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Following is a question by the Hon Charles Mok and a reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr James Lau, in the Legislative Council today (December 6):
Some members of the information technology sector have relayed to me that the existing finance-related legislation, which was drawn up with traditional financial activities as the blueprint, fails to dovetail with the current development of financial technology (Fintech). As a result, when start-up companies engage in Fintech businesses such as providing applications of blockchain encryption technologies or transaction platforms for cryptocurrencies, carrying out initial coin offering (ICO) and operating a virtual bank, they may easily and inadvertently fall into the grey areas and thereby breaching the law. In addition, some Fintech start-up companies have their bank accounts frozen or their applications for opening new accounts rejected by banks without explicit reasons, resulting in their daily operations being affected. They have also pointed out that Hong Kong is lagging behind places like Singapore and Japan in respect of regulating and facilitating Fintech development. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities will, by making reference to the practices in Singapore, issue clear guidelines on the regulation of ICO to define unequivocally the respective legal liabilities of and requirements for the issuance platform, financial adviser and transaction platform of ICO, and to stipulate the details on how ICO is subject to the regulation of the securities laws of Hong Kong, in order to protect the rights and interests of those people engaged in ICO activities;
(2) whether the authorities will, by making reference to the practices in Japan, introduce a licensing system for cryptocurrency transaction platforms, and stipulate that the annual accounts of such transaction platforms must be audited by auditors, that such platforms must abide by anti-money laundering laws, and that the platforms must strengthen their “know-your-client” (KYC) process which is for identifying and verifying clients’ identities and is conducive to the prevention of money laundering, etc. so as to enhance the transparency of such transaction platforms and protect their clients; and
(3) as the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) indicated in September this year that it would consult members of the banking sector on matters pertaining to the introduction of virtual banks, whether HKMA will consult local start-up companies and practitioners that engage in Fintech on the issue, and whether HKMA will, when introducing virtual banks, facilitate the participation of local and overseas innovation and technology enterprises, apart from allowing the subsidiaries of traditional banks and regulated financial institutions to engage in the provision of virtual banking services; if HKMA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
In promoting financial technologies (Fintech), the Government strives to facilitate financial innovation on the one hand and to protect the investors on the other. The question touches upon a number of Fintech areas, namely initial coin offering (ICO), cryptocurrency and virtual banking. The Government has been keeping a close watch on the development of these areas in Hong Kong.
The question cited Singapore’s regulatory approach towards ICO. We note that the recent statement and guidelines issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore are similar in nature to the statement issued by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) on September 5 this year. They both remind market participants that depending on the facts and circumstances of an ICO, existing financial regulations could be applicable.
The SFC’s statement points out that if digital tokens offered in an ICO are “shares”, “debentures” or interests in a “collective investment scheme (CIS)”, they would fall under the definition of “securities”. In that case, dealing in or advising on the digital tokens, or managing or marketing a fund investing in such digital tokens, may constitute a “regulated activity”. Singapore’s regulation on ICO is similar to that of Hong Kong. If digital tokens are classified as capital market products, it would be subject to Singapore’s Securities and Futures Act.
The question also cited Japan’s regulatory approach towards cryptocurrency exchanges, and not ICO. We note that the Japanese authorities acknowledge cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, and businesses which provide cryptocurrency exchange services are required to be registered. It is believed that Japan’s regulatory approach should have taken into account the development of cryptocurrencies in Japan and may not be applicable to other markets. Markets like Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and Singapore do not have similar regulations. The Mainland of China and Russia even banned the operation of cryptocurrency exchanges within their jurisdictions.
In fact, depending on the development of individual markets, the regulatory approaches towards ICO and cryptocurrencies vary across jurisdictions. Some regulators impose a ban on ICO, while other regulators leverage on existing regimes to regulate such activities. We understand that the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) discussed in depth the issue of ICO recently. IOSCO is highly concerned about the issue, encourages members to closely communicate with each other, and will closely monitor the future development.
For Hong Kong, we have repeatedly pointed out that digital tokens are not currencies but a type of virtual commodities. They do not have any backing whether in physical form or from the issuers. Such virtual commodities are highly volatile in price and do not qualify as a medium of payment or electronic currencies. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has repeatedly reminded the public that virtual commodities are not regulated by the HKMA. Given their highly speculative nature, the HKMA has also repeatedly reminded the public to exercise extra caution. The SFC and the Investor Education Centre have also urged investors to be mindful of potential scams as well as the investment risks associated with ICO. As ICO operates online and may not have a physical presence in Hong Kong, investors may be exposed to heightened risks of fraud. We will further strengthen public education efforts to raise public awareness on the associated risks.
In addition, we note that the anonymous nature of virtual commodities poses potential money laundering or terrorist financing risks in their transactions. Financial regulators have required financial institutions to assess carefully the money laundering and terrorist financing risks associated with virtual commodities and comply continuously with the statutory customer due diligence and record keeping requirements under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Financial Institutions) Ordinance when establishing or maintaining business relationships with customers who are operators of any schemes or businesses relating to virtual commodities.
We will continue to closely monitor the development of ICO and cryptocurrencies in Hong Kong, and maintain contacts with regulators in other jurisdictions through active participation in meetings of relevant international organisations, such as IOSCO.
For question (3) on the promotion of virtual banks, based on overseas experience, the HKMA considers that virtual banks without physical branches are commercially and technically viable. In September 2017, the HKMA announced a number of initiatives including the facilitation of the introduction of virtual banks so as to help prepare Hong Kong to move into a new era of smart banking. These measures have taken into account that virtual banks will facilitate the development of Fintech and enhance customer experience and financial inclusion. The relevant work has commenced and the HKMA has consulted both local technology firms and overseas institutions during the process.
According to the authorisation regime under the Banking Ordinance, a financial or technology firm may apply to become a bank to carry out virtual banking business so long as it fulfils the relevant authorisation criteria and prudential supervisory requirements.


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In the digital world, “delete” never means what it says. A Czech Republic-based security firm, Avast, said they were used security software to extract thousands of images, including “naked selfies,” from used Android phones that were supposedly wiped clean before resale.
The firm bought 20 phones on eBay and then used their security tools to access more than 40,000 photos, 750 of which were photos of women “in various stages of undress” and another 250 photos that showed male anatomy.
It wasn’t just images that Avast technicians were able to find. They also found emails, text messages and Google searches.
Typically, smartphones come with a “factory reset” option that allows devices to be wiped clean and restored to their original state.
But it looks like older smartphones only erase the indexing of the data and not the data itself.
“Deleting files from your Android phone before selling it or giving it away is not enough. You need to overwrite your files, making them irretrievable,” Avast wrote in a blog.
Phones running software prior to Android 4.0 are particularly vulnerable, but newer devices are not completely secure because the file encryption is optional.
Apple iPhones starting with the 3GS and iPads automatically encrypt data and so factory resets eliminate all data.
Independent computer security analyst Graham Cluley told the BBC that users should make sure their devices are always “protected with a PIN or passphrase, and that the data on it is encrypted.”
But lan Calder, founder of cybersecurity and risk management firm IT Governance, said users should take it one step forward.
“If you don’t want your data recovered, destroy the phone — and that has been standard security advice, in relation to telephones and computer drives, for a number of years. Any other ‘solution’ simply postpones the point at which someone is able to access your confidential data.”
Credit: Robert Recker/Corbis

domain: news


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Tesla’s stock rose to an all-time high. The rise in value was powered by a record delivery of vehicles for the recently ended quarter. Tesla delivered 25,418 vehicles, a 69 percent jump. Tesla stock is also now at $294.15 a share.
Tesla now has a market capitalization of $47.92 billion, putting it ahead of Ford but shy of General Motors.


