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Fintech Forum Propelling Financial Regulation Forward
An industry that believes financial services is on the precipice of real change. State regulators who have a history of adapting to meet consumer financial needs. Banks leveraging fintech to transform customer-facing activities. And consumer groups underscoring the importance of data security.
That’s just a sampling of takeaways from the CSBS Fintech Forum, held earlier this month in Brooklyn. The Forum featured panel discussions on consumer and small business lending, payments and money transmission, banks and innovation, blockchain technology, and state regulatory insights.
Attracting more than 130 officials from fintechs, state regulators, banks and consumer groups, the forum served as a mid-point check in for the CSBS Fintech Industry Advisory Panel. The panel, comprised of 33 fintechs, is charged with identifying ways to remove friction in the state regulatory system while strengthening consumer protections in the fintech ecosystem. The panel has subgroups on lending, payments, and community banking.
John Ryan, CSBS president and CEO, commented: “Both the forum and advisory panel meetings are empowering regulators and fintechs alike with knowledge and perspective. All of us have a better understanding of business models, delivery systems, customer experiences, and regulatory impact. And we are identifying priorities to drive action.”
Setting the tone for the forum was CSBS Chairman Albert Forkner. “We as regulators want to make sure that consumers have access to great products with strong protections, businesses operate on sound financial footing, and transactions function properly and securely.” Forkner is also commissioner of the Wyoming Division of Banking.
Underscoring the need to take action, Forkner announced that all 50 states and the District of Columbia had identified Innovation Contacts within their agencies. The purpose: make it easier for fintechs to connect with state agencies through a primary point of contact. He also reiterated regulators’ broader commitment, known as CSBS Vision 2020, to move towards an integrated, 50-state system of licensing and supervision for fintechs and other non-banks.
Putting the regulation of fintech innovation into an historical context was Maria Vullo, superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services. She described how states have long been the source of innovation in financial services with developments such as checking accounts and regulatory structures to enable money transmission and, more recently, virtual currency.
“This resilience by the states, this courage to innovate, and this desire to excel at providing an ever-widening array of safe and sound innovative products, flows through the blood of our New York state chartered and licensed institutions, and those of the many states who are present at this forum today.”
Other takeaways from the forum:
- Fintechs believe that, in the money transmission business, transaction costs to the consumer will continue to decline, forcing fintechs to rely more on new or other products and services which regulators also will need to understand
- Consumer groups cautioned against relying too heavily on automated decision models that have yet to be tested in an economic downturn
- State regulators explained how they focus on underlying business activities, and not technology alone, to apply applicable state laws
- Banks explained how outsourcing does not relieve them of the responsibility to assure a positive customer experience and compliance with applicable laws and regulation
- Fintechs discussed how they are using various business models – from simplifying initial customer engagement to specializing in micro-lending – to penetrate small business and consumer lending
- Consumer groups emphasized that fintech products must not put consumer funds at risk, and in cases where that occurs there be an orderly process to return funds
- In building enterprise risk management, state regulators advised fintechs to focus on this question, “How do we know you are running your business well?”
- State regulators described how, through CSBS, they are developing a next generation technology platform to transform the licensing and supervision of fintechs and other non-banks
- On data security, fintechs described different approaches such as encryption techniques and, for those working with banks, keeping data with bank partners and focusing instead on product security
- All agreed that the core data issue is one of balancing convenience versus security, and that with the value of data comes the risk of data security
Attendees left the forum energized to enhance the state regulatory system such that it enables more fintech innovation while protecting consumers. Summing up the past several months was Jana Hocker, compliance officer at Intuit Quickbooks Capital: “State activity has been phenomenal.”
What to expect next? The CSBS advisory panel is continuing its work, with expectations for actionable items by the fall.


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Airbnb recently offered to collect $21 million in taxes from its bed and breakfast hosts each year and pass it on to New York City, but local politicians are not too keen on the idea, despite looming budget deficits.
The total potential infusion to city coffers from direct taxes, if the city were to license and regulate all vacation rentals and B&B accommodations, could be as much as $40 million per year.
That's not counting the ripple effect of visitor spend. Extrapolating spending figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the 2 percent of NYC visitors who stay in vacation apartment rentals and B&Bs will generate a $2 billion economic impact in restaurants, bars, boutiques and other establishments, creating tens of thousands of jobs for low-skilled local workers who have been hard hit by the tourist slump.
The ancillary spending -- If the 8 percent sales tax were applied -- might actually generate an additional $150 million in taxes to the city and state.
