Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

While wandering around France a short while ago,I was chatting with an Austrian financial advisor about taxation in France, Switzerland and Britain and she informed me that the banking system and accounts are also being examined and become much tighter in its administration.

.Wed 22 Jun 2011 6:17 - UK Markets open in 1 hr and 42 mins
..Greek government survives vote, battles on to avert bankruptcy

tweet0Print..Companies:IMF (AUSTRALIA)Topics:InternationalCurrenciesDirector Dealings.Related Quotes
Symbol Price Change
MXG1.BE 0.00 0.00


{"s" : "MXG1.BE","k" : "a00,a50,b00,b60,c10,g00,h00,l10,p20,t10,v00","o" : "","j" : ""} Harry Papachristou and Dina Kyriakidou, 4:16, Wednesday 22 June 2011

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's government will approve its new austerity package on Wednesday after it survived a confidence vote, clearing the first hurdle in a battle to secure emergency loans and avert the euro zone's first sovereign debt default.

Prime Minister George Papandreou's reshuffled cabinet aims to get parliament approval for a package of spending cuts, tax hikes and state asset sales by June 28 and then push through laws needed to implement it within the next two weeks to avoid missing out on 12 billion euros (10.6 billion pounds) in aid and plunging into bankruptcy.

The vote follows a European ultimatum linking the release of the next instalment of a 110 billion euro EU/IMF (Berlin: MXG1.BE - news) aid package due in two weeks to a new five-year belt-tightening plan.

Without the loans, Athens will run out of cash next month and policymakers fear a default would send shock waves through the global financial system.

The euro rose in hopes that the immediate threat of market chaos could be avoided, but the gains were short-lived as traders cited concerns about implementation of harsh austerity measures in a nation bruised by its worst recession in 37 years and doubts about Greece's ability to reduce its debt burden without some form of restructuring.

"The reaction of the people is going to be critical. If we see cars burning and protests tomorrow, then all this short term success is going to get sucked out the window," said William Larkin, a fixed-income portfolio manager at Cabot Money Management in Salem, Massachusetts.

DEFAULT ONLY WAY OUT FOR GREECE?

Speaking just hours after the vote, Mohamed El-Erian, head of Pimco, the world's biggest bond fund, said he expected Greece to end up defaulting on its debt.

"For the next three years, we're going to see different economies work out different problems. For European economies, especially Greece, it would be through default," El-Erian told a conference in Taipei.

Papandreou managed to stifle dissent within his party last week by replacing unpopular government figures with critics of the austerity plan and repeatedly hammering home the message of what was at stake.

"If we are afraid, if we throw away this opportunity, then history will judge us very harshly," Papandreou said in a final appeal for support before the confidence vote.

All of Papandreou's Socialist Party deputies voted solidly with the government, handing him a victory by 155 votes to 143 with two abstentions, while thousands of protesters besieged the parliament building, shouting insults at politicians and shining hundreds of green laser lights at the building and at Greek police.

Having already missed targets agreed in its first, year-old bailout, Athens needs the reforms to keep receiving those funds and secure a second bailout worth an estimated 120 billion euros.

The new mid-term plan envisions raising 50 billion euros by selling off state firms and includes 6.5 billion in 2011 fiscal consolidation, almost doubling existing measures that have helped extend a deep recession into its third year.

Most analysts remain sceptical that Greece will be able to reduce its vast public debt pile of 340 billion euros, 1.5 times its annual economic output and more than 30,000 euros for each of its 11.3 million people, even if the reforms are implemented.

But for now both markets and European policymakers are willing to give Greece the benefit of the doubt.

"Although this clearly is not going to be a long-term fix, investors see this as a chance that the can will be kicked further down the road," said David Dietze, Chief Investment strategist at Point View Financial Services.

ANGER BUILDS IN ATHENS

European Commission President Manuel Barroso, who had piled on pressure before the vote, expressed relief.

"Tonight's vote in the Greek Parliament removes an element of uncertainty from an already very difficult situation," he said, adding that Papandreou could now concentrate on implementing the reforms.

Acting IMF chief John Lipsky sent a similar message, saying international lenders were willing to help peripheral euro zone economies as long as they tried to carry out reforms. He said the Greek fiscal system was broken but could be fixed with the right political will.

The cabinet will meet on Wednesday afternoon to approve a draft bill implementing the austerity plan, officials said. It will aim to get it passed in parliament by June 28 and then it must push through laws implementing the reforms -- potentially more difficult as it will tackle individual privatisations, tax measures and spending cuts -- in time for an extraordinary meeting of euro zone finance ministers on July 3.

As parliament debated the confidence motion, demonstrators stepped up their protests in the square, where hundreds have camped for weeks to show their opposition to more austerity, which has deepened the worst recession for 37 years.

"I believe we should go bankrupt and get it over with. These measures are slowly killing us," said 22-year-old student Efi Koloverou. "We want competent people to take over."

Glykeria Madaraki, a 39-year-old unemployed woman, said: "God help us. There is no way these people are getting us out of the crisis. I feel insecure and I see my country being sold off. They didn't ask what we think about all this. I want elections."

Inside parliament the opposition poured similar disdain on the government.

"This is not a programme to salvage the economy, it's a programme for pillage before bankruptcy," said Alexis Tsipras, head of the small opposition Left Coalition.

Newly appointed Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, in an attempt to answer a key grievance of protesters, told parliament the government's top priority would be to build a fairer tax system.

Inspectors from the International Monetary Fund and European Union arrived on Tuesday to examine a request by Venizelos for changes to the mid-term plan. Greece's government has said the lenders' inspectors would discuss changes "at a technical level."

