Greece debt cut Europe's biggest banks hit

 

The banking industry has described its agreement with Greece to cut its debts as "unprecedented". A group of banks and other investors in Greek government debt have agreed to exchange their debt for new bonds that are worth much less and pay a modest rate of interest. Including the reduced interest rate, the losses to the banking industry are more than 70%. For some of Europe's biggest banks, that means heavy losses. "The losses are going to be substantial, but they are contained and there's a longer-term benefit for the system in having a core group of investors sit down across the table and coming together," said Charles Dallara, managing director of the Institute for International Finance, which negotiated on behalf of the banking industry. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote In the long and tawdry history of governments borrowing more than they can afford, this represents a remarkably huge, unprecedented write-off” Robert Peston Business editor, BBC News More from Robert It is perhaps no great surprise that Greek banks are the most exposed to Greek debt. According to Barclays Capital, the top two holders of Greek debt are National Bank of Greece, with 13.2bn euros ($17.5bn), and Eurobank EFG, which holds 7.3bn euros ($9.7bn). Once the bond exchange is completed, those holdings will be worth less than half their current value, and if you include future interest payments, worth 70% less. Outside Greece, French and German banks hold the most Greek debt. The last bailout? Many foreign banks have already accepted that their investments in Greece are now worth just a fraction of their original value, irrespective of the latest deal. In its most recent set of results, France's BNP Paribas, the biggest owner of Greek debt outside Greece, said that it had written down the value of its Greek debt by 75% on its balance sheet. And according to the Barclays report, Commerzbank is the biggest holder of Greek debt among Germany's banks. Its holdings of government debt have complicated its efforts to raise new finance to boost its balance sheet. For the average investors, the effect of Tuesday's bailout is limited. Most insurance companies and investment firms have little or no exposure to Greece. Some hedge funds have built up their holdings in Greek debt, but it is likely to be a relatively small amount, perhaps less than five billion euros. It is thought some will refuse to sign up to the bailout deal and hope to be repaid in full. Analysts are now wondering whether the latest deal will be enough. The Greek economy is in recession, making it even more difficult for the nation to pay its debts. "The debt sustainability analysis is much worse than people were expecting," said Laurent Fransolet, head of fixed-income strategy research at Barclays Capital. "It's ambitious and we cannot be sure this is the last bailout. Does it buy a bit more time? Yes. But the next one will have to involve the official sector much more."

Bank tax dodges halted by retrospective law

 

A bank in the UK has been forced to pay more than half a billion pounds in tax which it had dodged by using "highly abusive" tax avoidance schemes. One tax dodge involved the bank claiming it should not have to pay corporation tax on profits made when buying back its own IOUs. The government said it would change the law retrospectively and immediately to stop anyone else using the scheme. The identity of the bank has so far not been revealed. Announcing the crackdown, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, said the bank should never have devised the schemes in the first place. "The bank that disclosed these schemes to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has adopted the Banking Code of Practice on Taxation which contains a commitment not to engage in tax avoidance," he said. "The government is clear that these are not transactions that a bank that has adopted the code should be undertaking. "We do not take today's action lightly, but the potential tax loss from this scheme and the history of previous abuse in this area mean that this is a circumstance where the decision to change the law with full retrospective effect is justified," he added. The second tax avoidance scheme, designed by the same bank, involved investment funds claiming that non-taxable income entitled the funds to tax credits that could be reclaimed from HMRC. The Treasury described this as "an attempt to secure 'repayment' from the Exchequer of tax that has not been paid". Compulsory notification A Treasury source suggested that outlawing the tax dodges immediately would save the government a further £2bn in tax that would otherwise have been foregone. The bank in question in fact disclosed the two schemes to the tax authorities under rules which have been in place since 2004. Anyone, such as a bank, accountant, lawyer or tax adviser, who devises a seemingly legal tax avoidance plan, is obliged to tell the tax authorities about it within a few days of using it or marketing it to clients. More than 2,000 schemes have been disclosed in the past eight years. "Quite a few of the disclosures have come from banks in the past," said John Whiting, of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT). "They are usually intended to sell to others such as clients." New code The banking code on taxation was first introduced by the Labour government in June 2009. It followed reports that some big banks used large scale tax avoidance schemes involving complex transactions and financial instruments. The code - which was supported by the incoming coalition government the following year - demands that banks which sign ensure that their tax and the tax obligations of their customers are observed. It says they should not go out of their way to avoid tax for themselves or clients. The 15 biggest banks operating in the UK have signed up. 'Treated even-handedly' In a separate development, HMRC said it would appoint a senior official to act as an "assurance commissioner" for any tax deals struck with big companies for more than £100m. The job of the commissioner will be to make sure taxpayers in general do not suffer from any such settlements. The move follows severe criticism last December from MPs on the public accounts committee who denounced HMRC for appearing to cut contentious tax deals with companies such as Vodafone and Goldman Sachs. Lin Homer, the new HMRC chief executive said: "This commissioner will take the role of challenging whether any proposed settlement secured the correct amount of tax efficiently and that taxpayers had been treated even-handedly." "The commissioner will also make sure that the governance procedures have been followed," she added.

The daily Sun had systematically paid large sums of money to “a network of corrupted officials” in the British police, military and government.

A day after presiding over the publication of his new, damn-the-critics Sun on Sunday tabloid, Rupert Murdoch was confronted with fresh allegations from a top police investigator that the daily Sun had systematically paid large sums of money to “a network of corrupted officials” in the British police, military and government. Connect With Us on Twitter Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines. Twitter List: Reporters and Editors Readers’ Comments Share your thoughts. Post a Comment » Read All Comments (130) » The allegations, part of a deepening criminal probe into The Sun and Mr. Murdoch’s defunct News of the World, highlight the challenges to Mr. Murdoch and his News Corporation as he seeks to minimize the threat to his British media holdings. They also cast a harsh spotlight on the freewheeling pay-for-information culture of the British media. In public testimony on Monday, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, who is leading the criminal investigation into Mr. Murdoch’s newspapers, said The Sun, long a source of special pride and attention for Mr. Murdoch, had illegally paid the unidentified officials hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for news tips and “salacious gossip.” She said the payments had been authorized “at a very senior level within the newspaper.” Her comments, unusual during a continuing criminal inquiry, directly undercut Mr. Murdoch’s campaign of support for the embattled newspaper. On Feb. 17, the 80-year-old Mr. Murdoch made a grand entrance into the Sun newsroom, where, marching around in shirtsleeves, he vowed to reinstate journalists suspended in the criminal investigation, offered to pay their legal bills, issued a robust statement about the paper’s probity and announced that he was defying conventional industry wisdom by starting a Sunday issue. Ms. Akers said illegal activities had been rife at the paper. “There appears to have been a culture at The Sun of illegal payments, and systems have been created to facilitate such payments whilst hiding the identity of the officials receiving the money,” she told the Leveson Inquiry on media ethics and practices, led by Lord Justice Leveson. The payments involved “frequent and sometimes significant sums of money” to public officials, she said. In a statement, Mr. Murdoch said that “the practices Sue Akers described at the Leveson Inquiry are ones of the past, and no longer exist at The Sun.” He remained publicly bullish, helping promote the new Sun on Sunday in newspaper stores and announcing on Twitter that it had sold 3.26 million copies. In another blow to Mr. Murdoch, related this time to The News of the World, a lawyer for the Leveson Inquiry said Rebekah Brooks, a former Murdoch executive, was apparently informed by the police in 2006 that detectives had evidence that the cellphones of dozens of celebrities, politicians and sports figures had been illegally hacked by an investigator working for the newspaper. The disclosure, contained in a September 2006 e-mail from a company lawyer to the editor of The News of the World, Andy Coulson, is highly significant. Until late in 2010, Mrs. Brooks, Mr. Coulson and other officials at News International, the British newspaper arm of News Corporation, repeatedly asserted that the hacking had been limited to a single “rogue reporter” — the paper’s royal correspondent, Clive Goodman. The assertion was rendered implausible, at best, by the fact that the police had information that so many hacking victims existed, and that so few of them had anything to do with the royal family. Monday’s disclosures could not have come at a more inopportune time for Mr. Murdoch. In recent weeks, morale at The Sun hit a low point after a number of senior editors and reporters were arrested on suspicion of illegally paying sources. At the same time, journalists at The Sun and elsewhere released a stream of angry attacks at the police, saying the investigation had gone too far and was targeting reporters for what they said was normal behavior in the British tabloid press like taking sources out to lunch or paying whistle-blowers. “The Sun journalists who have been arrested are not accused of enriching themselves — they were simply researching stories about scandals at hospitals, scandals at army bases and scandals in police stations that they believed their readers were entitled to know about,” Kelvin Mackenzie, a former editor of The Sun, wrote in The Daily Mail. “If the whistle-blower asks for money, so what?” The Metropolitan Police Service’s highly unusual decision to release specific details of a continuing investigation seemed designed to rebut such criticism. “The cases we are investigating are not ones involving the odd drink, or meal, to police officers or other public officials,” Ms. Akers said. “Instead, these are cases in which arrests have been made involving the delivery of regular, frequent and sometimes significant sums of money to small numbers of public officials by journalists.”

