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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Deutsche Bank under investigation
/0 Comments/in Deutsche Bank /by ceadminGermany’s biggest bank – Deutsche Bank – is being investigated on suspicion it may have manipulated its balance sheet.
The investigation is in connection to a long-running legal dispute with the now-defunct Kirch media group. Deutsche Bank is alleged not to have set aside provisions to cover damages and compensation that a court ordered it to pay to Kirch
US Airways to ask court for massive union pay cut
/0 Comments/in US Airways Group /by ceadminUS Airways Group will ask a bankruptcy court on Friday to impose emergency pay cuts of 23 percent on unionized workers if an agreement with the workers is not reached during the day.
In a letter to its unions, the No. 7 U
Fannie Mae in government probe
/0 Comments/in Fannie Mae /by ceadminShares of Fannie Mae fell again on Friday, capping a three-day slide of more than 13 percent, as investor concerns widened after a government regulator accused top executives of the mortgage giant of mismanagement and serious accounting misdeeds.
Regulators at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight who investigated Fannie Mae’s books said the problems they found, at least in a key area of accounting, were more serious, far more complex and wider in scope than previously thought.
The fallout could eventually reach millions of Americans if they have to pay higher rates for new mortgages for home purchases or refinancings, analysts say
Glaxo drops appeal in Aids drug pricing case
/0 Comments/in GlaxoSmithKline /by ceadminA landmark legal complaint against British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) over its Aids drug pricing and policies in South Africa will proceed after GSK dropped its public and repeated vows to appeal a decision allowing the case to go forward, according to AidsHealthcare Foundation (AHF).
Instead, GSK simply filed a required legal response to the complaint, AHF said.
The complaint was filed with South Africa’s Competition Tribunal in August by AHF, the US’ largest Aids organisation and several other South African Aids advocates
Halliburton hit with Nigeria ban
/0 Comments/in Halliburton /by ceadminNigeria has placed an embargo on government contracts with a subsidiary of US oil services firm Halliburton.
It said it was taking action against Halliburton Energy Services Nigeria (HESN) as a result of negligence in security and safety matters.
In 2002, radiation emitting devices used by the firm to make measurements in oil wells were reported missing in Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta region
Japan closes Citigroup branches
/0 Comments/in CitiGroup /by ceadminJapan’s market watchdog has ordered US banking giant Citigroup to shut down its private banking operations there.
Regulators said they found a list of problems at Citigroup’s private banking arm, from improper trading practices to lax anti-money laundering procedures. The regulator said Citigroup must cease operations at four branches that conduct private banking in Japan
Ryanair may face Belgian courts
/0 Comments/in Ryanair /by ceadminBudget airline Ryanair is obliged to be taken to court under EU law if it fails to pay back illegal state aid for flying to Belgium’s Charleroi airport.
In February, EU competition officials ordered Ryanair to repay several million euros in subsidies to the southern Belgian Walloon region.
Ryanair has appealed the ruling but in the meantime it still has to pay up
Volkswagen puts extra pressure on Unions
/0 Comments/in Volkswagen /by ceadminGerman car maker Volkswagen has warned that 30,000 jobs could be lost at its six German plants unless staff accept a two year pay freeze.
Unions argue a freeze is unacceptable, demanding instead a 4% annual rise.
Volkswagen says it needs to save 500m euros in costs to guarantee the future of its 176,000 strong German workforce in the face of growing competition from rivals operating out of low cost eastern European markets
GSK faces anti-depressant lawsuit
/0 Comments/in GlaxoSmithKline /by ceadminGlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is facing a US lawsuit alleging that it covered up negative research findings on its anti-depressant drug Paxil.
The lawsuits were filed on behalf of children and teenagers who were prescribed Paxil, known as Seroxat in the UK and Europe.
They claim GSK suppressed data showing that Paxil increased suicidal tendencies in young people
US Army suspends Halliburton decision
/0 Comments/in Halliburton /by ceadminThe US army has said it has suspended for now a decision to withhold some payments to Halliburton, its biggest contractor in Iraq.
The army had earlier said it would be withholding 15% of payments on future bills to Halliburton, once run by US Vice-President Dick Cheney.
One of its subsidiaries has featured in auditing disputes with the Pentagon
Drugs firm settles fraud charges
/0 Comments/in Bristol-Myers Squibb /by ceadminUS drugs firm Bristol-Myers Squibb will pay $150m (£82m) to settle civil fraud charges in one of the biggest settlements in US corporate history.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged the firm with improperly booking $1.5m in revenue
Bank of China suspends two executives
/0 Comments/in Bank of China /by ceadminBank of China has suspended two deputy chief executives of its Hong Kong arm over corruption allegations. Bank of China (Hong Kong) floated in 2002, making it the group’s showcase. It was formed by pulling together and reshaping several Hong Kong subsidiaries ahead of its listing
Halliburton settles accounts case
/0 Comments/in Halliburton /by ceadminUS oil services group Halliburton is to pay $7.5m (£4.2m) to settle charges that it failed to disclose a change in its accounting practices during 1998
Equitable chiefs face fresh probe
/0 Comments/in Equitable Life /by ceadminFour former senior executives at Equitable Life are to face disciplinary proceedings over the mutual insurer’s near-collapse four years ago.
