook and Twitter, how could it not be? Mobile has also been a hot theme. Both sectors have consolidated a few winners and a number of additional interesting emerging companies. But how many social platforms of scale will there be? Five, ten, twenty? And mobile is hard because distribution continues to be limited to the app store model where you get on the leaderboard and win or you don't and you don't. Investors are moving into new areas like cloud, peer to peer marketplaces, and trying to take what worked in consumer into the enterprise. There is no lack of interest in internet investing, but investors are having to learn new markets and new sectors. And that kind of transition takes the heat out of an overheated market.Read More... Visual Aid: Gary Cooper speaks for the 1 percent Matthew DeBord | October 13th, 2011, 5:30pm OK, I couldn't let FDR have the only say on the Occupy Wall Street/Occupy Everywhere movement. So here's Gary Cooper as Howard Roark in the 1949 film version of Ayn Rand's 1943 novel, "The Fountainhead." Pretty well sums up where the 1% are coming from. Or at least some of the 1% (the 0.5%?). Enjoy! Follow Matthew DeBord and the DeBord Report on Twitter.Read More... Visual Aid: Occupy Wall Street's breakfast — grilled millionaire? The 1% have nothing to fear from the 99% but fear itself. Unless the 1%, like Franklin Roosevelt in 1938, lose their taste for scrambled eggs at breakfast after munching for months on...millionaires! The video above is fairly famous but I think also worth revisiting as tensions mount with Occupy Wall Street. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has informed the protesters that they need to vacate Zuccotti Park by tomorrow. Follow Matthew DeBord and the DeBord Report on Twitter.Read More... About the blog: The Breakdown The Breakdown explains what's behind Southern California business and economic news. It describes the effects the headlines have on you: whether you're an investor, a business owner, an employee, homeowner, consumer or just someone who wants to know how to save a buck. Follow @RadioBWatt on Twitter Ben Bergman Follow @TheBenBergman on Twitter The Breakdown is moving Ports see worst congestion since 2004 because of work stoppage Shared workspaces spreading beyond Silicon Beach Can LAX get as big as other top airports? LAEDC marks 200,000th job created or kept in the county More from The Breakdown

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Sify.comFinanceEconomyHow serious is Obama about India? How serious is Obama about India? Source : By : Nayanima Basu Last Updated: Sun, Nov 25, 2012 05:06 hrs Though US President Barack Obama yesterday said India was a major part of his plans, experts and economists in India take the comment with a pinch of salt. China and other geopolitical concerns, not India, would play an important role in Obama's scheme of things in his second term as president, they say. Besides, it is expected outsourcing would be hit and the World Trade Organisation (WTO)'s Doha round of talks wouldn't make much headway with Obama as US president. "Now, India is not as important to him (Obama) as China, where the change of leadership is being keenly watched by the US," a senior Commerce Department official told Business Standard.Kabali review: Rajini carries film on his shoulders "India-US economic relations are somewhat at crossroads, as India doesn't seem to be figuring in the list of countries with which the US is keen to increase its engagement. Currently, the trans-Pacific partnership agreement is on top of the priority list," said Biswajit Dhar, director general of Delhi-based Research and Information System for Developing Countries. Dhar added on Saturday, the US administration, be it Democrats or Republicans, was guided by two concerns - domestic economic compulsions and geopolitical ambitions. The domestic economic compulsions were such that the US would want to target its larger partners to secure market access for its goods and services, he said. "On geopolitical ambitions, the US seems to be keen to create a trading bloc in the Asia-Pacific region, which could be an effective counter to Chinese expansionism," he added. Manoj Pant, professor at the Centre of International Trade and Development (School of International Studies), Jawaharlal Nehru University, said Obama's return would hit the information technology sector the most. "He (Obama) is committed to curbing outsourcing. He would impose taxes on software companies; he would make it difficult for American companies to outsource to India. On a larger perspective, be it under Democrats or Republicans, the US foreign policy is not going to change towards India," he said. In the first term of the Obama administration, India and the US have fought bitterly over trade disputes at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The issues included poultry imports, steel import duties and rise in visa fees. Each side accused the other of being protectionist. Officials in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, however, believe the US president's second term wouldn't see such disputes. This is because due to Obama's domestic compulsions, now, the US is more focused on gaining access in the Chinese market. Pant, too, said, "I don't see any escalation in the trade disputes." The commerce ministry officials added the multilateral dialogue under the WTO's Doha round of talks to create a global trade deal would see another setback, as the trade agenda would be the same. "Under the Doha round, we might see an early harvest emerging, but a larger multilateral process is still on their agenda. The new Obama administration would have the same viewpoint on Doha," they said. However, with Obama at the helm of affairs in the US again, exporters are upbeat shipments to that country would rise. Exports to the US rose 15 per cent to $19.61 billion in the April-September period, compared to the corresponding period last year. The share of the US in India's exports rose to 13.88 per cent. This led to the US surpassing the UAE as India's top export destination, according to the Federation of Indian Export Organisations. "We have to see the economic reality. Obama's return has been for good. India and the US need each other and this is the best time to take the relationship to the next level; the economic requirements of both the countries are such," said Sanjay Budhia, managing director and chairman of Kolkata-based Patton Group. Budhia, also chairman of the export council of the Confederation of India Industry, believes if Republicans would have been at the helm of affairs, the situation would have been tough for Indian exporters. In that case, exporters would have to rebuild market strategies, he said.

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http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/On-the-move-4739627.php Published 11:42 pm, Friday, August 16, 2013 Steven Cacchio William Oravecz Jessica Doling Steven Cacchio has joined the Savings Bank of Danbury as executive vice president and chief operating officer. He has been in the professional bank management business for 13 years. Prior to joining Savings Bank of Danbury, Cacchio was senior vice president at Alliance Bank in New York. He earned a bachelor's in business administration at the University of Hartford and a master's degree in accounting from Syracuse University. Southbury resident William Oravecz has been named director, ICD-10 Implementation, at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, where he will integrate components of the enterprise-wide ICD-10 program (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition). He has more than 30 years experience as a health care technology and information technology executive. Oravecz has a master of business administration degree in finance and e-commerce from the University of Connecticut School of Business. He has a master of science in radiology/medical physics from the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine and Division of Biological Sciences. Jessica Doling was promoted to Internet sales coordinator at BMW of Ridgefield from sales administrator, a position held for 18 months. Doling will help support BMW of Ridgefield's customer base and will be responsible for responding to client sales inquiries. She will also be responsible for managing the relationship with sales and service clients.

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Russia reaches debt repayment deal with Paris Club countries - Taipei Times Sun, May 15, 2005 - Page 11　News List Russia reaches debt repayment deal with Paris Club countries AP , PARIS Russia reached a deal with major creditors on Friday to pay off US$15 billion of its foreign debt over three months, consolidating the country's steady return to a sound financial footing.The debt buyback, approved by the Paris Club of creditor nations after three days of talks, will save Moscow US$700 million in annual interest payments beginning next year, senior Russian negotiator Sergei Storchak said.Paris Club president Jean-Pierre Jouyet said the deal underlined how far Russia had come since it was forced to reschedule repayments on its mostly Soviet-era debt in 1999, in the wake of a financial crisis and currency devaluation."Five years ago, nobody would have imagined that we'd now be in a position to reach such an agreement on such a large sum," Jouyet said.The deal is part of a Russian drive to improve its financial standing and reduce borrowing costs. Finance Minister Alexi Kudrin confirmed that the June-August buyback will be funded by the government's 860 billion-ruble (US$31 billion) "stabilization fund" -- boosted by the soaring oil prices and export revenues of the past two years."This settlement is very lucrative for Russia," Kudrin said in Moscow.Russia's debt is equally lucrative for creditors, thanks to its high interest rates. Germany, its biggest Paris Club creditor, was initially reluctant to forego future interest revenue on its euro5 billion (US$6.3 billion) share of the deal and was holding out for an extra premium in exchange for the early repayment, said a person close to the talks.The final buyback deal, at face value, was finalized after Germany dropped its demand on Wednesday, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Berlin's strained public finances are in need of a cash injection -- a factor Russia tried unsuccessfully to exploit when it proposed last year to buy back Paris Club debt at a discount to face value, only to be turned away."Germany welcomes this decision, both in terms of the size of the repayment and the timing," said German Deputy Finance Minister Caio Koch-Weser in Luxembourg, where he was meeting with other EU finance officials.The Paris Club said participation in the buyback remains voluntary for members, but an "overwhelming majority" including Germany and Italy -- Russia's No. 2 creditor in the group -- have already committed themselves.The agreement reduces Russia's Paris Club debt to US$25 billion and its total foreign debt to about US$100 billion. Moscow hopes it will lead to improved credit ratings, reducing the cost of future borrowing."It's the right time," said Storchak, who heads the Finance Ministry's international financial relations department. Moody's raised Russia's foreign-credit rating to investment grade in late 2003, followed by Fitch a year later and Standard and Poor's in January this year.Storchak said Moscow hopes to buy back another US$6 billion to US$10 billion in Paris Club debt.

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The Dark Side of North Dakota’s Oil Boom Search form Search OpinionPatrick Smith Anthony Mirhaydari Liz Peek Edward Morrissey Money + MarketsRetirement Saving + Spending Policy + PoliticsBig DecisionsAmerica at War Elections2016 Elections2016 Tax Proposals Business + EconomySectors + Companies Global EconomyBrexit Life + LeisureLearning Economics Career Economics Personal EconomicsRetirement Life + Leisure Share The Dark Side of North Dakota’s Oil Boom Will Christiansen By Blaire Briody, The Fiscal Times Picture of the Day Seventy miles from the Canadian border, the town of Williston, North Dakota, is raking it in. New technology has allowed energy companies to tap into millions of barrels of oil in the region, and in the process, they’ve funneled millions of dollars into the local economy. In the past five years, 450 million barrels of oil have been extracted, and the boom has generated over 75,000 new jobs, padded the area’s tax revenues, and spurred hundreds of new businesses. Average wages in the region have more than tripled in the past decade, going from $24,841 in 2002, to $78,364 last year. Everywhere you look, people are working and spending money. Homes are being purchased seconds after they hit the market, car dealerships can’t keep their new trucks in the lot, and restaurants are busier than they’ve ever been. Even the local McDonald’s has become one of the highest-grossing McDonald’s in the country. But not everyone is prospering from the boom. At first look, Trenton Lake Campground appears to be a typical American summer camp spot: There are swing sets by the lake, wooden picnic tables and a few tents scattered across a grassy field. But the majority of the men, women and families staying there aren’t on vacation. They have no place to live. RELATED: WHY NORTH DAKOTA GAS COMPANIES HAVE MONEY TO BURN One family of seven from Utah, with a 3-year old toddler and an 11-month old infant, has been staying at the campground for two weeks, living out of their van and a small tent. Like many in their situation, the Andresons came to find better employment opportunities in North Dakota, and although the dad has been working as a welder, they haven’t saved up enough to afford the sky-high local rents, which average $3,000 a month for a three-bedroom. Even boxy mobile dwellings called “skid shacks,” brought in by companies to house temporary workers, cost about $2,000 a month. The Andreson family has until September 1, when the campground closes and temperatures drop dramatically, to find a better living situation. While counting the number of the homeless in North Dakota’s boom region is difficult, state-wide estimates from the North Dakota Coalition for Homeless People show a troubling increase – unsheltered individuals (which include those sleeping in cars, tents and trailers with no operating utilities) went from 832 in 2008 to 1,433 in January of this year, a 72 percent increase. By comparison, Minnesota, a state nearly eight times the population of North Dakota, has 2,500 unsheltered. THE BIRTH OF A BOOMTOWN The problem is simply a matter of supply and demand. In 2007, Williston was a small prairie town of around 13,000 people, and for years locals had watched the town’s population slowly decline after a short oil boom in the 1980s went bust. No one in town had any idea they were about to become the center of a major black-gold rush, attracting thousands from all over the country looking for opportunity. RELATED: 11 SHOCKING FACTS ABOUT THE NORTH DAKOTA OIL BOOM When the jobseekers came, available housing quickly filled up and landlords hiked their rents, realizing they could still fill properties after doubling and tripling the price. In a matter of months, a modest two-bedroom apartment went from about $500 to $2,500 a month, forcing long-time residents out and preventing anyone with a lower income or blemished credit history from renting. Hundreds took to their campers, cars or tents and did what they could to survive. At one point, the local Walmart’s parking lot looked like a trailer park, and a tent city cropped up by the library – but unlike the tent cities of the recession, it was one where most of the inhabitants had jobs. The city has been busy building more housing, issuing a record $470 million worth of building permits in 2012. Construction has been slow, though, and the constant flow of newcomers hasn’t stopped. Even though a number of new housing developments have opened up, prices haven’t fallen. In 2012, facing a growing number of complaints from shoppers, Walmart kicked the overnighters out of their parking lot. Soon, the city followed suit, banning people from sleeping in their cars, tents or unhooked trailers. Signs reading “No Overnight Parking” now speckle the city’s parking lots.“People in Williston are being forced to be transient,” says Joshua Stansbury, who helps run the local Salvation Army. “They spent their last dollars getting up here, and they don’t have anywhere to go.” Many long-time Williston residents who didn’t buy a home before the boom are also finding themselves homeless or living in campers. Rhonda Combs and her family had lived in their three-bedroom apartment for 10 years when their landlord suddenly doubled the rent to $3,500, forcing them to move into a camper in Rhonda’s parents’ backyard. Rhonda grew up in Williston and works at a local carpet cleaning business, and her husband works at the Parks and Recreation District. “We’re both working, but neither one of us is making oil field money,” she told the local paper. “I didn’t ever expect to be 36 and having to live with family because of greed in this town.” The city has no homeless shelter, and though the city council has discussed building one, many residents worry that if they build it, more homeless workers from all over America will come. A CHURCH STEPS IN At a small Lutheran church in town, it’s pouring rain as a group of men huddle by the door waiting to be let in. Inside, socks hang on the back of chairs and sleeping bags lie on the ground, tucked between tables. Around 29 men and women now sleep here at night – the church has become the closest thing the city has to a homeless shelter. At one point 56 people were sleeping at the church, overflowing into the hallways and closets. The city considered that number a code violation and limited the number to 29. Pastor Jay Reinke, who runs the makeshift shelter, is facing being shut down because he doesn’t have showers in the building. “These are husbands and fathers who are here to serve their families,” Reinke says. “They’re people who need an income and want to work, and it’s our duty to serve them.” Nearly every day he has to tell newcomers that the church is full. “Imagine having to turn people away in this?” he asks, gesturing to the door while a thunderstorm with 40-mile-an-hour winds rages outside. The local Salvation Army has increased its budget from $40,000 in 2010 to $196,000 in 2012 to help with the influx. But without housing, there’s only so much it can do. “We can help them with other basic needs like food,” says Stansbury, “but not shelter.” This past winter, having few other options, the Salvation Army started buying one-way tickets out of town for the new arrivals who couldn’t find a roof over their heads. With temperatures known to drop below -40° F, not having a place to live quickly becomes dangerous. “I’ve talked people who’ve come from Florida and Jamaica, and even for people who are used to winter, it’s very different than a North Dakota winter,” says Stansbury. If the city shuts the church’s shelter down, Reinke says he’ll give it a month to wind down. Although he’s watched dozens of men and women find jobs and homes after staying at his church, he’s also had many men sleep at the church for months, never finding more than part-time day-labor gigs, and he’s had to ask them to leave. A few men have gone missing after leaving the church, and he worries that one committed suicide. “This is a hard place,” he says. “These are people who are trying to change their lives and need our help.” TOP READS FROM THE FISCAL TIMES Shopping for a Knee Replacement? Steer Clear of New Hampshire If you’re looking for a knee replacement, you might want to steer clear of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and New... How Plunging Oil Prices Threaten the U.S. Economy Filling up your tank at the gas station has never felt so good, and it’s been a while since reading your utility bill... North Dakota’s Housing Boom Is About to Go Bust Real estate developers were too late to the party in North Dakota. Just a few years after fracking sparked a shale oil... Blaire Briody Blaire Briody is a contributing editor at The Fiscal Times. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Popular Science, Publishers Weekly, among others. View the discussion thread. About UsContact UsMedia KitPrivacy PolicyTerms of Use Insightful. Informative. Indispensible. © 2009-2016 The Fiscal Times. All rights reserved.

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M&A Roundup: United Capital Acquires Atlanta-Based PPA Advisors Two more acquisitions complete: Envestnet closes on Prudential WMS, NFP stockholders approve Madison Dearborn buyout In a busy week for mergers and acquisitions in the advisor space, United Capital continued its expansion into the Atlanta market with its purchase of a large stake in PPA Advisors. Also in M&A news, Envestnet completed its acquisition of Prudential WMS and Madison Dearborn Partners completed its NFP deal. Here are the three latest advisor acquisitions: 1) United Capital Continues Atlanta Expansion With Stake in PPA Advisors On Monday, fast-growing private wealth counseling firm United Capital Financial Advisers of Newport Beach, Calif., announced that it had bought the majority of the assets of Atlanta-based PPA Advisors. Founded in 1986, PPA Advisors is the second firm in Georgia to join United Capital in less than a year as the acquiring firm broadens its footprint in the Southeast by integrating established registered investment advisors into its national RIA platform. PPA Advisors brings $224 million under management and an additional $122 million under advisement, along with a team of nine professionals, to United Capital. The office will be immediately rebranded as United Capital and managed under the leadership of four managing directors, all of whom are certified financial planners: Ross Ramsey, R. Corley Watson III, Randy Berry and Charles “Rocky” Costa III. As of June 11, United Capital and its affiliates had approximately $17 billion in assets under advisement. “We knew that by joining United Capital, we could create more value for our clients and gain a new dimension of financial planning, technology and investment resources from which our clients can benefit,” Ramsey said in a statement. “We have been welcomed into one of the most innovative financial advisory firms in the country, and look forward to being in a position to spend more time on what matters most—our interaction and dialogue with clients.” United Capital will assist Ramsey and his fellow managing directors with operating structure and back-office needs. The opportunity to bring the Honest Conversations toolkit into the client wealth planning process was a big motivation for aligning with United Capital. Read more about United Capital CEO Joe Duran in Cup of Joe: Starbucks. Financial Advice. Together at Last at AdvisorOne. 2) Envestnet Completes Acquisition of Prudential Wealth Management Solutions Envestnet on Monday announced that it has completed the purchase of the Wealth Management Solutions (WMS) division of Prudential Investments. The $33 million deal allows Chicago-based Envestnet to further build out its wealth management technology and services platform for investment advisors. Envestnet acquired the assets of Prudential WMS for $10 million in cash upon closing, plus contingent consideration of up to a total of $23 million in cash to be paid over three years. Once the integration is implemented, Prudential WMS advisors and its primarily institutional client base will gain the benefits of Envestnet's “scalable” wealth management platform, manager research and broad product access, according to an Envestnet release. “This combination of Envestnet's best-in-class technology and WMS' practice management leadership will help banks and bank trust departments of all sizes realize the full benefits of our unified and scalable wealth management platform,” said Envestnet Chairman and CEO Jud Bergman in a statement. Bergman discussed the acquisition of Prudential WMS in an Investment Advisor magazine 2013 IA 25 profile, noting that most of Envestnet’s new advisor and enterprise relationships “are some kind of a conversion from a legacy” business model. Prudential WMS, with approximately 90 employees, has more than 30 years of experience helping financial services firms develop their wealth management offerings. Kevin Osborn, executive vice president and director of Prudential WMS, will join Envestnet as executive vice president to lead the new Bank and Bank Trust sales channel. As of March 31, Prudential WMS administered approximately $23.7 billion on behalf of institutional clients. 3) Madison Dearborn Partners Completes NFP Acquisition National Financial Partners Corp. (NFP) announced Monday the successful completion of its acquisition by a controlled affiliate of Madison Dearborn Partners, a private equity investment firm headquartered in Chicago. NFP is a New York-based provider of benefits, insurance and wealth management services. NFP stockholders will receive $25.35 in cash for each share of NFP common stock they own, in a transaction with an equity value of approximately $1.3 billion, which includes the full value of NFP’s convertible debt, according to the terms of the previously announced merger agreement. The stockholders voted to approve the transaction at a special meeting held on June 19. With the firm now under private ownership, NFP’s common stock will no longer be listed or traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The Madison Dearborn acquisition was announced on April 15. NFP on May 20 announced that President and COO Douglas Hammond would succeed Chairman and Chief Executive Jessica Bibliowicz as CEO. Bibliowicz is the daughter of former Citigroup CEO Sandy Weill. The firm released its first-quarter 2013 earnings on May 3, reporting net income of $4.2 million, or $0.09 per share, down from $5.6 million, or $0.13 per share, in the prior-year period. Since Madison Dearborn's formation in 1992, the firm has raised six funds with aggregate capital of more than $18 billion and has completed approximately 125 investments. Madison Dearborn invests in businesses across a broad spectrum of industries, including financial and transaction services, among others. Noteworthy investments include CapitalSource, Nuveen Investments, PayPal, T-Mobile USA and TransUnion. Check out National Financial Partners Acquired by Madison Dearborn on AdvisorOne. Also in RIAs More RIAs Envestnet United Capital

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Resource Center Current & Past Issues eNewsletters 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 top of any article. Iksil Took Big Risks For Years JPMorgan trader’s value-at-risk said typically $30 mln to $40 mln. By Bradley Keoun, Bloomberg News June 1, 2012 JPMorgan Chase & Co. trader Bruno Iksil, known as the London Whale because his bets this year were so large, has been a leviathan of a risk-taker since at least 2010, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Iksil’s value-at-risk, a measure of how much a trader might lose in one day, was typically $30 million to $40 million even before this year’s buildup, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the trades. Sometimes the figure, known as VaR, could surpass $60 million, the person said. That’s about as high as the level for the firm’s entire investment bank, which employs 26,000 people. Investigators are examining how long senior executives knew about Iksil’s swelling bets at the chief investment office before losses approached $2 billion. One focal point is why the formula used to calculate Iksil’s VaR was altered early this year, cutting the reported risk by half. The change followed an internal analysis in late 2011 and was approved by top risk executives, said a person close to the bank. About the same time, half a dozen managers typically involved in such decisions moved to new jobs. “If it was something that had that large an impact, it would have to be agreed to at the very-most-senior level within risk management,” probably including the bank’s chief risk officer, said Steve Allen, a former head of risk methodology for JPMorgan who retired in 2004. “You’re not going to make a change of that magnitude on the basis of one risk manager.” JPMorgan hasn’t detailed how or why the New York-based lender altered the VaR formula. The changes -- and the timing of the firm’s disclosures about them -- are the focus of an inquiry by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Chairman Mary Schapiro told a congressional panel on May 22. Shares of the bank, the biggest in the U.S., have tumbled 25 percent since April 5, when Bloomberg News first reported on Iksil’s trades. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, 56, has since suspended the bank’s $15 billion share buyback program and replaced executives who oversaw the errant trades. Dimon has said the losses could grow and that it might take the rest of the year to liquidate trades at the unit, which is charged with managing the bank’s idle cash to earn a profit while minimizing the company’s risk. Iksil, who joined JPMorgan in 2005 according to U.K. regulatory records, was given more leeway than many traders because he produced outsized gains during previous years -- including more than $100 million in 2011, said a person close to the bank. His bosses may not have understood the complexity of his trades, said the person, who asked for anonymity because the information hasn’t been released publicly. Executives and risk managers in the chief investment office were aware of Iksil’s positions because they met every Thursday morning to discuss the unit’s trades, the person said. Iksil was assigned to devise hedges and make trades to counter the risk that a faltering economy might lead to a surge in losses on corporate loans or bonds. By 2010, the VaR on his trading book was about half of that for JPMorgan’s entire chief investment office, which at the time also oversaw more than $300 billion of securities, according to a person with direct knowledge of the CIO’s operations. VaR represents the maximum JPMorgan traders would expect to lose on 95 out of 100 trading days, according to quarterly filings with regulators. It is calculated daily, and the average for a quarter is reported in regulatory filings. While there’s no estimate of what the losses might be on the worst days, a string of daily losses exceeding the VaR can be a warning that the formulas are flawed or that markets have turned unusually volatile. Dimon had encouraged the once-conservative CIO operation, run by Ina Drew, to boost profit by buying higher-yielding assets such as structured credit, equities and derivatives, Bloomberg News reported on April 13. Banks and their traders have multiple computer models to estimate potential swings in profits and losses. Value-at-risk is among the most crucial because it’s reported to investors in filings that are reviewed by the SEC. Any changes to the model’s characteristics are supposed to be disclosed, Schapiro said. The bank produces more than half a dozen VaR barometers for different parts of the firm, and the chief investment office gets one of its own. Toward the beginning of this year, the bank changed the mathematical formulas used to calculate VaR for that unit, Dimon said on May 10, without elaborating on the reasons. Quarterly Rise The new formula showed average VaR for the chief investment office stood at $67 million, according to a regulatory filing on April 13, the day JPMorgan reported first-quarter results. When JPMorgan reverted to the old model, it showed the average VaR was $129 million, and that the figure ballooned to $186 million at the end of the period, a May filing showed. “We implemented a new VaR model, which we now deemed inadequate,” Dimon said. “We went back to the old one, which had been used for the prior several years, which we deemed to be more adequate.” Iksil alone may have amassed a $100 billion position this year in contracts on one credit-derivative index, counterparts at hedge funds and rival banks said in April. The holdings amounted to tens of billions of dollars under the firm’s own math, a person familiar with JPMorgan’s view has said. The VaR changes may have allowed or encouraged Iksil or other traders in the chief investment office to take bigger positions, said David Hendler, an analyst at CreditSights Inc. “It’s possible that when the new model said, ‘Hey, we can put on more risk,’ they did,” he said. “And then when they went back to the old model, they saw, ‘Oh my God, our risk is much higher than we thought.’” The bank is conducting its own probe into the CIO’s losses and plans to report on the findings, said Kristin Lemkau, a bank spokeswoman. Dimon is scheduled to testify June 13 before the Senate Banking Committee, and will be asked to appear June 19 at the House Financial Services Committee, a person familiar with the plans has said. Dimon didn’t mention Iksil by name on May 10, when the CEO first disclosed the losses and the decision to revert to the old version of VaR. “There are constant changes and updates to models, always trying to get them better than they were before,” Dimon said. In practice, such updates typically occur no more than once a year, said a former JPMorgan risk manager who asked not to be identified to avoid alienating the bank. Lesley Daniels Webster, a former head of market and fiduciary risk management at JPMorgan, said that new models are usually tested “in parallel” with old models for about three months to make sure they’re working properly before being used. “There’s a formal approval process for the adoption of a new model,” said Daniels Webster, who retired in 2005 and runs her own risk-management firm, Daniels Webster Capital Advisors, based in Naples, Florida. “Somebody has to sign off.” Allen, the other former JPMorgan risk manager, said that a model change big enough to reduce the VaR by half probably would need approval from the chief risk officer, especially if a trading book is unusually large. Dimon said in April 2009 that he doesn’t pay much attention to VaR and has criticized the gauge when analysts questioned him in past years about its levels. VaR is “a very imperfect number” that “bounces around all the time,” he said on a Jan. 18, 2006, conference call. U.S. banks were warned last year by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to closely scrutinize the possibility that computer models used to calculate VaR might not be properly designed or calibrated. “The use of models invariably presents model risk, which is the potential for adverse consequences from decisions based on incorrect or misused model outputs and reports,” according to the April 4, 2011, document from the OCC, which supervises JPMorgan’s primary banking subsidiary. “Model risk can lead to financial loss, poor business and strategic decision-making or damage to a bank’s reputation.” JPMorgan’s team that handled such matters was on the verge of a shakeup that involved at least six management changes in late 2011 or early this year within the chief risk office, chief investment office and treasury. The personnel changes may have contributed to lapses in risk management, said the person close to the company. Barry Zubrow, 59, a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. veteran who was hired by JPMorgan in November 2007, served as chief risk officer through Jan. 12, when Dimon shifted him to oversee regulatory, public relations and lobbying strategy. His replacement was John Hogan, 45, who oversaw risks within JPMorgan’s investment bank during the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis in 2008 and 2009. People in Motion Hogan, after being named chief risk officer in mid-January, didn’t announce his new management team -- including his own successor -- until Feb. 13, so he was doing both the new job and the old job for about a month, according to the person close to the bank. A chief risk officer signed off on the VaR change, which took effect in January, the person said. It couldn’t be determined whether Zubrow or Hogan signed off, and neither responded to phone calls seeking comment. The new team included Irvin Goldman, 51, who had been overseeing strategy at the chief investment office, as the unit’s chief risk officer. He replaced Peter Weiland, who remained with the bank as head of market risk for the investment office, reporting to Goldman. Goldman, Zubrow’s brother-in-law, had been fired in 2007 by Cantor Fitzgerald LP for money-losing bets that led to a regulatory sanction of the firm, Bloomberg reported on May 20. Regulators didn’t accuse Goldman of wrongdoing. Evan Kalimtgis, 42, who co-headed risk management for the $355.6 billion book of securities in the investment office, quit in March after learning that Goldman would become his new boss, people with knowledge of the move said. Kalimtgis, who until mid-2011 was overseeing market risks in the London CIO office where Iksil worked, said he couldn’t comment. Keith Stephan succeeded Kalimtgis as head of market risk in the London office, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Andrew Abrahams, who had been head of quantitative research and model oversight at JPMorgan, reporting to the chief risk officer, retired in May, according to his profile on the website LinkedIn. He’s now an instructor at Stanford University near Palo Alto, California, where in January he taught a seminar on “model risks, safeguards and new directions,” according to the school’s website. Leaving the Bank “My departure from JPMorgan was planned from the middle of last fall, and had nothing to do with the current news story,” Abrahams said in an interview. He said that while his official retirement date was in May, he wasn’t physically present after the end of 2011. Abrahams was succeeded by C.S. “Venkat” Venkatakrishnan, according to a Feb. 13 memo from Hogan. Joseph Bonocore, 44, a former finance chief in the CIO who was promoted in November 2010 to become the bank’s treasurer, quit in October to join Citigroup Inc. The job stood open for five months until prime-brokerage and futures chief Sandie O’Connor, 45, was promoted to the post in March. The treasurer shares responsibility with the chief investment officer for managing “capital, liquidity and structural risks of the firm,” according to JPMorgan’s annual report. Drew, 55, who as chief investment officer oversaw Iksil’s trades, resigned on May 14 and was replaced by Matthew Zames, 41, who had headed fixed-income trading. Goldman was stripped of his duties in May, though he remains at the firm, according to a person familiar with the situation. After Dimon held the May 10 conference call to announce the derivatives-trading losses, Hogan sent an internal memo urging his employees in the risk department to “remain vigilant.” “Our focus is no surprises,” Hogan wrote. “Remember, as an independent oversight function, it’s our responsibility to escalate early and often.” That oversight extends to JPMorgan’s chief investment office, which in 2008 and 2009 started expanding its use of credit derivatives to hedge its holdings against an economic slump. The shift was led by Drew’s top deputy in London, Achilles Macris, who in turn oversaw Iksil’s boss, Javier Martin-Artajo, people with knowledge of the matter said. Iksil was assigned to design those hedges and execute trades. Last year, Iksil made a bearish bet on an index of credit derivatives, speculating that one or more companies included in the index would default before trading contracts expired in December, according to market participants at hedge funds and banks. Some hedge funds were taking the opposite view. Winning Bet Iksil’s bet won out, and the hedge funds faced losses of 25 percent, when American Airlines parent AMR Corp. filed for bankruptcy less than a month before the insurance-like swaps matured, the market participants said. The trades were made in so-called tranches of the index, which concentrates risks on the member companies. Traders sometimes complain about VaR models that “have adverse effects on the business,” and they’re “less likely to challenge an outcome that results in an advantage for them,” according to the OCC supervisory guidance. The agency said May 14 that it was examining the losses at JPMorgan, including “details related to the specific transactions as well as the surrounding risk-management processes that resulted in this unexpected loss.” The Federal Reserve, as JPMorgan’s holding-company supervisor, is studying organizational issues around the trading loss to assure that they aren’t repeated in other areas of the firm, Barbara Hagenbaugh, a spokeswoman for the central bank, said on May 15. The most common reasons for altering a VaR model include changes in the range of historical pricing data used to estimate the potential swings and revisions in the amount of hedging activity that’s allowed as an offset, said Daniels Webster, the ex-JPMorgan risk manager. Some of the toughest questions about the VaR changes may be reserved for the executives who approved them, she said. “There is no one VaR model out there that is recognized as the sine qua non,” Daniels Webster said, invoking the Latin for something indispensable or essential. “So we’re dealing with judgment.” Brexit Clouds Credit Derivatives Market 4 Ways to Minimize Catastrophe Risk Bank of England Leaves Rates Unchanged A Smarter Way Forward: De-risking and Optimizing Your Credit and Collections Processes New Lease Accounting Standard Poses Challenge for Corporates Previous Commodity Index Extends Decline From Tech to Biotech Mary Schapiro 101 Comptroller of the Currency 90 Jamie Dimon 83 Senate Banking Committee 74 CreditSights Inc. 47 Stanford University 33 Bruno Iksil 29 American Airlines 22 LinkedIn 18 public relations 18 AMR Corp. 17 Ina Drew 17 Achilles Macris 12 Connor 10 Barry Zubrow 8 Cantor Fitzgerald LP 8 Javier Martin-Artajo 8 Kristin Lemkau 8 David Hendler 7 Barbara Hagenbaugh 5 Irvin Goldman 4 brother-in-law 3 John Hogan 3 Peter Weiland 3 Evan Kalimtgis 2 insurance-like swaps 2

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Home mortgage deduction tax break may not be untouchable | New Hampshire Contact us Home mortgage deduction tax break may not be untouchable By BRADY DENNISThe Washington Post WASHINGTON - Of all the deductions woven into the sprawling U.S. tax code, few have been more fiercely guarded than the enormous tax break that lets homeowners deduct the interest they pay on their mortgages.But as Congress and the White House negotiate the first major rewrite of tax laws in decades, changing the generations-old mortgage interest deduction - which costs the government roughly $100 billion a year - has gone from far-off possibility to part of the conversation.The outcome of that debate could have profound long-term effects on homeowners across the country - and particularly those in the Washington area, who tend to benefit from the tax break more than many other Americans due to the region's hefty home prices and high incomes.As the Obama administration and lawmakers on Capitol Hill scramble to defuse automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to take effect Jan. 1, a herd of sacred cows - from Social Security and Medicare to deductions for charitable giving and mortgage interest - are in danger of losing their untouchable status.Members of both parties have largely steered clear of detailed proposals so far. But plans put forth in the past year by President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to place limits on annual total tax deductions would likely crimp the mortgage interest deduction for certain taxpayers. Top congressional Republicans also have expressed openness to limiting total tax deductions as part of an overall budget deal. In addition, the presidentially appointed Simpson-Bowles fiscal commission suggested scaling back the mortgage interest deduction as part of its own set of tax-related proposals.Current law allows homeowners to deduct the interest paid on mortgage balances up to $1 million, including on second homes, as well as on $100,000 worth of home equity loans. The deduction overwhelmingly benefits wealthier families, partly because they tend to have larger mortgages and pay more interest, and partly because most low- and middle-income Americans do not itemize their taxes. It also tends to favor homeowners on the East and West coasts, as well as those in large cities such as Chicago, where average home prices are higher.Edward Kleinbard, a tax expert and law professor at the University of Southern California, said the mortgage interest deduction represents the kind of government "extravagance" that the country no longer can justify, given its fiscal troubles."We simply cannot afford wasteful government subsidy programs anymore, and this is one of the most important examples of that," Kleinbard said. "It's very much a subsidy to those Americans who need it least."True enough, said Moody's chief economist Mark Zandi, but the deduction nevertheless has become ingrained in the psyche of home buyers over generations, and reducing it would have real effects."It's a very visceral thing for people," Zandi said. "People account for it when they think about how much house they could afford to buy. You take that away, and house prices are going to weaken. They are going to decline."He said it is possible that any price declines could prove minor over the long term, and that the housing industry itself ultimately would benefit if the country were on a firmer fiscal footing."I think we're going to get tax reform, and the [mortgage interest deduction] is going to be part of it," Zandi said. Neither the White House nor lawmakers have shown an inclination to scrap the deduction, which has been around in some form since 1913. Unlike some other deductions, it remained intact in the last major tax overhaul in 1986. It is the most high-profile housing-related tax incentive, but not the only one. For instance, homeowners can deduct their local property taxes and are exempt from some capital gains taxes when selling a residence if they have lived there long enough.Some researchers have argued that the tax break actually does little to boost home ownership, given that people affluent enough to benefit from the deduction are likely to buy homes even without it."It's a clunky subsidy for home ownership," said Ted Gayer, co-director of the economic studies program at the Brookings Institution. "It also subsidizes things we don't want to subsidize, like borrowing a lot of money for your home. ... It's a tax credit for people who have large mortgages."Any efforts to shrink the mortgage interest deduction are likely to face stiff opposition from real estate agents, home builders and others who argue that millions of middle-class Americans also benefit. Few special-interest groups are better equipped to wage an all-out campaign than the real estate industry, which has defended the tax break for decades as a driver of home construction and a key motivator of home ownership."It has always been NAR's position that the [mortgage interest deduction] is vital to the stability of the American housing market and economy," Gary Thomas, president of the National Association of Realtors, said in a statement. "And we will remain vigilant in opposing any future plan that modifies or excludes the deductibility of mortgage interest."David Stephens, chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said many people in his industry expect that the mortgage interest deduction will be part of the long-term debate over fixing the nation's budget woes, and he acknowledged that it could face changes as part of a future overhaul of the tax code.But what he and other industry advocates don't want, Stephens said, are sudden or drastic changes to current policy as part of a last-minute effort to avert the "fiscal cliff" on Jan. 1. He said such a move would threaten the fledgling housing recovery, cause harm to the larger economy and put a dent in the pocketbooks of many middle-class Americans."We are by no means knee-jerk, reactionary on this subject," Stephens said. "The greatest concern we have is that in a rush to deal with the fiscal cliff before the year's end, it could lead to an environment where less-thoughtful decision-making could occur. ... This is something that has to be managed extremely carefully. This could be stepping over dollars to save pennies if we do it too soon."..

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Mah Moves Into Treasurer's Office By: Melissa Brunner - Email Posted: Thu 7:52 PM, Jan 03, 2013 / Article TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - It was a day of endings and beginnings at the Shawnee County Courthouse. In the basement, before the Thursday morning commission meeting, outgoing Shawnee Co. Treasurer Larry Wilson shook hands and hugged commissioners and fellow department heads. In the afternoon, in the first-floor treasurer's office, Larry Mah officially took the oath as Wilson's successor. "I've been preparing to for this for over a year," Mah said. "This gives me a chance to do something rather than just thinking about it." For his part, Wilson said he was saying goodbye to a lot of friends and colleagues. He says simply being at the courthouse is what he will miss the most. Wilson served as treasurer since 2003. His tenure was marred most recently by day-long waits, first, by closing an annex location, then when converting to a new state computer system. He believes the kinks will be worked out and he believes Mah is the right person to move the office into the future. Wilson opted not to seek re-election and voters chose Mah to replace him. By law, Wilson could have remained in office until October, but he chose to resign early because he was comfortable with Mah's experience. He says Mah is thoroughly familiar with the technology and sought out additional training on his own. Wilson applauded as Mah assumed his duties. Mah is pledging to eliminate the lines, improve customer service and do some innovative things. Among his ideas are adding more annex locations, expanding to evening and weekend hours and, similar to state drivers license offices, developing a system to get in line by going online. Mah hopes to have the virtual line system implemented by March. Mah said he never wanted to go into politics, but, over the past year and a half, developed a growing interest in the job. "I think it will be challenging, but, if I accomplish my goals, it will be rewarding," Mah said.

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Plus Blog July 15, 2009 News from the world of maths: Paying the price Wednesday, July 15, 2009 Consumers, financial institutions, and most importantly regulators did not understand the risks being taken in the financial markets. That was one of the main causes of the current financial crisis according to the Government white paper, Reforming the financial markets, released last week. It is clear to all players in the financial market that they need to make more accurate assessments of the risks they and others are taking. But will they be able to take the more scientific approach needed for a deeper understanding of financial risks, when they were so easily bewitched by unproven claims that you can turn financial lead into gold? At 10:46 AM, Ron Smith said... Happy to know about maths all over the world. At 10:58 AM, Derek Grainge said... Yes we're in crisis - but this started with sub-prime and mortgage transactions in the USA, and we got sucked in as has everyone else because we're all hanging on their coat-tails. And the USA does have proper scientific representtion in Government. I agree with your comment about Alchemy, but you are almost implying that we might have avoided the crisis with a proper scientific adviser in the UK: desirable as it might be, this is a non-sequitur. At 3:38 PM, David Lee Sounds like the markets became the meerkats... ...case of never mind the maths, just feel the profit... There have always been bubbles - wonder what the next one will be? July 7, 2009 News from the world of maths: The Plus sports page: El Ni Tuesday, July 07, 2009 Scientists/cricket geeks have shown that the weather has a significant effect on the results of the Ashes cricket series between Australia and England when the series is held in Australia. The Australian cricket team is more likely to succeed after El Niño years, while the English cricket team does better following La Niña years, the opposite phase when the weather is cooler and wetter. But how significant is this effect and should the teams change their strategies accordingly? Labels: Latest news, sports July 7, 2009 News from the world of maths: Does the Iranian election stand up to statistics? Tuesday, July 07, 2009 Did Mahmoud Ahmadinejad really win a landslide election on the 12th of June 2009? Many believe that he didn't, but only a full election re-run scrutinised by independent observers would bring absolute certainty. With this possibility thoroughly off the cards, as the Guardian Council has made clear, some analysts have had a long and hard look at the figures released by the very government accused of doing the rigging, to see if they reveal evidence of fraud. My name is R. Mansilla. I work at National Autonomous University of Mexico. After professor Mebane, we used Benford Law to test a fraud in the 2006 presidential election here in Mexico. The results could be found at: http://www.fisica.unam.mx/octavio/ July 7, 2009 News from the world of maths: Meet the fastest mathematician on Earth Tuesday, July 07, 2009 Meet the fastest mathematician on Earth Fancy crashing through the sound barrier in a rocket propelled car that goes all the way up to 1000mph? Well, we can't give you that experience, but we can get you as close as any maths magazine ever will. Last week we interviewed Andy Green, currently the fastest man on Earth (and Oxford maths graduate), who's now gearing up to break his own land speed record in his Bloodhound SSC — a pencil shaped car powered by a Eurofighter aircraft engine. The car is currently being simulated on super computers, exploiting the full power of computational fluid dynamics and all sorts of other bits of engineering maths, and it's just about to move into the construction phase. You will be able to read our interview and an article on the maths that makes Bloodhound possible in the September issue of Plus, but meanwhile go and visit the Bloodhound SSC website. It tells you all there is to know about this engineering adventure, the car, and the team behind it. There's a substantial education programme associated to the project — you can sign up for engineering and maths based teaching resources, from instructions to build your own balloon powered car to experimenting with the speed of sound. You can also sign up for an email newsletter, or follow Bloodhound on Twitter. June 25, 2009 News from the world of maths: What it takes to win Wimbledon Thursday, June 25, 2009 Thwack! Grunt! Wimbledon has started! And perhaps the unusually sunny weather this year might be an omen for an unheard of event... could this be the year of a British Wimbledon Champion? We don't have the answer to that question, but you can test yourself and see what it takes to be a Wimbledon champion with our latest puzzle! June 25, 2009 News from the world of maths: How to measure life Thursday, June 25, 2009 Last week's BBC programme The price of life highlighted the plight of cancer sufferers awaiting a decision by NICE, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, on a new drug that could add years to their lives. If approved by NICE, the drug, called revlimid and used to treat a cancer called multiple myeloma, could be prescribed freely on the NHS. If rejected, the prohibitive cost would spell the end of the line for many patients. In the light of the suffering facing myeloma patients and their families, the main criterion for NICE's decisions — cost-effectiveness — seems almost inhumane. But exactly what kind of mathematical considerations go into NICE's calculations?

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Lebanon and the IMF Technical Assistance -- A Factsheet Rodrigo de Rato y Figaredo Sign up to receive free e-mail notices when new series and/or country items are posted on the IMF website. Modify your profile Remarks by Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director, IMF Managing Director, International Monetary Fund Keynote Speech, Middle East Technical Assistance Center Beirut, October 25, 2004 Your Excellency Minister Siniora, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen: 1. This is an important day for the International Monetary Fund, as we meet in Beirut, to inaugurate the IMF's Middle East Technical Assistance Center, or METAC as it will be known. I am honored to be here and proud of what has already been accomplished in making this center a reality in such a short time. I would like to thank you, Minister Siniora, as well as the Government and the people of Lebanon for agreeing to host this center, and for all the assistance and support you have provided to make this possible. 2. Lebanon has come a long way to re-establish itself as a thriving economy, and also as an important regional hub. This is not to understate the economic and financial challenges facing the country. In fact, this visit has also given us an opportunity to continue our constructive dialogue with the Lebanese authorities on how best to meet those challenges and how to build on what has been achieved so far. 3. The very fact that we can celebrate today the opening of the METAC is a tribute to a very close collaboration of many partners, in particular, the collaboration and support of the governments of the region that will be benefiting from METAC: Lebanon, which hosts the center; Afghanistan; Egypt; Iraq; Jordan; Libya; Sudan; Syria; West Bank and Gaza; and Yemen. These officials have worked very closely with IMF staff in making this inauguration possible. Let me also extend my warm thanks to the donors that have given generously to make the establishment of the METAC possible. It is especially noteworthy that the major share of donor financing for METAC is being provided by countries in the region. 4. On this occasion, let me share with you my thoughts on three issues: · First, why is capacity building, which is the primary focus of METAC, important in the Middle East? · Second, how will the IMF, and METAC in particular, contribute to capacity building? · Third, how does technical assistance fit within the broader role of the IMF in the region? 5. Let me start with the first question: why focus on institutional capacity building? The answer is rather simple. We in the Fund are convinced, and the experience of our membership has left no doubt, that strong domestic institutional capacity is a precondition for economic and social development and for sound public policy making. The IMF is an advocate of markets and of private sector participation. But we also know that for markets to function efficiently, and for the private sector to develop and thrive, effective institutions are essential. They are also essential for ensuring that economic policies and reforms are "home grown" and have true domestic ownership. These are not only our conclusions. We are listening to the region as well. And what we hear from the region's officials, and from its civil society organizations and academics, is the same call for more effective institutions. This common perspective provides a strong motivation for the Fund to contribute to institutional capacity building in its areas of expertise. 6. Let me now turn to the second question: What can the IMF, and METAC in particular, offer to assist countries in terms of technical assistance and capacity building? The IMF has been providing technical assistance to all of the METAC members, depending on their needs. In some cases this was done in the immediate aftermath of conflict. For instance, in Afghanistan, the IMF has assisted with the establishment of financial institutions and laws, which can support a stable national currency, the development of a modern commercial banking system, and an efficient and equitable tax code. In Iraq, IMF staff has contributed—sometimes at great personal risk—to the establishment of the new Iraqi dinar, the rebuilding of the technical capacity at the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance, and the development of new banking laws. IMF technical assistance involvement in Libya, Sudan, and Syria is relatively recent and has focused on helping to reform and modernize institutions, legal frameworks, and statistical systems. In the case of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, and West Bank and Gaza, the IMF has been involved for some time. But there, too, selective technical assistance will remain important to consolidate progress achieved and assist governments in further improving their policy-making and institutional capacity. 7. With the opening of METAC, our involvement in providing technical assistance to the region will deepen. The services provided by METAC will not replace other forms of assistance but will be additional to those provided from IMF headquarters. However, establishing a technical assistance center within the region offers a number of important benefits. These include: first, more flexibility in responding rapidly to emerging needs; second, closer coordination with other technical assistance providers and regional organizations; third, enhanced country ownership and accountability through country participation in the decision-making process; fourth, more efficient and sustained assistance for regional integration initiatives; and fifth, more focused subject-specific training for local officials. 8. Let me underline that our motivation is to provide capacity building assistance to develop and add to the domestic stock of know-how, and not to replace local expertise. This is very important. Experience has shown that "gap-filling" technical assistance does not work in the long run as it creates wrong incentives for both recipients and providers of assistance. In our view, the key role of IMF technical assistance is to transfer knowledge and experience that helps build local capacity. METAC should thus help countries in the region strengthen their own ability to design and implement economic policies, promote financial sector stability, modernize and reform fiscal institutions, and improve the quality of statistics. 9. Let me turn to the last question. How does technical assistance fit into the broader role of the IMF in the region? Clearly, one of the main challenges facing the region today is to move to a higher growth path. For many years the economic performance of the region has fallen significantly below its potential. This gap must be bridged if the region is to grow at levels sufficient to meet the needs of a rapidly expanding labor force and to achieve real and sustained improvements in the standards of living. 10. While the economic policy agenda may differ from one country to another, we see four main priorities in the region: · first, refocusing the role of the public sector and improving its efficiency; · second, enhancing public sector transparency and accountability; · third, strengthening institutions; and · fourth, increasing regional cooperation as well as integration into the global economy. 11. The IMF has been supporting these objectives through its policy dialogue with all the countries of the region. In some instances, IMF credit has also been provided in support of domestic reforms and policy adjustments. Technical assistance is the third window of IMF support to member countries. 12. It is clear that the benefits from technical assistance do not happen overnight and often require a relatively long period of engagement. This is why, through METAC, the IMF is today making a long-term commitment of resources and expertise to the region. 13. We all recognize of course that that there are many non-economic factors that affect growth and job creation. The significance of the security environment for investment and private sector participation cannot be overlooked. Unfortunately, for some countries in the region, conflict and security concerns have stood in the way to better economic performance. However, as I am sure you would agree, this should not be a reason to hold back on good policies or on necessary reforms. In fact, it may be a reason to press on even more with such reforms. It goes without saying that policy reforms should take appropriately into account the specific circumstances of individual countries. In our policy advice we strive to do that. 14. Let me add one more thought. If the protracted conflicts and difficult security problems have led to a sense of exasperation among many in this region, it is quite understandable. But I would only tell those who have lost hope to take a look at this city, indeed to this very spot where we are gathered today, and to compare it to the way it was just a little over a decade ago. Lebanon's success in reemerging from those difficult times is truly uplifting. It shows that, with collective goodwill and hard work, things can be turned around. We hope it will not be long before we see this region well on its way to a sustained path of peace, security and economic prosperity. We stand ready to do our part.

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About Pinnacle Titans Banking Health Savings Accounts (HSA) Online and Mobile Banking Fraud and Security Pinnacle 5 Podcast Series Client Programs Lost or Stolen Debit Card Pinnacle Locations & ATMs MEDIA CONTACT:Sue Atkinson, 615-320-7532 FINANCIAL CONTACT:Sue Atkinson, 615-320-7532 Pinnacle Financial Partners Announces Pricing of Common Stock Offering Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (Nasdaq/NGS: PNFP) announced today it has priced a public offering of 7.7 million shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $13.00 per share for total gross proceeds of $100.1 million. Raymond James & Associates, Inc. is serving as lead underwriter for this offering. Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P., SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. and Wunderlich Securities, Inc. are also acting as underwriters. The underwriters have the option to purchase up to an additional 15 percent of the offered amount of common stock from Pinnacle at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount and commission, within 30 days. The net proceeds of the offering will be used for general corporate purposes, including additional capital for Pinnacle National Bank and possible repurchase from the U.S. Treasury of the $95 million of Series A preferred stock, and associated warrants, issued in connection with the Treasury’s TARP Capital Purchase Program. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC and is effective, and a prospectus supplement relating to the offering will be filed with the SEC. A copy of the prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus may be obtained from Raymond James & Associates, Inc. at 880 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg, FL 33716 or by telephone at 1-800-248-8863. Pinnacle Financial Partners provides a full range of banking, investment, mortgage and insurance products and services designed for small- to mid-sized businesses and their owners, real estate professionals and individuals interested in a comprehensive relationship with their financial institution. Comprehensive wealth management services, such as financial planning and trust, help clients increase, protect and distribute their assets. The firm also has a well-established expertise in commercial real estate. The firm began operations in a single downtown Nashville location in October 2000 and has since grown to approximately $5.0 billion in assets at March 31, 2009. In 2007, Pinnacle Financial launched an expansion into the Knoxville MSA. At March 31, 2009, Pinnacle Financial is the second-largest bank holding company headquartered in Tennessee, with 31 offices in eight Middle Tennessee counties and two in Knoxville. Certain of the statements in this release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The words “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “consider,” “plan,” “project,” “believe,” “probably,” “potentially,” “outlook,” “seek,” “should,” “estimate,” and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, but other statements may constitute forward-looking statements. These statements should be considered subject to various risks and uncertainties, and are made based upon management's belief as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management pursuant to “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Pinnacle Financial’s actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors including, among other factors: (i) deterioration in the financial condition of borrowers resulting in significant increases in loan losses and provisions for those losses; (ii) continuation of the historically low short-term interest rate environment; (iii) the inability of Pinnacle Financial to continue to grow its loan portfolio at historic rates in the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin MSA and the Knoxville MSA; (iv) changes in loan underwriting, credit review or loss reserve policies associated with economic conditions, examination conclusions, or regulatory developments; (v) increased competition with other financial institutions; (vi) greater than anticipated deterioration or lack of sustained growth in the national or local economies including the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin MSA and the Knoxville MSA, particularly in commercial and residential real estate markets; (vii) rapid fluctuations or unanticipated changes in interest rates; (viii) the development of any new market other than Nashville or Knoxville; (ix) a merger or acquisition; (x) any activity in the capital markets that would cause Pinnacle Financial to conclude that there was impairment of any asset, including intangible assets; (xi) the impact of governmental restrictions on entities participating in the Capital Purchase Program, of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury”); (xii) changes in state and federal legislation, regulations or policies applicable to banks and other financial service providers, including regulatory or legislative developments arising out of current unsettled conditions in the economy; (xiii) the inability of Pinnacle Financial to secure the approval of the Treasury and its bank subsidiary’s primary federal regulator for the redemption by Pinnacle Financial of the Series A preferred stock sold by Pinnacle Financial to the Treasury in the Capital Purchase Program; and (xiv) prevailing conditions in the public capital markets. A more detailed description of these and other risks is contained in the reports Pinnacle Financial filed with and furnished to the SEC. Many of such factors are beyond Pinnacle Financial’s ability to control or predict, and readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Pinnacle Financial disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. PNFP In The News Corporate Fact Sheets Directors and Leadership Learn more about our remarkable history. GO Community Learn how Pinnacle supports our communities. GO About Pinnacle Pinnacle Podcasts Lost/Stolen Debit Card Fraud and Security Center Official Bank of the Titans. Our website is safe and secure. Pinnacle Bank, Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. Visit the FDIC website. Pinnacle Bank is regulated by the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions (TDFI) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Learn about what Pinnacle Bank does with your personal information. © 2015 Pinnacle Financial Partners. All Rights Reserved. Comments? Please contact us. This site is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with JavaScript enabled.

