©Renee 2013
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_dei_Paschi_di_Siena
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena S.p.A. (MPS) is the oldest surviving bank in the world and Italy‘s third largest bank. Founded in 1472 by the magistrate of the city state of Siena, Italy, as a “mount of piety“, it has been operating ever since. Today it has approximately 3,000 branches, 33,000 employees and 4.5 million customers in Italy, as well as branches and businesses abroad. A subsidiary, MPS Finance, handles investment banking. The bank’s main shareholder is the Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena.
On 8 November 2007, Monte dei Paschi di Siena announced that it has reached an agreement with Banco Santander to buy Antonveneta for € 10.3 billion
excluding the subsidiary Interbanca that is owned by the Spanish bank. Antonveneta is the bank that after the Bancopoli scandal was acquired by ABN AMRO and was supposed to go to Banco Santander after the purchase of the Dutch bank by the consortium of RBS, Santander, Fortis.
Global financial crisis (2008-2012)
In the wake of rising yields and declining valuations on Italian government debt in the European sovereign-debt crisis, MPS lost over $2 billion in the first half of 2012, had to recapitalize, and faced restructuring or worse. The majority owner until the recapitalization, the Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena, long resisted issuing new capital which would dilute its holding. In September 2012, even after the dilution, the bank “appear[ed] poised” also to give the national government a greater ownership stake in return for more capital.
Hidden losses (2013)
In 2009, the Santorini and Alessandria operations began creating huge losses. In order to hide them in the bank’s financial statements, the top management, including Giuseppe Mussari, the bank president, chose to enter into derivative contracts with Deutsche Bank and Nomura.
Estimates of the losses accumulated by the Santorini and Alessandria operations in the period leading up to the derivative contracts range from € 500 to € 750 million.
The documentation concerning these operations were never communicated to the bank’s own auditors or the Banca d’Italia. The derivative contracts and related documentation were discovered and made public by the new board of the bank in the end of November 2012. The documentation has been forwarded to the Banca d’Italia between December and mid January 2013.
The shareholders and the analysts have ascertained that the bank had not declared losses from derivatives.
The January 22, 2013 the bank loses on the Stock Exchange (-5.6%) and the ex president Giuseppe Mussari of bank resigns from president of Associazione Bancaria Italiana.
The next day, January 23, 2013 it was broke out the scandal hidden derivatives. The bank collapses on the Stock Exchange (-8.43%).The January 24, 2013 the bank loses again on the Stock Exchange (-8%).
The January 25, 2013 is convened an extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the bank which resolved to grant the Board of Directors the power to increase the share capital by a maximum amount of € 4.5 billion to service the exercise of conversion rights of bank of the Monti Bonds. Mps called for intervention of € 3.9 billion, including € 1.9 billion for the replacement of the previous Tremonti Bonds. The delegation of the extraordinary to the Board of Directors has also included the possibility of increasing the share capital of € 2 billion at the exclusive service of the payment of interest payable in shares. He voted for more than 98%.
The bank earns on the Stock Exchange (+11.36%) after three sessions in three days with a total loss of more than 20% of the value.
Major shareholders
Main shareholders of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, situation reported 29/08/2012:
- 37.56% Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena
- 2.527% JPMorgan Chase
- 4% Aleotti Alberto, president, Menarini pharmaceuticals
- 2.727% Unicoop Firenze Società Cooperativa
- 2.052% AXA
The share owned by the Fondazione dropped from over 55% at 10/12/2009 due to a 2012 recapitalization in the face of investment losses.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/23/us-montepaschi-derivatives-election-idUSBRE90M0Z620130123
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-24/a-modern-scandal-rocks-the-worlds-oldest-bank
MissTickly
The Sandy Monocle 
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=36829938
Company Overview
Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA engages in biotechnology, culture, art works and handicrafts, third party projects, and publication activities. It focuses on drug discovery model that encompasses a series of technological platforms that range from target identification to clinical proof of concept; and organizes and promotes the exhibitions and events. The company also engages in art works and cultural activities, protection and conservation of the historical and architectural heritage, education and training, scientific and technological research, and local development and housing; public health, preventive medicine, and rehabilitation; and volunteer work, philanthropy, and charity…
Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA engages in biotechnology, culture, art works and handicrafts, third party projects, and publication activities. It focuses on drug discovery model that encompasses a series of technological platforms that range from target identification to clinical proof of concept; and organizes and promotes the exhibitions and events. The company also engages in art works and cultural activities, protection and conservation of the historical and architectural heritage, education and training, scientific and technological research, and local development and housing; public health, preventive medicine, and rehabilitation; and volunteer work, philanthropy, and charity activities. In addition, it publishes text, source, and study books. Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA was founded in 1995 and is based in Siena, Italy.
Detailed Description
Banchi di sotto, 34
Siena, 53100
Italy
Founded in 1995
Phone:
39 0577 24 60 19
Fax:
39 0577 24 60 24
http://www.fondazionemps.it/eng/default.asp
Key Executives for Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA
Mr. Marco Parlangeli
Executive Manager
Age: 52 Gabriello Mancini
Chairman and Chairman of Administrative Board
Luca Bonechi
Vice Chairman of Administrative Board
Riccardo Martinelli
Member of Administrative Board
Alessandro Lastray
Member of Administrative Board
Compensation as of Fiscal Year 2012.
hummmm…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MF_Global
MF Global traces its roots to the sugar trading business started by James Man in England in 1783, which evolved into broader commodities trading before its later transformation into a financial services business during the 1980s focused on commodity futures trading.[6]
[edit] The 1900s: Growth, diversificationMF Global’s former parent, then known as ED&F Man, diversified from pure cash commodities into commodity futures in the late 1970s, and established the Anderson Man futures brokerage in 1981. It later changed its name to ED&F Man International and then Man Financial. ED&F Man operated as a partnership through to the 1970s, when it started an international expansion which, by 1983, increased its staff 650 employees. ED&F Man listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1994, changing its name to Man Group in 2000. Its agricultural business, which retained the ED&F Man name, was sold to management the same year.
[edit] The 1980s-Early 2000s: Acquisitions, expansion and brokerage unit growthThe rapid expansion of the Man Investments unit in the emerging hedge fund management business shrouded many investors from the development of its brokerage unit. Man Financial embarked on a series of acquisitions, which expanded its product capability and geographic reach, starting in 1989 with the purchase of the Chicago-based GNP Commodities, and including well-known industry names such as Geldermann, Tullett & Tokyo Futures, First American Discount Corp., Australia’s Ord Minnett and GNI.
[edit] 2002-2007: Acquisitions of a trading platform, client assetsThe 2002 purchase of GNI was the largest of these and gave Man Financial access to the then growing Contract for difference market and GNI’s trading platform GNI touch.
However, in 2005 Man Financial made its largest deal with the transformative $323 million acquisition of client assets and accounts from entities of Refco, following the U.S. financial-services group’s collapse in late 2005. The Refco deal followed a hotly contested auction with Cerberus Capital, the private equity group, and boosted Man Financial’s scale in retail and institutional business.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Corzine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Group
Industry Financial services
Founded 1783
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Key people Peter Clarke,[1] (CEO)
Jonathan Sorrell, CFO (CFO)
Products Investment products
Revenue US$1,655 million (2011)[2]
Operating income US$370 million (2011)[2]
Net income US$211 million (2011
AGAIN*
MF Global traces its roots to the sugar trading business started by James Man in England in 1783, which evolved into broader commodities trading before its later transformation into a financial services business during the 1980s focused on commodity futures trading.[6]
[edit] The 1900s: Growth, diversificationMF Global’s former parent, then known as ED&F Man, diversified from pure cash commodities into commodity futures in the late 1970s, and established the Anderson Man futures brokerage in 1981. It later changed its name to ED&F Man International and then Man Financial. ED&F Man operated as a partnership through to the 1970s, when it started an international expansion which, by 1983, increased its staff 650 employees. ED&F Man listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1994, changing its name to Man Group in 2000. Its agricultural business, which retained the ED&F Man name, was sold to management the same year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Man
James Man (1755–1823) was the founder of Man Group, the United Kingdom’s largest alternative investment management business.
