NetSuite and Workday are poised to cash in on the migration to cloud computing services and perhaps elbow aside today’s corporate software giants. … Read More
Poland – Government ministers try to intimidate Polish media
Reporters Without Borders is very disturbed by attempts by Polish government ministers to intimidate the media during the past the days. The media freedom organization condemns the utterly disproportionate and exorbitant damages that transport minister Slawomir Nowak is demanding from the magazine Wprost in a libel suit over an April 2013 story about his friendship with businessmen who often win government contracts and his presence at private parties paid for by wealthy corporate (…) … Read More
Russian Central Bank to increase controls over bankers’ bonuses and salaries
The State Duma Committee on Financial Markets will meet on Friday, and is expected to approve the bill, as they already have support from both government and bank deputies.If approved by deputies, the Central Bank will increase control over banks, their owners, executives, and executive bonuses. Starting in 2014 banks will be required to prepare a consolidated report in accordance with International Financial Reporting StandardsThe Central Bank will be able to influence banking systems, including bonuses, said Mikhail Sukhov, the Bank’s Deputy Chairman. If it sees fit the bank can set individual standards for banking groups.“Specific restrictions and sanctions will be outlined later in a separate piece of legislation,” said Sukhov.Starting on July 1, all banks will be required to submit their payroll documents to the Central Bank.“In general, we support the amendments. It is important for the Central Bank to understand the concentration risks in banks and to regulate controls abroad,” Anatoly Aksakov, the deputy president of the Association of Regional Banks, said in support of the amendments.The Central Bank will also be able to check on international subsidiaries, within the parameters of local jurisdiction. “If there are any violations to ‘daughter’ companies, we have no right to use these sanctions, but the [Russian] ‘parent’ company will be able to impose fines and sanctions on the ‘daughter’ company in order to correct violations,” said SukhovAlexander Levkovsky, first deputy chairman of SMP Bank, agrees that the new controls will mostly affect banking groups with foreign subsidiary branches.For low-quality risk management or corporate governance the Central Bank will be able to set individual standards for banks. … Read More
Moscow police unearth $48mn in illicit banking
Those detained have been charged with ‘illegal banking activity’, and face up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to 1 million roubles (roughly $32,000).The Interior Ministry in Moscow says fake corporate accounts worth 1.5 billion roubles were established. Client money was funneled through phony payment orders for ‘business consulting’ and was transferred to bank accounts at OPM Bank, which collected a 5 percent commission on the transactions.The illegal activity yielded high profits for the alleged money launderers, an amount the police have not yet calculated or released.The ministry alleges the suspects had engaged in illicit cash management practices, translation services, and transits, all under the name of non-existent companies, bypassing registration with regulatory bodies. According to the police, the false corporate accounts were opened between May and September 2012.Interfax first reported 26 banks were raided on Wednesday, and searches were carried out at OPM Bank and Banke24.ru, but at the time, no suspects had been detained or identified.The first 13 searches began in April 2013. The arrest of the first batch of suspects was reported by Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. … Read More
LinkedIn forbids prostitution listings, angering legal sex workers
The social network has never allowed “unlawful” profiles, which it categorizes as those advertising illegal services, but, as prostitution is not forbidden by law everywhere in the world or even everywhere in the United States, escorts have long taken advantage of the opportunity to bring attention to themselves. Under the section titled “Don’t undertake the following,” LinkedIn’s new privacy policy and user agreement stipulates, “Even if it is legal where you are located,” users must not “create profiles or provide content that promotes escort services or prostitution.” Legal sex workers displaced by the update have criticized LinkedIn for assuming the role of moral arbiter of the Internet. “What’s the problem? We have a license to do this stuff,” Dennis Hof, owner of multiple legal brothels including Nevada’s Moonlite Bunny Ranch, told NBC on Monday. “Our business is legal as theirs. We’re the good guys. We have no reason to be knocked off.” Hof said he hopes LinkedIn doesn’t try to remove his or his employees’ profiles as they, like so many other legal businesses in the information age, rely on social media to attract customers. “LinkedIn needs to realize they don’t need to filter out legal businesses in America,” he continued. “These are businesswomen, and some of them are making mid-six-figure incomes. If it’s okay to do that, is it okay to drop Dairy Queen too because it serves too much fat and calories?”A casual inspection of LinkedIn’s listings reveals that many young men and women, while not listing prostitution as one of their career skills, do advertise thinly-veiled massage services, independent escort professionalism, and companionship, among other professions. “I’m not saying we’re going to do a purge, though we very well may,” said Hani Durzy, LinkedIn’s director of corporate communications, during an interview with NBC. “In a nutshell, as we become aware of profiles that violate our policies we will take the appropriate actions. Does that mean shutting them down on day one? Or giving our members the benefit of the doubt, and telling them that’s a violation and you’ve got to change it? There is no hard and fast rule.” … Read More
In Taiwan, Lamenting a Lost Lead
Fostering innovation has become a mantra among corporate leaders and government officials because Taiwan’s huge consumer electronics industry has run into serious trouble. … Read More
Prince Charles criticizes ‘corporate lobbyists’ and climate change skeptics for turning Earth into a ‘dying patient’
Prince uses speech at St James’s Palace to single out ‘confirmed sceptics’ and environmentally unfriendly businesses The Prince of Wales has criticised “corporate lobbyists” and climate change sceptics for turning the earth into a “dying patient”, in his…
