http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080709/ap_on_bi_ge/steve___barry_s_bankruptcy

Ricky Ballesteros, President of the League of Independent Bank Organizations (LIBO), told GMANews.TV that more than 150,000 workers employed by domestic lenders will see their jobs disappear if circular no. 268 is implemented by banking regulators. Philippine banks employ 300,000 workers, Ballesteros said.

Issued in December 2000 by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the circular will allow financial institutions to outsource some of its functions.

“These functions include credit card processing, check clearing, human resource services, property appraisal, among others," Ballesteros said.

An earlier radio report said that the circular authorizes the BSP to book contracts for jobs even without the approval of the Monetary Board. The group claimed that these orders are illegal because these violate laws and earlier Supreme Court decisions.

Ballesteros said that the group will hold a “lightning rally" in front of the BSP complex in Manila to oppose circular 268. Rally participants are expected to number 100, he said.

A reaction from the BSP is forthcoming, Fe de la Cruz, director of the BSP Corporate Office said.

Robert JA Basilio Jr.
GMANews.TV

The FocusAsia Business Leaders Case Study and Video Series profiles leading Asian enterprises and their senior executives. From property development and manufacturing to biotechnology and off-shoring, this series features some of the most successful companies in Asia – from China to Singapore, Japan to India.

The entire video series has 11 interviews. Each video costs US$295 and total costs US$2,595. I went to the ACRC website and found this ~5min promo video.

The Edinburgh-headquartered bank forked out an extra $1m loan last Thursday to keep the development operating until mid August, according to bankruptcy papers from the Sacramento Court.

Panoz is understood to be worth about $400m. He built the five-star Fife hotel – which two years ago played host to the St Andrews Agreement talks on Northern Ireland – through his St Andrews Bay Development company.

The concept does not exist in the UK, where companies instead go into administration – usually to be broken up to salvage whatever assets are left and pay off creditors.In the Diablo Grande case, if a sale goes ahead and the company gets back on its feet, HBOS's money could be repaid.

In 2004, Fountainhead Holdings, the parent company of the St Andrews Bay Development, sold off a 50 per cent stake in the St Andrews Bay Hotel to US firm Laup Holdings. Accounts for the year to December 2004 showed debts of £8.6m and losses of more than £5m.

In a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange, GMA Network said it has spent P1.22 billion out of the P1.538- billion proceeds from its maiden offering in July 2007.

Of the total disbursed amount, the bulk, P373 million, went to the construction of two new television studios; followed by P300 million for acquisition of program rights; and P226.14 million for the funding of the company's retirement plans.

GMA Network holds the franchise of Pinoy Idol and also the soon-to-be launched Survivor Philippines.

The company has also spent P151.29-million for signal strengthening and upgrade for its various provincial transmitters.

Another P128 million was used for acquisition of production and studio facilities.

For the year's first three months, the company's net income grew 6 percent to P454 million on higher airtime and international operations revenues, among others.

GMANews.tv

This is how change is going to happen. The more costly petroleum and energy becomes, the more we will deal with the problem... we simply have no choice but to deal with it.

This was ahead of most City expectations, the performance powered by increased promotional activity on food, wine, and summer favourite Pimm's. The shares closed up 18.2p at 193p.

In the 50 weeks to 13 July like-for-like sales fell 1 per cent, with overall sales up 2.2 per cent.

Tim Martin, the founder-chairman of the company, who still owns a 24 per cent stake, said more than half the group's non-discretionary cost increases in the coming year come from government legislation.

"I don't think the Bank of England or economic commentators understand or have been frank about the role of government in cost inflation for businesses," Martin said.

"The government pays a much greater role than has been acknowledged and, for pubs and restaurants, about 50 per cent of cost inflation is as a result of government legislation."

Martin said Wetherspoon would face excise duty of about £10 million in its 2008-9 financial year, £4m from extra holiday entitlements and a further £5m from the minimum wage.

Mark Brumby, drinks specialist at Blue Oar Securities, said the company's numbers were of the kind "the majority of operators would give their eye-teeth for".

OPEC is an acronym for Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

OPEC was formed in 1960 in Baghdad, Iraq with five founding member countries. Currently OPEC is a cartel composed of 11 oil producing countries.  Current member countries include: Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

OPEC's stated purpose is said to serve three main functions:

1) Help stabilize world oil prices (is this happening????)

2) Ensure oil producers achieve a reasonable rate of return on production

3) Ensure a stable supply of crude oil for consumer use.

OPEC has a current goal of $27 US per barrel of oil.

