{"id":27889,"date":"2015-02-19T22:29:01","date_gmt":"2015-02-20T03:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prefblog.com\/?p=27889"},"modified":"2015-02-19T22:29:01","modified_gmt":"2015-02-20T03:29:01","slug":"february-19-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/?p=27889","title":{"rendered":"February 19, 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s funny … the standard stock market manipulation in North America is Pump and Dump. In Asia, apparently, it’s Dump and Pump<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Scrutiny of anonymous research has intensified this month after the reports on Noble, a commodities trader, and Sound Global, a Chinese water-treatment firm, alleged accounting irregularities that both companies denied. The Monetary Authority of Singapore, or MAS, said it\u2019s reviewing the report on Noble, produced by a group calling itself Iceberg Research, and will take action if securities laws were breached.<\/p>\n

Noble, which said on Monday it \u201ccompletely rejects the allegations,\u201d lost as much as 15 percent over two days in Singapore trading after the Iceberg report. The stock rose 1.9 percent on Wednesday after the company said directors and management are \u201ccomfortable\u201d that its balance sheet \u201cfairly presents its book value.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iceberg doesn\u2019t have any short position, or wager on a decline, in Noble securities and doesn\u2019t work in tandem with funds, it said in the report. Iceberg\u2019s website contains no analyst names, phone numbers or links to research notes, apart from the 17-page report on Noble.<\/p>\n

The \u201cContact Us\u201d page has a form for readers to submit comments and a link to follow a Twitter feed. When contacted on the website by Bloomberg News, Iceberg said it \u201ccannot give phone calls\u201d for an \u201canonymity reason.\u201d
…<\/b>
\u201cNo research should be anonymous,\u201d said Jimmy Ho, president of the Society of Remisiers, Singapore\u2019s biggest association of equity traders. \u201cMAS should make sure analysts do not use their research for their own agenda.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thanks, Jimmy Ho, for calling for increased regulation! Will your operatives be combing through the commentary on Stockhouse<\/a> and making sure nobody’s posting under a pseudonym?<\/p>\n

More traders are jumping on the deflation bandwagon<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Federal fund futures give a 20.7 percent probability the central bank will lift borrowing costs at the June gathering, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That is down from 25 percent yesterday.<\/p>\n

Policy makers judged that risks facing the U.S. economy argued for keeping interest rates near record lows for longer, the minutes from the Jan. 27-28 meeting showed. Expectations for a possible June increase had been growing since a government report showed payroll gains in January capped the biggest three-month increase in 17 years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

SNC-Lavalin has been charged with doing business in Libya<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The RCMP has laid corruption and fraud charges against engineering firm SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. and two subsidiaries over alleged criminal acts that occurred doing business in Libya.<\/p>\n

There is one count of corruption related to at least $47.7-million in alleged bribes to Libyan public or other officials. A second count is for fraud of about $130-million related to construction projects in Libya, including the Great Man Made River Project.
…<\/b>
The RCMP, which worked with Swiss authorities, alleged in an affidavit last year that Mr. Ben Aissa funnelled an estimated $160-million in corrupt payments from SNC to Saadi Gadhafi, the son of the late Libyan dictator, and other officials in exchange for billions in engineering contracts.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Canada has an obligation to ensure that Libyan taxpayers are not overcharged for their engineering contracts, because they’re paying us a lot of money to look after their interests. Regrettably I was not able to find a media story specifying exactly how much we’re getting paid for our efforts, but I’m sure it’s billions. Billions!<\/p>\n

The company has attempted to justify its conduct on the basis of having a Canadian headquarters<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The head of Canadian engineering giant SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. says any move by authorities to charge the company in connection with an extensive bribery scandal would immediately threaten its future and could force it to close down.<\/p>\n

SNC chief executive officer Robert Card, speaking to The Globe and Mail\u2019s editorial board, said he would be \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d if the company was charged because it would hurt the business severely. And \u201cif the company can\u2019t do business, you really only have two choices. You are going to do some dismemberment and cease to exist entirely, or you are going to be owned by somebody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

A shift to a foreign owner would jeopardize the 5,000 Canadian SNC jobs that are associated with its headquarters, he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Our wise tough-on-crime masters consider corruption to be in the same category as wearing a niqab while pledging allegiance<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Anti-corruption experts say Ottawa has created a set of rules that is among the most far-reaching and inflexible anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S., EU and World Bank all have a debarment process,\u201d pointed out Peter Dent, president of the Canadian chapter of Transparency International, an organization committed to fighting corruption. \u201cThere is predictability, transparency and due process associated with all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Canadian rules are \u201cout of step\u201d with regimes in most other countries, Transparency International said in a letter sent this week to Public Work Minister Diane Finley, who is considering possible changes to its regime.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

… which brings us to S&P has downgraded the outlook for the company to negative<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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