European court rules against Italy for expelling migrants

European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday ruled that Italy had violated it human rights obligations when it deported a group of African migrants intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea to Libya in 2009. The decision delivered in Strasbourg by 17 judges of the court was described as a 'landmark' by the United Nation's Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and was also welcomed by several rights groups in Italy and elsewhere. Italy's International Cooperation Minister, Andrea Riccardi, said that the ruling would force Italy to 'think and rethink our policies towards migration.' The case concerned 24 Somalis and Eritreans who were in a group of 200 migrants intercepted by the Italian Coast Guard 35 nautical miles from the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Belarus fights Europe to retain death penalty

Belarusian MPs have blasted a recent resolution of the European Parliament on death penalty in Belarus as an attempt to interfere in the country’s internal affairs. The Belarusian parliamentary commission on international affairs has issued an official statement saying that the European Parliament’s resolution on the death penalty in Belarus was a continuation of the practice of pressuring Belarusian authorities and meddling with the country’s internal affairs. Additionally, the Belarusian side noted that from the text of the resolution they could draw a conclusion that the European side did not pay much attention to the credibility of facts and the logic of conclusions. In particular, the Belarusian parliamentarians criticized the fact that the case of Metro bombers Konovalov and Kovalyov, mentioned in the resolution, is called unjust, despite of the fact that the trial in the case was open to the maximum and well-covered by the media. The Belarusian politicians also expressed surprise over the fact that their country was called the Belarusian Federation in the European Parliament’s resolution, while its official name is Republic of Belarus. However, the text of the resolution posted on the European Parliament’s website in English uses the correct name. Belarusian MPs stressed that the use of capital punishment in their country is not against international norms and its use is extremely limited, and in practice happens only in extraordinary cases. The ban on capital punishment is the internal affair of the Republic of Belarus and can only be made with consideration of the Belarusian society’s opinion, the politicians said.

Fishing skippers fined £720,000

 