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Credit Union News WALTERS ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF RANDOLPH-BROOKS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION LIVE OAK, Texas – Col. (Ret.) Fred Walters has announced that, after 23 years of service, he will retire from the Board of Directors of Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union effective August 1, 2010. He has been a member of the Board since 1987 and was elected Vice Chairman in 1993 and Chairman in 2005. Col. Walters will be succeeded as Chairman by Col (Ret.) Harry M. Edwards, Ph.D. who has been a director for five years. Col. Walters is a Senior Financial Representative with the Principal Financial Group. He served on active duty in the Army Air Force and the United States Air Force for 36 years. The National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) recently announced that he was selected as the 2010 "Volunteer of the Year" in Randolph-Brooks' asset size category. He also received this award in 1999. These awards are indicative of the dedication and effort he has put forth for the Credit Union Movement. During Walters' tenure on the Board, the credit union experienced continued growth and success. In 1987, there were only six branches in the greater San Antonio area with a total membership of less than 100,000. Today, 36 branches serve members throughout South Central Texas, with members totaling more than 325,000 and assets exceeding $4 billion. Col. Walters has actively supported the credit union's expansion of service, such as the Freedom Check Card cash back rewards, online member qualification, online banking, eDeposits and mobile deposits. During the past three years, the cash back rewards program that the Board authorized under Col. Walter's leadership put more than $10 million in the pockets of members. "Col. Fred Walters epitomizes the title of 'public servant'," said RBFCU President/CEO Randy Smith. "Col. Walters has always treated stewardship of the credit union as a great privilege and responsibility and our members have been fortunate to have him as their representative, looking out for their best interests as the credit union has grown." As credit unions are owned by their members, the Board of Directors is elected by members to provide direction to the credit union leadership on the ways to best serve member needs.

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Allstate Announces $5 Million Contribution To Help Stem Violence In Chicago Company Grant Will Help Support Programs for At-Risk Youth NORTHBROOK, Ill., Feb. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL) announced today that it will provide $5 million in funding over five years to support Chicago's efforts to reduce violent crime and improve the safety and vitality of neighborhoods throughout the city. "The level of violence in our city is simply unacceptable and we need to come together to take a stand and improve our neighborhoods," said Thomas J. Wilson, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Safety is a basic right that all children should enjoy. This is an opportunity for businesses, nonprofits, foundations and individuals to make a difference and save lives. We know other corporations, foundations and individuals also want to support these efforts and we will create a way for them to join us. United together, we will make Chicago safer and more vibrant, so our children will prosper and build a brighter future for all of us." The city's new initiative and private sector coalition builds on the work of the Community Anti-violence and Restoration Effort (CARE) and other city anti-violence initiatives to: Identify proven programs to prevent violence and expand them rapidly; Support community-based efforts to sustain these programs and other programs; Monitor program performance and the ability of organizations to implement them effectively; and Enable all stakeholders in Chicago to get involved, both as donors and volunteers. "This effort will rely on local ownership and empowerment so that residents and local leaders will determine the best solutions for their own neighborhoods," Wilson said. "Allstate's commitment reflects our long-time legacy of promoting safety, protecting people and addressing urgent needs in the communities we serve across the country." The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) is the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer, serving approximately 16 million households through its Allstate, Encompass, Esurance and Answer Financial brand names and Allstate Financial business segment. Allstate branded insurance products (auto, home, life and retirement) and services are offered through Allstate agencies, independent agencies, and Allstate exclusive financial representatives, as well as via www.allstate.com, www.allstate.com/financial and 1-800 Allstate ®, and are widely known through the slogan "You're In Good Hands With Allstate ®." As part of Allstate's commitment to strengthen local communities, The Allstate Foundation, Allstate employees, agency owners and the corporation provided $29 million in 2012 to thousands of nonprofit organizations and important causes across the United States. SOURCE Allstate Corporation Copyright 2011 PR Newswire. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. What Investors Can Conclude From Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s Remarks On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Federal Reserve chief testified before Congress on the state of the U.S. and global economies. Alex Oldman PGR, ALL And AON, 3 Insurance Stocks Pushing The Industry Lower TheStreet highlights 3 stocks pushing the insurance industry lower today. AAPL, AMZN, SQ: Jim Cramer's Views Jim Cramer shares his views on how collateral damage is harming stocks and discusses what the jobs report means. Apple, Amazon and Square are among the stocks discussed here. Jim Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: What to Expect After the Jobs Report Growth is important, but too much or too little means trouble for the stock market.

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News Releases2016201520142013201220112010200920082007200620052004In the NewsMultimediaLogosMedia ContactSubscribe Offer hardworking families a chance to take their first step out of poverty. Learn more. RSS Email PrintNews ReleasesJune 13, 2012 Raising Credit Union Marketing Standards in BelarusGlobal Women’s Leadership Network Member Gains International Focus Cindy Schrader (center), marketing director for Heritage Credit Union, met with Vladimir Karyagin (right), chairman of both the Minsk Capital Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers and the ALE Republic Confederation of Entrepreneurship, and Steshko Grigory (left), director at the Learning Center for Microfinancing, during her Global Women's Leadership Network visit to Minsk, Belarus. MINSK, Belarus — Credit unions in Belarus rely heavily on "social networking" to spread their marketing message, but their efforts have little to do with computers or Internet-based programs. Old fashioned word-of-mouth is the key method by which members in the former Soviet satellite nation learn about credit union rates and services, according to one U.S. credit union marketer who recently visited Belarus to help boost the country's credit union marketing efforts. Cindy Schrader, marketing director for Heritage Credit Union in Madison, Wis. (USA), traveled to Belarus last week to share her marketing expertise as a member of the Global Women's Leadership Network, a joint initiative by World Council of Credit Unions and the Canadian Cooperative Association to bring together women leaders from credit unions worldwide to share mutually beneficial ideas and solutions. The network sponsored Schrader's visit due to the growing demand for marketing knowledge in countries in transition, according to Brian Branch, World Council president and CEO. "Many things credit unions in western countries take for granted are new to credit unions in nations like Belarus," Branch said. "I am pleased that the Global Women's Leadership Network was able to provide the necessary expertise to assist credit unions there." Credit unions in Belarus are small and have very limited resources on which they can draw, said Schrader, a 10-year Heritage Credit Union veteran. Lack of general awareness about credit unions and their benefits have made it a challenge for Belarusian credit unions to grow. "Credit unions are spreading their message through members, their business association and education," Schrader said. "With many credit unions run by only one or two people, they do not have dedicated staff to help get the word out." The country's credit unions also face other challenges. Credit unions pay an income tax that banks are not required to pay. The high cost of funds sometimes makes credit union loan rates higher than those of banks. Despite the challenges, Belarusian credit unions are becoming an increasingly critical resource for consumers with whom banks will not do business, making them part of the country's social fabric and increasing marketing's importance, Schrader said. "Marketing is a brand new idea to many people, and they are grasping the concept and understanding the difference" Schrader said. "Hopefully, I taught them to think differently and put themselves in the shoes of members they are trying to reach." While Schrader met with representatives from the Republican Association of Consumer Cooperatives for Mutual Financial Assistance, Belarus' credit union trade association and a World Council member, she focused on target and life-stage marketing, helping credit unions understand the nature and needs of the members they serve. By marketing to member needs rather than focusing on the financial products themselves, credit unions could more effectively extend their reach. Limited marketing resources make targeting specific members even more important to credit union success, she said. "The credit unions need to work toward developing top-of-mind awareness by keeping the credit union name in front of both members and potential members," Schrader said. "There as well as here, when a financial need arises, members need to think of the credit union first." For Schrader herself, the visit to Belarus was eye-opening and helped reaffirm her commitment to credit unions. "There have been many times in my current position that the credit union philosophy has warmed my heart," Schrader said. "To see it at work on a grander scale helping lower-income people, funding company startups and offering members a real opportunity to fulfill a dream is inspiring." For more information on the Global Women's Leadership Network, visit www.CUwomen.org. World Council of Credit Unions is the global trade association and development agency for credit unions. World Council promotes the sustainable development of credit unions and other financial cooperatives around the world to empower people through access to high quality and affordable financial services. World Council advocates on behalf of the global credit union system before international organizations and works with national governments to improve legislation and regulation. Its technical assistance programs introduce new tools and technologies to strengthen credit unions' financial performance and increase their outreach. World Council has implemented more than 290 technical assistance programs in 71 countries. Worldwide, 57,000 credit unions in 105 countries serve 217 million people. Learn more about World Council's impact around the world at www.woccu.org. NOTE: Click on photos to view/download in high resolution.Organization: World Council of Credit UnionsPhone: (608) 395-2000 Home > Newsroom > News ReleasesAbout Mission & VisionVision 2020What is a Credit Union?International Credit Union SystemLeadershipHeritageCareers & RFPsCompany CultureContact UsFinancial Inclusion

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No word on tax refunds by Tami Luhby @Luhby January 2, 2013: 6:21 PM ET Don't hold your breath waiting for your tax refund. The nation didn't go over the fiscal cliff, but tax refunds remain up in the air. Congress' late action on the fiscal cliff tax provisions has caused headaches for the Internal Revenue Service, which now has to program its systems and issue tax forms based on the revised laws. It has not announced when taxpayers can start filing their 2012 returns, which means refunds will most likely be delayed. Filing usually begins in mid-January. "The IRS is currently reviewing the details of this week's tax legislation and assessing what impact it will have on this year's filing season," said the agency, adding it will issue additional guidance "soon." It's not the first time the IRS has had to deal with this. Two years ago, it took until mid-December for President Obama and lawmakers to reach an agreement on many of the same issues. That delayed the opening of the tax season to mid-February, affecting some 9 million taxpayers that year. Related: How much more tax you'll pay This year, the situation is even more complicated since Congress didn't act until New Year's Day. While the IRS has published Form 1040 for 2012, several lines are listed as "reserved." The designation is a "placeholder" for several fiscal cliff provisions, an agency spokesman said. The IRS has yet to publish an instruction booklet for filling out the tax forms, leaving tax preparers in a holding pattern. Had Congress not acted on the alternative minimum tax, up to 100 million taxpayers would not have been able to file their returns -- or collect refunds, if owed -- until late March, Steven Miller, the agency's acting commissioner, said last month. (The AMT itself would hit nearly 30 million filers with higher tax bills, and delay returns for other filers as the IRS adjusted its systems.) Most of the people looking to file returns early are hoping to get their refunds quickly to pay expenses or cover Christmas bills, accountants said. They are often people whose income is just from wages and who take the standard deduction, making their returns fairly simple. Many are low-income families who file for the earned income tax credit. CNNMoney (New York) First published January 2, 2013: 6:21 PM ET Comments Social Surge - What's Trending

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By Gabriel Sherman • 02/02/04 12:00am The estate of banking tycoon Arthur Altschul is pulling no punches in its efforts to sell the family home at 993 Fifth Avenue, after the co-op board scotched an earlier multimillion-dollar deal to sell the apartment in October. According to sources, Melinda Nix of Sotheby’s International Realty had the original listing on the four-bedroom spread, but after her buyers were turned away by the building’s co-op board in the fall, the property hit the market on Jan. 21 with a high price tag-$11.5 million-and high-profile broker Deborah Grubman of the Corcoran Group, along with fellow Corcoran broker Carol Cohen, to represent it. Ms. Nix didn’t return calls seeking comment. Ms. Grubman and Ms. Cohen also declined to comment on the listing. The 5,200-square-foot apartment, where former MTV News anchor turned CBS correspondent Serena Altschul grew up, occupies the entire 12th floor at 993 Fifth Avenue at 80th Street, overlooking the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The 12-room apartment features a library and master bedroom with open views of the museum and Central Park, a renovated kitchen, a wood-burning fireplace and planting terraces. “The one downside is, you see smokestacks and pipes on the museum’s roof,” said one source who had recently visited the spread. The finicky board at 993 Fifth Avenue is no less than what one would expect at the luxurious Upper East Side building. The apartment had been the family home of Arthur Altschul, a former general partner at Goldman, Sachs and Co. and chairman of General American Investors. Mr. Altschul passed away in 2002 at the age of 81; in addition to his tenure on Wall Street, the financier was also a renowned neo-Impressionist and Pointillist art collector, a former reporter for The New York Times and a major philanthropist as chairman of the Overbrook Foundation, a charitable group founded by his parents with assets of more than $150 million. Mr. Altschul’s wife, Siri von Reis, also added to the family’s prestige (and good looks) as a half-Finnish, half-Swedish Harvard-educated ethnobotanist and a full-time poet. By signing Ms. Grubman at the Corcoran Group, the family may be hoping that she can resuscitate the sale. In September, Ms. Grubman helped former Sony Music chief Tommy Mottola unload his 11,000-square-foot condo at 9 East 64th Street for $13.8 million, after the sprawling apartment sat on the market since November 2002 (it originally had the stratospheric asking price of $34 million). Across the park at 101 Central Park West, Harrison Ford recently got lucky: After the board turned down hedge-fund manager Gary Lieberman’s bid to buy the apartment for $16 million, they recently approved the new buyer in December. Newly appointed Tommy Hilfiger President and chief executive David Dyer has a new Trump condo to retire to after a long day at the streets-meets-prepster fashion house-a place where he can unwind with sprawling views of Central Park. Mr. Dyer, the former head of catalog retail giant Land’s End, and his wife recently purchased a $2.77 million apartment at the Trump Parc building at 106 Central Park South, between Sixth and Seventh avenues. Robin Rothman, a senior vice president at Sotheby’s International Realty, who sold Mr. Dyer and his wife the apartment, didn’t return calls seeking comment. Through a spokesperson, Mr. Dyer also declined to comment. While such fashion icons as Calvin Klein have been drawn to downtown-chic spreads like the fish-tank Richard Meier towers or the leafy streets of the West Village (where Diane von Furstenberg lives), Mr. Dyer’s uptown perch is conveniently close to Hilfiger’s West 39th Street corporate headquarters. As in all the apartments in Mr. Trump’s signature properties, the 2,821-square-foot apartment was finished in lavish detail and features three bedrooms, three and a half baths and open views to the north and east overlooking Central Park. Alain Ducasse’s two New York restaurants-Alain Ducasse at the Essex House and Mix-are one block away. The building has also been a destination for New York’s society circuit. In September, marketing executive Stephen Adler hosted an opulent dinner party in the building-with guests including hip-hop star Wyclef Jean-as part of the 150 dinners celebrating the 150th anniversary of Central Park. Mr. Dyer’s purchase comes several months after landing at Hilfiger. The fashion executive was hired in August to replace outgoing chief executive Joel Horowitz, who moved to become Hilfiger’s chairman. Before arriving in New York, Mr. Dyer was the C.E.O. of Dodgeville, Wis.–based Land’s End, the mail-order clothier best known for the pastel-colored golf shirts and trim-fitting slacks seen on suburban golf courses across the country. At Land’s End, Mr. Dyer oversaw the catalog’s $1.9 billion sale to mass-market retailer Sears, Roebuck. Recent Transactions in the Real Estate Market Two-bedroom, two-bathroom co-op. Asking: $735,000. Selling: $725,000. Maintenance: $1,108; 68 percent tax-deductible. Time on the market: 26 days. STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA When moving to a new city, many buyers look to re-create the ambiance of their former residences. A quiet block and charming townhouses were a must for this corporate executive who had recently relocated from Philadelphia-a city that, in addition to its infamous cheese steaks, is renowned for its quaint colonial townhouses and tree-lined streets. After a brief visit to this 1,000-square-foot apartment on the fourth floor of a brownstone that dates to 1890, she felt right at home on the Upper West Side and made an offer. The sellers were a growing family who were relocating for more space. “So many people come to the city, and it’s a major change. This apartment had so much of what she comes from,” said broker Sheila Lokitz of the Corcoran Group, who represented the buyer. The floor-through apartment, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, featured such charms as a wood-burning fireplace, a modern kitchen with dishwasher, renovated sky-lit bathrooms, exposed brick walls, hardwood floors, and north and south exposures. “She only needed to see it once. She just loved it, and that was it,” Ms. Lokitz said. Fellow Corcoran brokers Tony Brown and Mark Schoenfeld represented the sellers. Six-bedroom, five-bathroom townhouse. Asking: $2.7 million. Selling: $2.5 million. Time on market: two years. Auction block When the private real-estate partnership that owned this three-family townhouse went into bankruptcy more than two years ago, the building sat on the market for a year and a half-until six months ago, when the building’s lawyers were brought in to liquidate the property. The 19th-century brownstone, between Lexington and Third avenues, was on a tree-lined block in Murray Hill, where quiet side streets could pass for the Upper East Side if it weren’t for the midtown skyscrapers and the Empire State Building’s colored spire towering over the low-rise streetscape. When the judge in the bankruptcy case recently mandated the building be put up for auction, a buyer thought he could win over the creditors and score the building on the cheap. “One of the bidders thought he could get the building at a steep discount,” said Kathleen Hoffman, the senior vice president and director of townhouse sales at William B. May. Her clients, a physician couple from Westchester County, saw the building and outbid their competitor by nearly $1 million. They plan to use the ground floor for their medical practice and rent out the rest of the building residentially. They had been renting office space in midtown, but now they will enjoy their new purchase, which features a private rear garden and three floors above their office for apartments. And since the building sat unoccupied on the market for two years, it needs a serious renovation. “They are working with an architect and drawing up plans,” Ms. Hoffman said. “Everything needs to be redone.” 3 Sheridan Square One-bedroom, one-bathroom co-op. DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO SANTA FE? Greenwich Village has been home to countless New York artists, writers and intellectuals since the 19th century, when boot-strapping bohemians inhabited the quaint townhouses and filled the neighborhood’s smoky cafés. How times have changed: Today, many artists-including the couple that owned this renovated apartment-have fled for more affordable and airy artist enclaves such as Santa Fe, N.M. Cafés are no longer smoky under Mayor Bloomberg’s smoking ban, and wealthy urbanites have taken over the townhouses and loft spaces left behind by the artists. When this couple-two professional potters-sold their West Village studio and relocated to Santa Fe, they found an attorney in his 30’s from Manhattan eager to move in. “He wanted to purchase and get on the bandwagon like everyone else. With interest rates being so low, it made sense to buy,” said Douglas Elliman senior vice president Darren Sukenik, who represented the sellers. To score the spread, the buyer had to outbid an advertising executive and an art director, who were both drooling over the doorman building’s finish and quality. This 1,000-square-foot corner apartment features dark wood floors, a beamed ceiling, a renovated granite kitchen and a marble bath. Nancy Teague of the Corcoran Group represented the buyer. Filed under: Central Park, Corcoran Group, David Dyer, Deborah Grubman, Manhattan Transfers Trending Now

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A gem of a rip-off Created on Wednesday, 18 April 2007 09:06 | Written by Lee van der Voo | Tweet A massive fraud scheme, now unraveled, funneled millions through Forest GroveIt's a plot better suited to a Hollywood studio than a Forest Grove storefront, but a federal court case that wrapped up last month spelled it out as fact. Claiming ownership of a 10,000-carat ruby worth $20 million, a group of friends started a phony bank 10 years ago and then duped depositors out of $170 million in offshore investments, funneling almost a third of the funds through western Washington County. Tailed by federal investigators who seized assets in four countries and gleaned evidence from three others, the group amassed a multi-million-dollar fortune that included luxury cars and homes, gambling binges and a hydroponic tomato farm in Boring. While the scam fell apart seven years ago, many details didn't come to light until last month, when a pair of defendants pleaded guilty to fraud charges in federal court. It's a tale that spans two oceans on chartered jets, exploits a collapsed banana economy in Grenada and and taps more than 4,000 investors worldwide, lured by promises of double-digit returns on their money. Though the massive scheme was based in the Caribbean, it cracked in Forest Grove, where agents of the phony bank had contracted with a local payment processing firm. The sparkling jewel The story begins with a rare ruby owned by a man in California. That it's the stuff of movies is not lost on Claire Fay, an assistant U.S. Attorney, who laughs a little when she talks about the gem. 'There is a picture of this ruby, not a good one, it looks like a blob, but it is purportedly a ruby carved in the shape of a boy sitting on a water buffalo,' she said. The California man who owns it has no involvement in the scheme, Fay said, or with the five people charged in the case - Laurent Barnabe, Douglas Ferguson, Gilbert Ziegler, Rita Regale and Robert Skirving. 'He doesn't know how it ever got to be used as the capitalization for this bank,' Fay said. But in 1997, founders of the First International Bank of Grenada produced a photo and an appraisal of the ruby to start the bank. A year prior, they had paid $50,000 to acquire a legitimate bank with a similar acronym, the Fidelity International Bank of Canada. After merging the two into the FIBG, they built a Ponzi scheme. The group guaranteed high dividends to those who bought in and paid a two-percent commission to an army of promoters who solicited them. The group would pay high returns to investors, not from investments but out of new money from fresh deposits. 'As in any Ponzi scheme, the key is to keep getting more and more investors because that's the only way you survive is to keep bringing in more money,' Fay said. Federal officials estimate the scheme attracted $170 million in deposits. Several Oregonians, including a Forest Grove widow, lost significant sums in the Grenada or related scams. Over three years, the group kept the scheme afloat by moving a massive amount of cash from their Caribbean bank to legitimate banks in the United States. As Fay explains it, money from new investors would be sent to nearby Antigua or, later, directly to the Grenada bank which, on paper, had $26 million in assets. Money from the deposits was siphoned off to pay the salaries of Grenadian employees, living on an island hit hard by the collapse of the banana trade. Founders and contractors of the bank were also paid - and paid well. Barnabe, for example, was given $18,000 a month to operate the bank's marketing plan and train promoters to sell the phony deposits, according to Fay. The rest of the cash would be sent to the United States and deposited in legitimate banks so the scammers could pay dividends to earlier investors as a means to attract new ones. Much of the money, an estimated $50 million, ended up moving through Automated Payment Processing, a small storefront on Pacific Avenue in Forest Grove. The Grove connection Investors would 'send their checks down to Antigua, as they were instructed,' Fay said. 'And then the defendants had the folks in Antigua literally take the investment checks, stick them in a FedEx envelope and mail them to Automated Payment Processing.' APP, as the company is known, was a relatively new business when it was approached by the Grenada bank in the late 1990s. The company had found a niche processing financial transactions for a variety of clients. 'The people at APP had their own legitimate bank account at U.S. Bank in Forest Grove,' Fay said. 'So they would, every day, open up the envelopes with all of these investment checks in them from all over the world and go on down to their U.S. Bank branch, deposit the checks into their account and wait for instructions from the defendants on where to send the money,' Fay said. Though millions of dollars in scam money was literally moving through their hands, the folks at APP had no idea anything untoward was afoot. 'I was this close to putting money into it myself, but my wife told me no,' said an employee of APP at the time, who asked that his name not be used so as not to threaten his current business. Even when APP's account at U.S. Bank was suspended during the federal probe, APP employees, felt like there must have been a mistake. 'I really believed that they were innocent, because I had met them,' the employee said. Court documents show that Barnabe and other defendants organized seminars which featured speakers from the Grenadian government and from the bank. Fay said investors were told deposits to the bank were insured by the IDIC - the International Deposit Insurance Corporation - a fictitious play on the FDIC. The group even created an IDIC web site to bolster the scheme. Part of what made the group so persuasive, according to both Fay and the APP employee, was the group's use of church groups as a means of introducing the bank to possible investors. 'There was an underlying born-again Christian theme running through all of this and it was an aspect of this that they used many times,' Fay said. In addition to laundering cash in Forest Grove, court documents show the group funneled money through the four other Portland area financial institutions. Collapse comes quickly By 2000, the scheme was in trouble. News reports and accusations about bribes to a Grenadian official caused deposits to drop off, according to Fay, and later that year, the bank collapsed. Fay said the bank could never verify its assets, though its founders tried to obtain loans by leverage fictitious holdings, including $47 million in phony bank notes and a bogus claim to gold mines. In the end, Federal investigators found that the group's founders and their network of promoters had defrauded more than 4,000 people out of their money - some of it from pensions and IRA accounts - in amounts totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. 'One person invested his mom's pension fund, I think he said it was $15,000,' Fay said. When the Grenada bank collapsed, it nearly took APP down with it. The small apartment office it formerly occupied is empty, and APP is a shell of what used to be. As they seize the scammers' assets, federal prosecutors are targeting numerous bank accounts worldwide and properties that include an estate in Uganda and a hydroponic tomato farm in Boring, where Skirving and his brother-in-law purportedly invested millions in state-of-the-art greenhouses. Fay said they called the farm Project 638, which Fay said was a Biblical reference, although she didn't know which passage was intended. Matthew, 6:38 urges followers to build the kingdom of God. Luke 6:38 states that 'a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.' News-Times reporter Christian Gaston contributed to this story. Lee van der Voo, a former News-Times reporter, now works for the Lake Oswego Review. Copyright 2016 Pamplin Media Group | 6605 S.E. Lake Road, Portland, OR 97222 • 503-684-0360 | P.O. Box 22109, Portland, OR 97269 - Current Job Openings

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Timothy Wadhams - Chief Executive Officer, President and Director John Sznewajs - Chief Financial Officer, Vice President and Treasurer Donald Demarie - Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President Keith Hughes - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Capital Markets Michael Rehaut - JP Morgan Chase & Co Kenneth Zener - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. David MacGregor - Longbow Research LLC Joshua Pollard - Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sam Darkatsh - Raymond James & Associates Eric Bosshard - Cleveland Research Ivy Lynne Zelman Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Masco Corporation 2010 Third Quarter Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] If you have not received the press release and supplemental information, they are available on Masco’s website, along with today’s slide presentation, under the Investor Relations section at www.masco.com. Before we begin management’s presentation, the company wants to direct your attention to the current slide and the note at the end of the earnings release, which are cautionary reminders about statements that reflect the company’s views about its future performance and about non-GAAP financial measures. After a brief discussion by management, the call would be open for analyst questions. If we are unable to get to your question during this call, please call the Masco Corporation Investor Relations office at (313) 792-5500. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Timothy Wadhams, President and Chief Executive Officer of Masco. Mr. Wadhams, please go ahead. Timothy Wadhams Thank you, Clay, and thanks all of you for joining us today for Masco's Third Quarter Earnings Call. I'm joined by Donnie Demarie, our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; and John Sznewajs, our CFO. And if you would please flip to Slide #3. Third quarter was a tough quarter for Masco, particularly for our businesses related to new home construction, repair/remodel activity, specifically bigger-ticket items. Activity which really includes our Installation and Cabinet-related businesses primarily. Our sales were off 6% to $2 billion. We had unfavorable currency translation that have impacted about 2% of that. And again, major part of our sales decline was in Cabinets and Installation Services. On an as-reported basis, our loss per share was $0.02 in the quarter, which compares to $0.14 of income in the third quarter of 2009. Gross profit margins as reported decreased 200 basis points in the quarter, and we'll take a look at reconciled EPS and margins in just a second. Working capital as a percent of sales improved to 16.2% compared to 17.3% last year, and we ended the quarter with $1.5 billion of cash. If you would please flip to Slide #4. I mentioned gross margins as reported down 200 basis points. If we reconcile gross margins and operating margins for rationalization charges in both periods and a litigation charge in the third quarter of last year, both of those metrics, gross margins and operating margins were down 80 basis points to 26.9% for gross profit and 7.2% for operating margins. On a year-to-date basis, by the way, which the reconciliation is included in our appendix, both gross margins and operating margins on a year-to-date basis reconciled for the same items would have been up 110 basis points each. Looking at our results from a big picture standpoint, reconciled operating profit was off $25 million. Sales volume contributed approximately $30 million, $35 million to that decline. We also had unfavorable price commodity relationships of approximately $30 million, and those two items were partially offset by net savings in the quarter from rationalization activities, our focus on lean of approximately $40 million. If you flip to Slide #5, this shows the reconciliation of earnings per share. Again, on the same basis as we discussed, operating margins earlier a little earlier taking out rationalization charges and normalizing our tax rate. And in that process, we would have had $0.11 per share in the third quarter of 2010, compared to $0.18 last year in the third quarter. This year's EPS in the third quarter also included about $0.02 of additional other expense, $0.01 of that is interest and then there's some miscellaneous items that impact the other $0.01. If you flip to Slide #6, this presents some of the trends that we've been tracking on a quarterly basis. We already talked about sales, gross profit and operating loss and again, these are on an as-adjusted basis. The as-reported numbers are in the appendix. Key retail sales were off 4%, reflecting declines in both small ticket and big-ticket items, and that includes $23 million in terms of products that we have exited that changed year-over-year or quarter-over-quarter, if you will, in terms of Cabinets and we'll talk about that in a second or two. We did have a decremental margin in the quarter of 20%, and that compares favorably to our contribution margin of about 30% on a company-wide basis. If you flip to Slide #7. Both North America and International sales were off 6%. I would point out that International sales increased 4% in local currencies. And when you take a look at margins, margins from a segment perspective were down from 9.7% last year to 8.6% this year, and again, these are segment margins. And I would point out that internationally, we had a very strong quarter at a little bit over 12% in ROS, obviously down from the almost 14% last year but a very strong quarter in terms of International-related operations and operating profit. If we flip to Slide #8, we'll talk about our segments and I would point out that the segment numbers are as adjusted. We've included the rationalization charges in the footnote at the bottom of the slide, and we'll start with Cabinets. Tough quarter in both North America and internationally. Sales for Cabinets were down 18%. We also had an expansion in terms of operating loss. We lost $18 million on an incremental basis compared to last year's $9 million loss and ended with an operating loss margin of 7.6%. Our decremental margin for this segment was 23%. And if you flip to Slide #9, we thought it would be helpful to break the sales decline down in terms of North America and internationally. And if you go to our guidance for this particular segment, we estimated that our sales in 2009, about 75% of those sales relate to North America. And if you apply that to the third quarter's sales for last year in 2009 and then compare that to the drop in North America of $49 million, that represents about 15%. $23 million of that decline, that $49 million decline relates to products that we have exited. And that's the year-over-year comparative number, that represents about 7%. So in terms of market activity, the $26 million, we were down about 8% compared to where we were last year. Donnie's going to talk about Cabs in a couple of minutes and go through our strategy and where we are from an integration standpoint. If you flip to Slide #10, Plumbing Products, another very strong quarter for Plumbing driven by innovation and global expansion. Sales were up modestly, and we had a 14.6 margin compares which is exactly where we were last year. And again, very strong performance from a return on sales standpoint. If we flip to Slide #10, I mentioned that our sales performance continues to be driven by innovation and global expansion. And I think, as I think all of you know, we put a lot of emphasis on innovation across Masco and obviously at Delta. And we're really pleased with the retail end cap that you see here that really demonstrates some of our really neat innovation, innovative products that we brought out over the last couple of years. This is at the Home Depot. It displays our Touch2O Technology, the MagnaTite Docking System and our In2ition Shower System. And again, very, very proud of all those products. If you flip to Slide #12, another feature that we think is certainly very important is the fact that Delta has continued significant momentum in terms of strengthening and developing the brand. We've achieved a nine point gain in unaided brand awareness over the course of the last two years, and that's a pretty significant move in a very short period of time and we're very pleased with that. If you flip to Slide #13, in terms of Installation and Other Services. This segment, as you know, is very much tied to new home construction and obviously, that area continues to be challenging. We were down 12% in sales in this segment. But we did show an improvement in terms of our operating loss. So that declined by $7 million on a $40 million drop in sales. So we're very, very pleased with that. I would remind you that we do have some start up-related costs to our Masco Home Services WellHome launch that impact this segment. That loss incrementally in this quarter was about $3 million. So again, very pleased with our performance from an operating profit or operating loss standpoint, if you will. If you flip to Slide #14. One of the things, a couple of points on Installation. Historically, we've had a very strong correlation between our sales and starts. Housing starts lagged on a 90-day basis. That relationship hasn't really held this year on a quarterly basis. We believe that's influenced significantly by variability and cycle times. We think in the first half of the year, given the cash credit that I think expired in June 30, we saw some compression in terms of the building cycle. So we think it's probably a lot more appropriate to focus on the year-to-date relationship between our sales and lag starts, which show that lag starts are up 2%, with our sales down 9%. That's a gap, if you will, of about 11%. And again, we're talking about segment sales here. We believe that a big part of that explanation is that we have seen and experienced on a year-to-date basis lower revenue per job. That's been driven by price competition, smaller homes and homes that have a much simpler design, for example, with less vaulted ceilings, lower ceilings, maybe ceilings going from 10 feet to 8 feet, which require less installation. So our feeling when we look at our revenue per job, that's down on average about high single digit, which explains part of that 11% gap. We also believe that it's likely that we may have lost a little bit of share that could be maybe three, four points on a year-to-date basis. That makes a little bit of sense to us as we think about it, given that we have closed a number of branches. We've got less coverage in secondary branches, on our secondary markets, if you will. As you know, we've tried to maintain our presence in all the major metropolitan areas and they spent some unattractive work out there that quite frankly, we have passed on that didn't make a lot of sense. So from that standpoint, that's kind of the way we see the dynamic in those particular segment. Don't have a concern over that share issue on a long-term basis. We feel very strongly that we'll get that back. If you flip to Slide #15, our Decorative Architectural Products, sales in this segment were off 2%, and both paint and builders' hardware were off in terms of top line. Margins were down in the quarter but still a very strong 22.5%, and that reflects less favorable price commodity relationship as we highlighted at the end of the second quarter. I would point out that on a year-to-date basis in this segment, margins are 22.1% compared to 23% last year. Last quarter, we talked about the tight supply of both resins and TiO2. We mentioned that costs are up, but we also mentioned that we have been able to manage through that process just in terms of the challenge, and we think we're through the worst of that from a supply perspective but costs are still up. And as we indicated back in July, we expected to have some second-half margin pressure. Obviously, we do. But we still anticipated as we indicated that we'll have solid margins, and we did have solid margins in the third quarter and we anticipate that we will in the fourth quarter as well. If you flip to Slide #16, Other Specialty Products. Sales were down in this segment 4%. We saw margin decline from 9.6% to 6.9%, and that's driven by lower sales volume, a little bit of the unfavorable relationship between commodity costs and selling prices, and some increased promotional and marketing expenses related to both new window product introductions as well as fastening tools. And if you flip to Slide #17, this shows our product line that we recently launched. We call it the Arrow R.E.D. line. R.E.D. stands for Reliable. Ergonomic. and Durable. And you can see we've used the red color. [Audio Gap] That's receivables plus inventories less payables. If you flip to Slide 19. I'm going to turn the presentation over to Donnie, and Donnie's going to talk about our Cabinet-related business. Donald Demarie Okay, thank you, Tim. And as Tim mentioned, I'd like to take a few minutes to update you on our Cabinet strategy. Slide #20. The Cabinet industry in 2009 was estimated at $10.6 billion, down approximately 30% from 2006. However, the industry is expected to rebound and by 2014, get back to north of $15 billion. On Slide #21. The U.S. Residential Cabinet market is split into three channels. The dealer channel represents approximately 70% of the total opportunity, with direct to builders sales and sales by home improvement retailers making up the remaining 30%. In the direct to builder channel, we are number one in sales and increasing our share. At home improvement retailers, we are also number one in sales and believe that we are maintaining our share to being down 1% to 2%, primarily due to a reduction in sales from non-core products that we chose to access. At 70% of the market, the dealer channel represents a significant opportunity and even though we are number two in sales, we estimate our market share to be less than 10%. Slide #22. I'd like to take a moment to walk you now through our six key initiatives in our Cabinet strategy. Slide 23. First, we are focused on executing a seamless business integration. We have reduced our fixed cost by $140 million since 2006 while exiting non-core product lines. We are completing our ERP implementation and shipping Quality and Merillat from a common architectural platform. And just yesterday, we began moving people into our new consolidated headquarters located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We have achieved some major milestones and we remain on track to deliver an additional $30 million in annualized integration savings by 2012 as we have previously communicated. Slide #24. We have launched the winning brand portfolio featuring Quality, Merillat and KraftMaid. Our brands cover all key price points and cover the top three purchase drivers of Cabinets. We are building these brands by generating demand on TV, print and the web. We are promoting and innovating. Our distinct brand positions and new organizational structure allow us to manage our messaging more effectively, while opening the door to further supply chain efficiencies. Slide #25. We believe the Cabinet industry is ripe for innovation, and we plan to reinvent the category with innovative solutions. We are working out process innovations such as our Virtual Selection Center and product innovation like our CoreGuard Sink Base. Our innovation pipeline is building, and we can't wait to our share our new products with you as they launch in the market. Slide #26. The countertop industry was estimated to be a $15 billion market in 2008, and we plan to establish countertops as a growth engine. Our ProCision System allows the countertops to be templated at the same day the Cabinets are measured, thus allowing the finished cabinet and custom countertops to be delivered and installed on the very same day. This reduces complexity for our builders and reduces cycle times, while guiding higher cabinet and countertop retention rates for Masco. By emphasizing the consumer, we plan to grow our leadership position at home improvement retailers. We're looking to deploy virtual technology to simplify the purchasing experience. We are promoting our brand, innovating and launching new styles and designs. Slide #27. We recently launched the largest new product introduction in the history of KraftMaid, 38 new door styles, 32 new finishes and six new bath collections. Slide #28. We have added more feet on the street to drive and accelerate dealer growth, where 1% increase in share is worth an approximate $80 million in top line sales. And we are adding new dealers through our Dealer Advantage Program, which is designed to drive foot traffic with higher conversion rates. Slide 29. Where we have dealers, we've added a brand. With 126 current customers adding another Masco brand. Where we're underpenetrated, we've added new dealers with 50 new dealers coming on board already. Together, 176 dealers have added the Masco brand, representing 241 showrooms, all the while, while not having lost a single customer due to the Cabinet integration. We are excited to share our Cabinet strategy with you today and look forward to updating you all on our progress. And with that, I'll turn the call back up over to Tim. Yes, thank you, Donnie. Just a couple of quick comments before we go to Q&A. Obviously, the macro environment continues to be challenging, and we anticipate that that's going to be achieved for the near term. Consumer confidence, unemployment and uncertainty, whether it's the political climate, foreclosures, home prices, continue to impact our markets. Having said that, we expect that during the near term, repair/remodel activity should be a little bit stronger than new home construction. And we continue to anticipate starts in 2010 to be in a range of 575,000 to 625,000. Having said that, we'll continue to focus on what we can control to improve our execution and strengthen our brands. That includes driving the Masco Business System across our enterprise, continuing to emphasize innovation and continuing to aggressively manage our fixed costs. We estimate by the end of this year, we will have taken out approximately $500 million of fixed cost going back to the start of the downturn. A lot of that has impacted our Installation and Cabinet business. We continue to manage those businesses very aggressively. I think Donnie did a great job of talking about some of the exciting things that are going on in Cabinets. But having said all that, we really need some additional volume in both of those segments, and we believe we're very well positioned when the economy picks up. We will continue to manage both of those segments aggressively. There's more that we can do and more that we will do. We continue to be very optimistic about the long-term fundamentals for our markets. We believe we can create significant value by continue to drive customer satisfaction, working to take market share and longer term, focusing on global expansion. And certainly, appreciate the efforts of the Masco team across our businesses for making all that happen. And with that, we'll open up the lines for Q&A. [Operator Instructions] We'll go first to Keith Hughes with SunTrust. First, in Cabinets. Now that you're deeper into this restructuring, just wanted to see what you looked at for 2011 in terms of reduced fixed overhead costs heading into the new year? I think the Cabinet fixed cost reduction that we have achieved or will estimate by the end of this year would sound about $180 million. I think it was about $180 million, Keith, as of the end of this year. Now I don't think that includes the closure of the two plants that relate to our ready-to-assemble related business. So there'd be some additional related cost reductions there. I think that's about $20 million if I'm not mistaken. That's over several years, correct? Yes, that goes back, Keith, to the start of the downturn. This is really comparing our fixed cost structure at the end of 2006 to where we would estimate that we'd be at the end of 2010. So just roughly, if you look at the '11 fixed cost versus '10 fixed cost, how much will be down in '11? 2011 versus 2010? John Sznewajs We'll have to look at the number, Keith. I would guess though, it's at least probably 30 because you've got the two Cabinet playing. Well, I think that the cost related to the two Cabinet facilities in this year are in the 180. So that's in the $180 million. So yes, Keith, the number as of the end of 2010 is probably $160 million. There'd be another $20 million or so related to the closure of the two Cabinet plants that manufacture the ready-to-assemble and in-stock assembled. And my guess is as we continue to work our way through the integration, I would expect that we're going to find additional costs there. The cost related to the integration, John, if I'm remembering right, we're anticipating about $30 million of reduction and most of that's probably in the fixed cost side, isn't it? That would be, yes, fixed cost side. So that would add another $30 million to that $20 million. So that basically be about $50 million but then it would be more by 2012, Keith. The two plants, the two RTA plants when would they closed by? Probably early second quarter. Sometime in the second quarter next year, Keith. And then going to the press release, you had a comment in the outlook saying it appears a recovery in certain of your markets to be slower than previously anticipated. Could you just expound upon that? And is that a view you had three or four months ago and you're just reiterating it? Is it a new view? Just any detail on that would be great. That's a good question and I think it really is a continuation of what we started to see in the end of the second quarter. And specifically, as I think most folks are aware, estimations or forecast for new home construction have continued to come down over the course of the last several months. And really, what we're referring to there is what looks like a slower period relative to new home construction. Obviously, we've got a lot of uncertainty around foreclosures and how that's going to play out and the timing of that. But basically, that would be what we're referring to at a point when house prices still have not stabilized, I think the repair/remodel activity probably is going to be deferred until that happens. And we start to see a pickup in consumer confidence. So I think if anything, it's probably from our perspective compared to where we were a couple of three months ago, looks like it's going to be a little further out. We'll go next to Ivy Zelman with Zelman & Associates. This is after your forecast you showed in Slide 20 that showed the Cabinet industry getting back to $15 billion, which is pretty much equal with the peak of '06 at $15 billion and I kind of want to understand what expectation do you have was embedded in there for the new construction market. Do you assume that starts to get back to where we were in '06? And then understanding that, you've got significant cost reductions that you've had since '06, $180 million that you've outlined and more to come. What capacity are you basically leading in place in order to get to that $15 billion assumption with respect to -- I guess what I'm trying to ask is how many housing starts can you ultimately manufacture with your current footprint? And would it be possible that you're being too optimistic to get back to the levels that we were able to achieve back in '06? And that there could be significant more cost reductions? And then just to follow on that, the Paint business, you indicated that we saw weakness in paint, which we're wondering is that destocking as it relates to your large customer? Or is it more consumer-driven and recognizing that that's been one of the best performing areas, really, I want to understand what you're seeing there. So if you can start with the first then hopefully answer the latter. Yes, I'll do well, I think, paint. That's more consumer-driven, we believe, Ivy, at this point and not related to destocking. That would be more of a consumer issue. I don't have any knowledge of any concerns around destocking. And in terms of the $15 billion that was projected for 2014, that's a Freedonia estimate in terms of -- they did a big market study that came out I think a couple of months ago. And that's their estimate in terms of what the market might look like in 2014. I think in response to your question about housing starts, at that point in time, I mean, we would again, we haven't made an estimate. But I guess just off the top of my head for 2014, I'd be real surprised if we're not back to a level of somewhere around 1.2 to 1.4 I would guess at that point in time, assuming that we get a little bit of traction going forward. You've obviously got some estimates out that I think go through 2013, if I'm not mistaken, that would suggest that, that trend might make a little bit of sense. And our sense is that that's something that would be achievable. But again, we've got to get some traction here in terms of new home. Donnie, do you want to take the capacity side of the Cabinet? Yes, on the capacity side, we certainly aren't holding on capacity based upon a real growth outlook. As a matter fact, our capacity issues have been more supply chain related given the complexity that we had with the three brands and the fact that each of them had a separate supply chain, and even really a separate manufacturing philosophy. So we've worked hard to kind of drive that efficiency throughout the platform. That was really a key driver in our decision to bring the organization together. We think there's opportunity to continue to get at the fixed cost structure, but we're certainly not holding on the capacity for the hope that we're going to get back to where we once were and feel the need to serve it. So right now, where our heads are at is let's drive the efficiencies out, let's take the cost out and really be ready for the rebound. And to the extent that some point in the future, five, six years out, things are a bit better than we think they might be, then we'll jump for them at that time. I think what Donnie's really saying there is we're going to manage a little bit more aggressively for the near term. We ought to be able to react on the upside to the extent that there is additional opportunity and things may be come back a little quicker than we think. Just one more follow-up on the question related to Cabinets. You mentioned that you had $23 million that was related to businesses that you exited. Can you give us an idea what percent the retail sales figure of 4% decline would have looked like had you not have those decisions to exit those $23 million of business? Yes, that would represent about 1% theoretically about $2 billion of sales last year. So that would have been about 1%, Ivy. We'll go next to Ken Zener with KeyBanc. I wonder if you could comment on the three to four points you estimated you lost in the Installation business. In the market side, you were an X for your closing sites. Can you talk about the logic? Was it really just pricing because I know you guys have commented that you got better purchasing on the let's say on the installations, so could you talk about kind of the logic and how that might be shifting? Yes, Ken. This is Donnie. it's very, very hard for us to come up with a share loss in this segment because there's been extreme volatility in the cycle times. What we have done now is we've gone back and looked at the locations we've shut, and we had sales plans in place within those locations to maintain sales coverage but from facilities that would have been a little bit farther away. So we're really increasing our coverage ratio. We also took a significant reduction in our fixed cost by driving out cost to really spend the operating losses. As we go back today and really look at sales specifically by market, we think that we probably were too aggressive in taking some of these sales people out. And so we are now addressing some of those markets where we just don't feel that the coverage has been sufficient where we had plans to maybe keep it at a little bit higher level. So we're shifting gears a little bit and that's put in some feedback on the street. We want to make sure that any share loss we had there that we can recover. And to the other point of your question, we have seen pricing on jobs that is unattractive. So as the market has continued to be depressed for a longer period of time, we have seen competitors willing to work for wages and really chase work in areas that we just don't feel is attractive for us at any price. And I guess just a follow-up on Windows. Can you talk about the strategy? I know you guys have talked about extending the product offering kind of from the higher into the more value-oriented. Can you talk about the success and challenges you've seen in there relative to competition? Yes, on the Windows side, we actually have two new products. We launched Simplicity a little bit over probably about 18 months ago now and really, a less featured line for our new build customers. And that has grown in market share and we have seen a mixed change to Simplicity. We also just recently had launched our new wood fiberglass line, which is Essence, and that just launched in the showrooms in the third quarter. So we're excited about that opportunity. So we have seen a mixed change to more of the Simplicity product, primarily in the new home construction side. We haven't seen any change really the dealer market. I think the other thing there, Ken, too is that since the downturn in new home, we've made a significant shift from new home construction to repair/remodel in terms of our Window business in North America. We'll go next to David MacGregor with Longbow Research. Just a couple questions. First of all, going back about a year ago, you'd offer us kind of your assessment of the break even on the Installation business as being at about 750,000 starts. So I'm just wondering if it's possible to get an update on where you think that might be today, if it's changed at all? Yes, at this point, David, we would still see that number around 750,000 to 800,000 as we mentioned. We're continuing to work very hard to try to lower that. That's really a segment number though, and I think it's important to note that, that includes the launch related to Masco Home Services and our WellHome business. We've got a Framing business thing there as well as a Distribution business. So that's a segment-wide number. My sense is that we've got some opportunity going forward to bring that down a little bit more, and we'll be working hard to do that. But we're still looking at a number that's approximately in that same range. Secondly on the Cabinet business. As you roll out your new brands under KraftMaid, is there more of a focus on home centers or dealers? I know you've talked a lot here in the presentation today about the importance of the dealer channel. And what do you think this might give you in terms of price opportunities just to address some of the inflation in that category? Strategies really across all three channels, and we're doing a really nice job with our Merillat, Quality brands at the direct to builder. And on the home centers, we've done a nice job with KraftMaid, but we think there's some opportunity there to really focus on innovation and the purchasing experience and really drive sales through that channel. The dealer side for us is probably the one that represents the most opportunity. We're number two in dealers but have a relatively small share position. And we think that, that channel is one that we've been underrepresented in and we put more feet on the street to really go out and further penetrate that channel. So strategies really across all three channels. But if I was going to say the one that holds the most opportunity, certainly, it would be the dealer channel but we see huge opportunities really in all three channels. And then just finally on the Paint category. It seems like you're anniversary-ing the premium plus Ultra now. You've got cost inflation in resins and titanium dioxide, which you talked about over the last couple of quarters. Your competitor on the other side of the aisle started to cut its prices at this point. I don't know if you responded with a price cut or not. My best understanding is you have not as of yet. But I guess I'm just trying to gauge the outlook for margins in that category, given that it looks like the cost inflation is likely to continue and price competition is starting to build. How should we think about that? Well, as we mentioned earlier, that we expected a little bit of pressure in the second half, and we did experience that in the third quarter. We'll experience a little bit of that in the fourth quarter. But we'll continue to work with our suppliers, work on productivity and certainly work on pricing related to our products going forward. I would say that again, as you look at our margins historically in this category, they've been pretty consistent over time. Usually they'll move one direction or another on a temporary basis, maybe at quarterly basis. But we're very comfortable that we'll continue to have very good performance in this segment not going forward, and be able to work our way through some of the issues with supply and cost at this point in time. We'll go next to Eric Bosshard with Cleveland Research Company. You made a comment about managing the business more aggressively for the near term related to your comments about the outlook for housing being a little bit more protracted than perhaps you previously thought or hoped. Can you just explain a little bit better what you mean by managing more aggressively for the near term? Well, I think we're going to keep doing the things that we've been doing, Eric, in both the Install and Cabinet business. I think one thing that's really important is we have very strong management teams in both of those businesses. Management teams that we have a very high level of confidence in. Obviously, things are difficult now, but Donnie did a very good job I think at talking about what we're doing from a Cabinet strategy standpoint. We think there's some huge opportunities and again, we've got to get things in place to take advantage of what we think will be a much more robust environment somewhere down the road. So when we think about those two businesses, we think about great leadership, we think about great products in terms of Cabinets, the innovation that we're doing. On the Install side, we've got a good team there as well that is getting after it every day. And again, we have managed aggressively. I think when you look at the costs that we've taken out of both of those businesses over the last couple three years, I think it's very significant. I think there's still opportunity to do that going forward, and we'll continue to do a lot of the same things we have done. We'll look at our footprint in terms of the Installation business. We'll look at the way we manage that business, look at different alternative ways to approach the markets. But again, there's a lot of focus there. We've had very good teams, and we feel very confident that we're going to create value going forward in both those segments. So I guess just to clarify, when I heard you say manage it more aggressively, I interpreted that to be managing costs out in light of a softer housing environment. What it looks like you're doing is you're putting more feet on the street in both Install and Cabinets. Is that to improve market share? Is the near-term focus to improve the market share performance? Is the near-term focus to manage down the cost structure? I think it's both, Eric. I think as Donnie mentioned, I think we've recognized that we cut very deep on the Install side. We may have taken some folks off the street that could help the top line. You can't cost cut yourselves to success over the long term, and I think there are some opportunities for us to take share. And market share in this environment for companies that have a strong financial position I think is a great opportunity and a little bit more investment. We think we'll have a nice payback, both near term and longer term. And I would add, Eric, we're adding feet on the street where we see a significant opportunity to grow share. On the Installation side, we think we cut too far from the secondary market and we've seen opportunities to bring some of those folks back. In the Cabinet side, the dealer market is just -- even though we're number two in sales, and it's really been a market where we've been underrepresented. So we see an opportunity to grow sales within that segment and it makes sense for us to invest to do so. Now on the supply chain side, we've really been focused on managing aggressively our cost structure but also building in flexibility so that on the way back up, we can serve whatever the recovery looks like. We do believe today that that's more protracted than we would have seen in that recovery at the beginning of this year, and we're planning to add back our cost given our outlook. On key retail sales or sales to key retailers that softened in 3Q, it look like kind of four points versus 2Q. Can you give any further perspective on to that, and to sell in relative to sell-through, perhaps trends in the quarter and kind of how things had started out in 4Q there? Well, I think the issue there, Eric, is there's nothing remarkable in any of our product groups. I think we saw a slowness pretty across the board. Whether it's a smaller ticket item like paint or plumbing or big-ticket like cabinet. So there isn't any issue or concern relative to share. No concerns just outside of the macro environment. I think our feeling is the consumers have just sort of closed down to a certain extent. And we talked a little bit about that coming out of the second quarter. So I don't think there's any unique trends or anything else going on, Donnie, that I'm aware of. No, and no issues with changes in inventory that would have impacted those numbers. And then the last question just on Cabinets. Year-to-date, do you think your market share is up, down, flat? As we spoke to it, on the builder side, we clearly are gaining market share and our sales to our top 10 builders are up. So we're clearly gaining share on the builder direct sales. On the dealers, we're maintaining share but we really had a spot. We are shares through the customers that we've been able to add with new brands. And on the home improvement retailers, we believe we are maintaining share maybe have lost a point or two, primarily due to the product that we exited. But still number one at both of the big box in terms of sales. Yes, and one thing that impacts that segment especially in the third quarter on a big way is what's going on in Europe. We have a Cabinet business in the United Kingdom that's primarily new construction, and that market has been impacted every bit as dramatically, if not more, than what's going on here in the United States so we've had some significant underperformance in that business unit. And then our ready-to-assemble Furniture business in Denmark to go in Stenberg, really had a loss of some low margin business to one of their large customers that impacted the quarter pretty dramatically. We'll go next to Budd Bugatch with Raymond James. It's Sam Darkatsh. I'm just taking you back on Eric's last question there, just wanted to be clear. I think you earlier said in the flip chart that your organic U.S. sales in Cabinets sell 8%, and then I guess organic be defined as excluding the RTA walkaway business. Yes, that's correct. Was that better or worse than the cabinet industry in the U.S. in the third quarter, specifically? Was the cabinet industry down worse than 8%? Sam, I don't have a sense of that. I don't know. Yes, that's hard to estimate, Sam. We certainly believe that Cabinets in the second half tend to be trending in the down in the low to mid-single digits. So when we think about some of the business we exited that could result in a one- to two-point share loss at home improvement retailers, I think that's pretty consistent. Yes, I think Donnie's comments, Sam, just in terms of whether it's 8% or whatever that number might be, I think our sense is just in terms of share, Donnie talked about direct to builder where we are up on a year-to-date basis this year. We, on the dealer side, we're down about that same number. But our sense is that we've added a bunch of opportunities going forward. So it's kind of tough to gauge. But what we feel in terms of trends going forward are positive, both on a direct to builder as well as from the dealer perspective. And you can see the traction we're getting with the strategy in terms of the dealers we've added, the number of dealers that have picked up the Masco brand. And on the home center side, as Donnie mentioned, we could be down maybe a point there. But we're holding our own from a share standpoint across the board. Two more quick questions, if I might. One also in Cabinets. The $23 million worth of RTA walkaway, what are you taking for that impact over the next couple of quarters? And then the last question would be you mentioned the pricing net-net, price mix unfavorable at $30 million. Copper and zinc have reinflated recently. What are your thoughts there going forward near term? Well, what we mentioned at the end of the last call, Sam, was that we anticipated we had headwinds of about $40 million in the second half of the year related to price commodity relationships. If anything, that's probably increased to say, $50 million, maybe $55 million from a full year perspective. And that would suggest that we've got about $20 million of headwind in the fourth quarter. Most of that is related to resins, inputs for Paint, Windows and Plumbing. And the RTA impact the next couple of quarters? I would guess, I don't -- John, do you have a sense of that. Well, the $200 million program that we're walking away from and if we ramp it up, Sam, by the end of, let's say, it's the end of Q2 by the time we wind down the program with our customers, there would be a $50 million or so impact per quarter just if you annualize the $200 million over the course of the year. So that goes to a more normalized $50 million run rate over the next few quarters because this one was about half that amount? We'll go next to Michael Rehaut with JPMorgan. First question, I was hoping just to go back to the Cabinets for a moment and I think it was one of the first questions you were asked about. Incremental cost being taken out of the business in 2011 versus 2010 and I think at first blush, you started talking about cost until '06. And then the two plants, which are coming out in the middle of 2011 I believe. So I'm just trying to get a sense of the actions taken in 2010 and perhaps earlier on in 2011. How are we to think about the costs take out in '11 versus '10? Yes, I think in big buckets, Mike, we've got plants related to the RTA business that will be closed in early second quarter of next year or second quarter of next year and I think that's about $20 million, isn't it, John? Roughly in terms of fixed cost. In addition to that, the integration that we announced earlier this year, as we've mentioned, as the savings run rate that we've identified at this point in time of roughly $30 million to $35 million will be at about a $5 million run rate by the end of this year. And we estimate that we'll get the entire $30 million to $35 million by the end of 2012. So I would suggest to you that my guess would be and again, I don't know if we have this documented or detailed, but we'll probably have another $15 million to $20 million out by the end of next year. So that would give you about $40 million of incremental fixed cost reduction in Cabinets by the end of next year, with another $10 million to $15 million to come in 2012 based on the integration. Now having said all that, as Donnie and I have both indicated in the past, as we continue to work on the integration, our sense is we'll continue to find some additional opportunities to take costs out. But that would frame what we think the numbers will look like. So $40 million, but that's annualized by the end of '11. So portions of the $20 million will hit in '11 and then '12 and et cetera, if I understand you correctly. Yes, that's right. Also just on Cabinets, I believe you had said a $34 million of potential annualized sales from some of the new customers and dealer strategy that you're getting. I was just trying to understand is that based on just the fact that with the new brand or with the new customer looking at an average sales per customer, because obviously, getting the brand on their shelves and walking in on an initial basis, I would assume there's a ramp to that $34 million. So the potential is more just if the customers coming in on a full spend, more mature basis, am I thinking about that right? Or is that something where you could think about getting that $34 million potentially ramping up over a two-, three-year period or if you could just comment on that. Yes. Michael, the estimates come our Masco Cabinetry group and what they do is they look at their sales plan for these customers. And so depending upon the size of the customer of the market they're in and the showrooms, based on who we've added so far, that's what they would see as a potential for annual sales. And I think, Donnie, if I'm not mistaken, I think that's pretty much grounded in the current environment that we're in today. Not assuming any significant lift in terms of economics relative to starts might end or increase in repair/remodel activity from kind of where we are relative to current levels. And I would add, Mike, we've just begun. I mean this is an effort that we're trying to give you an early feel for. But we're really just getting out of the gate here with our Dealer Advantage Program. We're still adding people and feet on the street to go after and drive some share in this category. We just see it as a huge opportunity for us though. Just on installation, I believe in the last couple of quarters, you mentioned $4 million of start up cost per WellHome in the first and $5 million in the second. I was wondering if that run rate is continuing? And now with the maybe adding some sales people back in the near term, going to see some incremental fixed cost or a higher cost base and the future of WellHome in terms of those start-up costs and how are we to think about the next couple of quarters with initiatives such as WellHome and perhaps, some additional feet on the street? Well, adding feet, certainly, Mike, will increase some cost. But our sense is that that's going to pay for itself and should have a good return on that investment. The WellHome incremental loss was $3 million in the quarter, and as you know, we ramped that up late last year. We did indicate that we expect to have two branches, the two initial branches. One I think that's in New Hampshire and one that's in the Detroit area here, to a break even or better by the end of this year and we still believe that we're tracking that. But I would anticipate that next year, we'll continue to have some launch-related or operating losses generated by that particular segment. But again, don't have that quantified at this point in time. I would add that the cost in the quarter, didn't gave the incremental cost but cost in the quarter have not ramped up. So we don't anticipate, Mike, that the train or the overhead associated with that initiative will be any higher than what we're currently in. We'll go next to Joshua Pollard with Goldman Sachs. My question is you made a comment that things have gotten incrementally just a bit worse on your outlook on the new side. You didn't make specific comments with respect to the retail side. I'd love to hear those. And also, if you look over the last three months, can you talk a bit about and I'd love if you could quantify your ability to pass on price? We continue to hear through that channel that pushing prices to the home center has gotten incrementally more difficult, and I was wondering if you could comment on that. Well, I think the repair/remodel-related activity. Yes, I think if anything, you can kind of see that in our sales to RT retail customers. We were positive in the first quarter this year. We were flat in the second quarter. We're down a little bit in the third quarter. So if anything, our experience is that even lower-ticket items we're seeing a little bit of slowness. Now again, is that temporary? It's kind of funny. We stared out very slow, March and April were pretty strong. And since that point in time, things have tended to slow up a bit. Still not seeing a lot of traction for larger ticket repair/remodel activity. I think there's maybe been a little bit more traffic, a little bit more in terms of people looking or considering, but not necessarily willing to pull the trigger. In terms of price commodity over the last three months or your specific question is about price, I don't know that I would say that things are any more difficult than they normally are. That's always a tough conversation. And I think will continue to have a tough conversation, but I don't know that it's any more difficult. We continue to manage price commodity very aggressively and I don't know, Donnie, if you've got anything you want to add to that? The price starts has always been hard and certainly, innovation is key at being able to maintain your margins and you have to have strong leadership brands. And we've got a lot of work to really position our brands in a leadership position to really drive foot traffic. Delta has just done a tremendous job with innovation and driving foot traffic. And the brand is here on Plumbing you'll have Delta. And we feel the same way in the Paint aisle with what they've been able to accomplish and all the innovative things that there has changed. And really that industry from color match to paint primary on, to nano guard. And then if you look at the cabinet industry, we think we're into the same thing. We think that's been a market that, cabinets for the most part, there's been some new styles and designs and maybe colors and finishes. But it's right for innovation, and we think we have some disruptive innovation in our pipeline that we're real excited to bring to market and we think we're the only one really with the scale to be able to do it in a way that needs to be done. So we look at brands in the cabinet industry, we have the number one brand in KraftMaid for retail, we have the number one brand for builder with Merillat. So where you have strong brands and you continue to innovate and bringing value to both the consumer and your customer, price will always be challenging but it's a little bit easier. You made on your comments on paint that you felt like the worst of the commodity pressure was over. I wasn't sure if that was with respect to TiO2 or with resins. I was wondering if you could give some anecdotal evidence of that because we continue to hear that things are equally as tight, if not more tight today than they were just a quarter ago so I'd love a comment there. And then last question on your Cabinet business. With the new launches, I was wondering if there were any special cost in your Cabinet business that were not rationalization charges, especially that we should be thinking about negative 26 from a profit loss as a new run rate, awful wish to improve off of or is there something sort of more specialized in there that we should be thinking about back and now as we look forward. Well, the drop in the profit was pretty much in line with the drop in sales in that particular segment. I would say sequentially, we did have some additional costs from the second quarter to the third quarter. To your point, I think about $5 million, $6 million of promotional related expenses. And again, that is pretty consistent with the fact that we had the new launch for KraftMaid. In terms of your question related to resins and TiO2, our folks have been able to navigate through that issue. It is still tight, but our feeling is that the worse is behind us. But that could be in part as I mentioned on the second quarter call, that when you're growing your business as we have been over time and you've got very good relationships with suppliers, that tends to be beneficial. And I'm sure we're not the only company in that position, but we've had a very good relationship, a very good track record. And our feeling is that in terms of supply based on what we know today, it's still going to be tight but still should be very manageable on our part. And that concludes the call for today. I'd like to thank all of you for joining us. And that we look forward to talking with you at the end of the fourth quarter. Thank you. This does conclude today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. About this article:ExpandTagged: Industrial Goods, Lumber, Wood Production, TranscriptsError in this transcript? Let us know.Contact us to add your company to our coverage or use transcripts in your business.Learn more about Seeking Alpha transcripts here.Search TranscriptThis transcriptFindAll transcriptsFindCompare To:All MAS TranscriptsOther Companies in this sectorTop Authors|RSS Feeds|Sitemap|About Us|Contact UsTerms of Use|Privacy|Xignite quote data|© 2016 Seeking Alpha