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Regardless of whether or not the Covid-19 pandemic strengthens again later in the year, the OECD said that the economic fallout from the pandemic will be long and harsh. The group presented two scenarios for 2020. One in which the coronavirus is brought under control, and one in which there is a second global outbreak before the end of the year. Both show an extreme global economic contraction and a huge number of unemployed people that will, by extension, probably lower demand for commodities.
Should a second outbreak lead to renewed lockdown measures, the global economy will contract by 7.6 percent this year. Even in the absence of a second wave, the global economy will shrink by 6 percent. In both cases, it will take more than two years to return to pre-pandemic levels.
Europe will bear the brunt of the economic pain. The OECD forecasts double-digit contractions in the economies of Spain, France and Italy however the pandemic develops. It said the eurozone's gross domestic product (GDP) will fall by 11.5 percent this year if a second wave breaks out, and by more than 9 percent otherwise. US GDP will fall by 8.5 percent with a second wave and by 7.3 percent without, while Japan's economy will contract by 7.3 percent and by 6 percent under those respective scenarios.
Tags: All Feedstocks,All Products,AlwaysFree,English,WorldPublished on June 11, 2020 12:53 PM (GMT+8)
Last Updated on June 11, 2020 12:53 PM (GMT+8)


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The Moto G7 Power may have released roughly a year ago, but it boasts an incredible 5000mAh battery, making it one of the most popular budget phones around. Right now you can pick it up for just £129.95 from Amazon, a £49 discount from its original £179 RRP. The last time prices were this low on Amazon was in December last year, which was followed by a spike in early January.
You can also pick up the G7 Power from John Lewis at the same cost, though you can claim up to £300 if you trade in your old phone, which could reduce the price even further.
The G7 Power offers 64GB storage and 4GM RAM on a 6.2in HD+ display. In terms of security, you get a fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone and facial unlocking too.
It may not be waterproof or have a glass back (the body is plastic, if you’re wondering) the G7 Power is still one of the best budget phones around – and is certainly in our top 10. Its crowning glory, the huge 5000mAh battery, allows the G7 Power to stay juiced for two days, possibly three, depending on your usage habits.
We were impressed with the G7 Power in our review where it received 4/5 stars and a Tech Advisor Recommended badge. You can compare prices from other retailers below:


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WHICH is better for the environment: turning off incandescent light bulbs more often or not changing your behaviour but switching to more energy efficient bulbs? The latter has a greater impact on your home’s carbon footprint, but research published this week says most of us prefer the former.
Shahzeen Attari at the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions at Columbia University, New York, and colleagues, asked volunteers what they considered to be the best thing they could do to cut their CO2 emissions. Over half of the 505 people questioned chose steps like turning off lights and gadgets, or driving less.
Most energy advisers would recommend switching incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs, or replacing household appliances or cars with more efficient models when renewing, says Attari. Just 12 per cent of respondents believed that these options would have the greatest impact on their carbon footprint, however (Proceedings


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Mercedes-Benz rolls-out 100,000 cars from Chakan
Luxury car group reiterates commitment to India
German pride Mercedes-Benz has reaffirmed its commitment to the Indian market as it rolled out 100,000th unit of the luxury car from Chakan assembly line near Pune.
“This achievement also reiterates Mercedes-Benz’s India commitment and we strongly believe in the India story and it’s potential,” underlined Roland Folger, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India.
“We will further deepen our strong connect with the Indian customers and keep continuing to fascinate them with our products and customer service.
“The roll out of the 100,000th Mercedes-Benz vehicle in India is a strong testimony of the impeccable customer trust and the unsurpassable brand equity Mercedes-Benz enjoys in this dynamic country,” he stressed while celebrating a historic milestone of rolling-out of the 100,000th Mercedes-Benz for the Indian market on 28 May 2018.
Mercedes-Benz brought its luxury car to India in 1994.
Mercedes-Benz India opened its Indian headquarters and assembly plant at Chakan 24 February, 15 years after it initially started assembling cars at a nearby facility leased from Tata Motors at Pimpri, also near Pune.
It has invested Euro50 million euros (Rs 300 crore) on the 100-acre plant which manufactures 5,000 cars and 1,200 trucks and buses a year.
Future expansion is possible at the facility. fii-news.com


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Shutdown hits Great Smoky Mountains at peak season
The government shutdown couldn’t have come at a worse time for Jeff Smith, owner of the Jonathan Creek Inn in Maggie Valley, N.C.
October is an especially crucial month for the inn, which is located just 15 minutes from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Throngs of tourists flock to the park during the month to take in its spectacular fall foliage and view the grazing elk.
“It’s my last chance to boost my sales … to get the business comfortably through winter until spring,” said Smith.
He meets his goal every year, thanks to the fact that the Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited national park in the United States.
But at 12.01 a.m Oct. 1., Smoky Mountains and all national parks in the United States were closed to the public as a result of the government shutdown.
Smith’s inn and other small businesses in Maggie Valley expect to be hit hard if the shutdown continues.
“This is a tourist-only destination,” said Smith. “If they don’t come, it will be a huge hit to all of us.”
His guests are typically older and travel from surrounding states like Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Instead of ramping up this year, his business has slowed.
“Right now I should be 95% booked, but I’m at 70%,” he said. “If I’m still not booking next week, it will affect my sales numbers.”
His concerns are warranted, said Steve Morse, director of the Hospitality and Tourism Program at Western Carolina University.
Morse estimates hotel occupancy rates are highest in October, as more than a million visitors come to the area during that month alone.
The two main highways that cut through the park will remain open throughout the shutdown.
But park facilities such as hiking trails, rivers, visitors center and camping grounds are closed to the public. If visitors stay away, it could result in lost sales to local restaurants, hotels, gift shops and rafting and hiking supplies stores, Morse said.
“Small businesses here rely on these sales as a nice year-end push before things slow down in the winter,” said Morse.
Dennis Clark, an employee at Mountaineer Restaurant & Fireside Cottages in Maggie Valley, said the restaurant is a popular destination for breakfast and lunch. But it’s too early to tell how the shutdown will affect his business.
“It’s only been hours since the shutdown,” said Clark. “I’m hoping the government can get its head together and take care of business soon.”


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The Bubble Run by Cool Events, which was scheduled to take place on the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh grounds today, Saturday, September 9, was canceled in January. Please visit their website to contact them at https://bubblerun.com.
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Raisbeck and Hartzell Intro New Composite Prop
Retrofit for the King Air 350 improves performance, lowers noise, and offers unlimited blade life
By James Wynbrandt
July 25, 2017 - Raisbeck Engineering, in partnership with Hartzell Propeller, introduced a composite five-bladed swept propeller for the King Air 350 at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017. The supplemental type certificate for the propeller is expected soon, with production following “very quickly,” said Tony Armstrong, CEO and CFO of Raisbeck, a Waco, Texas-based company.
“We’re already ramping up production and looking forward to first deliveries,” added J.J. Frigge, Hartzell’s executive vice president.
The large-diameter (105-inch) propellers maximize thrust, increase performance, and reduce noise, according to the two companies. Moreover, they have unlimited blade life, and a pair weighs 47 pounds less than the OEM propellers. From a safety perspective, the propellers also improve single-engine climb performance, Tony said. Though not yet precisely measured, the propellers produce about 5 to 7 percent improvements in range and climb, and up to 10 percent in some cases, according to J.J.
“We’re very, very pleased this product has joined the family [of propellers] Hartzell and Raisbeck has developed,” Tony said. “The quality of the product they produce is the one simple reason we work with them.”
The propeller’s price hasn’t been set, but it will be under $104,000 for a pair, according to Lynn Thomas, Raisbeck’s vice president of sales and marketing, and “two solid orders” are in hand. The new propellers are also compatible with upgraded engines for the King Air 350 from third-party providers, such as Blackhawk’s forthcoming XP67A, announced during AirVenture 2016.
Raisbeck and Hartzell have collaborated for more than 30 years, and over the past five they’ve developed metal swept-blade props for the Beechcraft King Air series. This is the first of their composite swept-blades, but plans are in the works to make them available for the entire King Air line. The companies are showcasing the new propellers at Hartzell’s booth (296-297) in the Main Aircraft Display area.


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The UB Group
Finally, after a near four-month delay United Spirits reported its full-year results today....
As expected, Diageo has stepped up its bid to take majority control of India’s United Spirits Ltd (USL). The UK-headquartered company has la...
Five years ago this week talk of Diageo taking a stake in United Spirits first emerged. It set in train a series of events that this year sa...
Heineken has reiterated its satisfaction with its JV partnerships around the world, but admitted that it would be prepared to buy out its pa...
This month, just-drinks returns to its two-part extended format for The Wehring Interview. Earlier this month, I enjoyed an hour in the company of Diageo's Asia Pacific president, Gilbert Ghostine. I say enjoyed; I wasn't at my best to start.
In part one of my interview with Heineken's CEO, Jean-François van Boxmeer, which ran earlier this week, we took a close look at the brewer's purchase of FEMSA Cerveza last year. We also started a world tour of beer markets, discussing Europe, Russia, Brazil and Mexico.
United Spirits has continued its sluggish performance with a first-quarter net loss and fall in sales.
Thirteen leading drinks companies – including Diageo and Anheuser-Busch InBev – have launched a new set of social media guidelines aiming to stop content reaching children.
Vijay Mallya has been re-elected as chairman of United Spirits at the AGM of the Diageo-controlled firm.
Diageo has confirmed that three of United Spirits' independent directors are to leave the company's board.
United Spirits has reported full-year net losses of INR44.9bn (US$742.7m), partly due to a significant writedown from the sale of its Whyte & Mackay business.
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TOKYO, JAPAN, February 19, 2013, via LTE Depot ---
NTT DOCOMO, INC., Japan’s leading mobile operator and provider of integrated services centered on mobility, announced today that subscribers to Xi™ (pronounced “crossy”), the company’s extra-high-speed LTE mobile service offering a maximum downlink of 100 Mbps, surpassed ten million on February 18.
Subscriptions to Xi have been growing rapidly since its launch as one of the world’s first commercial LTE services on December 24, 2010. Subscribers reached one million in December 2011 and then quickly topped five million in August 2012. DOCOMO supports its LTE customers with a wide variety of advanced devices, including 32 smartphones, six tablets and seven data terminals so far.
DOCOMO continues to expand LTE coverage and raise data transmission speeds, including by making the 112.5 Mbps downlink available in 22 cities by March and more than 50 cities by June. LTE base stations offering a 75 Mbps downlink, double the current speed in many locations, will amount to 4,000 by March and then jump to 10,000 by June. DOCOMO also plans to introduce a 150 Mbps downlink service before March 2014.
Going forward, DOCOMO is determined to further enhance customer satisfaction with its extensive Xi device lineup and increasingly extra-high-speed service.


