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Corporate Scandals page 1 |
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BRUSSELS - The
European Commission fined Google
a record $5B antitrust fine for using its Android mobile operating
system to squeeze out rivals.
(Reuters) BRUSSELS - EU
investigators carried out unannounced inspections at the offices of
firms linked to the broadcasting of sports events in several member
states over concerns they may have violated EU antitrust rules.
(Reuters)
LONDON - Carillion, one of the British state's biggest contractors collapsed, putting thousands of jobs at risk after creditors and the government refused to bail out a company struggling under the weight of more than $2.1B of debt. (Global) MORE: Government contractor liquidation
NEW DELHI - Companies owned by diamond
merchants
Nirav Modi and
Mehul Choksi are alleged to have
swindled Punjab National Bank (PNB)
of over $1.77B.
(Quartz)
MORE:
Raids live
Billionaire diamond dealer suspected
OTTAWA - For every dollar corporations pay to the Canadian government in income tax, people pay $3.50. Our analysis of the financial filings of Canada's 102 biggest corporations shows these companies have avoided paying $62.9B in income taxes over the past 6 years. (Toronto Star)
There was a time that oil companies ruled
the globe, but 'black gold' is no longer the world's most valuable
resource - it's been surpassed by data.
The five most valuable companies in
the world today - Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and Google have
commodified data and taken over their respective sectors.
(CBC)
OTTAWA - Nearly every day in Canada, a family gets a call that shakes its foundations to the core: a father, a mother, a son or daughter has been killed on the job. (CBC)
MONTREAL - Jean-Francois Amyot, Francis Mailhot, Daniel Ryan, Andrew Barakett, Eric Boyd, were fined a total of $18.2M. Amyot is the only person who will serve time for the scheme. (CBC)
CHURCHILL
- The federal government says it has 'formally demanded' that
OmniTRAX
fix the washed-out rail line to the northern Manitoba town of
Churchill.
(CBC)
TORONTO - An investigation has found a
pattern of assertive sales tactics and upselling taking place at some
funeral homes run by Arbor Memorial, the largest Canadian provider of
funeral and cemetery services.
(CBC)
LONDON - In 1687, a coffee house opened on
Tower Street, near the London docks. Run by Edward Lloyd, it was
comfortable and spacious, and business boomed. Patrons enjoyed the
fireside tea and coffee.
But above all, the inhabitants of
this coffee house loved to gossip about ships: what was sailing from
where, with what cargo - and whether it would arrive safely or not.
And where there was gossip, there was an opportunity for a wager.
(BBC)
LONDON -
Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc agreed to pay
about $807M to resolve US and UK investigations into allegations it
bribed foreign officials to win business.
(Bloomberg)
More regulation leads to more fraud When top-level managers find governance mechanisms too coercive, they're more likely to commit fraud, according to a new paper. (Epoch Times) REPORT: External corporate governance and financial fraud
MONTREAL - Cinar founder Ronald Weinberg was sentenced to 9 years in prison for swindling investors out of more than $120M in a fraud scheme. Co-defendants John Xanthoudakis and Lino Matteo were sentenced to 8 years each. (CTV) PREVIOUS: 3 guilty verdicts Guilty verdicts Evidence is closed Offshore banking nightmare
CALGARY - The world's largest publicly traded uranium company will clash in court with the CRA over a potential $2.2B tax bill. At question is whether Cameco Corp. set up a subsidiary in low-tax Switzerland and sold it uranium at a low price simply to avoid tax, as the CRA contends. Cameco maintains it was a legal and sound business practice. (CP) |
BRUSSELS - As cement giant
LafargeHolcim
faces a criminal investigation for allegedly channeling millions of
dollars to the Islamic State and other groups in Syria, police
question
Paul
Desmarais Jr, whose billionaire
family holds a stake in the firm.