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Trump Soho sales director joins Eklund Gomes team Sara Clephane brings international buyer expertise to Elliman August 21, 2012 01:00PM Katherine Clarke Next » From left: Sara Clephane, Fredrik Eklund and John Gomes Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Eklund Gomes team, led by “Million Dollar Listing New York” star Fredrik Elkund and his business partner, John Gomes, has announced the hiring of its newest member: Sara Clephane, a luxury broker who headed up sales at Trump Soho. Clephane joined the team this week, after marketing Donald Trump’s downtown tower since 2006. Her arrival marks further expansion for the Eklund Gomes team, which has grown significantly in the last year thanks in part to the publicity the hit Bravo show has garnered for Eklund, who appeared on the show’s first season and is currently filming the second season. Clephane, recruited from Miami to take the position of director of sales at the Trump project, said she was eager to move on from the position at the Soho tower in order to focus on multiple projects at a time, particularly in the downtown market. She had been heading sales at the Trump development on behalf of residential brokerage Prodigy International, which is currently listing the condominiums on a co-exclusive basis with Elliman. “I was just ready for something new. I wanted to expand my horizons instead of focusing so much on one project,” she told The Real Deal. “John and Fredrik have a lot of really exciting downtown projects. … I really love downtown. That’s kind of my specialty.” Eklund, who noted that the team has expanded further to include 10 brokers in recent months, said in a statement to The Real Deal: “Sara is the perfect fit for us with extensive new development experience and an international following.” Indeed, Clephane has conducted seminars for foreign buyers in Italy, France, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela and Panama, she said. The Eklund Gomes team is gearing up to launch sales at Veracity Development’s 111 Mercer Street, a five-story, four-unit building in Soho with asking prices ranging from $4.25 million to $10 million. It will also begin marketing 250 Bowery, a Nolita project by VE Equities that will feature 24 one-, two- and three-bedroom condo units. Clephane also mentioned the team’s “flashy” marble house listing at 60 Collister Street, a 9,000-square-foot residence complete with a 45-foot-long pool, a wet bar and a wine cellar, which she thought would appeal to Russian and South American buyers. As for Trump Soho, a spokesperson for the development declined to provide recent sales figures for the building. In May — the last time brokerage Prodigy International released data on its recent deals — less than one quarter of the 391 residences had been sold or were in contract. Clephane, who did not have up-to-date sales figures, said the volume of deals at the building has picked up recently, thanks to an upturn in the luxury market. Tags: eklund-gomes, Trump Soho Short URL 3CPO of course she’s eager to move on…she’s bored to death that this white elephant can’t be sold by the fabulous million dollar listing team…she move on to work multiple projects where she can sell for below market prices at a fast pace At least she is pretty.

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» 100pc FOREIGN OWNERSHIP Abu Dhabi plans Dubai-style financial free zone Abu Dhabi, April 28, 2013 The oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi is putting finishing touches to plans to establish a financial free zone that could resemble, and therefore compete with, the Dubai International Financial Centre, sources familiar with the matter said. A federal decree was passed by the UAE's President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan in February to create the area, known as the Abu Dhabi World Financial Market, on Al Maryah island, the sources told Reuters. Detailed regulations covering the zone will be outlined shortly, an Abu Dhabi government source said, declining to be named under briefing rules. "It will have all the offerings of a financial free zone - 100 per cent foreign ownership, tax and capital repatriation, internationally accepted laws and regulations and other things," the source said. The UAE's free zones are areas in which foreign companies can operate under light regulation, and where foreign investors are allowed to take 100 per cent ownership in companies; outside the zones, they generally need to have local partners. One of the country's most successful free zones is the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), established in 2004 with its own civil and commercial laws, its own courts and a financial exchange, Nasdaq Dubai. It has become the Gulf's top financial centre, housing regional headquarters for many of the world's biggest banks and finance firms. Others have tried to emulate its success; the Qatar Financial Centre was set up in 2005 in Doha, and the Bahrain Financial Harbour opened in 2009. Unlike neighbouring Dubai, Abu Dhabi has huge oil reserves, so it has less economic need to develop as a financial centre. But Abu Dhabi is keen to develop its economy beyond oil and make its mark on the global stage. Al Maryah island, formerly Sowwah island, is close to downtown Abu Dhabi and has an area of about 114 hectares. It has been developed by Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala since 2007, and some 50 local and international firms have set up offices on the island. Because of its oil wealth and the monetary resources of its banks and sovereign wealth fund, Abu Dhabi will have some strengths as a financial centre, but it is not clear whether it can draw much business away from Dubai, which has a well-entrenched position and a more freewheeling business culture. "The challenge for Abu Dhabi would be to find a niche, a competitive edge for how to compete with Dubai, Qatar and Bahrain and capture its market share," said Tariq Qaqish, head of asset management at Al Mal Capital.-Reuters abu dhabi | Dubai | DIFC | free zone | More Construction & Real Estate Stories

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Accounting & Tax The Upside to a Downstairs Merger Can Retail Ventures Inc., the parent of shoe retailer DSW, be eliminated in a tax-efficient way? Robert Willens May 17, 2010 | CFO.com | US - Comments: 1 share Retail Ventures Inc. (RVI) is a holding company whose principal asset is 62% of the stock of DSW Inc., a footwear retailer. From an organizational perspective, DSW has a “high vote/low vote” stock structure — with RVI holding all of the high-vote, Class B stock. In fact, RVI’s 62% equity interest translates into 93% of the voting power of all of DSW’s stock entitled to vote. There are several other key structural facts to note, including that about 53% of RVI stock is owned by Schottenstein Stores Corporation (SSC), a closely-held company; RVI has accumulated approximately $320 million in federal net operating loss (NOL) carryovers; and RVI holds outstanding premium income exchangeable securities (PIES) — which are mandatory convertible securities. In this case, the PIES convert to a portion of RVI’s stock in DSW. That means that RVI has the option to “settle” the PIES in cash, or in a combination of cash and DSW stock. So if RVI were to “deliver” shares of DSW in satisfaction of these instruments, RVI would recognize a gain for tax purposes measured by the excess of the liability defrayed with the stock over RVI’s adjusted basis in such stock. Forming a Joint Venture Is Not a Sale Supreme Court Rules on Investment Adviser Fees Are Surplus Notes Disguised Equity? Downstairs Merger If the overall business objective was to eliminate RVI as the corporation standing between its shareholders and its DSW stake, at least two avenues exist for accomplishing this goal. The first would be a complete liquidation of RVI. In that event, the corporation would adopt a plan of liquidation and distribute its assets to its shareholders in complete cancellation of its stock. However, this approach would be anything but tax-efficient. Indeed, the Internal Revenue Code — specifically Section 336(a) — states that a gain or loss is recognized by a liquidating corporation on the distribution of property in complete liquidation as if such property were sold to the distributee at its fair market value. Therefore, in a liquidation, the gain inherent in the DSW’s stock that RVI holds would be recognized. What’s more, a second level of tax would be assessed under the tax code’s Section 331(a). Under Section 331(a), amounts received by a shareholder in a distribution resulting from a complete liquidation of a corporation are treated as in full payment in exchange for the stock. So, with respect to the stock surrendered in the liquidation, each shareholder of RVI would recognize a gain in the amount by which the value of the property he or she received in the liquidation that exceeded the shareholder’s adjusted basis. Based on the tax treatment alone, an outright liquidation of RVI will not, we are confident, be pursued. Fortunately, the same economic outcome (eliminating RVI) that a liquidation delivers can be achieved via a “downstairs” or downstream merger. Unlike a liquidation, a downstairs merger does not have current tax consequences. To be sure, such a merger should constitute a reorganization within the meaning of Section 368(a)(1)(A), with the result that RVI will not recognize gain or loss on the “movement” of its assets to DSW. Further, RVI’s shareholders will not recognize gain or loss on the exchange of their RVI stock for shares in DSW. Witness the decades-old case of Commissioner v. Estate of Gilmore1, in which a holding company called WFI owned a majority of the stock of an operating company, known as WWC. On October 28, 1935, the directors of each company executed an “agreement of merger and consolidation” in connection with which the operating company was to be the surviving entity. The agreement was duly filed with the Secretary of State of New Jersey, and the taxpayers — shareholders of WFI — surrendered their stock to the surviving company and received its shares in return. At the time, the Internal Revenue Service asserted that the transaction was taxable on the gain received from the exchange. However, the Board of Tax Appeals disagreed, and the Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit upheld the board’s decision. At issue was whether the merger constituted a reorganization. The IRS argued that while the definitions of the term “merger” required that there be a “transfer of property,” there was no transfer of property in the surrender by the holding company to the operating company. However, the court rejected the IRS’s argument that there was no merger, saying that the term “statutory merger or consolidation,” as used in the predecessor to Section 368(a)(1)(A), meant a merger or consolidation completed as per of the corporation laws of a state, territory, or the District of Columbia. In this case, the merger was effected according to the laws of New Jersey. The court said it found no provision under New Jersey statutes that called for the transfer of property as a merger pre-requisite. Were the IRS’s contention valid, it would follow that a “pure” holding company could never be a party to a merger: no statute or decision of New Jersey stands for that proposition. Accordingly, the transaction at issue was a merger. Whether a transaction qualifies as a reorganization does not turn alone upon compliance with the literal language of the statute. Rather, requisite to a reorganization are two conditions: (1) a continuity of the business enterprise under the modified corporate form, and (2) a continuity of interest on the part of those persons who were the owners of the enterprise prior to the transaction. In the Gilmore case, the court concluded that there was a continuity of interest of all prior owners of the merged corporation, and that none of the proprietary interests in the merged corporation was converted into cash or other property. But the IRS asserted that the result to be reached through the merger (elimination of the holding company) could have been reached more directly by an out and out liquidation which would have been taxable. In the view of the IRS, if there are two (or more) ways of accomplishing a legitimate business result — one that creates a taxable transaction, the other being a tax-efficient transaction — then a taxpayer is equally subject to tax if it chooses the tax-efficient method, unless there is an adequate business reason for making that choice. Then in Gilmore, absent an independent business reason for pursuing the merger alternative in lieu of the liquidation approach, the IRS would conclude that the tax consequences flowing from the merger should be identical to those that would attend a liquidation. But the court categorically rejected such a rule. It noted that the cases cited by the IRS in ostensible support of the rule do not, singly or in the aggregate, extend the doctrine of Gregory v. Helvering2, that far. What took place in Gilmore, unlike in Gregory v. Helvering, was a “reorganization in reality.” As a result, we can safely conclude that a merger of RVI with and into DSW — in which the RVI shareholders are compensated with stock of the DSW — would qualify as a reorganization.3 Accordingly, no gain or loss would be recognized by RVI with respect to the exchange of its property (its shares in DSW and other assets) solely for stock in DSW. That’s because each corporation would be a party to the reorganization. (See Section 361(a) of the Internal Revenue Code.) Moreover, under Section 361(c), no gain or loss would be recognized by RVI on the distribution of the stock in DSW to its shareholders in exchange for, and in retirement of, their RVI stock. Finally, under Section 354(a)(1), the shareholders of RVI would recognize neither gain nor loss on the exchange of their RVI stock for stock in DSW. Net Operating Losses Furthermore, under Section 381(a)(2), and as of the date of the distribution or transfer, DSW (the acquiring corporation) would “succeed to and take into account,” the items described in Section 381(c) — most notably the acquired corporation’s NOLs. Thus, DSW would “inherit” its parent company’s NOL. Would the merger give rise to an ownership change? If that were the case, the change in ownership would limit the amount of taxable income the NOL can offset. We think the answer is no. In the event of a downstairs merger which qualifies as a reorganization, DSW would be the new loss corporation. And thanks to Section 381(a)(2), it would be entitled to use a net operating loss carryover.4 To be sure, there is only is an ownership change if, immediately after any equity structure shift, the percentage of the stock of the loss corporation owned by one or more 5% shareholders has increased by more than 50 percentages points over the lowest percentage of stock of the loss corporation (or any predecessor corporation) owned by the shareholders at any time during the testing period. That period is defined as the three-year term ending on the testing date. In our view, the 5% shareholders in the RVI case will not have experienced the requisite increase in ownership, and therefore the merger will not produce an ownership change. Note that in the RVI case, there are three 5% shareholders of DSW: (1) the shareholders of SSC (a “first tier entity” with respect to DSW); (2) the non-SSC shareholders of RVI; and (3) the public group comprised of all of the holders of DSW’s Class A (low vote) stock. The percentage of stock of the loss corporation owned by these 5% shareholders will increase by not more than 38 percentage points as a result of the merger. The percentage of stock of the loss corporation owned by the first two 5% shareholders will decline from 100% to 62%, and the percentage owned by the new 5% shareholder — the public group comprised of all of the holders of DSW’s Class A stock — will increase by some 38 percentage points. However, for an ownership change to transpire, the 5% shareholders, in the aggregate, must increase their percentage ownership of the loss corporation’s stock by more than 50 percentage points. Accordingly, it would appear that a merger of RVI with and into DSW would have no adverse affect on the latter’s ability to freely use the NOL it would inherit in the merger. Also with regard to the merger, it seems likely that DSW would assume its predecessor’s liability with respect to the PIES. The good news is that the satisfaction of such PIES with the obligor’s own stock would not give rise to a gain or loss.5 That is, if RVI satisfy the PIES with its stock in DSW the gain that RVI would recognize could be avoided if, prior to the satisfaction of the PIES, the obligation were assumed by DSW and then defrayed with DSW’s stock.6 The bad news is that the persons to whom such stock was issued would constitute a new 5% shareholder of DSW whose increase in ownership would have to be taken into account in determining whether there has been an ownership change. Accordingly, in order to preserve, DSW’s inherited NOL, it might be prudent to satisfy the PIES with cash, rather than DSW stock. Thus, it would appear that a downstream merger would be effective in this case. This technique was legitimized in 2000 when Seagate Technology completed a downstairs merger with and into Veritas Software, with the result that the discount at which Seagate’s stock was trading (to the value of Seagate’s stock in Veritas) was eliminated. We see no reason why a similar outcome could not occur with respect to RVI and DSW. 1 Commissioner v. Estate of Gilmore, 130 F.2d 791 (3rd Cir. 1942).2Gregory v. Helvering, 293 US 465 (1935).3 The merger would also exhibit the requisite degree of continuity of business enterprise. See Rev. Rul. 85-197, 1985-2 C.B. 120; P Corporation, (P), is a holding company whose only asset consists of all of the stock of an operating subsidiary, (S). P merges with and into S and the P shareholders exchange their P stock for S stock. Requisite to a reorganization is a continuity of the business enterprise under modified corporate form. Continuity of business enterprise is satisfied if the acquiring corporation (S) continues the “historic business” of the acquired corporation (P). Here, of course, P has no historic business. The ruling states that the application of this general rule to certain transactions, such as mergers of holding companies, will depend on all facts and circumstances. The policy underlying this general rule “provides the guidance necessary to make these determinations”. The ruling concludes that the policy enunciated in the regulations (to insure that reorganizations are limited to readjustments of continuing interests in property under modified corporate forms) is satisfied here. Thus, for purposes of the continuity of business enterprise requirement, the historic business of P is the business of S. Accordingly, after the merger S continues to conduct P’s historic business with the result that the continuity of business requirement was satisfied.4 See Section 382(k)(1) and (k)(3).5 See Section 1032.6 However, the debtor could realize income from discharge of indebtedness (“COD income”) if, and to the extent that, the value of the stock issued is less than the adjusted issue price of the debt defrayed through such issuance. See Sec. 108(e)(8); for purposes of determining income of a debtor from discharge of indebtedness, if a debtor corporation transfers stock to a creditor in satisfaction of its recourse or non-recourse indebtedness, such corporation shall be treated as having satisfied the indebtedness with an amount of money equal to the fair market value of the stock. ← IFRS Risk: Not What You Think A One-Two Accounting Punch? → One response to “The Upside to a Downstairs Merger” Pingback: Companies Failing to Adjust Strategic Plans for Risks

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Accounting & Tax Reported Fraud Jumped in Q1, Survey Finds After a dip through the third quarter of 2010, reported frauds rose to near all-time highs in the first quarter of 2011. David M. Katz May 24, 2011 | CFO.com | US share In what might be a lagging indicator of recession-spawned misdeeds, the percentage of reported corporate frauds compared with all other reported incidents increased to 20.3% in the first quarter of 2011, a rise of more than 60 basis points from the previous quarter, according to data from 1,000 organizations worldwide. Of the 30,000 ethics-and-compliance-related reports from people at those organizations in the first quarter, more than 6,100 concerned accounting or auditing irregularities, embezzlement, kickbacks, and other forms of fraud. The findings stem from the Quarterly Corporate Fraud Index Network produced by The Network and BDO Consulting. (The broad sample includes reports involving personnel, security, and other matters in addition to fraud.) Avoiding Budget Busters Evaluating Cash Flow Strategies in the Wake of Global Uncertainties Nordstrom Invests in Supply-Chain Software After a steady decline over the first three quarters of 2010, the relative incidence of reported fraud rose sharply during the next two quarters, according to the index (see graph below). “This quarter’s [percentage of fraud reporting] is only 10 basis points lower than it was in 2009, one of the worst years for business on record,” says Luis Ramos, chief executive officer of The Network, a governance, risk, and compliance consultancy. Why the rise, especially in a period when the economy appears to be recovering? “We’re dealing with reported fraud, not necessarily incidence of fraud,” says Carl Pergola, executive director of BDO Consulting. “Some of the things that may have gotten reported in this quarter might have started several months or several years ago.” Indeed, some of those incidents might well have occurred in the throes of the financial crisis, when liquidity was especially scarce, Pergola believes. Many companies — largely financial-services firms, but other kinds of companies, too — found themselves holding assets for which there were only sluggish or inactive markets. That made those assets hard to value, offering the temptation to artificially inflate their worth, according to Pergola. Over the entire course of the 2000s, accounting fraudsters have found fertile ground in an environment that has increasingly involved the use of estimates, says Pergola. Still, the current forms of such fraud, which have tended to focus on the valuation of financial instruments, have changed since the era that culminated in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. That period’s frauds involved such things as booking “cookie jar” reserves “and then bleeding those out over time when the company wasn’t doing well,” he recalls. The incident reports used in the index were received from The Network’s clients via hotlines, Websites, and other means. While the relative incidence of fraud reporting has stayed high after roughly doubling in 2007-08, the total number of calls received by the firm varies from quarter to quarter and among industries, based on clients’ needs and the business climates they face. (The firm is likely to receive more calls from retail clients during and after the holiday season, for instance.) ← When Risk Reduction Yields Tax Deductions Offshore Outsourcing: For Smaller Companies, Too →

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Updated Dec 29 2012 at 12:31 AM Long-suffering Bankia shareholders set for more losses by Julien Toyer | Sonya Dowsett Spain's Bankia will wipe out the investments of 350,000 shareholders, many of them small savers and pensioners, after it emerged that losses on bad loans at the troubled bank were even worse than expected.The measure will hit small investors drawn in by aggressive marketing just last year after Bankia was formed from a merger of provincial savings banks. But it is described by officials as vital if the company, which was nationalised in May, is to return to profit in order to be sold on again.Bankia will receive €18 billion of European Union money by the end of this week and launch a capital increase in the first half of January when current shareholders will lose practically their entire investment, a source close to the Bank of Spain said."Are we looking into leaving shareholders with something? Yes. How much? That's too soon to say. Will it be very little? For sure," the central bank source said on condition of anonymity. "But that will be purely symbolic. I can assure you they will lose up to the shirt on their back." Under the EU plan to prop up Spain's banking sector, devastated by a burst real estate bubble, shareholders must be the first in line to accept losses. That was the case in Ireland, another victim of the global credit crisis, where shareholders in Anglo Irish Bank were left with nothing.Bankia had negative equity – or an excess of debt over assets – of €4.2 billion, Spain's bank rescue fund, known as FROB, said. That measure will be used to help determine shareholder losses. Bankia's parent company BFA had negative equity of €10.4 billion.How much shareholders will lose will be unveiled when the capital increase takes place in January following discussions with EU authorities, the source said. SMALL SAVERS: ABUSE OF TRUSTHundreds of thousands of Spaniards, some of them retirees with little awareness of financial affairs, ploughed savings into Bankia shares when the bank was listed in July 2011. The stock has lost more than 80 per cent of its value since then.Small savers also bought billions of euros of other Bankia instruments, such as preference shares or subordinated debt, on which they will also suffer steep losses."It seems to be to have been managed extraordinarily badly. It is a total cock-up," said Enrique Marquez, 66, a retired technician who invested €7000 in ordinary shares and more than €70,000 in preference shares with Bankia. "I've been duped on the preference shares and I've been duped on the ordinary shares. It's been an abuse of trust," added Marquez, who said he had been told by his bank manager the stock could be very profitable in the medium term.Many of Bankia's more than 20,000 employees also invested in the shares in the 2011 initial public offering and are set to lose their money even as thousands face job cuts enforced as a condition of receiving European aid.Speaking of his fellow staff at Bankia, one employee at a branch in northern Spain said: "I don't know anyone who didn't buy the shares. I did and my family heavily invested in them too." He spoke anonymously and said he now feared for his job.About 6000 workers will be axed in Bankia's restructuring while remaining employees are being asked to take a 40- to 50-per cent pay cut, trade unions said. Shares in Bankia fell a further 16 per cent to 0.58 euros on Thursday after the FROB disclosure of its negative equity. Bankia will be taken out of Spain's blue-chip index, the Ibex 35 , as of January 2, the stock exchange said on Thursday.SLIMMED DOWN, SOLD OFFBankia must reduce its balance sheet by 60 per cent over the next five years as a condition of receiving aid.Bankers say the lender could be put up for sale after it is slimmed down and stripped of its toxic property assets, which will be siphoned off into a special vehicle, or 'bad bank'. However, the lender, which accounts for around 10 per cent of Spain's banking market, is probably too big to be swallowed by a larger rival, as other state-rescued lenders have been: "The large Spanish banks would struggle to take on something of that size," one Madrid-based investment banker said.Bankia is unlikely to be sold until around 2017, bankers said. Around 10 per cent of a stabilised market, flush with rescue cash and stripped of toxic real estate assets, may be an attractive investment proposition for a foreign bank, they said.Another possibility for the government to extricate itself from Bankia would be a public share offering, bankers said, although they admitted Spain would have to wait so any sales operation wouldn't come too soon after the ill-fated 2011 IPO.Separately, the FROB also announced it would take over 99.9 per cent of Banco de Valencia before it is sold to CaixaBank , while shareholders in other nationalised lenders NCG Banco and Catalunya Banc will be fully wiped out.In the case of Anglo Irish Bank (AIB), shareholders whose equity was once worth €13 billion were left with nothing following the bank's €4 billion recapitalisation and immediate nationalisation in January 2009.AIB ultimately needed another €25.3 billion of state money, which was funded by a "promissory note", or government IOU, that Ireland is now trying to restructure.Spain's four nationalised lenders will receive a total of €37 billion of EU funds. It will also tap another €4.4 billion to set up the 'bad bank' and recapitalise smaller banks.

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Bloomberg Anywhere Remote LoginDownload SoftwareService Center MENU Homepage Markets Stocks Currencies Commodities Rates + Bonds Economics Magazine Benchmark Watchlist Economic Calendar Tech Silicon Valley Global Tech Venture Capital Hacking Digital Media Bloomberg West Pursuits Cars & Bikes Style & Grooming Spend Watches & Gadgets Food & Drinks Travel Real Estate Art & Design Politics With All Due Respect Delegate Tracker Culture Caucus Podcast Masters In Politics Podcast What The Voters Are Streaming Editors' Picks Opinion View Gadfly Businessweek Subscribe Cover Stories Opening Remarks Etc Features 85th Anniversary Issue Behind The Cover More Industries Science + Energy Graphics Game Plan Small Business Personal Finance Inspire GO Board Directors Forum Sponsored Content Sign In Subscribe Fed Seen Easing Capital Rule for Smaller Foreign Banks Yalman Onaran February 11, 2014 — 7:06 PM EST Updated on February 12, 2014 — 10:31 AM EST Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp Share on LinkedInShare on RedditShare on Google+E-mailShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp Share on LinkedInShare on RedditShare on Google+E-mailShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp The Federal Reserve plans to narrow the number of foreign banks that will have to consolidate their U.S. operations and hold more capital. The central bank will raise the threshold to $50 billion of assets in the U.S. from $10 billion proposed in 2012 for firms that must have local holding companies, according to three people with knowledge of the decision. The change means about one-third of the two dozen companies originally affected won’t have to comply with harsher capital standards. A final version of the new rules governing foreign lenders is scheduled to be approved by the Fed next week and go into effect next year. The revised holding-company requirement covers 17 lenders with headquarters outside the U.S., said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the decision hasn’t been announced. The standard, which has been criticized by European regulators and banks, was designed to prevent a repeat of what happened during the 2008 crisis when the Fed provided $538 billion of emergency loans to U.S. units of European banks. “The holding company ring-fence provides crucial safeguards for the U.S. regulators,” said Deborah Bailey, a managing director of Deloitte LLP’s banking and securities regulatory practice in New York and a former deputy director of the Fed’s bank-supervision unit. “On the other hand, it will pose challenges for the foreign banks, many of whom have to set up these new structures and shift capital to the U.S.” Umbrella StructureThe foreign-lender rules will affect 107 institutions based in other countries and doing business in the U.S. The smallest firms have to do as little as set up a U.S. risk committee. Bigger institutions face multiple hurdles, including having an umbrella structure that must comply with domestic capital and liquidity standards. A requirement in the original proposal that all banks with assets greater than $50 billion be subject to Fed stress tests won’t be changed, the people said. Foreign firms currently can have dozens if not hundreds of legal entities in the U.S., many of which aren’t required to disclose financial information, making it difficult to glean from public data the exact size of their operations. Banks such as Barclays Plc and Credit Suisse Group AG, each with single U.S. entities that have almost $300 billion of assets, are well above the Fed’s new threshold. Natixis AssetsIt’s harder to tell whether firms with smaller U.S. operations make the cutoff. The assets of Paris-based Natixis’s U.S. securities units were about $27 billion at the end of 2012, according to the most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. While the bank’s branch assets, about $73 billion according to Fed data, are excluded under the new rules, the company may have other units that don’t disclose assets. A spokesman for the bank, whose emergency borrowing from the Fed during the 2008 financial crisis peaked at $15.5 billion, didn’t respond to e-mails or phone calls. The company’s shares rose 2 percent to 4.72 euros at 4:10 p.m. in Paris, outperforming the CAC 40 index. Rabobank Groep, which borrowed as much as $9.1 billion from the central bank in January 2009, has a holding company that consolidates its non-branch U.S. operations under one roof. The assets of that unit fell below $50 billion at the end of December from $52 billion in September, according to Lynne Burns, a spokeswoman for the Dutch bank. Rabobank expects the holding company to stay below the threshold, she said. Bank LobbyingThe central bank made the 2012 proposal, championed by Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo, after Deutsche Bank AG, Germany’s biggest lender, and Barclays, the U.K.’s second-largest, dismantled their umbrella holding-company structures, allowing them to avoid tougher standards. The firms say the rule is tantamount to restricting the movement of capital around the world and will impair the availability of financing where and when it’s needed. The Institute of International Bankers, a group that represents almost 100 foreign banks, lobbied against the holding-company requirement. In an April comment letter about the proposed rule, the group said member banks might be forced to curtail business in the Treasury repo market. That could drain $330 billion, or about 10 percent of the market, leading to higher borrowing costs for the government, the group said, citing an Oliver Wyman study it commissioned. The rule will have the greatest impact on foreign banks that engage mostly in securities trading in the U.S. London-based HSBC Holdings Plc, Spain’s Banco Santander SA and other lenders that focus on retail banking in the U.S. already need to abide by domestic regulations on capital and liquidity. Capital ShortfallBroker-dealer units can rely on their parent companies for backup cash under existing rules. That allowed foreign banks to borrow from U.S. money-market funds and transfer the cash to other countries. During the credit crisis, when the funds were facing a run and wanted their money back, it wasn’t immediately available. That’s when the Fed stepped in. Deutsche Bank, which would have faced a capital shortfall of as much as $20 billion in its U.S. unit in 2010, has funneled some capital raised at the parent level to its U.S. business and is on track to meet the new requirements, executives have said. The Frankfurt-based bank could convert some of the parent’s loans to the subsidiary into equity to meet capital levels. For London-based Barclays, such a conversion has additional costs. Because the U.K. has adopted similar rules, requiring minimum capital for local units of banks operating in that country, any equity transferred to the U.S. unit has to be kept apart from the capital of the British subsidiary. That means even if the consolidated business meets global capital requirements, the U.S. and U.K. carve-outs could force the bank to hold more capital in total. ‘Remedial Action’Spokesmen for Deutsche Bank and Barclays declined to comment on the rules. Foreign banks also lobbied to ease the triggers for when the Fed would demand “remedial action” from a bank considered to be in trouble. In the draft rule, the central bank said it would set an additional capital buffer above the standard requirements in considering when to ask for measures such as reining in some U.S. activities. While there’s already a buffer for the largest global banks under risk-based capital rules, there isn’t one for a simpler leverage standard where riskiness of assets isn’t part of the calculation. The 1.25 percentage-point buffer included in the new rules will in effect raise the 3 percent global leverage ratio to 4.25 percent for the largest foreign banks operating in the U.S., some firms complained in meetings with Fed officials, the people said. The central bank refused to waver, according to one of the people. The U.S. has gone beyond the international requirement and asked eight of its largest lenders to meet a 5 percent leverage minimum. Domestic banks have said that their ability to compete in global markets will be hurt if overseas peers have to comply with a smaller figure. The Fed and other U.S. regulators also have pushed for a higher global minimum. Opposition by their European peers has blocked that. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. LEARN MORE Natixis SA

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Are CEOs Really Overpaid? By David Mielach, BusinessNewsDaily Staff Writer February 4, 2013 11:50 am EST . / Credit: CEO Salary image via Shutterstock Could a seven-figure salary for a CEO be a bargain? New research suggests that criticism of high CEO pay may be misguided. Pedro Matos, a professor at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, says that salaries for most American CEOs are actually in line with those of international counterparts despite appearing to be much higher. "Initially, U.S. CEO salaries appear twice as large as salaries of CEOs in other countries, but one is really comparing apples to oranges due to differences in the way that U.S. firms operate compared to their international counterparts," said Matos, who conducted the research with three other finance professors: Nuno Fernandes, of the IMD Business School; Miguel Ferreira, of the Nova School of Business and Economics; and Kevin Murphy, from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business. The researchers say the corporate structure of American-based companies is very different from international counterparts and therefore pay is structured differently. In particular, Matos says American firms are more focused on institutional ownership and independent boards, which in turn leads to oversight in most corporations. That structure also leads to a higher likelihood that salaries would be awarded in stock or stock options, which may make salaries appear higher. Additionally, more American CEOs have equity-based pay that is tied to the value they create for shareholders. To come up with these findings, researchers studied pay data from 1,648 U.S firms and 1,615 global firms from 13 countries. "We think it’s a sign of good corporate governance when firms are monitored closely by institutional owners as well as independent board members. These push for CEO pay to be tied to shareholder performance," Matos said. "It should cause us to question the belief that U.S. CEO pay is excessive. Many of the non-U.S. firms vie for the same capital, customers and talent as U.S. firms that operate globally. We feel that our research presents grounds for critics to take a second look at U.S. CEO salaries." The research is set to be published in a forthcoming edition of the Review of Financial Studies. Follow David Mielach on Twitter @D_M89 or BusinessNewsDaily @bndarticles. We're also on Facebook & Google+. You May Also like Yahoo CEO Not Alone: 7 Execs Busted for Resume Lies CEO Salary Quiz: How Much Is Enough? The Anatomy of the Perfect CEO lead-your-team The Anatomy of the Perfect CEO Start Your Business

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Onsite Coverage: Fees Could Offset 87% of Derivatives Program Costs May 16, 2013 • Reprints ALEXANDRIA, Va. — An application fee proposed by the NCUA could offset as much as 87% of all costs to implement expanded derivative authority through 2014. The NCUA Board approved a proposed rule Thursday at its monthly board meeting that would permit qualified credit unions to invest in derivative swaps and caps for the purpose of mitigating interest rate risk. NCUA Board Approves Proposed Derivatives Rule Derivatives Authority Could Cost NCUA $16M in 3 Years The fees would range from $25,000 to $50,000 for credit unions seeking Level I authority, and $75,000 to $125,000 for those seeking Level II authority, which would allow a higher transaction limit but would also require more supervision scrutiny. The extent to which the fees would offset the costs of the program depends upon how many credit unions apply for the expanded authority. If the lower end of the NCUA’s estimated 75 credit unions apply, the fees could bring in as much as $5.25 million, which would cover 95% of one-time costs estimated for the program, and 70% of total costs. Should 150 credit unions apply, the high end of the NCUA’s estimated participation figures, the regulator could pull in up to $10.5 million, which would cover 128% of one-time costs and 87% of total costs. In its Board Action Memo, the NCUA said the fee would be nonrefundable and due at the time of application. The NCUA board may also consider discounting the application fee if a credit union already has Level I authority and is attempting to upgrade to Level II, provided it has demonstrated a successful record of sound derivatives management for at least one exam cycle. The board is also considering charging an ongoing supervision fee to cover the costs of expanded supervision costs directly attributed to derivatives. The cost of the program in 2015 and beyond is expected to be between $2 and $3.85 million. The agency is requesting feedback from the industry regarding whether the fee would be assessed as a standardized operating fee paid by all participating credit unions, or based upon actual or estimated resources required for derivatives supervision. « Prev

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> 2007 Other Announcements Release Date: May 2, 2007 For immediate release The Federal Reserve Board in May will begin a statistical study of household finances, the Survey of Consumer Finances, that will provide policymakers with important insight into the economic condition of all types of American families. The survey has been undertaken every three years since 1983. It is being conducted for the Board by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), a social science research organization at the University of Chicago, through December of this year. The data collected will provide a representative picture of what Americans own--from houses and cars to stocks and bonds--how and how much they borrow and how they bank. Past study results have been important in policy discussions regarding pension and social security reform, tax policy, deposit insurance reform, consumer debt and a broad range of other issues. "The results of the survey will fill a gap in our knowledge about the financial circumstances of different types of households," Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, said in a letter to prospective survey participants. "Our previous surveys ... have helped the Federal Reserve and other parts of the government make policy decisions and have also supported a wide variety of basic research," the Chairman noted. The 2007 survey will contain a revised set of questions on home mortgages with variable interest rates and other variable terms. The questions will address how much interest rates or other features of such loans can change. Taken together with other survey variables, they will allow a better understanding of the types of households that have such loans. Another set of new questions will address the connection between self-employment and business ownership. Participants in the study are chosen at random from seventy-nine areas, including metropolitan areas and rural counties across the United States, using a scientific sampling procedure. A representative of NORC contacts each potential participant personally to explain the study and request time for an interview. "I assure you that we give the highest priority to guarding the privacy of the survey participants and the confidentiality of their answers," Chairman Bernanke said. NORC uses names and addresses only for the administration of the survey, and that identifying information will be destroyed at the close of the 2007 study. NORC is required never to give the names and addresses of participants to anyone at the Federal Reserve or anywhere else. Summary results for the 2007 study will be published in early 2009 after all data from the survey have been assessed and analyzed. The attached letter from Chairman Bernanke was mailed to approximately 10,000 households urging their participation in the study. 2007 Other Announcements Last update: May 2, 2007 Home

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Can Krispy Kreme Become a Doughnut King? Krispy Kreme Doughnuts recently reported solid fourth-quarter and year-end results, but the company still faces stiff competition. Kyle Colona (kcolona) Krispy Kreme Doughnuts' (NYSE:KKD) fourth-quarter and year-end numbers continued baking on the heels of 20 prior quarters of positive same-store sales growth. But the question remains whether the doughnut maker can become a doughnut king. Krispy Kreme faces a number of challenges in the coffee-chain sector with competitors like Dunkin' Brands (NASDAQ:DNKN) and Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX). The first is the fact that these coffee stores have a greater share of the retail coffee-chain market. Moreover, Dunkin Donuts has moved well beyond serving jelly-filled delights in order to compete with Starbucks' broader menu, which was beefed up by the acquisition of La Boulange last year. Krispy Kreme's financials at a glanceIn the fourth quarter, revenue increased 3.3% to $112.7 million from $109.1 million as company same-store sales rose 1.6%, the 21st consecutive quarterly increase. And Krispy Kreme management says these figures would have been about 1% higher had it not been for the harsh winter weather in a number of key markets. The company's adjusted net income really brought the yeast, as it rose by 37% to $8.3 million, or $0.12 per share. This compares to $6.1 million, or $0.09 per share, in the year-ago period. Krispy Kreme also repurchased $20.5 million worth of common stock in fiscal 2014, leaving $55.7 million in cash on hand -- and that's a lot of dough. Challenges to future growthWhile Krispy Kreme customers rave about the company's sweet treats, the food police contend doughnuts are bad for your health. If this mind-set gains traction, then it could have an adverse impact on the business' future growth. However, Krispy Kreme plans to expand its brand by capturing market share with increased beverage sales. And CEO James H. Morgan anticipates year-over-year growth in adjusted earnings per share of 20% to 30%. Starbucks' and Dunkin' Brands' expansion plansIn the meantime, Krispy Kreme's biggest challenge is competition from Starbucks and Dunkin' Brands. And these companies are continuing to grow revenue and earnings by store expansion. In 2013, Starbucks paired up with Target to open 150 new coffee outlets, one in almost every new Target store opened during last fall's push into Canada. For its part, Dunkin' Brands has long been an established franchise outfit. The company's brand also includes Baskin-Robbins ice cream stores in its 10,500-shop empire. Dunkin's franchising operation allows stores to readily pop up with comparatively low start-up costs. The company is also taking its brand to the United Kingdom in a strategic alliance with two London-based groups. The five-year plan in play calls for Dunkin' to develop 150 stores in the United Kingdom. The last cream puffKrispy Kreme has indeed posted very solid numbers showing continued revenue and earnings growth. And this has been an ongoing pattern for 21 consecutive quarters. But the question remains: How far can the company take this, and will investors will go along for the ride in the long run? That said, Krispy Kreme's guidance for the rest of its fiscal year calls for continued earnings growth. Future stock repurchases will also boost those earnings figures. And the company has enough dough in the shop to contemplate more buybacks. Further on up the road, in order to compete effectively with Dunkin' Brands and Starbucks, Krispy Kreme will need to consider some changes: for instance, broadening its menu and offering customers a healthier line of offerings -- perhaps whole-grain and organic items and other light, not-so-sweet snacks. Of course, in my opinion Krispy Kreme's customers should have no fear of the food police and continue enjoying one of the doughnut shops heavenly glazed treats; after all, life is brief. In sum, Krispy Kreme should provide investors with opportunities in the short term. Ultimately, however, Dunkin' Brands and Starbucks are probably better choices in this sector for investors with a long-term view. Even though Starbucks lowered its 2014 guidance in its last financial report, the company intends to open new stores and leave a bigger footprint on the Web. In short, the leading coffee shops have plans for future growth and track records of solid revenue and earnings growth. And the diversity of each chain's menu presents Krispy Kreme with a big challenge to meet. Kyle Colona has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Starbucks. 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. Kyle is a Long Island based writer and a Motley Fool contributor since January 2013. He has a broad background in the financial sector. His business and political writing is widely available on the web. Packaged Goods Send Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Stock Down 15% in September Coffee Is Still Hot, and This Shop Was Tops in 2015 (Hint: It's Not Starbucks Corp.) Is Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Destined for Greatness? Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Is Shrinking With a Vengeance Will Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Start Off Fiscal 2015 With an Earnings Beat?

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Eric Ernst's blog and past columns Ernst: Sales tax mistake at Goodwill no fraud By Eric Ernst Published: Saturday, March 30, 2013 at 11:04 p.m. Goodwill Industries Manasota has been charging its customers too much sales tax at some of its stores. No one knows how much money is involved. No one is sure how many customers were shortchanged. But since Jan. 9, spread over as many as 19 stores, multiplied by potentially thousands of transactions, it could add up quickly.A customer actually pointed out the problem on March 18.Becky Noble of Sarasota had shopped over a five-week period at four Goodwill stores, using coupons that promised $15 off a purchase of $60 or more.“I'm one of those old-school people who keep all my receipts,” she says.When she examined them more closely at home, she discovered the stores had ignored the coupons in computing the sales tax. So, she was charged tax on the full purchase price, in violation of Florida regulations that require merchants to subtract the value of coupons before figuring taxes.This didn't look good, especially for a nonprofit such as Goodwill, whose mission calls for placing people into jobs and whose stores sell primarily donated goods to people trying to stretch their dollars.And wouldn't you know it, Noble's boyfriend, who helped her discover the discrepancy, happens to be Michael Figgins, well-known in Sarasota County government circles for his acerbic emails to and about the county commissioners.He and Noble have filed complaints with the Florida Department of Revenue, which administers sales taxes, and with the Better Business Bureau.In emails to the Herald-Tribune, Figgins called the tax overcharge a “scam.”“I personally think Goodwill is doing some good things in the community, but we can't have them stealing in the name of charity,” he wrote.OK. Everyone take a deep breath.Goodwill acknowledged its mistake. By March 19, the day after Noble reported it, the problem was fixed, according to the company.Vice President Veronica Miller says new checkout software failed to account for the coupons. That's not going to happen again, she says.Goodwill placed signs at all its registers, notifying customers about what had happened. “If you have a receipt showing the excess tax charge, Goodwill will gladly refund the money,” the signs say. Those who claim they were shorted, but have no receipts, will receive gift certificates, according to Miller.The nonprofit also notified customers through a blanket email and posted a notice on the home page of its website at www.experiencegoodwill.org.In short, Goodwill has handled this just about as well as any organization could.As for scamming or theft, that seems unlikely as both call for intentional actions from which someone would benefit. In this case, Goodwill gets nothing from overcharging on sales tax. The state receives the money.It's fortunate that Noble and Figgins reported it, though, before it stretched into more months and money.A couple lessons to carry from the experience: Keep those receipts; you never know when you'll need them. And, check those sales tax lines. If Goodwill can overcharge for two months and no one notices, imagine what the scoundrels out there are doing.