Seventeen skippers behind one of Scotland's biggest fishing scams have been fined a total of £720,000. The group admitted making illegal landings of mackerel and herring worth £47.5 million between January 1 2002 and March 19 2005. The "black fish" scam, which broke sea fishing laws, was carried out at fish processing factory Shetland Catch in Lerwick, Shetland. Judge Lord Turnbull said the scam is "an episode of shame" for the pelagic fishing industry. He said it was a "cynical and sophisticated" operation which had the "connivance of a number of different interested parties". Hamish Slater, 53, and Alexander Masson, 66, both from Fraserburgh, were fined a respective £80,000 and £50,000, while Alexander Wiseman, 60, from Banff, was also fined £50,000. Another 13 men from Shetland were fined for their role in the scam. Robert Polson, 48, was fined £70,000; John Irvine, 68, was fined £80,000; William Williamson, 65, was fined £45,000; Laurence Irvine, 66, was fined £80,000; and David Hutchison, 66, was fined £40,000, as was 56-year-old Thomas Eunson. Both Allister Irvine, 63, and Gary Williamson, 52, were fined £35,000; and George Henry, 60, was fined £12,000. John Stewart, 57, was ordered to pay £15,000, while George Anderson, 56, must pay £12,000. Colin Leask, 39, and Allen Anderson, 55, were each fined £3,000 A £70,000 fine was imposed on Victor Buchini, 51, from Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire. The company Alexander Buchan was fined £240,000 for helping the vessel masters land the undeclared fish. The pelagic fishermen, who committed the offences to evade the annual EU fishing quota, had already been ordered to hand over almost £3 million in confiscation orders at a previous court hearing. The convictions came as the result of a seven-year investigation, Operation Trawler, after the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA), now Marine Scotland, became suspicious about widespread illegal landing of fish within the pelagic fleet. Pelagic fish are those which swim near the water's surface. Auditors KPMG reviewed Shetland Catch and found that between January 1 2002 and March 28 2004, the company's earnings were not supported by its declared landings. The company premises were searched on September 27 2005 and officials found that scales used to weigh fish coming into the factory had been manipulated to provide false weights. Management were able to input fake wastage figures into a computer in the main factory, accessible to inspectors from the SFPA, which would be deducted from the actual weight shown on the screen. The proper weight was displayed on screens in the engineer's room and in a loft area, both of which were off-limits to SFPA officials. The computer in the loft area was where the weight manipulation took place. It could be accessed remotely by two members of staff, a fish buyer and the then assisting managing director, using a username and password, allowing them to program it to provide false weights. Lord Turnbull said the proceedings brought "embarrassment and shame" to the skippers and their families. He said: "All of the accused who appear today have spent their working lives as productive and hard-working members of our community. Barring other regulatory infringements, not a single one has ever come into any conflict with the law. "It was not surprising therefore to hear of the well-respected positions within their communities which many held and of the embarrassment and shame which these proceedings have brought to them personally and to their families." The judge said the fishing industry "makes a crucial contribution" to the well-being of many communities and to the economy of the country as a whole. He added: "There would of course be no fishing industry were it not for the willingness of fishermen to go to sea. It is correct to acknowledge that in doing so,fishermen require to cope with challenging circumstances of isolation from family members and often with dangerous and frightening weather conditions, the likes of which will be wholly unfamiliar to others with more conventional working environments. "Over the history of the fishing industry and even in recent times in Scotland, tragedy has often visited the families of those who spend their working lives at sea." The judge also noted that each master involved "made no attempt" to disguise their true income from the fish and paid income tax on both the declared and undeclared landings. But he said the men had all participated in "a deliberate and calculated determination to evade the quota levels for fishing available to each vessel" for "purely financial" reasons. He said: "The system through which this was achieved was both cynical and sophisticated and involved the connivance of a number of different interested parties, some of whom have benefited but have not been prosecuted. "The extent to which landings of fish were deliberately under-declared was at times truly staggering and in the case of some of the accused concerned, took place continuously over a three-year period. "What I found to be noteworthy was that no understandable explanation was provided on behalf of any the vessel masters as to why this practice was commenced or continued with. "No one for example appears to have engaged in this exercise on account of struggling to cope financially with the costs of continued fishing within the quota levels allocated. "Indeed, in contrast to some within the fishing industry, those engaged in fishing with the pelagic fleet appear to have been able to make very substantial sums over many years, providing very comfortable livings for themselves and their families. "In short then, and as was conceded by at least some of those who appeared before me, the motivation for the sustained furnishing of false information was purely financial. Those who were already making a good living saw this as a way in which more income could be generated. "No doubt the fact that so many were involved lent a veneer of acceptability to the conduct but there is another side to that as well: the fact that so many were prepared to participate in deliberate lies and falsehood means that the desire for financial benefit was able to overshadow the instincts of fairness, truthfulness and responsibility which will have influenced every other aspect of the lives of those concerned and which values they would expect to see others, including their own family members, abide by. "The result is an episode of shame for much of the whole pelagic fishing industry. "I have however accepted in each case that these proceedings have been responded to responsibly and that those concerned regret their involvement and the embarrassment which has been brought to them personally and to their families." The men had previously been subjected to a reduced quota of fish to "balance out" the environmental effect of years of overfishing. But the judge insisted that this was not a punishment but an "exercise in conservation". He said: "I do not accept that the accused in this case have lost out or have been made worse off as a consequence of these arrangements. I accept as accurate the observation that looking back with hindsight had they never over-fished at all then they would have achieved a greater income over the extended period than they in fact have. "That is due to the massive increase in the prices obtained for the type of fish with which I am concerned in the period since 2002. That however is no more than an irony of the situation. It does not reflect any actual loss to those concerned. In fact, as a consequence of the increased value of the fish, those involved have still been able to generate very substantial incomes, despite being restricted to catching a smaller quantity. "If the current prices remain stable then when the quota deduction arrangements have been exhausted, they will be in a position to increase that income even further." He also referred to "activities of foreign fishing vessels" in exceeding fishing quotas. The judge said: "If there is an imbalance in the approach of the relevant authorities within the European Union, that is a matter for the relevant ministers to raise with their counterparts. "If vessels belonging to states outwith the European Union are thought to enjoy some inappropriate benefit or are not thought to be complying with their responsibilities concerning stock conservation, that is a matter to be addressed at governmental or international level. "I am dealing with the contravention of a law of this country which was introduced to ensure compliance with the international obligation which the United Kingdom had entered into. "I am entitled to treat that contravention as a serious matter regardless of how it might be thought that similar conduct would be or has been responded to elsewhere." Three more fishermen pleaded guilty today in a separate case but which was part of the same investigation. James Smith, 54, from Fraserburgh, John Smith, 36, from Peterhead and Stephen Bellamy, 59, from Fraserburgh all admitted landing undeclared fish at Fresh Catch in Peterhead and at Shetland Catch in Lerwick. Sentencing was deferred to May 18. An inspection in November 2005 at the Alexander Buchan firm detected an unofficial weigh belt fitted with "load cells" to the conveyor belt system at the point where fish entered the factory. The cells are used to detect the weight of fish passing over the belt. A deflector plate had been used on the unofficial weigh belt, allowing the fish to drop off part of the way along the official scales. As the fish did not travel over the full area, a lower weight was achieved on the counter. This method is said to have allowed up to 70% of a total landing to go unrecorded. Alexander Buchan, which is no longer trading, has already been ordered to pay £165,000 in a confiscation order. A third fish processing factory, Fresh Catch, also admitted helping vessel masters land undeclared fish between October 20 2002 and September 2 2005 at its premises in Kirk Square near Peterhead. Skippers Ernest Simpson, 64, from Fraserburgh, Allan Simpson, 42, from Fraserburgh, and Oswald McRonald, 63, from Banff, pleaded guilty at the High Court in Glasgow today to landing undeclared fish at the factory. Their sentences were also deferred until May 18. Fresh Catch was audited by KPMG during the same period as Shetland Catch and it too was found to have earnings unsupported by official landing figures. At the factory, fish entered via a delivery pipe which went up and over the building. However, a search of the premises in September 2005 uncovered a purpose-built pipe, leading underground, was also connected. This second pipe bypassed the official weigh scale. Knife valves were used to divert the fish when they came to a T-junction, allowing fish to be sent to another part of the factory and was never weighed or officially accounted for. In 2005 the two valves become remote controlled and the direction the fish took at the junction depended on which one was open or closed. Fresh Catch only became significantly operational at around the time the scam began. Cephas Ralph, head of compliance at Marine Scotland, said the divert pipe "certainly served no other purpose" and that "it wasn't put there by accident". All three factories were prosecuted out of Operation Trawler which started in 2005. However, nothing suggested any of the plants were linked. At the time of the undeclared landings, Shetland Catch was the largest pelagic fish processing operator in Scotland and one of the largest in Europe. It was able to process and freeze up to 1,000 tonnes of fish a day. EU regulations state that when a vessel reaches its quota, it has the option to either stop fishing or to buy some of another vessel's quota which has not yet been reached. Any vessel which exceeds its quota faces disciplinary action. When the investigation started 26 vessels were in the pelagic fleet, with eight pelagic fish processing factories. More than half (15) of those boats have been prosecuted. Mr Ralph said the investigation had an immediate effect on the entire industry and that Marine Scotland is now satisfied that legislation is in place to ensure a similar scam does not happen again. He said: "Since 2005 we detected a change which spilled out beyond the pelagic industry. It is more important to the vessels to have a good reputation. "It is fair to say we are satisfied that we have inspection procedures, legislation, a mindset in place in the industry that means if such activity was to recommence, it would be quickly detected and dealt with. "We have not had anything similar since these cases and all our intelligence suggests that no similar activities are taking place." Afterwards Lindsey Miller, head of the serious and organised crime division of the Crown Office, said: "Organised crime takes many forms. These individuals may not have been involved in drug dealing or prostitution but let us make no mistake that they were involved in significant and serious organised criminality." She added: "The legislation is there to protect the marine environment for the good of all and to safeguard the future of the fishing industry. These men disregarded it for their own financial gain and, in a clear example of successful working between the law enforcement agencies involved, have now been brought to justice and made to pay for their crimes." The police investigation was led by Detective Superintendent Gordon Gibson of Grampian Police who said the scale of the crime is of "a level rarely seen before". The men involved "amassed huge sums of money through their own greed and today this caught up with them in a court of law", he added. Meanwhile, Cephas Ralph said: "Today's successful court activity is an outcome that reflects the professionalism, dedication and commitment shown by all of the Marine Scotland staff who have been involved in this inquiry. "It has not been an easy task but they have worked tirelessly to help secure the convictions obtained in these important cases." Scottish Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead paid tribute to the police and Marine Scotland for their efforts in "a long and vastly complicated inquiry". He said: "There is no doubt that these illegal activities are a stark and shameful reminder of the culture that existed in some sectors of the fishing industry in past years. But they do not reflect the much-improved culture we see today. "The offences date back up to a decade ago and thankfully there has been seismic change in the attitude and behaviour of the fishing fleet, which can only be good thing in securing a viable future for the industry in Scotland." He also said: "There have been significant advances in recent years in how fish landings are monitored and controlled, including comprehensive audits and certified weighing systems." Dr Mireille Thom, senior marine policy officer at WWF Scotland, said ignoring quotas "isn't a victim-less offence" because "such landings not only undermine the conservation of fish stocks and the fortune of the fleets that fish them, they also distort competition by depressing fish prices. In short, they threaten the public good for the benefit of a few".