(Globe & Mail)
MAIMI - Luis Riu Guell owns RIU Hotels, a renowned Spanish company that runs more than 100 hotels in 19 countries. Riu surrendered to face allegations that he doled out free and luxury resort stays to Miami Beach's top building official in exchange for help with the company's large-scale renovation of its South Beach hotel. (Miami Herald)
RISTIGOUCHE-PARTIE-SUD-EST - The
clash traces its roots to 2011, when the province granted a
Montreal-based company,
Gastem
(Raymond
Savoie CEO), drilling permits to
search for oil and gas in the eastern part of the province. Amid
concerns from Ristigouche Sud-Est residents over how the drilling
would affect municipal water sources, the town passed a bylaw in
2013 that set out a 2km (1.2-mile) no-drill zone around its water
supply.
(Guardian UK)
TORONTO - You can claim $20 or more to compensate for being overcharged on purchases of sofas, mattresses or carpet underlay, made in Canada, containing flexible polyurethane foam. (Toronto Star) MORE: CFM: Foam price fixing
TORONTO - More than $1B of investors' money has likely been lost in syndicated mortgage investments in Ontario, according to a Toronto real estate lawyer. CBC News reported that more than 120 Chinese investors in the Greater Toronto Area were set to lose nearly $9M in these kinds of investments, but David Franklin says that's just the tip of the iceberg. (CBC)
OTTAWA
- The term 'privatizing profits and socializing losses' is so widespread
it gets its own entry in the US business definition site
Investopedia: 'businesses and individuals can successfully benefit
from any and all profits related to their line of business, but avoid
losses by having those losses paid for by society.'
(CBC)
When Wendi Wolf arrived at the newly
built hospital, she was able to order additional services like TV,
telephone and internet.
The service came from a company
called
Hospitality Network, which works with
more than 200 hospitals across the country.
(CBC)
MORE:
Revenue streams for your facility
BRUSSELS - JPMorgan Chase, HSBC and Credit Agricole were fined a total of $521M for rigging the Euribor benchmark as EU antitrust regulators wrapped up a 5-year investigation into the scandal. (Bloomberg)
OTTAWA - The Department of Finance released a 22-page consultation paper laying out its vision of sweeping changes to Canada's 62-year-old mortgage insurance system in an effort to shift more of the risks of Canada's hot housing market from taxpayers to lenders themselves. (Globe & Mail)
Princess Cruises Lines has agreed to plead guilty to 7 felony charges and pay a $40M penalty for polluting the ocean with waste and then trying to cover it up. Princess is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation, which owns multiple cruise lines that collectively comprise the world's biggest cruise company. (Washington Post)
VANCOUVER - Steve Nash is suing his
former business partners to have his name and image removed from 21
Steve Nash Fitness World and Sports Club locations in BC.
(CBC)
LOS ANGELES - The bankruptcy of the
Hanjin Shipping line has thrown ports
and retailers around the world into confusion. (AP)
CALGARY - Sean Patrick O'Brien, 47, has now been charged with 164 counts of fraud and theft in connection with an investigation into a defunct vehicle consignment dealership. From July 16, 2011, and August 31, 2014, citizens brought 116 vehicles to an auto consigning company named TREADZ Auto Group with the intention of selling their vehicles. (CTV) |
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OTTAWA - A federal proposal that would allow prosecutors to suspend criminal charges against companies in certain cases of corporate wrongdoing has been quietly included in the Trudeau government's 582-page budget legislation. The government calls the proposed system the 'remediation agreement regime.' (CP) Plan could erode public confidence |
For every bribe, there's an outstretched hand Billions to a national embarrassment |
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SNC says haven't softened rules enough
Canada needs
anti-corruption agreements Board's actions as scandal unfolded Charged with corruption, fraud |
Canada tops World Bank blacklist Canada has gone from squeaky clean Ex-execs face criminal charges Another contract awarded to SNC |
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'Allowing corruption to go unchecked' Amnesty to whistleblowers offer Some of missing millions found |
The capital of corporate corruption 4 major nations are lax on bribes War-hit nations head corrupt list Hammer interviewed former Senator |
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Taskforce descends on MUHC offices Raid on English superhospital offices |
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OTTAWA - An internal