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Date: 22/12/2011 Skyscanner predicts significant growth in Cape Verde tourism.
In its new 2012 Travel Trends Report, Skyscanner has revealed that Cape Verde, Estonia, Russia, and Iraq are all emerging destinations likely to see a significant rise in interest from UK tourists over the coming year.
The flight comparison website, which has over 15 million users a month, analysed its vast data on user flight searches to produce the report on global travel trends. Overall, Spain remains the most popular choice for British holidaymakers for a fourth consecutive year, however in the 'Destinations of The Future' section of the report, Skyscanner highlights a number of more exotic locations.
With a rise of 51% year on year, The Cape Verde Islands, which lie off the east coast of Africa, are becoming an increasingly attractive winter sun alternative to other mid haul destinations such as The Canaries and Egypt, the latter of which has seen a 12% drop in searches from the UK .


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We've been hearing about the purported PlayStation 4.5 for a couple of weeks now, but more and more sources are jumping onto the story claiming they've heard what Sony's new console would be capable of.
We've heard from our own sources, who have confirmed Sony is indeed working on the PS4.5 - but what will it be capable of? I think we'll see AMD provide their new Polaris architecture to Sony in the form of a next-gen APU capable of 4K gaming - but for the rumored $400 price, I really don't think we'll see 4K 60FPS gaming. We'll probably see 4K @ 30FPS, which is good and all - but it's not enough in my opinion.
The PS4.5 will be Sony's surprise Ultra HD Blu-ray player, which will increase physical 4K media playback consumers just like the PS3 did with Blu-ray all those years ago. I'm sure the PS4.5 will be a better console for the PlayStation VR when it's released in October, too. As for the release date, I think we'll see the PS4.5 released in October or November, right in time for the PlayStation VR launch as well as the holiday season.


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Engineering and defence group Chemring is poised to become a major force in the US through the purchase of decoy specialist Kilgore Flares.
Hampshire-based Chemring has agreed to spend $23m (£15.6m) to buy Kilgore from its current owner Alliant Techsystems. The two companies hope to complete the deal by early next month.
Chemring announced the acquisition as it unveiled pre-tax profits up 65% to £7.1m for the year ending October. Turnover rose by £5m to £67m.
Chairman Ken Scobie claimed the purchase of Kilgore will make Chemring ‘the undisputed world leader’ in expendable countermeasure devices for air, naval and land-based systems.
Scobie said this is a high-growth sector of the defence industry, with governments investing more in countermeasures to protect their hugely costly military hardware. Tennessee-based Kilgore is the biggest supplier of conventional infra-red decoys to the US Department of Defence. It has a $38m order book and recently won a development contract for the F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft.
Kilgore hit a rocky patch in mid-1999 when a process problem forced it to suspend production, contributing to an exceptional loss of $1.6m. Chemring said the problem has now been resolved and all Kilgore’s facilities are fully operational.
The company believes the acquisition will complement its other US business, Alloy Surfaces, and give it a strong platform to compete internationally in the air decoy market.
Back at home, Chemring said its Marine Safety division should benefit from the launch of new electronics products. The company has concentrated on developing 406MHz technology used in Global Positioning Systems and other location and rescue devices.
Chemring expects forthcoming maritime legislation, including EU fishing vessel safety requirements, to open new markets for its systems.


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It’s no secret that Samsung is developing a flagship processor Exynos 8890. According to unconfirmed reports, Samsung is working on a chipset Exynos 8870, which is less powerful than the upcoming top-end chipset.
By Exynos 8870 will be made specifically for the customer Samsung, in particular, Meizu. According to rumors, Meizu Pro 6, which will appear next year, can use this chip.
The expected performance of the new chipset – on a level with the Snapdragon 820, but, unfortunately, there is no information about the chipset architecture.
We suspect that Samsung will equip the Custom processor cores The Mongoose, although more information will be available when Samsung Exynos 8870 begins to experience benchmarks.
Also, the report says that Samsung will use this processor on their devices.
We can expect that the Exynos 8870 will appear in the second quarter of 2016. While we have no official confirmation from Samsung, or from Meizu, but we can expect to announce in the coming months.


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ABC News' Karen Travers reports:
Vice President Joe Biden traveled to his home state of Delaware today to join an announcement that a former General Motors assembly plant in Wilmington will be back up and running producing environmentally friendly vehicles.
Fisker Automotive, a luxury automaker based in California, announced it will produce plug-in, electric hybrid vehicles at the shuttered GM plant.
Biden told an enthusiastic crowd that the United States can once again be a global leader in the automotive industry.
"I refuse to believe that we will not once again lead the entire world in the manufacturing of automobiles," Biden told the audience of more than 1,000 including union workers that the vice president singled out in his remarks. "This factory in Delaware, and the industry, are going to get back up off the mat."
Fisker bought the Wilmington plant for $18 million and will spend $175 million will be spent to refurbish it over the next three years. It received a conditional loan of $528.7 million from the Department of Energy in September to develop the plug in cars. Production is scheduled to begin in late 2012.
The Wilmington plant will support "Project Nina," Fisker's development and construction of a plug-in hybrid sedan that would cost around $39,000 after federal tax credits.
The automotive company predicts that by 2014, the development project will create or support 2000 factory jobs and another 3000 vendor and supplier jobs.
"This is proof positive that our efforts to create new jobs, invest in a clean energy economy and reduce carbon pollution are working," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu in a statement. "We are putting Americans back to work and reigniting a new Industrial Revolution that is paramount for the economic success of this country."
The Wilmington Assembly plant was built in 1946 and owned by General Motors until this year. At one point it employed more than 5,000 workers but this year it shut down production with just 450 hourly workers.


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Silk, a Danone subsidiary, has stated this week that while Greek offerings dominate the yogurt category, encompassing nearly half of yogurt sales, so far plant-based alternatives have ” struggled to deliver” in terms of the thickness and texture of Greek style yogurt. Until now.
The new range consists of Vanilla, Strawberry, Lemon, and Blueberry, produced with a coconut milk base, and the company says that “Silk Greek is seriously thick… in fact, it’s so thick, you can flip over a spoonful and it won’t budge!”
Other companies producing a vegan Greek-style product include Kite Hill, Alpro, Oatly, and Meadow Foods in the UK. However, Silk claims that existing efforts in the segment have been unable to produce the signature traits of Greek, without the traditional ingredient of dairy.
“70% of plant-based beverage buyers are not yet buying plant-based yogurt alternatives,” said Lia Stierwalt, Senior Director of Marketing, Silk Plant-Based Yogurt Alternatives.
“We saw an incredible opportunity to appeal to those who are already familiar with a plant-based lifestyle, as well as those who love Greek style yogurt. Silk is already a plant-based yogurt aisle favorite, and now we are tackling the elusive Greek Style category head-on. As part of our product innovation process, we tested Silk Greek with many consumers. We are confident that we’re delivering a fantastic tasting, high-protein, plant-based yogurt alternative.”


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The Conference Board said that its Consumer Confidence Index dipped to 53.1 in September, down from the revised 54.5 reading in August. A reading above 90 means the economy is on solid footing. Above 100 signals strong growth.
The Conference Board's Present Situation Index, which measures consumers' current assessment of the economy, declined to 22.7 from 25.4. The Expectations Index, which measures consumers' outlook over the next six months, dipped to 73.3 from 73.8 last month.
Those claiming business conditions are "bad" increased to 46.3 percent from 44.6%, while those claiming conditions are "good" increased to 8.7% from 8.5%.
Consumers' appraisal of the job market was also less optimistic. Those claiming jobs are "hard to get" increased to 47% from 44.3%, while those claiming jobs are "plentiful" decreased to 3.4% from 4.3%.
to Daily News


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Sumitomo Rubber North America Inc.’s Falken brand will supply its Falken Ziex CT50 all-season performance crossover and SUV tire as original equipment for the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica.
“The Falken Ziex CT50 is a perfect pairing for the Chrysler Pacifica,” said Rick Brennan, vice president of marketing for Falken. “The Pacifica is a great platform for us to showcase the Ziex CT50’s superior handling and drivability, as well as the tire’s high performance and exceptional fuel economy.”
The Chrysler Pacifica fitted with Ziex CT50 tires went on sale this month.
The Ziex CT50 is also OE on the 2016 Mazda CX-9.