Euro zone officials have told Reuters the plan for the new bailout, meant to extend Greece's year-old 110-billion-euro deal and fund it into late 2014, would feature up to 60 billion euros of fresh official loans, 30 billion euros from the private sector and 30 billion euros from privatisations.

Leading global credit ratings agencies have warned, however, that changes to terms of existing government

Anyone buying JELY today ?

A friend of mine emailed me to say that she was taking a short trip to France [ she's a Austrian financial advisor ] and this boring old English fart tried to chat her up by mumbling something about Tory toff's and u bends. Very strange man she said, I told him I didn't like toffee's and if I had trouble with my U bend , i knew a good Plumber.

Are you referring to the the Boy's Own reject Cameron and his latest attempt to portray himself as the new "tory messiah"?

I think he should go back to his job of being a PR stuntman. Mind he could be a circus clown without any training,

Cabinet announcing today further strong government with more rapid U turns in quick response to public opinion.

Cameron says it is better, quicker and easier than doing research before announcing further policies.

Also much more cost efficient.

Just came across this elsewhere. Radiation Map Of Fukushima,

Thanks for that Skinny. Grim reading. My wife has stopped calling relatives in Fukushima for the time being as very hard to know what to say.

Isaacs - what is sad and makes for uneasy reading is that the Government knew early on about the extent of the radiation, but chose not to be open. I wish your relatives well.

What a frightening report, what would happen if this was in a small country like the uk ? it would turn most of the uk into a waste land. The French have a large number of nuclear plants facing the south coast but these are newer ones a believe.

.

What frightening news.

Hmmm?

That report looks to me, like it's completely destroyed the future of Nuclear Power throughout the world.

mnamreh

Are you saying it always blow's that way , or is that just today's forecast ?

.

Exec, no wonder Drax stock keeps going up!

I agree, I thought that we were going to have a new generation of nuclear reactors but that may no longer be a popular choice. Quite where we're going to get our energy from remains to be seen, but I forsee home generation in some form or other. It was mooted a god few years ago, but I guess the economics aren't viable.

Here is some bad news for a few on here

ONE SMALL GLASS OF WINE!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13863196

People over 65 should limit themselves to 1.5 units of alcohol a day, a report suggests.

Recommended safe limits for drinking alcohol by older people should be drastically cut, according to a report.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists says people over 65 should drink a maximum of only 1.5 units of alcohol a day.

That is the equivalent of just over about half a pint of beer or a small glass of wine.

It warns current advice - 14 units of alcohol for women and 21 for men each week - is based on work with young adults.

If you took a drink away from some old boys it would kill them off. The stress of todays living is doing far more damage to ones health. Come to think of it, so is trading on the aim. lol. Get a life!

Certainly true of some on here!

You are not referring to who I think, are you.lol

The talk to youself thread. Would be good to have a talk and debate thread.

These banks still think they are beyond the law, they need crippling fines. Thats all they understand.

FSA probes two banks over money laundering

tweet0Print..Topics:International.Kirstin Ridley, 18:02, Wednesday 22 June 2011

LONDON (Reuters) - Two banks in Britain are being investigated for lax money-laundering controls and others are likely to be handling the proceeds of corruption and other financial crime, the financial regulator said on Wednesday.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said it had referred two banks to its enforcement division for "serious weaknesses" in how they managed "high-risk" customers, including those whose public status made them vulnerable to corruption.

"We are considering whether further regulatory action is required in relation to other banks, and further cases may be referred for enforcement," the FSA added as it published a review of how banks manage money-laundering risks.

In a damning report, the FSA said some banks appeared unwilling to turn away or exit very profitable business relationships, even when there appeared to be an unacceptable risk of handling the proceeds of crime.

"Around a third of banks, including the private banking arms of some major banking groups, appeared willing to accept very high levels of money-laundering risk if the immediate reputational and regulatory risk was acceptable," it stated.

Many of the failings identified by the regulator are the same as those it spotted 10 years ago when deposed Nigerian strongman Sani Abacha, his family members and associates used 42 UK bank accounts to turn over $1.3 billion (806.2 million pounds) in four years.

More than half of banks visited by the FSA this time around failed to have meaningful due diligence measures in higher-risk situations, and failed to identify or record negative information about customers.

Around one-third also dismissed serious allegations about their customers without adequate review, and more than one-third failed to identify customers as "politically exposed persons," or PEPs, who are considered the most vulnerable to corruption because of their public prominence.

The FSA said three-quarters of banks in its sample, which included the majority of large banks, did not always manage high-risk customers and PEP relationships effectively, and needed to do more to protect themselves from money laundering.

"We will, where appropriate, use our enforcement powers to reinforce key messages in this report to encourage banks and other firms to strengthen AML (anti-money laundering) systems and controls, and deter them from making decisions which do not take adequate account of money-laundering risk," the FSA said.

Lawyers noted the FSA was not mincing its words.

"The warning is clear: do your checks properly and be prepared to turn down high-risk business, or the FSA will come knocking," noted Alison McHaffie of law firm CMS Cameron McKenna

Global Witness, a non-government organisation that runs campaigns against conflict and corruption, said the review provided long overdue recognition of the need for ongoing monitoring and punishment to force banks to comply with rules.

"For too long, Britain's banks have been happy to accept money stolen from developing countries by corrupt rulers and their families," said Anthea Lawson, head of the banks campaign at Global Witness.

"Neither dictatorship nor corruption can occur without banks willing to help."

(Editing by David Hulmes