The four are former managing directors Roy Ranson and Alan Nash, ex-chief executive Chris Headdon, and actuary Barry Sherlock.
The Institute of Actuaries has referred allegations of misconduct against the four to a tribunal
Shells pays £80m to settle fraud inquiry
/0 Comments/in Shell /by ceadminOil giant Shell has agreed to pay more than £80m in penalties to settle inquiries by US and UK regulators into the firm’s restatement of reserves.
The company slashed its reserves by 20% in January, a move which cost three top executives their jobs.
News of the settlement came as the company unveiled second-quarter net income of $4bn (£2
United Airlines to stop paying into Pension plans
/0 Comments/in United Airlines /by ceadminUnited Airlines said it would not contribute to its employee pension plans while it remains under bankruptcy protection. That move could save it more than a billion dollars in cash over the coming year, but pension experts said it signaled the likelihood that United would terminate some or all of the plans.
A full-blown default by United on all four of its pension plans would send tens of thousands of current and future retirees, and billions of dollars in unfunded obligations, to the government’s pension insurance program, dealing the program its biggest blow since the government began insuring pensions in 1974
AIB to pay up for exchange flaws
/0 Comments/in Allied Irish /by ceadminAllied Irish Bank (AIB) has confirmed it will repay foreign exchange customers it accidentally overcharged during an eight year period.
AIB has set aside 35m euros (£23m; $43m ) to reimburse them, more than double the original estimate of 14m euros.
The bank has been facing a number of problems since it emerged in May that it had levied a higher transaction margin than was agreed with regulators
Halliburton Iran deals under fire
/0 Comments/in Halliburton /by ceadminHalliburton, in trouble over alleged over-charging for Iraq contracts, is being probed for its deals in Iran.
A US grand jury has demanded documents relating to contracts in Iran – subject to US sanctions – by a Halliburton subsidiary based in the Cayman Islands.
The firm, which used to be run by US Vice-President Dick Cheney, said it was certain the deals were legal
Oil giant Yukos faces dismantling
/0 Comments/in Yukos /by ceadminRussian oil giant Yukos faced being torn apart after bailiffs said they would sell off its main operating arm to settle a $3.4bn bill for back taxes.
Analysts said it was the worst-case scenario for the firm, which has been trying to agree a deal with the authorities over payment of the bill
Powergen fined over unfair policy
/0 Comments/in Powergen /by ceadminOne of UK’s leading gas and electricity suppliers, Powergen, has been fined £700,000 ($1.3m USD) for preventing more than 20,000 domestic energy customers from switching to new gas or electricity suppliers.
The penalty comes after a 10-month investigation by energy regulator Ofgem which consumer watchdog Energywatch has said was the biggest such fine
Board to agree pay cut in car row
/0 Comments/in DaimlerChrysler /by ceadminGerman-US car giant DaimlerChrysler is offering to cut executive pay in order to end a dispute over cost cuts.
Staff at the firm’s German plants have downed tools in protest at the plans to move jobs abroad unless 500m euros ($620m; £330m) in savings can be found.
But now the company says that its board members will accept a cut in pay if employees back down
Five months in jail for Stewart
/0 Comments/in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia /by ceadminCelebrity lifestyle guru Martha Stewart has been sentenced to five months in jail by a New York courtroom over charges of conspiracy and obstruction.
The US trendsetter was convicted in March for lying about a stock sale during a government investigation.
She was given two years supervised release, during which time she will have to wear a monitoring bracelet
De Beers diamond price-fixing guilty plea
/0 Comments/in De Beers /by ceadminDe Beers has agreed to plead guilty in a decade-long price-fixing case in a move that could allow the world’s biggest diamond producer to return to the U.S. market after a nearly 50-year absence, a news report said Saturday
Adelphia Communications : Adelphia founder guilty of fraud
/0 Comments/in Adelphia Communications /by ceadminUS cable TV millionaire John Rigas and his son Timothy have been found guilty of 18 counts of fraud and conspiracy.
The elder Mr Rigas co-founded Adelphia Communications in 1952 and grew it into the fifth biggest US cable TV operator.
Adelphia went bust in 2002 with debts of $7bn (£3
Philip Morris pays $1.25bn to settle case
/0 Comments/in Philip Morris /by ceadminThe European Union on Friday dropped money-laundering and smuggling claims against Philip Morris International in a $1.25bn settlement it claimed could herald similar deals with other tobacco companies.
The EU legal team, which is pursuing RJ Reynolds and Japan Tobacco in the US courts, believes the deal with the makers of Marlboro cigarettes is a benchmark for future settlements
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.