The US House on Tuesday passed a provision advocated by Rep. Peter Welch that would close the Reverse Morris Trust (RMT) tax loophole and save taxpayers $260 million. The loophole was used by Verizon to avoid federal taxes when it sold its northern New England landline operations to FairPoint Communications in 2008.By a vote of 246 to 178, the House approved the Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 4849). The legislation, which invests in local infrastructure projects and small business tax credits, is paid for in part by closing the RMT loophole. It incorporates a bill introduced by Welch and 21 other members of Congress this January (H.R. 4486), which focused on closing the RMT loophole.“This loophole is bad for taxpayers, bad for consumers and bad for workers. By closing it and investing the savings in job creation, hardworking Americans – not corporations – will benefit,” Welch said.Under the Reverse Morris Trust, a parent company can spin-off a subsidiary that merges into an unrelated company tax-free, so long as the shareholders of the parent company control more than 50 percent of the voting rights and economic value of the resulting merged company. In northern New England, Verizon reportedly avoided hundreds of millions in taxes when it spun-off its landline operations to FairPoint, leaving the latter with overwhelming debt.Currently, parent companies must pay taxes on gains from their subsidiaries if they receive cash payments, but not if they receive payments in the form of debt securities. H.R. 4849 changes the tax code so that debt securities paid to a parent company are taxed the same way as cash payments, removing the incentive to leave a subsidiary saddled with debt.In addition to closing the RMT loophole, H.R. 4849 would:· Extend the Build America Bonds program to make it cheaper for state and local governments to finance the rebuilding of schools, sewers, hospitals and transit projects.· Exclude small businesses from capital gains· Increase the tax deduction for start-up expenditures to encourage the formation of new small businesses.Source: Welch’s office. 3.24.2010.# # #
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Breaking the Criminal’s Bank
Estates, houses, apartments, vehicles and businesses were among the assets belonging to the late Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, aka “The Mexican,” one of the most powerful drug traffickers from the Medellín cartel. Today, his estate belongs to the Colombian government after being seized under extinction of dominion. Colombian law defines the extinction of dominion over assets as the loss of rights to an asset, which is handed over to the state through a legal process with complete disregard to the owner. It is applied when assets are acquired directly or indirectly from criminal activity. The law was created in 1996 and modified in 2002. “It is an absolutely necessary instrument; it provides the ability to seize assets from drug trafficking and the mafia,” said Luis Camilo Osorio Isaza, Colombia’s ambassador to Mexico, during the Interactive Seminar on Information Technology in Mexico in March 2009. According to Colombia’s Office of the Attorney General in April 2004, 118 of the 270 assets seized from Rodríguez and his immediate family fell under extinction of dominion. In addition to 114 properties and public transportation vehicles, stock in the Club Los Millonarios (Millionaires Club) soccer team, airplanes, livestock and company investments were also seized. In August 2009, Caracol Radio reported that 116 of Rodríguez’s assets — which changed ownership on several occasions — were seized under extinction of dominion. The assets are managed throughout the legal process, and once the legal proceedings are done and the assets forfeited, they are then sold. The money is channeled through the Fund for Rehabilitation, Social Investment and Fight Against Organized Crime, which finances social-interest housing for those displaced by violence. It is also invested in equipment and technical enhancement for the fight against drugs and the construction of maximum security prisons. Between 1991 and mid-2009, the National Narcotics Directorate, or DNE — an organization that managed seizures, among other things — received 72,000 assets, 10 percent of which fell under extinction of dominion. Some people believe this new legislation can be detrimental to citizens’ rights, specifically regarding property. “As with other measures taken under the pressures of the fight against drug trafficking, authorities could abuse this law to seize the assets of undesirable persons, even if they aren’t criminals,” Ramiro Bautista, a legal expert at the National Autonomous University in Mexico, told Buzos. The law could also become clouded if asset management is not handled with transparency. Peru also followed in the footsteps of the Colombian legislation. Its version is known as the loss of dominion law, which took effect in March 2008. Peru had 45,000 cases of dominion loss, according to the attorney general’s anti-drug office. Before this law existed, seized assets were passed along to charities, but various government sectors demanded the auctioning of the properties instead. The law stipulates a period of 90 days in which to auction the seized assets once they are declared dominion of the state. This income is assigned as follows: 45 percent goes to construction of prisons, 25 percent to the implementation of the new Code of Criminal Procedure, 15 percent to administration and the remaining 15 percent as a fund in case the assets must be returned. Some sectors, however, have already requested changes to the legislation. Rómulo Pizarro, director of the National Commission for Development and