report by Ottawa's money-laundering watchdog (FINTRAC)
paints a picture of Canada's banks that's far less flattering than
the one presented in a sanitized report it issued for Parliament and
the public. (CBC) |
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TORONTO - Sears Canada pensioners are heading to court to try to recoup close to $300M they say is missing from their pension fund following the retailer's demise. Representatives for Sears pensioners will ask Ontario Superior Court to appoint a trustee to scrutinize nearly $3B paid in dividends to Sears shareholders - the biggest recipient of which was Eddie Lampert, CEO of US hedge fund ESL Investments. (CBC) |
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MONTREAL - Arthur Porter, the former hospital administrator at Montreal's McGill University who was accused in a $22.5M kickback scheme, has died in a Panama City hospital following a battle with cancer. (CBC) |
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Ex-McGill hospital boss arrested McGill University superhospital Timeline of a corruption scandal |
Business dealings raise eyebrows |
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MONTREAL - The BIXI bike system will have cost Montrealers $60M over 10 years while making just a minor impact on the environment by 2019, according to a new study by the Montreal Economic Institute. The study said that only public funds have allowed BIXI to generate surpluses. The City of Montreal took control of BIXI after the company that previously ran the bicycles went bankrupt in 2014. (CP) |
Program aims to avoid mistakes BIXI: $42M debt, $6.5M deficit |
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OTTAWA - Former media baron and convicted fraudster Conrad Black has been stripped of the Order of Canada. On the recommendation of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, he will also be removed from the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. (CBC) |
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WASHINGTON - Volkswagen's deliberate cheating on emissions tests will cost it a record $14.7B. And that's just the start of its problems. The settlement is only a preliminary step in the case; the automaker still faces possible criminal charges, as well as civil penalties for Clean Air Act violations. (CNN) |
Diesel levels of pollution |
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HAGUE - An international court on Monday ordered Russia to pay more than $50B to the former majority shareholders of now defunct oil company Yukos (CP) |
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TEHRAN - A court in Iran has sentenced to death Iranian businessman
Babak Zanjani
and 2 accomplices for embezzlement in a case closely watched
due to the billionaire's prominent role in helping the government
evade oil sanctions. (Guardian
UK) |
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TORONTO - A businessman and co-founder of Canada's largest golf club operator has been charged with 8 business associates in connection with an alleged criminal organization that defrauded businesses, banks and investors of more than $30M. In Nov 2014, York Regional Police launched an investigation into John Simmonds, 66, and AC Simmonds and Sons Inc, of which he is the chairman and CEO. (Global) MORE: Fraud charges |
Class action over service charge
VANCOUVER - Eric Finkel's lawyer launched
legal action under a little-tested section of BC's Business Practices
and Consumer Protection Act (BPCPA).
The Finkel case is
one of dozens that pop up in a search
of 'deceptive practices' under the BPCPA, most aimed at 'deep
pocket' industries such as banks or insurance companies for hidden or
'deceptive' service charges. (CBC) |
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NEW YORK -
Wells Fargo
announced that it has agreed to pay a $1B fine to the
CFPB.
(Zero hedge) |
OTTAWA - Canada's competition regulator
said it is suing
Ticketmaster
and its parent company,
Live Nation, for allegedly misleading
consumers on prices.
(CBC) |
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JOHANNESBURG - Documents were released in the settlement of a corruption case against Och-Ziff Capital Management, a US hedge fund that manages $39B. The US documents show the hedge fund paid more than $100M in bribes to officials in Congo, Libya, Chad, Niger and Guinea to gain corrupt influence and mining assets. (Globe & Mail) MORE: DOJ press release Dan Gertler |
MONTREAL - Quebec's
AMF confirmed that it is charging
David Baazov, Benjamin Ahdoot, and Yoel Altman, along with 3
companies, with 23 charges related to manipulating stock prices
between Dec. 2013 and Dec 2014.
Baazov is the CEO of Amaya, the
company that runs
PokerStars, Full Tilt
Poker and several other online
gambling sites.