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Acasa » IT&C Hard & Soft » Placi de baza » The step comes amongst rapid changes in the music enterprise as Pandora
|Categorie||Placi de baza||
|Titlu||The step comes amongst rapid changes in the music enterprise as Pandora|
|Descriere||Satellite the airwaves network SiriusXM explained Friday it will eventually invest $480 k in world-wide-web radio boss Pandora, forging a union somewhere between two companies which may have operated in parallel rails. The step comes amongst rapid changes in the music enterprise as Pandora, who has seen their model eliminate ground to pandora rings uk on-demand internet platforms such as Spotify, final month appealed regarding buyers.
Pandora as a stand alone announced it was selling Ticketfly, your ticketing firm popular with independent steel venues, for pandora 18 charm $200 mil to event management web page Eventbrite. The purchase marks an important loss seeing that Pandora bought Ticketfly not as much as two prohibited for $450 zillion, seeing it to be a new route to broaden it's reach, however Pandora claimed it continue to had blueprints in ticketing by future effort with Eventbrite. SiriusXM, in whose core trust of more mature listeners in pandora angel charm cars features driven nutritious profits yet has bit of presence in smartphones, said it is going to pump $480 thousand into Pandora and also take about three seats with its board, including chairman.
Micheal Meyer, the primary executive official of SiriusXM, stated his business was high energy about Pandora's current direction, which has included starting a premiums on-demand company. "This organize investment inside Pandora represents a specialized opportunity intended for SiriusXM to create value due to the stockholders by purchasing pandora earrings the leader inside ad-supported digital camera radio organization, a room where SiriusXM won't play nowadays, " he said inside a statement.
|Pret in lei|


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As Apple beefs up Siri for the big time with iOS 6, Android fans can now enjoy something similar thanks to a free app called Robin.
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Surface Pro 4 release date, news and rumours


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Loren Shlaes, a pediatric occupational therapist in Manhattan, is the kind of amateur cook who bakes cakes for her friends’ weddings and makes her own spaetzle. She’s an avid reader of food magazines, and, over the years, has subscribed to Cook’s Country, Cook’s Illustrated, Saveur, Everyday Food and, beginning in the early 1990s, Gourmet.
Last October, on the day she read that Condé Nast was shutting Gourmet, “I actually felt sick to my stomach,” Ms. Shlaes said. Within minutes, she had called Condé Nast, which offered to replace Gourmet with its surviving food magazine, Bon Appétit. Ms. Shlaes asked for a refund instead. “It wasn’t a learning experience,” she said of reading Bon Appétit.
When Gourmet was closed, observers expected an industry food fight. Bon Appétit’s circulation was forecast to bloom as it absorbed former readers of Gourmet, and other magazines began eyeing Gourmet’s list of more than 900,000 subscribers.
Though Gourmet was not thick with ad pages, its advertisers were expected to jump to competing high-end food magazines, like Food & Wine, Saveur and Bon Appétit.
Half a year after Gourmet’s final issue, in November, the Gourmet readership and ad base seem to have largely vanished. And as the high-end magazines fight over the leftovers of Gourmet, it’s the mass food magazines that seem to be feasting.
“I don’t think the closing of Gourmet has significantly caused the increase of dollars to other titles,” Robin Steinberg, senior vice president and director for print investment and activation at MediaVest Worldwide, said via e-mail. “In addition, they are all competing with dollars being allocated to online epicurean Web sites and soon-to-be iPhone and iPad applications.”
Bon Appétit was in a position to benefit the most from its sister magazine’s closing. All the Gourmet subscribers were to be switched to a Bon Appétit subscription unless they chose not to. Those who already subscribed to Bon Appétit were given extensions.
“Ninety-nine point nine nine percent of a subscriber file, as you can imagine, will not opt to get their money back, but some will,” said Carol Smith, who joined Condé Nast last month from Elle as vice president and publishing director for Bon Appétit.
Still, Bon Appétit decided to add only 200,000 subscribers, or just over 20 percent of the Gourmet subscribers, to its rate base, the circulation it guarantees to advertisers. It now guarantees a 1.5 million circulation.
Ms. Smith said the relatively small percentage was used because of existing overlap between Gourmet and Bon Appétit subscribers, because some Gourmet subscribers had only an issue or two left, and because Bon Appétit wanted to be conservative. With its March issue, Bon Appétit said in a preliminary Audit Bureau of Circulations filing, it reported a circulation of 1.67 million, well above the rate base.
“It’s really a very healthy story,” said Ms. Smith, adding that she would soon unveil the company’s plans for the Gourmet brand and for Bon Appétit.
In the first quarter of the year, Bon Appétit’s advertising rose by about five pages, or 3.8 percent, to 126 pages, according to the Publishers Information Bureau, suggesting it had not benefited from Gourmet’s closing. (In the last full quarter of Gourmet’s life, the third quarter of 2009, Gourmet posted 106 advertising pages.)
“I was under the impression that with Gourmet closing, they would really invest in that title,” said Leslie Tucker, director for print negotiation at the Richards Group, whose clients include Sub-Zero and Wolf. “It seems like they haven’t done much at all. I really feel like they missed an opportunity,” she said.
Competitors, too, are asking if Bon Appétit has missed a big opportunity. “I continue to read Chow and anything I can get my hands on with the Google alerts, and it’s amazing that people are not happy with the transfer of their Gourmet subscription to Bon Appétit,” said Merri Lee Kingsly, publisher of Saveur, owned by the Bonnier Corporation.
At Food & Wine, by American Express Publishing, the Gourmet closing spurred a new approach to how the magazine markets itself, though it has not led to a big increase in ads.
“We really had to relook at how we were selling, because all of a sudden we had all these sales materials that said, ‘Here’s Food & Wine in comparison to Gourmet and Bon Appétit,’ ” the publisher, Christina Grdovic, said.
Food & Wine dropped the comparative approach. Its ad pages were up just barely in the first quarter, rising 2.6 percent, to 160 pages. But, Ms. Grdovic said, the July issue is up 22 percent compared with last year.
With the March issue, according to a preliminary filing with the audit bureau, it had about 27,000 more subscribers than it did in October, and Ms. Grdovic said some of that was most likely because of marketing to Gourmet subscribers.
At Saveur, although ads were up 22.6 percent to 72 pages in the first quarter, Ms. Kingsly said that was not related to Gourmet’s closing.
“Gourmet always carried Cartier and Chanel and fragrance advertisers; Saveur never carried that, so when the market tanked, we didn’t lose those advertisers,” she said. However, Gourmet had carried travel advertising, a category Saveur also goes after.
Lower-end food magazines, meanwhile, are thriving — but that is not because of Gourmet’s demise, they say.
While their ad pages are generally up, their bigger boasting rights are on the circulation side. Food Network Magazine’s first official issue (after two test issues) was just a year ago, in June-July 2009, when the magazine’s guaranteed circulation was 400,000. The magazine, owned by Hearst, has since raised it twice, and will soon increase it to 1.25 million, or the combined guaranteed circulation of Saveur and Food & Wine.
Every Day With Rachael Ray’s circulation is 1.79 million, Taste of Home, 3.2 million, and Cooking Light, 1.78 million, the magazines said in their most recent audit bureau filings, suggesting the wide appeal of these publications.
“Some of their readers could be reading this magazine, but for the most part, I think they’re two different ideas,” Vicki Wellington, vice president and publisher of Food Network Magazine, said of Gourmet. “If they were here or not here, I think it would be the exact same.”


