Shaw Capital Management World Financial News:Renewable energy gaining ground: Top economist

http://arabnews.com/economy/article333566.ece

By ARAB NEWS

Published: Mar 28, 2011 23:48 Updated: Mar 28, 2011 23:48

http://arabnews.com/economy/article333674.ece/REPRESENTATIONS/large_620x350/eco_renewable.jpg

DUBAI: Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), the global financial hub of the region between the regional emerging markets and the world, on Monday held an economics workshop on latest developments in international financial markets and trade relating to oil and gas.

The workshop, entitled “Oil Trade & Finance: Developments & Prospects for MENA,” brought together financiers, market specialists and business leaders, to discuss the emerging market trends and potential impact of unrest in the MENA region on energy supply & prices.

“As we enter the new decade, we are seeing a number of dynamic and fundamental changes to the global oil and gas industry,” said Nasser Saidi, chief economist and head of external relations, DIFC Authority.

Firstly, he said risk premiums associated with global uncertainties, had pushed crude oil prices up again.

“Secondly, as emerging markets took the driver’s seat and became the main contributor to world GDP growth over the course of the global financial crisis, oil and gas flows have moved toward these emerging market economies, China in particular,” he added.

He pointed out that GCC petroleum consumption continues to remain high, with some states displaying the fastest yearly growth in energy demand in the world.

“Saudi Arabia actually uses more oil than Germany, despite having over 60 million less people. As a result of maintaining fuel subsidies, the GCC is extremely energy intensive when compared to industrial and developed countries around the world. This is not sustainable,” he added.

The Middle East is home to two-thirds of the world’s oil and gas proven reserves and its role as the largest oil exporter underscores the importance of the region given the rising demand globally for energy commodities. Recent years and months have seen high volatility in oil and gas prices, unrest in the region and rising demand from emerging market economies, highlighting the importance of maintaining oil and gas supply and financing to sustain growth in times of uncertainty.

“The future of global energy is not based on oil but rather on renewable energy, which is expected to triple by 2035,” he said.

“China is shaping this future and is pushing to expand the role of low-carbon energy technologies, which will in turn drive the energy cost down, benefiting all countries,” the economist said.

“This is exactly why the GCC states need to focus on investments in renewable energy & technology given that they have significant clean energy resources in solar, wind and, carbon capture and storage. Today’s discussions are an opportunity to highlight the challenges faced by the sector and propose solutions to address them. DIFC is proud to be hosting this event and it is committed to continue to be a platform where economic and financial issues facing the region and the world are discussed in an effort to develop this region’s economies

The workshop addressed a series of topics, including “Shifting energy market patterns and their consequences,” “The role of Dubai Mercantile Exchange and the regions oil prices benchmark,” “Middle East unrest and oil prices vulnerability,” “Oil and gas infrastructure in MENA region,” “Investment in oil and gas industry in the MENA region” and “The changing role of financial services regulators: DFSA and the commodity derivatives markets.”

Thomas Leaver, CEO, Dubai Mercantile Exchange; Jorge Montapeque, global director, Platts; Fabio Scacciavillani, chief economist, Oman Investment Fund; Sirine Tajer, entrepreneur and independent strategic adviser; and Gerald Santing, managing director, Dubai Financial Services Authority, were the other speakers.

Shaw Capital Management World Financial News:CPP issues profit warning as it is investigated by the FSA

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/business/news/8937988.CPP_issues_profit_warning_as_it_is_investigated_by_the_FSA/?ref=rss

10:10pm Monday 28th March 2011

By Julie Hayes »Business reporter

ONE of York’s largest employers has issued a profit warning after revealing it is being investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

CPP Group, which employs about 1,000 people in York, said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange that the FSA was looking into issues surrounding the sale of its card and identity protection products in the UK, specifically looking at alleged failings in sales calls.

It said it contested a number of the concerns raised by the FSA, but it may need to conduct a review in order to identify whether any deficiency has caused customer detriment requiring redress.

It has decided to suspend all new sales of identity protection through telephone sales and it intends to develop an identity protection product without insurance.

It said: “CPP is committed to running its business with the highest levels of integrity and treating its customers fairly. We have confidence in our processes and our agents are measured against demanding standards of regulatory compliance, all undergoing rigorous FSA compliant training before they take a live call.”

But the company, based at Holgate Park, has warned that 2011 operating profit was expected to be below the lower end of the current range of analysts’ estimates for 2011, because of the suspension of identity protection sales and income from the new non-insurance product being deferred.