Life Without Drugs, asked that crimes such as corruption and environmental offenses be included. In addition, he asked that a portion of that income be designated toward the fight against drugs. Seeking Regulations A large portion of these assets comes from drug traffickers, which, according to Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, is a reason this law has impeded territorial takeovers. Criminals are not the only people affected by this law. Some people have been impacted by it after acquiring property that had been obtained illegally in the past. For example Farmacoop, formerly Kressford Laboratories, a manufacturer of pharmaceuticals, was sold to its employees in 1998. But that business used to operate as a front for the drug trafficking brothers Miguel and Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela and therefore, in 2004, it was seized under the extinction of dominion law and placed under the supervision of the DNE. Extinction of dominion has not been a flawless process. The DNE was accused of corruption in its management of certain seizures, and the case is under investigation. As a result of the accusation, the DNE was forced to undergo a restructuring process. The seized assets are now managed by a new company called Special Assets Society, under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit. Its board of directors will consist of business people with vast experience in the private sector. The seized inventory includes all kinds of hard-to-sell mafia extravagances — luxury cars, commercial planes, recreational property, zoos, designer shoes, Santería dolls — which has made asset management more complex. According to Semana magazine, one of the assets that’s been under the state’s possession for the longest time is a house belonging to “The Mexican” valued at more than $6.5 million. The house, located in an exclusive spot north of Bogotá, was looted by criminals searching for hidden money. The city’s land-use planning office, which dictates urban regulations, now only allows for an embassy to operate in that location. The Law Crosses Borders By Dialogo January 01, 2010
The Colombian extinction of dominion law has become a legislative model for other governments. Flavio Mirella, a representative of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime for Peru and Ecuador, believes the extinction of dominion law is a legal instrument being enforced successfully in several countries to combat asset laundering and to finance anti-drug trafficking initiatives. “You have to hit the drug traffickers where it hurts most: their pockets,” Mirella said to Peru’s Inforegion news agency. Mexico City adopted its own version of the Colombian extinction of dominion law on March 9, 2009. The legal proceedings are what set them apart. In Mexico, it is a civil action brought before a specialized judge, while in Colombia, it is brought before the country’s attorney general and a criminal judge. “Due to the [previous] lack of an extinction of dominion law, it has been possible for drug traffickers or kidnappers to recover a good portion of the assets obtained by the police and the public, federal and state ministries,” Andrés Lozano, secretary of the public safety commission of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies, told Buzos magazine. One month after Mexico City’s law took effect, the first extinction of dominion lawsuit surfaced: Mexico City’s Hotel Madrid was seized by authorities based on allegations it had been used for human trafficking, according to Mexico’s Radio Trece news. On Aug. 28, the extinction of dominion law went into effect for the entire country. Other Latin American countries are seeking legislation allowing them access to illicit assets. Ecuadoran legislators are analyzing an extinction of dominion bill. “We are all aware that Ecuador needs a law to fight corruption with regard to assets and ill-gotten fortunes and that we ought to commit more citizens to this fight,” said Fernando Cordero, president of the Legislative and Fiscal Commission, to the national newspaper El Comercio. Ratifying this law is important, according to Domingo Paredes, executive secretary of the National Council on the Control of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, an entity that looks after the assets seized from drug trafficking. Otherwise, the country could remain a “paradise for illicit investments” for asset laundering, Paredes said to daily national newspaper El Telégrafo. In Honduras, the courts must wait to sentence a defendant before the state can make use of the assets. It is a limiting factor in attacking these criminal organizations head on. For this reason, the public prosecutor’s Office on Organized Crime in Honduras presented a privation or loss of asset dominion bill, which is under review in the National Congress, according to El Heraldo newspaper. If the law is approved, the criminal trial and a ruling to determine the loss of the assets will be carried out simultaneously. Guatemala’s extinction of dominion bill would be one of the fiscal reform strategies aiming to combat the tax decline in the country. President Álvaro Colom is one of the supporters, due to the economic advantages the regulation would present for the country. Only the Judicial Branch presently has access to confiscated narcotrafficking assets. Mariano Rayo, one of the representatives supporting the bill, told Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre that the law is vital. “For a successful strategy to combat drugs, it is necessary to intercept the trafficking and growing of drugs and … to remove the incentive, the money and the assets from organized crime.”
Is your credit union organizational structure holding you back?
3SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr As Credit Unions grow, staffing tends to expand along with the assets, and this can sometimes lead to a counter-intuitive segregation of duties. We’ve seen CUs where digital responsibilities were grouped with mobile banking staff, outside of marketing or communication departments. We’ve also seen CUs with too many staff in the mix, leading to a lack of a clear chain-of-command and thus failing to adequately follow-up on what is or is NOT being accomplished.Unfortunately, there’s no template for how a Credit Union SHOULD be organized, but with greater number and specialization of staff comes the potential for inefficiency and decentralization of responsibilities. Both of these can lead to larger marketing and sales campaigns that are disjointed and lack clear implementation.Further, CUs often grow based on the skill sets of existing employees. They don’t always hire from outside the Credit Union unless someone leaves the organization. This can leave a Credit Union with a lack of technical expertise in areas of innovation or change. continue reading »
Branding lessons from The Amazing Race
7SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr My oldest daughter and I recently auditioned for The Amazing Race at one of their casting calls. For those of you not into reality TV, The Amazing Race is a show where teams of two compete by racing around the world performing various tasks and challenges. While the audition was a total blast (and hopefully one day we’ll get the opportunity to compete), the show itself reminded me of several branding lessons.When it comes to building a successful brand at your credit union or bank, remember these Amazing Race principles:Think fast—In our tryout we had 90 seconds to tell the producers our story and why we would be perfect for their show. That’s not a ton of time at all. And when it comes to your financial institution’s story, you also don’t have much time to tell it. What is your unique selling/value proposition to consumers? Why should they choose your financial institution over all the others that are out there? You have to be able to answer those questions quickly (try about 30 seconds or less) and uniquely. When the cameras turned on, Elizabeth and I had to give a compelling short story and when consumers turn to you, your financial institution has to give quick answers for how you can help consumers achieve their financial goals.Involve a team—The Amazing Race is not like Survivor, where you compete as an individual. Rather teams of two run around the world. When it comes to running your brand, you can’t do it in a silo or a vacuum. It will take a total team approach. We remind our branding clients regularly, that great brands are built by people: by visionary leaders, by engaged employees and by loyal consumers. Your brand will not succeed without everyone working together to make it a success. Elizabeth and I made the audition a team effort rather than the “Mark Show” and you have to make your brand about others and not just marketing. continue reading »
CUNA calls for higher remittances exemption threshold
10SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr continue reading » The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s remittance transfer exception is too low and unintentionally harming consumers by forcing providers out of the market, CUNA wrote to the bureau Friday. The letter was sent in response to the CFPB’s review of its remittance assessment.“We believe the rule has also clearly resulted in unintended harm to consumers,” the letter reads. “The harm is generally in the form of decreased availability of remittance services and/or increased prices where such services are available. The price increase is due in part to an increase in compliance costs under the current rule as well as a decrease in competition among remittance transfer providers.“Competition has decreased because of providers intentionally limiting remittance transfers to remain below the safe harbor threshold as well as former providers exiting the remittance market entirely because of its failure to remain economically viable,” the letter adds.CUNA called for CFPB to raise the safe harbor threshold to entities providing at least 1,000 remittances annually, up from the current 100.
Be deliberate, not desperate, with your marketing
ShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr “We’re in a recession—we’ve got to cut marketing!”“Since our income is down we need to cut our expenses. So let’s start with marketing.”“We’re going to pause our marketing efforts until this pandemic and economic crisis passes.”Do any of those (or similar) phrases sound familiar?More than likely they are being uttered throughout businesses everywhere, including credit unions and community banks. One problem with all those statements is that they reek of desperation. “If we just cut, cut and cut, then we’ll survive.” No. If you just cut, cut and cut you’ll keep bleeding, bleeding and bleeding. continue reading »
Norges Bank governor admits did not foresee storm over Tangen
“We note that there have been violations of guidelines, rules and laws”Julie Brodtkorb, the leader of Norges Bank’s supervisory councilIn his introductory statement, Olsen said he understood the supervisory council’s desire to remove risk, but that any company board had to make trade-offs between different types of risk.“With the agreement that has now been established, the executive board believes that we have stopped possible conflicts of interest,” he said.Other points of contention raised at the hearing included the use of tax havens by parts of Tangen’s finance empire surrounding his main firm AKO Capital.While Brodtkorb repeatedly warned of the danger of undermining confidence in both Norges Bank and the GPFG, Olsen pointed several times to Tangen’s qualities and experience which he said had set him far above any other candidate for the CEO job.“He has unique experience gained from international asset management and can point to impressive results. At the same time, he is an innovative and committed leader with a deep understanding of the strategic challenges facing the oil fund,” Olsen said.The finance committee is now due to compile a report on the matter by 21 August, just days before Tangen is to take up his new job as NBIM CEO on 1 September, replacing long-term incumbent Yngve Slyngstad.While the parliamentarians do not have power to prevent Tangen’s appointment, any politically broad-based criticism of Norges Bank’s leadership could nevertheless put it under strain. Parliamentary overseers say laws were broken in the SWF chief hiring.Looking for IPE’s latest magazine? Read the digital edition here. The governor of Norway’s central bank was grilled by parliamentarians this afternoon about his handling of the highly-controversial hiring of hedge fund billionaire Nicolai Tangen as the new leader of the country’s NOK10.3trn (€970bn) sovereign wealth fund.Answering questions in a finance committee hearing, Øystein Olsen said: “We were aware that the appointment would attract attention. But, well, we did not foresee this whole storm that has happened.”Olsen’s testimony to the cross-party panel followed that of Julie Brodtkorb, the leader of Norges Bank’s supervisory council.She told the politicians that despite complex efforts made by the bank and Tangen to separate him from his vast financial interests during his coming tenure as CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the risk of conflicts of interest was still there. Brodtkorb referred to ethical guidelines for employees of Norges Bank which stated that staff could not have personal interests which could cause conflicts of interest or which could be perceived as giving rise to such conflicts.She said Norges Bank had made a written assurance that the risk of conflicts of interest between Tangen’s personal wealth and his role as leader of the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) had been, for all practical purposes, eliminated.“The supervisory council does not share this opinion,” she told the committee, which had co-incidentally been convened on Tangen’s 54th birthday.Asked by the committee’s leader, Labour Party member of parliament Hadia Tajik, about the handling of the appointment by Norges Bank’s executive board – which Olsen leads – and how it could affect the GPFG’s reputation, Brodtkorb said:“We do not want to give opinions or make statements about what the consequences are, but we note that there have been violations of guidelines, rules and laws.”