[edit] CareerBorn in Whitechapel and apprenticed to a William Humphrey as a barrel maker, James Man decided to establish his own business as a sugar-broker in 1783.[1] In 1784 he secured a contract to supply the Royal Navy with rum.[1] This business grew into Man Group, one of the largest investment management businesses in the world.[1]
He retired in 1819 and moved to Dartmouth, Devon where he died in 1823.[1]
[edit] FamilyJames Man married Sarah Roberts in 1781
*ROBERTS*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Mann
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Thatcher
Spouse(s) Diane Burgdorf (m. 1987 – 2005) «start: (1987)–end+1: (2006)»”Marriage: Diane Burgdorf to Mark Thatcher” Location: (linkback://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Thatcher) ‹See Tfd›; divorced; 2 children
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergdorf_Goodman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neiman_Marcus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Noor_of_Jordan
Queen Noor was born Lisa Najeeb Halaby in Washington, D.C. She is the daughter of Najeeb Halaby and Doris Carlquist (Swedish descent). Her father was an aviator, airline executive, and government official. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Truman administration, before being appointed by John F. Kennedy to head the Federal Aviation Administration. Najeeb Halaby had a successful private-sector career, serving as CEO of Pan American World Airways from 1969 to 1972. The Halabys had two children following Lisa; a son, Christian, and a younger daughter, Alexa. They divorced in 1977.
Noor’s paternal grandfather, Najeeb Elias Halaby, a Syrian immigrant, was a petroleum broker, according to 1920 Census records.[2] Merchant Stanley Marcus, however, recalled that in the mid-1920s, Halaby opened Halaby Galleries, a rug boutique and interior-decorating shop, at Neiman-Marcus in Dallas, Texas, and ran it with his Texas-born wife, Laura Wilkins (1889–1987, later Mrs. Urban B. Koen). Najeeb Halaby died shortly afterward, and his estate was unable to continue the new enterprise.[3]
According to research done in 2010 for the PBS series Faces of America by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., of Harvard University, her great-grandfather, Elias Halaby, came to New York around 1891, one of the earliest Syrian immigrants to the United States. He had been a Christian and provincial treasurer (magistrate) in the Ottoman Empire. He left Syria with his two eldest sons. His wife Almas and remaining children joined him in the USA in 1894. He died three years later, leaving his teenage sons, Habib, and Najeeb (her paternal grandfather), to run his import business. Najeeb moved to Dallas around 1910 and fully assimilated into American society.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Goodman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Goodman_(director)
Sarah Jane (née Clemence), the Hon Lady Thatcher (m. 2008) «start: (2008)»”Marriage: Sarah Jane (née Clemence), the Hon Lady Thatcher to Mark Thatcher” Location: (linkback://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Thatcher)
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS, née Roberts (born 13 October 1925)
*ROBERTS*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Thatcher
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergdorf_Goodman
Bergdorf Goodman is a luxury goods department store based on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The company was founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned and managed by Edwin Goodman, and later his son Andrew Goodman.
Today, Bergdorf operates from two stores situated across the street from each other at Fifth Avenue between 57th and 58th Streets. Bergdorf Goodman’s main store, which opened at its current location in 1928, is located on the west side of Fifth Avenue. A separate men’s store, established in 1990, is located on the east side of Fifth Avenue, directly across the street.
Bergdorf is a subsidiary of Neiman Marcus, which is owned by the private equity firms TPG Capital and Warburg Pincus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neiman_Marcus
Neiman Marcus, formerly Neiman-Marcus, is a luxury specialty retail department store operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States.
The company is headquartered in the One Marcus Square building in Downtown Dallas, Texas,[1] and competes with other department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys New York, Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom, Von Maur and Bloomingdale’s.
The Neiman Marcus Group also owns Bergdorf Goodman specialty retail department stores on Fifth Avenue in New York City and a direct marketing division, Neiman Marcus Direct, which operates catalogue and online operations under the Horchow, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman names.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warburg_Pincus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TPG_Capital
TPG Capital (formerly Texas Pacific Group) is one of the largest private equity investment firms globally, focused on leveraged buyout, growth capital and leveraged recapitalization investments in distressed companies and turnaround situations. TPG also manages investment funds specializing in growth capital, venture capital, public equity, and debt investments. The firm invests in a broad range of industries including consumer/retail, media and telecommunications, industrials, technology, travel/leisure and health care.
The firm was founded in 1992 by David Bonderman, James Coulter and William S. Price III. Since inception, the firm has raised more than $50 billion of investor commitments across more than 18 private equity funds.[1]
TPG is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas and San Francisco, California,.[2] The company has additional offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.
FoundingThe Texas Pacific Group, as it was originally known, was founded in 1992 by David Bonderman, James Coulter and William S. Price III. Prior to founding TPG, Bonderman and Coulter had worked for Robert M. Bass making leveraged buyout investments during the 1980s. In 1993, Coulter and Bonderman partnered with William S. Price III, who was Vice President of Strategic Planning and Business Development for GE Capital to complete the buyout of Continental Airlines.[7] At the time, TPG was virtually alone in its conviction that there was an investment opportunity with the airline. The plan included bringing in a new management team, improving aircraft utilization and focusing on lucrative routes. By 1998, TPG had generated an annual internal rate of return of 55% on its investment.
[edit] Texas Pacific Group in the late 1990sIn 1997, TPG completed fundraising for its second private equity fund, with over $2.5 billion of investor commitments. In June 1996, TPG acquired the AT&T Paradyne unit, a multimedia communications business, from Lucent Technologies for $175 million.[8] Also in 1996, TPG invested in Beringer Wine, Ducati Motorcycles and Del Monte Foods.
TPG’s most notable 1997 investment was its takeover of J. Crew. TPG acquired an 88% stake in the retailer for approximately $500 million,[9] however the investment struggled due to the relatively high purchase price paid relative to the company’s earnings.[10] The company was able to complete a turnaround beginning in 2002 and complete an initial public offering in 2006.[11]
The following year, in 1998, TPG led an investor group in a minority investment in Oxford Health Plans. TPG and its co-investors invested $350 million in a convertible preferred stock that can be converted into 22.1% of Oxford.[12] The company completed a buyback of the TPG’s PIPE convertible in 2000 and would ultimately be acquired by UnitedHealth Group in 2004.[13]
As the decade came to a close, TPG was once again fundraising, for its third private equity fund. This time, however TPG was raising not only a new buyout fund, but also a new fund, T3 Partners that would invest alongside the main fund in technology oriented investments. In 1999, TPG invested in Piaggio S.p.A, Bally International (including Bally Shoe), and ON Semiconductor.
TPG has also become recognized for its dedicated operations group that has become a major part of the process from investment to sale in many of their portfolio companies. The group is led by Dick Boyce and involves itself in tricky turnaround situations, operations improvement and other tasks that help create value in the company. Other major private equity firms have begun to develop operations group as well, attempting to recreate the model at TPG but most have had trouble creating as expansive a program.
[edit] Texas Pacific Group in the early 2000s
Texas Pacific Group Historical Logo, in use prior to the firm’s 2007 rebranding
TPG Ventures is founded in 2001In 2000, TPG and Leonard Green & Partners invested $200 million to acquire Petco, the pet supplies retailer as part of a $600 million buyout.[14] Within two years they sold most of it in a public offering that valued the company at $1 billion. Petco’s market value more than doubled by the end of 2004 and the firms would ultimately realize a gain of $1.2 billion. Then, in 2006, the private equity firms took Petco private again for $1.68 billion.[15]
That same year, in 2000, TPG completed the controversial acquisition of Gemplus SA, one of the leading smart card manufacturers. TPG won a struggle with the company’s founder, Marc Lassus, for control of the company.[16] Also in 2000, TPG completed an investment in Seagate Technology.