“The group expects to be able to mitigate to some extent the financial impact through sales of alternate products, including card protection. The net impact however is that underlying operating profit is expected to be below the lower end of the current range of analysts’ estimates for 2011,” it said.

Shaw Capital Management World Financial News:Markets shrugging off Libya, but oil is a risk

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/markets-shrugging-off-libya-but-oil-is-a-risk/story-e6frg8zx-1226029020474

Sarah-Jane Tasker

From:The Australian

March 28, 2011 12:00AM

GLOBAL markets are bouncing back from the initial shock of Japan’s devastating earthquake and the Libyan conflict, with renewed positive sentiment to boost the Australian bourse this week.

The local market is expected to take the lead from Wall Street’s positive close on Friday (US time), which was driven by data outlining a jump in US economic growth at the end of last year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its sixth gain in seven sessions at Friday’s close as it finished up 50.03 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 12,220.59.

Australia’s market is expected to take the lead from Wall Street and record a positive start to trading this week, after closing 0.92 per cent higher at 4742.6 points, on Friday.Magellan Financial Group chief executive Hamish Douglass said that during the previous week, global markets had wound back to pre-earthquake levels.

“Our view of the situation in Japan at the time when we analysed it — the human tragedy is obviously enormous in Japan — but in terms of a macro-economic event for the world and potentially the world’s financial system, it was a very low-risk event for the world,” he told ABC’s Inside Business yesterday.

Related Coverage

• Nasty oil spike feared over flashpoints Adelaide Now, 1 day ago
• Oil above $US105 for a third day The Australian, 3 days ago
• Crude up amid Libya, Mideast concerns The Daily Telegraph, 3 days ago
• Oil price highest since Japan quake The Australian, 6 days ago
• Oil prices climb on Libya fighting The Australian, 7 days ago

Mr Douglass said if there was a “worst case” event in Japan, it would be largely contained to that country.

“Our view was that we thought it was unlikely that the Japanese financial system would collapse, but even if it did, we didn’t see it as a similar situation that could happen in European sovereign debt, or around a major investment bank like Lehman Brothers collapsing.”

While markets have now largely shrugged off the Japanese disaster and digested the ongoing conflict in Libya, which has supported a rise in the oil price to above $US100 a barrel, further unrest in the Middle East could trigger a negative response in global markets.

Mr Douglass said the recent rise in the oil price had not been that significant, but he warned there was the potential for an oil shock, should a new conflict arise in the oil-producing region.

“If you’ve got a major conflict involving some major oil-producing nations, particularly Saudi Arabia, you wouldn’t talk about oil going up $US20 a barrel, you’re potentially talking about it going up $US200 a barrel, and that would completely change the dynamics of the world,” he said.

“Not only would it place many large economies into recession, it would have major consequences for much of the emerging markets of the world.

“So what’s currently going on . . . in Libya, I don’t think is a huge event to the world, but what’s potentially going on with Saudi Arabia and Iran and Bahrain and the potential instability there, that’s potentially a much more serious issue.

“But the concern of the conflict spreading throughout the Middle East is not hitting markets now, which have recovered from Japan’s nuclear crisis.”

shaw capital management world financial news:Attorney calls for agency to monitor money laundering

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article333603.ece

By ARAB NEWS

Published: Mar 29, 2011 01:00 Updated: Mar 29, 2011 01:00

JEDDAH: Saudi attorney Khalid Alnowaiser recently pointed out that money laundering by organized crime syndicates has become an international dilemma and a real challenge for global financial institutions.

In the United States, international experts believe that money laundering has cost $3.61 trillion due to more transparent international financial markets and the spread of technology. These activities are illegal and cause severe economic, social, and political problems. Studies have shown that money laundering supports drug trafficking, terrorism, and arms smuggling.

The growing problem of money laundering gained interest after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. It has been the subject of many conventions and international conferences including the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances in 1988 which is known as the Vienna Convention, the 1994 Amman Conference which involved Saudi Arabia and many other participants from all over the world, and the UN Security Council Resolution 1373 that called on United Nations members to work together to combat the financing of terrorism.

Saudi Arabia and many other Arab countries have issued special laws seeking to combat money laundering.

In 2003, Royal Decree No. M/39 was issued followed by a Saudi law to combat money laundering.

In 1999, Council of Ministers Decision No. 15 ratified the implementation of 40 recommendations to combat money laundering issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATAF). All decrees conform to the opinions of many Islamic scholars prohibiting money laundering.