Waterfront suburb gains popularity as buyers flock to buy property
Botanica by the Bay, a townhouse development at Manly West, is poised to bring a new level of parkside living to Brisbane’s popular waterfront suburbs. A seaside lifestyle is attracting buyers to Botanica by the Bay, a new townhouse development at Manly West.The new level of pet-friendly parkside living in one of Brisbane’s popular waterfront suburbs borders a nature reserve and nearby Heers Park, just a short drive from Manly Harbour.The $11 million boutique project, which is being developed by SMSF Property Australia, will bring a total of 18 upscale townhouses to the market.Construction is about to start on the second stage, which will deliver a further seven townhouses in three and four-bedroom layouts. More from newsLand grab sees 12 Sandstone Lakes homesites sell in a week21 Jun 2020Tropical haven walking distance from the surf9 Oct 2019These will offer a mix of two and three bathrooms, with the larger townhouses having double-car garages.The first stage, which featured four townhouses, each with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, is already complete.To complement the parkside location, part of the Botanica By the Baysite is dedicated to open space as part of the Priority Infrastructure Plan to provide a local corridor park link.Savesta Property sales manager Candice Taylor said: “Botanica has been designed with the owner-occupier in mind to meet the demand for quality residences in this sought-after suburb.“The spacious, well-appointed townhouses are perfect for a range of buyers, including young families, professional couples and downsizers. They feature open-plan design with spacious master bedrooms and, especially important for some buyers, Botanica is very pet friendly.’’With low body corporate fees and a strong demand for rentals on Brisbane’s bayside, Botanica is also expected to appeal to investors. Townhouses are priced from $475,000, with a three bedroom starting from $535,000. Four bedroom residences start from $655,000.
Arrest warrant issued for UWP Leader
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Tweet LocalNews Arrest warrant issued for UWP Leader by: – March 29, 2011 Leader of the Opposition United Workers Party Ron Green did not show up in court Monday, after being charged for failing to file his declarations to the Integrity Commission, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.Green and 24 others including chief cultural officer Raymond Lawrence, were to appear in court after they were charged last year; Lawrence did appear in court, but had his matter withdrawn by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).Chairman of the board of Engineering Anthony Leblanc was also among the 25 summoned to appear before the court Monday morning. He has been ordered to reappear in court on July 25.The 25 in public office were charged in 2010, for not filing their declarations for the year 2009.Dominica Vibes News
6 women rescued from Culasi ‘prostitution den’
Alamo said that the bar also violated theenhance community quarantine police of the municipality of Culas under theExecutive Order 19, series of 2020, which was issued by Mayor Jeffrey Lomugdangas part of the measures against the coronavirus disease 2019. He added: “They continued to operatediscreetly and received customers coming from different places, who theyoffered sexual services despite being ordered closed.” According to Culasi police station CaptainBryan Alamo, an entrapment operation against the owner of a karaoke bar was setafter police received a report it was being used as a location forprostitution. The bar owner – serving as the pimp –was caught after he accepted a P2,000 marked money from an undercover cop inexchange for the services of one of the women around 8 p.m. on March 29, apolice report showed. The owner of the bar was detained in thelockup cell of the Culasi municipal police station, facing charges./PN The rescued women were turned over tothe Culasi Municipal Social Worker and Development office. SAN JOSE, Antique – Police rescued sixwomen in an alleged prostitution den in Barangay Centro Poblacion, Culasi,Antique.