text: A company executive insists that Bud Light marketers have learned their lesson. It remains to be seen whether consumers will believe it. The National Review reported that Marcel Marcondes, Global Chief Marketing Officer of Anheuser-Busch, has predicted a revival for the beleaguered beer brand. “Bud Light is coming back,” Marcondes told AdAge on Monday at the Cannes Lions Festival. Sales of the once-popular beer have plummeted since March, when consumers began boycotting the company due to its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Marcondes insisted that Bud Light marketers have received the boycotters’ message. “It’s tough to see the controversial and divisive debates that have been happening in the U.S. in the last couple of weeks involving lots of brands and companies, including and especially Bud Light. It’s tough because what we do is all about bringing people together,” Marcondes said. At this stage, it is impossible to predict whether consumers will believe Marcondes and give Bud Light another chance. The most we can do is consider whether the marketing executive’s words reflect a lesson learned. Trite phrases such as “controversial and divisive” and “bringing people together” are apt to strike the reader as the sort of empty words that might originate with an establishment candidate’s political campaign. Marcondes’s ensuing comments, however, do leave room for optimism. “In times like this, when things get divisive and controversial so easily, I think it’s an important wake-up call to all of us marketers first of all to be very humble. That’s what we’re doing, being very humble, and really reminding ourselves of what we should do best every day, which is to really understand our consumers,” Marcondes added. Those two elements — humility and reconnecting with consumers — constitute the core of Bud Light’s future plans, according to Marcondes. The marketing executive’s call to humility cannot help but appeal to consumers who are fed up with woke moralizing. In fact, one wonders if Marcondes, when speaking of the need for humility, had in mind Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s former vice president of marketing and the person most responsible for the disastrous Mulvaney partnership. On the other hand, Heinersheid was more a symbol of a problem than its actual source. Every year, marketing programs and Western universities in general churn out legions of Alissa Heinerscheids. They preach, scold and virtue-signal — all in the name of fine-sounding lies such as diversity, equity and inclusion. The real problem for consumers, therefore, is not whether Marcondes is telling the truth. On the face of it, there is no reason to doubt his sincerity. The real problem is that the Mulvaney campaign showed the extent to which wokeness has become institutionalized in corporate America. Forgiveness is a central Christian tenet, so it can never be discouraged. Furthermore, it is possible that consumers who liked drinking Bud Light will simply choose to give the company another chance. Even if they do, however, they likely will remain alert to the larger problem of institutional wokeness. This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.


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Shoppers at a supermarket in Manchester can get a mini model of themselves made up before they get their weekly shop.
Asda in Trafford have installed a full body scanner to create 3D replicas known as a shapies.
Anyone who wants a model steps into a booth where cameras take thousands of snapshots from every angle.
The images are then processed by a computer, which takes 12 seconds to create a 3D model on-screen, with accurate geometric shaping and colouring, to be sent to an off-site 3D printer.
A few days later the customer can then pick up an 8in exact replica of themselves with every tiny detail exactly etched in porcelain.
The models cost £60.
The scanner was created by the Artec group and the two million pound technology has been use by Nasa, doctors and architects.
Phil Stout, Asda’s innovation manager said: “Manchester is a technology based city and it had the first airport body scanners - so it seemed fitting it should be the first city to get one of these.”
Many customers have already shown interest - from soldiers wanting to leave their replica behind with family, to sports people with their medals, to people on a diet using their model as a motivational tool.
The scanner will be Asda in Trafford until June 22, and if successful could lead to a roll-out across 10 stores this summer.


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Bon-Ton Stores Inc., seeking to reverse its string of losses and declining sales, is intensifying its localization strategy this year, hoping to benefit as competitors close stores.
It is also adding a handful of high-profile brands to its assortment in the back half of the year.
“Our localization strategy remains a key differentator,” said Kathy Bufano, Bon-Ton’s outgoing president and chief executive officer.
The strategy is called “Close to Home” and it involves selling products from small local makers. “We will continue to grow Close to Home with expansion to 100 doors by fall and 175 by year-end,” Bufano said during a conference call Thursday with investors, after the company reported a disappointing first quarter.
Bon-Ton, like other department and specialty stores, has been hurt by declining mall traffic, consumers deciding to spend less money on fashion and Internet companies, particularly Amazon, stealing market share from traditional retailers.
Bon-Ton’s issues are compounded by having many stores situated in midtier, secondary markets where the economy is tough and consumers are struggling to make ends meet.
Bon-Ton’s net loss in the first quarter ended April 29 grew to $57.3 million, or $2.86 a diluted share, from a net loss of $37.8 million, or $1.91 in the year-ago period. Net sales fell 9.3 percent to $536.1 million from $591 million and comparable-store sales fell 8.8 percent.
For Bufano, it’s been a challenging three years at the helm, though the company was losing money before she arrived from Belk, where she served as president. Bon-Ton has been in the red for six years.
Earlier this month the ceo said she will resign on Aug. 25 and turn the reins over to William Tracy, chief operating officer. During Thursday’s call, Bufano said it was her decision not to renew her contract and that she believes she “laid the foundation for future progress” including introducing new brands and expanding existing vendor relationships.
The Close to Home shops feature locally sourced and themed products and are open year-round in stores and online. From September through December, Close to Home sales more than doubled projections and the company expects continued growth in 2017.
Furthering localization efforts, Bon-Ton has been fashioning more targeted customer outreach and marketing programs and will be hosting a greater number of local events inside stores such as fashion shows and beauty events “to further solidify position as the hometown store,” Bufano said.
Bufano also said in markets where competitors closed stores, Bon-Ton units trended above the overall store base.
Bon-Ton operates 261 stores including nine furniture galleries and four clearance centers, in 25 states in the Northeast, Midwest and upper Great Plains under the Bon-Ton, Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson’s, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s and Younkers nameplates.
The company is trimming its fleet, but not to the degree as competitors such as Macy’s and J.C. Penney. Bon-Ton last year closed 16 stores and this year is closing four to six doors including two that already shuttered. Bufano said the company only has 13 doors that are not cash flow positive.
Still, in the first quarter, “results fell short of expectations,” Bufano said. Revenue was $2.67 billion over the trailing 12 months.
Most categories did not fare well, though young contemporary, plus sizes, young men’s, denim, fine jewelry, mattresses and e-commerce did well. E-commerce represents about 10 percent of the total business and Bon-Ton’s goal is to bring it up to 20 percent.
Among the upcoming assortment enhancements, FAO Schwarz shops will be in 100 stores for holiday, Champion activewear will be added this fall and will be in all doors by the holiday; the Ruff Hewn brand is being expanded with additional categories, and there will be seven new, exclusive contemporary labels on the selling floors.
In addition, home decor will feature more lifestyle merchandise, Vera Bradley bedding will be launched, as will Ellen DeGeneres dinnerware and Laura Ashley home.
Bufano also said the company is working to simplify its coupon strategy and “will manage the number of exclusions that apply to our coupons.”
Bon-Ton reduced its full-year comp sales expectations to negative 3 percent to 4 percent, based on the first-quarter performance, but maintained its full-year adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization guidance to $115 million to $125 million, and a loss per share of between $2.08 to $2.59. Bon-Ton also expects its profit improvement plan to yield more savings.
Bufano said the business trend so far in May is definitely better than prior months this year. “We have energy across the store in terms of new things to entice the customer.”


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Indiana just passed a law banning all flavored vaping products including JUUL, SMOK, and other brands. The bill states that if someone is caught selling such products to minors could face a fine up to $2,500 and face up to 5 years in prison. If teens are caught vaping they too can face a fine of up to $50, 16 hours of community service, be charged with a misdemeanor, and they must be required to take part in a health promotion and risk reduction program. Any additional offense would make the required community service hours to rise to 32 or 48 hours.
April Fools :)


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In a job advert, Amazon confirms that it is seeking to move from „e-commerce to commerce in general”, building products and services that can be used to buy and sell in the real world.
One of the products is person-to-person payments, an area which would put Amazon in direct competition with PayPal and provide the e-commerce giant with a useful tool for its widely anticipated mobile phone, expected to launch later this year, according to finextra.com.
Meanwhile, the company is also planning to take on PayPal, Square and more traditional POS vendors such as VeriFone with a checkout system for bricks-and-mortar retailers, according to the Wall Street Journal. The new product could combine a credit card reader with a Kindle tablet and will tap GoPago, the start-up from which Amazon bought technology and hired engineers late last year.
Amazon has also recently applied for a patent for a card that would link all of a user’s credit cards to one Amazon card for selection via an app on consumer mobiles.
Earlier this week it was reported that another tech giant, Apple, is also preparing to jump further into the payments arena through the launch of a mobile wallet service for iPhone, iPad and iTunes users.
„For more than a week now, ScoreRise enrolls daily hundreds of users through an innovative facial recognition interface. Enrollment takes less than a minute and it does not require presence of a human operator or video recording. And, of course, it stays fully GDPR compliant with help from Reff & Associates and Deloitte Romania.”