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Wisconsin Governor's Allies Ran a Toxic Bailout Bank... and Got Rich Richard (RJ) Eskow Host, The Zero Hour; Sr. Fellow, Campaign for America's Future People in Wisconsin are pulling their money out of Marshall & Ilsley (M&I) Bank because they know it's been helping their Governor's crusade against public employees and the middle class. They might also like to know that M&I's executives ran one of the most conspicuous dumping sites for toxic financial waste in the country. And that the same executives are about to get very rich, even though TARP rules supposedly don't allow big bonuses for underwater bankers like the leadership at M&I. These executives didn't just contribute to Scott Walker's campaign. They also helped the governor avoid the press -- and his own constituents -- by letting him use their bank's underground tunnel, which leads directly from its parking lot into the Capitol Building in Madison. Using it for this purpose may have been a violation of the bank's own Code of Business Ethics. [See update below.] That tunnel's not just a convenient way to help a political crony. It's also one heck of a metaphor. The M&I Bank's behavior mirrored that of banks across the country who were rescued by the public, then used their money to lobby against the public interest. M&I executives have gone the extra mile for Scott Walker as he fights to strip employees of their benefits and cut vital services. Walker's goal is to keep taxes low for wealthy Wisconsin residents by cutting services for the middle class -- the same middle class that paid for M&Is bailout and keeps its money in M&I's vault. And once again, these bankers will benefit personally from the public's sacrifice. Toxic Avengers M&I Bank had a dangerously high percentage of toxic assets -- mostly crappy mortgages that aren't worth nearly what these bank executives claimed they were worth. There are only two ways bankers can accumulate so many bad loans: either by being, shall we say, morally elastic, or by being bad at the fundamentals of their profession. (Although, come to think of it, the two are not mutually exclusive.) How toxic were M&I's loans? As Bloomberg News reported in 2009, "The biggest banks with nonperforming loans of at least 5 percent include Wisconsin's Marshall & Ilsley Corp. and Georgia's Synovus Financial Corp." Bloomberg quoted one former regulator as saying these figures were "off the charts," while another said: "If (a bank) is at 5 percent, chances are regulators have them classified as being in unsafe and unsound condition." At its worst, M&I Bank's figure was 5.18%. And yet investors might not have known the bank was in "unsafe and unsound" conditions by reading SEC filings for previous years. That document made it sound as if the bank was merely suffering from the difficult conditions everybody was facing. What's more, "management concluded that internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2008." The bank's most recent 10-K filing states that in 2009 "the Corporation continued to experience elevated levels of expenses due to the increase in operating costs associated with collection efforts and carrying nonperforming assets." That included, among other things, the cost of foreclosing on Wisconsin residents. Some reports suggest that the bank's purchase was a "shotgun marriage" arranged by regulators who forced the Bank of Montreal to make the acquisition. The fact that this deal will make some sub-par bankers very rich and let them skirt TARP rules in the process didn't seem to concern these anonymous regulators at all. In fact, if the plan helps regulators get their TARP dollars back, a whole host of substandard executives at other regional banks may get rich too. Every "toxic loan" represents a household whose life has become a shambles. The executives of Marshall & Ilsley Bank, on the other hand, are doing just fine. Thanks to a a legal workaround discovered by the enterprising folks at M&I, they're using a 2008 contractual provision to write themselves fat checks before taxpayers get their money back. How fat are those checks? The CEO, Mark Furlong, is getting $18 million. CFO Gregory Smith is getting $5.5 million. Senior Vice President Kenneth Krei will receive the same amount, while Senior Vice Presidents Thomas Ellis and Thomas O'Neill are getting $4.1 million and $5.1 million, respectively, with another $26.7 million being distributed to other M&I executives (many of whom undoubtedly oversaw the writing of toxic loans). If these underperforming executives gave back all this bonus money they'd be less than 1/25th of the way toward paying back the $1.5 billion that the bank still owes on its TARP money. ($1,543,261,806, to be precise.) That's not much of a dent, but it would be a nice good-faith gesture. Instead, a number of these executives have been using their money to back Scott Walker, lavishing more campaign cash on him than they gave to all other candidates put together. And they didn't just donate money. As Mary Bottari reported, the bank has been letting the Governor ferry himself and a number of his lobbyist friends to the Capitol through that underground tunnel. (Are they sure it doesn't lead to the River Styx?) About that tunnel: In a section of M&I's Business Code of Ethics entitled "Protection and Proper Use of Company Assets," employees are told that "The resources of the Company should be used only for legitimate business purposes and for the benefit of the Company." The tunnel is clearly a "resource," and M&I has not reported its use as a lobbying activity. In fact, the bank's disclaiming any institutional involvement with Gov. Walker. So who violated the Code of Ethics? The Code states that "Employees who violate the standards in this Code will be subject to disciplinary action, which depending on the severity of the situation, may include dismissal." We await the Bank's announcement of disciplinary action in the Scott Walker case. You Got to Move Now, as both Mary Bottari and Mike Elk have reported, the unions are striking back with a "Move Your Money" campaign. That could hurt since, as Mike Elk reports, a researcher estimates that unions may have more than $1 billion in pension funds invested at M&I Bank. On one side of this conflict you have undeservedly rich bankers. On the other side you have teachers, firefighters, and cops. And the middle class is getting the short end of the stick, too. (See this video clip from Dave Johnson for a gut-level response from a Wisconsin farmer.) In response to the protest, M&I issued a statement insisting that these donations from senior executives were the actions of individuals and not of the bank itself. But those individuals run the M&I Bank. And they literally have an underground connection to Walker and the lobbyists who are running Wisconsin's state government. Unless the Board of Directors is willing to replace these executives, their actions can reasonably be considered the Bank's actions as well. And if nobody's disciplined for for that tunnel, M&I can be considered an active collaborator in the Governor's actions. Replacing these executives would be a good idea for M&I, too. They haven't been very good at their jobs. Fortunately for them, good performance isn't a prerequisite for getting rich in today's banking industry. But really: A tunnel? What would Dr. Freud say? The people who are taking their money out of M&I Bank seem to think somebody's getting the shaft, and they want it to stop. NOTE: You don't have to live in Wisconsin to join the Move Your Money fun! M & I also has branches in Arizona, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, Nevada, Florida, and Illinois. The Move Your Money website can help you make the switch. UPDATE: Some commenters are saying the report we cited is incorrect. We're looking for a clarification - whether the tunnel leads to the bank's parking lot, to a shared lot, or somewhere else. We'll correct or amend as needed. In the meantime, we'll give the benefit of doubt to the bank and its executives and assume they did nothing wrong regarding the tunnel. After all, the tunnel's a great metaphor but the real issue is the money. Richard (RJ) Eskow, a consultant and writer (and former insurance/finance executive), is a Senior Fellow with the Campaign for America's Future. This post was produced as part of the Curbing Wall Street project. Richard also blogs at A Night Light. He can be reached at "rjeskow@ourfuture.org." Website: Eskow and Associates Follow Richard (RJ) Eskow on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rjeskow Scott Walker TARP Wisconsin Protests Move Your Money Toxic Assets

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Independent Standard-Setting Boards Auditing & Assurance The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board sets high-quality international standards for auditing, assurance, and quality control that strengthen public confidence in the global profession. Education The International Accounting Education Standards Board establishes standards, in the area of professional accounting education, that prescribe technical competence and professional skills, values, ethics, and attitudes. Ethics The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants sets high-quality, internationally appropriate ethics standards for professional accountants, including auditor independence requirements. Public Sector The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board develops standards, guidance, and resources for use by public sector entities around the world for preparation of general purpose financial statements. IndependentStandard-Setting Boards Home › About IFAC › Structure & Governance › Leadership › Klaus-Peter Feld Publications & Resources About IFAC Structure & GovernanceLeadershipCompliance Advisory Panel Klaus-Peter Feld PIOB IFAC Reforms Public Interest Committee Accountability. Now. Adoption of International Standards Developing the Global Profession Global Representation and Advocacy Professional Accountants in Business Small and Medium Practices Klaus-Peter Feld Job Title: IFAC Board Technical Adviser for Wienand SchruffCountry: GermanyKlaus-Peter Feld is an executive director at the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW) in Germany, a position he assumed in 2006. He has been with IDW since 1996 and is a specialist in accounting and auditing. His work is currently concentrated on international and financial sector issues as well as the transposition of the International Standards on Auditing into German standards.Mr. Feld represents the IDW in an executive capacity in the committees for banking, insurance, and information technology (IT). Since October 2011, he has been member of the advisory board of the German software producer DATEV, which specializes in IT solutions in the field of auditing and taxation.Previously, Mr. Feld served as a staff member for the US Financial Accounting Standards Board from 1999 to 2000. He also holds a lectureship at the Mercator School of Management Duisburg/Essen, Germany. Mr. Feld graduated from the Philips University Marburg (Germany) in business economics and holds a doctoral degree from the University of Ulm (Germany). He is qualified as a Certified Public Accountant in Colorado, US, and as Wirtschaftsprüfer (German Public Auditor). HOME | ABOUT IFAC | PUBLICATIONS & RESOURCES | NEWS & EVENTS | IP, TRANSLATIONS & PERMISSIONS | CAREERS AT IFAC | CONTACT | SITE MAP

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Are Americans Tax Slaves to the Government? By Ralph Reiland, published on March 31, 2000 Your taxes are done, and you're about to breathe a huge sigh of relief. Not so fast! The nightmare isn't over on April 15. If you stop for a $10 pizza on your way home from dropping your tax return at the post office, the taxman will be right there to grab a slice or two. On top of paying the sales tax, you will also be picking up a major chunk of what government charges the pizza-shop owner for property taxes, unemployment insurance taxes, federal payroll taxes, federal, state, and local income taxes, and worker's compensation taxes. Altogether, according to a study by Americans for Tax Reform, the taxman gets $3.80 on that $10 pizza.Americans are spending more time and money each year on their taxes than it takes to produce every car, truck, and van in the United States. If you're flying the next day, the taxman is up early and waiting at the airport, pocketing $40 on every $100 spent on an airline ticket. And he's there in the hotel lobby when you land, snatching $43 on every $100 of the hotel bill. Go out to dinner and another $28 of every $100 of the tab ends up in the government's pocket rather than with the restaurant, the farmers, truckers, and everyone else who worked together to produce the meal. No matter where you turn, the hand of government has its fingers in every pocket. A recent study by Price Waterhouse shows that 30 different taxes imposed on the production and sale of a loaf of bread account for 27 percent of the average retail price. Buy some new tires and $36 of every $100 you pay goes to the taxman. On the price of a new car, Americans for Tax Reform says total taxes reach 45 percent of the showroom sticker price. Add some gas and 54 percent of what you pay goes for 43 different federal, state, and local taxes, rather than to the oil producer and retailer. Taxes now eat up an incredible 38 percent of the gross income of the average family, a higher peacetime rate of taxation than the American people have ever experienced. By comparison, the typical two-income family in the mid-1950s paid 28 percent of its income in taxes. Each year, the IRS sends out 8 billion pages of forms and instructions; enough paper to stretch 28 times around the earth. To comply with the U. S. tax code's maze of contradictory rules, deductions, exemptions, and loopholes, Americans are spending 5.4 billion hours and $200 billion each year. And that's not counting the taxes paid. To put this in perspective, Americans are spending more time and money each year on their taxes than it takes to produce every car, truck, and van in the United States. When the federal income tax was launched back in 1913, it was levied upon only the super-wealthy, the richest one-half of 1 percent of the population, with a top tax rate of only 7 percent. By the end of Herbert Hoover's term in 1933, the top rate had skyrocketed to 60 percent. By the time Franklin D. Roosevelt was finished in 1945, the top rate was over 90 percent and exemptions had been lowered to capture the incomes of the middle class for the first time. Michiganians can take some comfort in the fact that what they pay in taxes to the state of Michigan has been, overall, virtually unchanged since 1996. But the Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency recently reported that when you add the growing burden of local taxes to your state tax bill, the total amounts to 11 percent of personal income. That's just as high as the high-tax days of Governor John Engler's predecessor, former Governor James Blanchard. In 1913, the average family in America had to work until January 30 before earning enough to satisfy the taxman at all levels. This year, the average American family will work through mid-May in order to earn enough to pay federal, state, and local tax bills. "Compare this to the plight of medieval serfs," says economist Daniel J. Mitchell of The Heritage Foundation. "They only had to give the lord of the manor a third of their output and they were considered slaves. So what does that make us?" Like I said, it ain't over on April 15. #####(Ralph Reiland is associate professor of economics at Robert Morris College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and an adjunct scholar with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland, Michigan. More information on taxation is available at www.mackinac.org. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided the author and his affiliations are cited. Americans today spend more productive time than ever working to support the myriad activities of their local, state, and federal governments. Policy makers must work to lower citizens' punishing tax burden at all levels of government. Ralph Reiland

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Abdul Aziz Al Loughani "First Dubai" achieves KD 6.7 m as a result of operating activities with a 757% leap MENAFN Press (MENAFN Press) First Dubai Real Estate Development Company yesterday morning held its Ordinary and Extraordinary General Assembly for the financial year ending on December 31, 2013, with the rate of attendance up to 90.81%, in the meeting room at the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The meeting was held in the presence of a number of the company's shareholders and representatives of the local press and mediaAbdul Aziz Bassem Al Loughani, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, opened the General Assembly Meeting by reading the report of the Board, through which he stressed that the company had exerted strenuous efforts throughout the last year to achieve the interest of the company, its shareholders and customersAl Loughani pointed out the company's positive financial results over the past year, after the completion, delivery and sale of a large number of real estate units in the Emirate of Dubai, including residential villas in "The Villa" Project in Dubai Land. The company succeeded in selling office spaces within "The Business Avenue" Project in Jumeirah Lakes. Additionally, an occupancy rate surpassing 95% was achieved in the "Sky Gardens" Project in Dubai International Financial Centre. He stressed that First Dubai Company is moving ahead towards the preparation of a strategic plan through which it intends to develop new projects and engage in feasible investments, in light of the financial stability and real estate recovery, and due to the solid financial base of the company: it owns strong assets amounting to KD72.6m in 2013, compared to KD66.4m in the previous year. The total liabilities were KD13.8m in 2013 compared to KD15.2m in 2012He said that the company holds tremendous assets which are intended to be developed in the near future, including residential and commercial land draft in "Shams Abu Dhabi", located in Al Reem Island, which the company is studying the possibility of redeveloping with other investors. The company is also currently working on the development of middle-housing residential vouchers in the "Q-point" Project, within Liwan Residential System in the Emirate of DubaiFinancial ResultAl Loughani reviewed the company's financial results, saying that First Dubai has succeeded in achieving a net profit that stood at KD 6.7m at the end of last year, with earnings per share up to 6.73 fils, compared to 0.79 fils in the same period last year. First Dubai Real Estate Development saw operating revenues amounting to KD 5.3m in 2013, compared to KD 2.76m in 2012, representing a 92-% rise. The revenues of the sold projects surged 135%- to KD 3.8m in 2013, compared to KD 1.6m in 2012Ordinary General Assembly AgendThe Ordinary General Assembly of First Dubai Real Estate Development Company listened to and approved the report of the Board of Directors for the financial year ending on December 31, 2013. They also listened to and approved the Auditor's Report along with the financial statements for the fiscal year ending in that same periodFirst Dubai Assembly approved the Board of Directors to complete the transactions with the relevant parties. hey also approved the recommendations of the Board to not distribute dividends for the fiscal year ending on December 31, 2013, and further approved remuneration of the members of the Board amounting to KD 40 thousand for the completed fiscal year. The Assembly also approved the Chairman or a member of the Board of Directors, to commercialize for the company or any activity practiced by the company, in accordance with article 228 of the Companies Act 2012 No. 25 and article 16 of the statute. They also authorized the Board to purchase or sell shares of the company, but not to exceed 10 percent of the number of its shares, in accordance with article 175 of the law 25 for the year 2012 and the instructions of the Capital Markets Authority which organize the shareholding corporate purchasing to its shares (Treasury Shares) and how to use and dispose them.The members of the Board were discharged related to their legal actions for the fiscal year ending on December 31, 2013. The Assembly also appointed or re-appointed auditors of the company for the fiscal year ended on December 31, 2014, and authorized the Board of Directors to determine their remunerationExtraordinary AssemblFor their part, the Extraordinary General Assembly approved the amendment of article 13 and article 15 of the Statute, in such a manner that a five-member board of directors assumes the company management. A member of the board shall be required to personally be an owner or the person who represents him shall own a number of the company's shares. The concerned person shall be responsible for similar acts towards the company, its creditors and shareholdersThe articles (16) and (17) of the Statute which are concerned with the conditions of the Board membership were amended. The Assembly also approved the amendment of the article (19) of the Regulations to read as follows: 'The Board of Directors shall appoint a Chief Executive Officer who shall be entrusted to manage the company, and the Board shall determine his allocations and powers to sign for the company. It may be illegal to combine between the post of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. The Board of Directors shall also have a secretary to be appointed from among the members of the Board, the Executive Management or from abroad, based on a decision of the Board to take reports of the meetings which shall be signed by the Secretary and all the present members'. The Assembly has amended the following articles: article (20) concerned with the power to sign, article (21) pertaining to the meetings of the Board of Directors, which are held at least six times during one year in response to the invitation of its chairman, and article (22) of the StatuteLikewise, articles (24) and (25) pertaining to the powers and reward of the members of the Board of Directors have also been amended. In addition, the amendments related to the statute and included within the Extraordinary Assembly Agenda have all been ratifiedAfter the ratification of the Agenda, the Chairman closed the Extraordinary General Assembly upon the acceptance of the attendees About First DubaiFirst Dubai MENA News Headlines

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Planners say it's not too late to find ways to spend less, invest more ROBERT DIGITALE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | March 31, 2013 It's a lingering effect of the Great Recession: More Americans doubt they can retire with enough money to make it through their golden years. Unfortunately, such pessimism isn't necessarily causing them to save more for retirement, researchers say. Instead, a growing number of workers plan to stay at their jobs well past 65, an option that carries with it the risk of unexpected illness and workplace upheaval. Twenty-eight percent of U.S. workers say they are "not at all confident" about having enough money for a comfortable retirement, according to a new survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. The Washington-based nonprofit reported that only 10 percent of workers gave that answer in 2007. In the recession, confidence "fell right off the table" for those who had saved little for retirement, said Jack VanDerhei, the group's research director. Even though the recession ended more than three years ago, optimism hasn't returned for those workers, who "now realize they really are in a bad situation." VanDerhei and financial planners said workers still can significantly improve their finances for retirement. They recommended finding ways to spend less and invest more, especially in employer-sponsored 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. Retirement planning offers opportunities to think about what really matters, financial planners said. After devising a plan, some workers may decide to work part time well into their retirement years, while others may leave a job they hate, get retrained and stay longer at work they find more fulfilling. "You have a lot more leverage than you think you have," said Bruce Dzieza, founder of Willow Creek Financial Services in Sebastopol. Nearly six in 10 workers currently save for retirement, according to the survey released this month by the research institute. But even among workers 55 years of age and older, half said they have accumulated less than $50,000 in savings and investments, excluding home equity. Many appear to be living without much of a financial cushion. Only half of those surveyed said they definitely could come up with $2,000 if an unexpected need arose within the next month. As a result, plenty of workers seem more preoccupied on paying today's bills than setting aside money for retirement. A survey last fall by Wells Fargo reported that half of middle class workers in their 50s said they are too focused on current financial obligations to plan for the future. Joe Ready, a director of the company's institutional retirement and trust division, said the message was: "I know I need to save more, but I really can't afford to do that." Instead, more workers say they will keep drawing a paycheck well past the normal retirement age. In 1991, only one in 10 workers told the research institute that they planned to work beyond 65. By this winter, that number had risen to one in three. However, experts question whether so many workers actually can stay that long at their jobs. For the past two decades, the median U.S. retirement age has remained steady at 62, the institute reported. And nearly half the retirees surveyed this winter said they had stopped working earlier than planned. The biggest reason for early retirement was health problems or disability. Also mentioned was downsizing or other changes in the workplace. Seven percent left early for what the institute deemed were strictly positive reasons. The institute has projected that roughly a fifth of Baby Boomers will run short of money within 10 years of retirement. As that happens, families, charities or the government will need to step in to help. "That's going to be a tremendous burden on somebody," VanDerhei said. Ready said three out of four workers surveyed by Wells Fargo acknowledged they essentially had guessed at the amount needed for retirement. Typically they underestimate two areas: how long they might live and what they might spend on health care. The survey's median estimate for out-of-pocket health care costs was $47,000. Wells Fargo cited separate research that a typical couple at age 65 can expect to spend at least $260,000 for such costs over their remaining lifetime. For those who want to set aside more for the future, the most-frequent recommendation was to take advantage of a 401k retirement plan, especially if an employer will match a portion of the worker's contributions. Redwood Credit Union offered four more steps: Create an emergency fund of three to six months; start direct deposit savings for even a small portion of your paycheck; set some financial goals, such as buying a home, sending a child to college or retirement; and get advice from a financial professional. Anne Benjamin, Redwood's executive vice president and chief operating officer, recommended workers start by talking to staff at their banks or credit unions and not try to "self-diagnose their own solutions." For example, she said, some workers "think they're stuck with credit cards at really high rates, and they don't have to be." Similarly, financial planners said they can help workers examine their finances and suggest ways to save and invest more. Alice Sanford, who owns an Ameriprise office in Santa Rosa, said a 30-something couple once told her they couldn't cut their expenses. She asked them whether they could each purchase one latte a day instead of two. She calculated that investing the $300 saved each month at 6 percent interest would result in a total of $300,000 in 30 years. "Einstein said the most magical formula on the planet is the compounding effect over time on money," Sanford observed. Jean Davis and Greg Young are believers in financial planning. The retired married couple who reside southwest of Windsor said living within their means was a value impressed upon them by parents who grew up during the Great Depression. "I was always a saver," said Davis, 67, a retired career counselor at Santa Rosa Junior College. Young, 70, started working in the 1960s for IBM (your smartphone has more computing power than the room-sized computers he worked with for the company at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, he said). After a stint at Safeway, Young joined Cerent, a Petaluma telecom startup that Cisco purchased in 1999 for $6.9 billion. As with the other employees who owned Cerent stock, "I basically had a windfall and I didn't know what to do with it," he said. Young quickly interviewed several financial advisers and settled on Willow Creek's Bruce Dzieza for the personalized investment approach he put together. Gilbert Hawkins, a financial adviser at CaliforniaHawk Wealth Management in Santa Rosa, called it important to interview a few different financial professionals before selecting one. "You want to work with someone who gives you the feeling that person understands your situation," Hawkins said. VanDerhei urged workers to stay at their jobs until they first meet with an expert who can make financial calculations and determine whether they have enough money to retire. If needed, he said, it's much easier to work a few more years, but "it becomes infinitely more difficult" to re-enter the work force in your 70s. You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat.com.

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China is no economic miracle or superpower - Taipei Times Thu, Aug 17, 2006 - Page 8　News List China is no economic miracle or superpower By Ali Suhail Wyne A few days after Sept. 11, 2001, a Chinese businessman was interviewed about the events of that day. In broken English, he said something along the lines of, "9/11 bad, but good for business."The man, a flag manufacturer, was making US flags that US citizens were clamoring to display after the attack on their country. His remark was innocent enough and didn't get much attention. Even though China had a global presence, it still seemed distant and mysterious, and it's opinion on matters of importance to US policymakers was not considered crucial.That all changed two months later, when China joined the WTO. Some observers greeted this development with exuberance, others with alarm and yet others with casual curiosity. Regardless, it seemed to confirm what many had quietly been saying since the early 1990s: China had stepped onto the world stage.Fast forward to this year: Everybody is intensely curious about China and almost everybody in the West -- especially in the US -- is concerned. Why? Because of CNN's Lou Dobbs. Well, not really. But he does talk about one of the US' biggest fears: that jobs are going to China.The rationale for this concern is pretty straightforward. Basic economics says that if a company wants to make a buck, it should go abroad in search of the lowest wages. China has an abundance of cheap labor, the argument goes, so any multinational corporation that wants to stay in the game will locate some or all of its production processes there.If that's all there was to it, China would never have to worry. But it is concerned right now -- for the first time, foreign investment in its manufacturing sector is starting to decrease. Why? It's because the line of logic just noted oversimplifies corporate mentality. Yes, in the short-run, a company might beat out its competitor by "racing to the bottom." In the long-run, though, if it doesn't abide by labor regulations, adhere to environmental standards and invest in human capital -- that is, if it doesn't create those conditions in which workers can be productive on a continuous basis -- it'll lose.And that's why companies are starting to withdraw their investments from China. Labor rights are minimal, hasty urbanization has poisoned its water and air and, perhaps more importantly, its work force is not all that it's cracked up to be.Paradoxically, China faces a severe labor shortage. A fascinating new book, Fast Boat to China, shows how Chinese workers, fed up with mistreatment and lacking incentives to stay put, increasingly go "job hopping." Many employers are struggling to find and retain workers.An interesting and important side note: Chinese engineers are not as competitive as some would suggest. Few know English or are business savvy and the vast majority are trained in schools where theory is favored over application. The result? According to the McKinsey Global Institute, only 10 percent of them can compete globally.Given that China has been able to sustain a growth rate of 9 percent a year for the past two decades, why should this matter now? Simply, because China has accrued just about every possible benefit that it can from manufacturing (the industry that's anchored its growth since the 1970s) and has no choice but to look elsewhere for growth. It's no wonder that Beijing is suddenly stressing the importance of innovation.

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Resource Center Current & Past Issues eNewsletters 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 top of any article. Citigroup Moving into Iraq Bank hopes to tap into the nation's $1 trillion in post-war infrastructure spending. By Stefania Bianchi, Bloomberg June 27, 2013 Citigroup Inc., the U.S. lender scaling back in some emerging markets, said it’s seeking to benefit from an estimated $1 trillion of infrastructure spending in Iraq as the country rebuilds roads and bridges after the war. The third-largest U.S. lender by assets, Citigroup received approval this week to open a representative office in Baghdad and will consider more such offices and branches in the country, Mayank Malik, chief executive officer for Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and the Palestinian territories, said in a phone interview. Iraq is the New York-based bank’s first country opening for six years and comes as Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat seeks to sell or scale back consumer operations in nations such as Turkey, Pakistan, and Uruguay, reversing an expansion strategy into faster-growing economies by former CEO Vikram Pandit. “Iraq is a giant that’s waking up, and the opportunities are immense,” Malik said from Amman, Jordan. “The most significant opportunities are twofold—oil revenue generation and infrastructure creation. We estimate this to be a $1 trillion initiative over time.” Iraq, holder of the world’s fifth-largest proven oil deposits, is boosting budget spending by 18 percent this year, to $118 billion. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that the economy will grow 9 percent this year, the fastest pace after Libya of 18 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Iraq Business Corbat, who replaced Pandit in October, announced last year that the lender would sell or scale back consumer operations in five nations, including Turkey and Pakistan, as part of a cost-cutting plan that will eliminate 11,000 jobs. In March, Corbat told attendees at a New York conference that he might exit businesses in 21 more countries, which he didn’t identify. Business in Iraq will come from international companies looking to rebuild roads, telecommunication networks, electricity, and water infrastructure amid continuing violence in the country, Malik said. Iraq’s stock exchange drew investors in February when mobile operator Asiacell Communications PJSC listed after a $1.3 billion share sale, in the Middle East’s biggest initial public offering since 2008. The country’s two other mobile operators, Zain Iraq and Korek Telecom, plan to sell shares in IPOs to comply with their license requirements. “The economic story of Iraq hasn’t changed,” Malik said. “Iraq is the only country that has economic stability and political instability.” StanChart Entry Foreign banks were barred from the country until after the U.S.-led invasion that ousted the regime of Saddam Hussein. Today, 15 international banks operate there, competing with seven state banks, 23 private lenders, and nine banks operating under Islamic rules, according to the central bank’s website. Banks in the country are set for growth in earnings and assets as a surge in lending in OPEC’s second-biggest producer outpaces the region. Iraq’s rising oil exports and a drop in the prime lending rate to 6 percent, from 17 percent in 2008, are feeding the expansion. The five largest privately owned banks boosted their combined net income by 207 percent from 2010 to 2012 and more than doubled earnings per share, according to Singapore-based Sansar Capital Management LLC, which runs a fund with $30 million invested in Iraqi equities. The country has one ATM for every 100,000 residents, compared with a regional average that’s 32 times higher, according to Sansar’s report. Standard Chartered Plc has said it will open branches this year in Baghdad and the city of Erbil, followed by a third office next year in the oil hub of Basra. As Citigroup and Standard Chartered enter the country, HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank, said June 25 that it may sell its 70 percent stake in Iraq’s Dar Es Salaam Investment Bank following a strategic review. HSBC will explore options for a sale and won’t subscribe to shares of the investment bank as part of its proposed capital increase, it said. HSBC bought the stake in 2005. Iraq has seen an upsurge in violence since the U.S. withdrew its last combat troops at the end of 2011, reflecting tensions between Sunni Muslims and the country’s Shiite-led government. Terrorists killed more than 1,000 civilians and security forces in the country in May, surpassing the 712 killed in April, which was the deadliest month since June 2008, the United Nations mission to Iraq said in June. “The political backdrop may cause some delay or distraction, but the economic fundamentals of Iraq haven’t changed,” Citigroup’s Malik said. 6 Tips for Safer Business Travel ECB May Add Stimulus Amid Brexit Brexit Could Cut $40B from North American Company Profits Companies Turn to Consultants for Help on Brexit Why Bank Capital Standards Aren't That Standard Previous New Tools Help Finance Hire—and Get Hired Wrangling Over Overseas Swaps Continues HSBC Holdings Plc 141 electricity 36 Standard Chartered Plc 25 Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries 20 Vikram Pandit 15 banking 13 oil exports 10 Michael Corbat 5 Saddam Hussein 4 IPOs 3 mobile operator 3 state banks 2 telecommunication networks 2

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Global carbon trading volumes shrink The value of global carbon market transactions plunged 36 per cent last year as European Union permit prices fell and United Nations emission credits dropped to records, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.The market’s value declined to 61 billion euros ($76 billion) from 95 billion euros in 2011, New Energy Finance said in an e-mailed statement. The value of UN offset trading decreased 64 per cent to 6 billion euros. Total trading volume jumped 26 per cent to 10.7 billion metric tons, equivalent to a third of the world’s total carbon-dioxide emissions.The market’s worth will be 80 billion euros this year, assuming the EU has some success in fixing a glut of permit supply in the bloc and boosting prices, according to New Energy Finance. While the European Commission proposal to withhold supply may not be implemented this year, agreeing the plan will probably be enough to prompt a recovery in prices, according to Guy Turner, director of commodities at New Energy Finance.“That will provide confidence in the market that’s been lacking,” he said today by telephone from London.The commission in Brussels, the EU market’s regulator, proposed in November to temporarily delay the sale of 900 million tons of carbon permits through 2015 in a process known as backloading. The supply would return later in the decade under the plan.The backloading plan probably won’t be agreed by EU nations because it will be seen as a regulatory intervention that reduces investor confidence in the market, Daniel Rossetto, managing director of Climate Mundial Ltd., a London-based consulting company that works in carbon markets, said today by e-mail. That will delay a price rebound, he said.The value of transactions in the bloc’s market dropped 24 per cent last year to 54 billion euros, according to New Energy Finance. Average global prices will jump about 15 per cent to 6.60 euros a ton this year, the researcher said.A year ago, New Energy Finance predicted the value of the global carbon market would advance 9.8 per cent in 2012.Bloomberg Jetstar brawler 'sorry' for bloody ...

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Nyiro Tiribe, Kenya / Butcher Shop A loan of $375 helped to purchase more goats for sale of meat to earn a living and support his children. Nyiro's story Nyiro is a married man with eight school-going kids. He lives at his own house that has electricity but not piped water. His greatest monthly expense is food for the family. For the last four years, he has operated a goat meat selling business, selling at the market to his neighbors and passersby. He faces a major challenge of competition from other retail shop operators in his business. With the KES 30,000 loan, he wants to purchase more goats for his meat sales business to earn a living and support his children. He decided to join Yehu to access loans to boost his business. More from Nyiro's previous loan » About Yehu Microfinance Trust: This loan is administered by Yehu Microfinance Trust, which was founded in 1998 as a project of CHOICE Humanitarian Kenya. In July 2007, Yehu became a separate entity from CHOICE and was registered as a trust. Since then, Yehu has expanded to cover over half of Kenya’s 13 coastal districts. Yehu Microfinance Trust Yehu shares Kiva’s commitment to providing financial services to poor people, especially women, in remote areas where access to microfinance is limited. The organization is an emerging player in Kenya, especially in the coastal region, which is considered to be one of the poorest areas and most underserved by microfinance institutions. Yehu’s main competitive advantage is its rural penetration, its lower starting loan sizes, and its innovative loan products that include credit for goat meat sales, poultry, water, micro-insurance and education. Kiva lenders’ funds will help the organization offer its services to a greater number of poor people in the coastal region and other rural areas of Kenya. More about Yehu Microfinance Trust

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Dave Hartnett: one sweetheart deal too many The hardman ended his career by becoming a soft touch. His appointments to Deloitte and HSBC won't alter that reputation Until last summer the country's top tax official, Dave Hartnett is taking up a job with tax consultancy Deloitte. Does this matter? Yes, it does; both in its specifics, and the light it casts on the relationship between our governing elite and corporate interests. Mr Hartnett left Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs amid some controversy. It is not every civil servant who is accused of being a liar, as he was by Margaret Hodge. The chair of the public accounts committee accused him of lying over his claim that he did not deal with the tax affairs of Goldman Sachs. He had in fact struck a "sweetheart deal" with the bankers, letting them off a £10m interest bill. That revelation sat alongside other tittle-tattle such as his standing as the most wined and dined official in Whitehall, eating 10 meals with KPMG alone over three years. One doesn't need to buy the accusations of a meals-for-deals strategy to see in all this a too-cosy relationship between the regulator and the businesses that he regulated. Even other tax professionals went along with that, especially outside the Big Four. Such criticism was justified by Mr Hartnett and his pushing of "enhanced relationships" with big companies. The commissioner might initially have intended the concept to denote more open dealing with big taxpayers and less of the old cat-and-mousery; but it ended up as a variant of the now-familiar light-touch supervision. The great disappointment is that Mr Hartnett set out to be a much tougher taxman. It is hard to think of any senior official with as in-depth a knowledge of tax law, or with as great renown as a bruiser. Mr Hartnett was a Revenue lifer, yet the hardman ended his career by becoming a soft touch. His appointments to Deloitte and HSBC won't alter that reputation. Mr Hartnett will help Deloitte to advise overseas governments on how to implement "effective tax regimes", which seems rather like dispatching the top brass of Stella Artois to advise on alcohol abuse. The contrast between his soft landing and the brutal treatment administered to Osita Mba, the whistleblower who exposed the Goldmans deal, is stark and troubling. Provision must be made for top public servants to move on to other jobs, but the current system is not robust enough at detecting possible conflicts of interest. In its emphasis on avoiding personal lobbying of ministers and advisers by former colleagues, the advisory committee on business appointments pays too little attention to how they might otherwise massage relations between a company and Whitehall. It is thus worryingly narrow in how it interprets possible overlaps of corporate interest. The system must be recast to adopt a precautionary principle in looking for possible dangers of abusing insider expertise.

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5 With Upcoming Ex-Dividend Dates: CIK, IIM, LNCO, HCBK, PPG CIK IIM LNCO HCBK PPG are going ex-dividend tomorrow, Nov. 6, 2013 Leslie Serrano PPG Industries Owners of PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 61 cents per share. At a price of $182.89 as of 9:30 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 1.3%. The average volume for PPG Industries has been 687,600 shares per day over the past 30 days. PPG Industries has a market cap of $26.0 billion and is part of the chemicals industry. Shares are up 35% year to date as of the close of trading on Monday. STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12-months. Learn more. PPG Industries, Inc. operates as a coatings and specialty products company. The company has a P/E ratio of 23.02. TheStreet Ratings rates PPG Industries as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, good cash flow from operations, expanding profit margins and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income. You can view the full PPG Industries Ratings Report now. See our top-yielding stocks list. More About Dividends: One benefit of owning a stock is the potential that you will be paid a dividend. The distribution of dividend payments is another way for a company to share its profit with you. A dividend means that the company pays you a certain amount of money, either as a one-time payment or more commonly on a quarterly basis, for each share of stock you own. Many times, dividends come at the expense of greater price appreciation, because the company is distributing its profits to shareholders rather than reinvesting the profits back into the growth of the company. However, companies that pay dividends can be very attractive to investors when they offer a steady stream of income. There are some important terms and dates an investor should be familiar with before purchasing any dividend-paying companies. Let's work through an example to help better explain some of these terms: On March 1, ABC Widget Company has decided that because it holds excess cash and lacks investment opportunities, it would like to reward shareholders with a regular quarterly dividend payment. The date for this particular announcement is known as the declaration date. It is on this date that the company announces the specific dividend payment along with the holder of record date (aka record date) and the payment date. The company announces that a dividend payment of 25 cents per share will be payable March 31, 2012 (the payment date) to all shareholders of record at the close of business on March 16, 2012 (holder of record date). What does this all mean? Well the short story is that the company looks at its records on March 16 and anyone listed on the books as an owner of ABC Widget company will be eligible for the dividend payment (on March 31). The one other important term to remember is the ex-dividend date. The ex-dividend date (typically two trading days before the holder of record date for U.S. securities) is the day in which a company begins trading without the dividend. In order to have a claim on a dividend, shares must be purchased no later than the last business day before the ex-dividend date. A company trading ex-dividend will have the upcoming dividend subtracted from the share price at the start of the trading day. Many times, the price of a stock will increase in anticipation of the upcoming dividend as the ex-dividend date approaches, yet will fall back by the amount of the dividend on the ex-dividend date. See our dividend calendar. null 3 Stocks With Upcoming Ex-Dividend Dates: CIK, CHW, CHY CIK CHW CHY are going ex-dividend tomorrow, Friday, July 08, 2016 3 Stocks With Upcoming Ex-Dividend Dates: CIK, LANC, CNI CIK LANC CNI are going ex-dividend tomorrow, Tuesday, June 07, 2016 Ex-Dividends To Watch: 3 Stocks Going Ex-Dividend Tomorrow: CIK, STAY, RGA CIK STAY RGA are going ex-dividend tomorrow, Friday, May 06, 2016 Ex-Dividends To Watch: 3 Stocks Going Ex-Dividend Tomorrow: CIK, ACP, PFN CIK ACP PFN are going ex-dividend tomorrow, Thursday, April 07, 2016

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The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. Announces January Closing Of Its Boston Store Sheboygan, Wisconsin Location The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:BONT) today announced it will close its Boston Store Harbor Center location in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:BONT) today announced it will close its Boston Store Harbor Center location in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The Company will terminate its lease as of January 31, 2014. The closing will impact approximately 80 associates at this location. The Bon-Ton acquired the leasehold interests in the Boston Store Harbor Center store as part of the Northern Department Store Group acquisition in 2006. The Company does not expect costs associated with the closing of the location to be material. The store will close at the end of its lease term. Brendan Hoffman, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “The Company continually reviews the performance of its assets; as a result of these reviews, we made the decision to close our Harbor Center location. We invite our Sheboygan customers to shop with us at our remaining Boston Store and Younkers stores in the area as we will continue to provide great service and an outstanding merchandise assortment. We are very appreciative of the devoted Boston Store Harbor Center store associates and are committed to providing assistance to these associates.” The affected associates in the Boston Store Harbor Center location will be offered the opportunity to interview for available positions at other Boston Store or Younkers stores in the area or receive career transition benefits, including severance, according to established practices and state employment service support. The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., with corporate headquarters in York, Pennsylvania and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, operates 273 department stores, which includes 10 furniture galleries, in 25 states in the Northeast, Midwest and upper Great Plains under the Bon-Ton, Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s and Younkers nameplates. The department stores offer a broad assortment of national and private brand fashion apparel and accessories for women, men and children, as well as cosmetics and home furnishings. For further information, please visit the investor relations section of the Company’s website at http://investors.bonton.com. Certain information included in this press release contains statements that are forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, which may be identified by words such as “may,” “could,” “will,” “plan,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend” or other similar expressions, involve important risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect results in the future and, accordingly, such results may differ from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company. Factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to: risks related to retail businesses generally; a significant and prolonged deterioration of general economic conditions which could negatively impact the Company in a number of ways, including the potential write-down of the current valuation of intangible assets and deferred taxes; risks related to the Company’s proprietary credit card program; potential increases in pension obligations; consumer spending patterns, debt levels, and the availability and cost of consumer credit; additional competition from existing and new competitors; inflation; deflation; changes in the costs of fuel and other energy and transportation costs; weather conditions that could negatively impact sales; uncertainties associated with expanding or remodeling existing stores; the ability to attract and retain qualified management; the dependence upon relationships with vendors and their factors; a data security breach or system failure; the ability to reduce or control SG&A expenses, including initiatives to reduce expenses and improve efficiency; operational disruptions; unsuccessful marketing initiatives; the failure to successfully implement our key strategies, including initiatives to improve our merchandising, marketing and operations; adverse outcomes in litigation; the incurrence of unplanned capital expenditures; the ability to obtain financing for working capital, capital expenditures and general corporate purpose; the impact of regulatory requirements including the Health Care Reform Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; the inability or limitations on the Company’s ability to favorably adjust the valuation allowance on deferred tax assets; and the financial condition of mall operators. Additional factors that could cause the Company’s actual results to differ from those contained in these forward-looking statements are discussed in greater detail under Item 1A of the Company’s Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Prev You'll Never Believe Which Is the Hottest Department Store Stock in 2016 No, we aren't kidding here. Cramer Says Pass on Under Armour, Nike in Lieu of Sports Authority Woes Under Armour serves up a rare sales warning thanks to one retailer's bankruptcy. Why Under Armour's Founder Couldn't Care Less if Sports Authority Vanishes Under Armour has other things going for it besides selling apparel to bankrupt Sports Authority. Retailers Went Zombie Cold During Crucial Holiday Buying Season Few retailers were hot this winter season but winners include J.C. Penney and Toys 'R' Us. Richard Collings

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ABC Newspapers Opinion & Columns Published January 11, 2012 at 1:59 pm by Bart Ward A quick flip through today’s newspapers is likely to lead even the most ardent advocates of free markets to acknowledge that professional standards in the banking and securities industry have eroded considerably over the past five years to a new low. In reality this is not true. During the last 40 years of the 1800s there were all types of crooked and colorful Wall Street operators that left wakes of busted and broken investors. Jim Fisk was associated with Daniel Drew, known as two of the great robber barons of the time. Drew backed Fisk with his brokerage firm of Fisk & Belden. Fisk teamed up with Drew and Jay Gould in a fight with Cornelius Vanderbilt for the Erie Railroad in 1867. This was known as the Erie War, which ended with a crippled railroad that would not make a profit for over 70 years. Known as “Barnum of Wall Street” and “Jubilee Jim,” Fisk was one of the giant figures of the Gilded Age. He was known to bribe judges and other government officials. In 1869 Gould and Fisk made an effort to attempt to corner the gold market. They persuaded President Grant to keep federal gold reserves out of circulation. Over time the two ended up controlling enough of the available supply of gold to bid up the price to record levels. Eventually Grant caught on to the scheme and he had the federal government resume the sale of gold. Prices crashed and the gold panic of 1869 began. The panic of 1873 was the result of risky loans made by high-flying bankers to major operators of the railroads. When the panic hit and passed one of the worst economic collapses of the 19th century occurred. Approximately 10,000 businesses closed down during the depression that lasted until 1878. The panic of 1893 created a long drawn out depression in the U.S. This panic was the result of a collapse of the railroad business because of overbuilding and bad financing. What marked this period of overbuilding was the desire by bankers and brokers to sell bonds and stocks to unsuspecting foreign investors. Lines were built that deadened in nowhere land. Many new railroad lines were built right next to already existing lines, making it difficult for the new lines to be profitable. Nevertheless the origination and sales of railroad stocks and bonds made fortunes for many and left others with big losses when the bust hit. The 1907 panic was one the biggest of all time and has some of the hallmarks of our current problems in the U.S. It led to the Pugo investigations of 1913 headed by Congressman Arsène Pujo. Minnesota congressman Charles Lindbergh Sr. introduced a resolution to begin an investigation of Wall Street and Pugo formed a subcommittee of the House Committee on Banking and Currency. While a number of high profile bankers were accused of wrongdoing, the end game was that the Federal Reserve System was created with the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913. The banking and securities industry was plagued by notoriously low standards in the 1920s, ending with the Great Crash of ‘29. This was followed by the U.S. Senate Pecora Investigations in 1932. The Glass-Steagall Act of 1932 split commercial and investment banking. Finally came the creation of the Securities Acts of 1933 and ‘34. The ‘34 act created the Securities & Exchange Commission. In the 1950s and ‘60s there were many transactions that might well have run afoul of today’s insider-trading laws or notions of fiduciary conduct. By the end of the 1980s, the securities business had been through a period of intense scrutiny and prosecution, and the result was an industry operating under much higher worldwide standards of disclosure, customer protection and fair trading practices than at any other time in history. In reality, the standards were rising at the same time as the competition was becoming more intense, and it was harder and harder to make a buck the old-fashioned way (by trading in markets with lower standards and larger spreads). As the markets were becoming more efficient, many firms stuck their necks out a bit further and took more risk. Among the risks they took was to focus more on incentive compensation in return for delivered profits, and sometimes to tolerate profits from transactions that might be questionable or worse. By the early 1990s, following an array of financial scandals, the public perception of the securities industry was near its low again. Professional standards, which incorporate the industry’s reputation for integrity, service, quality and expertise, had been seriously tarnished by criminal proceedings, regulatory complaints, customer litigation and all the publicity that attended them. Trust and confidence in the banking and securities industry once again reached levels not seen since the “orgy of corporate larceny” during the 1920s. No industry can thrive and prosper for long with such a reputation. Public distrust and increased scrutiny and regulation produced a deadening brew of more competition, greater risks, more litigation and increased costs of compliance. The Dotcom Bust hit at the end of the 1990s speculative bull market, followed (as usual) with a whole host of investigations and new regulations including the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. This speculative bull run in the stock market was peddled by many brokerage firms and venture capitalists of Silicon Valley. From 1995 to 2000, a boom occurred in the stocks of Internet-based companies. Many of which never made any money at all. Plenty of these companies ran out of money and eventually were sold or fell into bankruptcy. Some executives were convicted of fraud and a number of top tier banks and brokerages were fined millions. When the crash hit, there were losses of over $5 trillion in the market value of dotcom companies which stunned investors all over the world. One of the great challenges to the banking and securities industries is the maintenance of their reputation for high professional standards of conduct while coping with the sea of changes that engulfs the underlying economic base from time to time. But to think that this time is unique and things are the worst that they have ever been, only speaks to one of the great quotes on Wall Street: “The only thing new on Wall Street is unlearned history.” Quote of the Week: “The price of greatness is responsibility”—Winston Churchill Filed Under: Bart Ward, Columns, financial, the corner Post navigation « Previous Next » Comments Closed Click for Weather

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Joint statement by President Barroso and Vice President Rehn on the occasion of today's trilogue agreement on the Two-Pack legislation on the economic governance in the euro area Once legislation proposed by the Commission on the two-pack is adopted, the Commission intends to take steps in the short-term towards a deep and genuine EMU as outlined in the blueprint. Short-term steps (6 to 12 months) will include: In its Blueprint for a Deep and Genuine EMU, the Commission considered that, in the medium-term, a redemption fund and eurobills could be possible elements of deep and genuine EMU under certain rigorous conditions. The guiding principle would be that any steps to further mutualisation of risk must go hand-in-hand with greater fiscal discipline and integration. The required deeper integration of financial regulation, fiscal and economic policy and corresponding instruments must be accompanied by commensurate political integration, ensuring democratic legitimacy and accountability. The Commission will establish an Expert Group to deepen the analysis on the possible merits, risks, requirements and obstacles of partial substitution of national issuance of debt through joint issuance in the form of a redemption fund and eurobills. The Group will be tasked to thoroughly assess, what could be their features in terms of legal provisions, financial architecture and the necessary complementary economic and budgetary framework. Democratic accountability will be a central issue to be considered. The Group will take into account the on-going reform of the European economic and budgetary governance and assess the added value for such instruments in this context. The Group will pay particular attention to recent and on-going reforms, such as the implementation of the two-Pack, the ESM and any other relevant instruments. In its analysis the Group will pay particular attention to sustainability of public finances, to the avoidance of moral hazard, as well as to other central issues, such as financial stability, financial integration and monetary policy transmission. The members of the Group will be experts in law and economics, public finances, financial markets and sovereign debt management. The Group will be invited to present its final report to the Commission not later than March 2014. The Commission will assess the report and, if appropriate, make proposals before the end of its mandate. An exploration of further ways within the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact to accommodate under certain conditions, non-recurrent, public investment programmes with a proven impact on the sustainability of public finances made by the Member States in the assessment of their Stability and Convergence Programmes; this will be done in spring-summer 2013 in the context of the publication of its Communication on calendar of convergence towards the Medium-term Objective; After the decision on the next Multi-annual Financial Framework for the EU and before the end of 2013, the Commission will to put forward the following proposals to complement the existing framework for economic governance: (i) measures to ensure greater ex-ante coordination of major reform projects and (ii) the creation of a "convergence and competitiveness instrument" to provide financial support for the timely implementation of sustainable growth enhancing structural reforms. This new system, fully in line with the Community method, would build on the existing EU surveillance procedures. It would combine deeper integration of economic policy with financial support and thereby respect the principle according to which steps towards more responsibility and economic discipline are combined with more solidarity. It would in particular aim at enhancing the capacity of a Member State to absorb asymmetric shocks. This instrument would serve as the initial phase towards the establishment of a stronger fiscal capacity. Furthermore, the Commission commits to following up in a speedy and comprehensive manner on: (i) its action plan to strengthen the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion, in particular with view to the revision of the directives identified in the action plan as well as on (ii) the measures and proposals announced by the Commission on its 2012 package on the employment and social policy area. Following the adoption of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, the presentation of a proposal for a Single Resolution Mechanism, which would be in charge of the restructuring and resolution of banks within the Member States participating in the Banking Union; Before the end of 2013, the presentation of a proposal under Article 138(2) TFEU to establish a unified position to achieve an observer status of the euro area in the IMF executive board, and subsequently for a single seat. Building on the short-term steps announced in its Blueprint that can be realised by secondary legislation, the Commission is committed to put forward explicit ideas for Treaty changes in time for a debate before the next European Parliament elections in 2014 with a view to setting the legislative basis for the steps envisaged in the medium-term, which foresees the creation of a substantially reinforced economic and budgetary surveillance and control framework, a further developed European fiscal capacity supporting solidarity and the implementation of sustainable growth enhancing structural reforms, as well as the deeper integration of decision making in policy areas like taxation and labour markets as an important solidarity instrument.

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British Bank Settles Money Laundering Charges By Jim Zarroli Transcript RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: A British bank has agreed to settle charges that it illegally laundered Iranian money. The settlement with Standard Chartered was announced by New York banking regulators, who'd brought the charges just a week ago. The bank still is under investigation by the federal government. NPR's Jim Zarroli has more. JIM ZARROLI, BYLINE: New York's Department of Financial Services had accused Standard Chartered of acting like a rogue bank. They said it illegally processed many thousands of transactions for Iranian companies and banks over a 10 year period, despite U.S. economic sanctions. The bank strongly denied the charges at first, then yesterday it backed down, agreeing to let a monitor oversee its international transactions and to pay a fine. Karen Shaw Petrou of Federal Financial Analytics says the fine is about in line with those levied against other banks accused of money laundering. KAREN SHAW PETROU: Three hundred forty million dollars is not the biggest settlement of this sort reached, but it's a lot of money and significantly validates the New York claim, even if it doesn't prove it. ZARROLI: Petrou notes that the settlement was announced one day before a hearing where Standard Chartered was supposed to explain why it shouldn't lose its New York banking license. That would have been a devastating blow for the bank, she says. New York is arguably still the financial capital of the world and a global bank has to have a presence in the city. PETROU: I think it said that Standard Chartered recognized that the franchise value of having their New York State license in jeopardy, if not at real risk, was so grave that they needed to settle before the hearing. ZARROLI: Standard Chartered is only the latest global bank to be accused by U.S. regulators of money laundering. The Dutch bank ING has acknowledged that it moved Cuban and Iranian money through the U.S. A Senate committee has accused HSBC of doing business with Mexican drug cartels. Still, the filing of charges against Standard Chartered had generated some sniping by British officials. They suggested that the charges were overblown and that regulators were going after overseas banks as a way of preserving New York's place as a financial capital. U.S. regulators, who had launched their own investigation of the bank, were also said to be unhappy with New York's move. But former Treasury Department official Jimmy Gurule says U.S. regulators haven't been aggressive enough about pursuing money laundering. And he says the fine levied against Standard Chartered isn't enough. JIMMY GURULE: Once again we have a case where bank officials, foreign bank officials, have admitted to violating Iranian economic sanctions in violation of federal law, but yet no bank official has been criminally charged for wrongdoing. ZARROLI: Gurule, who teaches at Notre Dame University, says the bank handles millions of financial transactions a day, and placing a state monitor inside the bank won't accomplish much. GURULE: I mean that seems like window dressing and a Band-Aid for me. ZARROLI: But the case against Standard Chartered isn't over. The FBI, the Justice Department and the Federal Reserve are all conducting investigations of their own. None of those agencies was part of the settlement announced yesterday and they could file further charges against the bank. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.Related Program: Morning Edition View the discussion thread. © 2016 KNAU Arizona Public Radio

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Postal Service's fiscal cliff coming this spring by Jennifer Liberto @jenliberto January 11, 2013: 7:17 AM ET The U.S. Postal Service's financial woes may get overshadowed in the next few months, as the agency runs dangerously low on cash. The U.S. Postal Service is facing its own fiscal cliff this spring. But it is in danger of being overshadowed by bigger fiscal issues facing the nation. When Congress returns to work in less than two weeks, lawmakers will already have a full plate of deadlines on issues that threaten to devastate the U.S. economy -- from raising the debt ceiling, to automatic budget spending cuts that will lead to thousands of federal and private sector job cuts. For the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service, the cost of being ignored by Congress means that it will be on the brink of bankruptcy. For the American public, it could result in cutbacks on mail delivery. For postal employees, job cuts. The postal service wouldn't say exactly which day its money runs out. But a November financial report warned that the agency will have about $1 billion in cash during one particularly tough period in March -- barely enough to keep the agency running for four days. This situation isn't new. The postal service has been in a financial bind for several years, borrowing billions of dollars from taxpayers to make up for shortfalls caused by a 2006 congressional mandate, under which it has to pre-fund healthcare benefits for future retirees. What has made things worse is that technological advances has also led to a decline in first-class mail, the kind of snail mail most consumers use to either stay in touch or pay bills. The situation turned particularly dire last year -- the agency twice defaulted on payments totaling $11 billion, and it exhausted a $15 billion line of credit from the U.S. Treasury. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a statement last week that Congress' "lack of action is disappointing," and he warned that officials would be pursuing a "range of accelerated cost-cutting and revenue-generating measures." In the past year, the Postal Service has cut hours at thousands of post offices -- some are open for only two hours a day. It has also merged some of its plants, which led to a 28,000 drop in its workforce, according to spokeswoman Sue Brennan. All of it was achieved through attrition, which includes retirements and departures by employees who couldn't relocate or take up new jobs. In the last few months, the agency has had enough cash to keep running and pay its employees and contractors due to the influx of election and holiday season mail. The top House Republican and Senate Democrat say they had worked together during the fiscal cliff talks in December, though no resolution was reached on how to save the postal service. "While our approaches have differed in the past, we made significant progress in narrowing our differences in recent months," wrote Rep. Darrell Issa of California and Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware. "Our commitment to restoring this American institution to long-term solvency is unwavering." The statement lacked specificity in details of when, or how, they would achieve that goal. But congressional aides say they're hopeful it'll get passed soon. The U.S. Postal Service is, by law, an "independent establishment" of the executive branch. The agency doesn't normally use tax dollars for operations, except for its loan from Treasury. In 2005, the Postal Service had no debt, officials said. CNNMoney (Washington) First published January 11, 2013: 7:17 AM ET Comments Social Surge - What's Trending

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In Case You Missed It:Ditching Real Estate Brokers Home » Business » Time to strengthen foreclosure prevention Time to strengthen foreclosure prevention New Pittsburgh Courier Editorial Staff (NNPA)—In votes during the next weeks, two programs that provide mortgage help to troubled borrowers may be rejected by the U.S. House of Representatives. The Home Affordable Modification Program serves homeowners who cannot pay their mortgage or are in imminent danger of default. The other program known as the Emergency Homeowner Loan Program would be stripped of funding to provide emergency loans for unemployed homeowners facing foreclosure. The U.S. House of Representatives wants to strip all funding from both programs. The House also wants to scrap two more foreclosure programs: a Federal Housing Administration program that provides refinancing to homeowners who are current on their mortgage; and the Neighborhood Stabilization program that rehabilitates foreclosure-ravaged neighborhoods. According to the Center for Responsible Lending, cutting these programs would leave millions at risk and the nation’s economic recovery in jeopardy. Current trends show 50,000 new foreclosures start every week and more than five million mortgage holders now are at high risk of losing their homes. “When we’re in the midst of an epidemic, we don’t close all of the hospitals—we work faster and harder to find a cure,” said CRL president Mike Calhoun. “We call on Congress to strengthen foreclosure prevention efforts by holding servicers accountable and requiring a review of every mortgage loan before foreclosure proceeds.” According to the March 2010 HAMP servicer performance report, more than half—59.1 percent of participating homeowners identified loss of income as their predominant hardship. Additionally, the median savings for borrowers in permanent mortgage modifications is $512.39 or 36 percent of the median before modification payments. States with the largest HAMP activity are Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and New York. Although HAMP has helped about 600,000 homeowners across the country, the program originally was projected to help three to four million homeowners. This difference between modifications made and the much larger numbers of homeowners who need them has shaped opinions of those who call for program improvements as well as those who call for its termination. EHLP, the second program facing an imminent House vote, received $1 billion via the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Administered by HUD, the program offers zero interest ‘bridge loans’ to qualified unemployed homeowners for up 24 months or $50,000 in assistance, whichever comes first. Geographically, it is designed to serve the 32 states where the U.S. Treasury Department’s Hardest Hit Housing Markets program for unemployed homeowners is not available. Many journalists and consumer advocates have observed that the problems with foreclosure prevention are the fault of mortgage servicers—not the government or homeowners. According to Dana Milbank, a Washington Post columnist, “The problem in the nation’s housing market now isn’t subprime lending. It’s subpar lenders.” In a recent column, Milbank shared his own household’s fretful dealings with servicers and cited a litany of issues including misquoted rates, legal documents issued in wrong names, freezing of bank accounts, and more. Hilary Shelton, NAACP Washington Bureau Director and Senior Vice-President for Advocacy in part said at a recent panel convened by the National Council of LaRaza, “We’re looking for transitions. We’re seeing victims being blamed for what happened to them…The government has to be involved.” Had the mortgage industry done its job well, the response to the foreclosure crisis would have been more effective. Against a backdrop of millions of foreclosures that in turn triggered a national recession, government indeed has an important role to play. (Charlene Crowell is the Center for Responsible Lending’s communications manager for state policy and outreach. She can be reached at: Charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org. For more information on foreclosures and other consumer lending issues, visit: www.responsiblelending.org.)