In 2001, TPG acquired Telenor Media, a Norwegian phone-directory company, for $660m, and shortly thereafter acquired a controlling interest in the third largest silicon-wafer maker MEMC Electronic Materials.[17]
In July 2002, TPG, together with Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, announced the high profile $2.3 billion leveraged buyout of Burger King from Diageo.[18] However, in November the original transaction collapsed, when Burger King failed to meet certain performance targets. In December 2002, TPG and its co-investors agreed on a reduced $1.5 billion purchase price for the investment.[19] The TPG consortium had support from Burger King’s franchisees, who controlled approximately 92% of Burger King restaurants at the time of the transaction. Under its new owners, Burger King underwent a major brand overhaul including the use of The Burger King character in advertising. In February 2006, Burger King announced plans for an initial public offering.[20]
TPG’s San Francisco offices at 345 California StreetIn November 2003, TPG provided a proposal to buy Portland General Electric from Enron. However, concerns about debt and local politics led to Oregon’s Public Utilities Commission regulators to deny permission for the purchase March 10, 2005.Oregon Public Utility Commission (March 10, 2005). “ORDER NO. 05-114” (PDF). http://apps.puc.state.or.us/orders/2005ords/05%2D114.pdf. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
TPG ventured into the film business in late 2004 in the major leveraged buyout of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. A consortium led by TPG and Sony completed the $4.81 billion buyout of the film studio. The consortium also included media-focused firms Providence Equity Partners and Quadrangle Group as well as DLJ Merchant Banking Partners.[21] The transaction, which was announced in September 2004, was completed in early 2005.
Also in 2005, TPG was one of seven private equity firms involved in the buyout of SunGard in a transaction valued at $11.3 billion. TPG’s partners in the acquisition were Silver Lake Partners, Bain Capital, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Providence Equity Partners, and The Blackstone Group. This represented the largest leveraged buyout completed since the takeover of RJR Nabisco at the end of the 1980s leveraged buyout boom. Also, at the time of its announcement, SunGard would be the largest buyout of a technology company in history, a distinction it would cede to the buyout of Freescale Semiconductor. The SunGard transaction is also notable in the number of firms involved in the transaction, the largest club deal completed to that point. The involvement of seven firms in the consortium was criticized by investors in private equity who considered cross-holdings among firms to be generally unattractive.[22][23]
[edit] TPG and 2006-2007 Buyout BoomIn early 2006, as TPG was completing fundraising for its fifth private equity fund and the buyout boom was entering full swing, TPG co-founder Bill Price announced that he would scale back his work at the firm to focus on personal pursuits including his holdings in wine vineyards.[24]
On December 1, 2006, it was announced TPG and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts had been exploring the possibility of a record $100 billion leveraged buyout of the second-largest retailer in the U.S. Home Depot.[25] Although this massive buyout was never actually completed, TPG was a leading investor during the 2006-2008 buyout boom, completing some of the largest transactions in this period.
Investment Year Company Description Ref.
Neiman Marcus 2005 TPG, together with Warburg Pincus acquired Neiman Marcus Group, the owner of luxury retailers Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, in a $5.1 billion buyout in May 2005. [26][27]
Freescale Semiconductor 2006 TPG together with The Blackstone Group, The Carlyle Group and Permira completed the $17.6 billion takeover of the semiconductor company. At the time of its announcement, Freescale would be the largest leveraged buyout of a technology company ever, surpassing the 2005 buyout of SunGard. [28]
Harrah’s Entertainment 2006 On December 19, 2006, TPG and Apollo Management announced an agreement to acquire the gaming company for $27.4 billion, including the assumption of existing debt. [29][30]
Sabre Holdings 2006 TPG and Silver Lake Partners announced a deal to buy Sabre Holdings, which operates Travelocity, Sabre Travel Network and Sabre Airline Solutions, for approximately $4.3 billion in cash, plus the assumption of $550 million in debt. Earlier in the year, Blackstone acquired Sabre’s chief competitor Travelport. [31]
Univision Communications 2006 A consortium of TPG, Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Haim Saban (Saban Entertainment) acquired The Spanish-language broadcaster on March 12, 2006 in a $13.7 billion leveraged buyout. The buyout left the company with a debt level of twelve times its annual cash flow. [32][33][34]
Alltel Wireless 2007 TPG and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners announced the acquisition of Alltel Wireless in a $27 billion buyout in May 2007. The transaction was approved by the Federal Communications Commission and closed on November 16, 2007. However just over six months later, on June 5, 2008, TPG and Goldman agreed to sell Alltel to Verizon for slightly more than it had paid for the company amidst a deteriorating economic outlook. [35][36]
Avaya 2007 TPG and Silver Lake Partners completed an $8.2 billion leveraged buyout of the enterprise telephony and call center technology company that was formerly a unit of Lucent Technologies [37]
Biomet 2007 TPG, The Blackstone Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners acquired the medical devices company for $11.6 billion. [38]
First Data 2007 TPG and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts completed the $29 billion buyout of the credit and debit card payment processor and former parent of Western Union. Michael Capellas, previously the CEO of MCI Communications and Compaq was named CEO of the privately held company. [39][40]
Midwest Air Group 2007 On August 12, 2007 Agreed to purchase Midwest Air Group and its subsidiaries including Midwest Airlines ending the hostile takeover attempt by AirTran Airways. Northwest Airlines also invested in the transaction alongside TPG as a passive equity co-investor. On August 14, 2007 Increased its offer to purchase Midwest after a late attempt by Airtran to increase its bid for Midwest. The purchase price was $452 million. Midwest lost money during TPG’s ownership having to accept a loan from Republic Airways Holdings to avoid bankruptcy. Republic took over Midwest’s fleet. Eventually TPG sold the company to Republic for $31 million.[41] [42]
Surgical Care Affiliates 2007 In June 2007, TPG completed the carveout of HealthSouth Corporation’s ambulatory surgery business for $920 million [43]
TXU 2007 An investor group, led by TPG and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and together with Goldman Sachs Capital Partners completed the $44.37 billion[44] buyout of the regulated utility and power producer. The investor group had to work closely with ERCOT regulators to gain approval of the transaction but had significant experience with the regulators from their earlier buyout of Texas Genco. TXU is the largest buyout in history, and retained this distinction when the announced buyout of BCE failed to close in December 2008. The deal is also notable for a drastic change in environmental policy for the energy giant, in terms of its carbon emissions from coal power plants and funding alternative energy. [45][46]
In early 2007, the firm, officially changed its name to TPG Capital, rebranding all of its funds across different geographies. The firm’s Asian funds, which had historically been managed by TPG Newbridge, a joint venture with Blum Capital.[47]
[edit] TPG and the Credit CrisisOn April 7, 2008, TPG leads a $7 billion investment in Washington Mutual. On September 25, 2008, Washington Mutual is taken over by the government costing TPG a 1.35 Billion dollar investment.
On 12 March 2010, Gretchen Morgensen in the New York Times discussed TPG’s role as a private equity investor in Greek mobile phone operator Wind Hellas, formerly TIM Hellas, which filed for bankruptcy protection late last year.[1] Morgensen raises some interesting questions about the circumstances in which TPG and fellow private equity investors Apax Partners of London redeemed a significant quantity of “convertible preferred equity certificates” held by them to repay their own “deeply subordinated shareholder loans” during a period in which a significant and apparently unexplained spike occurred in the market value of the certificates.
[edit] Post Recession ActivityOn July 13, 2011, affiliates of TPG Capital acquired PRIMEDIA for approximately $525 million, or $7.10 per share in cash.[48]
[edit] Newbridge Capital
Newbridge Capital Logo
TPG Newbridge LogoIn 1994, TPG, Blum Capital and ACON Investments created Newbridge Capital, a joint-venture to invest in emerging markets, particularly Asia and later Latin America. At its peak, Newbridge managed over $3.2 billion. Newbridge was headquartered alongside TPG in Fort Worth and San Francisco with investment offices across the Asia-Pacific region in Hong Kong, Melbourne, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo. In 1995, Newbridge also ventured into Latin America, raising a $300 million fund and then a follow up $150 million fund in 1996. After its debut funds in the mid 1990s, Newbridge did not continue to focus on Latin America.