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Greeley modernizes business licenses, gives food trucks their own
Out with the old
Below is a list of licenses the city of Greeley maintained for businesses before Jan. 1, 2017, and the number of licenses within the city. The city recently cut down the number of licenses to seven. Licenses carried over have an asterisk, and the city added a business license and an outdoor vendor license.
Auctioneer Annual — 2
Auctioneer Daily — 3
Billboard Advertising — 1
Burglar Alarm — Contractor — 18
Burglar Alarm — Salesperson — 129
Carnival — 1
Cemetery Contractor — 4
Circus or Menagerie — 3
Dairy Product or Food Sales Vehicle — 6
Heating and Air Conditioner — Master — 154
House Movers — 2
Pawnbrokers * — 11
Peddlers — 11
Pest Control — 16
Public Right of Way Contractor* — 230
Refuse Haulers — 9
Sales/Use Tax License — 1,406
Sales/Use Tax License — Out of City — 2,688
Secondhand Dealers — 5
Security Guard* — 6
Security Patrol Business* — 36
Sign Contractor — 54
Solicitors — 298
Temporary Vendor — 62
Temporary Vendor — Charitable — 12
Theaters — 1
Theaters less than 500 seats — 1
Tree Trimming* — 42
Vehicle Business — 4
Vehicle for Hire — 21
Grand total — 5,270
There’s an old, slightly worn-out joke about cell phone applications, and it goes like this: There’s an app for that.
For decades, if you owned a business in Greeley, chances are, there was a license for that.
Own a circus? There was a license for that.
Do a lot of cemetery work? There was one for that too.
Are you an up-and-coming peddler? You guessed it, there was a license for that, too.
As with the app-for-that joke, it was kind of getting old.
Starting this year the city of Greeley has modernized its business licensing methodology, cutting its licenses down to seven from 30.
Clearing the clutter has had some positive impact, not the least of which will be felt in Greeley’s growing food truck community, for which there actually wasn’t a license. Instead, food truck operators were forced to get temporary, 90-day vendor licenses at $100 apiece.
With a new outdoor vendor license, food truck operators will have to worry about it only once per year.
“It’s much better that you just have the whole year covered,” said Brennan McAuliffe, owner of Curbed Hunger, a new local food truck. “You can just worry about running your truck.”
Curbed Hunger, out of Loveland, opened for business Dec. 30, and makes several scheduled stops in Greeley, including at WeldWorks Brewing Co., 508 8th Ave., on Fridays.
It was the recipient of the first outdoor vendor license in Greeley. McAuliffe said getting the license was a cinch.
Wing Shack owner Brian Seifried said the food truck licensing process has needed updating for some time.
Along with several locations across the Front Range, including two in Greeley, Seifried started a Wing Shack food truck three years ago. Dealing with the hassle of getting approval for every single spot a food truck might frequent has been a hassle.
“From my side, food trucks as they’re used in their modern iteration aren’t as stationary as they may have been in the past,” Seifried said. “It was a struggle to be appropriately licensed and meet the needs of the community.”
Greeley business licensing manager Lou Rotella would agree, and he points to the entire business licensing initiative as Greeley’s attempt to become more business friendly. In the past, a business might have had two or three licenses (sales tax, plus others) to operate in Greeley.
Rotella used Comcast as an example. The cable giant needed a sales tax license in the city, but it also had to license employees as burglar alarm contractors or burglar alarm salespeople if they provided those services as well.
The majority of licenses removed by the city were done because those industries or companies are regulated or licensed by other entities — whether state, county or even the city. An example is HVAC contractors, who are checked out before the city’s building department approves projects, Rotella said.
“When you go in to get a license, it’s a lot less convoluted now,” Rotella said.
The vast majority of Greeley businesses will be covered by a new, simply titled, “business license.” There will be no more sales tax license, or circus, or burglar alarm contractor licenses, among others.
Sales tax licenses were good for a lifetime, but business licenses will need to be renewed every two years — at no charge. Rotella said that change stems from the problem of out-of-date data on businesses.
Rotella sees big benefits for businesses, but it will also pay off for the city. Previously, service-oriented businesses, including doctors, car washes, janitorial services and more weren’t required to have a sales tax license, so they were largely invisible.
“If you asked me how many businesses there are in Greeley, I couldn’t tell you,” Rotella said.
Greeley Chamber of Commerce President Sarah MacQuiddy said she couldn’t even provide an estimate on the number of businesses, and said the chamber and city often used different, conflicting numbers.
“We all kind of came to the consensus that really reporting one number was good,” MacQuiddy said. “Now we can report with accuracy the number of businesses, be it service, manufacturing, whatever particular industry.”
MacQuiddy said that’s good news for Greeley and businesses, as they’ll get to tout larger business numbers to the outside world.
It may take a while to build up an accurate picture of Greeley’s full business offerings. Businesses are being given until Dec. 1, 2017, to make the switch from sales tax licenses to business licenses, and service-oriented industries are encouraged to get business licenses by that time too — it’s the law, actually. So far, 33 businesses have obtained the new business license.
The city will likely incur a few thousand dollars in costs when it sends out mailers later this year to its existing sales tax license holders, but it’s main goal is to reach the folks it never has reached before.
“We’re trying to get the word out,” Rotella said.
Tyler Silvy covers city and county government for The Greeley Tribune. Reach him at firstname.lastname@example.org. Connect with him at Facebook.com/TylerSilvy or @TylerSilvy on Twitter.


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Amazon has sued Denver-based real estate firm Northstar Commercial Partners over what the retail giant is calling “a significant fraud and kickback scheme,” providing details on what likely prompted an April FBI raid at the home of Northstar CEO Brian Watson.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Virginia, where Northstar was developing multiple data center projects for Amazon, the retail giant said the April 2 raid “was executed on the same day that Watson and other Northstar-related Defendants received notice that their roles related to developing several properties in the Dulles corridor were being terminated based on evidence of their misconduct.”
“The evidence revealed that Defendants paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to obtain non-competitive contracts that Defendants used to obtain tens of millions of dollars in illicit gains from development projects at Virginia real estate sites Amazon leased or purchased since 2018,” the lawsuit read.
The kickbacks were paid on nine transactions totaling $415 million in Amazon spend, the company said in court documents.
The kickbacks were allegedly paid by Northstar to two Amazon managers described as the company’s “primary decision-makers for real estate identification and selection in Virginia.” The company has since fired both individuals, one last year and one this spring.
The lawsuit, which accuses Northstar of racketeering and fraud, was filed in late April. But it was under seal until last month.
Attorney Stan Garnett of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, who is representing Watson — the Republican nominee for Colorado state treasurer in 2018 — said his client denies any wrongdoing.
“We think Amazon and its counsel misunderstand a lot of what was happening,” he said.
Amazon didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Attorney: Unclear if lawsuit related to FBI raid
Garnett told BusinessDen that it’s unclear if the scheme alleged by Amazon is the reason Watson was raided by the FBI. The bureau did not respond to BusinessDen’s request for comment.
Amazon, meanwhile, said in court documents that “defendants’ conduct is the subject of an ongoing federal criminal investigation,” going on to specifically mention the FBI.
Watson, too, previously signaled that was likely the case. On the same day he was visited by the FBI, he said in an email to family and business associates that agents “started to accuse me of fraud, misappropriation of funds, etc. in relation to our Amazon data centers.”
“I was shocked to hear this, as I do not know of any such fraud, and explained to them I could not discuss this as I was under a strict confidentiality agreement with Amazon,” Watson wrote in the April email. “They then served me papers, confiscated both my laptops and cell phone, and left my home.”
Watson wrote in the email that he was unsure what the FBI was interested in, but “I believe it is regarding one of two things.”
First, he claimed that last year two now-former Northstar employees “placed a parcel of land in Virginia under contract for $96 million and flipped a few weeks later for $116 million, making approximately $20 million behind my back.”
“I learned of this 2 days before my wedding from an employee, and promptly investigated this,” Watson wrote. “The next day I fired these two thieves and confiscated their business computers and had them escorted from the office.”
In its lawsuit, Amazon disputed Watson’s characterization of that incident, saying he was in on the deal.
“Amazon learned during the course of its investigation of this transaction that in September 2019, Watson had apparently negotiated with these same individuals a payment of at least $5 million from their ill-gotten gains before executing confidentiality agreements with them to conceal their misconduct,” the company wrote.
Second, in his April email Watson wrote the FBI also could be looking into “the referral agreement we have with Villanova Trust who was mentioned by the FBI agents and in the documents they gave me today.”
He said Northstar pays an individual with Villanova Trust $4,000 a month as an independent contractor to research large companies that might have real estate needs and make introductions.
Watson said this independent contractor introduced him to Amazon, and that Watson or the firm expected to make “over $60 million in the next few years” from Amazon deals.
Payments to trust at heart of scrutiny
In its lawsuit, which also named Villanova Trust as a defendant, Amazon referred to the entity as “a primary vehicle for Defendants’ kickback scheme.”
According to the lawsuit, on at least nine leases, Watson executed a kickback scheme with a sibling of an Amazon real estate transaction manager, which involved Northstar funneling payments to Villanova Trust, where that Amazon manager and one other had withdrawal privileges. Amazon said it fired one of those employees in 2019, and the second this past spring.
The leases were executed between February 2018 and January 2020, according to Amazon.
On a different real estate transaction, in which Amazon purchased a property in July 2019, Northstar and the former Amazon managers charged Amazon “more than $17 million in unjustified purchase and assignment fees on the approximately $100 million Virginia White Peaks property,” the lawsuit alleges.
“Defendants’ illegal activities were executed through concealed contracts and LLCs, and escaped detection until a former Northstar employee reported them to an Amazon executive in December 2019,” Amazon said in the April lawsuit. “That informant described the scheme as involving apparent kickbacks in excess of $8,000,000, and likely in the tens of millions of dollars.”
Amazon said a second individual later provided more details on the arrangement.
Garnett, Watson’s attorney, acknowledged payments to the trust but denied that Amazon managers had withdrawal rights. He said Northstar did not control other arrangements the trust may have had.
Garnett said the payments that Amazon is objecting to were the result of “standard arrangements, very normal within the commercial real estate business” and “there was nothing fraudulent or misleading or inappropriate about any of them.”
In June, Northstar and Watson asked the court to dismiss the case. Among other things, they said that case failed to “allege plausibly that either purported scheme resulted in any cognizable harm to Amazon.”
“To this day, Amazon has not sought rescission of those agreements but has instead accepted – and continues to accept – the benefit of the lease transactions … Similarly, Amazon has taken possession of the so-called “White Peaks” property and has not sought rescission of that sale,” Watson and Northstar wrote.
A judge has yet to rule on the motion to dismiss.
Northstar faces at least three other lawsuits
Northstar also was sued this year by Louisville, Colorado-based Balfour over a senior living community the two companies partnered to develop in Michigan.
In court documents associated with that lawsuit, Balfour has alleged that, in addition to the FBI, Northstar also is being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In April, Garnett told BusinessDen he was unaware of any such investigation. Asked again Thursday, he said he could not comment.
In late 2019, Northstar was sued by the firm’s former director of debt and equity, who alleged he was owed nearly $1 million. That lawsuit is ongoing.
Additionally, earlier this month, Watson was sued in Denver District Court by Douglas Healy. Healy alleged he sold Class B membership interests in an entity called LMLC Naperville LLC to entities associated with Watson, but that he was not paid a $122,220 payment due at the end of June.
Multiple executives left Northstar around the time of the FBI raid, including Chief Operating Officer Tim Lorman and Chief Financial Officer Brent Gray.


