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.

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

The FSA do not regulate banks, they only act when its to late. Hence the mess banks are in now.

Does anyone remember this -

During the mid 1970's the Unigate Dairy came up with an amazing advertising campaign to promote their range of milk. It was based on an army of red and white striped straws that turned up when you weren't looking and stole your milk. An imaginative slogan "Watch out..Watch out there's a Humphrey about" became an overnight catchphrase. Several television adverts were produced, usually featuring semi-famous people of the era such as Arthur Mullard.

Unigate also saw fit to produce merchandise for the public to purchase. These ranged from clothing and bags to glasses, mugs and stickers. All of which could be bought from your milkman or via mail away promotions. Also produced was a set of three sealed Humphrey straws containing powdered milkshake which you threw in a glass and mixed with milk. My mum got me some of these and they nearly made me puke. Nice !!!! If you have any of the merchandise that is not already featured on this page, mail us an image of it and we'll feature it along with a credit to yourself.

Good to see that Cameron is in full support of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Oops forgot, they have dumped the Naval hardware, over stretched the Air Force.

Wonder if they have bullets for the Army.

Prisons in chaos,

Police demoralized and undermanned with the prospect of increasing crime.

Another U-turn on QE on the cards.

Cameron and Osborne looking more like Mickey Mouse and Goofy.

Hear that that UK bonds may be O graded.

skinny et al: I would be careful about that report on the Fukushima radiation. It's stuffed full of rather unscientific language and unattributed statements.

I found the following statement to be the most irresponsible scaremongering.

"In the US, physician Janette Sherman MD and epidemiologist Joseph Mangano published an essay shedding light on a 35 per cent spike in infant mortality in northwest cities that occurred after the Fukushima meltdown, and may well be the result of fallout from the stricken nuclear plant.

The eight cities included in the report are San Jose, Berkeley, San Francisco, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, Portland, Seattle, and Boise, and the time frame of the report included the ten weeks immediately following the disaster. "

In the words of the old Nationwide ad - it doesn't work like that.

Let me at once say that I am not a medic or a nuclear scientist. But I recognise unsupported, non-evidence based scaremongering when I see it. Read the words in the statement carefully. - "the time frame of the report included the ten weeks immediately following the disaster". How long was the time frame of the report? 1 year? 2 years? 10 years? These reports usually cover longish timescales. Longer than ten weeks, to be sure.

Now, I'm not saying there isn't a problem, or that the Japanese authorities tried to conceal or minimise the extent of the problem - what I am saying is that there are plenty of people with other agendas in play who seek to demonise nuclear power despite its essential role in power generation in a low carbon emission world.

I refer doubters to James Lovelock, father of the Gaia theory, who simply says that it's too late to do anything other than build nuclear power plants if we are to avoid a global warming disaster.

Point taken MM.

Agreed MM, looked at the home page for that website and it's one of those sensational 'I'm on a mission' types that you know is somewhat biased.

MM

One of the main contributions to global warming is deforestation and methane gas caused by cattle [ Mc Donald's ect ]

So stopping eating meat is one of the more simple solutions , also it is good for your health . there have been government warnings about red meat.

Further to the Fukushima discussion, the following link might be useful for those wanting to compare various doses of ionising radiation.

Radiation Dose Chart

Once it's in your browser window, you can magnify it to make it legible - I didn't embed it directly in the thread as it distorts the thread.

MM