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Bank of America Settles NYC Probe
Bank of America Corp. has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a New York City investigation into the banks anti-money-laundering procedures.
At a press conference, Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau said Bank of America failed to adequately assess the risk of certain customers. Morgenthau said a number of Brazilian money service businesses were conducting illegal transmittal operations through the account of a Uruguayan money remitter at a Bank of America branch on West 33rd Street in Manhattan.
Between May 2002 and April 2004, more than $3 billion through the account, which most of it originating from offshore shell companies chartered in Panama and the British Virgin Islands and controlled by the illegal Brazilian money service operations, he said.
More : chron.com
Nabi Retains Banc of America Securities
Drug developer Nabi Pharmaceuticals said Wednesday that Banc of America Securities LLC will advise it on future strategy, including licensing agreements, joint ventures and the possible sale of the company.
The move came a day after Third Point LLC, which owns 9.5 percent of the company, said it planned to conduct a consent solicitation to remove Thomas H. McLain, Nabi chairman, chief executive and president. The Third Point announcement also said it might seek removal of other board members and would ask shareholders to fill the spots with its choices.
In Nabis statement Wednesday, it said the company has been reviewing a range of strategic options since StaphVAX failed in a Phase III clinical trial last November. The drug was intended to treat kidney infections.
Source : chron.com
Golf: Americas star-mangled banner
Sandy Lyles tongue happened to be nowhere near his cheek when he suggested yesterday that Europe should be handicapped in future Ryder Cups and that maybe the United States could be allowed to pick Canadians as well to ensure the matches are more even. Ian Woosnams assistant captain was deadly serious. And that just about sums it all up.
Even the ridiculous suddenly sounds feasible in this most surreal of aftermaths. When a solid man of such unwavering conviction as Tom Lehman starts querying everything around him, you know the USs fabled faith in their own superiority is being stretched to breaking point. They are scarred after being striped and that starry banner is more mangled than spangled. A third Ryder Cup humbling in succession has seen to it.
Is there something they can do better to avoid another drubbing in Kentucky in two years time? That is the central question in an inquest overloaded with them. Here we attempt to answer the most impertinent.
More : nzherald.co.nz
WeeMees travel to North America
Internet users in the US and Canada can now use a personalised online identity called WeeMee after a Glasgow company signed a deal with AOL.
WeeWorld will include its WeeMees on AOL instant messenger - making it available to several hundred million users in North America and the UK.
The personalised digital identities are available in 39 countries and more than 10 million WeeMees exist.
More : news.bbc.co.uk
Road America: CTE Racing HVM race report
Sundays 51-lap race featured mixed emotions for the CTE Racing HVM team as the team experienced the highs and lows of Racing at Road America. Dan Clarke and Nelson Philippe finished the Champ Car Grand Prix sixth and 14th despite leading the pack.
Rookie Dan Clarke had the birds eye view Sunday when he started the Champ Car Grand Prix at Road America after earning the first pole position of his Champ Car career. It was a perfect start to the weekend, Clarke mastered the wet track on slick tires Friday, securing the provisional pole position, winning a championship point, which pushed him in to the top-ten in the championship standings and secured a front row start. Saturday, the weather played into his hands as the skies opened as final qualifying began an his Friday time held by six seconds, awarding Clarke his first pole position.
More : motorsport.com
What next for Americas star-mangled banner?
Sandy Lyles tongue happened to be nowhere near his cheek when he suggested yesterday that Europe should be handicapped in future Ryder Cups and that maybe America could be allowed to pick Canadians as well to ensure the matches are more even. Ian Woosnams assistant captain was deadly serious. And that just about sums it all up.
Even the ridiculous suddenly sounds feasible in this most surreal of aftermaths. When a solid man of such unwavering conviction as Tom Lehman starts querying everything around him, you know that Americas fabled faith in their own superiority is being stretched to breaking point. They are scarred after being striped and that starry banner is more mangled than spangled. A third Ryder Cup humbling in succession has seen to it.
Is there something they can do better to avoid another drubbing in Kentucky in two years time? That is the central question in an inquest overloaded with them. Here we attempt to answer the most impertinent.
More : sport.independent.co.uk
Road America: RuSPORT race report
An afternoon filled with yellow flags, spins and crashes saw Justin Wilson (#9 CDW / RuSPORT Ford-Cosworth / Lola / Bridgestone) take fifth place in the Champ Car Grand Prix of Road America. The result earned Wilson his ninth finish in the top five of the 2006 Champ Car season, and leaves Justin in third place in the Champ Car Drivers Championship.
The race was temporarily halted on lap 46 because a serious crash in Turn 10 involving Katherine Legge of PKV Racing. The red flag flew for approximately 40 minutes while the Champ Car Safety Team worked to ensure Legges wellbeing and to clean debris from the course. Legge was eventually released from the Champ Car Medical Unit and the race was restarted.