MEP arrested on suspicion of European parliament fraud conspiracy

MEP has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud the European parliament. West Midlands MEP Nikki Sinclaire, 43, was arrested along with three of her staff on Wednesday, according to another MEP for the West Midlands, Mike Nattrass of Ukip. West Midlands police confirmed a 43-year-old woman was arrested at a police station in Birmingham along with three other people on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud the European parliament. Two women aged 55 and 39 and a 19-year-old man were arrested at addresses in Solihull, Worcester and Birmingham and were taken to a police station for questioning on Wednesday. Searches were carried out at the addresses of the four people by officers investigating an allegation made in 2010 regarding allowances and expenses, a police spokeswoman said. All four were later released on police bail, she added. On her Twitter account, a spokesman for Sinclaire said the MEP attended the police station in Birmingham voluntarily and co-operated fully with the police. "This is particularly frustrating to Ms Sinclaire who is eager to clear her name and has nothing to hide," said another tweet. The MEP "disputes all allegations put towards her or her staff" the tweets said. Sinclaire and her office would continue to "fully co-operate with the police on this matter". In a statement, Ukip said Sinclaire, who formerly represented the party in the seat, ceased to be an MEP for the party in 2010. "It would be inappropriate for the party to make any comment during the process of an ongoing police inquiry," Ukip's statement said.

Oscars warn Baron Cohen against red carpet stunt

 

Oscars organizers have warned flamboyant British actor-comedian Sacha Baron Cohen not to try to pull a stunt at this weekend's Academy Awards show, but said he is not banned from attending. The Hollywood Reporter cited sources as saying the star has told Paramount, the studio behind his latest movie "The Dictator," that he plans to turn up on the Oscars red carpet in full bearded, uniformed character Sunday. Reports suggested that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had banned the "Ali G," "Borat" and "Bruno" star altogether, but a spokeswoman denied this Thursday. "The Academy would love to have Sacha at the show. We've let him know how we feel about using the red carpet for a movie stunt and we're waiting to hear from him," she told AFP. Baron Cohen, who is in Martin Scorsese's 11-times Oscar-nominated movie "Hugo," has a history of colorful stunts: in 2006 he turned up at the Toronto film festival in a cart pulled by a "peasant woman" to promote Borat. At the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, he descended from the ceiling on a harness dressed as an angel, eventually crashing into Eminem's lap, his buttocks in the rapper's face. Eminem voiced outrage, although it later emerged that the two men had organized the stunt in advance. In "The Dictator," due out in May in the United States, Baron Cohen plays the lead role in "the heroic story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed." A representative for Baron Cohen did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the story.

Murdoch slashes price for new Sunday tabloid

 

Rupert Murdoch on Thursday fired the opening shot in his battle to reclaim Britain's Sunday newspaper market by announcing his newly launched publication would be half the price of his previous title. The 80-year-old tycoon took to microblogging website Twitter to reveal: "Regular Sunday price for The Sun only 50p -- and Saturday's Sun going down to 50p too! Great news for readers and the economy." Murdoch's News of the World -- the Sunday tabloid which shut seven months ago over the phone-hacking scandal -- cost one pound ($1.57, 1.18 euros), the same cover price as rivals the Sunday Mirror and The People. The 50 percent price cut announced for The Sun on Sunday, which will hit the stands this weekend, signals the Australian-born businessman's hunger to once again own the top-selling Sunday newspaper. The News of the World dominated the country's Sunday market with sales averaging 2.67 million when Murdoch took the decision to close it in July last year. Publisher News International said the US-based mogul would be in London to oversee the launch this Sunday and confirmed that the editor of the weekday paper, Dominic Mohan, would also edit the Sun on Sunday. Murdoch flew in to Britain last week to announce the creation of the new paper and to promise demoralised staff he would stand by them despite the arrest of senior Sun journalists over bribery allegations.

Labour suspends MP Eric Joyce after Commons 'assault'

 

Labour MP Eric Joyce has been suspended from the party after he was arrested over allegations of an assault in a House of Commons bar. Police were called after reports of a disturbance on Wednesday night. Mr Joyce, 51, remains MP for Falkirk but cannot take the Labour whip until the police investigation ends. Speaker John Bercow has said he takes the matter "very seriously". The Conservative MP for Pudsey Stuart Andrew has alleged he was assaulted. The BBC understands officers involved in the investigation returned to the Commons on Thursday evening. The disturbance is believed to have happened in the Strangers Bar, which is reserved for MPs and their guests. Mr Andrew was in the bar following a Commons event organised by his Conservative colleague Andrew Percy, for the Speaker of the Canadian Parliament. 'Extremely serious' A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We were called at approximately 10.50pm last night to reports of a disturbance at a bar within the House of Commons. "A man aged in his 50s was arrested by officers on suspicion of assault. He remains in custody in a central London police station. Inquiries are continuing." A Labour Party spokesman said: "This is an extremely serious incident. We have suspended Eric Joyce pending the results of the police investigation." In the Commons, Speaker John Bercow said: "Members will be aware of reports of a serious incident in the House last night. I have been informed by the Serjeant at Arms that the honourable member for Falkirk has been detained in police custody. "The matter is being investigated. I take this matter very seriously, as do the House authorities." Mr Joyce was elected in a by-election in December 2000 and has served as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to a number of government ministers since 2003. He was PPS to the then defence secretary Bob Ainsworth until 2009, and prior to that had been a parliamentary aide to John Hutton, Mike O'Brien and Margaret Hodge.

A4e boss Emma Harrison to step down from government role

 

Emma Harrison, David Cameron's "families tsar", is to stand aside from the role in the wake of revelations that former employees of her firm A4e are subject to police investigations over alleged frauds. She has written to the prime minister saying she believes she should stand aside. Number 10 had been signalling for more than 48 hours that it was extremely concerned by the allegations and would ask her to stand aside from the role. "I have asked to step aside from my voluntary role as Family Champion as I do not want the current media environment to distract from the very important work with troubled families," she said. "I remain passionate about helping troubled families and I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute in an area where I have been active for many years." Her role has always seemed more titular than real with the bulk of the efforts on troubled families now being taken over by Louise Casey at the communities department. Harrison's A4e volunteered details of two investigations as it tried to counter claims that it was involved in "systemic" abuse of taxpayer-funded contracts. The government has said the bulk of the inquiries covered problems with the previous government's back-to-work programmes. The Department for Work and Pensions revealed it had launched nine fraud investigations into the firm in recent years. The prime minister appointed Harrison in 2010 to help get 120,000 "problem families" into work. A4e earned £180m from state contracts last year, when Harrison paid herself a dividend of £8.6m, despite the firm's failure to meet government targets on finding jobs for the unemployed.