However, many obstacles still exist in fighting money laundering, including bank secrecy rules preventing the disclosure of bank accounts and deposits, a general lack of consistent modern information regulations, different regulations in each country, and computer hacking activities.

Alnowaiser suggested the following recommendations be immediately implemented to fight money laundering:

l Revoking the charters of bank and financial institutions involved in money laundering.

l Criminally prosecuting those persons involved in money laundering activities.

l Better training of bank employees so they can become better acquainted with modern technological innovations to uncover money laundering activities.

l Most importantly, establishing a powerful central agency to monitor international financial transactions, identify financial transactions linked to illegal or suspicious activities, disclose the activities of those persons engaging in money laundering, and publicize these preventative steps to citizens through the media.

Shaw capital management world financial news: Upheaval in Middle East a warning for developed economies

http://www.smh.com.au/business/upheaval-in-middle-east-a-warning-for-developed-economies-20110328-1cddc.html

March 29, 2011

THE revolutions in the Middle East are not just about corrupt and overregulated autocratic regimes crushing freedom and democracy. They also reflect dysfunctional economies, products of crony capitalism creating massive unemployment, substantial sections of the population living below poverty levels, gross income inequality, bloated public-sector payrolls and suppression of business formation. As with Europe, the US, Britain and Australia, economics has shaped the politics.

It’s not insignificant that the revolutions in the Arab world started in Tunisia. Mohamed Bouazizi, 26, and with a computer science degree, was forced to sell fruit and vegetables from a cart. He had no licence but it was his sole source of income. On December 17, authorities confiscated his produce. Bouazizi drenched himself in petrol and set himself on fire outside the governor’s office. It set off an explosion throughout the Arab world.

The upheaval is also a warning for developed economies. In his book Fault Lines, former International Monetary Fund chief economist Raghuram Rajan says the roots of the financial crisis lay in income inequality, political mismanagement where politicians pushed easy credit instead of tackling structural problems and perceptions of crony capitalism, where governments pandered to corporate interests and vice versa. The Middle East continues that theme of tightly interconnected politics and economics.

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The parallels with the Middle East are there with the post-financial crisis electoral volatility witnessed in Australia, Britain and the US, including the rise of the Tea Party following the bank bailout, a US model of crony capitalism. Europeans from Britain to Bavaria are rebelling against austerity programs. People are not paying road fees in the Greek town of Aphidal, bus and metro passengers in Athens now refuse to pay for tickets. In Europe, critics say the austerity measures show government and corporate interests have merged.

Libya is an exemplar of crony capitalism. Gaddafi and his family have reportedly accumulated an estimated $US97 billion in accounts and investments around the globe. Compare that with the rest of the population in Libya. According to the CIA World Fact Book, one in three Libyans lives at or below the poverty line.

Hosni Mubarak who, according to various media reports, is worth anywhere up to $US70 billion, started out by cracking down on profiteering by politically connected businessmen linked to his predecessor, Anwar Sadat. A 1990 New York Times profile described his “rigid personal probity”.

But as with Gaddafi, power corrupts. Over the years, there were reports describing how he enriched himself and his family through partnerships in Egypt’s powerful companies. His family reportedly owns properties all over the world. Compare the wealth of the Mubarak clan with the low-wage labourers in Egypt, with most available jobs in poorly paid informal work, a 9.5 per cent inflation rate and where at least 50 per cent of men and 90 per cent of women remain jobless two years after leaving school.

And then there is the royal welfare system in Saudi Arabia which, according to WikiLeaks in cables reviewed by Reuters, works in legal and illegal ways. Legally, there are monthly allowances for thousands of princes and princesses, ranging from $US800 a month lower down the food chain, to $US270,000 a month for sons of Abdul-Aziz Ibn Saud. Illegal ways include skimming $US10 billion yearly from off-budget projects related to defence and infrastructure, sponsoring expatriate workers who have to pay a small monthly fee to their royal patron.

In the wake of a violent crackdown on protesters that left at least 37 dead, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced changes including pay rises for public workers. The question remains whether Syria is next.

Fixing the problems will not be easy. Even after the regimes are gone, the infrastructure and systems for corruption will still be there.

Economist Nouriel Roubini has proposed an assistance program designed for the Middle East, modelled on the Marshall Plan in western Europe after World War II, or on the model offered to eastern Europe after the Berlin Wall’s collapse, with finance coming from the IMF, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as the US, the European Union, China, and the Gulf states. Such a program should tackle the systemic problem of income inequality and crony capitalism.