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Guru to the Stars Howard Marks has made a killing on distressed debt. So, what does he think of the bond bubble? It's in only the "fifth inning." Jonathan R. Laing Howard Marks is a study in contrasts. On the one hand, he has the undeniable mien of an academic, with his clear horn-rim glasses, conservative dress, and close-cropped, spiked hairstyle. His manner during a long interview with Barron's is both diffident and didactic, though a certain intensity crackles just beneath the surface. Yet, over his four decades on Wall Street, the trim 67-year-old co-founder and chairman of Oaktree Capital Management has acquired true star power -- partly because the size of his firm ($77 billion in investments), partly because of his returns (solidly into the double digits), and partly because of the hundreds of long memos he sends to clients and others; they're larded with astute commentary on financial markets and perceptive disquisitions on investor psychology. One of his biggest fans is Warren Buffett, who encouraged him to gather his memos into a book, The Most Important Thing. Buffett's blurb says it all: "When I see memos from Howard Marks in my mail, they're the first thing I open and read. I always learn something." Mark believes the growing credit bubble won't soon explode. The bond game is only in the "fifth inning," he says. Peter Murphy for Barron's Other admirers include Christopher Davis of Davis Funds, Seth Klarman of Baupost Group, and Joel Greenblatt of Gotham Capital -- all of whom offer commentary throughout a new, annotated version of the book, The Most Important Thing Illuminated, published in January. Though they quibble with him at times, this trio of giants mostly marvel at Marks' observations. "I love this thought," Greenblatt exclaims in the middle of a chapter about contrarianism. "This is extremely simple and extremely insightful," adds Davis. It's almost as if Marks is their guru. MARKS FOCUSES on the rough-and-tumble world of distressed corporate debt, and his memos provide a window into his real-time thinking during some of the most convulsive periods in financial history. By late 2007, for example, Marks became convinced that the unraveling of the subprime-mortgage sector was just a symptom of much greater malaise in U.S. credit markets. He pointed to private-equity buyouts of companies done at absurdly high prices and bloated levels of debt. Those deals would make sense "only if nothing untoward happened," he wrote. And that, he believed, was anything but a safe assumption. In December of 2007 -- less than a year before the crisis hit -- he warned that banks were lending money promiscuously. Debt was being issued in veritable buckets with virtually none of the standard protections. And various "fairy tales," he observed, such as the claim that investment risk was a thing of the past, had wide currency. Many believed that central banks, through adroit management, had tamed the normal economic cycle. The foreboding evinced in the memos was more than literary flourish. In 2007 and early 2008, Oaktree prepared for what it saw as an impending apocalypse by raising the largest distressed-debt fund ever, totaling $11 billion. Then, in the three months after Lehman Brothers collapsed in September 2008, Oaktree pounced. It spent more than $6 billion scooping up senior secured debt in overleveraged companies like the utility TXU, auto-parts maker Delphi and casino concern Harrah's, generally around 50 cents on the dollar. It was his belief that governments and central banks would do everything possible to resolve the financial crisis by running their printing presses nonstop. As he put it in a memo of Oct. 15, 2008: "The sums being thrown around are the biggest ever: hundreds of billions of dollars, adding up to trillions. But there's no hesitation: Everything will be done. That doesn't mean it has to work, but it's likely to." The World According to Marks Here are some choice Howardisms, as Joel Greenblatt of Gotham Capital calls them. They're plucked from memos and other musing in Marks' book The Most Important Thing Illuminated. "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." "Being right may be a necessary condition for investment success, but it won't be sufficient. You must be more right than others." "Well bought is half sold." "When things are going well and prices are high, investors rush to buy, forgetting all prudence. Then when there's chaos all around and assets are on the bargain counter, they lose all willingness to bear risk and rush to sell. And it will ever be so." "Risk control is the best route to loss avoidance. Risk avoidance, on the other hand, is likely to lead to return avoidance as well." There are old investors, and there are bold investors, but there are no old bold investors "The truth is, much in investing is ruled by luck." Most of the bonds paid off at par in a matter of months. It was a huge payday for Oaktree and its clients, which included many of the largest U.S. pension funds, a number of sovereign wealth funds (reportedly including the China Investment Fund), and a host of state pension funds, endowments, and foundations. These days, Marks sees disquieting signs of another credit bubble, though it is just in "the fifth inning." Central banks are pumping money into economies with abandon. And rates have descended to levels that hardly compensate investors for the risks incurred. The leveraged buyout market, too, is heating up again, with private-equity firms willing to pay price-to-cash-flow ratios at the elevated levels of 2006, if not the absurd ratios of 2007. Debt issuance, particularly of high-yield bonds and leveraged loans, is soaring. Individuals and pension funds, though hardly complacent about risk after the trauma of the credit crisis, are, Marks says: "acting bullish, if not thinking bullish," by piling into high-yield and other riskier debt sectors in a desperate attempt to fund retirements or satisfy minimum return needs. Does it all spell a disaster in the making? Probably not, he avers. The much-feared eventual rise in interest rates, which doomsday forecasters say could crush bonds, would likely result from an improvement in the economy, he reasons. That alone would mitigate against a smash-up in, say, the junk-bond market, as defaults would remain at minimal levels. PROSPECTS ARE BETTER for the stock market, even after its recent rally, than for bonds because the former "remains less loved," says Marks. And Oaktree, despite its heavy concentration in debt markets, does have a clear interest in stocks: The company frequently ends up with large equity positions as a result of company restructurings. For example, it owns more than 20% of Tribune (ticker: TRBAA), along with substantial positions in Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings cco 0.8683068017366136% Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. cco in (CCO), Charter Communications chtr 1.243346640053227% Charter Communications Inc. Cl A 1.243346640053227% chtr in (CHTR), First BanCorp fbp 5.393258426966292% First BanCorp (Puerto Rico) fbp in (FBP) of Puerto Rico, and more. At the moment, Oaktree also holds some emerging-market shares as direct equity investments. "I can tell you from talking to institutions that, after 13 years of having their hearts broken by the stock market, they still are still leery of stocks even with the recent rally," Marks says. "You can see that in their low stock allocations, compared with the period of 2000 and before. But imagine a couple of more years of good performance for stocks, which well could happen, and the love affair will really be rekindled." Right now, Marks and his Oaktree cohorts are enamored of commercial real estate; they have over $5 billion committed directly to the sector and even more exposure indirectly in distressed-debt funds. They are employing a variety of tactics, including making loans on raw land, finishing projects, buying distressed properties, and proffering rescue financing and purchasing portfolios of troubled mortgages. But in characteristic fashion, Oaktree is concentrating its efforts on small- to medium-size markets, in which prices haven't recovered much from the bursting of the real-estate credit bubble. Marks' investment philosophy was honed during a circuitous career that began when he joined Citicorp in 1969 as an equity analyst. He went on to Trust Co. of the West for a decade, from 1985 to 1995, before founding Oaktree. Along the way, he learned that to consistently beat the market, it was far better to concentrate on unloved, less-followed and therefore less-efficient sectors like distressed debt -- "good companies with too much debt." Oaktree also invests in convertible securities, high-yield bonds, senior corporate debt, and real estate. These areas can be highly remunerative for investors willing to do some security analysis and ply the often-tortuous pathway of restructuring negotiations to convert debt to equity. Success also requires the guts to buy during those periodic moments in the market cycle when investors ranging from mutual funds to hedge funds to overleveraged individuals dump holdings at fire-sale prices because of redemptions, margin calls, and plain naked fear. "These crises seem to come about every 10 years or so," Marks observes. "As one of my partners, Sheldon Stone, likes to say: 'The air goes out of the balloon much faster than it went in.' " To extract full value from its debt investments, Oaktree frequently pushes for equity control positions following debt restructurings in bankruptcy. That's why its 720 employees include "corporate performance" experts and a cadre of outside industry specialists to buff up the operations of takeovers and other companies in which it has control positions; the idea is to exit through stock offerings or asset liquidations. The firm typically closes out its positions and returns money to its fundholders in three to five years. Over the years, Oaktree has made multiples of its original debt investment in the likes of movie-theater concern Regal Entertainment rgc 1.504082509669102% Regal Entertainment Group Cl A rgc in (RGC), telecoms Qwest and Nortel, several airplane-leasing operations, and radio and other media companies. Following the marathon bankruptcy battle at Tribune, owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune newspapers, Oaktree emerged with two board seats and the company's chairmanship. The newspapers now are on the block. All of these moves have resulted in superior performance going all the way back, in some cases, to the mid-1980s, when Marks and his key team members were at TCW. Over the past 24 years, funds employing Oaktree's primary strategy—distressed-debt investing—notched an average annual return of 17.5%, and that's after hedge-fund type management fees exceeding 1% and taking 20% of the profits. MARKS' LIFE EXPERIENCE did much to shape his skeptical, contrarian world view. He grew up in middle-class circumstance in the Rego Park neighborhood of Queens, N.Y., the son of an accountant. He recalls his father as being a chronic pessimist and complainer. "He thought he was a realist, though that wasn't true," Marks says. "He lived to be 102, enjoying mostly good health. So, look at all the fun he missed out on." Marks, a good student, had his card punched with a B.A. from Wharton and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. The lessons he learned at the two institutions went far beyond what he calls "the vocational stuff" of finance, accounting, and marketing. Required to take a humanities course at Wharton, Marks ended up almost as an afterthought signing up for Japanese studies. He ended up becoming fascinated by Japan's culture and earned a minor in the field. Marks was particularly struck by the Buddhist concept of mujo, which holds that life and human affairs are a ceaseless process of transience and change to which the wise adjust. "Isn't this the essence of investing?" he asked in one of his memos. Chicago was the bastion of efficient market theory by the time Marks arrived there in 1967. The theory posited the futility of trying to beat the market because asset prices at any time are correctly priced to reflect all the latest market information. Mark's takeaway: If you want to succeed as an investor, you must work harder than others and find more obscure corners of the investment world that might not be ruled by the same brutal efficiency as stocks. This lesson was only reinforced when he joined Citicorp in 1969 as a stock analyst, eventually becoming head of his department in 1974. Citicorp was a Nifty Fifty shop, wedded to the notion that the then-premier growth companies like IBM, Xerox, Kodak, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, and Coke could be safely purchased at virtually any price, since they would inevitably grow sufficiently to justify price-to-earnings ratios that had reached as high as 80 to 90. "I found myself agonizing over silly things like whether to buy Lilly or Merck and spouting the two sentences of the conventional wisdom that I knew on a narrow subset of some 400 stocks. The model was just crazy," he recalls ruefully. The Nifty Fifty, of course, crashed in the early-1970s, some falling more than 90%, and failed to recover much during the rest of the decade. Hence, Marks was only too happy to get out of the stock research group in 1977 and start two new funds for Citicorp in convertible bonds and high-yield debt. Neither sector was deemed respectable for most clients because of higher default risk. But he found that they were more than fairly priced to reflect that risk and therefore were generally far better plays than blue-chip stocks or triple-A bonds. Or as Marks likes to put it: If good life-insurance companies can make money knowing all their clients will eventually die, why, with sufficient diversification and higher yields, can't investors do well in junk bonds? Perhaps most trenchant in Marks' investing philosophy is his insight into investor behavior. Investors, in his opinion, tend to be lazy and superficial in their investment decisions, embracing rosy scenarios when optimism reigns and end-of-the-world despond when markets sink. Classic manic-depression, in other words, and not the wisdom of crowds. These swings cause markets to move in a pendulum motion around fair value, rather than in the linear direction most observers assume. That means investors must be astute, both in determining fair value and judging the amplitude of each emotional wave. For all his intellectuality, Marks hardly lives the life of an ascetic. Last year, he sold his Malibu estate for an eye-popping $75 million and a month later bought a fancy apartment on Park Avenue in New York for $52.5 million. He shows up on the most recent Forbes 400 list with a net worth of $1.4 billion. He met his wife, Nancy, and got her telephone number during an eight-floor elevator ride in Manhattan in 1969, and he pursued her with characteristic determination. After she spurned his subsequent marriage proposal, both she and he married others. Then, in the mid-80s, they were reunited by the chance intervention of a mutual friend after their respective marriages had ended. They have been together ever since, and have two grown children -- a daughter by Nancy's first marriage and a son by their union. Clearly, tenacity has paid off for Marks in both markets and life. E-mail: editors@barrons.com Email

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C.N. Louca and others Pensions, vol. 16, 2011, p. 151-167 This article focuses on the pension scheme for civil servants in Cyprus. In 2004 paying civil servants' pensions required 2.3 percent of GDP. It is projected that by 2050 the cost will rise to an unsustainable 2.8% of GDP. In order to reduce the pressure exerted by the cost of the scheme on the public finances, the government needs to: 1) increase civil servants' contributions to the scheme; 2) raise the retirement age of all civil servants to 63; and 3) break the link between civil service pension rises and inflation/wage increases paid to employed civil servants. Can the EU achieve adequate, sustainable and safe pensions for all in the coming decades? A.-S. Parent At present, EU coordination is limited to the coordination of statutory and occupational pension schemes in which rights are based in legislation. Given the increased impact of EU economic, fiscal and single market legislation on member states' pension systems, EU coordination should be extended to cover all pension schemes in an integrated way to support member states' efforts towards adequate, sustainable and safe pensions. Events in recent years have shown that member states' economies are interdependent, and EU and peer supervision and coordination are needed to ensure that no one rocks the boat. To facilitate such coordination, a European Pension Platform should be set up to create a common space where EU institutions, member states' representatives, social partners and relevant stakeholders could debate pension reforms, exchange best practice and develop common guidelines. Dutch pensions discord I. Oudenampsen European Pensions, Summer/Sept. 2011, p. 20-21 The Dutch government and the social partners presented proposals for reform of the pension system in June 2011. The proposals have been subject to criticism on two main grounds. Firstly, the new system will expose employees to increased risks and secondly it will allow all pension funds to estimate their own investment returns. The latter has resulted in fears that schemes might pay out money they do not (yet) have, thus leaving no money for future generations. The European Commission Green Paper on pensions: lessons from the Dutch experience V. Kalloe and M. Kastelein This article seeks to contribute to the EU-wide debate on pensions triggered by the publication of a consultation paper in 2010. The Dutch pension system is universally admired as a model of high participation rates, high levels of retirement income, and sustainability. The Dutch state retirement pension is funded on a pay-as-you-go basis, but occupational and private pensions are fully funded. The Dutch retirement reserve equals more than 100% of the country's GDP and 90% of the workforce is entitled to an occupational pension. The Dutch practice of a 50/50 split between pay-as-you-go and funded schemes gives a robust and balanced outcome for beneficiaries. However, the Dutch pension system has recently come under pressure due to population ageing and current adverse economic conditions. The authors conclude by drawing lessons from the Dutch experience for a European approach to pensions. Germany: a new approach K. M�ssle Most German workers have unrealistic expectations about their level of retirement income, and save too little in occupational and private schemes. Germany needs to strengthen its occupational pension schemes and disseminate information about the gap in people's pension planning. People need to understand that the value of the state pension is declining, and that they need to plan for 25-30% of retirement income to come from occupational schemes, up from 4% in 2011. Learning lessons from the Dutch market E. Bergamin, C. Hoekstra and T. Jackman The Dutch pension system is characterised by solidarity and collectivism. Most Dutch workers are automatically enrolled into a collective second pillar pension scheme. Scheme members pay an average contribution that is related to their salary, but which is irrespective of age. Investment returns and losses are shared between the members. The Dutch system has come under pressure in the last decade but its solidarity and collectivism have been preserved through the use of innovative solutions such as conditional indexation and collective defined contribution schemes. The article goes on to consider whether the Dutch model would work in the UK. The survival and return of institutions: examples from pension reforms in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe I. Guardiancich West European Politics, vol. 34, 2011, p. 976-996 This article investigates what Streeck and Thelen call 'survival and return' types of institutional change. It identifies two phenomena falling into this category. Survival through replication is where the institutions that are the object of reform survive despite a structural overhaul. Return by reaction occurs where an institution's old incentive structure returns as consequence of demands for its reintroduction and despite structural reforms. The argument is illustrated through case studies of pension reforms in Croatia, Hungary and Poland. In the early 1990s these countries implemented multi-pillar pension arrangements aimed at replacing the old PAYG public schemes. In Croatia and Hungary reaction against the reforms led to the reintroduction of generous public pillar benefits in Hungary and the return of costly parts of the PAYG pillar in Croatia. In Poland a very progressive reform took place linking contributions to benefits and diversifying risk through a multi-pillar structure. Vive la revolution A. Cadle A law was passed in November 2010 raising the French retirement age from 60 to 62, a measure that will come into effect by 2018. A review is still taking place of the number of contribution years required to obtain a full public pension, but this is likely to be extended. The reforms will also require employees to save more for their retirement through supplementary schemes. Search Welfare Reform on the Web

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Bloomberg Anywhere Remote LoginDownload SoftwareService Center MENU Homepage Markets Stocks Currencies Commodities Rates + Bonds Economics Magazine Benchmark Watchlist Economic Calendar Tech Silicon Valley Global Tech Venture Capital Hacking Digital Media Bloomberg West Pursuits Cars & Bikes Style & Grooming Spend Watches & Gadgets Food & Drinks Travel Real Estate Art & Design Politics With All Due Respect Delegate Tracker Culture Caucus Podcast Masters In Politics Podcast What The Voters Are Streaming Editors' Picks Opinion View Gadfly Businessweek Subscribe Cover Stories Opening Remarks Etc Features 85th Anniversary Issue Behind The Cover More Industries Science + Energy Graphics Game Plan Small Business Personal Finance Inspire GO Board Directors Forum Sponsored Content Sign In Subscribe Online Extra: Q&A with Hong Kong's Donald Tsang The island's Secretary for Administration talks about easier border crossings and economic complementarities with the mainland November 26, 2001 — 12:00 AM EST Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp Share on LinkedInShare on RedditShare on Google+E-mailShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp Share on LinkedInShare on RedditShare on Google+E-mailShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp Since taking over as Hong Kong's Chief Secretary for Administration on May 1, Donald Tsang has taken steps to couple Hong Kong's economy with that of the mainland, especially neighboring Guangdong Province. China promised Hong Kong that it would pursue a policy of "one country, two systems" after it resumed sovereignty of the former British colony in 1997. And while Tsang's predecessor, Anson Chan, was concerned about preserving the sanctity of the "two systems," Tsang has put the emphasis on "one country" -- especially from an economic standpoint. Still, Tsang and the government have lagged behind expectations, according to the public and the business community, which have grown increasingly impatient about border-crossing delays. Tsang says the government is now committed to a round-the-clock open border, at least for passengers, but he stresses that increased hours would have to go hand in hand with increased demand. He also says Beijing's approval would be necessary if border hours were to be extended. Tsang spoke to BusinessWeek's Asia Regional Editor Mark L. Clifford and Asia Correspondent Bruce Einhorn at his office on Nov. 13. Here are edited excerpts of their conversation: Could you talk about economic integration and the controversy over opening the border more widely? A: First of all, I never liked the word "integration." Integration implies that we are becoming one uniform economic entity. It is not in the national interest if Hong Kong should become a socialist enclave. What we are talking about is exploiting the complementarities between Hong Kong SAR [Special Administrative Region] and the mainland, and to build synergies rather than trying to converge the Hong Kong system [with] the mainland system or force the mainland to copy the Hong Kong system. I would rather like to use "building synergies" rather than "integration" as a description of our economic relationship. The second thing is the question of border-opening. It is a very unnecessarily [emotional] one. From the bureaucrats' point of view, from our point of view, it is a question of need. We will respond to market demand. I can see the merit of a 24-hour opening. But then you have to [look at] the facilities actually available on the ground. We are already operating the busiest checkpoint in the world for passengers at Lo Wu and the busiest checkpoint for trucks at Lok Ma Chau. It is not a question of not doing our best. The fact is that the growth in traffic has been so enormous that we have not been able to [increase] both the hardware and the software to support that traffic, to provide people with comfortable and convenient passage. That has been gradually overcome. When we talk about manpower, it is not only a question of what we want to do. It's also [whether] the mainland authorities are able to meet our needs, as well. They have customs people, security people, immigration people -- all of them are centrally deployed, commanded through Beijing. It is not in the hands of the Shenzhen authorities or the Guangdong authorities.... Then, of course, they have the money concern on their side, in terms of staff overtime, etc.... It is not a question of Hong Kong dragging its feet. Not at all. Shenzhen does not pay for the customs officials. Shenzhen does not pay for the immigration officials. Of course they want [a border open round-the-clock]. I want it.... Beijing is helping, but Beijing just wants us to justify our case. I think I can justify up to midnight. I cannot justify beyond midnight. Nor can Shenzhen, for that matter.... It's a question of need.... It will become 24 hours before too long. It has been four years since the return to Chinese sovereignty. How do you rate economic integration? A: I don't like the word "integration." Sorry. It was a pretty slow start in the beginning because we came from different economic and historical [backgrounds]. We had to build up friendship and trust. The economic priorities of Hong Kong were elsewhere: Why spend a lot of energy on the mainland market? Then the Asian financial crisis set in. Then [this year] the difficulties of our major trading partners became a real fact. And the growth in mainland China highlights the need for us to look elsewhere. It is in Hong Kong's interest to work harder to build up those connections with the Pearl River Delta -- the mainland in general and the Pearl River Delta in particular. Since I took over as Chief Secretary, I have made it a point of building up those connections in a serious way. I have been warmly responded [to] by the Shenzhen officials and by the Guangdong officials. I think we are making progress. What we have achieved over the last five months [has] exceeded the total achievement in the previous four years. This can grow exponentially. As we build up more trust, we can do something more innovative, more interesting together. Why is Hong Kong doing so badly while the mainland is doing so well? A: We are a much more externally oriented economy.... Our weaknesses are pretty universal [and reflect the worldwide slump], but our strengths are unique -- being our geographical location in the center of Asia, being a Special Administrative Region of China, [a country] which is growing very fast, being an international financial center, and having a convertible currency which is not available in the mainland of China. So we will be the money-changer for the whole nation as the nation enters into a high level of trade and becomes a member of the World Trade Organization. What are you doing to make it easier for mainland tourists to come to Hong Kong? A: From Jan. 1 there will be no quota on tourists from the mainland. [Now] only five or six tourist agencies can provide [trips] to Hong Kong. [Then] any tourist agency in the mainland will be able to do that. [An improved multiple-entry permit system for frequent mainland visitors will also be instituted.] On the hardware side, we have an agreement on a western crossing to Shenzhen, and a spur rail line [from the northern town of Sheung Shui to the crossing at Lok Ma Chau] is now being put on a construction program. We have other plans afoot, like a rail connection to our container port, and our rail project will be connected with the metro system in the Shenzhen area. All these things are coming to fruition. What is your comment on a proposal to have Hong Kong adopt the Chinese renminbi as its official currency? A: We are mandated under the Basic Law [Hong Kong's mini-constitution] to have a truly convertible currency. It is not constitutionally possible for us to link ourselves to any nonconvertible currency, even if that is the currency of the motherland. Would it be a good idea if you could? A: If the renminbi is a fully convertible currency, then it becomes an option for us to consider. Why are people in Hong Kong so worried? A: Hong Kong is always worried about things. It is part of our national psyche. It doesn't mean that we are losing the game. The GDP of the Pearl River Delta is much larger than [that of] the Shanghai [area], and the Pearl River Delta is growing just as fast as Shanghai. Even if Hong Kong sits on its hands and does nothing, it will take Shanghai 22 years, at its current 8% growth rate, to reach the Hong Kong level. How will Hong Kong benefit from China's entry into the World Trade Organization? A: WTO is a great thing for Hong Kong. In the short term, because of the lowering of tariffs, China's [import] of goods will rise. The bulk of that will physically come through Hong Kong. Those goods that come through Hong Kong will also make use of our banking and insurance services because of the convertible currency. Second, we are the largest investors in the mainland -- the largest investor in each and every province. We are penetrating each and every province. Ahead of the opening of this market, we have a head start against our competitors. But the most significant part is in professional services. Our lawyers and accountants will find their services in great demand in the mainland because of our language ability and better knowledge of the mainland. [Also], while firms in the mainland will grow, there will be a greater demand for raising foreign exchange. The best place for doing that is in Hong Kong. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. LEARN MORE Hong Kong Guangdong Province

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Washington & Wall Street: Lehman Brothers and the Failure of Regulation by Christopher Whalen10 Sep 20130 10 Sep, 2013 “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Albert Einstein The fifth anniversary of the failure of Lehman Brothers is generating a lot of comment, mostly of the sort that blames the largest banks for their evil ways. But when considering the lessons learned from the collapse of this large broker-dealer into bankruptcy in 2008, it is important to recognize the role of politicians and regulators in creating this mess in the first place. The first key point to make about Lehman Brothers concerns the constant refrain from economists that the firm should not have been “allowed to fail.” The fact that my old employer, Bear, Stearns & Co., was rescued earlier that year by JP Morgan had created the false impression that the Fed and large banks were going to clean up the mess short of an outright failure. And if you know the history of Wall Street, the large clearing house banks had historically taken over the weaker players in times of market stress. The rescue of Long Term Capital Management in 1998 was the most recent example. Unfortunately, neither the Fed nor the other regulators understood the scale of the disarray and absence of internal controls inside Lehman. The firm’s assets were undocumented and could not be sold, a fact that surprised federal officials who tried to bail out the crippled institution. Why was this a new revelation? Because in the early 1990s, then-New York Federal Reserve Bank President Gerald Corrigan had ended surveillance of primary dealers. As my friend David Kotok, Chairman of Cumberland Advisors, wrote in July of 2012: Somehow, the insanity of the present unsupervised system involving the Federal Reserve’s primary dealers continues. The Fed had “surveillance” in place during the Drexel Burnham failure and the Salomon Brothers affair. There were no market meltdowns attributed to either event. Then, in the early 1990s, under the Corrigan initiative and with the approval of the FOMC and Chairman Greenspan, the Fed ceded the surveillance issue to the other regulators. Since this policy change, the toll of primary dealer casualties has grown to include Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, MF Global, Countrywide, and now Barclays. Corrigan, lest we forget, left the Fed shortly thereafter to join Goldman Sachs, where he has continued to run interference for the Wall Street dealer community. I addressed the nefarious role played by Corrigan and his mentor, former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, in enabling the worst behavior of the Wall Street banks in my 2010 book Inflated: How Money and Debt Built the American Dream. Volcker, never forget, is the father of “Too Big to Fail.” The abdication of responsibility by federal regulators like Corrigan for the increasingly risky behavior of the large banks and dealers is the untold story of the Lehman debacle. Keep in mind that Lehman owned a federally insured depository, Lehman Brothers FSB, which was supposedly regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp once the Fed ended dealer surveillance. The SEC was likewise supposed to be the regulator of Lehman’s dealer operations but was ill-equipped to act as a prudential regulator. Martin Mayer wrote in his 1993 book Nightmare on Wall Street: Salomon Brothers and the Corruption of the Marketplace: Neither in Washington nor in New York did the Fed seem aware that the dangers of failure to supervise this market had grown exponentially in 1991. Like the Federal Home Loan Bank Board in its pursuit of making the S&Ls look solvent in 1981-82, the Fed had adopted tunnel-vision policies to save the nation’s banks. And just as excessive kindness to S&Ls in the early 1980s had drawn to the trough people who should not have been in the thrift business, Fed monetary policies in the early 1990s created a carnival in the government bond business. The withdrawal of surveillance by the Fed in the early 1990s created the circumstances for the explosion in unsafe and unsound behavior by the Wall Street dealer community in the mortgage market a decade later. Keep in mind that the federally insured bank owned by Lehman Brothers was the conduit for that firm’s mortgage backed securities, a very deliberate move meant to give the firm a legal “safe harbor” for selling its toxic waste to investors. By 2005-2006, when Lehman Brothers FSB was reporting 50% equity returns (making it the most profitable bank in the US at the time), the regulators did nothing to investigate what was clearly an anomaly among US banks. In the world of finance and risk management, it is axiomatic that any bank or company which is several times more profitable than its peers has to be doing something wrong. Since then, President Barack Obama and the same regulators at the SEC, Fed, and other agencies have actively avoided bringing charges against the individuals who caused the firm’s demise. As The New York Times reported this week: Five years after Lehman’s collapse hastened a worldwide economic panic, the government faces lingering questions about the decision to spare executives like Richard S. Fuld Jr., who ran Lehman for 14 years until its demise. Not a single senior executive from any Wall Street bank faced criminal charges from the crisis, either. And the government’s deadline for filing most charges will expire this month, the anniversary of Lehman’s collapse, providing a reminder of the case and its unpopular outcome. So when you think about the lessons from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, don’t forget that the actions and omission of key regulators aided and abetted this calamity. Not only did officials like Corrigan, Greenspan, and many others look the other way while Lehman was creating the circumstances for its own demise, but they did nothing to head off the crisis even when confronted by clear warning signs. The moral of the story of Lehman Brothers is that no amount of regulation can prevent acts of wanton stupidity, fraud, and greed in a free society. Expecting regulators to proactively prevent a financial crisis is at best wishful thinking. In the end, the failure and bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers was the best and only outcome for ending this latest nightmare on Wall Street. Read More Stories About: Big Government, Deadline, New York Times

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Currency Control at Checkout November 30, 2008 | By Connie Robbins Gentry As the economy plummets, crime rises. Not every statistic supports that statement, but a story in The New York Times on Oct. 9 charted the correlation between rising unemployment rates and comparable increases in crime. In the story, Richard Rosenfeld, a sociologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, stated: “Every recession since the late ‘50s has been associated with an increase in crime and, in particular, property crime and robbery, which would be most responsive to changes in economic conditions. Typically, there is a year lag between the economic change and crime rates.”If his assessment proves accurate, crime is going to escalate very soon—if not this month, certainly in the first quarter of 2009, and in-store robbery will likely be a critical point of retail vulnerability.Safe to say, the cash registers in your stores may not be as safe as they should be. That was particularly true for convenience stores in Sweden, where a recently deployed automated cash-management system has dramatically improved safety and store operations for 7-Eleven.Sweden poses a surprisingly challenging risk for crime prevention. According to the U.S. Department of State, instances of violent crime are increasing in Sweden. Robert Winslow, Ph.D., a professor at San Diego State University, analyzed data from INTERPOL and the United Nations and concluded that the crime rate in Sweden is high compared to other industrialized countries. Retailers confirm this is true in some areas of the country. Johannes Sangnes, CEO of Reitan Servicehandel, Stockholm, Sweden, the parent company of 7-Eleven stores in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, told Chain Store Age that his company chose a totally closed cash-handling system because of “problems in some cities about robberies.” The i-CASH automated system, from Wincor Nixdorf, Paderborn, Germany, and Austin, Texas, has been deployed in 13 Scandinavian 7-Eleven stores and will likely be placed in other stores.“The authorities tell us in which stores we have to put the system,” Sangnes continued. “[Enhanced security] is required in shops if you have a certain number of robberies.”By integrating ATM and POS technologies, the i-CASH system minimizes the amount of contact store associates have with cash. Currency is fed into the system which automatically counts, sorts, checks for counterfeit currency, reconciles change due to customers and transports cash. The system can read and digitally validate bills from $1 to $100, in U.S. currency, and comparable notes in other currencies. It then passes the money into locked cassettes for transport to banks.In some installations, shoppers feed the money into the system and receive change without the aid of a cashier. In other cases, the cashier accepts the cash and puts it into the machine. Either way, the cashier never has to open the cash drawer or count change, and never has access to the money.“It has reduced administrative costs and is also more efficient and productive,” said Sangnes. “It has reduced about two hours per day [from processing] and that reduces staff costs. But the main thing is, it has reduced risk.“It is very important to think of the people working in shops, because they are most important to me. The i-CASH system is really about the safety of our people and it has helped us to reduce robberies.”The number of stores that will implement an i-CASH system is yet to be determined. “It is too soon to measure the return on capital investment but it seems to be going in the right direction,” Sangnes noted.Reitan Servicehandel is one of the biggest retail companies in Scandinavia, with some 1,082 shops including 82 7-Eleven stores and 320 Pressbyran stores, a Swedish retail brand. Last month, the company announced it would roll out an additional 130 7-Eleven stores by July 2009 inside recently acquired Shell stations. Reitan Servicehandel also owns the national Narvesen chains in Norway and Latvia, Preses Apvieniba in Latvia and SpaceWorld in Norway. Build-A-Bear Workshop’s future: More outlet stores, pop-ups — and cruise ships Sun Capital sees significant expansion ahead for latest acquisitionSears Holdings to accelerate closure of unprofitable stores American Apparel emerges from bankruptcy Report: Sporting goods chain eyes bankruptcy filing Retail CFOs feeling less bullish

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By Marvin R. Shanken, Gordon Mott From 10th Anniversary Issue, Nov/Dec 02 Nov/Dec 02 Drinks Bollinger's Brut Grande Année 1995 Good Life Guide Gyration Ultra Cordless Optical Mouse Good Life Guide …And What Does This Remote Do? News & Features Battle at the Bar News & Features Cigar Aficionado's Hall of Fame Sometimes it's OK to be proud. That's what we are today -- proud. Proud that CIGAR AFICIONADO has survived (and even prospered) in the 10 years since it was launched. Proud that we have remained true to our original mission of telling our readers about the best of the good life. Proud that we never rested on our laurels, even during the peak of the cigar renaissance, and that we always tried to make each new issue better than the one before. An anniversary is a time to take a look back. In the first "Editor's Note," we laid out our vision. "CIGAR AFICIONADO may not be for every man. But we do dream about creating a very special magazine for the individual who wants the very most out of life. If you share that desire, welcome. This magazine is for you." With that promise, we embarked on a journey through the good life. Our stories have guided readers to some of the best, and most unusual, locations on earth and to some of the most exciting adventures they can experience. CIGAR AFICIONADO hasn't always just focused on luxury or just about things that are expensive, but we have highlighted what it takes to enjoy life to the fullest, wherever and however you can find it. We have discovered what "the best" really means. If one accomplishment stands out above all the others, it is this: the cigar has become a cultural icon in America. Ten years ago, when CIGAR AFICIONADO was first published, there was a chorus of skeptics who doubted a magazine about cigars could survive in an increasingly antitobacco America. But by the mid-1990s the skeptics were silent, and cigars had been transformed from being props for criminals and blue-collar union bosses into a symbol of the good life, a sign of good taste and style. Cigars appeared in the hands of doctors, lawyers, politicians and a virtual army of Hollywood celebrities. Across the nation, restaurants created special smoking rooms or sections for cigar smokers. Cigar bars became popular, and new retail cigar shops opened by the hundreds. Cigars became a media event. Today, their place in America is secure, a reminder that some of life's pleasures can be enjoyed in moderation. Anniversaries also are the time to take a look forward. We remain dedicated to creating a world where the pleasures of the good life are part of everyday life. We are a men's magazine. We believe, however, that our message goes beyond cigar-smoking men. We embrace everyone who has ever dreamed about experiencing life's greatest pleasures. We welcome every man, or woman, who wants more knowledge about top-flight wines, the most exotic destinations, the finest clothes, the most challenging golf courses, the best-built cars and the latest high-tech gadgets. We are the premier source for that kind of information. Yes, we are on a crusade to convince the world that there is a place in everyone's life to step back and enjoy the finest things in the world, especially accompanied by a great cigar. It's been a great 10 years. The next 10 will only be better. Nov/Dec 02 More from this Issue Ratings & Reviews

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A Better Plan for Greece A restructuring, not a bailout Luigi Zingales It seems like déjà vu: using fear, a political leader pushes down the throats of violently opposed voters an expensive bailout plan that benefits banks. That description applies not only to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in 2008 but also to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010. Make no mistake: the €110 billion bailout plan, organized by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund and backed by Merkel and Sarkozy, is designed not to save Greece but to avoid painful losses to German and French banks, which hold massive amounts of Greek debt. According to Barclays’s estimates, French financial institutions hold €50 billion of Greek debt, while German ones hold €28 billion. Just as Paulson did, Merkel and Sarkozy have artfully presented the situation as a choice between bailout and catastrophe. Any reasonable person would choose to avoid the disaster that an uncontrolled default would cause and reluctantly back a bailout. But there is another way out: restructuring, which was a feasible option in the Paulson case and is feasible now as well. Just as many private firms do when facing the threat of default, the Greek government could restructure its debt. In fact, Greece as a sovereign borrower is in a much stronger bargaining position than a private company. Here’s how it could work. The first thing Greece needs to restructure its public finances is time. So the initial step of a restructuring plan would be a forced extension of debt maturity by three years. This extension, amounting to a partial default, would saddle holders of debt issued by the Greek government with a 15 to 20 percent loss. Temporarily liberated from the need to refinance its debt, Greece would need only the money to finance its budget deficit, which it must bring down dramatically in the next few years. Any credible fiscal policy plan must shrink the budget deficit to €20 billion this year and €5 billion the following year. The International Monetary Fund would be in the best position to extend the €25 billion in loans to cover these deficits. The IMF could make the loans conditional on these deficit cuts’ being reached and could also make the loans senior to all the existing debt—as debtors in financing lending do in U.S. bankruptcy law—which would keep the funds from propping up the existing debt. Such a plan would admittedly be risky because of the impact it could have on banks in Greece. French and German banks would not be affected in a major way; most of the Greek debt that the two countries hold is owned by insurance companies and mutual funds, which can absorb the shock, rather than by banks, which hold just €18 billion of debt in France and €19 billion in Germany. Thus the worst-case 20 percent loss that Greece’s partial default could impose on debtholders would represent €4 billion for each country’s banks—a significant blow, but not enough to imperil the entire European banking system. The Greek situation is different. According to Barclays’s estimates, Greek banks hold €42 billion of Greek debt. There, a 20 percent loss would equal €8 billion, potentially too much to bear. The failure of Greek banks could then easily spread a panic throughout Europe. So a restructuring plan would require an IMF intervention in the Greek banking system: not a bailout, but a temporary takeover of insolvent banks. The IMF could act as a receiver, guaranteeing the banks’ systemic obligations (deposits and interbank debt) while wiping out shareholders and also, to the extent the losses require, long-term debtholders. Then it could temporarily recapitalize these banks and sell their shares in the marketplace as soon as the market stabilized. This part of the plan would not require more than €8 billion, and the IMF would be likely to recover all of that (and more) at the time the banks were sold. So the total amount of funds required would not exceed €33 billion, an amount that the IMF could feasibly cover on its own. This restructuring plan would cost European taxpayers nothing while preserving marketplace incentives. The current bailout plan, by contrast, rewards banks and individuals who invested in risky Greek debt, contributing to moral hazard and distorting future market signals. But the restructuring that I propose would never be discussed in Europe, let alone approved. In Paris and Frankfurt, as in Washington, the will of the banks matters more than the will of the people. Luigi Zingales is the Robert C. McCormack Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a City Journal contributing editor. The Ryan Reset Mitt Romney’s selection of the Wisconsin congressman as running mate has made the 2012 presidential race a fundamental clash of ideas about America’s future. How Romney Can Win The GOP candidate should stand for free markets—and align himself with the vast majority of Americans. Crony Capitalist America? Luigi Zingales, Brian C. Anderson Is Strategic Default a Menace? Luigi Zingales, Brent T. White April 27, 2010 Economy, finance, and budgets, The Social Order

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Dow Record ‘Eerily Similar’ to 2007: SocGen Holly Ellyatt | @HollyEllyatt Thursday, 7 Mar 2013 | 9:33 AM ETCNBC.com The Dow's record high feels "eerily similar" to the market's peak in mid-2007 before the global financial crisis, Albert Edwards, the London-based global strategist at Societe Generale, known for his famously bearish stance on equities, said on Thursday. "Exactly the same jitters abound of a bond bear market and true to form (Federal Reserve Chairman) Ben Bernanke is making the same complacent comments,", Edwards wrote in a note to clients on Thursday. On Wednesday, the Dow hit another all-time high closing at 14,296 after briefly crossing above 14,300 for the first time earlier in the session. The four-year old bull market has been helped by plenty of liquidity from the Federal Reserve. "The great thing about Ben Bernanke appearing before Congress is that it gives us loads more ludicrously complacent quotes to store away until after this pyramid of jelly melts," Edwards said. "A bit like his famous July 2005 quote rejecting any impact on the economy of a bursting of the U.S. housing bubble by saying ‚ "Well, I guess I don't buy your premise. It's a pretty unlikely possibility. We've never had a decline in house prices on a nationwide basis." Classic!" Speaking before Congress last month, Bernanke defended his inflation record and said the Fed could exit its bond buying program without doing damage to the economy. Other Fed officials have voiced concerns about the on-going bond purchases and have favored ending the program. Buy Italy But while Edwards sounded a bearish note on the U.S. stock market rally, he was much more hopeful about Italy, which is in the midst of a political and economic crisis. According to the strategist, Italy is in a "totally different economic place" to the other peripheral nations such as Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain, which all experienced huge credit growth, domestic demand booms and big trade and current account deficits. Edwards said Italy's 125 percent debt to GDP ratio isn't that bad if the unfunded liabilities of the U.K., U.S., France and Germany are taken into account. In fact, he said Italy's headline budget deficit is expected to be just 2.1 percent in 2013, lower than Holland and France. "Italy's headline public sector budget deficit barely rose in the run-up and immediate aftermath of the 2008 crisis," Edwards said. "The heavy lifting has been done in Italy. They are, as we say in the U.K., done and dusted." According to Edwards, European stocks are cheap based on cyclically adjusted price to earnings and price to cash flow ratios. "As our European Strategist, Paul Jackson showed recently, Italy is much cheaper than most other countries in a cheap region. Dylan (Grice, who used to work with Alberts) used to say there is no such thing as toxic assets, only toxic prices. The situation in the euro zone is indeed toxic and it will get worse. That is the opportunity. Buy Italy." Holly EllyattCorrespondent, CNBC.com

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The Business Class The Business Class Extras How Tough Is It to Do Business in Britain? Jessica Wilkins, Special to CNBC.com Tuesday, 13 Nov 2012 | 1:44 AM ETCNBC.com The U.K is the seventh easiest country in which to do business, according to a World Bank report, but many entrepreneurs CNBC spoke to highlighted the difficulties small businesses still face in the country. The World Bank report "Doing Business", looked at domestic regulation across 185 countries. It found Singapore as the easiest place to do business. While Britain made the top 10, it came in behind Hong Kong, New Zealand, the U.S., Denmark and Norway. According to the World Bank, governments in countries which performed the best had been shrewd to "create rules that facilitate interactions in the marketplace without needlessly hindering the development of the private sector." The report said the U.K is the best country for access to credit, surpassing nations like Singapore and Hong Kong which were deemed more "open for business" overall. But despite acing the lending game, access to credit does not guarantee the right kind of capital to back up a project, one entrepreneur told CNBC. Elena Mingus applied to—and was rejected—by Barclay's bank for a loan to start her couture evening-wear store, Tangled. "The bank told me I had no chance!" she said. Mingus opened her shop in September on Rochdale Road, Bury, in Greater Manchester. "I was told the best thing to get was a credit card. Everyone was closing the door in my face. Every avenue I went down was a dead end but I did not care because I was not going to give up." Mingus felt getting herself into consumer debt was not the right way to fund her enterprise. After months of searching she managed to secure a loan from a government backed project called "Start-up Loans", but not before failing to meet the criteria for a wide range of entrepreneurial schemes. "The criteria is so specific…start-up loans for 18-24-year-olds, that was basically it," the fashion graduate said. Global Rating Experts are hardly popping champagne corks at the World Bank rating for Britain, which fell one notch from sixth place in the previous year's survey. "I am not sure that is us getting worse or others getting better," said Priyen Patel, Policy Advisor for the Federation of Small Business (FSB). The SME sector "can probably take some confidence" in the U.K.'s overall position, despite the slip down the top 10, Patel said. Other countries had been "quite radical" in their approach to "simplifying" liabilities, explained Patel. Dubbing the U.K tax system "a patchwork model", Patel felt British entrepreneurs would benefit from simplified liabilities and a clearer tax system. He added: "If you are going to cut taxes you should at least make them simpler." Mingus shared Patel's sense of confidence in the results and the U.K's ability to provide a fertile ground to grow a small business. "I would say that yes, it is easy because there are workshops where you can learn about setting up and marketing [a business]." The dressmaker felt U.K infrastructure was very good at providing the intellectual and emotional support needed for entrepreneurs to follow their ambitions, but lacked the easy access to start-up funding which had been prevalent before the 2008 financial crash. "You can get it if it is a credit card but it is not realistic. I think there is a lack of funding. I researched for months." She added: "I would still have opened [my business] but I would have had to cut costs somewhere else." Patel was not surprised by the nations which made up the top five and was very complimentary of the U.S. which came in fourth. "Even though they are not the highest in terms of value, in terms of small business, we should see America as the standard bearer. In terms of involvement [for small businesses] it is very structured in a formulated way," he said. James Caan hosts CNBC's new series on entrepreneurship called "The Business Class". Tune in on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. London time. SHOW COMMENTS

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RSD considers outsourcing food management 11:00 AM, Wednesday, September 26 2012 | 3430 views | 0 | 7 | | In response to a steep incline in financial deficits in the Russellville School District’s Food Service Department, the school board voted Monday to study other options.Superintendent Randall Williams said the board voted to file a letter of intent to the state department, expressing the district’s desire to look into other food management services.The school district, which currently oversees its food department, supplemented from its operating funds into the food department $423,521.27 last year due to the department’s expenditures exceeding its revenues.The department hasn’t seen a deficit less than $100,000 since 1999, when the deficit was at $2,593.31. Deficits haven’t fallen below $200,000 since 2003.“Expenditures exceeded revenues by $423,000 last year,” Williams said. “That’s what the study is about and what we’re trying to determine is if a professional food management service could help us solve that problem.”Williams said the professional companies the school may consider employing may have increased buying power, which would make them more efficient in the delivery of services.“The schools that we’ve talked to — there’s two in Arkansas, one in Hot Springs Lakeside and Bentonville — were both operating way in the red and were able to turn it around and get into the black,” he said. “And the only thing they did was hire professional management services, so that of course makes it of interest to us since we’re in the same situation.”Williams said the other Arkansas schools that employ outside food services employ Aramark and Chartwells.Williams commended the employees of the district’s food department and said the study and the board’s consideration to employ new services is in no correlation with the food staff.“We’ve got great people,” he said. “They can’t work any harder.”If the board votes to employ a professional food management service, Williams said the district will construct a request for proposal (RFP) that would ensure the staff remained employed.“The district will construct an RFP that would delineate all the requirements we would have of the professional food management services, and the first requirement we would have would be that they would hire all of our staff,” he said. “All of our staff would keep their jobs under any scenario if we did this.”Williams added the RFP would also require the employees maintain their current level of pay, and the study would look into what benefit changes their would be, if any.The nutritional value of the food would stay the same per federal guidelines, Williams said, but the quality may improve.“The schools that I’ve talked to were very enthusiastic about the quality of food they have now, both in selection and taste,” he said.If the board makes the decision to hire an outside service, Williams said the RFP will also include a requirement maintaining current food prices for students, with the exception of increases the school already regulates.Once the RFP is submitted, companies will bid to provide the services and the board will then make a decision, Williams said. State Briefs (June 30, 2016) Juno enters Jupiter's orbit By ALICIA CHANG Proposal impacts Arkansas River Valley Fresh, new look Consumer alert: Spot skimmers, keep your cash