Barclays clocks up 1,500 complaints a day

 

Barclays has been clocking up over 1,500 complaints a day as its staff share £2.5billion bonuses. The bank had 281,484 customer gripes between July and December – up 12% on the first half of 2011. It blamed the surge on claims for mis-sold payment protection insurance. An ­Independent Banking ­Advisory Service spokesman said: “It’s coming back to bite them – although not quickly enough in our view.” All banks have to report complaints data for the second half of 2011 to the City watchdog the Financial Services Authority by the end of February. Barclays, which published its figures in advance, said PPI complaints hit nearly 123,000 between July and December - up by 67% from the first six months and double the number for the second half of 2010. Excluding PPI, total complaints dropped by 11% to 158,492 in the second half, or 336,363 for 2011 as a whole. Antony Jenkins, chief executive of Barclays Retail, said: “We can and will do more to improve service and go further and faster to drive down complaints. “We are aiming for further reductions in underlying complaints in the first half of 2012 as we continue on our journey to get it right first time, every time.” Eddy Weatherill, of the Independent Banking Advisory Service, said: “Barclays made a lot of profit from selling PPI and now it’s coming back to bite them. although not quickly enough in our view. “But I don’t think any of the banks are doing well on the complaints front, particularly when it comes to small businesses. “They have tried to ring every penny out of customers but, because of a lack of competition, people haven’t got decent choice when it comes to moving account.”

Indonesia moves foreigners out of riot-hit prison

 

Indonesia started moving foreign inmates, women and children out of an overcrowded prison on Bali island Thursday after two days of rioting, officials said, as troops backed by water canons and armored vehicles surrounded the tense facility. Schapelle Corby and several other Australians serving time for drug trafficking balked at the transfer because of the difficulty adjusting to a new place, said Bambang Krisbanu, a security official at the justice ministry. He said evacuations would be voluntary, but other officials later said the evacuations would apply to all those selected — about 60 foreigners, 120 women and 13 children. The violence that erupted late Tuesday at the Kerobokan jail — which houses more than 1,000 drug traffickers, sex offenders and other violent criminals — was triggered by the stabbing of an inmate during a brawl a week ago. The prisoners blamed lax security for allowing a knife into the prison. By Wednesday night, the inmates had chased away all 13 guards and seized full control of the compound, said Beny Arjanto, the local police chief. Some climbed to the top of the watch tower and started throwing rocks and a Molotov cocktail at more than 500 soldiers and police stationed outside. Others tried to break down the front gates. Troops responded by firing tear gas and shots in the air. Others stormed the facility, but they were forced back out 10 minutes later, said Arjanto. A few inmates have been injured, he said, but none of them seriously. The decision to relocate foreigners, women and children to another prison was made as it became clear Thursday that tensions were not going to ease anytime soon. "We want to evacuate them immediately for their own safety," said Col. Wing Handoko, a military spokesman. "We need to make sure they aren't used by other prisoners to get international attention or as bargaining chips for their demands. "We don't want them to be taken hostage." Though he would not say exactly where they would go, another police officer told The Associated Press they were heading for Klungkung, a jail about 40 miles (70 kilometers) away. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the media. The Kerobokan prison about 20 minutes from Bali's international airport was built for around 300 prisoners but houses more than three times that. Of the 60 or so foreigners, 12 are Australians and one is American, said Anang Khuzairi, a prison official. The most famous is Corby, a former beauty school student serving a 20-year sentence for smuggling 9 pounds (4.2 kilograms) of marijuana into Bali. Her case garnered intense interest in Australia, where many people believe she was innocent. Krisbanu said she and the other Australian inmates insisted they did not want to be moved. However, minister justice Amir Syamsuddin who is in Bali overseeing the operation, has requested evacuation of all foreigners, women and children, Handoko said. He added that so far 31 inmates, 14 of them foreigners have been moved by Thursday evening. "Most of the foreigners rejected, but we forced them due to the minister's request," Handoko said. No further information was available on the 13 inmates who are younger than 18.

Labour MP Eric Joyce suspended after 'head-butting' Tory Stuart Andrew in House of Commons bar

 

The 51-year-old remains MP for Falkirk but cannot take the Labour whip in the Commons until the conclusion of the police investigation. 'This is an extremely serious incident,' a Labour party spokesperson said. 'We have suspended Eric Joyce pending the results of the police investigation.' Mr Joyce is said to have been arrested after the incident involving Tory MP Stuart Andrew at the Strangers bar, which is reserved for MPs and their guests, in the House of Commons before 11pm yesterday. 'We were called at approximately 10.50pm last night to reports of a disturbance at a bar within the House of Commons,' a statement from the Metropolitan police said. 'A man aged in his 50s was arrested by officers on suspicion of assault. He remains in custody in a central London police station. Inquiries are continuing.' Reports said Mr Andrew, the 40-year-old Tory MP for Pudsey, intended to press charges against Mr Joyce over the incident. An eyewitness who did not wish to be named told the website PoliticsHome that Mr Joyce 'just started lashing out at people' after complaining the bar was 'full of Tories'. Speaking in the Commons after news of Mr Joyce's arrest, Speaker John Bercow said: 'Members will be aware of reports of a serious incident in the House last night. I have been informed by the Serjeant at Arms that the honourable member for Falkirk has been detained in police custody. 'The matter is being investigated. I take this matter very seriously, as do the House authorities. I would ask that no further reference should be made to these reports in the chamber today.' Mr Joyce, MP for Falkirk since December 2000, served in the Army Education Corps before pursuing a career in politics. In 2009 he quit as parliamentary private secretary to defence secretary Bob Ainsworth due to concerns of the war in Afghanistan. A year later he resigned as shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland for pleading guilty to failing to provide a breath test. Labour MP Paul Farrelly was involved in a brawl in an unrelated incident at another Commons bar in 2010. The MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme 'wrested' a man to the floor in 'self-defence after an altercation at a karaoke party in parliament's Sports and Social Club.

Foreign and female inmates to be evacuated from Bali's Kerobokan prison

 

FOREIGN inmates including the 12 Australians held at Bali's notorious Kerobokan jail are set to be moved later today amid fears they could be targeted in ongoing unrest at the prison. Prison guards and police have again been forced to retreat to the streets outside the jail following a second night of unrest in the wake of a rampage by inmates on Tuesday night during which sections of the jail were destroyed by fire. About 400 armed police and soldiers remain stationed outside the jail amid a tense stand-off with prisoners. Indonesian Justice and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin has also been dispatched from Jakarta and is expected to visit the jail later today. The ongoing tension has prompted authorities to prepare for a mass evacuation of the jail, which has been without electricity since the riot broke out at about 11pm local time (2am AEDT) on Tuesday.  Riots continue in Kerobokan prison Buses have been moved to Kerobokan to prepare for the evacuation, which could take place at about 1pm. It's understood that the 60 foreign prisoners will be taken to a detention facility at Klungkung, a drive of about two hours from Kerobokan. Kerobokan governor Bowo Nariwono has confirmed the plan but said details were still being worked out. ''There's a plan to make them safe,'' Mr Nariwono said. The overcrowded jail houses more than 1000 male and female inmates, including the Gold Coast's Schapelle Corby and members of the so-called Bali Nine drug trafficking group. One of the Australian prisoners, Graeme Michael Pollock, was due to be sentenced today in relation to drugs charges. His hearing has now been postponed. The evacuation plan emerged as authorities voiced concerns for the safety of the foreigners inside the jail after a second night of unrest. Provincial military command spokesman Wing Handoko told AFP that authorities were still working out the details of the evacuation. ''We don't want to take chances, just in case the foreigners become a target of the prisoners' anger,'' he said. Authorities were forced out of the prison again last night after having initially wrested control of the jail back from prisoners earlier in the day. ''The prisoners took over the prison again, which forced security personnel to fire warning shots into the air,'' Mr Handoko said. Prisoners responded to the warning shots by throwing flaming missiles onto the street outside the jail. It is understood that they have demanded that the three prisoners shot in the leg with rubber bullets and removed from the jail yesterday be returned. The prison has been sealed off with about 400 armed police and soldiers, equipped with water cannons, stationed outside. Prisoners began rioting on Tuesday night after days of simmering tensions following the stabbing on Sunday of one prisoner by three inmates from a rival drug gang. Police were called in at about 4pm on Sunday to quell a mob of prisoners that had attacked those believed to be responsible for the stabbing.