Since its founding, Newbridge developed a specialization in five broad industry groups: financial services, technology and telecom, healthcare, consumer, and industrials. Newbridge was involved in a number of the largest and most notable private equity transactions in Asia including:
Shenzhen Development Bank – the first control purchase of a Chinese national bank by a foreign entity since 1949
Korea First Bank – the first foreign acquisition of a South Korean bank
Hanaro Telecom – a major Asian proxy contest, that was the largest at that time
Matrix Laboratories – the largest private equity transaction in the Indian pharmaceutical industry, to that point
In the early 2000s, TPG assumed full ownership and control over the Newbridge joint venture, renaming the firm TPG Newbridge. At the beginning of 2007, when the firm officially changed its name from Texas Pacific Group to TPG Capital, TPG Newbridge’s Asian funds were also rebranded as the TPG Asia Funds.
TPG remained active in Asia in 2008. On August 4, TPG, along with Global Infrastructure Partners, offered to buy Asciano Limited for AUD 2.9 billion in an unsuccessful attempt to complete an unsolicited takeover. On October 31, 2008 TPG completed the purchase of a 35% interest in P.T. Bumi Resources, from its previous owner Bakrie & Brothers, Indonesia, for $1.3 billion.
Job Price*
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/12/navy-seal-commanders-death-investigated-as-possible-suicide/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Coulter_(financier)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Price_III
Once AGAIN*
MF Global traces its roots to the sugar trading business started by James Man in England in 1783, which evolved into broader commodities trading before its later transformation into a financial services business during the 1980s focused on commodity futures trading.[6]
[edit] The 1900s: Growth, diversificationMF Global’s former parent, then known as ED&F Man, diversified from pure cash commodities into commodity futures in the late 1970s, and established the Anderson Man futures brokerage in 1981. It later changed its name to ED&F Man International and then Man Financial. ED&F Man operated as a partnership through to the 1970s, when it started an international expansion which, by 1983, increased its staff 650 employees. ED&F Man listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1994, changing its name to Man Group in 2000. Its agricultural business, which retained the ED&F Man name, was sold to management the same year.
And heating up in Sicily:
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-01-22/world/36485835_1_renewable-energy-renewables-industry-mafia-boss
h/t Kathy
From above link:
PALERMO, Italy — Inside a midnight-blue BMW, a Sicilian entrepreneur delivered his pitch to the accused mafia boss. A new business was blowing into Italy that could spin wind and sunlight into gold, ensuring the future of the Earth as well as the Cosa Nostra: renewable energy.
“Uncle Vincenzo,” implored the businessman, Angelo Salvatore, using a term of affection for the alleged head of Sicily’s Gimbellina crime family, 79-year-old Vincenzo Funari. According to a transcript of their wiretapped conversation, Salvatore continued: “For the love of our sons, renewable energy is important. . . . It’s a business we can live on.”
And for quite a while, Italian prosecutors say, they did. In an unfolding plot that is part “The Sopranos,” part “An Inconvenient Truth,” authorities swept across Sicily last month in the latest wave of sting operations revealing years of deep infiltration into the renewable-energy sector by Italy’s rapidly modernizing crime families.
http://www.nationalreview.com/planet-gore/338449/mafia-controls-wind-energy-sicily-greg-pollowitz#
The still-emerging links of the mafia to the once-booming wind and solar sector here are raising fresh questions about the use of government subsidies to fuel a shift toward cleaner energies, with critics claiming huge state incentives created excessive profits for companies and a market bubble ripe for fraud. China-based Suntech, the world’s largest solar panel maker, last month said it would need to restate more than two years of financial results because of allegedly fake capital put up to finance new plants in Italy. The discoveries here also follow so-called “eco-corruption” cases in Spain, where a number of companies stand accused of illegally tapping state aid.
The 1900s: Growth, diversificationMF Global’s former parent, then known as ED&F Man, diversified from pure cash commodities into commodity futures in the late 1970s, and established the Anderson Man futures brokerage in 1981. It later changed its name to ED&F Man International and then Man Financial
wiki above* NOTE*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Munro_Anderson
David Munro Anderson (born 15 December 1937) is a Scottish businessman with a distinguished career in the City of London.[1] [2] [3] He was closely involved in the development of the futures contract trading industry in London.[1] Anderson was Chairman of the formation committee for the International Petroleum Exchange, Joint Chairman of the formation committee for the Baltic International Freight Futures Exchange and former Vice-Chairman of the London Commodity Exchange.[4] As a Director of the Securities and Investments Board (SIB) he played a key role in implementating the Financial Services Act 1986 in the United Kingom.
Anderson was educated at Morrison’s Academy and Strathallan School in Perthshire. He was commissioned in the Black Watch and served in West Africa. He worked in tea production with James Findlay & Company in India between 1959 and 1962 before briefly joining the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry for one year.
[edit] CareerIn 1963 Anderson joined ED&F Man Ltd, which had been established as a sugar trader in London in 1783.[5] Over the years the company would trade in a diverse range of commodities.[5] In 1971 he founded one of the first independent privately owned futures brokers in London, and developed the concept of investment management in futures and options.[1] In 1974 he launched one of the first futures and options funds in the world.[1] Anderson sold his interests in his own company and in 1981 established along with ED&F Man Ltd, the futures broking, stock broking and investment management company, Anderson Man Limited, ED&F Man Ltd’s first move into the futures market.[6] [7]
Anderson was responsible for the development of the alternative investment management business and played a leading role in the development of the structured/gauranteed wrapper for derivative investment products.[1] In 1985 Anderson Man Limited evolved into ED&F Man International Limited with Anderson as Chairman from 1986-1990 and later into Man Financial. ED&F Man Ltd listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1984 and changed its name to the Man Group in 2000. ED&F Man Ltd, the commodities business, separated from the Man Group in the same year following a management buyout.[5] Man Financial remained part of the Man Group.
In 1980 Anderson was appointed the Chairman of the formation committee for the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) in London.[4] The Exchange was founded by a group of energy and futures companies in response to the instability of the price of oil; their first futures contract was launched in 1981. The IPE would become one of the largest energy futures and options exchanges in the world. In 2001, it was acquired by the Atlanta based Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), and is presently called Ice Futures Europe. The IPE was an open outcry exchange until 2005 when all trading was shifted onto an electronic trading platform.
Anderson was also Joint Chairman on the formation committee of the Baltic International Freight Futures Exchange (BIFFEX) based in London, a market for trading futures contracts relating to the cost of transporting dry basic materials by sea in 1985.[4] The market gave owners and charterers the ability to protect themselves from fluctuating freight rates.[8] Initially the exchange was moderately successful, however contracts ceased trading due to a lack of liquidity in 2001.
In 1986 Anderson was appointed a Director of the Securities and Investments Board and oversaw the implementation of the Financial Services Act 1986.[1] The aim of the Act was to regulate the financial services industry using a mixture of government regulation and self-regulation. The Act created the Securities and Investments Board which presided over various self-regulation organisations (SRO’s). The Act forced all the Baltic futures markets to unite under the banner of the Baltic Futures Association and trading was re-located to the London Commodity Exchange.[8] Anderson was also Vice-Chairman of the London Commodity Exchange.[4]
In 1990 Anderson became Chairman of Anderson Quantrend Limited. He has also held numerous senior executive positions and is a member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.[4] Anderson was founder and Chairman of the Association for Futures Investment and a former council member of the Association of Futures Brokers and Dealers, which became part of the Financial Services Authority.