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Investment Banking Rising Stars: The industry’s up-and-coming talent eFinancial News 03 December 2012 This is the second annual FN 40 Under 40 Rising Stars in Investment Banking, Financial News’s editorial pick of the bright young things in the industry. The 12 months that have passed since Financial News first published the list have been far from kind. The energy-sapping struggles of the eurozone show no sign of abating, deal activity remains at depressed levels and industry-wide scandals have again put the sector in the stocks. It is against this backdrop that the rising stars, drawn from a longlist of more than 130, have distinguished themselves. Many have benefited from the new paradigm. In the great age of deleveraging, debt capital markets specialists have grown in importance, while there is also a strong contingent of restructuring specialists, reflecting the current stage in the economic cycle. In a market driven by macro concerns, two strategists, who provide a depth of insight beyond their years, also make the list. Women are notable for their absence – they make up just 10% of the list, indicating that banks still have a lot of work to do on the diversity front. • How we chose Over the past three months, Financial News canvassed the market for opinion and drew up a longlist of more than 130 potential rising stars. All nominees had to be under 40 on December 5, based in Europe, the Middle East or Africa, and working in the investment banking industry. Candidates were then assessed by FN’s editorial panel on four criteria: achievements to date given their age, stature of their mentors, firepower at their disposal and their potential to reach a position of great influence. The longlist was then whittled down to the final 40 listed here. The list is not ranked. Rising Stars in Investment Banking: Where are they now? Investment banking awards 2012: the full list of winners Assaf and JP Morgan take top honours at FN awards All profiles by Matt Turner, Ayesha Javed, Matt Attwood, Giles Turner and Farah Khalique. Chris Agathangelou Head of financial debt syndicate, Emea Nomura Age 26 Chris Agathangelou, also known as Chris A, has enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence. At 26, he is the youngest head of a financial debt syndicate desk in London, running a team of seven. He joined the bank in August 2008 after graduating, working on the sovereign, supranational and agency syndicate desk before being steered towards financials by Alex Menounos, now head of Emea syndicate at Morgan Stanley. He has worked on deals ranging from complex capital issues to unsecured and covered bond funding and liability management. He is a qualified scuba-diving instructor, a national standard badminton player and a stalwart of the Hackney and Leyton football league. Rosie Bailey Executive director, UK investment banking Morgan Stanley Age 33 Bailey joined Lazard after graduating from Oxford University in 2000, moving to Morgan Stanley in 2006 where she now works in the UK investment banking team. Described as “a class act” by market participants, she has worked on a number of transactions in the exchange space, advising the London Stock Exchange on its $705m acquisition of the remaining 50% stake in indices provider FTSE, and US commodities exchange IntercontinentalExchange on the $602m acquisition of the Climate Exchange. Other deal highlights include advising on the $811m sale of shoe designer Jimmy Choo to Labelux Group and Terra Firma’s $438m bid for Garden Centre Group. She is currently on maternity leave and is due to return to work in January. Jonathan Bathard-Smith Managing director, corporate broking Barclays Age 37 When Barclays made the decision to build a corporate broking business from scratch, Bathard-Smith was a natural fit. Six years earlier, he’d been part of a group to join Morgan Stanley from Merrill Lynch, where under senior colleagues Paul Baker and Alisdair Gayne he helped found the corporate broking team. Since his appointment as a founding member of Barclays’ corporate broking team alongside Gayne and Jim Renwick, who joined from UBS, Barclays has assembled more than 20 corporate broking clients, including 10 in the FTSE 100. Earlier this year, Bathard-Smith worked on the $436m sale of UK aerospace equipment company Umeco to Cytec Industries of the US. Laurent Benshimon Head of financial restructuring team, Paris Houlihan Lokey Age 38 Benshimon graduated from ESCP-EAP European School of Management and then spent three years working at Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup, focusing on mergers and acquisitions and capital raising in Europe before joining Houlihan Lokey in 2003. He has worked on some of the highest-profile corporate restructurings in France this year, including the $4.6bn debt restructuring of the world’s third-largest container shipping group CMA CGM; the €415m restructuring of chemical manufacturer Novasep; and the €411m restructuring of Orco Property Group’s debt. He has also previously worked on deals including Euro Disney and Eurotunnel and private equity-backed companies including Frans Bonhomme, Deutsch Group and Monier Group. Atanas Bostandjiev Chief executive, UK and international VTB Capital Age 37 Bulgarian Bostandjiev has been racking up air miles over the past 12 months, with flights back to the UK on weekends to spend time with his family interspersed with business trips to Asia and the US, as VTB Capital's reach grows wider. A former co-head of rates and foreign exchange sales in Europe at Goldman Sachs, he moved to VTB Capital, the investment banking arm of Russian state-owned VTB Bank, in May last year. Since then, the bank has signed strategic partnerships in Brazil, the US and China, and opened offices in New York and Sofia, Bulgaria. The opening of the Sofia office in March this year is particularly meaningful for Bostandjiev, who sponsors a sailing club in his home country and is involved with the charity Chance for the Children of Bulgaria. Last month, the bank took a controlling stake in Bulgarian telecoms company Vivacom through a complex restructuring transaction valued at $883m. Adam Bothamley Head of Emea debt syndicate HSBC Age 33 As a child, Bothamley wanted to be a professional cricketer, but after graduating in economics he, instead, joined HSBC in 2000 as an equity research analyst. He joined the debt syndicate desk three years later to focus on financial institutions. This year he was promoted to head of European syndicate and is responsible for DCM execution and advice. His day-to-day focus is on bank and insurance hybrid instruments as well as frequent corporate and financial institution group issuers. He has executed 11 of the 15 hybrid deals from European insurers this year, including a €1.5bn euro hybrid for Allianz. He names HSBC’s debt executives Spencer Lake, Bryan Pascoe and Jean-Marc Mercier as the biggest influences on his career. Jakub Brogowski Director, oil and gas investment banking RBC Capital Markets Age 33 Having graduated from University of Calgary in 2002, Brogowski flirted with the idea of moving to London after an extended stay in the UK while travelling. Instead, he returned to Calgary and got a job with TD Securities. Working with Robert Mason, head of oil sands investment banking at the Canadian firm, he focused on companies extracting resources from unconventional sources, before moving to the UK in 2010 when the bank established an energy and power team in London. Last year, he moved to RBC, working under Tim Chapman, head of international oil and gas, and has been described by a senior colleague as “a superstar”. Ben Catt Managing director, utilities and infrastructure corporate advisory Evercore Age 31 Catt, who turns 32 this week, is the youngest managing director in Evercore’s London office. He started his career at Rothschild, spending two years in the mergers and acquisitions team, before moving to Lexicon in 2004, rising to the rank of partner and director at the time of its acquisition by Evercore last year. A utilities and infrastructure specialist, Catt worked on pre-crisis deals to acquire UK-regulated water and sewage businesses Kelda and AWG, and the 2010 acquisition of UK high-speed rail line High Speed 1 by Canada-based pension funds Borealis Infrastructure and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in a $3.4bn deal. Andy Chaytor Executive director, senior macro strategist Nomura Age 31 When Chaytor filled out a careers questionnaire at school, he was told his ideal job would be a tree surgeon. Instead, at the age of 16, he did work experience on what would now be called an emerging markets foreign-exchange desk, and he was hooked on finance. He moved to Nomura last year from Royal Bank of Scotland, following in the footsteps of Bob Janjuah and Kevin Gaynor, who made the move a few months earlier and are now co-heads of global fixed-income macro strategy at the Japanese bank. He credits both as mentors, and recently published research seeking to rein in some of the optimism around UK assets such as gilts. Pippa Crawford Head of loan capital markets, western Europe South African-born Crawford is the most senior woman in RBS’s corporate debt capital markets and risk solutions business in Emea. She was named head of loan capital markets in western Europe in September this year, having become a managing director in 2010. The bank ranked top of Thomson Reuters’ league table of mandated lead arrangers for corporates and financial institutions in western Europe for the first nine months of this year. Crawford joined Greenwich NatWest in 1998, which then became part of RBS. She has worked on several large acquisition financings, including a £1bn package backing CKI’s bid for EDF’s UK assets and a $45bn facility supporting BHP Billiton’s bid for Potash. Glen Cronin Managing director, restructuring Rothschild Age 34 Cronin started his career at Schroders in Paris, later moving to Close Brothers and then Rothschild in 2007, where he was named a managing director this June. He is currently advising the noteholders of Punch Tavern’s £2.8bn securitisation, and earlier this year was a senior member of the team that advised junior lenders on the $1bn restructuring of German plastics company Klöckner Pentaplast, a rare example of junior creditors refinancing the senior lenders to secure control. He has also worked on landmark transactions including the restructuring of Findus, and advised mezzanine lenders of Gala Coral on its restructuring. He hopes to find some time over Christmas to read Bradley Wiggins’ autobiography. Lee Cumbes Head of frequent borrower origination Cumbes joined the global finance division at Barclays in 2003, covering the public sector with clients including sovereigns, supranationals and agencies and now manages a nine-strong team. While his main focus has been western European clients, he has expanded his remit to include clients in central and eastern Europe and North America, originating bonds worth several billion euros. In January, he worked on the successful placing of a €3bn, 30-year bond offering for the European Union. Cumbes, who was previously at Credit Suisse, says that he has learned from each of his managers at Barclays. Working in a high-frequency market that requires immediate decision-making, Cumbes believes in trusting his instincts and hoping they are right. He holds a degree in social and political science from the University of Cambridge and likes to spend his free time with his family, playing tennis, watching football or on the beach. Omar Davis Head of metals and mining for Emea and emerging markets ex-Asia Bank of America Merrill Lynch Age 34 Davis started running metals and mining for emerging markets ex-Asia last year, taking on the Emea region in January, and now has responsibility for a region that spans from Russia to Latin America, and Africa to western Europe. BofA Merrill Lynch has been making strides in the sector in recent years, working on the flotation of Rusal in 2010 and Glencore in 2011. The bank was sole adviser on Glencore’s $1bn acquisition of Optimum Coal, and was named as one of two advisers to Glencore on its $7.6bn acquisition of Viterra. According to Morningstar, BofA Merrill Lynch is also corporate broker to nine FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 metals and mining companies – an increasingly lucrative sector. Alberto Gallo Head of European macro credit research Italian-born Gallo, who is a former national track and field champion, launched the macro credit research team at RBS in 2011 and is now responsible for seven credit strategists in Europe and Asia. Over the past eight years, his trade ideas averaged a hit rate of over 70%, and more than 86% in the past 12 months. Before joining RBS he was a global credit strategist at Goldman Sachs in New York, having previously launched and run the global credit derivatives strategy team at Bear Stearns. Gallo graduated two years early from Bocconi University and has an MSc in economics. Asif Godall Head of European credit trading HSBC Age 36 Growing up, Godall wanted to be a fighter pilot. He went on to study mathematics at the University of Manchester, set for a career in computing, but an internship on the trading floor at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson piqued his interest. He joined HSBC's graduate training programme in 1998 and held numerous trading roles before setting up the bank's global macro strategies trading group, where he brought together the trading of multiple asset classes across foreign exchange, rates, credit and equities under one desk. He moved back to credit trading in January, leading an effort to restructure and grow HSBC's European credit trading operation and expand the bank’s platform into distressed credit to take advantage of the de-leveraging macro environment. Godall, who meditates, says that the best piece of advice he has been given is: “Failure is part of the learning process. Embrace it and learn from it.” He is a trustee for educational charity OneDegree and, having broken his nose three times while boxing, he says he is considering taking up a new hobby, such as ballroom dancing. Simon Granger Senior managing director FTI Consulting Age 37 Granger left Deloitte in 2007 to launch FTI Consulting’s restructuring practice, alongside three former partners from Ernst & Young. A licensed insolvency practitioner, he last year advised the lenders of Irish conglomerate Quinn Group on the complex restructuring of €1.3bn of debt, and worked on the restructuring of Italian telephone directories business Seat Pagine Gialle, which completed in September. He is currently working on the operational restructuring of a renewable energy company in peripheral Europe and is charged with expanding FTI Consulting’s corporate finance business into new territories. Managing director in energy investment banking group Jefferies Age 34 Growing up, Grant aspired to “improve oil recovery rates in fractured carbonates”, but he instead became an energy banker. Recruited from ABN Amro in 2005, with previous experience in JP Morgan’s energy and power M&A team, Grant last year advised Statoil on the $3.1bn sale of a 40% interest in its Peregrino field to Sinochem, and advised Nuon on the sale of its Dutch upstream business to Tullow for €300m. He is also working on the sale of BP’s interests in several of North Sea oil and gas fields to Abu Dhabi energy company Taqa, a deal which could rise to $1.3bn in value. With two children under the age of two, Grant says his free time is “spent sleeping or thinking about sleeping”. Alex Ham Co-head of corporate broking Numis Age 30 “You have no idea how young he is when you speak to him on the phone. He sounds like he is in his 40s,” said one rival banker of Ham. Ham joined Numis fresh from university in 2005, where he had been talent-spotted by then chairman of Numis Michael Spencer, who introduced him to Lorna Tilbian, executive director and head of Numis’s media research team. Ham has now built experience advising a wide range of clients, including Punch Taverns founder Hugh Osmond’s cash shell Horizon, gaming company Betfair, retailers Ocado and Asos, and dating company Cupid. Nicholas Harper Managing director, UK investment banking Goldman Sachs Age 37 Harper has had a hand in many of the big UK deals of recent years, including advising gaming business Rank Group, retail conglomerate Boparan Holdings, internet betting exchange Betfair, power firm GDF Suez and pharmacy giant Alliance Boots. He joined the US bank in 2000 as an associate from Schroders, became vice-president three years later and made managing director in 2008. Harper’s mentors include Goldman Sachs banker Karen Cook, former Goldman rainmaker Simon Dingemans, now chief financial officer at GlaxoSmithKline, and Nick Reid, a senior UK banker who joined UBS in 2006. Richard Hoyle Managing director Greenhill Age 36 Hoyle moved to Greenhill in 2000, shortly after the firm’s London office opened, and has since widened his experience, particularly in the telecoms, media and technology sector. This year he worked on the $4.9bn sale of UK marketing communications group Aegis to Dentsu of Japan, which is due to complete in a few weeks, and last year he worked on the $859m sale of market research company Synovate to Ipsos. Tom Drury, the former chief executive of waste management company Shanks, said Hoyle had “a rare combination of very personable client-centric skills alongside an ability to tell it as it is”. Derry Hubbard Head of financial institutions group syndicate BNP Paribas Age 39 Hubbard, who was appointed head of FIG syndicate this year, joined BNP Paribas in February 2005 as head of covered bonds and covered bond syndication from ABN Amro, where he served as head of covered bond and agency trading. In his expanded role in charge of all bank debt syndication managed by BNP Paribas, recent highlights include working to build a multi-currency execution platform and advising on innovative new deals, including the first euro-denominated Australian covered bond from Commonwealth Bank of Australia in January. He cites BNP Paribas debt veterans Martin Egan, Rob Whichello and Fred Zorzi as his mentors. He hopes to work for a cancer charity when he retires from banking. Jaber George Jabbour Ethos Capital Advisors Age 30 Jabbour, who speaks Arabic, English and French, moved to the UK from Syria in 2004, taking a place at Imperial College, from which he graduated with an MSc in finance with the best overall performance on the course. A stint at Houlihan Lokey followed, where he helped Iraq restructure its debt after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. He then moved into fixed income at Goldman Sachs, where he generated trade ideas and structured financial products, solutions and derivative strategies for institutional investors. In 2009, he founded Ethos, advising finance ministries, debt management offices and other public entities how to restructure their swaps and derivatives portfolios. The firm is also working with law firm Hausfeld, which is pursuing a class action lawsuit related to the manipulation of Libor, to assist investors in recovering losses related to the case and the misselling of derivatives and structured products. Henrik Johnsson European head of high-yield capital markets Johnsson is a career Deutsche Banker, having started out as an intern in the telecoms finance group in 2001. In 2004 he joined the high-yield syndicate desk, becoming head of a five-strong team in 2009. His career highlights include playing a core role in the reopening of the European high-yield market in January 2009, with a deal for German healthcare group Fresenius, the market’s first since the summer of 2007. Johnsson sees no reason why 2013 should not outstrip 2010, the previous record year for new high-yield bond issuance, if macroeconomic conditions continue to improve and as the effects of intervention by the European Central Bank are felt in peripheral markets. Caroline Kostka Vice-president, public policy Credit Suisse Kostka joined Credit Suisse in May 2011, and is currently helping the Swiss bank's regional executive management and business division heads deal with a slew of incoming regulation, including the implementation of European Union over-the-counter derivatives regulation, the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, and the second incarnation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive. She joined the bank from Societe Generale, and had worked at a wide range of public and private sectors institutions, including the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, where she co-authored a research note on the benefits and challenges of implementing successful regulatory reform. Outside of the office, she is involved with the Anouk Foundation, which uses art to create more soothing environments in hospitals and orphanages, after an experience in 2006 at a paediatric oncology unit in Montevideo, Uruguay. She now organises this project in an orphanage in Poland, and is considering rolling it out to a second childcare institution in the country. Her interest in art doesn't end there – she is currently reading a book about Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky. Khalid Krim Head of European capital solutions Morgan Stanley Age 37 Krim started his career as a capital markets lawyer in Paris at Deutsche Bank, moving to Barclays Capital and then Credit Suisse in 2010, where he helped the bank issue its inaugural contingent capital bonds, known as CoCos, in 2011. He joined Morgan Stanley later that year, and as head of capital solutions now runs the bank’s capital structuring and liability management business for banks, insurers and corporates. Krim’s team has worked on several of the year’s most important deals, including Barclays’ $3bn contingent convertible bond, UBS’s $2bn Yankee contingent capital issue, and the dual-tranche hybrid capital issue by UK electricity and gas company SSE. Dominic Lee Managing director, industrials Just days after Goldman Sachs announced its new batch of partners in November, talk turned to those who would become partner in 2014 – and Lee is a strong candidate. Responsible for Goldman’s relationships with UK mid-cap industrial clients, he has been heavily influenced by Goldman Sachs’s European president Karen Cook, and has worked alongside other Goldman heavyweights such as Anthony Gutman and Simon Dingemans. Lee joined the US bank from Schroders in 2000, and was promoted to managing director in 2009. He has advised on a number of large transactions, including Cadbury’s takeover by Kraft last year. He also worked with BAE on this summer’s politically thwarted super-merger with EADS. Linos Lekkas Head of corporate and investment banking for Central Europe, Greece, Israel and Poland Citigroup Lekkas grew up in London and Greece and completed his undergraduate degree in business economics at Queen Mary, University of London before receiving an MPhil in finance from the University of Cambridge. While his peers were applying for jobs in investment banking, he returned to Greece to do military service having secured a deferred place on the graduate scheme at Barclays de Zoete Wedd, joining two months before it was acquired by Credit Suisse First Boston. Lekkas rose through the ranks at Credit Suisse, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup as a protégé of Christos Megalou, Andrea Orcel and Manolo Falcó. He joined Citigroup in January 2011, originally responsible for corporate and investment banking in Greece and Cyprus, but in April this year he was promoted to head up a London hub for the coverage of central Europe, Poland and Israel. He now manages 80 people. Citi ranks fifth in Dealogic’s league table for CEE investment banking revenues for this year, up from 12th last year. Lekkas has a fascination with modern history and politics and enjoys the escapism of the silver screen during his free time. He says he will spend his retirement at his summer house on the Greek island of Tinos. Christian Lesueur Head of telecoms, media and technology investment banking UBS Age 37 Lesueur became a managing director at the tender age of 32 and was promoted to head of the 20-plus-strong TMT team a year later. This year he worked on private equity firm CVC Capital Partners’ sale of a 28% stake in Formula 1 for $2.1bn. The high-profile deal was done in January but the details were kept confidential until April. Lesueur has advised on more than $250bn of M&A and about $30bn of equity issuance in the TMT sector for big-name clients including Vodafone and BSkyB. The son of a zookeeper, Lesueur has had a truly international upbringing – the French-Danish banker grew up in Greece, studied at Yale in the US and has lived in London for 14 years. Simon Lyons Managing director, M&A UBS Age 34 Lyons joined UBS after graduating, before moving to Tricorn Partners in 2003, where he spent three and a half years. He rejoined UBS in the M&A team in 2007. In 2010, he worked on the sale of a controlling interest in RBS WorldPay, the UK bank’s global merchant services business, to a private equity consortium for an enterprise value of £2bn. More recently, he worked on the flotation of insurer Direct Line, which raised $1.5bn in October, and outside the financial institution sector has been advising Barrick Gold over its talks with China Gold. Jonathan Moore Head of European credit trading Credit Suisse Age 33 Promoted to run European credit trading at Credit Suisse at the age of 30, Jonathan Moore had previously taken structured credit trading (excluding correlation) at the bank from a $30m business to one worth $500m. Moore’s mentors include Eraj Shirvani, Emea head of fixed income at Credit Suisse, and Antoine Cornut, a former head of flow credit trading at the bank, now a fund manager. Moore joined Credit Suisse First Boston in 2001 from William M Mercer, serving first in the credit research team before moving into investment-grade and then structured credit trading. He has a mathematics degree from the University of Nottingham. Brendon Moran Global co-head of corporate debt capital markets Societe Generale Age 39 Moran joined Societe Generale in 2007 as head of UK and Ireland after a seven-year stint at ABN Amro and various jobs in his native Australia. He has co-led a 30-strong team since mid-2010. His twin goals are to maintain SG’s dominance of the European corporate bond market – the bank consistently ranks in the top three – and to continue to expand its corporate debt offering into new markets, notably dollar and sterling. Recent deals include a €3.5bn dual-currency issue for miner BHP Billiton and a €2.5bn deal from BP. But Moran’s expertise is not limited to bonds – he previously worked as head of northern Europe for global capital markets in 2009, responsible for both debt and equity issuance. Charles Noel-Johnson Moelis & Company Age 36 As a child, Noel-Johnson wanted to fight crime like Batman but, instead of donning a cape in Gotham City, he began his career at JP Morgan's asset management business. He went on to build the corporate restructuring group at Close Brothers over eight years from 2001. He was approached by Ken Moelis in 2009 to set up a restructuring practice, bringing a 10-strong team from Close Brothers with him. Noel-Johnson secured Moelis a mandate to advise the government of Dubai on the Dubai World restructuring and debt crisis, which led to the firm opening a Dubai office with a team of 10. After relocating to London this year, he continues to split his time between the Middle East and the UK. This year he has advised bondholders in the €2.7bn debt restructuring for Italian directories publisher Seat Pagine Gialle. Apart from convincing his wife to marry him, Noel-Johnson says his proudest achievement is building out the Moelis business in a short space of time. He spends his free time scuba diving in the Caribbean and Asia as well as playing football and plans to retire on a farm in the countryside. He is currently reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Neil Passmore Age 37 Passmore, an executive director in the bank’s UK natural resources investment banking team, joined JP Morgan in 2004. He has worked on deals including the $2.1bn flotation of Vallares, an investment vehicle formed by former BP chief executive Tony Hayward, in June 2011 and a $4.2bn merger with Genel Energy in November 2011, the culmination of four years of travelling to Iraq and Kurdistan. He is part of the team working with Xstrata on its $70bn merger with Glencore, the largest announced metals and mining M&A deal on record. Before his career in banking, Passmore served as an officer in the Army Air Corps and was decorated for gallantry in Iraq in 2003, where he served as a front-line attack helicopter pilot. Thierry Petit Head of equity-linked for Emea Petit was promoted to his current role this year and oversees a team that advises on convertible and exchangeable bond issuance. He moved from associate to head of the team in six years, with more than 50 deals under his belt, including a €750m exchangeable bond issued by German banking group KfW as part of the privatisation of Deutsche Post in 2009. Petit’s mentor is Thierry Olive, global head of equity capital markets at BNP Paribas, whom he admires for his “fighting spirit”. A maths tutor while he was at school, Petit is looking forward to reading The Living Theorem by Cédric Villani about what it means to be a mathematician. David Plowman Co-head of European consumer products investment banking Citigroup Age 38 Plowman was joined at Citigroup this year by his identical twin Robert. The brothers run the consumer products team, although they are rarely in the office at the same time. A noteworthy transaction this year for David Plowman was the Heineken acquisition of Asia Pacific Breweries that was temporarily stalled by Thai billionaire investor Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi. Plowman has also worked on other contested transactions, such as Spanish infrastructure firm Ferrovial’s acquisition of airport company BAA and Dubai Ports’ takeover of P&O. He started his career at Schroders and is bracing himself for fatherhood this month. Vijay Raman Director, liability management Age 32 Raman was recruited from HSBC in 2007 to set up Societe Generale’s liability management desk from scratch, and now has more than 70 transactions to his name. He played a central role in Societe Generale’s work on RBS’s £16.6bn senior debt buyback this year and helped Greek banks Alpha Bank and EFG buy back their debt in 2009. Growing up in India, Raman dreamed of becoming a wildlife photographer or cricket coach. He moved to the UK after graduation and still likes to play cricket when the sun is out. He supports both India and England, but is busy these days with a newborn baby. Murray Roos Co-head of European equities Deutsche Bank Age 36 Roos was promoted to his current role in April, having been appointed head of European prime finance in 2011. The equities trading business at Deutsche Bank has more than 500 staff and Roos has spearheaded efforts to introduce greater cost-efficiency, not least through an increase in “low-touch”, automated trading. He began his career at Deutsche Bank in Johannesburg in 1997, moving to London the following year to work on the equity derivatives desk. He worked in equity derivatives for UBS from 2001 to 2007, returning to Deutsche in Hong Kong where he ran programme trading and then the local derivatives business before moving back to London in 2010 to manage emerging market equities. Dan Rosenfield Managing director, UK investment banking Bank of America Merrill Lynch Age 35 Rosenfield swapped the public sector for the private in 2011, having spent the previous three and a half year as principal private secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, working alongside Alistair Darling and later George Osborne during the financial crisis and the fiscal consolidation programme that followed. He joined Bank of America Merrill Lynch last year, spending time in the M&A team and briefing institutional investors on UK and European macro issues, before settling down to life in the UK investment banking team. Now a senior relationship manager to a handful of FTSE 100 corporates, he also works to ensure the bank is plugged in with government, although he says his former colleagues have a "glint in their eye" when they see him now, and wonder what he is going to pitch for. A father of three, he recently hosted his daughter's birthday party for more than 40 children, and cites trips to the opera and cinema with his wife as an important means of "reminding ourselves we're human". Chris Seherr-Thoss Director in natural resources Lazard Age 36 Seherr-Thoss spent eight years at mining giant Anglo American in a range of roles, which included investor relations and business development, before joining Lazard in 2007 following the completion of an MBA at the London Business School. He now works closely with Spiro Youakim, the well-regarded metals and mining specialist who joined the independent adviser in 2008 from Citigroup. Recent deal experience includes the $2.3bn sale of European Goldfields to Eldorado Gold, which completed earlier this year. He has previously advised TanzaniteOne on its defence against Gemfield Resources, and Vedanta Resources on its acquisition of Anglo American’s zinc assets. Emily Yoder Managing director, global emerging markets Age 30 Yoder, who joined JP Morgan as an analyst in 2003, was a founding member of the emerging market Eurobond team at JP Morgan. Since its inception in 2006, the team has grown to generate revenues of $125m a year and enjoyed a 25% market share in 2010 and 2011. Yoder has been a role model for many junior female traders in fixed income and is mentoring five analysts and associates. She is a member of the bank’s Emea analyst and associate development council, chairing the sub-committee that develops recruitment policy. Yoder graduated from Rice University in Houston, Texas, with a BA in mathematical economic analysis and Latin America studies. • Corrections: (This article was last updated at 10.30 GMT at December 5, 2012) This article incorrectly described Deutsche Post as a German banking group. It also said the author of The Living Theorem was Frederic Delauney. This has been corrected to Cédric Villani. It incorrectly stated that Pippa Crawford had been with RBS since 1998. She joined NatWest Greenwich in 1998, which later became part of RBS. The article said Jaber George Jabbour was a contemporary of Greg Smith at Goldman Sachs. Jabbour and Smith were working in different offices at the time but got in touch after Smith left the bank. David Plowman's title been amended to say that he is co-head of European consumer products investment banking. It previously said he was co-head of consumer products investment banking. The article has also been amended to say Caroline Kostka organises a Polish orphanage project. It previously said that she sponsored the project. An earlier version of this article stated that Henrik Johnsson of Deutsche Bank is 36. In fact he is 35. We apologise for the error. An earlier version of this article stated that Jonathan Bathard-Smith at Barclays played a part in the bank winning a corporate broking mandate with Tullow Oil. He was not a part of the team. FN is looking for people going the Extra Mile

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You Are Here:Home > News > News Releases > Harold L. Monk Jr. AIPCA Top Ten Initiatives CPAs in the Spotlight Podcast Instructions RSS Related Glossary FICPA Videos Accounting News/Publication Links Newly Certified Members Newest FICPA Members Legislative IMPACT Report Florida CPA Today Magazine Federal Tax Podcasts Harold L. Monk Jr. Receives AICPA Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Service Harold L. Monk, Jr. Receives AICPA Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Service Institute’s Highest Recognition for Contributions to the Profession NEW ORLEANS – Harold L. Monk, Jr., CPA, CFE, is the recipient of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ 2010 Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Service. The Gold Medal is the highest award granted by the AICPA and is given to individuals who have made major contributions to the CPA profession. Monk received the award today at the fall meeting of the AICPA governing Council. Kathy G. Eddy, a member of the Awards Committee and former AICPA chair, presented the award. A nationally-known expert on accounting and auditing standards, Monk is a partner with Carr, Riggs & Ingram LLC, in Gainesville, Fla. He has served as a member of the AICPA’s governing Council and its Board of Directors. Monk was Chairman of the Auditing Standards Board, the Private Companies Practice Section Executive Committee and President of the Accounting Research Association. In 2002, he was appointed by former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker to the Government Accountability Office’s Advisory Committee on Auditing Standards. Monk has served on the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Board of Governors and has taught auditing as an adjunct faculty member of the University of Florida’s School of Accounting. Accounting Today named him one of the 100 most influential people in accounting for four consecutive years. The Florida Institute awarded him “outstanding seminar leader” for seven years. He was recognized numerous times by the AICPA as one of the top 20 instructors of accounting and auditing. He is a co-author of Practitioner Publishing Company's "Guide to Single Audits," "Audits of Local Governments," "Preparing Nonprofit Financial Statements," and its continuing education programs "Annual Accounting and Auditing Update" and "Maximizing Single Audit Efficiency." He holds a bachelor’s of science and business administration degree from the University of Florida and was a founding partner of Davis, Monk & Company in Gainesville. About the AICPA The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (www.aicpa.org) is the national, professional association of CPAs, with approximately 360,000 CPA members worldwide in business and industry, public practice, government, education, student affiliates and international associates. It sets ethical standards for the profession and U.S. auditing standards for audits of private companies, nonprofit organizations, federal, state and local governments. It develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination. The AICPA publishes the website www.IFRS.com to inform members and the public about international accounting standards. The AICPA maintains offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Durham, N.C., Ewing, N.J. and Lewisville, Texas. Contacts: Mitchell Slepian mslepian@aicpa.org William Roberts wroberts@aicpa.org Advertise With Us

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Ones to Watch - Forbes Future 400Matt Cohler » Boaz Weinstein Net worth: $450 million Founder & Chief Investment Officer, Saba Capital Management Boaz Weinstein is best known as the financial whiz kid who identified the trade made by Bruno Iksil, JP Morgan's notorious "London Whale," this past summer. The young hedge fund manager has been making a name for himself on the Street for years – and amassing a fortune in the process. The chess phenom was born and raised in New York City and majored in philosophy at the University of Michigan. He then spent just over a decade at Deutsche Bank where, at the age of 27, he became the youngest managing director in the bank's history. In 2009, he started his own fund, Saba Capital, with $140 million in capital. His reputation as one of the savviest debt traders on the street has ballooned along with his firm, which now manages just over $5.5 billion. JPMorgan Said To Get Hedge Fund Help Cleaning Up After London Whale Top Hedge Fund Managers Latest Buzz about Boaz Weinstein More from the Forbes 400 Forbes 400 Richest AmericansThe definitive list of wealth in America, profiling and ranking the country's richest citizens by their estimated net worths. Forbes 400 Summit on PhilanthropyThe greatest givers in history reveal their successes and cautionary lessons. The $126 Billion Forbes CoverAn historic gathering of America's most generous philanthropists.

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Ansbacher: Writing success Clown Congress By Ginger Szala January 30, 2013 • Reprints Tired of the “fiscal cliff” drama, I decided to escape reality — I watched reruns of “The West Wing,” the hit TV series that ran from 1999-2006. I always enjoyed its intellectual banter, especially the humor of the White House staff, the president and other characters. But I didn’t remember something...there were some nasty turns between the White House and Congress, and in some episodes the discussion got downright rancorous; power plays ensued, filibusters started and tempers flared. It struck me that this was too close to reality and perhaps reruns of “Seinfeld” would be a better outlet, with only the clownish behavior of Jerry and his buddies mirroring the antics of some of the players and events that have transpired in Washington, D.C. Though the fiscal cliff was avoided narrowly, it wasn’t without bad feelings, threats (from both sides), anger and deal-making. The best that can be said of it is, it’s done for now. No one really was satisfied, and, frankly, that pretty much summarized 2012. Although this issue highlights key movers, shakers and events, the true game changers are what traders deal with every day: Supply/demand, government reports, earnings data, imports/exports and geopolitical actions. These fundamentals, as well as the technical picture of the markets, are what’s truly important to traders. That said, there are many people and events who did make an impact on the markets. Check out our list of Top 20 most influential: 2012 movers and shakers as well as the Tops and Bottoms of 2012. Although the U.S. presidential campaign inundated the airwaves on a daily basis, the true market factor was uncertainty: Both parties had dramatically different plans for the country and the election’s outcome would affect large swaths of business and industry. For the derivatives industry, that meant whether or not Dodd-Frank would be watered down or take solid shape going into the new year and new Congress. For the health care industry, it meant so-called “Obamacare” could be rescinded or remain the law of the land. The election result kept things pretty much status quo, that is, a couple more Democrats in the Senate as well as the House, but the control remained the same for Congress as well as for the White House. And from what we could tell from the fiscal cliff debate, the partisan fighting promises to continue as well. Yet at least certainty is back. This gives hope to some late-year developments: One is what I like to call “the little engine that could” move, that is, the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) purchasing the New York Stock Exchange for $8.2 billion. This is the derivatives industry’s version of an upstart such as AOL buying Time Warner. Jeff Sprecher, ICE chairman and CEO, is the businessman behind the deal...he also was the one who almost upended the CME/CBOT merger, so he does have a history of making an impact. And despite the uncertain gloom during the year, the stock market ended on a gain: Nasdaq, the tech index, was up 15% for the year, a hint of good things going forward — we hope. The key downside to 2012 seemed to be that illegal behavior doesn’t get punished, or not much (perhaps not everyone sees that as a downside). Exhibit A is Jon Corzine of MF Global fame, who still has yet to be charged with any negligence. Exhibit B is global banks that broke laws and barely were punished: Barclays et al. manipulated Libor, which affects interest rates on every level around the globe. How were the perpetrators punished? They were fined. Follow that with HSBC that for years laundered money for drug cartels and Middle East terrorists; it only received a slap on the wrist fine when compared to the revenues it made for its illegal deeds. This, as much as government malfeasance, angers me to the point that I’m ready to find some more reality relief, something to take me away from Congressional infighting, warring factions and horse trading. Hmm, maybe I’ll go see “Lincoln.” In her many years covering the futures industry Ginger has interviewed some of today's best global hedge fund and commodity trading advisors. Ginger received a master's degree in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and a bachelor’s in communication arts from the University of Wisconsin – Madison Related Articles Fed maintains stimulus as economic activity pauses Phillips 66 profit beats estimates on cheap U.S. oil supply financials 2974Congress 1894Senate 610HSBC 543White House 506Barclays 399MF Global 379New York Stock Exchange 344Regulations 265fiscal cliff 139Jon Corzine 130Jeff Sprecher 64AOL 34Time Warner 18ICE 8

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ICBA Advocates Bipartisan Bill to Delay Flood Insurance Premium Hikes Washington, D.C. (Oct. 29, 2013)—Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA) President and CEO Camden R. Fine released this statement following the introduction of bipartisan legislation to protect homeowners from significant increases in flood insurance premiums, which began being phased in on Oct. 1. The legislation was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and in the House by Reps. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). “ICBA applauds the introduction, in both the House and the Senate, of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act by a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers to address the issue of higher National Flood Insurance Program premiums that recently went into effect. Delaying NFIP premium increases until the Federal Emergency Management Agency completes its congressionally mandated affordability study would minimize the impact of dramatic flood insurance rate increases for millions of Americans. “Unless Congress acts, the flood insurance rate increases due to the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 would make flood insurance unaffordable for many policyholders who built to code and followed the law every step of the way. “ICBA continues to work closely with Congress to develop a solution to these devastating rate increases. The association strongly urges House and Senate lawmakers to act quickly to advance this critical legislation.” About ICBAThe Independent Community Bankers of America®, the nation’s voice for nearly 7,000 community banks of all sizes and charter types, is dedicated exclusively to representing the interests of the community banking industry and its membership through effective advocacy, best-in-class education and high-quality products and services. For more information, visit www.icba.org.

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Calif. State Fund Board: Drop Rates 7% By Don Jergler | October 5, 2012 Email This California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund’s board voted on Friday for a 7 percent decrease in its 2013 rates, a move that reflects State Fund’s anticipated savings from a workers’ compensation reform law set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2013. The rate filing will apply to a rate filing that’s currently under review with the California Department of Insurance. This is State Fund’s first tiered rating plan. When the review is complete State fund will revise its filing. “We anticipate they will be effective toward the end of the first quarter in 2013,” said Jennifer Vargen, a spokeswoman for State Fund. The board voted on the rates during a two-day strategic retreat session in Napa. State Fund’s estimate is that $543 million in immediate savings will be generated by Senate Bill 863, a workers’ comp reform package signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown three weeks ago. The law has several regulations that need to be put in place before it takes effect on Jan. 1, 2013, and savings estimates range up to as much as $1 billion. State Fund, which said earlier this week it was looking at rate reductions of between 5 and 7 percent, has said any rate reductions are dependent how those regulations are drafted. During the retreat the board also declared a 100 million dividend for the 2012 policy year. That dividend represents about a 10 percent estimated annual premium for policyholders. “State Fund has made significant progress in its restructuring plan that is on track to reduce annual expenses by $300 million over a three-year period,” Tom Rowe, State Fund president and CEO, said in a statement. “We’ve made difficult but necessary decisions over the past couple of years and our improved efficiency, disciplined pricing combined with solid investment returns enables us to return money to California employers who are still struggling with a slow economic recovery. State Fund is committed to serving California’s businesses and employees and helping to grow California’s future.” As part of that restructuring State Fund in September announced a change to its broker distribution model, requiring most of the roughly 5,000 brokers and agents the entity deals with to go through one of two wholesalers. The change, which is effective Jan. 1, 2013, establishes “premium thresholds to qualify for a direct contract.” The restructuring plan at State Fund has been underway since 2010, and included massive reductions in the ranks of State Fund employees last year. Many of those workers left through attrition, and not layoffs as originally planned. The restructuring decision followed a detailed review of State Fund’s business, including comparing State Fund to other state funds and specialty companies that write workers’ compensation in California. Get Insurance Journal Every Day Categories: West NewsTopics: California, State Compensation Insurance Fund, workers' compensation Have a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk@insurancejournal.com October 8, 2012 at 4:07 pm Ted says: Are they crazy? Misinformed? I have to beleive this is a purely political move. Not sure what actuary made this rec, but they must be looking at data from the wrong state. See all comments Quote of Note Over the past several years, Farmers has been moving toward a one brand strategy to more strongly support the Farmers brand.

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Tea-party lawmakers face quandary in House vote on export bank A vote Wednesday in the House of Representatives to pour billions into a little-known federal bank illustrates the divide among tea party-backed lawmakers torn between upholding anti-government principles and helping American companies compete in foreign markets. By James Rosen - McClatchy Newspapers The bill, to increase the financing cap of the Export-Import Bank, passed by 330-93. The congressional Tea Party Caucus split almost in half: Thirty-seven members opposed the measure, while 31 supported it. The House vote arrived 18 months after dozens of tea party-supported candidates came to Washington, many for the first time, and it showed the challenge that politicians often face once elected: transitioning from campaigning against the government to becoming a part of it. Compounding the pressure Wednesday was the fact that the bank supports industries that are key to some tea party-backed lawmakers’ states. Boeing, for example, is the bank’s largest loan recipient, and it recently built a plant in the conservative stronghold of South Carolina. “Some of these issues are very difficult and very complicated,” said Rep. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican who voted for the legislation. Scott, a tea party favorite and a leader of the large House Republican freshman class, added: “Some issues take more thought and time to figure out what’s right.” Overall, all 183 Democrats who voted supported the reauthorization, along with 147 Republicans, while 93 GOP lawmakers opposed it. With the bank’s charter set to expire May 31, the Senate is expected to take up a similar bill reauthorizing the bank for three years in the next week or two. The expansion would increase the bank’s financing cap from $100 billion to $140 billion. Scott said the measure had important revisions, among them freezing loans if the bank’s default rate exceeded 2 percent and committing the U.S. government to negotiate with other countries for decreased subsidies. Scott’s congressional district is home to the new Boeing plant, which has just started making next-generation Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Hundreds of the planes have been sold in advance to foreign airlines, with 80 percent of those sales financed by the Export-Import Bank. Freshman Rep. Mick Mulvaney said he’d resisted strong pressure from Boeing lobbyists, the Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and other business groups in voting against the bill. “The full-court press was on,” said Mulvaney, a Republican from Indian Land, S.C. “It’s hard for me to go back home and say we need to cut the FBI’s budget by 20 percent but in the next breath say we want to increase the size of the Export-Import Bank by 40 percent. It’s not consistent.” Among South Carolina’s three other Republican House members, freshman Rep. Jeff Duncan of Laurens also voted against the measure, while first-term Rep. Trey Gowdy of Spartanburg and sixth-term Rep. Joe Wilson voted for it. House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn of Columbia also backed the bill. The legislation’s supporters said the bank made money for taxpayers as its loans were repaid with interest, with almost $2 billion returned to the Treasury over the past five years. “The Export-Import Bank doesn’t cost the American taxpayer a single penny,” said House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat. “The products American companies make are the best in the world. American workers and entrepreneurs can compete with anyone in the world if they have a level playing field.” But opponents said the bank hurt many American firms that weren’t as politically connected as Boeing. “Since 2007, almost half of its money has gone to support that plucky little upstart called Boeing,” said GOP Rep. Tom McClintock of California, a Tea Party Caucus member. “Air India got $5 billion to purchase Boeing aircraft, allowing them to undercut American carriers like Delta with their own tax money.” John Kvasnosky, a Boeing spokesman, praised House passage of the legislation, calling the bank “a critical competitive tool for U.S. exporters.” Most lawmakers in Washington state, where Boeing has large factories, and Illinois, where the aerospace giant is headquartered, voted for the measure. “We cannot unilaterally disarm by ending the Export-Import Bank,” said Rep. Donald Manzullo, an Illinois Republican who’s been backed by tea party supporters. “That would only empower our competitors.” Rep. Rick Larsen, a Washington state Democrat whose congressional district is home Boeing’s jet-manufacturing plants in Everett, said the bank was necessary “to keep America in business.” Many tea party-backed members who voted for the bill were influenced by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, who has a strong following among conservatives. “Make no mistake, I am no fan of government subsidies,” Cantor said on the House floor. “But to those who want to shutter the Export-Import Bank: I believe that amounts to unilateral disarmament. American businesses and American workers would suffer from unfair competition with subsidized foreign competitors.” Senate Republicans block Export-Import Bank vote Obama outlines plan to spur U.S. exports and jobs Export-Import Bank fight pits S.C. Sens. Graham, DeMint against each other

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Ex-con Gary Growden returns to finance after prison Gary Growden says he's reinventing himself, but some of his prospects say his deals seem too good to be true. By Dan Browning June 5, 2010 — 8:57pm Ask Gary Growden what he's been up to since his release from federal prison last year, and the affable Apple Valley grandfather launches into a rapid-fire spiel. To begin with, he says, there are his pending patents. One invention would preserve human organs longer for transplants. Another would keep leftovers from spoiling in the fridge. A third would save truckers fuel and wear and tear on their vehicles. Then there are his plans for a pasta bar franchise, modeled after a favorite Twin Cities restaurant. Growden, 59, has reinvented himself many times over the years. He's been a singer-songwriter, an Amway salesman, the owner of an equipment-leasing company and a finance broker, which led to his 27-month prison sentence in 2007. Court records show that Growden pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. One related to an investment scheme he ran between 2002 and 2005 in which he promised to invest money in "midterm notes" issued by Couthars, a Luxembourg-based company he ran. The other had to do with his promise to invest money in a collateralized note. In both cases, Growden admitted to spending the money for his own purposes. Though today he would rather talk about his entrepreneurial activities, he acknowledged in a recent interview that he also went back to work in the financial services industry, brokering deals for a variety of projects despite a suggestion from his probation officer to take down his company's web site on Dec. 10 to avoid trouble. Trouble came to pass last week, when Growden was arrested on suspicion of violating probation. He's scheduled to return to court June 15 on the government's motion to return him to prison. Growden just can't seem to help himself. "What I don't want to do is go out and tell everybody to stop doing it, to stop turning deals," he said in a May 18 interview. "Basically, I've become a loan broker," Growden said. "And I know investors. I know equity groups. I know hedge funds. You know, I've been around it for 40 years." Assembling financing Growden's latest endeavors came to light last month after some commercial loan brokers in Colorado were referred to him as they tried to assemble financing to buy a foliage business in Florida. The referral came through a daisy chain of other brokers that spans Denver, Salt Lake City and Vancouver, Wash. They say he was pitching a proprietary "Capital Investment Protection Program," or CIPP, which they said sounded too good to be true. According to Growden's sales documents, CIPP can be used to attract investment capital because it offers "a fully collateralized, 100 percent money back guarantee against loss of principle." But when Win Deal and Mike Casazza of Denver read the paperwork, they said they couldn't understand it. They grew suspicious of Growden when Internet searches turned up precious little information about a person who claimed extensive experience. After learning about Growden's fraud conviction, they notified a reporter and the U.S. attorney's office in Minneapolis. "We've had several major scam/Ponzi deals occur here in the last few months, and if we can keep the scammers off the market, so much the better," Deal wrote in a May 12 e-mail to Joe Dixon, the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted Growden. Dixon now oversees federal financial crime prosecutions in Minnesota. He declined to comment about Growden. After Deal's complaint, the FBI began making inquiries about his activities. Growden says that's the last thing he needs. "I'm not a crook. And I am not a con man," he said. Never mind that he pleaded guilty in December 2006 to defrauding investors out of more than $390,000, or that he found himself embroiled in two separate Ponzi schemes in Indiana and California -- the latter of which resulted in a $2 million restitution award to Growden that he's unlikely to ever collect. He chalks up his association with the Ponzi schemes to bad luck and misplaced trust, and says he only pleaded guilty in his own criminal case because his lawyer told him that going to trial would risk 18 to 20 years in prison. "So pleading guilty doesn't mean you did it," Growden said. Those kinds of arguments fell on deaf ears when he tried in 2006 to get released early from prison. He argued in a handwritten motion that he had "the good faith belief" that his conduct was lawful when he took investors' money. But court records say he lied to some investors about where the money went and spent some of it on personal items like a fence and storage shed for his home. He wrote the judge that he was "no longer working in that area of finances." Home to Apple Valley Growden was released from the federal prison camp in Duluth to a Minneapolis halfway house in March 2009. After a month there, he was put on home detention and returned to the Apple Valley residence where he'd lived before prison. That struck one victim of his fraud scheme as odd, given that his plea agreement required him to sell the home and turn over the proceeds for restitution. Growden explained that his house was sold in foreclosure. His company, Couthars Inc., bought the house at the sheriff's sale, he said. Asked if he got a discount, Growden chuckled. "Yeah -- it was cheaper than what we owed on it." Growden, who arrived at the interview driving a 2002 Lexus, said he still owes substantial restitution. "I think it's down to 237 [thousand], something like that," he said. "I pay $100 a month, which is kind of silly, but it's something, I guess." On LinkedIn, a professional networking site, Growden lists his title as CEO of The Couthars Companies, which is described as a holding company for Couthars Inc., Couthars Funding Services, CIPP, his inventions and Orvieto pasta bars. His profile page has links to more than 25 venture capital, hedge fund and similar investment groups. Now serving three years of supervised release, Growden admits he didn't clear his financing activities with his probation officer. But he said he doesn't believe he's violating a court order that bars him from playing a fiduciary role without approval. He says he's only a matchmaker, bringing investors and entrepreneurs together for a fee. Growden said he hasn't completed any deals yet. And although several are in the works, he said he'd step away if authorities determine he's out of bounds. Despite his Internet posts, he insists that financial services are a small part of his current business activities. Growden's entrepreneurial claims also raise questions. He says his Nitro-Pac company makes storage containers that can preserve foods longer, and that he's developed a computerized rear-steering truck axle called T2 XL. But a reporter couldn't verify those claims. Mark Roth, a molecular biologist in Washington whom Growden spoke to about his ideas for preserving human organs longer for transplant patients, said Growden didn't seem to know what he was talking about. "I feel very, very strongly that there is not much value in what he is doing," Roth said. As for the pasta bars? Growden said he's been an investor in Buon Giorno Italia, a restaurant in Lilydale, Minn., for a long time and that he's helping its owner, Frank Mackondy, set up a franchise called Orvieto. Mackondy said Growden's stretching the facts. He called Growden a loyal customer and friend who put up $25,000 in earnest money for his business. "I wanted him to invest. I like him. I thought I could work with him. But it's never gone any further than the earnest money," Mackondy said. He said Growden's idea for a pasta bar franchise "is so far on the back burner that I don't think it is even cooking anymore." He said he's planning to repay Growden's earnest money. 'I've paid my price' Mackondy said Growden does bring his business prospects to the restaurant, though. "I know that he brought guys here from the AmericInn," he said. "So these guys aren't fictitious dudes." Growden was upset that a reporter tried to check out his claims. "I'm just trying to rebuild my life and put things back together, and you're destroying my life here," he said in a voice mail message before his arrest. "I'm working and trying to make an honest living. I've paid my price for the mistake I made earlier." After a preliminary hearing Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeanne Graham found probable cause that Growden had violated his probation, though she said she was concerned about the strength of the government's allegations of renewed criminal wrongdoing and fraud. "It was going down the road but we're not there yet," she said. Graham released Growden over government objections on the condition that he have no Internet access, play no role in Couthars and steer clear of any financial services activities. Until the June 15 revocation hearing, she said, "You're just going to keep your blinders on and go home." Dan Browning • 612-673-4493 dbrowning@startribune.com BrowningStrib Just Updated New app attempts to become the Tiffany's of the ride-hailing scene

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Hold the Bubbly: London Financiers Keep Low Profile at Olympics Under Increased Scrutiny, Industry Flashes Less Cash; Taking the Train Giant Olympic Rings on a barge float in front of the financial skyscrapers of Canary Wharf on the river Thames in London earlier this year. Sara Schaefer Muñoz And Dana Cimilluca Aug. 2, 2012 10:31 p.m. ET LONDON—As the co-head of UBS AG's investment bank, Carsten Kengeter is one of London's highest-ranking financiers. But when he squired a prized client to the Olympic Games here, he didn't travel in a hired black sedan. Mr. Kengeter and his client joined the masses on a commuter train to attend one of the early swimming events. The event tickets—purchased at face value, UBS stresses—came with free travel cards for use on public transportation. ENLARGE Carsten Kengeter The City of London's high-rolling banking industry is rolling as low as possible at the 2012 Summer Olympics. The games are typically one of the biggest corporate schmoozefests on the calendar, with official sponsors and interlopers alike flashing the cash for the best tickets, best party venues and best celebrity guests. Many banks and other companies spent mightily four years ago in Beijing to show their clients a good time and increase their profile in China. This time around, banks are under pressure to cut costs and avoid displays of wealth that will further inflame an already angry public. What is more, the U.K.'s influence in the world isn't what it used to be, and its economy, mired in recession, doesn't exactly have the growth prospects of China's. And antibanking sentiment here is still off the charts after several years of global financial turmoil. Two British banks, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Lloyds Banking Group PLC—the latter an Olympic sponsor—are part owned by the government, a remnant of the global financial crisis. Barclays PLC recently endured a meltdown in its corporate suite amid a scandal over attempted interest-rate manipulation. Collectively, the banking industry is gun shy about flaunting wealth and worries about being singled out in the type of direct political attacks that recently hastened the resignation of Barclays chief executive Robert Diamond. Individual bankers are equally eager to avoid being the target of media mockery, such as in the recent spread in Britain's Daily Mail newspaper about RBS Chief Executive Stephen Hester's lavish home. "Generally speaking, the banking world is spending considerably less on hospitality and being very discreet," said Marilyn Levi, managing director of Corporate Entertainment Consultancy near London. RBS is trying to balance its desire to support the Olympics in its home country with the sober behavior fitting of a state-backed bank, say people close to its executive suite. A senior executive told staff that Olympic tickets would only be available for "doing good business with important customers, not for just enjoying ourselves." Another reason banks are staying away is the sheer cost at a time when business is anything but booming. According to a list of rates from official corporate-hospitality provider Prestige Ticketing dated March that was seen by The Wall Street Journal, a ticket package for the opening ceremony July 27—including amenities such as a five-course dinner—was being offered at as much as £7,500 ($11,650), with other packages running into the hundreds or thousands of pounds. "The uptake by banks has been much lower than we anticipated," said Tony Barnard, Prestige Ticketing's marketing director. But he added demand from others has been robust and its inventory is nearly sold out. The Olympics are the latest victim of a wave of banker austerity. Following a major technical glitch at RBS in June, which left millions of customers unable to withdraw or transfer money, the bank scotched its traditional Wimbledon tennis festivities, closed its corporate box and gave away tickets. In July, following the interest-rate fixing revelations, the British Bankers' Association postponed its annual black-tie dinner. Video: London Underground An offbeat look at the city hosting the Summer Olympics. More Vote: Best Winning Faces The Olympic Medal Count: Tracker Pedal to the Medal: The Olympic road race Panoramas From London: 360 degrees Snap, Tweet, Share: Readers' photos Biggest, Fastest, Strongest: Five athletes Playing London's Games: The park Lloyds is arguably in the trickiest position by virtue of its Olympic sponsorship. The deal was struck in the heady window between the day London was awarded the games in 2005 and when the global financial crisis kicked into gear—and kicked Lloyds into trouble and, eventually, partial state ownership. One of the main points of such deals is the ability to strut with clients around the Olympic Park—something the bank is largely keeping in check. For one thing, Lloyds didn't buy all of the several thousand tickets allocated to it in the original agreement. And being invited to the games by Lloyds isn't exactly a luxe affair. The bank said "the majority of our guests will travel to and from Olympic venues on public transport." Lloyds also says it won't offer guests transfers to and from airports, and will in some cases put them up at three- or four-star hotels—a contrast to the five-star accommodations frequently used in bank hospitality events. Lloyds has also put the kibosh on Champagne. Barclays, stung by its role in the interest-rate scandal, is attending events with a few key clients, but Barclays hosts "have to really justify the money" said a person who works at the bank. RBS issued a statement about taking select clients to Olympic events, saying it would have broader economic benefits. "The Olympics has provided us with opportunities for us and our clients to do business together to the benefit of the wider economy," the statement said. UBS, which is sponsoring the Swiss Olympic team, says many tickets it purchased are going to staff and charities—such as the Bridge Academy in Hackney, a school for teens in east London that the Swiss bank helped build—as well as to clients. To be sure, not all denizens of Wall Street and the City of London are staying away. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bigwigs, including Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein, are attending events, and Bank of America Corp. co-chief operating officer Tom Montag took a select group of clients to the opening ceremony. But one of Britain's heretofore most visible bankers, Mr. Diamond, who stepped down as Barclays CEO in July, isn't likely to be seen around the Olympic park. The American banker, who had been a fixture for years at U.K. events including professional soccer, golf and the rarefied Chelsea Flower Show, had been planning to attend several Olympic events as a guest, said people close to him. But after the furor surrounding his resignation, he is expected to stay away. A representative for Mr. Diamond didn't return calls for comment. —Jeanne Whalen contributed to this article. Write to Sara Schaefer Muñoz at Sara.Schaefer-Munoz@wsj.com and Dana Cimilluca at dana.cimilluca@wsj.com Save Article

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Economic Club Names Tucker Executive Director By Andy Meek From (email): Message: Just because she took a voluntary buyout from FedEx in December doesn’t mean Laurie Tucker is ready to slow down.TUCKERRather, the marketing veteran – who worked for 35 years at the package delivery giant, most recently as senior vice president of corporate marketing – decided she was finally ready to “spread some entrepreneurial wings and do what I always wanted to do.” That included cofounding a strategy and marketing consultancy called Calade Partners with two other FedEx marketing veterans that’s now a couple of months old.Also this week, Tucker was tapped by the Economic Club of Memphis board to serve as the club’s new executive director.“This is a natural progression for me,” Tucker said, reflecting on a career that’s included leading rebranding initiatives and go-to-market strategies at FedEx.Starting out in finance at the company, she would later help produce award-winning advertising and secure major sports sponsorships. As senior vice president of corporate marketing, all aspects of customer marketing fell under her purview, including retail and FedEx Office marketing as well as global brand management.“I’ve got a lot of FedEx in me,” Tucker said about her career.In 2009 and 2011, Pink magazine honored Tucker as among the “Top Women in Business,” and she has received the Woman of Achievement award from the Women’s Project of New York. Among her other professional distinctions, she serves on the board for Iron Mountain Inc., the University of Memphis board of visitors, the Fogelman College of Business and Economics executive advisory board and The Blues Foundation.Economic Club President Michael Drury, chief economist with McVean Trading and Investment, said the club – the city’s premier club for business professionals – was especially pleased to attract someone of Tucker’s caliber from the private sector to lead the next phase of the group’s growth.“Great cities have great economic clubs,” Tucker said, adding that part of her work will involve bringing in sponsorships. “This club also has a great board and a high-energy group of leaders.”The club was established in 1973. It’s made up of more than 200 members representing a cross-section of the Memphis business community, and the club meets seven to eight times a year for discussions of economic, political and social issues.At the Economic Club, Tucker said, she’ll continue its tradition of bringing in “intellectually stimulating speakers” and promoting conversations among members. Those are the kinds of things that attract new members and sponsors, a priority as Tucker and the board focus also on bringing “even more value for our current and future members.”The club’s current spring series runs through April 17. Guest speakers lined up include former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, Cato Institute senior fellow Dan Mitchell and author Amity Shlaes.The club’s executive director job is part-time, which fits well with Tucker’s work at Calade Partners. Services Calade provides include strategy and marketing consulting, leadership and team development, customer experience management and communications and media.“The three of us (at Calade) all worked at FedEx in marketing, and we’re now trying to make ourselves a valuable resource to other companies on the marketing and strategy side,” Tucker said.