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The country's largest container port – the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) – in Navi Mumbai, has seen a record 50% increase in container cargo that have come under the direct port delivery (DPD) scheme, for the year ended March 31, 2017.
The country’s largest container port – the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) – in Navi Mumbai, has seen a record 50% increase in container cargo that have come under the direct port delivery (DPD) scheme, for the year ended March 31, 2017. DPD is a global practice at top ports worldwide whereby cargo is picked up by importers/consignees directly at the port’s terminals and hauled off to their places of delivery, instead of initially holding the cargo at a container freight station (CFS) situated near the port (for carrying out Customs-related activities outside the port area). An importer has thus assured clearance of cargo in less than 48 hours under DPD as against an average of seven days if routed through a CFS.
Container volumes under DPD at JNPT increased from 68,925 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) to 103,323 TEUs in FY17. Neeraj Bansal, deputy chairman, JNPT, told Fe that the port has raised the proportion of DPD cargo to 30% of its total container cargo, as of August 2017, from just 3% last year. Bansal said:”We handle a total of about 45 lakh containers, both import and export. If we save even a day on account of efficiency, assuming that each container
is carrying cargo worth Rs 50 lakh on an average, the savings on interest alone is quite substantial. Each hour saved is a huge saving for the trade and any unproductive detention of cargo, at whatever stage, has to be minimised.”
The Customs department has also increased the number of importers who can take delivery of their containers directly at the port to 1150 importers from about 700, till a few months ago. The DPD scheme has been introduced at JNPT and at Chennai Port, spurred by a report from the World Bank on ease of doing business. In late 2016, the Central government had directed JNPT and Customs to raise the proportion of DPD to 40% and ultimately to 70%. JNPT is currently undergoing an expansion programme that is expected to more than double its capacity to more than 10 million TEU (twenty equivalent foot units) by around 2022. To cater to this, the port is in the midst of an efficiency drive that includes the commissioning of new terminals as well as widening of approach roads to the port and improved linkage with the state and national highways. JNPT raised $400 million from the State Bank of India and Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) last year after the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval, with an end.
JNPT raised $400 million from the State Bank of India and Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) last year after the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval, with an end use of on-lending to JNPT Port Road Company – a joint venture company between the government of Maharashtra, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), JNPT and City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) – for implementing this road project.


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Mobile cryptocurrency wallet BRD announced today that it now has more than six million users worldwide, thanks to strong growth in India and Latin America. With this momentum, the company expects to r
For several years, blockchain technology has been touted as a way to verify the sale of property. Any kind of property. And so entrepreneurs busily began the process of trying to create a startup that
Digital currency exchange Coinbase has probably done more than most to push cryptocurrencies closer to the mainstream, earning an $8 billion valuation by private investors along the way. The company i
It’s never too early to start designing a better, more reliable and fairer system for it to be ready for the next election—or the next big crisis.
The bitcoin bulls are back in town. The price of bitcoin surged today by $1,268.19, reaching a six-month high of $11,203.90, or a one-day gain of 12.73%. It’s another indication of the resurgenc
Sparrow Exchange, a Bitcoin and Ethereum options trading platform based in Singapore, will launch more products after raising $3.5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by HDR Group, the owne
South Africa-based renewable energy startup Sun Exchange has raised $3 million to close its Series A funding round totaling $4 million. The company operates a peer-to-peer, crypto-enabled business tha
In week two of a16z’s Crypto Startup School, three company-builders provide real-world advice on using the qualities of crypto to create new business models and networks.
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Over the last few weeks all eyes in the crypto world have been glued to the halvening, a nigh-religious moment in the blockchain realm. Every once in a while, the amount of new bitcoin mined — d
Messaging service Telegram said on Tuesday it is abandoning its blockchain platform Telegram Open Network (TON) after a lengthy battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). “T
Two years ago, the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) took the wraps off a dedicated crypto fund from a subset of its limited partners who provided the firm with $300 million in capital commitmen
In a volatile trading session that saw the White House signal intentions to release the largest stimulus package since the great recession of 2008, American stocks made up for yesterday’s losses
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Bitcoin is going through a remarkably bad day. It turns out all assets are having a rough month — including cryptocurrencies. A couple of hours ago, the average price of BTC dropped by 15% in just 2
Bux, the Amsterdam-based fintech that wants to make investing more accessible, has acquired the European “social” cryptocurrency investment platform Blockport. Terms of the deal remain und
It’s not every day that the CEO of a large Silicon Valley tech company decides to relocate to a different part of the world in order to learn more about it — particularly when it has been
Happy New Year! It’s been another wild and wacky ride of a year in the tech world: breakthroughs and disgraces, triumphs and catastrophes, cryptocurrencies and starships, the ongoing rise of uto
Hello and welcome back to our regular morning look at private companies, public markets and the gray space in between. Today we’re peeking at what’s gone on in the world of altcoins recent


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For more than five years, Marc Jacobs International says it was the victim of a $20 million fraud. More details are emerging in the lawsuit and countersuit between Marc Jacobs, his business partner of more than 25 years Robert Duffy, and their former chief operating officer Patrice Lataillade. Lataillade alleged in his suit that Duffy created a hostile work environment by talking about and watching porn on company time (Lataillade specified, for some reason, that it was gay porn), using company funds for personal expenses, and forcing one employee to do a pole-dance for him. Well: Marc Jacobs International has responded with a countersuit alleging that Lataillade was embezzling the company to the tune of $20 million. MJI says Lataillade inflated the company sales figures and hid the true costs of expenses so that he could collect huge bonuses from MJI's parent company, Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy. The suit says Lataillade perpetrated this fraud by "overstating royalty receivables, understating selling, marketing and administrative expenses, overstating raw materials inventories and failing to write off bad debts." The company also points out that Lataillade was given a salary of $1 million, free private school tuition for his children, an annual family vacation in Paris, and a $10,000 annual car allowance. MJI also allegedly lent Lataillade $60,000 in 2008, which he has yet to repay. The alleged fraud was uncovered after a new director of finance came onboard, and Lataillade was fired. Lataillade's lawyers deny the charges, and point out that the company was audited several times during the period in which he is alleged to have been cooking the books. Even if Marc Jacobs International's allegations against Lataillade are true, one still wonders what kind of financial condition a company must be in for an executive to get away with fraud on that scale for over five years. [WWD, NYPost]
Kinja is in read-only mode. We are working to restore service.