From the top of this post NOTE*
On 8 November 2007, Monte dei Paschi di Siena announced that it has reached an agreement with Banco Santander to buy Antonveneta for € 10.3 billion
excluding the subsidiary Interbanca that is owned by the Spanish bank. Antonveneta is the bank that after the Bancopoli scandal was acquired by ABN AMRO and was supposed to go to Banco Santander after the purchase of the Dutch bank by the consortium of RBS, Santander, Fortis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banco_Santander
The Santander Group (English pronunciation: /ˌsɑntɑnˈdɛər/) is a Spanish banking group centered on Banco Santander, S.A. (Spanish: [ˈbaŋko santanˈder]) and one of the largest banks in the world in terms of market capitalisation. It originated in Santander, Cantabria, Spain.[2]
According to Forbes Global 2000 list of the world’s largest companies, Santander appeared in 23rd place in April 2012
FormationThe 1999 merger of Banco Santander (founded in 1857) and Banco Central Hispano (founded in 1991) following the merger of Banco Central [est. 1919] and Banco Hispanoamericano [est. 1900], created Banco Santander Central Hispano, or BSCH.[4] This merger between Santander and Banco Central Hispano (BCH) was designed to be a “merger of equals” in which the top executives of the two pre-existing firms would share control of the merged entity. Soon after the merger former BCH executives accused chairman of Banco Santander Emilio Botín of trying to push his own agenda and threatened to take legal action against him. This post-merger squabbling was resolved when BCH executives Jose Amusátegui and Angel Corcóstegui agreed to accept severance payments, retire and relinquish control to Mr. Botín, at an expense to shareholders of €164M.[5]
Headquarters in SantanderThe large termination payouts generated negative press and Botín was eventually brought to trial on criminal charges of “misappropriation of funds” and “irresponsible management.” However, he was cleared of all charges in April 2005. The verdict said the €164M retirement payments made to the two former executives were legal, “made as compensation for the services provided to the bank.” That year the anti-corruption division of the Spanish public prosecutor’s office also cleared Mr. Botín of all charges in a separate case in which he was accused of insider trading.[4]
[edit] AcquisitionsOn 26 July 2004 Banco Santander Central Hispano announced the acquisition of Abbey National plc. Following shareholders’ approval at the EGM of Abbey (95 per cent voted in favour, despite vocal opposition from most of those present) and Santander, the acquisition was formally approved by the courts and Abbey became part of the Santander Group on 12 November 2004.[6]
In June 2006, Banco Santander Central Hispano purchased almost 20% of Sovereign Bank and acquired the option to buy the bank for US$40 per share for one year beginning in the middle of 2008.[7]
In May 2007 Banco Santander Central Hispano announced that in conjunction with Royal Bank of Scotland and Fortis it would make an offer for ABN AMRO. BSCH’s share of the offer added up to 28% and the offer would have to be made up of a capital increase through a new share issue. Then in October 2007 the consortium outbid Barclays and acquired ABN AMRO. As part of the deal, Grupo Santander acquired ABN AMRO’s subsidiary in Brazil, Banco Real, and its subsidiary in Italy, Banca Antonveneta.[8]
On 13 August 2007, Banco Santander Central Hispano changed its legal name to Banco Santander. In November that year, it sold Banca Antonveneta to Monte dei Paschi di Siena. In March 2008, Banco Santander sold Interbanca, a subsidiary of Banca Antonveneta, to GE Commercial Finance, receiving in return GE Money businesses in Germany, Finland and Austria, and GE’s card and auto-financing businesses in the UK, which it integrated with Santander Consumer Finance.[9]
The group announced in July 2008 its intention to purchase the UK bank Alliance & Leicester, which held £24bn in deposits and had 254 branches.[10] Santander also purchased the savings business of Bradford & Bingley in September that year, which held deposits of £22bn, 2.6m customers, 197 branches and 140 agencies.[11] The acquisition of Alliance & Leicester completed a month later when the bank’s shares were delisted from the London Stock Exchange. The two banks were merged with Abbey National under the Santander UK brand by the end of 2010.[12]
In October 2008, the Santander Group announced it would acquire the 75.65% of Sovereign Bancorp it did not currently own for approximately US$1.9 billion (€1.4 billion): the acquisition of Sovereign gave Santander its first retail bank in the mainland United States.[13] Santander plans to rename the bank to enhance its global brand recognition by 2013.[14]
On 14 December 2008, it was revealed that the collapse of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme might mean the loss of €2.33 billion at Banco Santander.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Madoff
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Picard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker_Hostetler
More PICARD *here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Santander
Puerto Santander is a town and smallest municipality in the Norte de Santander Department in northeastern Colombia. It is part of the rural zone of Metropolitan Area of Cúcuta and it is localed north of Cúcuta, completely surrounded by the municipality of Cúcuta and the border with Venezuela.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norte_de_Santander_Department
North Santander (in Spanish, Norte de Santander) is a department of Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital is Cúcuta, one of the major cities of Colombia.
North Santander Department is bordered by Venezuela to the east and north, by Santander Department and Boyacá Department to the south, and by South Santander Department and Cesar Department to the east.[2]
The official Department name in Spanish is “Departamento de Norte de Santander” (North Santander Department) in honor to the Colombian military and political leader Francisco de Paula Santander. North Santander Department is located in the northwestern zone of the Colombian Andean Region.
The area of present day Norte de Santander played an important role in the history of Colombia, during the War of Independence from Spain when Congress gave origin to the Greater Colombia in Villa del Rosario.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_de_Paula_Santander
Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña (Villa del Rosario de Cúcuta, Colombia, April 2, 1792 – Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia, May 6, 1840), was a Colombian military and political leader during the 1810–1819 independence war of the United Provinces of New Granada (present-day Colombia). He was the acting President of Gran Colombia between 1819 and 1826, and later elected by Congress as the President of the Republic of New Granada between 1832 and 1837. Santander came to be known as “The Man of the Laws” (“El Hombre de las Leyes”).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaqu%C3%ADn_Crespo
Joaquín Sinforiano de Jesús Crespo Torres (Spanish pronunciation: [xoaˈkin simfoˈɾjano ðe xeˈsus ˈkɾespo ˈtores]; 22 August 1841 – 16 April 1898) was a politician, soldier, a member of the Great Liberal Party of Venezuela and President of Venezuela from 1884 to 1886 and again from 1892 to 1898. During the second Joaquín Crespo regime, the Venezuela Crisis of 1895 saw Venezuela’s longstanding dispute with Great Britain about the territory of Guayana Esequiba, which Britain claimed as part of British Guiana and Venezuela saw as Venezuelan territory, come to a head. An international arbitral panel ultimately awarded most of the territory to Britain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela_Crisis_of_1902%E2%80%931903
The Venezuela Crisis of 1902–1903 was a naval blockade from December 1902 to February 1903 imposed against Venezuela by Britain, Germany and Italy over President Cipriano Castro’s refusal to pay foreign debts and damages suffered by European citizens in a recent Venezuelan civil war. Castro assumed that the United States’ Monroe Doctrine would see the US prevent European military intervention, but at the time the US saw the Doctrine as concerning European seizure of territory, rather than intervention per se. With prior promises that no such seizure would occur, the US allowed the action to go ahead without objection. The blockade saw Venezuela’s small navy quickly disabled, but Castro refused to give in, and instead agreed in principle to submit some of the claims to international arbitration, which he had previously rejected. Germany initially objected to this, particularly as it felt some claims should be accepted by Venezuela without arbitration.
When the US press reacted negatively to incidents including the sinking of two Venezuelan ships and the bombardment of the coast, the US government pressured the parties to settle, and drew attention to its nearby naval fleet. With Castro failing to back down, US pressure and increasingly negative British and American press reaction to the affair, the blockading nations agreed to a compromise, but maintained the blockade during negotiations over the details. This led to the signing of an agreement on 13 February 1903 which saw the blockade lifted, and Venezuela commit 30% of its customs duties to settling claims. When the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague subsequently awarded preferential treatment to the blockading powers against the claims of other nations, the US feared this would encourage future European intervention. The episode contributed to the development of the Roosevelt Corollary to the United States’ Monroe Doctrine, asserting a right of the United States to intervene to “stabilize” the economic affairs of small states in the Caribbean and Central America if they were unable to pay their international debts, in order to preclude European intervention to do so.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cipriano_Castro
José Cipriano Castro Ruiz (1858–1924) was a high-ranking member of the Venezuelan military, politician and the President of Venezuela from 1899 to 1908. He was the first man from the Andes to rule the country, and was the first of five military strongmen from the Andean state of Táchira to rule the country over the next 46 years.