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Sacramento District Office You are hereSBA.gov » Local Assistance » District Office List » Sacramento District Office » Success Stories Success Stories Sacramento District Office Honors Top Small Businesses From construction, to aviation and powder coating - these are just a few of the businesses that were recognized at the Sacramento District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration Awards Ceremony on May 6th at the Arden Hills Country Club where 275 people attended to participate in the program. “It’s our privilege to honor these outstanding small businesses that are located in Northern California,” said Joe McClure, District Director. “We hope this well-deserved recognition from the Small Business Administration will call attention to their success and inspire more people in their communities to pursue their own entrepreneurial dreams. We know California’s small businesses are the heartbeat of America and play an important role as we continue to grow our State’s economy.” The Winners are listed below. Sacramento District Office Small Business of the Year: SearchPros Staffing, LLC Sacramento District Office SBDC Counselor of the Year: NEC SBDC... Read More Sacramento District Veteran-Owned Business of the Year Kendall Brooks is President and CEO for Total Team Construction Services, Inc., an 8(a), service disabled veteran-owned company headquartered in California. Total Team provides general construction and design services to federal clients along the west coast, Texas, and Florida. Since its inception in 2003 and through Mr. Brooks’ continuous leadership, Total Team experienced steady, year-over-year growth in both size and revenue. Mr. Brooks attributes his current success to the guidance and wisdom of his close-knit family. A graduate of Southern Illinois University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Workforce Education and Development, Mr. Brooks holds a Masters degree in Education, with focus on Adult Education and Training; this is in addition to several construction-related certifications.. Mr. Brooks started his career in the construction industry in 1997 after serving in the United States Air Force as a civil engineer in the HVAC and mechanical fields. Upon... Read More Contractor Services Group, Inc. is Sacramento District Contractor of the Year Sacramento District Contractor of the Year Shelli Moreda, President of Contractor Services Group, Inc. (CSG), grew up on a farm in Idaho, working crops, a dairy and construction projects. It was here the values that underpin CSG were formed: conservation, hard work, integrity, quality and humility. Since then Shelli raised three children, held an exclusive contract with the State of California to implement performance based budgeting, was VP of a $100M international IT firm and ultimately returned to the “dirt” by launching a construction company. Shelli had a simple beginning in 2004 by providing quality support services to contractors—Contractor Services Group. In 2006, CSG was incorporated and, in 2008, was accepted into the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program. SBA assistance, underpinned with solid core values, resulted in marked success with average annual growth exceeding 300%. CSG now has offices in CA and OR and is currently working jobs... Read More Success Story SearchPros Staffing SearchPros Staffing an 8(a) Firm, Receives Nationwide Recognition It was only six short years ago that the three founders of SearchPros Staffing were squeezed into a rented suite (more like a glorified supply closet than anything resembling an office) in downtown Sacramento, sharing one folding card table, three computers, three phones, a printer, a fax machine, an overloaded surge-protector plugged into a wall outlet, piles of phonebooks, and a singular dream: as the first college graduates in each of their families, to start and run a successful business of their own; to be the role models they never had. With three home equity loans, maxed-out credit cards, and the support and guidance of the SBA/Sacramento District Office, little did they know, that three years later they would own their building and be one of the quickest growing staffing agencies in the United States. While brainstorming ideas three years ago, the owners of SearchPros... Read More Pages1

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Speech by SEC Staff: Keynote Address at the Investment Company Directors Conference Andrew J. Donohue Director, Division of Investment Management Good Morning. I greatly appreciate being invited to speak here today. In preparation for this event, I asked Amy Lancellotta what topics she thought you might be interested to have me address. I doubt if it will come as much of a surprise to hear that Amy was not shy in sharing her thoughts — the list was quite extensive. Fortunately, I have only been allotted thirty minutes to speak, so I have been able to whittle the list down to a few choice selections! Before I continue, however, I must give the standard disclaimer that my remarks represent my own views and not necessarily the views of the Commission, individuals Commissioners or my colleagues on the Commission staff. Let me begin by commending you — fund directors — for the important role that you fulfill in the fund industry. The oversight provided by fund directors, and in particular independent fund directors, is essential to the integrity of the fund system. Indeed, while the Commission and other regulators provide oversight at a macro level, you as "independent watchdogs" have much greater knowledge of the funds you oversee and are in the best position to monitor the funds and to determine whether they are operating in the best interests of their shareholders. As this audience well knows, the job of being a fund director has in the past few years become increasingly challenging and complex. There are a number of factors contributing to this. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 heightened the duties of corporate directors, including those that serve as directors for listed closed-end funds. In addition, the stock exchanges and NASDAQ imposed additional director duties as part of their listing standards. Directors at open-ended funds also have been significantly affected by the new rules the Commission adopted in the wake of the market timing and late trading scandals. Many of these rules directly or indirectly task mutual fund directors with additional responsibilities. The effect of these external factors is compounded by the realization that there is no "right" or "single" approach for fund directors to fulfill their duties. On the contrary, what works for one fund board may or may not be desirable or even appropriate for another fund board. II. Director Outreach Initiative Recognizing that the duties of fund directors have increased in the past few years has led me to consider whether fund directors continue to be in a position to perform their important duties effectively. To find out, earlier this year I launched a Director Outreach Initiative. The goal of this initiative is to answer a simple but important question, namely: What can or should the Commission do in order to aid fund directors in the performance of their duties? Rather than guess how fund directors would respond to this question, I believe it is critical to obtain direct input from directors themselves so that the Division of Investment Management can make informed recommendations for the Commission's consideration. Accordingly, since January I have met with thirteen mutual fund boards on their turf, that is, at their regularly scheduled meetings in cities all over the country. I have at least seven more meetings scheduled through the end of this year. At the conclusion of these meetings my intention is to analyze the information that was gathered and to make recommendations to the Chairman and Commissioners regarding steps the Commission should consider to improve the effectiveness of fund directors. Fundamentally, the question what can the Commission do to aid fund directors sounds simple. However, this seeming simplicity is deceptive. As proof, anecdotally I will share with you that in my meetings with fund directors I ask them this question: "Where do you add value for shareholders and the fund?" Often the response I receive is a perplexed look and a comment to the effect that "I'll get back to you." This bewilderment confirms for me that we need to evaluate carefully the duties imposed on fund directors and how we can best enable directors to effectively carry out these duties. Before continuing, let me say that in my view a key area where fund directors add value for shareholders is the fair valuation of portfolio securities. We need look no further than the events of this past summer involving the sub-prime market to underscore the importance of the role of directors as outlined in the statutory requirement to fair value in Section 2(a) of the Investment Company Act. Moreover, when the Commission in 2003 adopted its rule requiring compliance programs for investment companies and advisers, the Commission elaborated on four important fair value requirements. First, funds must adopt policies and procedures that monitor for circumstances that may necessitate the use of fair value prices. Second, they must establish criteria for determining when market quotations are no longer reliable for a particular portfolio security. Third, funds must provide one or more methodologies for determining the current fair value of a security. Finally, funds must regularly review the appropriateness and accuracy of their valuation methodologies and make any necessary adjustments. With these requirements in mind, I encourage you, the fund directors, to focus on portfolio valuation. You also should ask a fund manager about the liquidity, or more importantly, the illiquidity of securities in the fund. Key attributes of investment companies, especially open-ended companies, are accurate determinations of net asset value and maintenance of the liquidity that investors rely on. So, if you are having difficulty pricing a security or if securities pose liquidity challenges, query whether those securities belong in a mutual fund. Clearly fund directors that focus on these issues and remain vigilant add value for the shareholders and the fund. Fund investors and I are relying on you. Forgive my slight detour and let me now turn back to the Director Outreach Initiative. Although a fund director's job today may be more complex — perhaps some may pine for the "good old days" — let me be clear that the goal of the Director Outreach Initiative is not necessarily to make the job of fund directors easier. Rather, the goal is to enable fund directors to be more effective. Embedded in this concept is the premise that directors may not currently be as effective as they could be. This of course is an unproven premise and the only way we can gauge its accuracy is to get feedback from you. However, I genuinely believe that there is always room for improvement — a belief obviously shared by the Commission as evidenced by its adoption in 2004 of an investment company governance requirement that fund boards conduct a self-assessment at least annually. I also note that this heightened level of scrutiny placed on the fund board, like many of the other situations where the role of the board and in particular its independent directors has been increased, is in the context of allowing a fund to rely on an exemptive rule to operate in a manner that is otherwise prohibited by law. Thus, the trade off for allowing a fund to operate under an exemptive rule is the corresponding requirement that its board be actively involved in overseeing the fund's operation. With these thoughts in mind, let me share with you some of the fund director feedback that I have received. The two biggest topics by far that fund directors have discussed with me are Rule 12b-1 fees and soft dollars. In short, many of the independent fund directors that I have spoken with would like to get rid of these items or, at a minimum, better define how boards are to determine their appropriate usage. The fund directors' perspective on 12b-1 fees and soft dollars is not surprising — it is no secret that fund directors encounter challenges in fulfilling their oversight role for these items. To put it in context let me address each of these issues and the concerns associated with them. 1. Rule 12b-1 When the Commission adopted Rule 12b-1 in 1980, the fund industry was in a far different state than exists today. Starting a decade earlier, the U.S. had fallen into a recession. Productivity growth slowed and inflation reached into the double digits by the end of the 1970s. The effect on the stock market was dramatic. Between December 1968 and December 1974, the inflation adjusted S&P 500 lost 55% of its value. During the worst period — January 11, 1973 to December 6, 1974 — the (non-inflation adjusted) S&P 500 declined almost 46%. At that time, funds had experienced a period of net redemptions and there was serious concern for the viability of the mutual funds market for a variety of reasons. The Commission adopted Rule 12b-1 which generally makes it unlawful for a fund to act as a distributor of its own securities — which the fund will be deemed to be if it engages directly or indirectly in financing any activity primarily intended to result in the sale of its fund shares — unless the fund adopts a plan of distribution. The adoption and continuation of a 12b-1 plan requires board approval and, in keeping with the release adopting the rules, boards typically consider nine factors when determining whether to approve or continue the plan. Many of those urging a repeal or refinement of Rule 12b-1 argue that the rule no longer serves the purpose for which it was intended and that the factors that a board considers are not relevant in today's market. To address these and other concerns the Commission in June hosted a roundtable discussion on Rule 12b-1 and a series of panels addressed the historical circumstances that led to the promulgation of the rule, the original intended purpose of the rule, the evolution of the uses for Rule 12b-1, the rule's current role in fund distribution practices, the costs and benefits of the current use of the rule and the options for reform or rescission of the rule. Two independent directors participated in the panel discussions, including Bob Uek, the Chairman of the Independent Directors Council. The Commission also solicited public comment on Rule 12b-1 and received more than 1450 comment letters (including a letter from the Independent Directors Council). Approximately 1000 of these letters are form letters that were sent by financial planners and registered representatives who oppose substantive reform of Rule 12b-1. An additional 400 or so individualized rather than form letters were sent in by financial planners, the majority of whom also oppose substantive rule reform. The Commission received approximately 25 letters from mutual funds, large broker-dealers, insurance companies, industry associations and counsels. The majority of these letters also oppose significant rule reform, but riddled throughout are various levels of support for changing the name of the fee, requiring additional disclosure and revising the role of the fund board in approving the distribution plan. Finally, the Commission received approximately 10 letters from investors most of whom support substantive reform or repeal of the rule. My staff is currently evaluating the many comments we received. Once that process is complete, we will formulate a recommendation to the Commission. Stay tuned for further developments. 2. Soft Dollars Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 establishes a safe harbor that allows money managers, including advisers, to use client funds to purchase "brokerage and research services" for their managed accounts under certain circumstances without breaching their fiduciary duties to clients. Fiduciary principles require advisers to seek the best execution for client trades, and limit advisers from using client assets for their own benefit. Thus, using client commissions to pay for research and brokerage services presents advisers with significant potential conflicts of interest and may give incentives for advisers to compromise their best execution obligations when directing orders as well as to trade client securities inappropriately in order to earn soft dollar credits. As fund directors, one of your duties is to appropriately monitor the conflicts of interest that are inherent in soft dollar arrangements. This is because brokerage commissions are paid with assets of the client fund, not the assets of the adviser. As such, fund directors must carefully monitor the way these assets are used and how the adviser's trading practices are described to investors in order to be satisfied that the use of soft dollars is appropriate and that the potential conflicts of interest have been adequately addressed. I am cognizant that such monitoring can be difficult, particularly when (as is often the case) transparency is lacking because brokerage and research services are "bundled" with execution costs. Recent events and current market conditions may cumulatively alleviate some of the difficulties associated with monitoring soft dollar arrangement conflicts of interest. First, in 2006 the Commission issued an interpretive release that provided guidance with respect to what qualifies as execution and research services that may be purchased using soft dollars. This guidance should provide advisers and fund directors with greater clarity on the appropriate use of soft dollars. Second, new technology may help facilitate director oversight. In particular, as firms employ new technologies in their brokerage practices, including broker-sponsored execution systems such as algorithms, new unbundling and commission sharing arrangements, dark pools and brokerage consolidation, these technologies make it easier for advisers to value with increasing specificity the cost of the research and brokerage services obtained with soft dollars. The greater specificity offered by these new technologies enhances transparency and allows greater opportunities for "virtual unbundling" of research and execution services. In turn, monitoring and oversight is enhanced when fund directors can determine more precisely the services and benefits that the fund's adviser and the fund obtain through the payment of soft dollars. Also, a by-product of these new technologies is an apparent current market trend evidencing an overall decline in commission rates as well as an apparent increase in internal reporting to fund boards of meaningful information on trading practices. Third, requirements in other jurisdictions are helping to move U.S. firms toward greater transparency regarding the use of soft dollar arrangements. In particular, in 2005 the Financial Services Authority required the unbundling of research and execution services in the United Kingdom. Although such unbundling is not a requirement in the U.S., its presence in other markets has acted as a catalyst for change in our markets. The next step, currently underway by my staff, is to provide the Commission with a recommendation for guidance to assist mutual fund boards in their oversight responsibilities in this area. Our recommendation may not be limited to transactions involving equity trades. Rather, consistent with an adviser's duty of best execution, I anticipate that the recommendation will more broadly address fund board oversight of trading practices generally, including principal trades of fixed income securities and other asset classes. Our goal is for the guidance to provide helpful assistance to you without adversely affecting the evolution of the trading markets in an unintended way. As such, to formulate our recommendation, the staff is speaking with advisers of all sizes, fund directors, and their counsel to make sure we get our recommendation right. As with the Commission's solicitation for comment on Rule 12b-1, I encourage you to please share with us any thoughts you have for crafting meaningful guidance to assist you in monitoring the adviser's best execution obligations and the use of soft dollars. I would like to make one last point concerning soft dollars and that is that they cannot be considered by a fund board in isolation. Instead, in my view the dialogue between advisers and fund boards must focus on how soft dollar arrangements influence the adviser's overall trading practice and whether the adviser is properly meeting its best execution obligations. 3. CCO A third topic that has garnered director feedback is the role of the chief compliance officer and, in particular, whether the board should be permitted to delegate to the CCO some of the more detailed oversight responsibilities that ultimately rest with the board. For example, some have suggested that the current requirements for the independent directors to determine at least quarterly that purchase and sale transactions among affiliates were effected in compliance with the fund's procedures could be properly monitored by the CCO who in turn could issue an exceptions report to the directors identifying any non-compliant transactions. As part of any recommendation to the Commission, we will examine what functions may be appropriately delegated to the CCO or other party. However, to this statement I would add two cautionary observations. First, the existence of a CCO in the fund hierarchy is relatively new, having only been required since 2004. Given this relatively short track record of experience, we all must be careful not to set up the CCO for failure by heaping too many responsibilities on his or her shoulders. Second, apart from the concern of overloading a CCO, we must be careful to make sure that the CCO is in fact the right person to shoulder a particular responsibility. Let me conclude by acknowledging that the role of fund directors is to provide oversight and not management of a fund. As such, I want to make sure that fund directors focus their attention in the boardroom on areas where they can add the most value without directors spending the bulk of their time on rote reviews or bureaucratic exercises just to meet regulatory requirements. I am hopeful that the Director Outreach Initiative or DOI will give us valuable information and that it will result in recommendations that will allow you to focus on the areas where your oversight may be most critical — particularly areas involving potential conflicts of interest. In order to ensure that any DOI recommendations are not D.O.A., your support and participation in this process is paramount. Accordingly, I invite you, as some have already done, to please feel free at any time to contact me or my staff to share your thoughts as to how we may be able to help you to be more effective fund directors. My Director Outreach Initiative is not limited to those fund board meetings that I attend. Thank you. http://www.sec.gov/news/speech/2007/spch110607ajd.htm

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Economic growth (GDP) A future without growth need not be dismal if we use Plan C New economic analysis talks not of Westminster's fight over thinning turf but of change as something we do for ourselves Prosperity ‘fostered inequality, rewarded unreasonable risks at the top, left the bottom feeling beholden and the middle insecure'. Illustration: Matt Kenyon Wednesday 27 June 2012 15.30 EDT You'll be pleased to hear that I've figured out why David Cameron's plans sound like a throwback to the 60s, and Labour's response sounds like a set of compromises urging nothing more than restraint. (Retrench, but only back to the 90s; demonise the poor, but don't starve them.) It's because there is a set of assumptions, and it's almost impossible to have grown up under Margaret Thatcher and beyond without sharing them. First, growth worked out really well for most of us. Second, "radical" is a byword for "worse". If it's a radical idea for the environment, it will mean not going on holiday or using your car; if it's radical for the economy, it will mean more redistribution, less ambition; if it's radical for society then it just moves us farther away from some unidentified time in the past when it wasn't broken. If we tried, just as an experiment, to look at the reality of growth – that it mainly benefited only a few of us, and if it had a broader gift, it was more one of national gaiety than anything else – then we might be able to consider change a bit more cheerfully. The presumed link between growth and wages was severed before the financial crisis. In the five years running up to 2008 the UK economy grew by about 10%, yet median wages flatlined. Earnings went up at the top, and in the middle one's perception of affluence came not from wages but from a stake in a booming housing market. At the bottom, prosperity was delivered by a welfare system designed to mitigate low wages. Never mind "that wasn't sustainable" (Vince Cable's argument), it wasn't satisfying. It fostered inequality, rewarded unreasonable risks taken at the top, left the bottom feeling beholden and the middle insecure. Turning to the sparkling infrastructure, the shiny new hospitals – the Tory narrative has it that we borrowed on a national credit card and couldn't pay back (again, it was "unsustainable"). In fact we could have afforded it if we'd actually paid for it. The PFI deals fleeced us, and it was the boom that destroyed vigilance among policymakers – not just in health but in a huge swath of public sector service delivery. It is against that backdrop, rather than the Westminster tug-of-war over ever-decreasing territory, that we can consider new ideas. The RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) has produced a Plan C, comprising six strategies to set against the possibility that the economy will remain stagnant. If you agree with any of the six papers, I can guarantee that you won't agree with all of them. The important thing is to recast the prospect of change – not as a depressing necessity, not as something to do for our grandchildren, but as a gift, something to do for ourselves. Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, counsels a total revolution in perspectives on tax, from applying VAT to food, books and housing (my soul balks – but he points out that the affluent spend more on these than the poor, and changing income tax while never restructuring VAT creates the very inequality these exemptions were devised to avoid). He quietly broaches the tax breaks afforded to pensioners, but does focus on the accumulated public spending on pensioners in a way that reminds us how narrow mainstream politics has become. Despite the fact that two thirds of welfare spending is on pensioners and only one third on working-age benefit claimants, it is the latter category that suffers political scapegoating. There's a moral fixity in the welfare debate – feckless unemployed bad, noble pensioners good – that debases the principle of social security. It was intended as a protection against hardship. Gavin Kelly of the Resolution Foundation makes a compelling case not just for better provision of childcare (everybody is in favour of this; like building social housing, it is a favourite lever for everyone except for the people who are actually pulling the levers). But he also points towards Germany for an indication of how encouraging companies to take fewer hours, rather than make workers redundant, can have a significant impact on the inequalities created by systemic unemployment. A culture of part-time work is contested ground – the Work Foundation has pointed out that a scarcity of hours can cause hardship as surely as a scarcity of jobs can. Nevertheless, the conversation as it stands now – there are plenty of jobs to go round, we just have to be less lazy, more mobile and more xenophobic, and it will all be fine – fuels nothing but resentment and nostalgia. "The aim," Kelly writes, "is a better distribution of the pain of adjustment to weak demand, with fewer long-term casualties." We're back in the territory of the allocation of pain. If you never admit its possibility, it falls inexorably on the weakest, and that rebounds destructively on the rest. But what if we could just admit that, previously, pleasure was bestowed mainly on a few? Then an even-eyed distribution of pain might not look that painful. It might look like an improvement. There are other ideas in this series I agree with not at all (you can read the first two at http://www.thersa.org/projects/time-for-a-plan-c): yet what they all do is what Westminster seemingly cannot do – conceive of a country in which growth will not miraculously return and maybe wasn't so miraculous in the first place. Twitter: @zoesqwilliams Vince Cable

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Chamber Corner | Main Street News | Job Hunt | Classifieds | Calendar | Illinois Lottery Candy Crush brings IPO market back to earth Send a link to a friend Share [March 31, 2014] By Nicola Leske NEW YORK (Reuters) � In the weeks leading up to the IPO of King Digital Entertainment, the company's bankers scrambled to persuade investors that the maker of popular online game "Candy Crush Saga" was more than a one-trick pony, according to a source familiar with the situation. As the debut approached this week, the bankers' job only got harder. On Tuesday, Facebook Inc said it would pay $2 billion for Oculus VR, a two-year-old virtual reality startup that has yet to put a product on the market. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg described the deal as the social media giant's desire to bet on "the platforms of tomorrow." But for some investors, the deal brought back memories of the Internet boom and bust in 1998-2001, where profitability and other financial fundamentals of companies took the back seat to a raging fad about anything with a dotcom identity, according to the source. Bankers underwriting King Digital's offering had to call in favors with investors who had received large allocations in previous successful IPOs, the source said. As a result, King Digital priced the offering at the mid-point of its range of $21 to $24. But its shares tanked in Wednesday's debut, falling 16 percent and fell further on Thursday and Friday. King Digital could not be reached immediately for comment. Wall Street bankers are now looking at the disappointing opening as a sign that investors are getting more cautious about the IPO market, especially when it comes to technology and biotechnology stocks. Although bankers said companies waiting in the wings so far seemed to want to forge ahead with their IPO plans, the realization is likely to moderate expectations on the size of offerings and valuations. "You realize that people are going to be a little bit more cautious. You realize that the valuation needs to be reflective of that cautiousness," said Sam Kendall, global head of equity capital markets at UBS AG. That would mark a sharp turning point for the IPO market, in which investors have been fed a steady diet of new public offerings this year from companies yet to turn a profit. More than 50 IPOs have priced in 2014, and two-thirds of those are unprofitable, according to Renaissance Capital, an IPO investment advisor. Still, companies that have gone public this year have seen their shares rise 33 percent on average from their offer prices, according to Dealogic. NEXT TEST "The market has gotten ahead of itself, and you're seeing a pause in speculation, especially for biotech and some of these new tech names," said Eric Green, senior portfolio manager and director of research at Penn Capital Management in Philadelphia, which oversees $7.5 billion. "Other issues, like Ukraine or whatever, end up being an excuse to take money off the table, but the fundamentals behind these companies haven't changed, just the valuations over them. Those are coming back to earth," he added. The next test for the market could come as early as next week, when a series of technology companies are due to list, including online food delivery service Grubhub.com, healthcare IT company IMS health, and software maker Five9. Bankers said the investor caution is more of a correction rather than a sign that the market was shutting down for new offerings. While investor worries about frothy valuations is giving pause to some companies in the technology and biotech sectors, companies in other industries are still forging ahead, betting that there will be enough demand for their stock. In financial services, for example, the U.S. Treasury announced plans to sell nearly 23 percent of Ally Financial Inc through an initial public offering to raise as much as $2.66 billion. One source familiar with the situation said by buying Ally investors would pay for "a value story," unlike "the growth story" sold in technology and biotech IPOs. Still, both the Treasury and Ally would have liked to be able to sell the entire government stake in the bank in one go, sources have previously said. The Treasury will still be left with a stake in the bailed-out bank after the IPO. A spokesman for the U.S. Treasury and a spokeswoman for Ally declined to comment. Separately, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday that aircraft lessor Avolon was preparing for an IPO this year as it looked to take advantage of a recent boom in aircraft finance, driven by an expectation that air travel will continue to grow. Even in the technology sector, bankers said companies such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the Chinese e-commerce company, are likely to find sufficient demand when they come to market. Alibaba is expected to file for a listing in the United States as early as April with IPO proceeds that could exceed $15 billion. "All kinds of industries have been represented in IPOs, but it's the splashy Internet ones that have been in the news," said John Carey, portfolio manager at Pioneer Investment Management in Boston, which has about $220 billion in assets under management. "People are exercising caution, and I'd be more concerned if they were willing to pay anything at all," Carey added. "If demand was robust for anything that came down the pike, that would trouble me." (Additional reporting by Peter Rudegeair and Ryan Vlastelica; editing by Paritosh Bansal, Martin Howell)

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The Curious Capitalist G-20 Lesson: Why the U.S. Must Lead by Example Zachary Karabell Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010 Tim Sloan / AFP / Getty ImagesPresident Obama attends the G-20 Summit in Seoul Rarely has a trip by an American President overseas gone quite as badly as Barack Obama's swing through Asia. Yes, visits with Indian and Indonesian leaders were productive and the U.S. cemented its position as a vital element in East Asia's balance of power. But these were not enough to offset the trip's centerpiece, the conclave of the G-20 group of leading economies in Seoul, where U.S. dominance in global economic affairs was questioned, challenged and rejected. The G-20 summit revealed that the world after the financial crisis will not be the same as it was before — one led by the U.S. Today, no one leads. Instead, we are in for years of shifting coalitions and alternate visions of the proper route to economic stability and prosperity. The U.S. will find that its ideas face formidable opposition. (See pictures of Obama's Asia trip.) Attitudes have shifted because the structure of the global economy is shifting. From the time of the Bretton Woods agreement in 1944 through to 2008, the U.S. was the world's most dynamic economy, its most significant military force and a beacon of free-market ideology. Now, it retains its military predominance but on other fronts its model is being questioned. At the Seoul summit, President Obama proposed new guidelines for global economic governance, including targets for how much a country's current accounts of trade and capital could go into surplus or deficit — on the grounds that excesses of one or the other lead to instability. The U.S. also called for a more coordinated global currency policy, with the unstated but clear target being China and its undervalued renminbi. All of those suggestions were rebuffed. It didn't help that on the eve of the summit, the Federal Reserve unveiled a new round of monetary pump-priming to the tune of $600 billion — more of what is known in the business as quantitative easing. That led to Obama being lectured by leaders, from Brazil's to Britain's to China's: The U.S., they said, could hardly call for currency reform elsewhere when it was itself potentially devaluing the dollar to help American jobs and exports. Obama rejected those claims, saying that the goal of U.S. policy was to provide more liquidity to a sluggish domestic economy. But after decades of ignoring alternative perspectives, the U.S. has accumulated reservoirs of distrust. Who are you to tell us how to order our houses, others responded, when you can't manage you own? Who are you to set limits on our economies? We have listened to your lectures for decades. No more. (See pictures of the recession of 1958.) The rejection at Seoul would have been worse if the underlying American ideas had been good. But they weren't. The call for limits to trade surpluses and a managed regime of currencies rehashed macroeconomic orthodoxies of the past, ones that have proved too brittle to deal with today's world. The banking rules in effect pre-2008 hardly prevented the crisis, and the mantra of deregulation proved problematic. China's modern success to date is a product of breaking with conventional wisdom; if China 20 years ago had embraced the prevailing economic wisdom — make your currency convertible, open your capital account and let global markets loose on your domestic economy — it would have looked like Russia instead of the juggernaut it has become. In that sense, the summit was a success: better to have no plan than a bad plan. But something else happened as the world was rebuffing around the G-20 table: South Korea and the U.S. failed to conclude a free-trade pact that has been years in the making, mainly because of opposition from the U.S. auto industry, which argued that South Korea is allowed too much unfettered access to American markets and doesn't permit enough access for U.S. carmakers. (Watch TIME's video "Can the Lithium-Ion Battery Save the U.S. Auto Industry?") This failure is critical: the U.S. cannot plausibly stand as an apostle for the free flow of goods, capital and ideas if it cannot conclude a pact with one of its closest economic partners — and one of the world's most dynamic economies. Moreover, to be blocked by an auto industry that has demonstrated its difficulty in adapting to global competition is even more disturbing: the industries of the 20th century are scuttling the commercial prospects of the new ones of the 21st. No matter how much Obama says that he listens to others, the fact remains that Americans approach the world with an expectation that they will dictate the contours of international arrangements. That is no longer feasible. The U.S. cannot both reject the South Korea trade pact and then urge the world to follow its lead on global economic integration. Unless the U.S. addresses it own internal imbalances, the rest of the world will do what it is already doing: go it alone and implement solutions that don't depend on U.S. approval. As if to make the point, the G-20 was immediately followed by an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Yokohama that saw nations from Chile to New Zealand to Singapore start to weave together their own trade bloc. Small steps, but a potent symbol. The U.S. is by far the largest economy in the world. But unless it changes the way it interacts with others, it will find itself on the outside of a vibrant global economic system. Karabell is the president of River Twice Research and River Twice Capital, and the author, most recently, of "Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World," co-authored by Aron Cramer. Read "Anatole Kaletsky: How to Fix the Global Economy." See TIME's Pictures of the Week. Home

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MEMO/10/506Brussels, 20 October 2010An EU framework for Crisis Management in the Financial Sector – Frequently Asked Questions 1. Why is a new crisis management framework needed for the EU?The financial crisis provided clear evidence of the need for more robust crisis management arrangements at national level, as well as the need to put in place arrangements better able to cater for cross-border banking failures. There has been a number of high profile banking failures during the crisis (Fortis, Lehman Brothers, Icelandic banks, Anglo Irish Bank) which have revealed serious shortcomings in the existing arrangements. In the absence of mechanisms to organise an orderly wind down, EU Member States have had no choice other than to bail out their banking sector. State aid to support banks has amounted to 13% of GDP. The impact on taxpayers is obvious.A new crisis management framework is essential to complement other work streams aimed at making the financial system sounder, i.e. making banks stronger with higher levels of and better quality capital, greater protection of depositors, and better supervision. 2. What are the main issues that are under consideration? The Communication describes the legal framework that the Commission intends to propose in Spring 2011, which will involve equipping authorities with common and effective tools and powers to tackle bank crises at the earliest possible moment, and minimize costs for taxpayers. These will include:Preparatory and preventative measures, such as a requirement for institutions and authorities to prepare recovery and resolution plans to ensure adequate planning for financial stress or failure (see also question 4);Powers to take early action to remedy problems before they get out of hand such as powers for supervisors to require the replacement of management, or to require an institution to implement a recovery plan or to divest itself of activities or business lines that pose an excessive risk to its financial soundness (see also question 5);Resolution tools, such as powers to effect the takeover of a failing bank or firm by sound institution, or to transfer all or part of its business to a temporary bridge bank, which enable authorities to ensure the continuity of essential services and to manage the failure in an orderly way (see also question 6).The overriding aim is to put in place a framework that will allow a bank to fail – whatever its size - while ensuring the continuity of essential banking services, minimising the impact of that failure on the financial system and avoiding costs to taxpayers. This is essential to avoid the 'moral hazard' that arises from the perception that some banks are too big to fail.3. Why didn't the EU have this framework in place before the crisis? And what has been done since the crisis?Until the crisis, many felt that crisis management was best dealt with at national level especially if there was a risk that there would be budgetary implications and in view of the close connection of crisis measures with national insolvency regimes. Measures in place varied greatly between Member States.However, the crisis has strengthened the case for action at EU level, since it clearly demonstrated that the absence of European arrangements could result in ad hoc national solutions, which might be less effective in resolving the situation and ultimately prove more costly for national taxpayers. Furthermore, the crisis highlighted there were no mechanisms in place to deal with banks in difficulty operating across borders.4. What sort of preventative measures does the Commission consider necessary?Preventative measures will include measures designed to ensure that developing problems will be identified and addressed at an early stage, and to enhance the preparedness of firms and authorities to deal effectively with serious difficulties. These will include reinforcing supervisory powers (e.g. tougher standards and more intrusive assessments, more systematic on-site examinations, etc.) and introducing a requirement for firm-specific recovery and resolution plans. The recovery part would be prepared by firms, and set out measures that the firm would take to deal with funding problems in a range of conceivable stressed scenarios. The recovery part would be prepared by authorities with the cooperation of firms, and would put in place plans as to how the firm might be resolved, and its essential functions preserved, in the event of the firm's failure. Preventative measures might also include powers for authorities to take measures, or require a firm to make changes to its structure or business organisation, if the authorities assess that the firm is not resolvable with the available tools. 5. What about early intervention measures?Early intervention measures will include measures by banking supervisors designed to address developing problems within individual banks and across banking groups at an early stage, to prevent them from aggravating and secure recovery. These will include expanding supervisors' powers of early intervention (e.g. powers to prohibit payment of dividends, requiring replacement of managers or directors, requiring the bank to divest itself of certain activities or business lines, etc.), the power to require implementation of a firm's recovery plan to address specific funding problems, and the appointment of special management for a limited period to take over control and run the bank with the objective of addressing its problems and restoring it to financial health).6. What are resolution measures and how are they reflected in the Communication?Resolution occurs at a point when the institution has reached a point of distress such that there are no realistic prospects of recovery over an appropriate timeframe and all other measures have been exhausted. Tools available to specially designated "resolution authorities" would include a sale of business tool (parts of the credit institution or parts of its business can be sold to one or more purchasers without the consent of shareholders); a bridge bank tool (authorities can transfer some or all of the business to a temporary bridge bank in order to preserve essential banking functions or facilitate continuous access to deposits); an assets separation tool (to remove toxic assets to a separate vehicle) and a debt write down tool (whereby all existing equity can be written off and the debt of the troubled institution can be converted into equity or written down, as a means of restoring the institution's capital position). 7. How is cross-border cooperation to work?Beyond ensuring common tools in all Member States, the Commission considers that it will also be necessary to ensure smooth cooperation both in advance of and during a crisis. A cross-border coordination framework would entail building on the core of existing supervisory colleges (which are being established under the new Capital Requirements Directive (CRD III, see IP/08/1433) by including resolution authorities into "resolution colleges". These colleges would be tasked with crisis planning (preparation of resolution plans, agreeing principles for burden sharing, etc.) and would be a forum for information exchange and coordination during a crisis. There would also be a role for group resolution authorities to decide on the appropriateness of a group resolution scheme. The newly established European Supervisory Authorities (see MEMO/10/434) would also be expected to play a key role in the preparation, preventative, early intervention and coordination parts of the new framework. 8. How will resolution schemes be financed?Financing is a key part of crisis resolution, and the Commission believes that a coordinated approach is needed in order to improve the prospects for effective cross-border cooperation. In May, the Commission set out its ideas for pre-funded bank resolution funds (see IP/10/610 + MEMO/10/214) to ensure that the banking sector, and not the taxpayer, pays the costs of future bank failures. This Communication further elaborates on the those ideas, in particular with respect to how the funds should be designed (ex ante funds backed by ex post financing arrangements), who should contribute, the appropriate basis for contributions), how resolution funds fit with the current legislative proposal on deposit guarantee schemes, and how the Commission intends to proceed in order to calibrate appropriate fund sizes.9. Beyond this communication, what will be the next steps?Future policy actions: beyond announcing a new legal framework on crisis management in the financial sector for adoption in Spring 2011, the Communication also outlines future work:In the medium term, this involves examining the desirability of administrative liquidation proceedings for banks in order to facilitate faster and more orderly liquidation and the need for further harmonisation of bank insolvency regimes (including core principles of bank insolvency such as priority rankings and rules on claw back actions). In the longer term, and alongside the review of the new EU supervisory authorities planned for 2014, the Commission also intends to assess how a more integrated framework for the resolution of cross-border groups might be best achieved. 10. Is this work intended to solve the current crisis?The financial and economic crisis has called for extraordinary measures to be taken in order to avert a potential meltdown of the European banking industry. However the measures considered in the Communication are aimed at the management of future crises. Early supervisory intervention should assist in averting preventable bank failures, while an EU resolution framework would equip national authorities with adequate tools to manage the consequences of failures that could not otherwise be avoided. This is the missing link in an effective bank regulation framework. 11. Resolution measures may interfere with the rights of shareholders and creditors. How does the Communication propose to deal with this?Bank resolution tools that involve transfer of assets may interfere with the rights of creditors and shareholders, and any EU resolution framework would need to incorporate adequate safeguards to protect those interests. For example, EU company law contains a number of mandatory requirements that confer rights on shareholders. These include pre-emption rights, and the requirements that any increase or reduction of issued share capital is approved by the shareholders' general meeting. In addition to this, any transfer of ownership or assets of an ailing bank must comply with shareholders' right to property under the European Convention on Human Rights. A balance needs to be struck between protecting the legitimate interests of shareholders and enabling resolution authorities to intervene quickly and decisively to restructure a failing institution or group to minimise contagion and ensure the stability of the banking system in affected Member States. Where rights granted by EU law are affected, an EU resolution framework would also have to contain appropriate mechanisms for redress and compensation. EU law does not currently specify the rights of creditors in the context of bank insolvency. Appropriate safeguards under a bank resolution framework might include compensation mechanisms to ensure that creditors are not left worse off than they would have been had the bank under resolution been wound up under the applicable insolvency law. 12. What kinds of financial institution would be covered by an EU regime?The Communication focuses principally on crisis management in the banking sector. This focus is justified by the special nature of banks - their unique role as providers of credit, deposit-takers and payment intermediaries – which give rise to particular problems and public policy objectives in the event of a bank failure. However, the Commission is also considering options as to how to include certain investment firms whose failure might also risk financial stability. Beyond that, the Commission also recognises that different kinds of crisis management measures may be necessary to address the specific risks to market stability represented by other types of financial institution. It intends to carry out further work by the end of 2011 to consider which crisis management arrangements might be necessary for other types of financial institution, including insurance companies, investment firms and Central Counterparties. 13. Would a requirement for cross-border groups to prepare "living wills" help authorities to manage a cross-border banking crisis?There are currently no harmonised powers for supervisors to require banking groups to prepare recovery and resolution plans, often referred to as "living wills". The idea is that systemically important cross-border financial institutions could be required to produce detailed plans to facilitate, in a period of severe financial stress or instability, the preservation of the firm as a going concern, the continuity of its financial infrastructure services, and the rapid resolution or winding down where necessary of the institution (or part of the institution). 14. What is the proposal to write down creditors and how would it work?The objective is to develop a mechanism for recapitalising failing institutions so that it can continue to provide essential services, without the need for bail out by public funds. Fast recapitalisation would allow the institution to continue as a going concern, avoiding the disruption to the financial system that would be caused by stopping or interrupting its critical services, and giving the authorities time to reorganise it or wind down parts of its business in an orderly manner. A number of ideas for achieving this objective are being considered by policy makers and international bodies. These ideas include requirements for firms to hold contingent capital or 'bail in' debt – that is, debt that converts into common equity when a firm is financial distress to recapitalise it quickly; and a power for resolution authorities to impose a write down or 'haircut' on the creditors of a failing firm, or to convert their debt claim to equity, at the point of resolution. In every case, there would need to be clarity about the conditions or triggers for write down or conversion. In the case of a statutory power for authorities, the classes of debt covered would need to be clear.The Commission Services consider that contractual and statutory approaches could be complementary. They are exploring these ideas further, and will consult later in the year. 15. How does all this relate to discussions at international level?Discussions have taken place on crisis management in a number of international fora (G20, Financial Stability Board, Basel Committee). There is broad recognition that the problems of cross-border banking groups extend beyond the EU, and many significant financial groups are global in their organisation. While certain of the problems which need to be addressed are the same - for example, the difficulties of cooperation and coordination, information sharing, the lack of effective tools, the need for better advance planning, the territorial scope of national insolvency regimes when applied to a group - there are nevertheless significant distinctions between the progress that can be reasonably expected at international level and what can be achieved within the EU. The depth of integration of both banking business and the legal framework at European level both allows and requires greater cooperation and convergence in order to develop a more robust framework to underpin the Internal Market.16. What are the main differences between what the EU is proposing and the US approach?Both the EU and the US are working to develop mechanisms which should be capable of resolving or winding down failing financial institutions, and are actively engaged in discussions at international level. The US approach will entail putting an end to the problem of "too big to fail" banks by ensuring that failing institutions can be taken into receivership by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), under which their business will be transferred or wound down and the failed institution will be liquidated. The Commission's proposed EU framework would also allow authorities to put banks into an orderly resolution in which their essential services could be preserved while the failed institution itself was ultimately wound down. However, the Commission is also considering equipping authorities with additional tools which would allow a troubled bank to continue as a going concern, through write down of its debt, in order to preserve its economically important functions and 'buy time' for authorities to sell or wind down its business in an orderly manner. In order to prevent moral hazard, there would need to be strict conditions accompanying any such approach. These would include dilution of shareholders, changes to management, haircutting of creditors and re-structuring so as to ensure that the surviving entity was viable. Such operations would also need to adhere to strict EU state aid rules.In terms of funding the cost of resolution measures, the new US rules foresee a system of ex-post financing, meaning that other financial institutions will be required to pay only when failures occur. However, with the FDIC, the US does already have a well-funded system for bank resolution, which applies to smaller and medium-sized deposit taking institutions. The Commission on the other hand, supports a system of ex-ante financing, which would require all banks to contribute to national funds set up to cover the cost of future bank resolutions. The Commission has argued that there is a need to coordinate an EU approach to financing resolution measures, and has expressed a preference for ex ante funding as more credible and less pro-cyclical. More information:http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/bank/crisis_management/index_en.htm

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HomeBernie Madoff, Our Convenient Scapegoat OpinionBernie Madoff, Our Convenient Scapegoat Jay MichaelsonMarch 24, 2014GETTY IMAGES You couldn’t dream up a better villain. Bernie Madoff, the man we all love to hate, is back in the news, opining from his jail cell on matters political, ethical and financial, this time in an interview with Politico magazine. Madoff won’t win many friends with this new interview, and may even gain a few more enemies. Yet our fixation on him as the villain of the 2008 financial crisis is erroneous, counterproductive, and even immoral. By now, you probably know the facts. Madoff, once the darling of the American Jewish upper crust, was convicted in 2009 of running a massive ponzi scheme. When the pyramid collapsed, dozens of individuals and many Jewish institutions lost everything they had “invested” with him. Those victims will be pleased to hear, perhaps, that Madoff says he has “nothing to live for.” Although many said in 2009 that Madoff could never atone for his crimes, he has suffered greatly since: one of his sons committed suicide, another is in jail, and another is battling lymphoma. His wife barely speaks to him. Surely, no matter how much money was lost, Madoff has now lost more. Yet that’s not the part of the interview that’s made headlines. That honor goes to Madoff’s statement that “I don’t feel that I betrayed the Jews, I betrayed people… I betrayed people that put trust in me — certainly the Jewish community. I’ve made more money for Jewish people and charities than I’ve lost.” Ouch. This after Madoff’s fraud bankrupted or severely hurt Yeshiva University, Hadassah, the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America, the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, and the Chais Family Foundation. Add that to Madoff’s kvetches about his sentence (“For all intents and purposes, it’s a life sentence” – duh) and the boredom of prison life, and it’s hard not to loathe the guy. But Madoff the man is less important than Madoff the symbol. And that’s where we’ve gone off the rails. In the six years since the world’s financial markets crashed, Madoff has become a symbol of the collapse. He’s an easy villain: a liar, a thief, and someone whose regret remains, even today, equivocal. And even though many of Madoff’s victims have recovered much of their original investments, many others – including vulnerable, trusting bubbes and zaydes, lost everything. Many more people, however, lost much, much more in the 2008 financial crisis. And Madoff had nothing to do with it. That crisis was brought about by Republican-engineered deregulation of the financial industry, which enabled enormous mergers and incentivized financial institutions to take on too much risk. New security “products,” themselves ponzi schemes of derivatives upon derivatives, were sold by supposedly trustworthy banks and financial advisers to customers who didn’t want to miss out on the next big thing. And while many in the industry were swept along by the current of usury, many others knew it was all a shell game. Infamously, for example, Goldman Sachs bet against the very securities they were selling to their clients. Eventually, like Madoff’s scheme, Wall Street’s house of cards collapsed. But who went to jail? Nobody. Most of the big banks were bailed out (“too big to fail”), and the major malefactors of great wealth settled with the government. They wrote it off. Most likely, the 2008-09 bailouts rescued the world from global economic collapse – not to mention the U.S. automotive industry. They were a very good thing, Occupy’s outrage notwithstanding. But they also went through without teeth, enabling business-as-usual bonuses to be paid to financial service executives, and, with only a modicum of additional regulation, business-as-usual risk-taking to resume with hardly a hiccup. Oh, and it gets worse. How has the 1% done in the last five years? Just fine, thanks. More than fine. In 1983, at the height of “Greed is Good,” the wealthiest 1% made about 131 times the median income. Now, they make 225 times the median. That same 1% controls over 30% of the wealth in the United States – with the next 9% controlling another 30%. That’s 60% of the wealth owned by 10% of the people. Has anyone been punished for this trillion-dollar theft from the American heartland? Hardly. The same Republicans who created the financial crisis through deregulation are now resisting any effort to achieve a fairer sharing of the burden. This is now a matter of philosophy, with names like Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek, and even Ayn Rand engraved upon the frieze of neo-conservatism – an ideological movement, incidentally, overpopulated by Jews. As Madoff himself said, “I’m not a great fan of redistribution of wealth.” As a result of this ideology, one-percenters have made billions of dollars – each – since 2009, while real wages have stagnated and the middle class slouches toward insolvency. And while some of those one- and ten- percenters have been generous to Jewish institutions that now bear their names, the amount they have donated pales in comparison to the amounts they have obtained from a rigged financial-political system. Of course, few rabbis will call out these people for profiting from a system that’s been jury-rigged to their advantage. They’re the donors who write the checks. Even if we could understand the perverse incentives, financial-political complex, and ponzi schemes of the ultra-rich, most of our leaders would not condemn them. Because they depend on them. And what of Madoff’s institutional victims? Were they as innocent as they now insist? I’ve sat on several for-profit and not-for-profit boards, and I cannot understand how these organizations’ finance and audit committees approved the Madoff investments. The phony paperwork Madoff provided was ludicrously thin, and should never have passed muster. People and institutions invested with Madoff because they were sloppy. They saw a great money train passing by, and wanted to jump aboard. They didn’t adequately evaluate the risk, and now they complain that their “trust” was violated. Trust? Responsible investing is based on due diligence, not trust. Did any negligent board members and financial advisors go to jail? Did they even lose their jobs? Madoff is not the victim here – but he is a scapegoat. It’s a lot easier to blame one dislikable thief than to wrap one’s mind around a venal, rigged and corrupt system of hyper-capitalism that would make Adam Smith blush in shame. We naively suppose that there are good guys and bad guys, and that it’s easy to tell the difference between them. But that story is make-believe. Instead of Madoff, maybe we should learn from the actual scapegoat, the one in the Torah. In the scapegoat ritual, it’s not that the goat is guilty, of course; rather, all of the sins of the people are projected onto it before it is banished to the wilderness. All of us are culpable. Of course, unlike Madoff, scapegoats are meant to be silent. Bernie Madoff, Our Convenient Scapegoat

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Search Survey: Capital management, regulations are insurance companies' biggest concerns 6/20/2013 Most insurers said they consider challenges in capital management and shifts in regulations to be major concerns, but have prepared to address these issues, according to a survey by Towers Watson and the International Insurance Society. "Over the longer term, other issues -- demographic aging trends, 'big data,' social media, and attracting and retaining talent were not subject to the same level of preparation (29%, 32% and 33%, respectively)," Towers Watson said. Insurance Networking News Related Summaries Expert: HR managers can curb workers' comp costs with thorough plans 6/20/2013 Developing plans to document processes in workers' compensation and coordinating closely with injured employees can help human resource managers curtail costs in workers' comp, said Margaret Spence of Douglas Claims & Risk Consultants. "Don't give employees the opportunity to say, 'I didn't know what to do.' Tell them what we expect and how we expect it. Even in states where you don't get to pick the doctor the employee sees, we still get to create the policy around how the employee operates in our workplace," Spence said. Business Insurance (tiered subscription model) Officials: Insurance payments for Okla. tornadoes approach $562M 6/20/2013 The number of insurance claims for damage from last month's tornadoes in Oklahoma has increased to 70,782, and payments have risen to nearly $562 million, according to the state Insurance Department. The state also said in a bulletin that property/casualty insurers and producers should retain their policyholders' existing coverage for 60 days after repairs are finished. "Due to the backlog of work ... many repairs won't be completed before the policy expires. That results in open and pending claims that prevent the policyholder from obtaining replacement coverage," said Insurance Commissioner John Doak. PropertyCasualty360 La. parish officials back House measure to stop flood insurance hikes 6/20/2013 A letter from 13 parish presidents in Louisiana called on Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and David Vitter, R-La., to support a House-approved amendment that would prevent the Federal Emergency Management Agency from implementing some flood insurance rate increases under the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. The looming rate increases would prompt many property owners in the state to cancel their coverage, "decreasing home values, depressing the real estate market and drastically increasing rental rates," the parish presidents said in the letter. The Times-Picayune (New Orleans) Report: Weather events to worsen if climate-change pace continues 6/20/2013 Many parts of the world will experience more extreme weather events if climate change continues to intensify at its current pace, according to a World Bank report. "This new report outlines an alarming scenario for the days and years ahead -- what we could face in our lifetime," World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement. "Urgent action is needed to not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also to help countries prepare for a world of dramatic climate and weather extremes." World Bank, World Bank Expert: Cross-selling life insurance is a challenge for P/C agents 6/20/2013 Insurance agents specializing in property/casualty products need to consider the range of skills and strategies they will need to succeed in cross-selling life insurance products, writes Peter Klein of Secor Advisors Group. P/C agents should team up with a professional who is highly knowledgeable about life insurance, Klein writes. "This makes the P&C agent more productive while creating the perception that the agent is seeking the best possible objective advice and outcome for his or her clients and simultaneously capturing new commission streams. This represents a value proposition that all the parties involved can appreciate," he writes. PropertyCasualty360 Get the News in your Inbox

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Banking & Capital Markets Minding Mr. Market For a glimpse of the future, take a look at how investors respond to merger announcements. Hilary Rosenberg September 1, 1998 | CFO Magazine share To hear the happy couples tell it, all mergers are bound for glory. The synergies, efficiencies, and growth created are sure to enrich shareholders. But as any student of finance knows, mergers seldom live up to expectations, and the question remains, Which mergers will languish and which will flourish? Time will tell, most experts say. But according to a study of major deals struck from 1994 through June 1997, the stock market’s initial reaction to a merger often predicts the acquirer’s relative market performance a year later. That is not hopeful news, especially for deals that suffer poor receptions. They face poor odds, according to the study that PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP conducted for CFO magazine. Of 52 companies whose stocks performed worse than their peers in the first five days after a merger was announced, 35 companies were still doing badly 12 months later. On the other hand, nearly two-thirds of the companies that enjoyed an immediate boost outperformed their peers after a year. All told, the market foresaw the future almost two- thirds of the time. China’s PSBC Planning Online Banking Push Largest U.S. Banks Pass Latest Stress Tests Central Banks Move to Ease Brexit Fallout To ensure meaningful results, the study examined only deals that met certain criteria: the acquirer paid more than $500 million; both acquirer and target were public companies; the target’s market value was at least 10 percent of that of the acquirer; and the acquirer was involved in no more than one large transaction during the one year under consideration. Using the starting price of five days before announcement, the study measured market returns both five days after and one year after the announcement date. A shrewd investor might think twice about owning stock in this collection of companies. On average, the acquirer’s stock prices were 2 percent lower than the market as a whole, and a year later, they trailed by nearly 9 percent. Furthermore, these acquisitive companies did not keep up with their peers; on an industry-adjusted basis, they lagged by 1.6 percent at announcement and 3.7 percent a year later. A drop at announcement is consistent with conventional wisdom that any large deal punishes the acquirer, and for most deals, the market was a tough judge right from the start. Overall, when they announced their purchases, 63 percent of the sample companies lost value on a market-adjusted basis. However, the study also highlights exceptions to the premise that most mergers are doomed. Of the surveyed stocks that tumbled after announcement, more than one snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Stock in Allegheny Ludlum Corp. fell by 4.6 percent versus peers in April 1996, immediately after the steel producer agreed to rescue Teledyne from the grip of WHX, a hostile bidder. The price tag was $2.1 billion. A year later, however, Allegheny Ludlum’s stock performance outpaced its peers’ by 68.2 percent. Similarly, Boston Scientific Corp., in Natick, Massachusetts, turned a mediocre initial response to its $897 million purchase of SciMed Life Systems into a ringing success, outpacing its peers by nearly 63 percent after one year. Boston Scientific CFO Larry Best blames the poor reception on the absence of a track record. “We had never acquired a company before,” he says. A year later, however, “SciMed proved to be synergistic in terms of financial results and market leadership.” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based Rite Aid Corp.’s $2.4 billion acquisition of Thrifty Payless Inc., in Wilsonville, Oregon, also turned the tables after a year, thanks to seamless integration of the two drug retailers that exceeded expectations. Despite widespread claims that today’s so- called strategic mergers are different from the financially driven transactions of the 1980s, the performance of recent mergers closely tracks the performance of ’80s mergers, according to Mark Sirower, who helped direct the PricewaterhouseCoopers study. “The ’80s were full of deals that were considered strategic–DuPont and Conoco; Baxter and American Hospital Supply; Burroughs and Sperry; Monsanto and G.D. Searle,” says Sirower, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business and author of The Synergy Trap: How Companies Lose the Acquisition Game (Free Press, 1997). He warns that there is no reason to suppose that so- called strategic deals are better for shareholders than financial deals, because companies first have to prove why they are strategic. “If they don’t,” he adds, “it’s too easy to overpay without having valued the strategy.” “We had all heard the stories about mergers that went bad and ended up destroying value instead of creating value,” says Richard Osborne, CFO of Duke Energy Corp., in Charlotte, North Carolina, which agreed to pay $7.7 billion for PanEnergy Corp., a Houston- based gas pipeline company, in November 1996. Although the debt Duke assumed in the transaction upended its financial structure, investors stuck with the company. Five days after the announcement, Duke was slightly outperforming its peers. A year later, its stock performance exceeded the electric utility industry by 1.5 percent, a slim margin but still ahead of the pack. It wasn’t experience that made the deal a success. Duke had never before done a major merger or acquisition and, despite the market’s approval, management was nervous from the start. The formula for success ultimately rests on whether a deal makes sense. “This industry is consolidating,” says securities analyst Edward Tirello of BT Alex. Brown. “And Duke took it a step further, going to power- plant operations and construction. With gas- pipeline operations and its own electric operations, it can mesh the two. Also, Duke is big in power marketing, as is PanEnergy. So there’s the power marketing angle.” “We integrated systems and laid out new lines of authority, new management, and financial targets as quickly as we could, so that people could get through the sea of uncertainty as quickly as possible,” Osborne says. What Drives Returns? Trailing earnings per share (EPS) does not shed much light on why stock prices go up or down. At the end of the four quarters following Duke’s announcement of its purchase of PanEnergy, Duke’s stock price rose despite EPS that were off by slightly more than 1 percent, according to CFO magazine’s analysis of data supplied by Bloomberg LLP. A broader look at earnings per share in the wake of acquisitions in the PricewaterhouseCoopers study suggests that something other than EPS explains changes in the stock price. For example, Tenet Healthcare Corp., in Santa Monica, California, led the positive-to- positive group, with a 53.4 percent increase in stock price after a year, yet its EPS lost 113 percent in the 12 months after Tenet’s agreement to buy OrNda HealthCorp, in Nashville. Median change in price for companies in the positive-to-positive category was 32 percent, while the median change in EPS tumbled by 43 percent. “And that is consistent with what we’ve found,” Sirower notes. “Expectations of long-term cash flow– not a short-term earnings number–drive shareholder returns long term.” After it acquired Skokie, Illinois-based U.S. Robotics Inc., in 1997 for $6.5 billion, 3Com Corp., a Santa Clara, California, supplier of computer networking gear, ended up in the negative-to-negative column. Subsequent to the announcement, 3Com uncovered shortfalls in inventory that had to be fixed before the company had any realistic chance to grow. Deals on the negative-to-negative list also include Hartford-based Aetna Life & Casualty’s purchase of US Healthcare Inc., in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, which required huge cultural and financial adjustments to compete in the cost- burdened health-care industry. PacifiCare Health Systems Inc., based in Cypress, California, was among the deals that enjoyed a positive reaction at first but stumbled afterwards. The health maintenance organization ran into problems after its acquisition of FHP International Corp., in Fountain Valley, California. The deal was announced in August 1996 before discrepancies in FHP’s claims processing surfaced. A Provident Plan A consistent policy of effective communications served Provident Cos. well when the Chattanooga-based insurance company announced its acquisition of Worcester, Massachusetts-based competitor The Paul Revere Corp. in April 1996. A few years earlier, Provident had unveiled a strategic plan, making it the theme of its communications with all constituencies, says vice chairman and CFO Thomas Watjen. The essence of that plan was to focus on disability insurance and related products in which Provident was the market leader. “It is a simple strategic vision that’s guided all of our actions, from divestitures and acquisitions to internal reorganizations,” Watjen says. “So, we have credibility at the point of announcement.” In making the announcement, Watjen and Thomas White, vice president of corporate relations, explained that in the context of the strategic plan, the acquisition was more than just an exercise in cost savings through consolidation. It also presented growth opportunities that neither company could have pursued on its own. The stock rose 12.5 percent, industry-adjusted, just after announcement. The stock continued to perform well over the following months as the company integrated Paul Revere and met its goals for savings. At the same time, Provident was preparing for growth by merging the two companies’ product lines and field sales offices. By the one-year mark, the stock was up more than 43 percent, industry-adjusted. Certainly, the market was then anticipating growth. As it turned out, though, it was a bit optimistic. The reconfiguration of Provident’s product line involved moving to a product with a lower premium, which, at least for a while, dampened overall sales totals. In the spring of 1998, the stock took a breather, slipping to the low 30s, a 17 percent industry-adjusted return since announcement. “The market moved quickly, maybe too quickly, from just looking at expenses to holding us accountable for increased growth,” says White. “What it is looking for now is a resumption in sales growth from the combined companies.” By June, however, the total number of policy applications were starting to grow. The First Nine Months Some consultants claim a year is not enough time in which to judge a major acquisition either a complete success or a failure. It’s common, some argue, for an acquisition to undergo two stages of development. In the first nine months or so, the new organization settles in and, when problems arise, there needs to be a midcourse correction. In some cases, the market needs more than a year just to understand an acquisition. For an acquisition that leads a company into a new industry, the market’s show-me attitude might last longer than a year. But PricewaterhouseCoopers and other consultants agree that for most deals, a year is a sufficient length of time for judging success. What’s more, going out any further would complicate the analysis. By then, many other factors figure into an acquirer’s earnings and stock value. Take the case of Tyco International Ltd.’s July 1994 acquisition of Kendall International Inc., a maker of disposable medical products in Mansfield, Massachusetts. Upon announcement, the stock of the Exeter, New Hampshire­based diversified manufacturer fell 6 percent on an industry-adjusted basis. A year later, the price was off 14 percent. On a market-adjusted basis–which may be more accurate because of the difficulty of finding an industry index to compare with a diversified manufacturer– Tyco’s stock was off 7 percent at the start but only 5 percent a year later. It should be noted that several days after that first anniversary, the stock was even with the market. In any event, the stock wasn’t exactly going like gangbusters when the deal was a year old. Tyco International CFO Mark Swartz admits that initially the market had some problems with this acquisition. Congress was still weighing President Clinton’s national health care bill, and there were concerns that the proposed program would place pricing pressures on the medical industry. Moreover, Kendall was the largest acquisition Tyco had ever made, and it represented a major diversification from its basic fire-protection business. “There was some skepticism,” concedes Swartz. But at no point did the acquisition itself falter. The integration of back-office functions, elimination of duplicative costs, and closure of five manufacturing facilities in the first year helped contribute to an increase in Tyco’s earnings. In each year of a three-year plan, Kendall exceeded its stated goals in both revenues and earnings, Swartz says. In the second year after the announcement, ending in July 1996, the stock performed about 20 percent better than the market. “Our investors became more comfortable with how good an acquisition it was,” Swartz asserts. For about one deal in three that gets off to a bad start, according to the survey, its fate is not yet sealed. “Thirty percent of the time, the negatives turn around,” says Kersten Lanes, a partner at Pricewaterhouse-Coopers. The bottom chart on page 109 lists 17 companies that did just that, on an industry- adjusted basis. Among them: Boston Scientific in its 1994 purchase of SciMed Life Systems, and Rite Aid in its 1996 acquisition of Thrifty Payless. “Get damage control right away,” Lanes advises. “Focus on how the deal is going to impact shareholder value.” ← Troubleshooters Dan Lee: Behind the Mirage →

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How to Get the Most Out of Your Financial Adviser Aside from managing your money, what services, access should you expect? by Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, August 18, 2011|Comments: 0 En español | The latest stock market volatility has a lot of people seeking assistance in managing their money. If you're working with a financial adviser — or were thinking about hiring one — you may be wondering if it's worth it to have professional help in planning your financial future. Meet Our Expert Lynnette Khalfani-Cox writes about debt, investing and other money topics. Managing a mortgage in retirement. Read Are your kids making you broke? Read More stories from Lynnette. Go See also: How to check out your investment broker. The decision to retain a money-management pro shouldn't be taken lightly. And it shouldn't cost you an arm and a leg either. Here's how to get the most out of your financial adviser, and make sure you get your money's worth, too. Recognize the Differences Between Advisers Based on how they are paid, financial advisers are generally classified in three ways: as fee-only planners, fee-based advisers or commission-based advisers. With fee-only planners, there is no conflict of interest because the adviser will charge either an hourly fee or a flat annual fee based on a percentage of your assets he or she is managing. In the latter case, when you make money, so does the adviser. Likewise, if you lose money, so does the adviser. In this way, your goals are aligned. — Photo by: Jose Luis Pelaez/Blend/Corbis With fee-based planners, there is some potential for a conflict of interest. If you use a fee-based planner, you will generally receive a written financial plan or report on which a fee is charged, theoretically for an objective analysis of your situation. Frequently, however, the plan will recommend that you purchase a commissionable product, like life insurance, annuities or mutual funds. Next: Be sure to ask the right questions. >> You may very well need those products. But just be aware that "once a product is purchased, the adviser receives a commission, so there is clear potential to craft a written report that could substantiate the need or reason to purchase a highly commissionable product," says Debra Morrison, a certified financial planner based in Lincoln Park, N.J. Lastly, a commission-based financial adviser, sometimes called a financial consultant or representative, is actually a salesperson for a company or companies. "Since the representative only earns money when a product is purchased, there is obvious incentive to sell products, and particularly highest commissionable products, such as life insurance and annuities," Morrison says. The bottom line: Financial professionals make their money through various compensation models, so make sure you ask about any real or perceived conflicts of interest and know exactly how your advisor is being compensated. Ask the Right Questions In order to gauge whether you're truly getting good value from a financial adviser, you'll have to pose a series of questions in your vetting process. Your first question should be: "How are you compensated?" "If a person starts squirming around because they get paid a commission and they really didn't want to talk about that, it's a big red flag," says Morrison. Four other questions you should ask are: 1. "What is your educational background and what professional credentials, licenses, certifications do you hold?" Practically anyone can hang out a shingle and call himself an "adviser." But highly qualified experts will have designations — such as CFP or CFA — that are earned based on experience, continuing education and adherence to a professional code of conduct. FINRA offers good advice about understanding professional designations. Next: Get to the bottom of fees and costs. >> 2. "How many other clients do you have that fit my profile?" You want an adviser who is accustomed to dealing with clients like you. 3. What specifically will you do for me?" You want to know if the person will make investment recommendations, manage money on your behalf, create a financial plan for you, or perhaps suggest money-savings ideas you can implement. 4. How do you prefer to communicate? "You definitely need to ask this question, or at least say: 'I prefer telephone calls, face-to-face communication or emails and here's what I expect,'" says Diahann Lassus, a certified financial planner and the president and co-founder of Lassus Wherley, a fee-only wealth management firm headquartered in New Providence, N.J., with a branch office in Bonita Springs, Fla. "If your expectations are at a level that an adviser can't do, you should move on — or you may have to adjust your expectations," Lassus adds. Don't Be Afraid to Talk About Fees and Costs Mark Cortazzo, CFP and founder of MACRO Consulting Group in Parsippany, N.J., says that unfortunately there's not a lot of disclosure about fees in the money management business. "It's surprising to me that with all the money being managed, there is no place to get side-by-side comparison pricing on what various firms charge to do asset management," Cortazzo says. "I don't even know how a consumer has a way of gauging whether they are on the high end or low end." If you want to know about the cost of your mutual funds, you can look up the average expense ratio with firms like Morningstar. But nothing like that service currently exists among money managers. (BrightScope, which rates retirement plans, recently launched a new, free way for consumers to research and select financial advisers. While the company doesn't yet disclose fee arrangements for advisers, BrightScope says that information will be forthcoming soon). That's why Cortazzo recently began a program called FlatFeePortfolios.com, which offers a uniform pricing structure of $199 a month to all clients — regardless of whether your retirement assets are $250,000 or $2 million. Next: Find out who gets "face-to-face" service. >> For those with assets of less than $250,000, the monthly fee is $129. Each option provides clients with two reviews a year, quarterly reports, professional rebalancing of funds, and video updates, among other things. One thing that's not included: face-to-face service. Experts say that in general, high net worth retirees and pre-retirees with sizeable portfolios — typically $1 million or more — are the clients who primarily get "high touch" service. That means more frequent in-person meetings, usually twice a year or so, along with routine phone calls that may include key members of the investor's financial advisory team. These well-heeled individuals, advisers say, have more complex finances that require a lot more account analysis, tax issues, coordination with attorneys and other professionals, as well as higher-level financial planning. "For the majority of individuals that have money in IRAs and who are still in the asset accumulation phase, they just need good guidance and basic coordination," Cortazzo says. Morrison, the CFP based in Lincoln Park, N.J., agrees. "I don't want my clients looking at their investments quarterly, as investing is a long-term endeavor," she says. "So unless there are planning opportunities or situations, I do not meet quarterly, on a face-to-face basis." If you're shopping around for a financial planner, advisers say that fees of $150 to $250 an hour is a good benchmark. Several experts recommended the Garrett Network or NAPFA, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, to find fee-only advisors within this price point. A fee-only planner that charges you 1 percent to 1.5 percent of the assets she's managing for you is competitive, experts said. If you can get less than 1 percent, that's even better. But for fees in the 2 percent range, that adviser had better be delivering exceptional value and service — otherwise he's overpriced. Ultimately, Cortazzo says, "You need to feel comfortable and confident with the person. But you need to get a sense that the person really cares about you and your success and that they're structuring how they work with you to align your interest with theirs."