Today was disappointing, because the CDW team worked so hard throughout the weekend, said Wilson. The crew did a great job with all of our pit stops, particularly the first one, where we wound up exiting the pits ahead of Sebastien and A.J. The car was good during the first half of the race, but not quite as good in the second half. This is a very fast and very competitive track, and if things arent perfect, it can turn into a long day. Im very happy that Katherine turned out to be all right after her crash, which was a scary moment on an eventful day. As for the race result, were disappointed, but well get back to work as soon as possible to get ready for the race in Australia.
More : motorsport.com
Europe united in state of animosity towards America
Our correspondent suggests that the events underlying negative makes it enthralling
AND then I thought, with a sudden, ghastly shock: My God! This must be what its like to be a Celt! I was thinking like the sort of Celtic sports fan who boasts that he is completely unbiased — he doesnt care who beats England.
I remember the scenes of jubilation after Scotland had drawn 0-0 with Holland in Euro 96. Well, how best to celebrate such a glorious day of national sporting history? I got trapped in a people jam of hairy, beer-sweating skirted men singing: If you all hate the English clap your hands.
The only injury I suffered from the encounter was sore palms, but all the same, I walked away thinking that this constant hating must be bad for the soul. If your greatest joy in sport is seeing a team lose, surely you are destroying both the sport and the life within yourself.
More : timesonline.co.uk
South Americas coldest presidential election
Paulo Rabello de Castro, a University of Chicago-trained economist and one of Brazils wittiest thinkers, has called the countrys Oct 1 presidential election a choice between more of the same and the same without more. This is light years away from the strong emotions presidential elections usually incite in developing countries. Mr Rabello de Castros irony is apt, for it is difficult to say which candidate represents more of the same: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for re-election and is the favourite according to the polls; or former governor of Sao Paulo Geraldo Alckmin, of the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party, which governed Brazil for eight years before Mr Lula, with Fernando Henrique Cardoso as president). Indeed, the distinction between Mr Lula and Mr Alckmin is so difficult that in a recent interview, Mr Cardoso himself said that Mr Lulas Workers Party (PT) project is the PSDBs project. He added: Perhaps there is not another one. History does not always produce a new project.
Mr Cardoso is right. Except for barely practical political rhetoric from leaders like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia, there is nothing new on offer in the worlds electoral marketplace that differs very much from what is usually called neo-liberalism or the Washington Consensus. In other words, there is no longer a battle between different projects in any modern country, no left-right confrontation (with their nuances) that might raise voters emotions. Here, Brazil is no different than the United Kingdom, Spain or Uruguay.
More : bangkokpost.com
Road America: Friday qualifying report
Dan Clarke (#14 CTE Racing – HVM Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) earned his racing stripes running in the British Isles and on the tracks of Europe, where racing in the rain is an common part of a drivers upbringing.
But on a rainy Friday in Elkhart Lake, Clarkes ability in drying conditions paid more dividends than his wet-weather prowess, as the CTE Racing – HVM driver used a timely change of his Bridgestone Potenzas to help him lead first-round qualifying for this weekends Champ Car Grand Prix of Road America.
Clarke, along with Charles Zwolsman (#34 Mi-Jack/Conquest Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone), decided that the 4.048-mile Road America track had dried sufficiently after day-long rains to allow him to try a few laps on the Bridgestone racing slicks, discarding the grooved wet-weather tires that the rest of the field were still using to navigate the 14-turn course. The racing slicks generally will yield much quicker times than the wet-weather shoes, but are far trickier to handle if the track has even the slightest bit of moisture on it.
More : motorsport.com
Willis Group Names North America CEO
Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings Ltd. said Thursday that Don Bailey is the new chief executive of Willis North America.
Bailey, 41, is currently chief operating officer of Willis North America. He succeeds Mario P. Vitale, 50, who moves to Zurich Financial Services as chief executive of global corporate North American operations.
Bailey joined Willis in 2003 as head of North American Risks Practice. He has been COO of Willis North America since March.
More : chron.com
Americas 400 Richest
A nine-figure fortune wont get you much mention these days, at least not on these pages. This year, for the first time, everyone in The Forbes 400 has at least $1 billion. The collective net worth of the nations wealthiest climbed $120 billion, to $1.25 trillion.
Surging real estate, oil and other asset prices paved the way for 28 new members. Developer John P. Manning used political savvy to build a $1.1 billion fortune in part by brokering low-income housing projects. Chesapeake Energy (nyse: CHK - news - people ) founders Aubrey McClendon and Tom L. Ward are two of the oil fortunes added to the list.
Pouring 40 million caffeinated drinks a week landed Starbucks (nasdaq: SBUX - news - people ) honcho Howard Schultz on our list of Americas 400 richest. Manny Mashouf placed his skimpy womens wear on TV shows like Party of Five and Ally McBeal; today he has a $1.5 billion fortune in Bebe clothing stores.