HOW MUCH CRUDE OIL DO THE OPEC COUNTRIES PRODUCE?

Collectively these countries hold approximately 77% of known world crude oil reserves. In terms of daily crude oil production OPEC countries currently produce about 41% (24.2 million barrels per day) of the world's crude oil. The oil exported by the OPEC countries accounts for 55% of all oil traded internationally. OPEC countries also represent about 15% of total world natural gas production.

HOW DOES OPEC SET OIL PRICES?

OPEC does not "set" oil prices. OPEC manipulates the free market price of crude oil by setting caps on the oil production of its member countries. Twice each year, ministers from each OPEC country meet in Vienna, Austria to review the status of the international oil market and to forecast the future oil demands in order to agree upon an appropriate crude oil production level.

Editor's notes: So much for the need for OPEC.

A top online intimate apparel retailer, figleaves.com has more than 1 million customers with almost all orders taken online and fulfilled from sophisticated warehouses in Suffolk, UK and a North American warehouse in Windsor, Ontario.

The company carries a vast selection of international brands and has in stock over 40,000 stock-keeping units so as to offer same day dispatch from either the UK or the North American warehouses. The brand portfolio offers something for everyone – at all budgets, shapes and sizes - from Calvin Klein to Simone Perele.

As one of the pioneering fashion e-commerce companies, figleaves.com’s goal is to embrace technology which puts consumers first and allows the retailer a 360 degree view of its customers. Through the marketing and sales cycle to customer service, figleaves.com wanted to offer its customers a consistent and seamless experience.

To achieve this goal it wanted the capability to view a more complete and up-to-date profile of the customers, based on real-time behaviour, preferences and purchasing histories. Only ATG provides such a view for retailers and experience for consumers.

To deliver the most personalised customer experience possible, the company has chosen to relaunch its Web store implementing ATG Commerce, the company’s complete e-commerce suite.

The relaunched site will give figleaves.com a view of its customers across all contact channels and throughout the customer lifecycle. The new site will attract prospects via Web marketing campaigns, and ATG’s merchandising and search capabilities will be used to convert browsers into buyers. The company will also be able to provide consistent and ongoing customer care through ATG’s Commerce Service Center suite.

The highly scalable platform will create engaging and branded customer experiences across every touch point including the Web, e-mail, call centres, and mobile devices. It will also empower figleaves.com’s marketers and merchandisers by enabling them to manage directly all aspects of the e-commerce site including catalogues, pricing, marketing, promotions, search facets, campaigns and reporting.

The company has purchased and will be using ATG Recommendations on its current platform and future ATG platform to automatically deliver more individual product recommendations to its customers. Further, figleaves.com will utilize ATG’s eStara Click To Call product, an offering that turns a retailer’s call center into a sales center by providing an immediate human connection with consumers when needed. Click to Call engages buyers proactively and moves them seamlessly from the Web into live dialogue, creating a truly personal one-to-one experience in order to close sales.

Source by Fibre2fashion

Highland Airways www.highlandairways.co.uk  has launched a new air charter service from Edinburgh.

The Inverness based airline expects demand for its Jetstream 41 to come from the business sector as well as sports teams and supporters.  

Nicolas van der Meer, Business Development Manager, said: “ “With Edinburgh’s growing status as a financial and administrative capital we expect demand to be high."

BAA Scotland Business Development Manager, Paul White, welcomed the move, "The growth of private air charter at Edinburgh is good news for our passengers, offering an even wider choice and greater flexibility when it comes to air travel to and from the Capital.

"Highland Airways’ new service at Edinburgh is a welcome addition, and we look forward to working with the airline to ensure its success.”
 
Highland Airways, which is headquartered in Inverness with bases in Aberdeen, Lancashire, Wales and the Western Isles, already has three smaller Jetstream 31 based outside of Scotland.

These aircraft augment their weekday work with leisure and sports related charters at the weekend.

Ryden has also been involved in deals for the National Schizophrenia Fellowship, which took a 941sq ft office at Newington Business Centre and a 983sq ft lease on a building at Cumberland Street for sports analyst Optimal Analysis.

Meanwhile, it also assigned the lease on a 577sq ft office unit at Dean Park Street to a private tenant who is to use it as an arts and crafts workshop.

Ryden partner Peter I'Anson said the deals reflected continued demand in the occupational market, particularly for smaller office space despite current economic difficulties.

He said: "We see that the smaller end of the market is continuing to tick along, with the larger companies reacting to office relocations only if they have up-and-coming break options or lease terminations."

The internet giant's StreetView website will allow anyone in the world to type in a UK address or postcode and instantly see a 360-degree picture of the street.