Confusion surrounds Australian prisoners held in Bali riot jail

 

Confusion surrounds Australian prisoners held in Bali riot jail Scott Rush, is escorted by two policemen after being moved out from Kerobokan prison in Denpasar.  BALI nine drug mule Scott Rush was evacuated from the fire-damaged Kerobokan prison late yesterday after a day of confusion and posturing. Prison authorities in Bali backed down from a threat to forcibly move 1015 prisoners from the jail in urban Denpasar, and by late last night had moved a small fraction of that. The fate of the other 11 Australians housed in the prison is unknown, as police were gearing up to move more people out. Last night, drug smugglers Schapelle Corby and the rest of the Bali nine were still inside.

Fraud: Organised crime - Bogus claims gangs cast a wider net

 

According to the Insurance Fraud Bureau, the cost of organised fraud to the industry is approximately £200m per year. While this is only a small portion of the estimated £1.6bn total cost of fraud, it is of particular concern because it is typically carried out by organised gangs, often using the money to fund serious illegal activity, such as people trafficking, arms dealing and terrorism. Although there are isolated examples of fraud rings operating in arson and disability claims, the vast majority of organised fraud involves motor insurance. It is an unfortunate truth that the criminal gangs instigating this type of fraud are rarely identified by insurers or the police, as they operate ‘behind the scenes’ — persuading others to make personal injury claims on the back of accidents that are either staged or entirely fabricated. Historically, those targeted by gangs to take part in fraud have largely followed a well-defined profile, predominantly males in the 25 to 44 age bracket, living in more deprived postcodes. These individuals also tend to have a history of suspect claims or minor criminality. There is mounting evidence, however, that this is changing, as the gangs behind the scams cast their net wider in search of the ideal claimant. This is borne out by analysis of the thousands of fraud ring cases investigated by Keoghs. Case analysis Analysis of cases handled over the past 12 months shows the number of fraudsters within the 18 to 25 age bracket has increased by 10%, compared with the previous year. Meanwhile, the proportion of fraudsters in the 26 to 30 bracket has fallen by 0.5%. This trend is also starting to be recognised across the industry; in a survey of Keoghs' insurer clients compiled in September, 83% of those noticing a change in the average age of fraud claimants said they had seen a marked decrease in their age. Another trend, more difficult to quantify, but suggested by anecdotal evidence, is that organised fraud is becoming a more middle-class pursuit, with the two groups increasingly involved being students and young professionals. The link between youth unemployment and youth crime rates is well established. In 2004, economist Steven Levitt analysed a wide range of data into the relationship and found that, controlling for other factors, almost every study showed a relationship between non-violent crime and the rate of unemployment. Levitt’s estimate was that a 1% increase in unemployment would cause a 1% increase in crime. In 2005, a study by the government’s Social Exclusion Unit found that nearly two-thirds of young offenders were unemployed at the time of arrest compared to 46% of those aged over 25. The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics reveal that youth unemployment is at a 20-year high, with more than one in five — 22.3% of 16 to 24-year-olds — out of work. More than two fifths of those out of work have been unemployed for more than six months. As a result, many are anticipating a sharp increase in the level of crime committed by young people and this appears to be borne out in the increase seen in organised fraud. Strain on finances There is also a suggestion that issues such as a rise in tuition fees for higher education and lack of availability of affordable housing is putting such a strain on young people in jobs and full-time education that many are now willing to take the risk of committing fraud to survive. In many cases, this is a last resort unlikely to be taken under normal economic circumstances, but which is now being used as an opportunity by the criminal gangs who recruit fraudsters. To make significant amounts of money from fraud, the criminals need to recruit willing volunteers to file bogus claims in exchange for a share of the pay-out. The most common scenario — that used by Mohammed Patel, the fraudster jailed in 2009 for causing 93 crashes — is for a fraudster to use a contact’s car, with their permission, to stage a collision on the road, following which the owner of the car can make a large claim for personal injuries. However, as insurers’ risk and fraud managers have increasingly grown wise to this and subjected claims from the most commonly affected postcodes to increased scrutiny, the gangs have shifted their recruitment strategies. There have been a number of cases of active recruitment of fraudsters in universities – with those taking part often studying for high-earning professions such as law or medicine, and coming from stable, middle-class backgrounds. In one case currently under investigation, the ringleader at the centre of the scam was a student who had crashed the cars of a number of fellow students in order for them to benefit from the pay-outs. So, what can insurers do to stop these practices? Rapid shifts In the face of such rapid shifts in the demographics of those involved in fraud rings — and the state of the economy driving people to turn to desperate measures and commit fraud for the first time — it is clear that concentrating on those with a history of suspect claims will not prove an effective deterrent. What is needed are all-encompassing fraud detection tools and techniques, based on a joined-up approach to sharing detailed information both internally in organisations and between insurers. Ideally, as soon as a potential fraud ring is uncovered, investigators should be able to cross-reference the details of the claims involved with all other relevant cases across the industry as a whole in order to identify and investigate any links. Investment in analytical techniques and technology, coupled with an open approach to sharing data on suspected fraud rings, is essential if the industry is to stand any chance of identifying and bringing to justice those at the heart of the problem.

Banks forced to hand back £1.9BILLION to customers

 

Banks have been forced to hand back £1.9billion to customers who were wrongly sold Payment Protection Insurance as part of a 'loan protection racket'. However, consumer groups have accused the finance giants of dragging their feet on refunds which, eventually, could top £8billion. The Financial Ombudsman Service is receiving a staggering 1,000 complaints a day about the mis-selling of PPI. Consumers have a right to take a claim for a refund to the watchdog where they feel they have been unfairly fobbed off by their bank. In total, the ombudsman service has received over a third of a million PPI complaints, with the majority related to policies sold by banks alongside credit cards and loans. The watchdog upholds around three out of four cases in the consumer’s favour, with the average pay-out running at £2,750. The failure to offer speedy refunds has allowed a raft of hard-sell claims management firms, who are looking to cash in on the scandal, to flourish. These firms are spending millions of pounds in advertising to offer to pursue refunds. This involves bombarding the nation with TV advertising and recorded message telephone calls to both landline and mobile phones.

