HSBC to pay $43 mn in probe over Swiss subsidiary’s tax evasion

HSBC said it will pay 40 million Swiss francs ($43 million) in compensation to Geneva authorities to avoid charges of money laundering for its Swiss subsidiary. The fine is the biggest ever in Geneva’s history.

“The investigation found that neither the bank nor its employees are suspected of any current criminal offences,” HSBC said in a statement on Thursday, according to the Guardian. The bank added that the probe was closed.

The Genevan authorities said the payment, which is being described as “compensation”rather than a fine, was in line with the profits obtained by HSBC from processing illicit funds.

The bank also said it has improved practices to keep clients from using the bank “to evade taxes or launder money,” and drastically reduced the number of its accounts.

When announcing the fine, the judge warned HSBC it was its final warning.

“This is an excuse which will only apply once,” Olivier Jornot, Geneva’s chief prosecutor said, according to the Guardian. He also blamed the weakness of Swiss law with regards to criminal funds entering the financial system.

Geneva opened a money laundering investigation into HSBC’s alleged illegal tax activity earlier in February. Swiss police then raided the bank’s Geneva office. Europe’s largest bank came under fire after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published a report naming 100,000 clients that were using the bank to dodge taxes.

The revelations came from a list of HSBC’s clients stolen by a former HSBC computer technician, Herve Falciani, back in 2008. Falciani shared the confidential data with French authorities. More

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Why did the Cayman Islands not prosecute HSBC for allegedly money laundering in the Cayman Islands? Editor

 

 

Informal GLISPA Meeting in Bonn to Discuss COP21

GLISPA will be holding an informal face to face meeting for interested countries and organizations currently in Bonn at the UNFCCC inter-sessional meeting on either 10 or 11 June 2015. This meeting will be hosted by Ambassador Jumeau as Chair of the GLISPA Steering Committee. The meeting will focus on opportunities to showcase island leadership in adaptation and resilience as part of the upcoming UNFCCC COP21 in Paris, France in December 2015 and specifically the interest in GLISPA coordinating events to achieve this.

Seychelles Ambassador Ronny Jumeau

Anyone interested in showcasing island leadership in adaptation and resilience is welcomed to attend this meeting. Please email Susi Menazza at smenazza@tnc.org if you are interested in participating. She will confirm the date/time/venue with those that RSVP in the near future.

Please note, GLISPA will also host a global teleconference later in June along a similar lines. More information will be available shortly. Thank you to those of you that have reached out to indicate your interest in supporting such an event.

For the best newsfeed on island issues, check http://sids-l.iisd.org/>, http://www.sidsnet.org>, http://www.globalislands.net/>

 

 

Innocent student, 21, and applicant to join the Border Patrol is Tasered

A 21-year-old college student began screaming in pain as she was tasered during what she claims was an illegal search by Border Patrol officers.

Jessica Cooke, a criminal justice student at SUNY Canton near New York's border with Canada, was pulled over by agents and detained while they brought a canine unit to search her car.

She captured the incident on her cell phone and said a male officer 'pushed me back into the side of my car and I pushed back, it was a shoving match before he threw me to the ground and had the female agent tase me in the lower back'.


Cooke, who has her graduation on Saturday and is in the 'pre-employment phase' for joining the Border Patrol, had said she wanted to leave with her car after not giving permission for a search.

The unidentified officers in the video say they are detaining her because she appeared nervous when she and the puppy in her car were stopped around 3.30pm Friday.

Nothing illegal was found in the vehicle when the drug-sniffing dogs came after what Cooke estimates as 45 minutes to an hour, she told WWNYTV.

The US Supreme Court ruled last month that police officers cannot extend traffic stops while they wait for drug-sniffing dogs to arrive.

Cooke, who was driving to her hometown of Ogdensburg, became angry during the wait, though the male officer said that he would spike her tires if she tried to take the car.

He said that the young woman could leave, but that the vehicle was 'not going anywhere'.

'All right, I’m going to tell you one more time and then I am going to move you over there, you got it?' the agent says while telling Cooke to move her closer to her car.

'Sir, sir sir,' the young woman, who had said she did not want to be touched, is heard saying as the camera begins moving erratically. More

 

Civil Aviation Unveils Design For New Cayman Air Terminal

The Cayman Islands Airports Authority (CIAA) has unveiled the interior conceptual drawings for the multi-million dollar expansion project at Owen Roberts International Airport (ORIA).

Commenting on the design created by Florida based firm RS&H Group, CIAA’s CEO Albert Anderson said, “The interior design is very impressive and I am confident that once completed the new expanded airport will be a first-class terminal facility

The CI$55 million expansion project should take around three years to complete and will nearly triple the current space at the airport. Construction on the first phase of the project is expected to begin this summer.