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News Releases Pacific Economies Weathering Global Financial Turmoil News Release | 25 July 2012 FacebookTwitterLinkedInPrint MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Pacific economies remain relatively sheltered from global financial turmoil, with growth projections largely unchanged at the mid-year point, according to the latest Pacific Economic Monitor, released today by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Growth in the Pacific region is expected to run at 6.0% in 2012, but slow to 4.2% in 2013. The slowdown in 2013 is expected to be mainly due to lower growth in resource exporting countries that weigh most heavily in regional averages. "Pacific economies are weathering persistent troubles in the eurozone, but they need to broaden and build resilience in their economies," said Xianbin Yao, Director General of the ADB's Pacific Department. "To support this agenda, ADB is continuing its efforts to assist Pacific economies in making long-term infrastructure investments and undertaking necessary policy reforms to achieve stronger and more inclusive growth in coming years." Economic troubles in the eurozone continue to have only modest and indirect effects on Pacific economies, owing to the relatively greater importance of economic developments in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States in driving Pacific growth. While the eurozone crisis drags on, relatively stronger performance in these countries appears to be moderating the impact on Pacific economies. Slowing growth in the People's Republic of China, however, is expected to have greater implications for the Pacific, mainly due to its strong ties with Australia, the main trading partner of many Pacific economies. The slowdown forecast for the Pacific in 2013 is expected mainly due to lower growth in resource exporting countries, such as Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste, which weigh most heavily in regional averages. The value of Pacific exports to Australia was 6.1% lower during the first five months of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011. This is because PNG's main exports to Australia - gold, mineral fuels, petroleum, and petroleum products - dropped by 10.0%, and PNG accounted for 90.8% of total Pacific exports to Australia in the first quarter of 2012. The value of Pacific exports to New Zealand in the first quarter of 2012 rose by 22.2% compared with the same period in 2011, due to rising import volumes of phosphate from Nauru and coffee from PNG. Tourist arrivals in the Pacific have maintained modest growth during the first five months of 2012. Departures from Australia to major South Pacific destinations increased by 1.4% compared with the same period the prior year. Inflation in the Pacific is projected to run at 6.3% in 2012 - a modestly lower level than predicted at the start of the year - due to continued easing in international commodity prices, particularly lower food prices. However, recent extreme weather in the US and India is leading some analysts to reevaluate forecasts for continued easing of food prices into next year. FacebookTwitterLinkedInPrint Countries Cook IslandsFijiKiribatiMarshall IslandsMicronesia, Federated States ofNauruPalauPapua New GuineaSamoaSolomon IslandsTimor-LesteTongaTuvaluVanuatu Subjects ADB administration and governanceEconomics

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5 Markets for 2013 Alex Dumortier, CFA, The Motley Fool Dec 28th 2012 10:21AM Stocks are losing ground this morning, with the Dow and the broader S&P 500 both down 0.8% at 10:12AM EST. The VIX Index rose above 20 yesterday on an intraday basis yesterday for the first time since July 25. The VIX, which is calculated based S&P 500 option prices, is measure of the market's expectations for stock volatility over the next 30 days. Looking backThe end of the year is a good time to look back at some of the notable people that have left this world over the past 12 months. The development economist Albert Hirschman died on December 10, for example. The Economist featured an obituary [sign-up may be required] of this academic who took an unconventional path: "He made his reputation as a development economist, focusing on Latin America, but he soon found himself trespassing obsessively -- not only into other sub-disciplines such as the theory of the firm but also into other disciplines entirely such as political science and the history of thought." Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's right-hand man at Berkshire Hathaway would certainly approve. Munger, a polymath, is a proponent of using a broad array of "mental models" to tackle difficult problems and has criticized academics for their extremely narrow focus (the "man with a hammer syndrome"). Looking forwardInvestors are obsessed with growth. It's understandable, since earnings growth is a key driver of stock prices. However, time and again they take their eye off the other side of the equation: Valuations and the expectations embedded in them. In 2012, Japan and Greece -- economic basket cases -- were among the best-performing equity markets in the world. In Japan, which entered its fifth technical recession in 15 years during the second quarter, the Nikkei 225 has risen 22% -- its best performance since 2005. Meanwhile, the Athens Composite Share Price Index has performed even better, up by just over a third as of Thursday. Valuations and returns tend to revert to the mean. So which markets might be ripe for a reversal next year, along the lines of Japan or Greece? According to MSCI, the worst laggards over the past five years that continued to underperform their peers this year are: Ireland, Italy, Finland, Portugal, and Spain. Perhaps investors should consider a peripheral European cocktail to see in the new year. Profiting from our increasingly global economy can be as easy as investing in your own backyard. Our free report, "3 American Companies Set to Dominate the World," shows you how. Click here to get your free copy before it's gone. The article 5 Markets for 2013 originally appeared on Fool.com. Alex Dumortier, CFA, has no positions in the stocks mentioned above; you can follow him @longrunreturns. The Motley Fool owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Berkshire Hathaway. 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.

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IFI governanceIFI governance From issue 76 of The Bretton Woods Update Related resources CAO review of IFC’s financial sector investments 13 April 2011 CAO Related articles World Bank manoeuvres to influence climate finance debates 21 November 2011 IFI governance IFC financial intermediary lending: cause for complaint? 14 June 2011 A case filed by communities in India has prompted the first internal probe of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Bank’s private sector arm, for its lending through financial intermediaries, highlighting concerns about the transparency and effectiveness of this lending. In April, the IFC’s internal grievance mechanism, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), reacted to rising concerns about the institution’s use of intermediaries, such as banks and private equity firms (see Update 73), by announcing a review of financial sector investments. The review will focus on whether the IFC’s social and environmental assurance process – which includes the IFC’s minimum performance standards (see Update 74, 71) – is working for financial sector investments, which now account for around half of IFC activity. Initially, a sample of investments will be studied, with the assessment due by end 2011. In May, the temperature of this review was raised after the CAO deemed a complaint about IFC lending through financial intermediaries eligible for assessment – the first time this has happened. Community groups in the Indian state of Odisha (formerly Orissa) filed the case against the IFC, complaining of negative social and environmental impacts of the Kamalanga coal power plant. This plant is run by GMR Kamalanga Energy Limited (GKEL), who received financing from the private equity India Infrastructure Fund, who themselves received a $100 million equity investment from the IFC in 2008. The complainants also allege that the company did not adhere to legally mandated procedures when acquiring land, has not offered proper compensation, and that it used intimidation and force. Amulya Nayak, of community group Odisha Chas Parivesh Surekhsa Parishad, said “the company never shows any regard for community health. It ignores villagers’ requests to not dump its garbage [next] to adjacent agricultural lands. GKEL employs dynamite blasting at the project site, which causes cracks in nearby houses and [the] primary school building. [The] project also extracts [a] huge water volume and we witness in our bore wells the depleting water level, which is the main source of drinking, cooking and washing for thousands of families.” “Our inability to secure the most fundamental information about this [financial intermediary] loan … shows [the] IFC does not practise its supposed commitment to transparency”, added Vijayan MJ of NGO Delhi Forum, which is one of the complainants. The CAO will first make an attempt to mediate between the parties, but if no resolution can be reached, a full investigation will be launched. Private equity boom Over the past few years the IFC has become an active investor in private equity funds. It signalled its intention to make this model core to its global business by announcing in March a raft of new investors in its infrastructure-focussed African, Latin American, and Caribbean Fund (ALC). The IFC has chipped in $200 million itself, with an additional $600 million contributed by others, including the Dutch pension fund manager PGGM, Korea Investment Corporation, the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan, a Saudi pension fund, and the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund. The IFC hopes to eventually raise $1billion for this ALC fund, to invest in infrastructure projects in ‘frontier’ middle-income countries — excluding China, Brazil and India. Jeroen Kwakkenbos of NGO Eurodad said, “there’s grave concern about channeling development aid into these types of private funds. Nobody really knows where this money is going to end up and if is going to help the people who really need it.” The IFC’s Asset Management Company (AMC) manages the fund. The AMC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the IFC, and is headquartered in Delaware in the United States, a tax haven which holds the top spot in international NGO the Tax Justice Network’s financial secrecy index of jurisdictions that are most aggressive in providing secrecy in international finance, and which most actively shun co-operation with other jurisdictions. Headed by former Goldman Sachs investment banker Gavin Wilson, the AMC was established in 2009 to manage funds that draw in capital from outside the IFC (see Update 66). The AMC is a growing part of the IFC’s portfolio, also managing a $3 billion IFC Capitalization Fund, and a $200 million Africa Fund. The AMC co-invests in projects and companies that the IFC is already supporting. However, much of the external finance for these other funds comes from public institutions, including $2 billion for the Capitalization Fund from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, and investments in the Africa Fund from the UK’s Department DFID and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The IFC charges market rates to investors for its management of their funds. Private investors in the AMC are only named if they agree to this. Most of the investments will be in banks and the financial sector for on-lending, a practice that civil society groups’ have said raises concerns over reduced transparency, accountability and environmental and human rights standards (see Update 73). Water equity? Meanwhile, the IFC drew fire from campaigners for a $20 million equity investment in the $100 million Asia Water Fund (AWF), fuelling the controversy that has long surrounded the World Bank’s support for private sector involvement in water (see Update 72, 69, 62). As with many private equity funds, the structure is complicated and designed to facilitate tax avoidance or evasion, according to campaigners. The fund itself and the fund manager will both be domiciled in the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands ranks fourth in the Tax Justice Network’s financial secrecy index, cementing campaigners’ complaints that the IFC’s policy on tax havens is inadequate (see Update 74, 73). Seventy per cent of investments will be in China, where there is little shortage of investment in water, highlighting continued concerns about IFC ‘additionality’ – the extra value of the IFC compared with other sources of finance (see Update 73). Joby Gelbspan, of US NGO Corporate Accountability International, said “this is a terrible case of corporate tax evasion backed by public institutions. In addition, the focus on public-private partnerships and the lack of transparency raise concerns that this will do little to support citizen’s right to water.” IFC: on the right track? An April paper, Growing Business or Development Priority, by Guillermo Perry of Washington-based think tank the Center for Global Development, confirmed that “[Multilateral Development Bank (MDB)] operations in direct support of private firms in developing countries, which receded in aggregate terms in 2009 … are returning to rapid growth and will continue to increase their share in overall MDB activities.” The paper noted the irony that “MDBs were until recently advising developing countries against using public national development banks to lend directly to private firms and recommending privatising, liquidating, or transforming these institutions into nonbanking developmental agencies.” The paper argues that if the MDBs are to use financial intermediaries to reach micro, small and medium-sized businesses, then “one should see more focus on firms in countries with less developed local financial markets (which are usually the lower‐income‐per‐capita countries), as such firms are more likely to be financially constrained and without access to risk management products.” However, previous research has confirmed that only a small percentage of IFC investments are in such countries (see Update 73). The increasing focus of development finance on the private sector, including money provided by the World Bank, was the subject of an international conference of civil society groups hosted by NGO Eurodad in Rome in May. Commenting on the rising influence and activity of private investors and financial companies in development finance, Richard Ssewakiryanga of the Uganda National NGO Forum asked: “How is it possible that the people who misbehaved so badly three years ago are now, in the aftermath of the global crisis, given the power to lead development?” TwitterFacebookLinkedInGooglePinterestRedditEmailPrint Related resources 21 November 2011 Subscribe

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Calgary real estate market now has 'strong' evidence of problems: CMHC Overbuilding and overvaluation cited as reasons for upgrading assessment from 'weak' just 3 months earlier Posted: Jan 27, 2016 10:41 AM MT Last Updated: Jan 27, 2016 2:13 PM MT A house for sale in Calgary. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says there is 'strong evidence' of problematic conditions in the city's real-estate market. (Robson Fletcher/CBC) Related Stories Calgary real estate market could face more 'significant price drops' than CREB forecasts Calgary home sales plunge 26% in 2015 as average price falls 'We're getting to a tougher part of this crisis,' says business prof on Calgary real estate Another red flag has emerged in Calgary's real estate market, with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation now saying there's "strong overall evidence" of "problematic conditions" in the city. Regina, Saskatoon and Toronto also shared the "strong" rating in the CMHC's latest Housing Market Assessment report, released Wednesday. The previous report, issued three months earlier, found weak overall evidence of problems in Calgary's housing market. MORE CALGARY NEWS | Why we're all obsessed with oil forecasts — even when they're often wrong MORE CALGARY NEWS | Despite economic doom and gloom, Calgary airport reports banner year CMHC economist Bob Dugan said evidence of overbuilding has increased since the previous assessment in Calgary and this could lead to lower prices. "In some cases, a correction in housing prices may be required in order to ensure excess supply is absorbed so balance in the market can be restored," he said. Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City had "moderate" overall ratings, while every other major city was rated as "weak" in the report, which looks at the first quarter of 2016. The CMHC report said low oil prices are affecting Alberta and Saskatchewan, in particular, by "weakening demographic and economic fundamentals such as migration, employment and income, which are in turn affecting housing markets." CMHC developed the quarterly assessments in an attempt to to detect "problematic housing market conditions" before they potentially lead to major market events "such as the house price bubble Toronto experienced in the late 1980s and early 1990s," according to the report. Here is the full report: Clarifications An earlier version of this story used the word “collapse” in reference to the potential impacts of the problematic conditions described by CMHC on housing prices. CBC News decided afterward the word “correction” was a more accurate representation of the report. Jan 27, 2016 2:12 PM MT Panhandler says Calgarians generous as cops say keep the change

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Browse backgrounders by: HomeFinancial CrisesA Conversation With Vladimir Yakunin Connect With Us: CFR Events A Conversation with Vladimir Yakunin Speaker: Vladimir Yakunin President, Russian Railways Presider: Andrew J. Guff Managing Director, Siguler Guff & Company Read transcript <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/2ny2Tz4Ng1M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Vladimir Yakunin is president of the state-run Russian Railways company. He is a former first secretary of the USSR's Permanent Representative Office at the United Nations and a former Russian deputy minister of transportation. He is a close associate of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and is considered to be one of the members of his inner circle. Dr. Yakunin will discuss Russian-U.S. relations and the "reset" policy, Russia's economic recovery and plans for modernization, and Russian-European relations in a time of economic uncertainty. Related Readings: CRS: Russian Political, Economic, and Security Issues and U.S. Interests by Jim Nichol, William H. Cooper, and Carl Ek Council Special Report: The Russian Economic Crisis by Jeffrey Mankoff Financial Crises MODERATOR: I'm told that we've broken a record at the Council on Foreign Relations. This is the longest period a group has waited for an esteemed speaker, so I think that tells us something about our guest today. So first of all, let me welcome everyone to today's Council on Foreign Relations meeting. A quick reminder for everyone. Please turn off your cell phones; not just put it on vibrate, but turn it off completely. It will interfere with the sound system. And this meeting is officially on the record. Today our speaker is Vladimir Yakunin. For those who aren't familiar with him, he is the president of state-run company Russian Railways. So he really is the guy who makes the trains run on time. VLADIMIR YAKUNIN: Unlike the traffic here. (Laughter.) MODERATOR: Yeah, that's right. I'm sorry we can't do something about our airline system here. But he's a former first secretary of the Soviet permanent rep office to the United Nations. He's a former deputy minister of Transportation. He's a close associate of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's and considered to be one of Russia's really true insiders. So we will have the opportunity -- we'll have a slightly abbreviated session with Mr. Yakunin. It will be approximately 45 minutes. For those who need to leave, feel free. We understand that the session is longer. But we've asked to have Mr. Yakunin start with a brief five minutes or so of remarks. After that, we'll do a short conversation and then open it up to our members for a Q&A. Mr. Yakunin, welcome. Sorry about the weather, the traffic, everything else. But glad you made it. YAKUNIN: I suppose I consume this five minutes just to bring my deepest apologies to you, ladies and gentlemen. And it was not due to my negligence, but due to the factor of weather. Of course, we were stuck in Washington for quite a time, waiting for permission to start. And you know, then the traffic in New York City did not improve since I left the city. And so, please accept our apology for this delay. I know it is very tough just to wait somebody. But because you waited us, you know, whatever questions you have, we will answer at our best knowledge, of course. And I am very glad to see my friends here, some of them we met not quite long ago, but it is my first visit to New York City since 19 years ago. Yes, I was in Washington, but, you know, I didn't have any chance or need to come to New York City. So for me, it is kine of reunion with the place I left 19 years ago. So that is the remarks. And then I would like you to consider me with three fields of interest where I can answer maybe professionally some questions. The first field is, of course, the development of infrastructure and, you know, the development of economy in Russia through the prism of infrastructure projects. Second field is our public work. And I have here some of my friends who are mostly associated with this work -- executive secretary of World Public Forum "Dialogue of Civilizations" Mr. Kulikov, you know, and a member of the Parliament and very influential party member Mr. Pligin is here, also Mr. Alisov is our close associate, and he is an active figure in our public activities, both World Public Forum and the Foundation of Andrew the First-Called and National Glory. This is public side. And some of, you know, expert in scientific side, because I have small research center dealing with the governance aspect, not only in Russia, but, you know, entirely globally. So that's more or less the fields I can feel myself professional, more or less. MODERATOR: So why don't we start with a few questions for Mr. Yakunin. First, can you tell us how things look for Russia's economic recovery right now, first from the point of view of Russian Railways as a company; and second, from the economy as a whole? YAKUNIN: Much better than the weather in New York City and Washington. (Laughter.) Trust me. Listen, in the spring I visited Brookings University, and my old friend Fiona Hill asked a question, can you tell us what are the roots of the crisis and how to get out of this crisis? And that was (fund analyst ?). Listen, this is your crisis, and you're asking me for prescriptions, so it was friendly remarks. And telling the truth, since the beginning of the crisis, many officials in Russia, they did not believe that the crisis would hit the economy of Russian Federation. That was strange, but that was fact. MODERATOR: The famous island of stability. YAKUNIN: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know, possibly it was my first open remarks that I disagreed with this statement. And it appeared that the crisis hit Russian economy very severely because of the -- (inaudible) -- for the raw material industry, firstly, absence of the diversification of the economy, secondly, and thirdly, you know, with all this disproportions occurred during the period of restructuring, not only political system, but economical system either. You know, everything was not always placed to meet the demand. So from the angle of the railway -- (inaudible) -- I can tell you that from the beginning we were focused on the needs to improve infrastructure situation in Russia. And we were not alone. Look, you know, China spent more than $500 billion to improve infrastructure. They began the second-biggest infrastructure railway company in the world, so they overcome us. We have 85,300 kilometers; they have now 10,000 kilometers more than us. Okay. Nevertheless, during the period of 2003 up to 2008, the economy was developing quite good in Russia. You know the figures. But of course, the crisis, you know, decreased -- decreased -- the development of the economy greatly. That was the position of Mr. Putin as the prime minister, that the infrastructure projects would and should persist. So the government decided to support the infrastructure development in Russia, but they decided to keep the rise of the tariffs. It was the first time in the history of Russian economy -- of modern time, that the government decided to subsidize infrastructure projects of Russian Railways, first time through all the period. And it was not known in, say, Europe. They have this mechanism in Russian Railway. So that reflects the attitude on the part of the government towards the development of infrastructure, which is absolutely essential to develop the economy as a whole. Secondly, the social aspect. From the beginning, you know, the government targeted to keep the social security of the people in Russia at the level they promised. Economically speaking, I don't think that it is economically wise to have proven an attempt. But socially speaking, it was absolutely necessary. Due to this, we came through this crisis, at least up to now, you know, more or less stable, more or less. Why? Because in Kaliningrad we had some disturbances in -- (and fires ?), we had some -- but that cannot be compared with the disturbances Greece, not of the scale at all. So this is very essential. And you know, being the head of a railway company which employs 1.2 million employs, you know, I was summoned one day to the White House in Moscow, and there was a discussion what would happen. And I said, listen, due to the economical situation, I should fire one-thousand-seventy-something-hundred personnel. And the answer was, please, Mr. Yakunin, can you do anything but to keep people on work? We don't need people ousted to the streets. And then, you know, we addressed about the trade union. We addressed the employees directly. I invited the representatives to come to Moscow. And it was decided that people agreed to go on part-time job instead of being fired at all. And we came through this crisis without any disturbances in a big company, 1.2 million personnel. You can understand what does it mean. So that is the brief answer and brief overview of the past. What we are having now, you know, judging by the balances of Russian Railways, compared to the last year, we have the rise above, you know, like 15 percent. But compared to 2008, we still under, you know, the figure 16 percent. So you can judge. We lost nearly 30 percent of the operations during the crisis of 2009. It was nearly same in Europe, and recovery in Russia is going maybe better. Why? Because we have the cargo, we are producing the cargo. And because of that, we are getting a little bit maybe better. But we do not have that kind of support on the part of the government, and that was another problem. MODERATOR: Now, the Russian Rails has been known as a company that's always operated through world wars, through the revolution. It's an institution that's one of the unique institutions. It's weathered the crisis quite well. But Russia as a whole, among all the brick countries, you know, was the only country that had a severe drop in GDP. You've been critical about some of the actions that were taken during the beginning of the crisis. What would you have done differently now in hindsight? And what at the time did you think should have been done? YAKUNIN: Absolutely correct. Among brick countries, we are the only country with a negative balanced. We lost 7.9 percent of the GDP, you know, and even Brazil has some positive result through the crisis. In my opinion, and I was constantly trying to reach the government and to explain, I was of the opinion that in such periods, we need to concentrate to invest rather heavily into development of infrastructure. Because without infrastructure, all words about diversification of the economy wouldn't be proved true. Unfortunately -- unfortunately -- I succeeded only partially. On one side, we got the support from the government, we were subsidized. We are getting monies to develop Olympic objects in Sochi. We are doing quite well. But at the same time, we lost 30 percent -- 40 percent -- of the investment budget compared to 2008. And this is not good. You know, it is difficult to say if I were, because you are who you are, but I insisted and I insist now, instead of buying, you know, some (goals ?) of the American government, we'd better, you know, investment into development of our own infrastructure like it was done, say, in China, for example, or in Italy or in Spain, everywhere in the world. So my opinion is still my opinion. Who is the right person? You know, the history will show it. MODERATOR: President Medvedev has talked a lot about the innovation economy and diversifying Russia away from natural resources as the anchor of the economy. How realistic is that? And how long do you think it will take to achieve that goal? YAKUNIN: On one hand, it is absolutely realistic, because Mr. Medvedev was not the one who invented the formula for modernization. In Washington, I was told that the first words of modernization were pronounced by Mr. Brezhnev, to tell the truth, you know. But in Russia, this sentiment, this feeling and that target of modernization was always among the most critical targets that any government had. Maybe Mr. Medvedev is the only one in U.S. history of Russia who declared it so completely and made this his basis for further political development of his platform. But it is realistic, because it is absolutely essential and necessary, you know, to shift. It is difficult to achieve, because we are in crisis, and because, you know, the previous period destroyed a lot of such kind of institutions like science and technology research. You know, destroyed, you know, once best-in-the-world educational system. Destroyed health-care system. Many things were destroyed in the course of what you name Perestroika and we name the Perestroika. And you know, to restore this, that is difficult. It is impossible, you know, just invent something and then to find the place how to implement this idea into the real economical, scientifical products, because the technology appeared to be absolute -- absolute. And you know, to restore the level of the technology to accept these innovative problems, we need to do a lot. With education, with professionalism of the people, we need to do a lot, you know, to return our scientists who are working everywhere. You know, I visited Singapore, you know, Russian scientists, there are rising Singapore research centers everywhere. You know, we were talking with my friend. And he said, listen, Russians all over the places. You know, when I was young, I never saw that many Russians. MODERATOR: There are more than 30,000 Russian-speaking professionals working in Silicon Valley. YAKUNIN: Yes. But you know, in, say, in London, we have 250,000 Russians. So you know, we need to -- MODERATOR: They're not engineers, though, that are in London. YAKUNIN: No, not all of them. MODERATOR: They make more money. (Laughs.) YAKUNIN: Not all of them, of course. So that is the challenge. And of course, you know, only if the society is united, united around this idea, it can be shifted. MODERATOR: What's the view from Russia on pushing the reset button with the perezagruzka, with the United States? YAKUNIN: Listen, sometimes we say this is a slip of the tongue by freight, if you know what I mean, because they first they said, don't, you know -- they used reset instead of other word, yes. So I suppose on both sides, there's a great deal of political will to restore the relations, normal relations. You know, to stop looking at each other with only one purpose -- if it is good for you, it should be blocked because it will be bad for me, and vice-versa. In Washington, I was asked the question, listen, to be the partners, you know, two sides should value the same human values, only then they can be partners. Do you think that Russia will achieve the level to be the partner to the United States? And I answered, listen, business-speaking language means, if we are partners, we have the common targets, mutually accepted. It doesn't mean that we should be alike. But if we are talking about real friendship, Russian understanding or English-language understanding, this is another story. And then we should consider, you know, both ways traffic, where the Russians are, you know, mature enough to value the same things, like Americans or Brits or, you know, Chinese or whatsoever. We are different, but if we are different, that does not mean that we are enemies. And that is the paradigm of World Public Forum "Dialogue of Civilization." So that is the answer. MODERATOR: How about Russia-EU relations? The events in Greece, new government in U.K., local election upset with Angela Merkel's party, how does this affect Russian's interests in Europe? YAKUNIN: You know, last year, I was invited to participate in a global business council, summoned by -- (inaudible) -- company, possibly you know this. And there was a question about the global competitiveness of Europe. And then I asked a question, when you are talking about global competitiveness, you need to answer the question, against whom, and for what? And there was a moment of silence, and then I continued. The only real competitor of the EU economy isn't Russia. It is even not China. Of course, not Africa, Latin America. Then who? You know, they are competing with your economy. That is only, you know, objectively speaking, the only economy to compare. So if we are talking about EU interests, at the same time not forgetting about Russian interests, I suppose that more close cooperation, if not integration, between Russia and EU can bring a very serious actor economical-wise, you know, socially wise and political-wise, not to fight with other economies or other political systems. But I'm answering the question, what are the relations between Russia and EU? This is my personal opinion, that greater cooperation between Russia and EU can bring much more positive effect than all this, you know, talks about, you know, strategic influence with Russia due to the fact of energy resources or whatsoever. MODERATOR: Let me go back to the reset. U.S.-Russia cooperation on transit to Afghanistan, what is the effect of the recent events and upheaval in Kyrgyzstan on the transit route into Afghanistan, given the important role that Russian Railways plays? YAKUNIN: Just for the record, when firstly the idea occurred about the supply of the troops in Afghanistan, we were persistent to state that that is a good way to show actual restart of the relations between Russia and the United States of America and European countries. You know, we considered differently the situation in Afghanistan just might -- that the narcotic traffic rise during this period in Afghanistan 44 times. You know, we have nothing to be happy about this, not in America, not in Russia, anywhere. But still, we continue this operation. And even the turmoil in Kyrgyzstan did not stop the traffic. You know, besides my position as a president of Russian Railways, I am a chairman of the railways union of six countries, Baltic Republic, et cetera. So this is our strategy. Whatever is happening on the political level, the transit operations of railways should not be disturbed. And you know, you see we've tried to keep this like real live operations. MODERATOR: There was a lot of anger recently about the elections in Moscow. YAKUNIN: (Laughs.) MODERATOR: You've been very critical about it. Can you tell us your thoughts on that? Also, do you believe the political system in Russia fundamentally needs to be changed or liberalized? YAKUNIN: I have an expert here, he is sitting right on the right side, you know, and you can, you know, tackle him a little bit later. Very strongly, he can explain everything about the political system, because he is practitional or a practicing politician. I'm not. But speaking about the development of new political system, this is the right word -- new political system. Ladies and gentlemen, just imagine, 20 years ago, there was Soviet Union which its system which was developing for 70 years. You know, people were brought up in this system. I was brought up in this system. My sons, they were brought up in this system. So it was a complete collapse of all the values then, you know, our society had. And to introduce new system, no institutional reforms, both political, legal, et cetera, it needs time. Yes, we were angry with everything which occurred in Moscow. And you know, that's possibly were the first time when the president of Russian Federation met with oppositional leaders to express his own opinion about that. And when, you know, Mr. Medvedev, he's talking about legal society, law enforcement instruments, he is talking openly, and he is talking frankly. So that is true. Yes, we need time to change the system, to improve the society. But you know, the most difficult part in all reforms that are the reforms in the heads, in the brains of the people, not in the railways, not in the political institutions, in the brains. MODERATOR: Russian democracy. What, in your opinion, is the state of democracy in Russia? YAKUNIN: Listen, this is always questionable, because when we're using the same words, sometimes we understand differently the meaning of the words. The brilliant example is the word "friendship" meaning in Russian and "friendship" meaning in English. The same can be applied to the understanding of the state of democracy. Listen, say, it was 1978 when a special lecturer from the original -- (inaudible) -- discussed with the young people the matters of social-political status in then-Soviet Union. And he told the audience -- I remember his words very well. If the party and the government would not take the efforts, in 10 years, Soviet Union would face a major political and socioeconomical crisis. We need to change social-political system. That was a representative of the party talking to young people. At that time, all the fighters for the freedom in the Soviet Union, they just didn't know even the words of this type. So could it be named "democracy" at that time? Possibly, yes. But at that time, the understanding of democracy was completely different. Nowadays, I suppose the situation in Russia changed greatly. You, who visited Moscow, who visited St. Petersburg, you can observe it with your own eyes. But can we say that the society is happy? I don't think so. I don't think so. Because in every society, the understanding of democracy is going along with the understanding of the self-esteem of the people, if you know what I mean. If they don't have food to feed their kids, they don't care about, you know, the human values, because they need to people. And trust me, in Russia, we can find those kind of villages, not even just the families, villages we can find. At the same time, the development of the Parliament, the development of the electoral system, the development of communications between the government and society, between the government and business, those are the features of a democratic society. So the answer is complex and difficult. You know, I cannot say. You Americans, you come to Russia, you will see it, a completely, you know, refurbished democratic society. That won't be true. But at the same time, I would say, if you come to Russia, you see a new society with new people who are reaching to achieve better life, who are wishing to achieve better status. And for Russians, it's very essential that they would like to see the state also, you know, a respect for state. This is very essential. We still have these kind of sentiments. Doesn't matter. You know, elderly persons or young persons, if they think, they would feel the same. MODERATOR: Thank you. We have time to take questions now from the floor. So I'd ask if you could state your name and your affiliation. A microphone will be coming your way if you raise your hand. In the back. QUESTIONER: Hi. Thank you. My name is Riva Froymovich. I'm a reporter for Dow Jones. I want to ask you about capital-raising plans. YAKUNIN: About? QUESTIONER: Capital-raising plans -- MODERATOR: Capital. QUESTIONER: -- for Russian Railways. I know that you recently issued a bond. I believe there are plans to issue more this year, and there are plans for IPO. Just wondering about the timing and the size. YAKUNIN: I see. Listen, we are quite new company in this field. But I'm proud to state that our debut issue of the bonds in London was quite successful. And we got the demand 50 percent higher in terms of monies than we were planned to do. So we agreed with the board of directors even the raise additional $500 million of the bond. And we got very, very good interest rate for that. Previously, we were taking credits from financial institution in the West because we have, you know, investment rating equal to the sovereign status. And that is just the reflection of the status of the reformation of Russian Railways. As far as IPOs are concerned, we are not planning to go to privatize Russian Railways as the holding. But we have 150 (daughter ?) companies, and we already have a partially privatized company, TransContainer. We are going to go public with first freight company, cargo company. We are going to introduce to the market some other (daughter ?) companies, and that will be our way of getting additional funds from the market, I suppose, for the period of coming two years. Our idea is that we are going to get from the market, get from the private sources, quite a substantial sum of monies to develop infrastructure projects of Russian Railways. As far as IPOs for -- (inaudible) -- as it is, I suppose it is a little bit premature to talk about this because of the crisis. We postponed the entire development of reforms a little bit. We need the restoration of the markets. I'm not going to sell cheap what is actually valuable assets. And that is our attitude. Thank you. MODERATOR: Peter. QUESTIONER: The development of the United States in 19th century, particularly the west, was really a function of the development of the railroads. The Russian far east, undeveloped. What are your plans over the next five years to develop the Russian far east? YAKUNIN: We were the first company to introduce strategic plan for development of Russian Railways up to 2030. We were the only and the first organization in Russia recently to introduce this plan, and this plan was accepted by the government and became the governmental document, if you know what I mean. Now you hardly can find any institution in Russia that doesn't have a plan at least for five or 20 years. So our plan to develop far east consists of -- in terms of Russian Railways, of course -- consists of the need to develop infrastructure just to give access to the distant areas where the major raw material sites are existing. Secondly, we should develop the passenger operations, because now some of the regions of Russia we have no any means of transport communication at all. So recently, the prime minister called me, and he advised me to reconsider the plan to address the need of development of high-speed programs for Far East region and Siberia region. So it will be our plan to develop this communication means of transportation between major cities of Siberia and far east. That is first. Secondly, we are going to develop so-called project of Ural Industrial-Ural Polar. And several days ago, we had a session with the presidential representative Mr. Vinnichenko, discussing this matter together with some major companies in the field of oil production and coal production, et cetera. So that will be the biggest -- the biggest -- enterprise, the biggest program, in my mind, for the last, you know, 25 years, total. So that will be the second. We need to improve communication in the areas of Yakutia. You know, that is a very severe area where the temperature can drop below 40, 50 degrees. And still, Russian Railways, they are operating at these temperatures. So that will be the third. And then, we also have to develop not only Russian Railways, but we have investment fund, and through this investment fund we are going to invest into development of some infrastructure projects which are interested from the point of view of the development of raw material industries and with the period of return much longer than, say, 15 years. So that's more or less, you know, the answer to your question, because it needs much more time. Thank you. QUESTIONER: (Off mike.) Question with regard to China and Russia and exploration of possible areas of cooperation, collaboration, economic development, economic infrastructure development, investment between the two. And related to that, your concerns about the debt crisis in Europe as well as the United States issues related to both. YAKUNIN: Yeah, very interesting question. And I have so many things to answer. But I'll just concentrate on one thing. Firstly, the cooperation between Russia and China doesn't mean the cooperation against somebody. That is finished. In '70s when the Soviet Union was fighting in Afghanistan, your friend was organizing the delivery of the Chinese weaponry to Afghanistan to fight with the Soviet troops. Those years, they've passed. But on the other hand, that is possibly another angle of the view of the issue. Recently, I considered the focus for the development of the economies up to 2050. And the first three economies, they were arranged like this -- China, United States, India, a little bit with a big drop, then Russia, then Brazil, United Kingdom, et cetera. The question is, are the industrial elite of the United States of America and Europe will stand idle, waiting until the Chinese economy will go higher? Because the higher economy, the more politically influential is the state. So the answer for this forecast is not obvious. If everything will develop like that, that will be true. But then suddenly, you know, volcano erupted somewhere, and the entire world, you know, appeared to be too frail. So I don't believe that the industrialized countries, the Big Eight, will just still wait. What is going on in China, and when the China will have upper hand above the economies of entire world? So speaking about cooperation between Russia and China, we are in the same position. I don't think we just should wait until China became the most powerful economical state. We need to develop that kind of cooperation which can increase the ability of the Russian economy to develop at the same time like China's economy. I'm not, you know, leveling the economies of two countries, but I suppose that can be the attitude. QUESTIONER: The issue of corruption and the Russian economy continues to be of great concern to the international investment community. Most recently, there was a lot of concern expressed, not only about the two major wireless licenses that have been handed out, one to Yodo (ph), which seemed to have been done surreptitiously, and then the second, there was supposed to be an open tender, and yet Rostelkom and Svyazinvest wind up with 100 percent of the licensing that was granted. And the latter seemed to violate some of the very rules of the tender. So that simply underscores the continued concern, that the elites continue to gather the key assets for themselves and erode the ability of third parties to come in and compete. And I'm wondering what your observations are on these and why it is, if at all, people should think more positively about the investment climate there. YAKUNIN: Oh, not easy answer for this question. You know, the history of corruption did not start in Russia and possibly will not finish in Russia. And in different aspects, we observe this reflection of human being nature in many countries, in the United States either. All these scandals concerning the derivatives, which are, you know, boiling out now in the professional society in the West just shows that also is the case. But when we are talking about the corruption as a whole in Russia, of course, we need to understand that where is the shortage of something, there is some ways how to overcome this. This is not the mental problem of the society. This is not the problem of the civil servant only. That is the problem; this is the, you know, society disease, if you wish. And when the foreign investor is seeking the possibility to work in some countries, my personal advice is firstly, find a proper partner. You know, when I advised my grown-up kids -- I have two boys -- you know, sometimes I joked, if you would like to know who will be your wife in 20 years, make acquaintance with the prospective mother-in-law. Same with the business. If you would like to see what will be your business, firstly to find and get acquainted with a proper partner in the country. This is not easy question, but that is a question which is openly stated in the society and in the government. It is stated by the president of Russian Federation. And I suppose that the society should get rid of this disease. You know, I know many entrepreneurs from the West. Some of them started operations in Russia at the beginning of Perestroika, 1991. They came through two major crises. They will never leave country. Why? Because they are successful, they are quite profitable, and they don't want to change places. They are living in the environment of Russian Federation. And when Pepsi-Cola was sued for the bribes in Russia many years ago, that was Pepsi-Cola who bribed the authorities of the Soviet Union. When, you know, the head of the biggest company, Simmons, stepped down, that was not due to the fact that he was bad, but because the, you know, American auditors in the amount of (500 ?), they were digging through the, you know, materials, through the balance sheet of this company, finding where they were bribing authorities somewhere in different countries. So I suppose all of us, we need to be honest to answer the question whether we are doing everything to fight the corruption. But the major question is correctly directed to Russians, because that is our country, and we are responsible for everything which is going on there. If you need partner, come. MODERATOR: We have time for one or two more questions before a hard stop at 8:00. QUESTIONER: Hi. It's Mahmoud Mamdani from Morgan Stanley. I'm curious. You talked about the innovation economy as being a critical thing to get right to help get the Russian economy and the people onto the right track in terms of economic development. That sounds a lot like the U.S. plan, you know, we need to do the same thing as all our manufacturing jobs have shifted away. So do you see some areas of cooperation where we can work together since innovation is something that's quite a hallmark in the U.S. and how we might cooperate to help each other get through this in a similar model? YAKUNIN: I suppose the cooperation between two societies, two governments, Russian and America, has a very, very great opportunity. Firstly, mentally and naturally, we are very much alike. You are multinational country, we are multinational country. You have all the possible religions in your country, we have the same. You are big, and we are big. And besides, the scientific schools, they were developing alongside, competing with each other. You know, not only observing, but getting from the other side a lot like Americans from Russians and like Russians from Americans. So even now, for example, in my field already, a new plant was constructed in the Leningrad District in the city of Tikhvin, and this is 100 percent American technology to be brought to the Russian soil to produce (rolling stocks ?) in Russia. First time, I suppose, since the beginning of the Soviet era. We have a lot, you know, in common to cooperate in the airspace field. Mr. Atakov (ph), my deputy, he is an astronaut. He spent eight months in the outer space. He knows it quite better than myself. And he can explain this. And besides, I suppose the fact that we have found absolutely essential to be together, to control the distribution of weapons of mass destruction, to control nuclear energy production and to find new sources of not only energy, but otherwise I suppose that is a great platform to cooperate. And by the way, Morgan Stanley is well aware about the possibilities in Russia. And I suppose we are going along. MODERATOR: One last question. QUESTIONER: (Off mike) -- our president went for the first time to the 9th of May to Russia. And suddenly, there is a warming about Estonia and Russia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia. A few years ago, Estonia was one of the enemies of Russia. Do you think there is a difference now with the neighbors of Russia? You said the railway system will continue developing despite everything. YAKUNIN: Yes, I'll answer. But may I ask you a question as Estonian to Estonian? Do you speak Russian or not? Are you a native? QUESTIONER: (In Russian.) YAKUNIN: Okay. Listen, it is not true to say that Estonians were enemies of Russians. But there are some touchy points which we need to understand. Just imagine, in the United States of America, somebody insulted, kidnapped the citizen of the United States of America, the entire 6th Fleet will go to the place. And I suppose this is right. This is right. The state should defend the interests of the citizens of this country. We were. At the beginning of the ceremonies of the great victory, now the 65th anniversary, and before that it was one year younger. At that period of time, the prime minister of Estonia declared that the monument to the soldiers killed during the World War II should be demolished and replaced. The result was absolutely, absolutely obvious. And they got what they planned to get. There is no enemies like Russians and Estonians. Our mutual enemies are fools, and even more if they are political fools, it's even more dangerous. And you know, the fact that the relations between Russia and the Baltic republics is getting better, that is not only that the president visited Moscow during the (parade ?). He visited our railway conference two months prior to these things. And I was surprised. The president, you know, came to the regional conference of railways, and he stated quite obvious signals, and those signals were delivered to Russia. With the, say, Lithuanians, we have a lot to work together. In Latvia, we also have a common interest. So you know, that was due to the political miscalculations that we were getting apart, maybe with some outside influence. But you know, the fact is, you know, we have all the possibilities of improvement of the relations. And the Baltic republics, they're more greatly tied to the Russian economy than even other republics of the former Soviet Union. MODERATOR: On that note, thank you, Mr. Yakunin, very much. (Applause.) YAKUNIN: Thank you. Okay, thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. (C) COPYRIGHT 2010, FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE, INC., 1000 VERMONT AVE. NW; 5TH FLOOR; WASHINGTON, DC - 20005, USA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ANY REPRODUCTION, REDISTRIBUTION OR RETRANSMISSION IS EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION, REDISTRIBUTION OR RETRANSMISSION CONSTITUTES A MISAPPROPRIATION UNDER APPLICABLE UNFAIR COMPETITION LAW, AND FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE, INC. RESERVES THE RIGHT TO PURSUE ALL REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO IT IN RESPECT TO SUCH MISAPPROPRIATION. FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE, INC. IS A PRIVATE FIRM AND IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. NO COPYRIGHT IS CLAIMED AS TO ANY PART OF THE ORIGINAL WORK PREPARED BY A UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE AS PART OF THAT PERSON'S OFFICIAL DUTIES. FOR INFORMATION ON SUBSCRIBING TO FNS, PLEASE CALL CARINA NYBERG AT 202-347-1400. THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. MODERATOR: I'm told that we've broken a record at the Council on Foreign Relations. This is the longest period a group has waited for an esteemed speaker, so I think that tells us something about our guest today. THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. Read more December 19, 2014 Russia's Ruble Crisis Experts discuss the economic and geopolitical implications of the Russian ruble’s recent plunge. Transcript Experts discuss the economic and geopolitical implications of the Russian ruble’s recent plunge. Terms of Use: I understand that I may access this audio and/or video file solely for my personal use. Any other use of the file and its content, including display, distribution, reproduction, or alteration in any form for any purpose, whether commercial, non commercial, educational, or promotional, is expressly prohibited without the written permission of the copyright owner, the Council on Foreign Relations. For more information, write permissions@cfr.org.

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The boat people of Stamford vs. Ray Dalio's hedge fund John Carney | @carney Monday, 19 Aug 2013 | 12:33 PM ETCNBC.com Raymond "Ray" Dalio It was around 9:38 at night when James Cutler realized that things were not going well. Cutler was standing in front of a stage in the auditorium of the Westover Magnet Elementary School in Stamford, Conn. On the stage, sitting on folding chairs behind uneven tables, sat the planning board of the city of Stamford. Packed into the auditorium were 150 or so Stamford residents. Most of them it seemed, hated Cutler. "Can I please take a few moments to explain?" Cutler asked. "NO!" the folks in the auditorium chairs shouted. Cutler was just a few minutes into explaining to the planning board the designs to build a mammoth headquarters for Bridgewater Associates, "the world's richest and strangest hedge fund" founded by Ray Dalio, one of wealthiest people in the U.S. Cutler, an architect who trained under the legendary Louis Kahn, had meticulously prepared a presentation about the history and environment of the piece of land that Bridgewater would like to use for its new 850,000-square-foot headquarters. The boat people didn't care. They were shouting Cutler down. Boat people? Oh, yes. Boat people. Source: BLT Current site of proposed Bridgewater HQ project The piece of land Bridgewater has selected for its new headquarters is a 14-acre strip jutting into the Long Island Sound. Until recently, it was a boatyard called Brewer Yacht Haven. Then, a couple of years ago, a development company called Building and Land Technology closed the boatyard and tore down the buildings on the property—which outraged Stamford's boat owners and sparked a protest movement called Save Our Boatyard. The boaters lived up to their acronym last Tuesday night. Almost all of those crammed into the auditorium were opponents of Cutler's and Bridgewater's plan for the property. They cheered when opponents of the plan spoke, and jeered during speeches given by city administration officials, architects and developers from a company called BLT, which supports the plan. The leader of the SOBs is a platinum-blond office manager named Maureen Boylan. She describes the fight as "billionaires versus boaters." Think the 1 percent versus the 5 percent. "Do not let this administration or BLT strong-arm you, or buy into their so-called misrepresentation of what this agreement will provide for the city and the taxpayers," Boylan said Tuesday night. The boaters are not, for the most part, yachtsmen. Boylan's boat is pretty representative: A 27-foot "pleasure boat" manufactured by Sea Ray. These vessels are known as day boats. You take them out for a few hours of cruising on the Long Island Sound, perhaps for a bit of fishing. The developers, BLT, have proposed rebuilding the boatyard in another location—a piece of land a bit north of the old Yacht Haven. The land is smaller, and accessible only by navigating up a narrow waterway. The developers say that it is actually a safer place to have a boatyard because it is behind a protective hurricane barrier. Boylan and her fellow SOBs describe it as a "landlocked" property that will never work as a functional boatyard. (Read more: Dalio partner defends 'all weather' portfolio strategy) It's easy to understand the skepticism of the SOBs. An agreement in place since 2007 required the developers to keep the old boatyard intact. But in 2011, they tore it down. A court later issued a cease-and-desist order preventing further work on the property but the damage was already done. Yacht Haven was gone. It's now a dirt patch, fenced off and unused. The SOBs don't trust the folks who tore down their paradise to rebuild it down the shore. It was Cutler who got Bridgewater involved. The architect, who works from Bainbridge Island in Washington's Puget Sound, met Bridgewater founder Dalio some time around 2000. Dalio had been looking for an architect to build a home on a piece of land near Jackson Hole, Wyo. The local architects kept showing him pictures of homes designed by Cutler's firm, Cutler Anderson, so Dalio decided he might as well hire Cutler instead of his imitators. (See also: Dalio says the biggest opportunity will be shorting bonds) The Wyoming house never got built—although Cutler did build a house in Spain for Dalio. Over the following decade, both Bridgewater and Cutler Anderson grew. The architects, who had mostly focused on residential buildings, expanded into designing office buildings. The hedge fund accumulated more than $120 billion in assets under management and thousands of employees. So when Bridgewater wanted to build a new headquarters to replace its current four office locations, Cutler got the call. Cutler and Bridgewater looked at various locations around Connecticut, including others in Stamford. But the 14 acres that had been Yacht Haven were especially attractive to Cutler because they were so polluted. He saw the chance to accomplish a public good—repairing the polluted land and nearby waterways—with Bridgewater's wealth. "It's really the highest public good—healing the land," Cutler said. Source: BLT Rendering of proposed Bridgewater HQ project. Before Yacht Haven, the property was occupied by a shipworks and a coal gasification plant. Pollutants, including arsenic and mercury, contaminated the ground and the water. Cutler joked that if you drank a glass of the water, you'd die of cancer a few days later. Cutler is a hippy. He's got soft, brown eyes and a white beard. His voice is gentle, soothing. He sounds a lot like Bob Ross, the late television landscape painter guy. Cutler moved out to Bainbridge Island to get as far away from Philadelphia, where he went to college and graduate school, as he could. "I was done with urban, with cities," he said. Before he begins to design a building, Cutler engages in what he calls "apprenticing the land." He studies its topography and its history. He walks the land himself, often requiring his clients to accompany him. Dalio and his wife had joined Cutler as he surveyed their Wyoming property. "Before we can love anything, we have to understand its nature. If you love money, it's because you understand its nature. If you love a woman, it's because you understand her nature. If you are going to love a structure and a property, first you have to understand its nature," Cutler said. For the first few minutes of Cutler's presentation, the crowd in the Westover auditorium was captivated. He showed them pictures of what the land looked like during the Colonial era, during the 19th century and early 20th century. He explained its history and how it came to be so polluted. "You have a piece of land here in your city that is going to require an enormous amount of work to heal. It has been damaged by you ... in this city. We have the opportunity to use the resources of Bridgewater to heal the land," Cutler said. That's when they lost it. The shouting started. The SOBs turned on Cutler. The chair of the planning committee, Theresa Dell, told Cutler he would not be allowed to talk about the 14-acre property that Bridgewater wants to use because the official purpose of the meeting was to evaluate the plans for the new boatyard nearby. "He called them murderers, basically," one person at the meeting said. "He accused them of murdering the planet." Cutler tried to sound forgiving. He explained that it was a long time ago when the land was polluted. People had different attitudes. Unfortunately for Cutler, he had lost the room. And, more importantly, Chairwoman Dell. She told him he would not be allowed to proceed if he continued to talk about the former Yacht Haven property. But how could Cutler explain why the new boatyard should be in a different location than the old one without talking about what he had planned for the old property? Nevermind, Dell told him. No more talk about healing the polluted property that had been Yacht Haven. Dell is herself a boat person. One person familiar with the matter says she owns a boat and has "diamond-encrusted, anchor-shaped earrings." (Dell didn't return a phone call to her home number, so I can't confirm this.) "It was shocking. It was the worst I've ever been treated in 20 years of public meetings. If I were a different kind of person, I would be angry," Cutler said afterward. (Read more: A big Bridgewater fund is under the weather) Cutler never got to explain his design for the Bridgewater "campus." It includes two buildings separated by an interior courtyard and surrounded by a public park. The green rooftops will make the buildings invisible from the sky. And mirrors on the walls around the courtyard will disguise the buildings, reflecting only images of nearby trees, so that until you are actually in the buildings you won't see them. Instead, Cutler was told to sit down. He was followed by a stream of dozens of SOBs. Boylan was their leadoff batter, followed by Penney Burnett, who warned that hedge funds "don't last long." She is on the official list of Bernard Madoff's victims, so it's easy to see why she distrusts hedge funds. Then on and on it went, until around 11:30 at night. And it's not over. The board will meet again next week to hear additional speakers—most of whom are expected to oppose the development plans. Bridgewater is attempting to stay out of the fight, for now. A spokesperson said that the company is "excited about the prospect" of building a new headquarters but continues to evaluate "outstanding issues." No one from Bridgewater spoke at the meeting, although there were a couple of people from the hedge fund in attendance. When Cutler had dinner with Dalio recently, the two men only discussed the headquarters project for "about 45 seconds," according to Cutler. "It's not something Ray is obsessing about. He's a busy guy with a lot on his mind," Cutler said. A person familiar with the matter said that Bridgewater is "hedging its bets" and looking at different properties, just in case the Stamford location doesn't work out. Some people backing the project believe that it will win approval from the planning board despite the vocal opposition. Cutler's not coming back for the next meeting, scheduled for Aug. 20. He said he has prior commitments. But even if he was free, who would blame him for not wanting to climb back into the water with the boat people of Stamford? —By CNBC's John Carney. Follow him on Twitter @Carney John CarneySenior Editor, CNBC.com

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