Investment Bankers Get Payouts Ahead Of Expected Loss Announcement

 

Royal Bank of Scotland is to pay out just under £400m in bonuses to its investment banking staff for their work in 2011, according to Sky sources. The day before RBS announces its full-year results, the bank is understood to have agreed with the Government that it can pay out between £390m and £400m in bonuses this year. The bonus pool, revealed exclusively by Sky News City editor Mark Kleinman, is likely to further stoke recent controversy over banker pay. The pot represents a cut of about 60% on last year's investment bank bonuses at RBS, which is 82% owned by the taxpayer. It comes as the bank prepares to report an expected full-year loss of up to £2bn, making the prospect of the taxpayer breaking even on the £45bn investment made in RBS during the 2008 banking crisis as remote as ever. The rewards follow a year in which thousands of employees were made redundant as Stephen Hester, the bank's chief executive, accelerated a restructuring of the business. Despite the reduction in the overall bonus pot, scores of RBS bankers are expected to collect packages worth more than £1m. The biggest payouts will be largely paid in shares and deferred over a three-year period. Ministers have insisted that RBS enforces a £2,000 cap on the cash element of bonuses for the third successive year. Angela Knight, chief executive of the British Bankers Association, defended the latest RBS payouts, saying bonuses for investment bankers were set according to the international market. RBS boss Stephen Hester caved into pressure to waive his 2011 bonus She told Sky News that if UK banks failed to compete with global compensation levels they would lose the best employees, and in the case of RBS this could damage the long-term interest for the taxpayer. The bonus revelation came as Sir Philip Hampton, RBS's chairman, claims in a Sky News documentary with Jeff Randall, that the era of big banking bonuses is over. A YouGov poll for Sky News also showed that three-quarters of people believe that bosses at Britain's state-backed banks should not receive a bonus. Mr Hester waived his £1m bonus several weeks ago, while Antonio Horta-Osorio, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, also decided to rule out receiving a bonus. The 2011 pool is the lowest awarded to RBS's investment bankers since the bank was rescued by taxpayers in 2008.

Bailed out banks now worth HALF £1,000 per person cost of saving them as they get ready to report £6BILLION losses

Bailed-out banks worth just HALF the £1,000 it cost each person to save them - as they get ready to admit £6BILLION losses RBS cost £45.5bn to bailout but the stake is now worth just £26bn £20bn paid to bailout Lloyds but shareholding is now worth HALF But executive pay has soared and Lloyds boss Antonio Horta-Osorio entitled to £3.46m a year Comments (14) Share The bailed out banks are now worth just over half the £1,000 per person cost of saving them - and are set to reveal combined losses of £6billion. Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds received a total of £65.5bn of taxpayers' money - but the Government stake is now worth just £36bn. Their are fears it will be years before the share price rises and taxpayers can get their money back. Bumper pay: Stephen Hester (left), who hates this picture being used, is paid £1.2million a year and waived a near-£1m bonus. Fred Goodwin, right, received £4.2m in 2007 But despite their poor performance the pay of top bankers like disgraced RBS boss Fred 'the Shred' Goodwin and Stephen Hester has rocketed over the last decade.   More... Three of the UK's five largest banks have lost shareholders' money over past decade while bosses reap rewards £500 for EVERY British household: UK faces added £1billion bill to bail out Greece and save crisis-hit euro Don't tell Sid! How the bank shares wipeout hit the savings of the windfall generation Fred Goodwin saw his total pay rocket from £1.27m in 2000 to £4.2m in 2007 - when he received a £2.86m performance-related bonus. Stress: Antonio Horta-Osorio is entitled to £3.46million this year Since 2000, the value of the bank has fallen by 91 per cent. New boss Stephen Hester enjoys a £1.2m salary and only waived a £963,000 shares bonus after being put intense pressure. However, he is still in line to receive shares worth about £660,000 that were awarded as part of the £2m bonus he was handed for his 2010 performance. But as the bosses receive bumper rewards, RBS has announced that 3,500 jobs will go on top of 2,000 which went last summer. Lloyds has more than tripled the amount it pays its chief executive over the past decade. Over the same period the average UK wage increased by just under 40 per cent, to £26,135. In 2000, they paid £856,000 to former boss Sir Peter Ellwood. New chief-executive Antonio Horta-Osorio is entitled to £3.46m this year, although he waived his £1.06m bonus last month. He had six weeks off work at the end of last year because of stress and fatigue. Tomorrow RBS will announce losses of around £2bn while Lloyds is expected to reveal losses of £3.5 billion on Friday. They will blame the poor figures on the eurozone debt crisis and increased regulation. Plans to give the shares directly to taxpayers to ease some of the public anger about the pay enjoyed by bailed-out bankers are reported to have been ditched because the investments are too shaky. Bailed out: Royal Bank of Scotland is set to announce losses of £3.5bn on Friday. It is worth £26bn - and the Government paid £45.5bn The Government injected £45.5bn to take an 82 per cent stake in RBS but those shares are today worth around £26bn despite a 40 per cent rise in the share price in recent weeks. It needs shares, which are currently trading at about 28p, to rise to 50p before it can break even. Lloyds cost £20bn to bailout - but the Government is currently nursing losses of nearly £10billion. Their shares are valued at around 35p and they must rise to 63p. The bank recoveries have been made more difficult because the Government has announced new regulations in a bid to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis. They will be forced to separate their retail and investment banking arms which will be expensive to implement and hit profits. The current malaise in the world economy and the Greek debt crisis has added to banks’ woes. The Government is paying £500 million a year in interest payments on the money it borrowed to bailout the banks. 'BAILED OUT BANKERS SHOULD NOT RECEIVE A BONUS' Three out of four people think bosses at bailed-out banks should not get a bonus, according to research. And 58 per cent of respondents to the YouGov poll, commissioned by Sky News, said Britain’s business reputation is being damaged by the actions of bankers. Sir Philip Hampton, chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland, said bonuses cannot continue at the current level. 'Part of the reason for the pay is that the profits were not sustainable,' he told Sky news. 'They were there for a few years but they were not sustainable and the pay moved up to that level of profits and it now needs to be corrected down.' Sir Philip turned down a £1.4 million bonus earlier this month. But Nigel Rudd, former deputy chairman of Barclays, claimed he would have paid more money to Barclays’ former chief executive John Varley. He said: 'Bob Diamond (current chief executive) and John Varley made a huge difference to Barclays as they went through this terrible period. 'You realise Barclays never made a loss throughout all this period? I think John Varley was underpaid actually ... because I think what he did throughout that crisis was phenomenal.' The comments come after weeks of conflict over bankers’ bonuses, in which RBS chief Stephen Hester turned down his £963,000 bonus amid mounting pressure and Lloyds boss Antonio Horta-Osorio waived his payout following a leave of absence.