Rajan argues that every financial and economic crisis has political roots. But events in the Middle East and around the world suggest it is also vice versa.

Economics rooted in income inequality and the blending of government and corporate interests can frame the political environment. The public’s faith in private enterprise is corroded and people feel there are two sets of rules: one for those in influence and another for the rest. It’s something the Gillard government should keep in mind when it picks winners and losers for its carbon tax compensation package. The growing convergence of politics and corporations is meat for conspiracy theorists and has political consequences.

leon@leongettler.com

Shaw Capital Management World Financial News:There’s no money left! Minister Hunt issues warning to BOA over financial disagreement

As it stands, the BOA would be entitled to a cut of any surplus after 2012, but with Paralympic losses expected to cancel out any Olympic gains, this would likely be a negligible figure.

Instead, the BOA want to take a share before the Paralympic results are taken into account and, despite the IOC ruling against them, are taking their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Should they be successful, it would require either LOCOG somehow to generate more money, or for the cash to be shifted from the wider sport budget, affecting other projects.

Hunt, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, is also worried the conflict could cause the bodies to take their eyes off the ball in other areas.

The clock is ticking: The London Olympics kick-off in just over a year

He told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek: ‘It’s an extraordinary thing just over a year before the games that we’re getting into this sort of dispute which, frankly, isn’t going to benefit anyone. It’s just going to line the pockets of lawyers.

‘The BOA is fantastically important to the success of 2012. ‘They have got to look after 550 athletes, it’s a massive logistical operation to run that village…and they’ve got to run the holding camp. ‘Everyone in that organisation needs to be focused on that logistical challenge.

‘The second thing is I can’t really see how anyone’s going to be a winner from this because there is no more money. ‘Sport got a very good settlement in the comprehensive spending review.

Shaw Capital Management World Financial News:Students conned out of loans in fake email swindle

Saturday 2 April 2011 07:00

AROUND 50 students in Yorkshire are believed to have been conned by a suspected email scam which has seen their loan payments go missing after they were tricked into giving their personal details.

The victims are thought to have responded to a bogus email claiming to be from Sheffield Hallam University informing students that they could qualify for extra financial support.

The students were asked to supply personal information to see if they were eligible to receive a new bursary.

An investigation is underway to establish how this information was used to change the details on 50 loan payments which were due to go into the undergraduates’ accounts last month.

Maintenance loans are paid to students three times a year and it is feared that tens of thousands of pounds could have been diverted through the suspected scam.

South Yorkshire Police, the university and the Students Loan Company are now investigating.

Sheffield Hallam is also working to support students suffering financial hardship as a result of the loans not reaching their accounts.

A spokeswoman for the university said: “We are aware that some of our students may have been targeted in a phishing scam, which may have affected their funding with the Student Loans Company.”

Both the university and the Students Loan Company have confirmed that around 50 students are believed to have been affected.

A statement from the company said: “Students at Sheffield Hallam University have alerted us to a scam which may have resulted in their personal details being accessed by a third party.

“We are working with the university to investigate the extent of this and the police have been informed. To ensure that we minimise the risk of further incidents, we have put in place additional security measures.

“We understand the university has put in place support measures that will assist any student who may be at risk of financial hardship as a result of this.”

Caroline Dowd, president of the Students’ Union at Sheffield Hallam University, has warned students not to hand out their personal details. South Yorkshire Police has urged any students who have been affected to contact them on 0114 2202020

Shaw Capital Management World Financial News:Telephone scam makes rounds in area

April 2, 2011

Daily Press

MANISTIQUE – Residents of Schoolcraft County are being warned about a telephone scam in Schoolcraft County.

Manistique Public Safety Director Ken Golat said there have been numerous attempts in the past several weeks to fraudulently obtain banking account information.

The attempts have been made by a telephone call, whereby the caller states that he or she represents a local bank or financial institution in the Manistique area.

The caller then advises the intended victim their account has been compromised and that they need their account and Social Security numbers immediately to prevent theft.

In a spin off scam, other residents have received call that their debit card sponsored by a named Manistique financial institution has been compromised and the intended victim should provide the caller with those numbers.

Public Safety officers are reminding the public they should never give out any personal or account information over the phone, no matter what the supposed circumstances.

If a person should receive any such call requesting this information they should hang up immediately and contact their local bank or credit union to determine what is going on.

If this is determined to be a fraud scam, which a vast majority are, the person should then report this attempted fraud to the Manistique Public Safety Department by calling 906-341-2133.