(CTV)
MORE:
CEO facing charges
Shares plunge |
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CURITIBA - Prosecutors in Brazil and the US Justice Department are now probing the alleged payment of bribes by Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer to wangle a US$208M deal with India. (Asia Sentinel) |
TORONTO - A Canadian class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of people who have allegedly been short-changed by TD Bank coin-counting machines over a three-year period. (CP) |
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NEW YORK - In blunt testimony former managers of Trump University, the for-profit school started by Donald Trump, portray it as an unscrupulous business that relied on high-pressure sales tactics, employed unqualified instructors, made deceptive claims and exploited vulnerable students willing to pay tens of thousands for Trump's insights. (NY Times) MORE: Texas decision to drop fraud investigation political |
FRANKFURT - The Federal Financial
Supervisory Authority (BaFin)
said it was shutting down the German arm of Maple Bank, which
is part of Canada;s Maple Financial Group.
(DW)
MORE:
Canadian bank tied to money laundering
National Bank writes off $165M stake in Maple Bank
National Bank of Canada |
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TORONTO - The Ontario government has suspended the licence of
Everest College of Business, Technology and Health Care Canada, a day
after the US parent company
Corinthian Colleges was suspended from trading
on the New York stock exchange.
(Toronto Star) MORE:
Facing
criminal probe
College
files for bankruptcy protection in Canada |
OTTAWA - The Competition Bureau has settled a misleading advertising case against the Avis and Budget rental car companies but came away with much less than originally sought when its allegations were announced early last year. (CP) MORE: Avis and Budget to ensure prices advertised are accurate Deceptive acts Go Public investigation Consumer Protection BC probe |
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NEW YORK - Argentina has signed an agreement with US hedge funds to settle a protracted dispute over its failure to repay $95B worth of bonds. The creditors were led by hedge funds NML Capital and Aurelius Capital Management. (BBC) MORE: Hedge fund to make $2.4B profit Argentine debt restructuring |
Samsung called a worldwide halt to the sale and
exchange of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, citing continued safety
concerns, and advised all customers to stop using the device
immediately.
(AFP) |
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BRUSSELS - The European Commission has accused Sky TV in the UK and 6 major Hollywood studios of breaking EU competition rules by blocking access to movie content in other EU countries. (BBC) MORE: EC's press release |
VANCOUVER - Justice Emily Burke
found Herbert Anderson breached his fiduciary duty
to Impark by changing and then concealing an agreement which paved the
way for him to set up a rival company with former consultant Michael
Menzies.
(CBC) |
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LONDON - Britain's top model agencies have been raided amid fears that they are price fixing. Investigators from the CMA started an investigation into a number of firms in March. It is alleged some modelling agencies have been operating a secret cartel to drive up appearance fees. (Telegraph UK) MORE: Cartel squad raids model agencies |
Spotlight on mattress business OTTAWA - The federal Competition Bureau is investigating whether Canada' two major department-store retailers have touted bogus discounts of their mattresses. Many of the products are made by the industry's 2 dominant manufacturers: Tempur Sealy International and Serta Simmons Bedding (Advent International). (Globe & Mail) |
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TOKYO - Toshiba's CEO and 8 other executives resigned to take responsibility for doctored books that inflated profits at the Japanese technology manufacturer by $1.2B over several years. Toshiba Corp. acknowledged a systematic coverup, which began in 2008. (CP) |
TORONTO - More than a decade ago Salim
Damji convinced thousands of Ismaili Muslims to invest in his fake
teeth whitening product - a $100M scam dubbed at the time to be the
largest of its kind in Canadian history.