It will include close-ups of buildings, cars and people. Critics say the site is a 'burglar's charter' that makes it easy for criminals to check out potential victims.

The pictures also show people leaving and entering hospitals, health clinics, adult shops and hotels. Although their faces are deliberately blurred, many could still be recognised by their clothing and hair colour.

The site was launched in major American cities last year.

Google has confirmed it is now in the process of photographing Britain as part of the Street View project.

Cars emblazoned with the company's logo and carrying massive 360-degree cameras have been spotted circling the streets of British cities in recent weeks.

The data watchdog, the Information Commissioner's office, is so concerned about StreetView that it has written to Google demanding privacy guarantees.

A Google spokeswoman said: 'Google works hard to make sure that our products respect both users' expectations of privacy, and local privacy laws, in each country in which they are launched. Google Maps Street View is no exception.'

StreetView is designed to complement Google Earth, a collection of satellite pictures that covers every square mile of the globe.

Google Earth has come under fire for the level of detail in its overhead pictures, which have become enormously popular.

The pictures don't just show which homes have swimming pools or tennis courts, they can reveal the model and colour of cars, whether gardens have furniture and even sunbathers lying outside.

Bush went to the Energy Department Friday, where he met with his senior economic advisers to discuss soaring prices for gasoline and crude oil. Bush said one answer is to increase supply in this country by tapping "the vast potential" of crude oil reserves on offshore lands and in Alaska as well as oil shale.

He said Congress must address this issue before it goes home.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street sank further into a bear market Friday as investors dumped stocks in response to troubles at mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and oil's continuing climb into record territory. The Dow Jones industrials fell more than 200 points and slid below the 11,000 mark for the first time in two years.

Investors appeared unimpressed by a statement from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who said the government's focus is ensuring that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remain as presently constituted to carry out their mission. Some investors had been hoping that the government would announce plans to take over one or both of the companies.

The government-chartered companies have fallen sharply in recent days on worries about their stability. Wall Street is worried that a collapse of the two financiers would cause further shock to the financial system, and trigger more losses to banks and brokerages with significant holdings of mortgage-backed securities.

The well-being of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is crucial because they hold or guarantee about $5 trillion worth of mortgages - roughly half the $9.5 trillion debt of the United States. Their troubles are just the latest depressing turn in a year-old credit crisis that shows no sign of ending, disappointing some stock traders who thought just months ago that the worst was perhaps over.

Global banks and brokerages have scrambled to sell assets and raise capital in an effort to offset nearly $300 billion of write-downs linked to the credit crisis. Citigroup Inc. announced Friday it will sell its German retail banking operation to France's Credit Mutuel for $7.7 billion.

Investors also had little reason to shop for bargains Friday because many financial companies are reporting results next week and are expected to announce another round of big write-downs.

Meanwhile, oil continued its ascent on supply concerns. A barrel of oil vaulted to a record above $147, raising more concerns about the weight of higher prices on inflation and in turn, the overall economy.

The confluence of negative news offset a mostly positive quarterly report from General Electric Co. The conglomerate that owns everything from television network NBC to jet engine plants reported second-quarter profits that met analysts' expectations. However, the outlook across its business lines was mixed.

"You have two issues, crude popped back up $10 to $11 in the last few days, and that is causing some concern. The second point is the financial services sector, there is concern and speculation that Freddie, Fannie and Lehman won't be around on Monday. That's obviously causing worry," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors.

In late morning trading, the Dow fell 224.06, or 2.00 percent, to 11,004.96 after having fallen to 10,980.37. It last traded below 11,000 on July 25, 2006.

Broader stock indicators also skidded lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 23.29, or 1.86 percent, to 1,230.10, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 36.97, or 1.64 percent, to 2,220.88.

Friday's drop meant Wall Street moved squarely into a bear market, which is defined as a 20 percent drop from a recent peak. At its low today, the Dow was down 22.5 percent from the reocrd high of 14,198.09 it reached in October. The S&P 500 was down 21.6 percent and the Nasdaq fell 22.6 percent.

Oil, meanwhile, extended its move into record territory, rising as high as $147.27. At midday, light, sweet crude traded up $2.44 at $144.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange amid tensions between the West and Iran and the potential for attacks on Nigerian oil facilities.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.88 percent from 3.80 percent late Thursday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

Orlando said investors are looking to Federal Reserve President Ben Bernanke and Paulson for guidance.