But politicians have so far been un-swayed because of the fierce opposition and powerful lobbies of the hotel owners (who want to wipe out the competition), the hotel unions (who are worried about the growth of non-union jobs), and tenants lobbies (who are concerned about the loss of affordable housing).
In New York, politicians do not cross this dominating trifecta. These powerful, well-funded political forces can quickly derail any political career.
Three years ago, Albany passed a law banning short-term rentals of less than 30 days after a strong lobbying effort. This May, Airbnb is sponsoring a bill in Albany to allow collecting tax for the city, but the opposition is strong.
Powered by the Internet, this high-tech, low-tech multi-billion dollar business has exploded in the last six years. Internet housing middlemen are reinventing the traditional tourist industry by providing new forms of accommodations with novel products and innovative ideas.
But, if NYC continues to stifle this new form of tourism --- which is a $100 billion plus world-wide industry --- it may have unanticipated costly consequences for the city's financial engine by discouraging a booming, entrepreneurial form of tourism.
It is no secret that tourism, with 54.3 million visitors flooding in each year, is a major engine of job growth in New York City. These visitors will have a $58.7 billion economic impact, attending Broadway shows, eating at restaurants, and shopping like crazy all over town.
Even though job growth in the financial services sector has all but disappeared since the financial meltdown, employment is on the rise in NYC in industries impacted by an influx of tourism. Retail stores in New York City offer 12,800 more jobs in 2012 than they did when the recession hit in 2008.
"We can't afford to lose these jobs, we can't afford to lose the tax income, and we can't afford to send away budget tourists," said David Satnick, an attorney for vacation rental owners. "We want them to come to our city and spend money."
It is natural that NYC --- with its strong overall tourist demand --- has become the nexus of this world-wide activity. Vacation rentals are already helping to power the city's thriving tourist industry by appealing to a different class of visitor.
Each year, some four percent of tourists (just under two million)  stay in vacation rental apartments and B&B rooms in hundreds of small brownstones, and apartments.
Airbnb claims it books more rooms a night than any of the big New York hotels. It has listings for more than 4,500 rooms, for which it spends hundreds of millions of dollars promoting NYC tourism all over the world.
Many visitors would not come
Evidence suggests that these new vacation apartment rentals are drawing discretionary travelers: families, young people, retirees, and other visitors who would not--perhaps could not--otherwise come to NYC. In fact, a recent survey of 5,000 vacation rental guests to NYC found that 94 percent of tourists who have rented B&B vacation rental apartments said that they would not have ventured to NYC if they had to pay for a hotel room costing more than $250 per night.
"The prices I charge are less than a third of what hotels would charge for the same suite accommodations," said Chris Burke, who runs a B&B out of a small brownstone in Greenwich Village. "Try to book a hotel room with a kitchen in the fall. They are not available, and those that are cost more than $600 per night. Many families and young people cannot pay that."
These websites have come as a godsend to cash-strapped owners and travelers alike during the recent recession. Like Burke, many entrepreneurial homeowners rent out spare rooms -- sometimes even vacating their apartments temporarily -- in order to help pay the rent, a mortgage, or rising real estate taxes.
David Hantman of Airbnb says that the sharing economy makes NYC more affordable for many of its citizens and helps New Yorkers stay in their homes and apartments. A typical Airbnb host in NYC earns $7,530 in extra cash, which makes a big difference to many struggling families.
An emerging multi-billion dollar tourist market
This quick and efficient way of linking tourists and homeowners has revealed a heretofore hidden demand for this type of short-term housing. This new market has come from many different kinds of guests: the young person, the family with children, and even the tycoon with and an entourage seeking an extra layer of luxury and privacy.
The trend to book homes over hotels has even extended to small businesses, said Bob Milne, president of Wyndham Vacation Rentals North America.
An article in the New York Post says, "Consumers are coming to understand the incredible value a rental offers with such conveniences as a full kitchen, washer/dryer and ample space." And even in large companies that send employees on business trips, corporate per diems have not risen with inflation, which increases the desire to cut costs.
A question of safety?
The way the NYC law is written now, if you go on vacation and rent out your apartment, or even a room in your apartment with a kitchen, for less than 30 days, you could be charged with running an illegal hotel. The law makes no provision for small entrepreneurial owners who are running safe, violation-free establishments in their own brownstones or even for apartment owners who want to rent out their apartments to cover their mortgages or rent while they go on vacation.
