Please Be Informed...

MotoGP: did Lorenzo just decide this year's championship?

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The Circuit of Catalunya, Barcelona, venue for the Spanish Grand Prix for both F1 and MotoGP is often the source of drama. But the MotoGp 2019 race was drama with what may turn out to be huge consequences. And it all began because someone started to call the Barcelona circuit "Lorenzo Land."

CoNet Section:

Motorsport

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Moral Responsibility In Moral Dilemmas

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James (Jes) Staley, the CEO of Barclays plc paid a fine of GBP642,430.00 in May 2018[1], essentially because he tried to find out the identity of the author of two anonymous letters sent to the bank that raised concerns on the hiring of Mr Staley’s friend. When such concerns are raised, typically a ‘Whistle-blowing’ process should be followed.

Contributor: Dev Odedra

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Doctor and associates guilty of medicare fraud

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Case Summary:

Some lawyers are called "ambulance chasers." In the USA, in medicine, the equivalent function is performed by "Patient Recruiters" and, yes, the US authorities even use capital letters, just like that. The system is ripe for fraud and convictions have been obtained in a case where the loss to the US Medicare system is USD33 million.

Type of conduct:

Healthcare / Medicare fraud

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The Chairman of the G20 - money laundering and crypto-assets.

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Open Letter to ( CEO ):

Mr Shinzō Abe

Open Letter to ( Company ):

G20 Group of Nations

Summary:

Dear Mr Abe

This month, the G20 will meet for a "money laundering and crypto-discussion." You will hear from many so-called experts. They will form a mutual appreciation society which spends its time saying how complicated the subject is, how it can undermine economies, how it has the capacity to undermine governments and society.

This is all true. It is also self-evident. It does not require a meeting of senior civil servants at the taxpayer's expense to conclude what is common sense as well as common knowledge. But that's not the real reason I am writing to you.

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An Open Letter To..

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Canadian Grand Prix 2019: a race of many parts

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The Canadian Grand Prix produced excellent and exciting racing. Strategy played almost no part and we were treated to motor racing at its best. Sadly, the racing has been overshadowed.

CoNet Section:

Motorsport

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Accountant and wife jailed for investment fraud

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Case Summary:

An accountant, assisted by his wife, invited investments into a scheme he operated. But there were no investments only money used for his own purposes, laundered via his wife - and setting up a separate Ponzi-type scheme.

Type of conduct:

Consumer fraud

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How did it come to this? A healthy teenager chooses to die.

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IMPORTANT NOTICE: 20190606

This article was published yesterday under the title "It's Time To Take Care Of Yourself How did it come to this? A healthy teenager is put to death, at her own request." It has been brought to my notice that, despite finding apparent confirmation of a significant fact across many examples of reputable media, the information was unreliable. Equally, at least at the time of writing this notice, it is not clear that the contrary views are reliable either. Nevertheless, I have made modifications to the article so as to avoid any potential distress to the family of the girl concerned, while the vast majority of the article is about circumstances rather than that specific case. The article is, therefore, republished as amended.

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Sold as a "takeover," the regulatory action against Baoshing Bank is much more than that.

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In the North West of China, in the district of Inner Mongolia, a small private bank started to get into trouble. The warning signs, with hindsight, were apparent but it's a kind of problem that, while common in Russia a couple of decades ago, is not usual in China. The results, however, are predictable for both financial and cultural reasons.

BIScom Subsection:

Crowdfunding

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" They both received 6 months each."

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Don't say that:

" They both received 6 months each."

Do say this:

They received six months each

or

they both received six months

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Macquarie Securities's Markets Disciplinary Panel AUD300 penalty

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It's not the best way to start the week, much less the month. The first notice from Australian regulator The Australian Securities and Investment Commission tells that Macquarie Securities (Australia) Limited has been issued a penalty notice : ASIC "believes" the company "contravened" market integrity rules. The failure was of design, implementation and maintenance of compliance systems, not an intention to not comply, ASIC says. Plus ça change in so much of the financial sector, then.

BIScom Subsection:

Enforcement

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Tiny Raphaels Bank in regulatory trouble again.

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Tracing its heritage to 1787 (that's a year, not a time), Raphaels Bank is one of the oldest independent banks in the UK. The bank says "today, we operate as a dynamic, niche savings and lending bank." It also operates "our own ATM Estate" and says it's a "well-established payment services provider." That, it is hard to escape concluding, is that this venerable institution is capitalising on its size and ability to operate in areas more usually associated with secondary institutiond and fintech companies. But for such a tiny business, it comes to the attention of regulators more than is healthy.

BIScom Subsection:

Compliance

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State Street sanctions decision re-emphasises the complexity of US sanctions law

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If we take out the hyperbole inherent in American notices (e.g. "violation" instead of "breach" and the profligate use of words like "egregious") we get to a nitty gritty that is a stone in the shoe, a thorn in the side or any one of a dozen bon mots that indicate how and why compliance officers need to be abreast of principles more than data. One has to feel some sympathy with State Street. The case also have implications for citizens of one country living abroad, especially pensioners.

Publication:

Sanctions In Action

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Garuda Indonesia is the latest freight carrier to be found to have colluded

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In Australia, 14 airlines have been found to have colluded to fix prices for freight. The latest to be brought to book is Garuda Indonesia and the penalties are substantial.

CoNet Section:

Anti-Competitive Practices

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What is an expert witness?

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Today's news that a prosecution has collapsed and a jury discharged without even considering the evidence because of the lack of credibility of a witness put up as an expert might not be big news - if it wasn't for the fact that the witness is Andrew Ager, a sticky character, a self-described Subject Matter Expert, that the Crown Prosecution Service used as their go-to-guy for anything to do with carbon credits and, sometimes, frauds in other areas, too. Even more startling is the witness' attempts to pervert the course of justice. The CPS is, once more, the subject of much head-shaking for being rubbish. But culpable as they are, the CPS is not the only one against which accusations of ineptitude should be levelled.

CoNet Section:

Legal Profession

It's far, far more complicated than the ACCC suggests and for global retailers it's a major threat.

CoNet Section:

International Internet Trade

GlobalKYC - Suspicious Crypto Assets Register - latest

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