Mediaboss Marketing

TOM PULLAR-STRECKER

The Government should be chasing down internet fraudsters overseas, as they do with drug runners, not just relying on consumer education, according to an Australian expert.

Government estimates suggest Kiwis may lose close to $450million a year to internet scams, though the figures are hard to be sure of, and may be inflated.

Kicking off Fraud Awareness Week yesterday, Commerce Minister Craig Foss said the Consumer Affairs Ministry had "always believed education was the key" to combating scams, partly because many were run from overseas.

But Alistair MacGibbon, director of Canberra University's Centre for Internet Safety, told a conference organised by the ministry and Trade Me in Wellington that while education was critical, it was "a really hard slog".

"I believe that along with consumer education there are systemic issues that governments around the world need to deal with," he said.

"Being overseas shouldn't be stopping investigations. If anyone has ever investigated complex drug matters they will know that they go offshore. New Zealand and Australia and other countries have been pretty good at posting police to drug hotspots overseas.

"That is exactly what needs to be done when it comes to internet-based crime."

Ministry spokesman Alistair Stewart believed most scams went unreported but acknowledged its claim that Kiwis were losing $448m to scams annually was based on extrapolating international data and "may be inflated".

There have been suspicions security software companies have overstated the scale of losses to generate more demand for their products.

View post:
Government urged to hunt offshore scammers

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission is widening its regulatory sweep to include "shadow" banking, heralding new controls over the sprawling and largely unchartered 46 trillion euro ($61 trillion) sector blamed for helping trigger the financial crisis.

The EU's executive launched a consultation with industry on Monday with a view to writing rules to control shadow banking, a term describing activity resembling banks' basic borrow-and-lend model, but often taking place beyond the watch of regulators.

It opens up a new front in the regulatory drive of Brussels, which some analysts believe has been slow to tackle the causes of a financial crisis that struck Europe roughly five years ago.

"What we do not want is for financial activities and entities to circumvent existing and foreseen rules, allowing new sources of risk to accumulate in the financial sector," said Michel Barnier, the EU official in charge of regulatory reform.

"That is why we need to better understand what shadow banking actually is and does, and what regulation and supervision may be appropriate."

Political leaders are aware of the potential problem that shadow banking presents and the Group of 20 top global economies have asked their task force, the Financial Stability Board (FSB), to come up with plans to regulate the sector.

That will give a lead to the European authorities in finalizing their plans.

The chairman of Britain's Financial Services Authority, Adair Turner, has called for radical plans to regulate shadow banking, saying last week that the system may be too complex for regulators to understand.

Hedge funds and private equity are often cited as examples of shadow banking. But the term can also take in investment funds and even cash-rich firms that lend government bonds to banks, and which in turn use them as security when taking credit from the European Central Bank.

Shadow banking can also refer to offshore vehicles such as those that banks used before the crisis for leverage, as well as money-market funds taking deposits from companies.

Read this article:
EU considers new controls for shadow banking

by Ronnie Teo, bizhive@theborneopost.com. Posted on March 18, 2012, Sunday

With competition in the Malaysian banking scene intensifying, local banking groups will continue to seek opportunities offshore for further growth opportunities.

MORE URGENT: The need for the financial sector to cross international borders becomes more urgent as the regional and international complexity of Malaysias financial system continues to transform in light of global financial updates.

With Asias economic development set to accelerate over the coming decade on the back of increasing income levels and technological advancements, Malaysian banks now see a push for regional integration as the next stepping stone for growth.

As a matter of fact, the need for the financial sector to cross international borders becomes more urgent as the regional and international complexity of Malaysias financial system continues to transform in light of global financial updates.

The forces of change are becoming more apparent with factors such as demographic changes, greater requirements for infrastructure development and the emergence of industries powered by innovation that have hastened regional integrations.

Thus, the Financial Sector Blueprint 2011-2020 (FSB) came to light.

Launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in December last year, this new blueprint takes over from the 10-year Financial Services Masterplan which ended after laying a strong foundation for the countrys banking and financial sector.

The move endeavours to mobilise regional funds and promote resource allocation to investments efficiently.