More : forbes.com
Air Products to increase product prices in North America
Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (APD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday said it will raise schedule pricing on liquid-bulk oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen by 10 percent, and argon and helium by 20 percent for merchant and government customers in North America.
The industrial gas supplier said it will also increase its monthly service charge schedule pricing for storage and supply equipment and eliminate discounts from schedule pricing for standard service offerings.
The price initiatives, effective Oct. 1, or as contracts permit, are due to escalating material, labor, and energy costs and to support capital investment, the company said in a statement. (Reporting by Shikhar Balwani in Bangalore)
More : today.reuters.com
Big guns could fire America
America are a decent bet at generally available odds of 5-4 to wrest back the Ryder Cup from Europe at the K Club in Ireland, starting on Friday morning.
Having lost four of the past five times, the Americans are underdogs as they try to beat Europe on their home soil for the first time since 1993.
However, while much has been made of the four rookies on the US team, the format has the fourball and foursome matches making up the first two days and counting for 16 of the available 28 points. That allows Tom Lehman, the US captain, to organise the workload around his big guns.
In Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson, Lehman has the worlds top three players, with Woods and Furyk likely to form a formidable pairing after joining forces to good effect in the Presidents Cup last year, taking two-and-a-half points from three matches.
More : timesonline.co.uk
Venezuela Bank Expands in Latin America
Venezuelas state development bank plans to open branches in Bolivia, Honduras, Guatemala and Haiti, the bank president said Wednesday.
We foresee opening offices in Haiti, Guatemala and Honduras, said Edgard Hernandez Behrens who heads the Bank of Economic and Social Development, or Bandes, which is 75 percent owned by the Venezuelan government.
Bandes also plans to provide US$15 million (euro12 million) in December to its Uruguayan branch, known as Cofac, and is further considering providing funds for its Union branch in Bolivia, Hernandez Behrens said.
More : chron.com
Road America: Rocketsports Racing preview
Rocketsports Racing has three factors that add to the equation which should equal better results at Road America for the team: a race win, a veteran Champ Car driver, and a driver who has previous history of top success in various racecars.
This event will mark the third time that Rocketsports will take their Champ Car operation to the challenging road course in the rolling hills of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Their first appearance was with Alex Tagliani back in 2003. Starting on the grid in the 13th spot, the team earned a podium finish with a third place result. When they returned in 2004, Tagliani and the team took the car all the way to the top, earning the teams first victory after starting in the 13th spot once again. Seeing that 13 is usually an unlucky number, Rocketsports was able to change the superstitious number into a positive one that saw them finish in the top-three in both of their past efforts.
More : motorsport.com
Appeals court rejects eviction of Bank of America securities unit
NEW YORK A New York appeals court has refused to permit the eviction of the Bank of Americas securities unit from its Manhattan offices.
The ruling comes in a case in which landlord Solow Building Company tried to evict Bank of America because former broker Theodore Sihpol had been charged with illegal activity.
Bank of America is based in North Carolina.
A spokesman for Solow said he had no comment.
Source : wwaytv3.com
ThyssenKrupp wants fast sale of N. America unit
German steel and industrial group ThyssenKrupp (TKAG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) has reaffirmed it expects to soon conclude the sale of its loss-making North American automotive body and chassis business.
In remarks over the weekend which were embargoed for Monday, management board member Olaf Berlien also said he believed the company could quickly participate in any consolidation of the European naval shipyard industry.
He also said the company could sell the magnetic levitation technology used by the Transrapid monorail, should German authorities fail within the next 18 months to approve a domestic rail route, most recently proposed for Munich.
More : today.reuters.com
Red America has Edsall blue
WASHINGTON — In this autumn of their discontent, Republicans tremble as November nears.But now comes yet another book by a gloomy liberal anticipating permanent Republican dominance.Thomas B.Edsall of The New Republic, in Building Red America: The New Conservative Coalition and the Drive for Permanent Power, argues that inexorable social forces, augmented by the conservatives superior reservoirs of anger, ruthlessness and cynicism — he neglects only the word wickedness — favor Republicans, the party of the socially and economically dominant.
The parties are almost at numerical parity, but Edsall, who until recently was a Washington Post political reporter, says Republicans represent people more broadly skilled in economic combat and more accustomed to the rigors of the market. Hence Republicans can maintain a thin but durable margin of victory. Their technique is the symbolic manipulation of controversial sociocultural issues touching upon national security, patriotism, race, sex and religion.
More : news.bostonherald.com
Crackdowns elsewhere underscore Americas precious freedom
On the anniversary of 9/11, there was a lot of talk about persevering in the War on Terror, with Iraq as the front line in our fight to defend freedom and spread our political values.
While Americans were being exhorted to stay the course, the government we installed in Baghdad was shutting down the local office of the Al-Arabiya satellite network.
Which should have come as no surprise, since Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had warned against broadcasts that capitalize on the footage of victims of terrorist attacks or otherwise undermine Iraqs stability.
More : courier-journal.com
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