(Toronto Star)
MORE:
He's at it again
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TORONTO - Miles Nadal, founder of Toronto-based advertising group MDC Partners Inc, announced his resignation as CEO amid an ongoing investigation by the US SEC into executive pay and the company's accounting practices. (AP) |
TORONTO - Canadian consumers are getting a $20 break. Anyone who bought a computer, printer, personal digital assistant, MP3 player or video game console in that period can collect $20 by filling out a form on themoneyismine.ca. (QMI) |
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TORONTO - Cineplex is shrinking soft drink sizes at its theatres and while the hulking large cup will disappear, moviegoers will be paying the large price for a drink that's 12 ounces smaller. Ontario's Making Healthier Choices Act, set to be introduced in 2017, also factored into the decision. (CP) |
BURLINGTON
- Several business-owners told CBC that Canada BankCard Systems took
money from their bank accounts without adequate explanation, several
times a month - sometimes several times on the same day.
(CBC) |
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HYDERABAD
- An Indian court has sentenced the former head of Satyam Computers
and 9 others to 7 years in prison.
(BBC)
MORE:
7 years
10 found
guilty
B Ramalinga
Raju |
Aggressive collectors buy credit card
accounts from original lenders that have been written off as in
default and impossible to collect on.
(Guardian UK)
PREVIOUS:
FTC cracks
down on debt collectors |
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OTTAWA - The RCMP says it is more aggressively pursuing Canadian companies that pay bribes to win lucrative contracts overseas and, in future, more cases will lead to real jail time for individuals rather than just fines for companies. (CBC) |
WASHINGTON - Aleksandr Milrud, 50,
recruited stock traders in China and Korea to place high-speed buy or
sell orders and then quickly cancel them, known as layering or
spoofing.
(AP)
MORE:
FBI press release
Canadian charged
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A number of class-action lawsuits filed in several provinces claim electronics' giants have acted as a cartel to 'wring' $480M in illegal profits from Canadian consumers for almost a decade. (CP) |
TORONTO - OPP say Nicholas Smirnow, of Lake of Bays, and his wife Dianna were arrested on outstanding warrants after getting off a plane from the Philippines. (CP) PREVIOUS: Pathway 2 Prosperity scam |
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TORONTO - When
Target
Corp. announced plans to retreat from Canada, the company chose a
surprising legal route for its exit.
The big US retailer's Canadian
division applied for court protection under the
CCAA, an insolvency law that was
designed to be used by companies seeking to restructure their
finances and stay in business.
(Globe & Mail)
MORE:
Target claims $1.6B tax break from failed Canadian launch
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TORONTO -
An
Ontario Superior Court judge found Vadim Kazenelson guilty of 4
counts of criminal negligence causing death.
Metron Construction Corp, pleaded
to criminal negligence causing death and was eventually fined
$750,000 plus a victim surcharge.
Ottawa-based Swing N Scaff Inc,
was fined $350,000 for failing to ensure the platform was in good
condition.
(CP) |
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TORONTO -
National
Energy Corporation
has been the subject of thousands of complaints by regulatory bodies.
(CBC) |
Energy cutting billions from spending
TORONTO - Canadian have seen their
household energy bills climb by 5% this year, an increase that will
divert $4B from other spending. (Globe & Mail)
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TORONTO - An unprecedented class action lawsuit striking at the economic foundations of junior hockey in Canada alleges the Canadian Hockey League and its teams 'conspired' to force young players into signing contracts that breach minimum wage laws. (Toronto Star) |
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TORONTO - 11 Ontario residents have been charged with various offences in an alleged investment scam in which scores of international investors lost a total of $4.4M. The company was National Detection Clinics Ltd., formerly known as Discovery Biosciences and which became TGC Ventures Inc. (CP) |
OTTAWA - Investigators with the RCMP's National Division announced bribery charges against Robert Barra and Dario Berini, the former CEO and COO of Cryptometrics Inc, the US parent company of Cryptometrics Canada. (CBC) MORE: Foreign nationals charged 3 years 3 years |
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Resolute Forest Products is suing the Rainforest Alliance because their draft audit recommended the company's FSC certificate - an environmental stamp of approval for the industry - be suspended. Resolute is also suing Greenpeace after that environmental group released a report that was also critical of its forestry practices. (CBC) |
NEW YORK -
Gregg Mulholland, 45, has been
criminally charged with running a stock manipulation fraud that
generated $300M of illegal profit, and included a pump-and-dump
scheme that caused the market value of little-known Cynk Technology
to rocket past $6B.