Cipriano Castro was the son of José Carmen Castro and Pelagia Ruiz. He was born on 12 October 1858 in Capacho, Táchira. Castro’s father was a mid-level farmer and he received an education typical of the tachirense middle-class. His family had significant mercantile and family relations with Colombia, in particlular with Cúcuta and Puerto Santander. After studying in his native town and the city of San Cristóbal, he continued his studies at a seminary school in Pamplona, Colombia (1872–1873). He left those studies to return to San Cristóbal, where he began work as employee of a company called Van Dissel, Thies and Ci’a. He also worked as a cowboy in the Andean region.
[edit] Military experience and introduction to politicsIn 1876 Castro opposed the candidacy of general Francisco Alvarado for the presidency of the Táchira state. In 1878 he was working as the manager of the newspaper El Álbum when he participated along with a group of independence advocates in the seizure of San Cristóbal when they refused submit to the authority of the new president of the state.
In 1884, he got into a disagreement with a parish priest, Juan Ramón Cárdenas in Capacho, which led to his imprisonment in San Cristóbal. After six months, he escaped and took refuge in Cúcuta, where he ran an inn.[1] There he met his future wife, Rosa Zoila Martinez, who would become known as Doña Zoila. In June 1886, he returned to the Táchira as a soldier, accompanying generals Segundo Prato, Macabeo Maldonado and Carlos Rangel Garbiras to again raise the flag of autonomy, much to the dismay of the governor of the Táchira region, General Espíritu Santo Morales. Castro defeated government forces in Capacho Viejo and in Rubio. Promoted to general, himself, Castro began to stand out in the internal politics of Táchira state. It was during the burial of a fellow fighter, Evaristo Jaimes, who had been killed in the earlier fighting that Castro met Juan Vicente Gómez, his future companion in his rise to power. He entered politics and became the governor of his province of Táchira but was exiled to Colombia when the government in Caracas was overthrown in 1892. Castro lived in Colombia for seven years, amassing a fortune in illegal cattle trading and recruiting a private army.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Manuel_Santos
Santos also founded the Social National Unity Party (Party of the U) to support the presidency of Álvaro Uribe.[citation needed] He was named Minister of Defense on 19 July 2006. During his tenure as Defense Minister, the administration dealt a series of blows against the FARC guerrilla group, including the rescue of Fernando Araújo Perdomo, the death of FARC Secretariat member Raul Reyes in a 2 March 2008 air strike against a guerrilla camp located within Ecuador’s borders, and the non-violent rescue of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt held captive since 2002, along with fourteen other hostages, including three Americans.[4]
During his time as Defense Minister, notable controversial events included a military raid inside Ecuador’s territory that killed FARC leader Raúl Reyes on 1 March 2008.[10] There was a misuse of an International Committee of the Red Cross symbol during Operation Jaque used to safely rescue hostages from FARC.[11]
In 2008 the ‘false positives’ scandal was uncovered, referring to revelations concerning extrajudicial executions carried out by members of the military in order to artificially increase the number of guerrillas killed by the Army and claim rewards from the government.[12] On 4 November 2008, Santos admitted that the military had carried out extrajudicial executions and he pledged to resolve the issue.[13] Twenty-seven military officers, including three generals and eleven colonels, were sacked after an internal army investigation concluded that they were responsible for administrative failures and irregularities in reporting enemy casualties and operational results.[14] The Commander of the Colombian National Army, General Mario Montoya, resigned.[15] By May 2009, 67 soldiers had been found guilty and over 400 were arrested pending trial.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Colombian_history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_%C3%81ngela_Holgu%C3%ADn
María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar (born 13 November 1963) is a Colombian political scientist and career diplomat currently serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia who also served as the 25th Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations and Colombia Ambassador to Venezuela during President Álvaro Uribe Vélez’s first term.
María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar was born on 13 November 1963 to Julio Holguín Umaña and Lucila Cuéllar Calderón.[1] The Holguíns come from an old well established political family in the history of Colombia, most notably they are descendants of Carlos and Jorge Holguín, Presidents of Colombia from 1888–1892 and 1921-1922 respectively, and are related to a number of other Presidents and key political figures throughout the history of Colombia to present time. She married Santiago Jiménez Mejía on August 27, 1983 but later divorced having no children. She later met Carlos Espinosa Pérez with whom she had a son, Antonio, on January 23, 1991
She studied at the Gimnasio Femenino school in Bogota, French at the Université Paris X, and graduated from the University of the Andes in 1988 with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science where she also completed a specialization in Public Management and Administrative Institutions in 1992.
[edit] Diplomatic careerIn 2010, while serving as Colombia Representative to the Andean Development Corporation in Buenos Aires, the newly president-elect Juan Manuel Santos Calderón nominated Holguín to head the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Her nomination to the Chancellery was hailed as a wise political move given the diplomatic problems in the region following the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis; Holguín’s Ambassadorship in Venezuela was overall seen as the tacit endorsement that enabled her to tackle the diplomatic détente between the sister nations, while her work with the Andean Development Corporation signalled Santos’ desire to strengthen ties with the rest of the continent.
Before having taken office, Holguín accompanied president-elect Santos on his first overseas trip after being elected, taking the diplomatic role head on during their meetings with the British Prime Minister David Cameron, and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.[2] Holguín as Chancellor-designate also headed talks with the Venezuelan Chancellor Nicolás Maduro that spearheaded the renewal of diplomatic ties with the neighbouring nation that were later formalized in a meeting held in Santa Marta between the two Presidents.[3] Holguín then travelled to Ecuador to meet with the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño to convince Quito to renew diplomatic ties and to personally invite President Rafael Correa to attend the inauguration,[4] a feat she managed having in mind that Ecuador had an arrest warrant for Santos for his action as Minister of National Defence of Colombia.
On August 7, 2010 after Santos was sworn in as President of Colombia, Holguín followed suit and was sworn in as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
On June 3, 2011, Holguín declared, following a working meeting in Washington, that Colombia will continue to be the most “pro-United States” country in Latin America, despite pending issues such as the United States – Colombia Free Trade Agreement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Venezuela
Soundex Code for Cuellar = C460
Other surnames sharing this Soundex Code:
CALLAR | CLAAR | CLAIR | CLARE | CLARY | CLEAR | CLEARY | CLEERE | CLEERY | CLOER | CLORE | CLOWER | COLLIER | COLLYER | COLYER | CUELLAR | CULLER |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BNP_Paribas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banca_Nazionale_del_Lavoro
Founded in 1913 as Istituto di Credito per la Cooperazione, it was nationalized in 1929. It was re-privatized and listed on the Milan Stock Exchange in 1998, before being acquired by French banking group BNP Paribas in 2006. It is Italy’s sixth largest bank.[citation needed]
Banca Nazionale del Lavoro began Argentinian operations in 1960, ultimately opening 91 branches, before selling its operation there to HSBC Bank Argentina in 2006.
[edit] ScandalsThe bank was involved in a major political scandal (dubbed Iraqgate by the media) when it was revealed in 1989 that the Atlanta, Georgia branch of the bank was making unauthorized loans of more than US$4.5 billion to Iraq. Many of the loans that the branch made were guaranteed by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Credit Corporation program. The loans were originally intended to finance agricultural exports to Iraq, but were diverted by Iraq to buy weapons. The branch manager, Christopher Drogoul, indicated that the bank’s headquarters office was aware of these loans, but senior bank official denied this. Drogoul pleaded guilty to three felony charges and served 33 months in federal prison.
