It is the Wall Street equivalent of a coroner’s report — a 2,200-page document that lays out, in new and startling detail, how Lehman Brothers used accounting sleight of hand to conceal the bad investments that led to its undoing.
You can read the full article from the New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/business/12lehman.html?hp=&pagewanted=all
Monday, 15 March 2010
Friday, 12 March 2010
Asia's growing economic power
Asia is regaining the economic dominance it enjoyed a thousand years ago. However it still has some way to go. View this short video by the Economist.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
CA Digest No. 191 10 March 2010
You can dowload the new CA DIGEST here. Click the link below and the "DOWNLOAD" button.
Short Selling or Shorting – Is it really a conspiracy?
Bloomberg's Sara Eisen reports on a February 8, 2010 secret dinner of hedge fund managers, at which the investors discussed big bets against the euro.
Monday, 8 March 2010
New association formed to simplify international credit transfers
A group of 21 banks, clearing houses and associated payment service providers have launched the International Payments Framework Association (IPFA).
The body says its main purpose is to provide business rules, standards and operating procedures to improve non-urgent cross border credit transfers based on the ISO 20022 message standard by establishing a contractual framework.
At its inaugural meeting in London the IPFA has elected a board of directors - consisting of representatives from six banking institutions and three clearing houses - for a three year term.
Arthur Cousins of Standard Bank of South Africa was elected chairman with Equens' Michael Steinbach named vice-chairman.
April 2010 will see the commencement of live traffic between two IPFA members when the The Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta and Equens will start with exchanging both USD and EUR payments between the USA and Europe.
Meanwhile, several IPFA members have begun planning for the inclusion, into the framework, of the Brazilian, Canadian, Mexican and South African currencies over the next two years.
The full list of members is ABN Amro, Canadian Payments Association, CamaraInterbancariade Pagamentos(CIP), Clear2Pay, Equens, Eurogiro, Federal Reserve Bank, Fifth Third Bank, JP Morgan, Nacha, PayPro, PNC, SECB Swiss Euro Clearing Bank, Standard Bank of South Africa, Standard Chartered Bank, Swift, The Clearing House, US Bank, VocaLink, Wells Fargo/Wachovia, World Savings Banks Institute and ZionsBancorp.
The body says its main purpose is to provide business rules, standards and operating procedures to improve non-urgent cross border credit transfers based on the ISO 20022 message standard by establishing a contractual framework.
At its inaugural meeting in London the IPFA has elected a board of directors - consisting of representatives from six banking institutions and three clearing houses - for a three year term.
Arthur Cousins of Standard Bank of South Africa was elected chairman with Equens' Michael Steinbach named vice-chairman.
April 2010 will see the commencement of live traffic between two IPFA members when the The Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta and Equens will start with exchanging both USD and EUR payments between the USA and Europe.
Meanwhile, several IPFA members have begun planning for the inclusion, into the framework, of the Brazilian, Canadian, Mexican and South African currencies over the next two years.
The full list of members is ABN Amro, Canadian Payments Association, CamaraInterbancariade Pagamentos(CIP), Clear2Pay, Equens, Eurogiro, Federal Reserve Bank, Fifth Third Bank, JP Morgan, Nacha, PayPro, PNC, SECB Swiss Euro Clearing Bank, Standard Bank of South Africa, Standard Chartered Bank, Swift, The Clearing House, US Bank, VocaLink, Wells Fargo/Wachovia, World Savings Banks Institute and ZionsBancorp.
Mobile Union Launches Online Remittance Service
By: Emmanuel Okoegwale writing in “Mobile Money” - 4 March 2010. http://mobilemoneyafrica.com/
Mobile Union Ltd has announced the launch of its new online remittance service (http://www.mtxpress.com), mtxpress, which uses a secure SMS platform to provide a low-cost and convenient solution for people in the UK to send money to friends and family abroad.
According to the most recent DFID UK Remittance Market Report, the UK is one the top 10 remittance-originating countries worldwide, with approximately GBP2.4 billion recorded outward remittances annually from the UK to the developing world. Mobile Union is taking a new approach to remittance by focusing on a massive under-served market segment: people who want to send smaller amounts of money without being penalised with high fees. Mobile Union’s service enables people to send money safely and securely from their home or workplace without the need to visit a retail location; immediately stripping out the costs in time and money associated with a retail infrastructure and passing on these savings to customers. After registration online, with a user-friendly, simple and easy interface, customers can then send money securely using their debit card. Within seconds, the recipient is notified by SMS message that money is available for collection, leveraging the ubiquitous reach of mobile phones throughout the developing world.