Here is the Cayman Islands Government's chance to save money and show their support for alternative energy. Covering the roof and parking lots with solar panels, and using LED lighting would set an example for Caymanians and Caymanian businesses to follow. Editor

 

The 2014 Annual Report- Climate-smart agriculture: Acting locally, informing globally

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In 2014, as the focus on climate-smart agriculture sharpened, CCAFS helped advance the concept and practice in farmers’ fields and in global initiatives, through close collaboration with farmers, civil society, governments and researchers.

The report consists of the following topics:

  • Impact through policies and partnerships
  • Enhancing capacity to deliver impact
  • Breakthrough science and innovation
  • Communications for development
  • Addressing gender and social inequality
  • Regional Highlights
  • CCAFS People
  • Funding and strategic partners

Download the Report here.

Credit: Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security

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BVI Supports Regional Efforts On Climate Change

caribbeanclimate's avatarcaribbeanclimate

BVI

Premier and Minister of Finance, Dr. the Honourable D. Orlando Smith, OBE, joined Caribbean leaders in Martinique last week for a regional consultation with the President of France, Francois Hollande.

The leaders met on May 9 to agree on a regional position on climate change ahead of the 21st Session of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change scheduled to take place in Paris later this year.

Premier Smith was accompanied to the meeting by Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour, Mr. Joseph Smith Abbott, and Acting Deputy Director of the International Affairs Secretariat, Ms. Najan Christopher,

The Premier attended the plenary sessions aimed at the coordination of a Caribbean negotiating position on climate change.  He also held informal talks with fellow Caribbean leaders and President Hollande.

Premier Smith stated that the British Virgin Islands’ participation in the summit…

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Species like parrotfish help protect the reef

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The decline of the parrotfish is one of the reasons behind the reef’s decline. PHOTO BY DON RHODES The decline of the parrotfish is one of the reasons behind the reef’s decline.
PHOTO BY DON RHODES

While drifting along on a shallow ledge on Conch Reef, I spot a group of colorful parrot fish chomping away at algae and other growth on the coral.

A bit farther I see a massive plume of white debris blast from the tail end of a large parrot fish.

“What goes in must come out,” I think.

Turns out parrot fish, while eating algae and seaweed, are doing their part to keep the reef healthy.

Without them and other sea-dwelling plant eaters, algae and seaweed would overgrow the reefs, suppress coral growth and threaten the incredible array of life that depends on reefs for shelter and food.

Healthy coral reefs are important for the Florida Keys.

They provide shoreline protection and support our tourism, sport fishing and diving businesses.

A detailed report, 

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Global climate on verge of multi-decadal change

A new study, by scientists from the University of Southampton and National Oceanography Centre (NOC), implies that the global climate is on the verge of broad-scale change that could last for a number of decades.

The change to the new set of climatic conditions is associated with a cooling of the Atlantic, and is likely to bring drier summers in Britain and Ireland, accelerated rise along the northeast coast of the United States, and drought in the developing countries of the Sahel region. Since this new climatic phase could be half a degree cooler, it may well offer a brief reprise from the rise of global temperatures, as well as resulting in fewer hurricanes hitting the United States.

The study, published today in Nature, proves that ocean circulation is the link between weather and decadal scale climatic change. It is based on observational evidence of the link between ocean circulation and the decadal variability of temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean.

Lead author Dr Gerard McCarthy, from the NOC, said: “Sea-surface temperatures in the Atlantic vary between warm and cold over time-scales of many decades. These variations have been shown to influence temperature, rainfall, drought and even the frequency of hurricanes in many regions of the world. This decadal variability, called the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO), is a notable feature of the Atlantic Ocean and the climate of the regions it influences.”

These climatic phases, referred to as positive or negative AMO's, are the result of the movement of heat northwards by a system of . This movement of heat changes the temperature of the sea surface, which has a profound impact on climate on timescales of 20-30 years. The strength of these currents is determined by the same atmospheric conditions that control the position of the jet stream. Negative AMO's occur when the currents are weaker and so less heat is carried northwards towards Europe from the tropics.

The strength of ocean currents has been measured by a network of sensors, called the RAPID array, which have been collecting data on the flow rate of the Atlantic meridonal overturning circulation (AMOC) for a decade.

Dr David Smeed, from the NOC and lead scientist of the RAPID project, adds: “The observations of AMOC from the RAPID array, over the past ten years, show that it is declining. As a result, we expect the AMO is moving to a negative phase, which will result in cooler surface waters. This is consistent with observations of temperature in the North Atlantic.”

Since the RAPID array has only been collecting data for last ten years, a longer data set was needed to prove the link between ocean circulation and slow climate variations. Therefore this study instead used 100 years of sea level data, maintained by the National Oceanography Centre's permanent service for mean sea level. Models of ocean currents based on this data were used to predict how much heat would be transported around the ocean, and the impact this would have on the sea surface temperature in key locations.

Co-author Dr Ivan Haigh, lecturer in coastal oceanography at the University of Southampton, said: “By reconstructing ocean circulation over the last 100 years from tide gauges that measure sea level at the coast, we have been able to show, for the first time, observational evidence of the link between and the AMO.” More