(Reuters) |
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VICTORIA - The Cash Store, which also operates as Instaloans, has been ordered to repay more than $1M to BC customers who were charged exorbitant interest rates on payday loans. (CBC) MORE: Consumer protection BC: Cash Store |
'Would you like to join my professional network on LinkedIn?' Or would you rather have $1,500 US for the inconvenience of having your contacts incessantly pestered with requests to join? (CBC) MORE: Class action settlement |
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TORONTO - The RCMP says 2 former executives of Onco Petroleum Inc. are facing charges in an alleged $30M stock market-related fraud. (CP) MORE: ONCO fallout continues Ontario Securities Commission must go Top officer suspended |
Gladiator School
BOISE
- The FBI has launched an investigation of the
Corrections
Corporation of America
over the company's running of an Idaho prison
with a reputation so violent that inmates dubbed it 'Gladiator
School.' MORE:
FBI investigates
private prison |
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2/3 of cartels are in industries in which the top 4 firms have 75% of the relevant market. (Economist) PREVIOUS: Business cartel |
OTTAWA - The Competition Bureau has accused Leon's Furniture Ltd. and The Brick Ltd. of "deceptive marketing practices." (CTV) |
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TORONTO - One of the largest collection agencies in the country has been hit with a $500,000 fine from the CRTC. (CBC) MORE: iQor Canada |
DOVER - Dow Chemical and DuPont will attempt to merge in an all-stock deal that would create a colossal chemical producer worth $130B. (CP) MORE: Megamerger |
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MINNEAPOLIS - The owners of the Minnesota Vikings were ordered to pay nearly $85M in damages to former business partners they defrauded with "evil motive", and will face a criminal investigation into their actions, which a judge declared violated racketeering laws. (Deadspin) Zygi Wilf |
NEW YORK - A shareholder of BlackBerry Ltd. sued the company and two of its executives accusing them of inflating the stock price by painting a misleadingly rosy picture of the business prospects of its BlackBerry 10 smartphone line. (CBC) |
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LONDON - The shambolic state of the Co-operative Group was laid bare in a scathing verdict warning that the survival of Britain's biggest mutual organisation was at stake. (Guardian UK) |
NEW YORK - 4 Canadians and 5 Americans have been indicted in what US officials call one of the largest international penny stock frauds in history. (CP) MORE: 9 individuals indicted Hamilton man wanted |
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KAMLOOPS - He boasts 4 citizenships – and could rightfully claim title as an international man of mystery. Today, Mr. Wolf is accused of being a middleman in an arms-related bribery scheme that culminated in the June 5 conviction in Ljubljana of Slovenia’s former prime minister, Janez Jansa. (Globe & Mail) Walter Wolf Patria affair |
NEW YORK - Jacoby was a pioneer in fighting in the 1970s for lawyers’ right to advertise. Today, the firm is trying to win another suit to change the rules of America’s legal industry, which generated revenues of $261B in the 12 months to September. If successful, the suit would allow non-lawyer investors to put money in a law firm. (Economist) |
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Africa is losing more than $50B every year in illicit financial outflows as governments and multinational companies engage in fraudulent schemes aimed at avoiding tax payments to some of the world's poorest countries, impeding development projects and denying poor people access to crucial services. (Guardian UK) |
'Biggest single plunder of diamonds' Reap What You Sow .pdf |
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LONDON -
Beer and soft drink maker
Anheuser-Busch InBev
has confirmed it has made a takeover approach to rival
SABMiller. According
to reports in the
Wall Street
Journal and the
Financial
Times,
the merger would create a company that controls one-third of all the
beer produced in the world. (CP) |
MOSCOW - Russia's central bank governor Sergey Ignatyev has said that $49B left the country illegally last year. A study by Washington-based Global Financial Integrity found that an average of $62B in income earned from illicit activities has entered or left Russia each year since 2004. (BBC) REPORT: Russia: Illicit financial flows |
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OTTAWA - Cross-border shopping by Canadians
in the US accounted for 1.7% of total Canadian retail sales in 2012.
