Ericsson risked workers lives by Islamic State
/0 Comments/in Ericsson /by ceadminThe telecoms company Ericsson put contractors’ lives at risk by insisting they continued working in territory controlled by the Islamic State [IS] group in Iraq. This resulted in them being kidnapped by IS militants.
Post Office scandal: Public inquiry to examine wrongful convictions
/0 Comments/in Post Office /by ceadminBetween 2000 and 2014, more than 700 sub-postmasters were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting due to a flaw in a computer system Horizon.
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Livedoor chief Horie is charged
/0 Comments/in Livedoor /by ceadminTakafumi Horie, the former boss of Japanese internet firm Livedoor, has been indicted on charges of breaking securities laws, according to reports.
Together with three other Livedoor executives, Horie has been in custody since 23 January, when he was arrested on suspicion of misleading investors.
The Kyodo news agency said they are accused of spreading false financial information about a takeover in 2004
Iraq suspends dealings with AWB
/0 Comments/in AWB /by ceadminIraq has suspended business dealings with Australia’s monopoly wheat exporter AWB, the company has said.
The suspension will remain in force until the completion of an inquiry into allegations that the firm paid bribes to the former regime of Saddam Hussein.
“AWB is disappointed by the decision,” said chairman Brendan Stewart
Privacy fears hit Google search
/0 Comments/in Google /by ceadminA leading US digital rights campaign group has warned against using Google software which lets people organise and find information on their computers.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation said the latest version of Google Desktop posed a risk to privacy.
This is because a feature in the software lets Google keep personal data on its servers for up to 30 days
Insurer AIG in $1.6bn settlement
/0 Comments/in American International /by ceadminInsurance giant American International Group has agreed to pay more than $1.6bn (£920m) to settle state and federal charges of accounting abuses.
Under the settlement, AIG also agreed to change the way it carries out its business to ensure proper accounting practices in the future
Asda faces $1.5m tribunal cost
/0 Comments/in Asda /by ceadminSupermarket giant Asda discriminated against trade union members, an employment tribunal has ruled.
Workers at a depot in Washington, Tyne and Wear, had voted against a move to bring their conditions in line with non-union workers at a similar depot.
The company was found to be in breach of trade union legislation and faces paying out £850,000 in total – up to £2,500 to each of the 340 workers
Chinese man ‘jailed due to Yahoo’
/0 Comments/in Yahoo /by ceadminThe internet giant Yahoo has been accused of providing China with information that led to the jailing of a second internet writer.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders claims that Yahoo released data which led to the arrest of Li Zhi.
The online writer was jailed for eight years in 2003, after posting comments that criticised official corruption
Samsung to give $825m to charity
/0 Comments/in Samsung /by ceadminSouth Korea’s largest firm, Samsung, is to donate more than $825m (£473m) to charity after scandals hit the company.
The company chairman, Lee Kun-Hee, who recently returned to South Korea after a five-month overseas trip, apologised for “wrongful” previous practices.
He left the country in September after allegations of illegal donations to politicians, of which he was cleared
GM chief agrees to halve salary
/0 Comments/in General Motors /by ceadminThe chief executive of General Motors (GM) is to take a 50% pay cut to help the struggling carmaker save money.
Rick Wagoner and other executives have agreed to reduce their pay and forgo bonuses as part of radical measures aimed at improving GM’s finances.
GM is also halving its annual investor dividend – the first cut in 13 years – which will save it $565m (£323m)
Compass internal probe finds corruption
/0 Comments/in Compass /by ceadminCatering group Compass says an internal probe has found serious irregularities regarding work awarded to its Eurest Support Services unit by the UN.
It found “issues in relation to the behaviour of a few individuals” at the service, but did not believe they extended beyond the individuals.
Compass, which has fired some Eurest employees, is under investigation by US authorities over the contracts
China bankers in US scam charge
/0 Comments/in Bank of China /by ceadminTwo former Bank of China managers have been charged in the US with stealing $485m (£272m) and attempting to launder the money through Las Vegas casinos.
Xu Chaofan, Xu Guojun and their wives were charged with 15 counts of racketeering, money laundering and fraud, the US Justice Department said.
The two men tried to launder the Bank of China’s money through Hong Kong, Canada and the US, the department said
Microsoft may still face EU fine
/0 Comments/in Microsoft Corporation /by ceadminMicrosoft’s offer to allow rivals access to its software blueprint may not be enough to prevent European Union action, the EU has warned.
The EU has threatened to fine the group 2m euros (£1.4m; $2
Google censors itself for China
/0 Comments/in Google /by ceadminLeading internet search company Google has agreed to censor some of its services in China in order to satisfy Beijing’s restrictions on free speech.
Google hopes the new web address for China will boost its access to one of the world’s largest internet markets.
