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Hedge funds ‘grabbing land’ in Africa

Hedge funds are behind “land grabs” in Africa to boost their profits in the food and biofuel sectors, a US think-tank says. In a report, the Oakland Institute said hedge funds and other foreign firms had acquired large swathes of African land, often without proper contracts. It said the acquisitions had displaced millions of small […]

Tax-payers Burden

US politicians have agreed on the details of $700bn Wall Street bail-out package to be sent to Congress for approval, a Republican negotiator says. The measures would enable the US Treasury to spend up to $700bn taking over bad debts from ailing financial institutions. The taxpayer will be taking on debts of banks, investment banks, […]

A third of UK’s big business pays no corporation tax

Almost a third of the UK’s 700 biggest businesses paid no corporation tax in the 2005-06 financial year while another 30 per cent paid less than £10m each, an official study has found. Of the tax paid by these businesses, two-thirds came from just three industries – banking, insurance and oil and gas – while […]

Ethical fund ‘tops league table’

Article – Ethical fund ‘tops league table’For the first time, an ethical investment fund has topped the performance chart of 324 unit trusts investing in the UK stock market. The Co-operative Insurance Sustainable Leaders fund is the best performing unit trust over the past year. Unit trusts pool investor cash to buy shares in various […]

UK Corporate killing law to change

Long-awaited moves to crack down on corporate manslaughter have been welcomed by UK Members of Parliament.The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill has been formally introduced in the Commons. It will create a new offence of corporate manslaughter in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and of corporate homicide in Scotland. There have been calls for […]

Banks pushing people further into debt

A powerful insider breaks the banking industry’s code of silence and reveals how the High Street banks deliberately target their customers and push borrowing.Speaking exclusively to the BBC, this whistleblower is a key decision-maker involved in retail banking with one of the main High Street banks. Her past experience in every department – from strategy […]

OECD warns on global imbalances

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has warned that the global imbalances in world trade are unsustainable and must be tackled.Opening the global think tank’s annual forum, Greek finance minister George Alogoskoufis said the situation posed major risks to global economic stability. He told reporters that although it was too early to talk […]

The Welfare Kings

At a time when tens of millions of workers are struggling to pay for gas for their car, electricity for their home, and medical care for their families, the Republicans have stepped forward with a plan to help. They want to give another $20 to $30 billion in tax cuts to the rich. This temporary […]

Huge fraud exposed in Iraq contracts

A US Congressional inspection team set up to monitor reconstruction in Iraq has published a scathing report on failures by contractors to carry out projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In one case, the inspectors found that three years after the invasion only six of 150 health centres proposed for Iraq have been completed […]

Shareholders amend company bylaws to tighten corporate governance

According to The Wall Street Journal , some shareholders dissatisfied that shareholder resolutions are nonbinding, are turning to amending company bylaws to tighten corporate governance. The article mentions that the California Public Employees’ Retirement System is proposing bylaw amendments at three companies in 2006 and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) […]