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Revenues have increased YoY since fiscal 2013
As seen in the chart below, Electronic Arts (EA) has seen YoY (year-over-year) revenue growth in each of the last four fiscal years. Revenues for Electronic Arts rose from $3.8 billion in fiscal 2013 to $4.0 billion in fiscal 2014, $4.3 billion in fiscal 2015, $4.6 billion in fiscal 2016, and almost $5.0 billion in fiscal 2017.
We have seen that analysts expect EA’s revenues to be close to $6.0 billion by fiscal 2020. Its EBITDA[1. earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization] could almost double from $1.3 billion in fiscal 2015 to $2.3 billion in fiscal 2016. Its operating profit is also expected to rise from $1.1 billion to $2.2 billion during the same period.
Four of the top ten sellers were from EA
In the previous part of this series, we saw that EA could sell ~882,000 units of the much-awaited Star Wars Battlefront II in November 2017 compared to earlier estimates of ~1.7 million units.
However, EA still accounted for four of the top ten sellers in November according to gaming research firm NPD. Comparatively, peer Activision Blizzard (ATVI) had two games in the top ten.
Analysts expect EA to bounce back from its recent Star Wars Battlefront II debacle. The company’s strong gaming franchises, as well as the continuous rise in digital and mobile gaming, could drive revenues over the next few years.


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Over the past few months we have been compiling information about which countries have large drones in military service. We have posted the results of our research here in our new database of large drones in military service. According to our research 31 countries currently have Class 3 or Class 2 military drones in their inventories. Many others are working to develop or acquire large drones or will have the smaller Class 1 drone in their inventory. (see here for a general guide to drone sizes)
Out of the 31 counties that currently have large drones in military service, 28 have either directly purchased some or all of their drones from another country or manufactured their drones with the help of another country. The primary exporter of drones and drone technology is Israel. Israel has directly exported the larger types of drones to 13 countries and assisted 4 others in developing their own drones. The US has directly exported larger drones to 6 countries while assisting in the development of 1 other; France has directly exported to 3 other countries, while South Africa has exported to 1 (see table below).
While some of these exports and drone programmes reach back over many years, there are indications that drone proliferation is set to explode. Just over the past weeks for example there have been a number of press reports about drone sales agreed or being explored.
Firstly NATO signed a contact with US company Northrop Grumman to purchase five Global Hawk UAVs. The $1.7 billion deal, which has long been discussed, was signed at the NATO Summit in Chicago earlier this week. NATO expects to spend another $2 billion to operate the aircraft over the next two decades.
After the NATO summit officials briefed journalists that President Obama had told the Turkish President Abdullah Gul, that the US was willing to sell armed drones to Turkey but had to get approval through congress. Iraq has also announced this week that it is purchasing US drones to protect Iraqi oilfields. Although most press articles carried pictures of Reaper or Predator drones to accompany the story it is highly unlikely the drones concerned will be armed.
Meanwhile the most prolific exporter of drones, Israel, continues to make sales. This week Israel company Elbit Systems announced it had secured a $160m contract to supply drones to a European country but wouldn’t say who, while a senior Russian defence official said Russia may also be buying $50m of Israeli UAVs in the near future. Also this weeek Singapore announced that it had inaugurated their first Heron drone into the Air Force.
There have also been recent reports that Switzerland and the UK are evaluating Israeli drones with a view to purchase. Both countries already possess drones built in conjunction with Israeli companies.
The proliferation of drones is supposed to be controlled under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) but it is a non-binding, voluntary agreement which seems close to being ignored in relation to drones.
Two years ago the then US Defense Secretary said it was ‘in the United States interest to share drone technology with allies despite the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)’ while manufacturers are lobbying hard to ease the so-called ‘tough restrictions’ on exports of drones.
Some are suggesting that the MTCR, which is not primarily aimed at controlling drones, may no longer be the appropriate mechanism to regulate their proliferation. However if a new control regime is to be developed, it needs to happen very quickly – or it will simply be too late.
Later this year, the 34 partner nations of the MTCR will meet for their annual plenary review and it is vital that there is progress on curtailing the growing proliferation of drones.
2 thoughts on “Is Drone Proliferation about to Explode?”
Hi Chris, I think the table is missing some very significant sales. Israeli companies have been agressively selling into other zones, especially in South America. My information is that Colombia, Chile, and Brazil all have acquired large Elbit Systems drones, and Brazil has a joint venture with Elbit to build a range of Elbit drones. What has actually transpired isn’t clear, because I haven’t had a chance to follow up recently. http://wanderingraven.wordpress.com/2010/12/11/brazil-buys-israeli-drones/
Also, I believe that Israel has sold Hermes 900 drones to Azerbaijan. http://www.unmanned.co.uk/unmanned-vehicles-news/unmanned-aerial-vehicles-uav-news/israel-completes-additional-1-6-billion-contract-with-azerbaijan/
It sold Hermes 450’s to Georgia, which were implicated in the recent conflict with Russia.
I think a major issue here is Israel as serious drone proliferator to regions which are conflict zones in the developing world.
Technically speaking I don’t think that Canada or Aust currently have drones in their militaries. Canada, for sure, returned their rented drones to the vendor. Canada is currently planning to acquire drones, but it won’t be determined what of from who for a couple of years. Still time to lobby.
Thanks Jim. I think some of the sales you mention are orders that haven’t been delivered yet but will check them all out and update the list. Should have checked with you first really….


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The family behind beloved northwest Iowa ice cream maker Wells Enterprises, maker of the Blue Bunny brand, has sold the business to a multinational food giant.
Wells Enterprises of Le Mars and Italy-based Ferrero Group announced the deal Wednesday morning, ending the ice cream manufacturer's 109-year run as an independent business. In addition to Blue Bunny, Wells owns the Bomb Pop, Blue Ribbon Classics and Halo Top frozen confection brands.
The companies did not disclose a purchase price in their announcement but said the deal would close in 2023. According to the news release, Wells will remain a stand-alone business with an office and factories in Le Mars in addition to its factories in Henderson, Nevada, and Dunkirk, New York.
Wells CEO Michael Wells, a member of the founding family who has worked for the company since 1977, will continue to serve in an advisory role, the companies announced.
"This acquisition puts the business in the best possible hands, and I look forward to supporting the entire Wells team and Ferrero with the transition," Wells said in a statement.
More:Iowa pride: From Blue Bunny to Jolly Time, these 7 food companies call Iowa home
Wells President Liam Killeen, who joined the company in 2014, will become the ice cream maker's new CEO. Killeen came to Wells after running Ferrara Candy Co. of Minnesota, a business that Ferrero bought in 2017.
"Ferrero's brands and reputation for world-class quality are a perfect match with what has made Wells so successful - and we will be even better together going forward," Killeen said.
Ferrero owns 35 brands, most notably Nutella, Kinder and Tic Tac. The company employs 38,000 workers in 170 countries, according to the news release.
Wells, meanwhile, has expanded in recent years. The company bought its New York factory in April 2019, followed by the Nevada, plant five months later. Wells also acquired the low-calorie ice cream brand Halo Top in 2019.
More:Can an Iowa company make low-calorie Halo Top 'ice cream' a tastier dessert?
In May, the Iowa Economic Development Authority gave Wells a $6.3 million tax credit to expand its Le Mars factory. Company executives pledged to add 135 workers to the 2,500 it already employs in the area.
Though IEDA rules required that Wells sign a contract for the incentive within three months, the IEDA board has granted the company several extensions to the deadline this fall. Most recently, the board granted a 30-day extension at its Nov. 18 meeting.
"Wells Enterprises has been finalizing all details with IEDA and will sign our contract shortly," Wells Enterprises spokesperson Lesley Bartholomew told the Register in a Nov. 1 email. "We're extremely appreciative of the state awarding our project and are excited to add lines and high-quality jobs to make even more ice cream in our Le Mars facilities."
Ferrero has been expanding in the United States for several years. In addition to the acquisition of Wells and Ferrara, the Italian company bought chocolate maker Fannie May in 2017 and the Kellogg Company's cookies and fruit snacks businesses in 2019.
According to its news release, Ferrero employs 8,000 workers in nine offices and 18 factories across North America.
"I am delighted that Wells has agreed to join the Ferrero Group," Giovanni Ferrero, the company's executive chairman, said in a statement. "This represents a win-win partnership, bringing together ice cream experts and confectionery champions."
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Italian company now owns Blue Bunny ice cream maker Wells Enterprises