The company says the decision to censor content was hard, but says it has more influence if it is present in China
Daimler ‘acts over Iraq bribes’
/0 Comments/in DaimlerChrysler /by ceadminDaimlerChrysler has suspended at least six managers over bribery allegations linked to the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq, the Financial Times says.
Quoting “people close to the carmaker”, the paper said between six and nine senior managers had been suspended after an internal investigation.
A report published last year listed the carmaker among more than 2,000 firms said to have paid Iraqi kickbacks
Stock watchdog investigates IBM
/0 Comments/in IBM /by ceadminThe US stockmarket watchdog SEC will investigate computer services firm IBM over one of its earnings reports and its stock options scheme.
The move gives the SEC the right to see internal IBM e-mails, documents and to interview company executives.
IBM said it was co-operating with the investigation, but in after-hours trading its share price fell 1
FSA fines insurer over endowments
/0 Comments/in Guardian Assurance /by ceadminInsurer Guardian Assurance and its associated company Guardian Linked Life have been fined $1 million (£750,000) for mishandling endowment complaints.
It is the fourth time that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined an insurance company for not dealing with complaints properly.
The FSA said Guardian’s complaints procedure had “serious systemic flaws”
Wal-Mart must pay workers $172m
/0 Comments/in Wal-Mart /by ceadminThe world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, has been ordered to pay $172m (£99m) in compensation to workers who were refused lunch breaks.
A California court found Wal-Mart broke a state law requiring employers to give staff an unpaid 30-minute lunch break if they worked more than six hours.
More than 100,000 Wal-Mart employees in California will be eligible for compensation
Microsoft may face daily EU fine
/0 Comments/in Microsoft Corporation /by ceadminThe European Commission has threatened to fine Microsoft up to 2m euros (£1.36m; $2.4m) a day until it gives rivals more access to its systems
Dutch bank fined $80 million by US regulators
/0 Comments/in ABN Amro /by ceadminU.S. regulators on Monday fined ABN Amro, the Dutch banking heavyweight, $80 million for violating U
Alaska authorities sue oil giants
/0 Comments/in Exxon Mobil /by ceadminOil firms ExxonMobil and BP are being sued by local authorities in Alaska who accuse them of holding back gas.
The authorities want to build a gas pipeline to rival one proposed by the firms, who they say have hampered their attempts at getting a deal.
BP and ExxonMobil want a pipeline to take gas from Alaska to mainland US, where prices are near record levels
eBay not doing enough on fraud
/0 Comments/in Ebay /by ceadminEBay is under fire from law enforcement officials and manufacturers over levels of crime on the site and the levels of cooperation they receive.
Trading standards officers who regularly investigate crimes perpetrated on the site have accused eBay of being “obstructive” in the way it shares information. North Yorkshire Trading Standards says eBay can take up to two months to provide the names and addresses of suspects it is pursuing
EU starts action on Bank of Italy
/0 Comments/in Bank of Italy /by ceadminThe European Commission has begun legal action against Italy over its central bank’s handling of recent bank mergers.
It comes after Dutch bank ABN Amro said the Bank of Italy tried to block its bid for Italian lender Antonveneta.
Central bank chief Antonio Fazio Bank of Italy was said to have wanted an all-Italian merger instead
Vioxx court case ends in mistrial
/0 Comments/in Merck /by ceadminA US judge has declared a mistrial in the first federal lawsuit against drugs giant Merck and its Vioxx painkiller.
The move came after a jury in Houston was unable to agree on whether the drug had caused a man’s fatal heart attack.
Merck is facing a mass of Vioxx lawsuits
BP could face US criminal charges
/0 Comments/in BP Amoco /by ceadminBP may face criminal charges over the explosion at its giant Texas refinery that killed 15 workers last March.
The US Department of Labour has referred the case to the Department of Justice, which will now decide whether to pursue it.
The news came on the same day that BP issued its final report on the blast at its Texas City refinery near Houston, which also injured 170 people
South Korea fines Microsoft $32m
/0 Comments/in Microsoft Corporation /by ceadminMicrosoft has been fined 33bn won ($32m; £18.4m) following an antitrust ruling by South Korean regulators.
The US software giant was ordered to unbundle its messaging service from its Windows software by South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission
Sony sued over controversial CDs
/0 Comments/in Sony /by ceadminSony BMG’s woes in the US over its much-criticised anti-piracy CD software have deepened.
It is facing two separate lawsuits in Texas and California.
The Texan lawsuit accuses Sony of installing spyware and is seeking damages of up to $100,000 in damages for each violation
The whistleblowing bankers who were sent to jail
/0 Comments/in Barclaycard, United Kingdom, United States /by ceadminTwo traders jailed for rigging interest rates were the original whistleblowers of the scandal, and not the bosses that directed them to carry out the illegal actions. Leaked audio recordings reveal Peter Johnson and Colin Bermingham alerted the US central bank to a fraud that the tapes suggest was directed from the top of the financial system.