As Old Francs Expire, France Makes a Small Mint

Greece may be scrambling for revenue, but the French treasury has just banked some 550 million euros for doing nothing — simply letting the French franc, created in 1360, finally perish. Enlarge This Image Thibault Camus/Associated Press People lined up at a bank in Paris on Friday to convert old French francs to euros, the common European currency, before the francs were rendered worthless. Connect With Us on Twitter Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines. Twitter List: Reporters and Editors Friday was the last day that French francs could be turned into the Bank of France, the central bank, in exchange for the common European currency, the euro, a little more than a decade after it was introduced as bills and coins. The approximately 550 million euros represents the francs still outstanding, somewhere, which are now worthless, and which will be registered as revenue for the French state. As the franc died, it is the future of the euro that seems at question now, an irony that hardly escaped some of those waiting in line at the bank to exchange the francs they had found stashed away in drawers, coat pockets and old purses. (Only bills were exchangeable; coins went out of circulation in 2005.) Emmanuelle Hamon, 47, said she was dubious about the fate of the euro. “I want to believe in it,” she said. “But I don’t know how, concretely, we’re going to make it.” A former advertising executive and journalist, she said she felt a bit betrayed, as if Europeans had been handed a bill of goods, now that floundering countries like Greece are causing troubles for the entire euro zone. “I was attracted to the notion of community,” she said. “We were all hoodwinked.” And like many, she believes that the euro brought with it higher prices. She had found 220 francs, or 33.54 euros at the fixed rate of 6.55957 francs to the euro. She is planning to give her bonus euros to a charity that fights hunger, she said. As for the franc itself, she said she had no special sentiments. “I thought they were pretty, that’s all I can say.” For some it was a sad day, to be sure. As Ms. Hamon noted, the franc notes and coins were varied and beautiful. The euro, on the other hand, seems like the product of an off-day at the design studio, made worse by the fact that the bills feature no recognizable buildings or portraits. The theory behind keeping some images off was that any European — even Beethoven, whose music was used for the European Union anthem — would be too national. Aurélien Duchene, an 18-year-old student, said that he liked the idea of the euro as a way to gather countries together, but that it meant prices went up. Pulling his earphones out to hear questions, he remembered that when he was 8 or 9 years old and the currency changed, he said, “For one franc you got a big bag of candy, and for one euro, one got less.” The current economic crisis had various causes, Mr. Duchene said. “But I think that changing from the franc to the euro is also a cause.” (Indeed, fixed rates and the common currency have meant countries cannot adjust the value of their currency in response to differing economic circumstances.) Shanel Maklouf, 17, said earnestly, while her friends giggled, that the euro had been “very bad for France,” and had helped cause its economic difficulties, “which grow day by day.” Going back to the franc is impossible, she said, “even if it would be a good thing,” especially for the poorer classes. “My mother waits for only one thing, that the franc returns.” The far-right National Front candidate in the coming presidential election, Marine Le Pen, is the only significant politician calling for France to pull out of the euro zone — and the European Union — and return to the franc. More mainstream politicians and economists regard the idea as folly, even as some Greeks begin to consider returning to the drachma. The Greeks, by the way, have until March 1 to switch their old drachmas into euros. Tania Capo-Chichi, 30, is a hairstylist, currently unemployed. She waited in line at the bank with her 5-month-old son in a stroller and a small windfall — 1,000 francs, worth 152.45 euros — she found digging through various bags, she said. She had no attachment to the old franc, but no idea how the current euro crisis, which she said no one was really explaining to people, would end. “It won’t come to a stop overnight,” she said. But she was sure the euro would endure, one way or another, as Europe evolves. “It’s ours,” she said, “even if we don’t necessarily like it.

Iran Court Starts Trial in $2.6 Billion Bank Fraud

Tehran court began hearing the trial of 32 defendants on Saturday in a $2.6 billion bank fraud case described as the biggest financial swindle in the country’s history, state television reported.   Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi, read the text of the indictment against the suspects, who wore prison uniforms at the opening session at the Revolutionary Court, which deals with cases involving security and organized crime. The charges involve the use of forged documents to get credit at one of Iran’s top financial institutions to purchase assets, including state-owned companies. Iran’s judiciary has banned the news media from identifying the defendants by their full names. The primary defendant is referred to in reports by his nickname, Amir Mansour Aria, and he is described in the Iranian news media as the head of a business empire. The state television Web site quoted the indictment as saying the owners of the Aria Investment Development Company used “incorrect connections with executive and political elements” to accrue wealth. “Dozens of instances of bribe payments to staff and managers of banks have taken place under various titles,” it said. The indictment also said that company managers undermined the country’s economic security through fraud and by paying large bribes to illegally accumulate several billion dollars. State television said the top defendant has been charged with being “corrupt on earth,” an Iranian legal term meaning that the defendant is an enemy of God. The charge carries the death penalty. Aria pleaded not guilty, but he acknowledged that he had violated some laws. “Some violations were committed, and all that was on my order,” the state television Web site quoted him as telling the court. “I had no intention of committing treason against the country and the system. If I wanted to do so, I would have taken the money out of the country.” One of the suspects in the case, Mahmoud Reza Khavari, the former head of Bank Melli, now reportedly lives in Canada.

Contempt case against Quinns adjourned

 

CONTEMPT OF court proceedings by Anglo Irish Bank against bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn, his son Seán Quinn jnr and nephew Peter Darragh Quinn over alleged “asset stripping” have been fixed for hearing at the High Court on March 21st. The bank is contending that various property assignments are invalid because documents were back-dated to support claims by the Quinn side to the effect that those assignments were carried out before a court order last July restrained dissipation of assets. The bank had learned that a company said to have received an assignment on April 6th, 2011, did not actually exist on that date, Paul Gallagher SC, for the bank, said yesterday. The situation was “moving all the time” and the bank had a real fear, unless the contempt matter was quickly determined, that it would lose out on “prime” assets. Just hours earlier, a receiver had been appointed over a company in Belize and other creditors were appearing concerning various assets in other jurisdictions, he said. The situation is “like a multi-headed hydra”, counsel said. “You cut one head off and more appear.” Anglo, now Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, has alleged contempt over alleged breaches of Mr Justice Frank Clarke’s July order. It was granted in proceedings where the bank claims the Quinn family was trying to put foreign properties with a value of up to €500 million – and on which the bank claims it has legitimate charges – beyond its reach. The foreign property portfolio is the most valuable asset owned by the family and the properties at issue are owned via a web of international holding companies. The main case, being heard by Mr Justice Clarke, is on hold pending a ruling from the European Court of Justice on a matter of jurisdiction but the injunction protecting the assets remains in place. When the contempt matter came before the judge yesterday, he was told both sides accepted it had to be adjourned to allow the Quinn side time to prepare their defence but were at odds over the length of the adjournment. Bill Shipsey SC, for the Quinns, said this was not a normal application for contempt as it ranged across matters in several jurisdictions. His side needed time to make inquiries in those jurisdictions as the bank had raised three specific matters on July 6th, July 20th and August 30th, 2011. There was a sworn statement by Richard Woodhouse of IBRC that certain matters could not be reversed, counsel said. His side would file at least four replying affidavits and wanted four weeks to deliver those after which the bank might wish to reply. The contempt matter would take weeks to hear, not days, he added. The bank had since September to get its proofs together and it was not unreasonable to allow his side time. He would also be very concerned about any form of “rolling contempt” where the bank would add more claims of contempt. Mr Gallagher said the matter was urgent. The Quinn side was told last September of the bank’s concerns about asset stripping and had claimed that it was done prior to any injunction, he said. The suggestion they needed considerable time to prepare for this motion was unjustified. The effects of the contempt are continuing and happening very quickly but the consequences could be stopped and reversed, he said. The bank had identified particular breaches of the order and could not say it it would find more Ruling on the adjournment application, Mr Justice Clarke said any application alleging contempt was serious and should be dealt with speedily but there had to be a proper opportunity to defend it. The court had to balance those two considerations. The judge said he would be reluctant to let the matter go beyond this court term and fixed it for hearing on March 21st in the expectation it would run for eight days.