(CP) |
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Employment is up 40% in Mexico's auto sector in the past 8 years, as international companies have poured $7B worth of investment into the country. Contrast that with Canada, which is struggling to find commitments to replace expiring assembly lines at GM, Toyota and others. (CBC) |
Assembly
plants in Canada - 2015
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TORONTO - Canada's Competition Bureau is seeking $25M in penalties from two water-heater rental companies that the watchdog alleges gouge customers by making it next to impossible to return water heaters and get out of contracts without exorbitant fees. (CBC) MORE: Bureau press release |
VANCOUVER - 3 former Budget Rent a Car employees have contacted Go Pubic to allege the Vancouver-area operation systematically and intentionally rips off customers, by grossly overcharging for minor repairs that sometimes aren’t even done. (CBC) PREVIOUS: Rental car scams |
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OTTAWA - Canada should eliminate barriers to market entry if it wants to foster the innovation. (Macdonald-Laurier Institute) REPORT: Public policy to encourage innovation and productivity .pdf |
TORONTO -
Metron Construction has been fined $200,000 in the
death of 4 workers in a scaffolding mishap. (CP)
MORE:
3.5 years |
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SAINT JOHN -
Irving Oil has been ordered to pay $4M after pleading guilty to
34 counts stemming from the 2013 rail disaster in Lac-Megantic.
(CP) TSB |
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NEW YORK - Back in March, when the SEC agreed to settle a big insider-trading case involving SAC Capital Advisors, one of the biggest hedge funds in the country, I mischievously suggested that Steven A. Cohen, SAC’s mercurial and publicity-shy boss, was effectively buying off the US government for $616M. (New Yorker) |
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NEW YORK - 9 large banks, including 6 from
Canada, have been accused in a lawsuit of conspiring to rig a Canadian
rate benchmark to improve profits from derivatives trading. The
complaint, filed by a Colorado pension fund in US District Court in
Manhattan late on Friday, accused Royal Bank of Canada,
Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia and the other banks of
suppressing the Canadian Dealer Offered Rate (CDOR)
from Aug 9, 2007, to June 30, 2014.
(Reuters) |
Platts a major player in setting oil prices |
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OTTAWA - The federal government has quietly given a subsidiary of
East Coast business giant
JD
Irving more than $40M.
Atlantic Wallboard LP received the so-called conditionally
repayable contributions between 2006 and 2012 from the Atlantic
Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)
under a much-vaunted shipyard redevelopment fund.
(CP) |
Industry dependent on tax credits |
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Sights on industry associations OTTAWA - The ongoing investigation by Ottawa’s competition watchdog into an alleged price-fixing scheme that may have added thousands of dollars to the cost of new homes across the GTA is unlikely to be the last. (Toronto Star) |
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VANCOUVER - A 4.6 magnitude earthquake emanating from the gas fields in NE BC during the summer was caused by hydraulic fracturing and is the largest induced seismic event ever recorded in the province, the BC Oil and Gas Commission has confirmed. (Globe & Mail) |
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OTTAWA - Texas-based Kinder Morgan made a seven-fold return on the sale of its Trans Mountain pipeline system to Canada's federal government, according to a new report that also warns the federal budget deficit could jump by 36% because of the purchase. (Huffington Post) |
Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline |
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Pipeline debate dividing First Nations Tracking indigenous communities affected Bill 12 fact sheet .pdf Protest pays off, for builders BC NDP says pact is still in place News crew threatened at protest camp |
Green leader May gets $1500 fine |
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Dakota Access Pipeline protests Protesters see bias after Oregon verdict
FN say they have the power to stop expansion New rules don't reach 'world class' 2015 fall reports of the Commissioner |
BC approves pipeline expansion Story of Kinder Morgans approval |
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Forward, together .pdf
Obama rejects Keystone Pipeline US reliance on oil transported by rail Town sees green energy plans fall apart |
Current royalty rates are appropriate |
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Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline Opponents set sights on feds, courts Pipeline won't increase development Keystone report provides grounds |
Pipeline report sees 'no objections' |
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CALGARY - The Alberta Orphan Well
Association already list nearly 2,900 orphan wells awaiting
abandonment or reclamation as of as of Feb 28, 2018. Along with
2,350 pipeline segments set for abandonment.