See also Saving and loan scandal
Bank of Credit and Commerce International
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSBC_Bank_Argentina
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_loan_scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Credit_and_Commerce_International
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was a major international bank founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier.[1] The Bank was registered in Luxembourg with head offices in Karachi and London. Within a decade BCCI touched its peak. It operated in 78 countries, had over 400 branches, and had assets in excess of US$20 billion, making it the 7th largest private bank in the world by assets.[2][3]
BCCI came under the scrutiny of numerous financial regulators and intelligence agencies in the 1980s due to concerns that it was poorly regulated. Subsequent investigations revealed that it was involved in massive money laundering and other financial crimes, and illegally gained controlling interest in a major American bank. BCCI became the focus of a massive regulatory battle in 1991 and on July 5 of that year customs and bank regulators in seven countries raided and locked down records of its branch offices.[4]
Investigators in the U.S. and the UK revealed that BCCI had been “set up deliberately to avoid centralized regulatory review, and operated extensively in bank secrecy jurisdictions. Its affairs were extraordinarily complex. Its officers were sophisticated international bankers whose apparent objective was to keep their affairs secret, to commit fraud on a massive scale, and to avoid detection.”
The liquidators, Deloitte & Touche, filed a lawsuit against Price Waterhouse and Ernst & Young – the bank’s auditors – which was settled for $175 million in 1998. A further lawsuit against UAE President Zayed II, a major shareholder, was launched in 1999 for approximately $400 million. BCCI creditors also instituted a $1 billion suit against the Bank of England as a regulatory body. After a nine-year struggle, due to the Bank’s statutory immunity, the case went to trial in January 2004. However, in November 2005, Deloitte persuaded creditor Abu Dhabi to drop its claims against the Bank of England, except for a claim for return of its deposits, in that Abu Dhabi owned 77% of the bank shares at closing, and was therefore also facing a major lawsuit. [2] To date liquidators have recovered about 75% of the creditors’ lost money.[5] A decade after its liquidation, its activities were still not completely understood.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agha_Hasan_Abedi
Agha Hasan Abedi also known as Agha Sahab (May 14, 1922, Lucknow, India – August 5, 1995, Karachi, Pakistan) was a banker and philanthropist who founded the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) in 1972. BCCI was at one point the seventh largest private bank in the world, but it collapsed in 1991 after regulators in the United States and the United Kingdom found it was involved in a money laundering scandal. Mr. Abedi underwent a heart transplant operation in 1988, and died of a heart attack on August 5, 1995 in Karachi.
Agha Hasan Abedi was born in Lucknow, India and migrated to Pakistan after the partition of India, in 1947. Beginning his career with Habib Bank before independence, he brought about significant changes in Pakistan’s banking culture when he founded the United Bank Ltd (UBL) in 1959. Starting as its first general manager, he quickly rose to the position of president and chairman of the board of directors. Under his stewardship, UBL became the second largest bank in Pakistan. Mr Abedi introduced a host of professional innovations, including the concept of personalised service and banking support to trade and industry, paying particular attention to the bank’s overseas operations. One of the first to comprehend the opportunities offered by the oil boom in the Persian Gulf, Mr Abedi pioneered close economic collaboration in the private sector between Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE President, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, extended his patronage to UBL operations both in Pakistan and abroad.
[edit] BCCI yearsWhen banking was nationalised in Pakistan in 1972, Mr Abedi founded the Bank of Credit and Commerce International with the Bank of America NT & SA as a major shareholder. Registered in Luxembourg, the BCCI began its operations from a two-room head office in London. Over the years, it developed into a worldwide banking operation with branches in 72 countries and 16,000 employees on its payroll. Mr Abedi was personally responsible for inducting a large number of Pakistanis into the field of international banking and almost 80 per cent of the BCCI’s top executive positions at the head office and in branches in various countries were held by Pakistanis. Mr Abedi severed his connection with BCCI in 1990 after suffering a heart attack and led a retired life in Karachi until his death of heart failure at Karachi’s Aga Khan hospital in 1995.
Unlike regular banks, the BCCI was from its inception made up of multiplying layers of interwoven entities – which related to one another through a near impenetrable series of holding companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, banks-within-banks, insider dealings and nominee relationships. BCCI’s fractured corporate structure, record keeping, regulatory review, and audits, allowed the complex BCCI family of entities created by Abedi to evade ordinary legal restrictions on the movement of capital and goods. In creating BCCI as a vehicle essentially free of government control, Abedi’s BCCI became the ideal mechanism for facilitating illegal activity by others, including such activity by officials of many of the governments whose laws BCCI was breaking.
At the time of his death, Abedi was under indictment in several countries for crimes related to BCCI. However, Pakistani officials refused to give him up for extradition, claiming the charges were politically motivated. Even without this to consider, it is likely he would have been too sick to stand trial; he had been in poor health since suffering a stroke in the mid-1980s.
[edit] Philanthropist[edit] Infaq FoundationMr Abedi founded charitable organizations in UK, India, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Pakistan. A large proportion of the profit made by BCCI was donated to these foundations, every year as Mr. Abedi believed that the main objective of a person should be to help others. In Pakistan, the BCCI Foundation (renamed Infaq Foundation after the closure of BCCI), provides funding to charitable projects like hospitals, schools for special children, other educational institutions and social welfare organizations. It also provide scholarships, mainly for university education, to poor but brilliant students. It helps widow and other indigent persons in large number. As many performing artists earn very little in the Third world, INFAQ Foundation provides financial help and assistance to writers, scholars, artists and poets. It encourages them to teach their art to others so that these arts survive.
The Infaq Foundation has only one office in Karachi, Pakistan. It has Capital and Reserves of over Rs.2.50 billion, which in 2009 are equivalent to just over US$30 million. Major beneficiaries among the known institutions are, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Lady Dufferin Hospital and Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology in Karachi, and GIK Institute of Engineering Sciences & Technology in Topi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. President Ghulam Ishaq Khan was the first Chairman of the Foundation from 1983 through 1995. Another eminent personality, a supreme court judge and a former Governor of Sindh – Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim took over and is now the Chairman.
The Foundation has always been managed by highly competent Chief Executives. From 1981 to 1999 retired federal secretaries were Secretaries General of the Foundation. From 1999 to 2008 the position was held by Mr. Sohail Kizilbash, a Chartered Accountant qualified in UK and a person with long banking experience. From 2009 another Chartered Accountant and former banker Mr. Anwar Gillani is the Honorary Secretary General.
Agha Hasan Abedi Auditorium Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology on the event of 8th Science fair 2007[edit] Higher EducationMr. Abedi also founded BCCI FAST in 1980 with a donation of Rs. 100 million, to promote education in computer science. It is now the first multicampus university of Pakistan, known as National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences. It has four campuses situated in Islamabad, Peshawar, Karachi and Lahore.
Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology was also the brainchild of Mr. Abedi. He felt that Pakistan should have another university for higher education, at Ph.D. level, for engineering and sciences and it should be comparable to universities in any developed country.
[edit] Abedi and Orangi Pilot Project”In 1980, Akhtar Hameed Khan moved to Karachi where Agha Hassan Abedi, President of the BCCI Foundation and a renowned banker, asked him to use his expertise and knowledge to improve sanitation and employment in Karachi, Pakistan (LT 2000, 4). Dr. Khan immediately agreed, but under the condition that he would be able to do things his own way without any interference from Abedi or anyone else. Abedi agreed to this, and work was begun on what would become one of the most renowned projects in the world: The Orangi Pilot Project (OPP). Thus, in 1980, the Orangi Pilot Project was started and Dr. Khan remained associated with it until his death in 1999.[1]
[edit] TriviaAgha Hasan Abedi Auditorium at GIK Institute, Pakistan, was named after him.
The Gold Medal at the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (FAST), awarded to the highest CGPA Holder of the batch, is known as the Agha Hasan Abedi Gold Medal.
His London home was in the London outskirts, in the affluent Harrow on the Hill, and was previously owned by Anthony Trollope
In the words of former BCCI Chief Financial Officer Masih ur Rahman, who worked alongside Abedi for nearly three decades, his sister had once commented that “I remember looking into his eyes and seeing God and the Devil balanced equally in them.”[2] Agha hasan abedi.