Steven Faulkner founder and Commercial Director of Mobile Union commented:”mtxpress makes sending money home fast and convenient (http://www.mtxpress.com/). A combination of simple pricing and exchange rates directly linked to the Central Bank rate makes it easy to understand the true cost of sending money home.”
Security is of paramount importance to Mobile Union and there are multiple bank-grade security checkpoints for both the sender and recipient of the remittance, enabling customers to have certainty throughout the transaction lifecycle leading to complete peace of mind. In addition, Barclays Bank is providing the day-to-day banking and merchant services and Cybersource, the world’s first online payment management company, processing debit card transactions.
This week’s launch focuses on the UK to Bangladesh market, where Mobile Union has collaborated with BRAC Bank, one of the leading banks in Bangladesh. This partnership will enable recipients, without the requirement of a bank account, to utilise the bank’s extensive network of locations across the country to receive money. However, it is also possible to credit accounts maintained at BRAC Bank.
This template is one that Mobile Union will continue to use as it rolls out its service to other parts of South East Asia and West Africa later this year, providing an accessible service to the underserved.
Speaking about the launch of the service, Randall Harper, CEO for Mobile Union said: “The UK’s remittance market continues to grow, but little attention has been given to people who want to send smaller amounts of money without incurring the high fees. Through our mtxpress service and its secure SMS platform, we are able to provide this under-served segment of the market with a world-class service that is convenient, instant and great value-for-money.”
Mobile Union Ltd has announced the launch of its new online remittance service (http://www.mtxpress.com), mtxpress, which uses a secure SMS platform to provide a low-cost and convenient solution for people in the UK to send money to friends and family abroad.
According to the most recent DFID UK Remittance Market Report, the UK is one the top 10 remittance-originating countries worldwide, with approximately GBP2.4 billion recorded outward remittances annually from the UK to the developing world. Mobile Union is taking a new approach to remittance by focusing on a massive under-served market segment: people who want to send smaller amounts of money without being penalised with high fees. Mobile Union’s service enables people to send money safely and securely from their home or workplace without the need to visit a retail location; immediately stripping out the costs in time and money associated with a retail infrastructure and passing on these savings to customers. After registration online, with a user-friendly, simple and easy interface, customers can then send money securely using their debit card. Within seconds, the recipient is notified by SMS message that money is available for collection, leveraging the ubiquitous reach of mobile phones throughout the developing world.
Steven Faulkner founder and Commercial Director of Mobile Union commented:”mtxpress makes sending money home fast and convenient (http://www.mtxpress.com/). A combination of simple pricing and exchange rates directly linked to the Central Bank rate makes it easy to understand the true cost of sending money home.”
Security is of paramount importance to Mobile Union and there are multiple bank-grade security checkpoints for both the sender and recipient of the remittance, enabling customers to have certainty throughout the transaction lifecycle leading to complete peace of mind. In addition, Barclays Bank is providing the day-to-day banking and merchant services and Cybersource, the world’s first online payment management company, processing debit card transactions.
This week’s launch focuses on the UK to Bangladesh market, where Mobile Union has collaborated with BRAC Bank, one of the leading banks in Bangladesh. This partnership will enable recipients, without the requirement of a bank account, to utilise the bank’s extensive network of locations across the country to receive money. However, it is also possible to credit accounts maintained at BRAC Bank.
This template is one that Mobile Union will continue to use as it rolls out its service to other parts of South East Asia and West Africa later this year, providing an accessible service to the underserved.
Speaking about the launch of the service, Randall Harper, CEO for Mobile Union said: “The UK’s remittance market continues to grow, but little attention has been given to people who want to send smaller amounts of money without incurring the high fees. Through our mtxpress service and its secure SMS platform, we are able to provide this under-served segment of the market with a world-class service that is convenient, instant and great value-for-money.”
Friday, 5 March 2010
Remittances – France to Mali
TagPay operates a service which allows people to send money from France to any mobile phone in Mali.
TagPay is says that it is the first stored value solution available on all mobile phones. It is a prepaid account system that stores value on the mobile phone. The receiver is able to spend money in any Merchant accepting the service. Clients can make purchases at participating stores and restaurants using their mobile phone.
TagPay is says that it is the first stored value solution available on all mobile phones. It is a prepaid account system that stores value on the mobile phone. The receiver is able to spend money in any Merchant accepting the service. Clients can make purchases at participating stores and restaurants using their mobile phone.
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