"It feels like that Friday before the big Bear Stearns/JPMorgan announcement, so you're wondering if Bernanke and Paulson are going to sit around on the weekend trying to figure things out," Orlando said, referring to the near-collapse and subsequent Fed-orchestrated buyout of Bear Stearns.

"It seems all the confidence in the market has dissipated in these key financial services companies. When you talk about too big to fail, the government has to step in to figure out a solution to the Fannie and Freddie confidence issue," he said.

Freddie Mac fell $1.75, or 22 percent, to $6.25, while Fannie Mae tumbled $3.31, or 25 percent, to $9.89 as investors worried about their stability. Piper Jaffray analyst Robert Napoli lowered his price targets on both companies, and said in a note to clients investors should "not be in a position that only two government-sponsored lenders are willing to make mortgage loans and, without them, our economy would collapse."

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. fell $3.20, or 18.5 percent, to $14.10 as traders fretted that the No. 4 investment bank will succumb to soured debt.

Citi slipped 41 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $15.87 after saying it will book a $4 billion gain from the sale of its German retail operation. The deal is part of a plan by Chief Executive Vikram Pandit to sell up to $500 billion in assets to help boost profitability.

Investors remain cautious about the entire financial sector, especially ahead of second-quarter reports due next week from major names like JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Merrill Lynch & Co. JPMorgan declined $2.09, or 6.1 percent, to $32.42 and Merrill fell $1.70, or 5.9 percent, to $27.01.

In economic news, the United States' trade deficit narrowed in May as exports - including industrial supplies and consumer goods - climbed to all-time highs. The Commerce Department said growing exports drove the trade gap down to $58.8 billion, a 1.2 percent decrease from April and the best showing since March.

Investors did get a better-than-expected reading on consumers. The Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index rose to 56.6 for July from 56.4 in June. It had been expected to decline.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 722.6 million shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 7.04, or 1.04 percent, to 663.46.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.21 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.54 percent, Germany's DAX index declined 2.41 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 3.09 percent.

----

On the Net:

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

Chief executive Angus MacSween said the sale "in this more uncertain economic environment, reflects the quality of the business that has been built up and crystallises its value for shareholders".

Founded by Iomart in 2002, Ufindus provides listings and website development for more than 20,000 small and medium-sized businesses across the UK.

BT said it had bought "an acknowledged leader in online classified advertising" with 1.9 million online directory listings. Ufindus has 300 employees across five offices in England which will join BT.

Ufindus generated an operating profit of £1.46m on turnover of £14.1m in 2007. The sale includes net assets of £2.66m. Iomart finance director Richard Logan said the company had attracted interest from "more than two or three trade buyers".

Logan said Iomart was not surprised at the price it achieved, viewing the unit as strong and operating in a growing sector. But since the parent company moved into data centres, it has viewed the business as non-core.

"We took the view that it was more of a media play ... which is not where Iomart's strength lies," Logan added.

Iomart will use the funds from the sale to expand its data centre business, possibly through acquisition. That arm provides remote hosting for corporate customers, and business continuity services, providing back-up of data.

BT, the former state telecom monopoly, is already a customer of Iomart's data centres. Under the terms of the disposal, Iomart will continue to provide BT with web-hosting services for Ufindus.

Shares in Iomart closed up 4p at 49.5p.

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I thought that i would let you know where the business currently stands. We started the business last November as you know with very limited capital and we are now approaching 1000 Entrepreneur members. The network is growing and our members have started to talk to each other and share their ideas as well discussing their joys and despairs. 

We have decided that during the "Credit Crunch" period that of course business is tough and we have two choices. Stay as we are and keep moving along very slowly or take on more sales staff to increase our revenues. We have decide to take on more staff and as from Monday we will start 4 more sales staff.

The new staff will increase morale, increase the buzz in the office and more importantly provide us with surplus cash so that we can move the business forward. It is a big decision and we are very much looking forward to a favorable outcome.

Of course we could fail and many business are in very similar situations where they are having to make important business decision that may well determine the future direction that their business takes.

Million Impossible is our main website www.millionimpossible.com and we hope that we will acquire 1,000,000 members within the next 12 months and become the UK's leading Business Network for honest Entrepreneurs who have to courage to talk about their challenges.

We feel that so many business networks talk only about success at Million Impossible we want our members to feel that they can talk to someone else about their challenges so that everyone can benefit not only from our collective successes but also our collective mistakes. We now have members in the USA, England, Scotland, India, Australia, Singapore amongst others.

Join us now and help us build the Strongest Entrepreneur network in the world.. Membership is free and you can register now at www.millionimpossible.com.

You Don't have to have a badge on your sleeve to have honour!