His daughter:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huma_Abedin
His daughter’s boss:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Rodham_Clinton
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2012/07/20/Huma-Abedin-mother-linked-Muslim-Brotherhood
Click to access Amazing-work-of-Sherman-Skolnik-and-the-Citizens-committee-to-clean-up-the-courts.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivetti
The company was founded as a typewriter manufacturer in 1908 in Ivrea, near Turin, by Camillo Olivetti. The firm was mainly developed by his son Adriano Olivetti. Olivetti opened its first overseas manufacturing plant in 1930, and its Divisumma electric calculator was launched in 1948. Olivetti produced Italy’s first electronic computer, the transistorised Elea 9003, in 1959, and purchased the Underwood Typewriter Company that year. In 1964 the company sold its electronics division to the American company General Electric. It continued to develop new computing products on its own; one of these was Programma 101, the first commercially-produced personal computer.
[edit] DesignOlivetti was famous for the attention it gave to design:
[A] preoccupation with design developed into a comprehensive corporate philosophy, which embraced everything from the shape of a space bar to the color scheme for an advertising poster.
—Jonathan Martin, International Directory of Company Histories
In 1952, the Museum of Modern Art held an exhibit titled “Olivetti: Design in Industry”; today, many Olivetti products are still part of the museum’s permanent collection. Another major show, mounted by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 1969, toured five other cities.[1] Olivetti was also renowned for the caliber of the architects it engaged to design its factories and offices, including Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn, Gae Aulenti, Egon Eiermann, Figini-Pollini, Ignazio Gardella, BBPR, and many others.[2]
From the 1940s to the 1960s, Olivetti industrial design was led by Marcello Nizzoli, responsible for the Lexicon 80 (1948) and the portable Lettera 22 (1950). Later, Mario Bellini and Ettore Sottsass directed design.[3] Bellini designed the Programma 101 (1965), Divisumma 18 (1973) and Logos 68 (1973) calculators and the TCV-250 video display terminal (1966), among others. Sottsass designed the Tekne 3 typewriter (1958), Elea 9003 computer (1959), the Praxis 48 typewriter (1964), the Valentine portable typewriter (1969), and others. Michele De Lucchi designed the Art Jet 10 inkjet printer (1999) (winner of the Compasso d’Oro) and the Gioconda calculator (2001).[4] During the 1970s Olivetti manufactured and sold two ranges of minicomputers. The ‘A’ series started with the typewriter-sized A4 through to the large A8, and the desk-sized DE500 and DE700 series. George Sowden worked for Olivetti from 1970 until 1990, and designed their first desktop computer, Olivetti L1, in 1978 (following ergonomic research lasting two years). In 1991, Sowden won the prestigious ADI Compasso d’Oro Award for the design of the Olivetti fax OFX420.
Olivetti paid attention to more than the importance of product design; graphic and architectural design were also considered pivotal to the company. Giovanni Pintori was hired by Adriano Olivetti in 1936 to work in the publicity department. Pintori was the creator of the Olivetti logo and many promotional posters used to advertise the company and its products.
[edit] ComputersBetween 1955 and 1964 Olivetti developed some of the first transistorized mainframe computer systems, such as the Elea 9003. Although 40 large commercial 9003 and over 100 smaller 6001 scientific machines were completed and leased to customers to 1964, low sales, loss of two key managers and financial instability caused Olivetti to withdraw from the field in 1964.
In 1965 Olivetti released the Programma 101, considered the first commercial desktop personal computer. It was saved from the sale of the computer division to GE thanks to an employee, Gastone Garziera, who spent successive nights changing the internal categorization of the product from “computer” to “calculator”, so leaving the small team in Olivetti and creating some awkward situations in the office, since that space was now owned by GE.[5]
Olivetti’s first modern personal computer, the Olivetti M20, featuring a Zilog Z8000 CPU, was released in 1982. In 1983 Olivetti introduced the M24, a clone of the IBM PC using DOS and the Intel 8086 processor (at 8 MHz) instead of the Intel 8088 used by IBM (at 4.77 MHz). The M24 was sold in North America as the AT&T 6300. Olivetti also manufactured the AT&T 6300 Plus, which could run both DOS and Unix.[6]
Olivetti BCS3030 (FDU-based) + PR1370 printer, 2008 in ParisIn 1985 the company acquired a controlling share in the British computer manufacturer Acorn Computers Ltd; a third partner was Thomson SA. Olivetti sold the Thomson MO6 and Acorn BBC Master Compact with brand names Olivetti Prodest PC128 and PC128s respectively.
In 1987 Olivetti introduced the LSX line of computers which was based on the Motorola 68k processor. They could run either MOS or Olivetti’s Unix, X/OS.[7]
In 1990, Olivetti had its own distribution network in New Zealand through Essentially Software Ltd.[8] (owned by Gary McNabb) located at Mt. Eden in Auckland and Wellington, where an Olivetti M300-100 16 MHz PCs with 80386SX CPU were sold for NZ$7395 and used as graphical work station for design houses using Corel Draw as graphical program. The New Zealand distribution stopped in 1991 when Olivetti could not supply their PCs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriano_Olivetti
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Kahn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Computers_Ltd
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomson_SA
Technicolor SA, formerly Thomson SA and Thomson Multimedia, is a French international provider of solutions for the creation, management, post-production, delivery and access of video, for the Communication, Media and Entertainment industries. Technicolor’s headquarters are located in Issy les Moulineaux, near Paris.[1] Other main office locations include Rennes (France), Edegem (Belgium), Wilmington (Ohio, USA), Burbank (California, USA), Princeton (New Jersey, USA), London (England, UK), Rome (Italy), Madrid (Spain), Hilversum (Netherlands), Bangalore (India) and Beijing (China).
On January 27, 2010, the company changed its name to Technicolor, re-branding the entire company after its American film technology subsidiary.
http://www.clouditalia.com/en/managers/bruno-d-avanzo
CEO
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERBruno starts his career at Honeywell Europe, where he becomes Managing Director. He then moves to Digital Equipment Corporation Europe, where he is appointed Managing Director and Vice President Marketing & Sales. He is Chairman of ZOPA Spa from 2007 to 2009. Bruno has a degree in Electrotechnical Engineering from the University of Padua. He is married and father of two children.
Mark de SimoneCHAIRMAN
PRESIDENTMark starts his career at Mc Kinsey, HP and Olivetti. He is appointed CEO of the Canadian subsidiary of the Italian IT giant. He manages for five years the global division for advanced network services at General Electric Medical Systems. Mark has a degree in Engineering from the Cornell University and an MBA from the Columbia University. He is married and father of three children.
http://www.thevarguy.com/2012/05/18/ironic-hp-hires-consulting-firm-to-plan-layoffs/
Apparently, sometimes you have to hire consultants to help you fire employees. A case in point: Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) hired management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. to organize an HP layoff plan, according to Bloomberg. The layoffs (involving as many as 25,000 to 30,000 employees) could be announced next week, The Wall Street Journal reported. The silver lining in all this: HP will need partners more than ever.
Indeed, many of the cuts will allegedly involve HP’s services business — home of the former EDS. At the same time, HP is looking to boost demand for its PCs and printers amid fierce competition from Apple’s iPad and online document sharing services. Plus, HP is looking to ramp up its public cloud initiatives.
Add it all up and HP will need to lean harder than ever on channel partners.
The big questions:
What exactly will CEO Meg Whitman announce when HP delivers earnings on May 23?
Moreover, how will HP deliver “upbeat” strategic information during the HP Discover 2012 conference (June 4-7, Las Vegas)?
Why is The VAR Guy up so late blogging again?
That last bullet is easy to answer: Our resident blogger genuinely enjoys his job, though he doesn’t enjoy blogging about job losses… especially when highly paid consultants appear to be writing portions of the job cut plan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Data_Systems
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKinsey_%26_Company
Industry Management consulting
Founded 1926
Founder(s) James O. McKinsey
Marvin Bower
Headquarters 55 East 52nd Street
New York City, U.S.
Key people Dominic Barton (MD)
Services Management consulting services
Revenue $ 7 billion (2010 est.)[1]
AUM $ 5 billion (MIO Partners)
Employees 17,000 (9,000 consultants)