(CP)
Chinese firm leaves oil sites in need of cleanup 2017 YKSC 2 .pdf |
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Spotlight on Canadian government |
Canadian mining project rejected Mining in Guatemala: Rights at risk .pdf |
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Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency |
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Mining firm at centre of murder probe |
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Defence sector corruption rife BERLIN - A new global survey suggests that 70% of countries lack the tools to prevent corruption in the defence sector. Anti-corruption watchdog TI said that only Germany and Australia had strong overall anti-corruption mechanisms in place for defence. (BBC) |
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OTTAWA - The $2.66M lawsuit by Navtech is the latest controversy to
hit the MV Asterix and the Davie shipyard. Under a five-year, $667M
contract with the federal government, Davie refitted the former
cargo vessel as a supply ship.
(Globe & Mail) Ship maintenance privatization deal Private company gets ship service contract Years before true value of contract is known
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FORT MCMURRAY - David Williams, 30,
along with Drew Foster, 52, died.
Nexen Energy,
the company owning the facility, blamed the 2 men for the accident.
Nexen Energy, a subsidiary of
CNOOC, is
now facing 8 charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
(CTV) |
US panel urges tighter screening China cyber-espionage threatens US Do unto China what China does to us |
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Ten of the world’s most powerful oil, gas and mining companies own a staggering 6,038 subsidiaries with over a third located in ‘secrecy jurisdictions'. (BIJ) |
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The wide gap between oil’s global benchmark price and what Canadian producers can get for their oil is costing Canada $2.5B a month, according to new research that sees the spread remaining for years even if new pipelines are built. (CBC) |
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Keep bribing ROME - Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi criticized prosecutors for arresting Finmeccanica’s ex-chief executive officer, Giuseppe Orsi, and said global companies that shun graft are destined to fall behind. “Bribes are a phenomenon that exists and it’s useless to deny the existence of these necessary situations,” Berlusconi, 76, said in a televised interview. |
'Natural things' for the company |
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NEW YORK - Deutsche Bank AG has agreed to settle US litigation over allegations it illegally conspired with Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC Holdings Plc to fix silver prices at the expense of investors. (Reuters)
Deutsche bank admits it rigged gold prices SEC 34-70458 .pdf |
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REGINA - The University of Regina is suing 2 private companies alleging the firms have unjustly claimed exclusive rights to carbon capture technology developed at the institution and are refusing to pay royalties. (CBC) |
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Greed, incompetence, neglect
ELLIOT LAKE
- Decades of incompetence, neglect, greed and dishonesty by a
succession of owners, engineers and municipal officials led to the
deadly cave-in of a northern ON mall, a judicial inquiry reported. |
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HONG KONG - Thomas Kwok, once the cochairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties - the world's second most valuable real estate firm, was sentenced to 5 years jail time and fined $500,000 HKD ($74,858). In Canada, Sun Hung Kai Properties operates under its subsidiary Aspac Development based out of Vancouver. (Globe & Mail) |
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WASHINGTON - Royal Bank is defending itself against allegations from US regulators that it engaged in hundreds of millions of dollars in sham futures trades to reap tax benefits on its holdings of company stocks. (CTV) |
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WUXI - Suntech, a Chinese solar-panel manufacturer, skyrocketed to the top of the world solar industry. So stratospheric was the rise in the firm’s valuation after it went public in 2005 that Shi Zhengrong, its founder, was briefly China’s richest man. (Economist) |
SUDBURY - It's alleged the 2 employees with Atlas 's Sudbury operation conspired with the company's healthcare provider to produce fraudulent invoices - and shared the proceeds. More than $16M dollars was stolen, police said. (CBC) |
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