I want to see our financial sector playing a key role in the cross-border intermediation of Asias financial funds, with Malaysias financial institutions continuing to venture abroad and to replicate their domestic successes in these new markets, stressed Najib during the launch.

See original here:
Growing across borders

By Sally Bakewell - Fri Mar 16 15:54:57 GMT 2012

Bard Holding GmbH, a German company that helped pioneer deep water wind-farms, expects talks on its takeover by several companies to close within about 12 weeks.

Bard is discussing the sale with a couple of companies, Axel Bahr, a spokesman, said by phone, declining to name them because talks are continuing. Bard anticipates indicative offers at end-March and completion in 6 to 12 weeks, he said.

The company is developing the 400-megawatt Bard Offshore 1 wind farm in the German North Sea about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Borkum island, scheduled to be completed by next year or 2014. Bard has permission to build another 80 turbines in nearby waters about 40 meters (130 feet) deep.

Cost and technical challenges from developing wind turbines far at sea, among the most expensive of renewable technologies, led to financial pressure for Emden-based Bard, Bahr said.

The company suffered delays installing the machines and ran short of money, pushing the project with an expected capacity to power 400,000 homes about two years behind schedule, Bahr said.

Bard in September said it had begun seeking a strategic investor and appointed JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)s investment banking arm to sell a 87.5 percent stake. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (042660) said in November it was interested.

While the shipbuilder is still studying it, there is no specific matter in progress at the moment, it said in an e- mailed reply to questions. JPMorgan Chase & Co wouldnt comment.

UniCredit Bank AG (HVM), which provided about 1.74 billion euros ($2.3 billion) for the wind park from 2007 to 2010, agreed to give a further 1.17 billion euros in August 2011, on the basis of various technical and legal reports by external consultants stating that the project was feasible, the bank said.

The 2.9 billion euros of UniCredit funds would allow the park to be finished, the bank said in a statement on its website this year. UniCredit declined to comment when Bloomberg called.

View original post here:
German Offshore Wind Pioneer Bard Sees Takeover Within 12 Weeks

16 March 2012

The Jersey office of Walkers, the leading international law firm, has advised on the multi-jurisdictional aspects of the USD1bn merger between Sberbank and Troika Dialog, which will create a Russian 'superbank'.

Troika Dialog has securities trading, investment banking, private wealth and asset management operations in 21 cities across Russia plus offices in the UK, US, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Cyprus. The closure of this deal has created the largest universal banking institution in Russia.

Speaking previously on the closure of the deal, Herman Gref, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of Sberbank, explained that the merged institution has ambitious targets, including to become a major global player in the area of investment banking.

We are taking the scope of our business to the next level," Gref commented. "The merger will enable us to modernize the Russian financial industry and increase the quality of services we offer to our corporate and private clients. We plan to consolidate and expand our leading positions in investment banking in both Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the next two to three years and intend to become one of the top 15 global players in terms of debt securities, currency, and commodities operations in the next five years. We have ambitious goals: in 2014 we expect to double income from investment banking activity. At the moment we are already working on over 70 investment banking deals.

Walkers provided multi-jurisdictional legal services for this transaction, including acting as Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands counsel. The Walkers team was led by Partner Jack Boldarin who commented:

Our involvement in this deal underscores our successful track record in advising on the market leading, cross-border corporate transactions in the Russia and CIS region.

This deal will play a major role in hastening the modernisation of Russias financial industry and provide a firm footing upon which Sberbank can move to reach its ambitious growth targets in its key business areas, including investment banking.

Russia and CIS expertise is a key part of our offering here in our European based hub in Jersey, an area from where we can deliver time zone sensitive, multi-jurisdictional advice on British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Jersey and Irish law to our international clients.

Sberbank is the largest credit institution in Russia and the CIS, presently accounting for 26% of the aggregate banking assets and 30% of banking capital in the wider region. Sberbank has a total of 20,000 branches across Russia. Sberbank accounts for 47.9% of retail deposits, 31% of consumer loans and 31% of corporate loans in Russia.

Link:
Walkers Advises On Offshore Aspects Of Russian 'Superbank' Merger