Regards Bradley Chapman

In 2002 the PhRMA Code was put in place as an ongoing effort to ensure that pharmaceutical marketing practices comply with the highest ethical standards. Several marketing practices have come under fire over the last couple of years that were not addresses in the 2002 Code. On Friday, several additions were made that will take effect in January 2009.

The new Code:

• Prohibits distribution of non-educational items (such as pens, mugs and other “reminder” objects typically adorned with a company or product logo) to healthcare providers and their staff. The Code acknowledges that such items, even though of minimal value, “may foster misperceptions that company interactions with healthcare professionals are not based on informing them about medical and scientific issues.”

• Prohibits company sales representatives from providing restaurant meals to healthcare professionals, but allows them to provide occasional meals in healthcare professionals’ offices in conjunction with informational presentations. The Code also reaffirms and strengthens previous statements that companies should not provide any entertainment or recreational benefits to healthcare professionals.

• Includes new provisions that require companies to ensure that their representatives are sufficiently trained about applicable laws, regulations and industry codes of practice – including this Code – that govern interactions with healthcare professionals. Companies are also asked to assess their representatives periodically and to take appropriate action if they fail to comply with relevant standards of conduct.

• Provides that each company will state its intentions to abide by the Code and that company CEOs and Compliance Officers will certify each year that they have processes in place to comply, a process patterned after the concept of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance mechanisms.

The times they are a-changin’…

The Scottish Government have introduced the new scheme in a bid to help the true “Small” business! Rates are responsible for the largest proportion of the outgoings in many small businesses and paying them damages their profit margins; more so than the larger businesses, who have a greater turnover enabling them to cover their rates easier.

The introduction of a scheme, specifically designed to keep more money in the bank of  the small business, aims to level the profit margins between small and medium size enterprises and will hopefully allow the business community to benefit as a whole?

With less money to pay out on your rates you have more money to invest in your growth or help you to sustain your business in the current economical climate!

Over the next year this scheme will progressively help those enterprises with properties where the combined ratable value is £15,000 or less.

It is delivered in three different categories and they will apply:

up to £8,000

£8,001 - £10,000 

£10,001 - £15,000

To discover more about the new scheme and to see if it applies to you, please visit:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/212130/0056430.pdf

In the news today is a story from Japan about a Toyota employee who died from karoshi - overwork.  The employee in question was regularly working 80+ hours a week, weekends and evenings, on the development of a new car.

Although the UK has one of the longest working weeks in Europe, in Japan things are more serious, with a formal condition, sudden death from overwork, being given it's own name - Karoshi.

The EC Working Time directive is their to protect employees, to ensure that their working week is not excessive.  In fact the Road Transport industry has it's own directive; the Road Transport Directive, to cope with the unique requirements of the industry.

The thing is that the ECWTD doesn't apply to people running their own business, and a recent survey undertaken by Fantasy Couriers reveals that around 70% of small business owners would describe themselves are working "full time and a half" or "excessively".

So this is something that we have brought into the game.  Your employees will be bound by the rules and regulations of the EWTD and the RTD, and if you're a sole trader, doing all of the courier work yourself, then you're allowed a bit of extra slack, to be able to do up to 60 hours of jobs a week on the game. 

So, you'll have to think carefully about how you plan and schedule those routes, and which jobs you accept and quote for.  Can 2 drivers cover the trip in one working day, or is it cheaper to send one man on an overnighter?  All of this needs your carefull skill and consideration.

Who said white van man had it easy??

Recruitment agency Orion Group http://www.orionjobs.com has clinched a £75million contract deal with Canadian oil and gas giant Talisman Energy.

The deal means Orion is to manage all of Talisman's UK contractor workforce in engineering, support services and technical for the next five years. Orion will coordinate and support current and future recruitment needs for contractor personnel.

The Inverness company, led by chairman Alan Savage, above, is also expected to handle advert responses and maintain comprehensive databases of industry information.

Savage said: "This deal will have an immediate impact on Orion Group and we are focussed on the opportunities which will arise over the next five years.

"We have a dedicated team working with Talisman Energy to ensure its expectations are not only met but exceeded and we're confident the relationship will bring mutual rewards and successes.

"Due to the continued support by Bank of Scotland Corporate this has allowed us to continually develop and expand our business moving forward."

Recently Orion won the contract to supply 200 workers for a £10billion oil and gas development in Russia's Sakhalin Island.

The company is ranked number one for engineering recruitment in the UK.

It employs 300 staff across eight UK and 28 worldwide offices and has an estimated turnover of £300m for the current year.