State Senator Liz Kruger summed up the public feeling of those seeking to outlaw vacation rentals: "They are unsafe and don't comply with Fire Codes."
But, this is an obvious pretext to pander to the interest groups and collect campaign contributions. The Hotel Association and the 200 hotels represented by NYC & Company strongly lobbied to criminalize and wipe out the competing vacation rental business. They don't want Airbnb to collect taxes.
The original law was widely touted and sold as a way to wipe out "illegal hotels," prevent overcrowding, dangerous SROs (single room occupancy) and illegal, unsafe, makeshift hotels and Internet scams. But these horrors are largely gone by now.
The key question left unanswered is: Why are these apartments "safe" if rented for 30 days or more and "unsafe" if rented for 29 days? Doesn't make sense.
Most of these vacation rentals pass and exceed fire codes for residential housing, particularly when many homeowners live in the same buildings with their families.
These new laws are a classic case of government throttling and over regulating a booming new form of hospitality-based entrepreneurship.
"This has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with fat cat corporate hotels persecuting their competition," wrote Yondo in a comment on the Huffington Post. "In Europe you can find a hostel or pension for $40. In NYC, I'm scrambling to find something less than $200 a night. Ridiculous." Where would Joseph and Mary have stayed?
Lest we forget, renting out spare rooms and homes to travelers is one of the oldest professions. It's an age-old industry that has been given an Internet makeover. Where would Joseph and Mary have stayed had they not found the manger in Jerusalem?
Airbnb founder Brian Chesky spoke out strongly against these restrictive new laws last year: "This legislation is being painted as slumlords who convert apartments to illegal hotels. But as far as I can tell, this will affect thousands of families, young professionals and elderly people," said Chesky.
Airbnb, like many of the other Internet sites, closely monitors complaints about the rooms it lists and publishes tens of thousands of verified reviews annually.
Surprise! With transparency and consumer information, the free market can police itself. AirBnB collects the rental monies and doesn't pay owners until the guest shows up, is satisfied, and stays in the room. Government can choose to encourage urban entrepreneurship through regulation
Discouraging new forms of entrepreneurism that threaten established businesses, is a classic form of government interference that affects many different industries in the urban marketplace. In Detroit, for example, a food truck named Pink FlaminGo had a thriving business selling "Latino-influenced, locally-sourced fresh food," according to Harvard Professor Edward L. Glaeser, the county's eminent scholar on urban development. But, restaurants, unable to deal with the competition, forced the city to give the food truck so many violations that it had to close.
It isn't the city's job to defend the status quo by creating barriers against innovative entrepreneurs, including new immigrants, with archaic ordinances stifling free markets, argues Glaeser, author of Triumph of the City.
Urban studies legend Jane Jacobs argued that cities are organic, messy, and serendipitous. She was strongly supportive of mixed-use zoning, where vacation rentals, hotels, and other businesses were integrated in residential areas.
More than 10,000 jobs are held directly by owners and employees who work with vacation rentals, not including tens of thousands of other unskilled jobs in services that depend on the industry: Laundromats, housekeeping services, delis, retail shops, and restaurants are among the types of businesses that will be affected.
Other cities and towns around the world are dealing with some of same political interest group pressures against vacation rentals as NYC, but overall are much more tolerant of this practice with regulations and tax collections. Even when vacation apartment rentals are subject to restrictive laws, they are seldom enforced. Please, tax us!
In a rare instance of an industry asking for more regulation and taxes, the Short Term Rental and Hospitality Association (STRAHA) wants to subject the industry to licensing and regulation.
"License us and provide a way for visitors from Europe, South America, and Asia to check legitimate establishments, so that overseas visitors won't get scammed by criminals pretending to offer accommodations," said a STRAHA representative. "The scam artists would be driven out and legitimate, safe vacation apartment rentals would be allowed to prosper. Provide a place for complaints and insurance for anyone who is scammed."
In return for legitimacy and freedom from harassment and fines, STRAHA says they would gladly pay the tax of 17 percent that regular hotels pay in order to function legally. Some vacation rental places already pay these taxes and are registered, but, nevertheless, have been subject to criminal fines as if they were illegal hotels.
Vacation rental owners argue that proper licensing and inspections would create a much safer climate for tourists coming to NYC. This is the situation in Chicago, Paris, San Francisco which recently passed laws regulating, licensing and taxing vacation rentals.
NYC has more than a million rent regulated apartments, and tenant groups have been worried that legitimizing vacation rentals will encourage greedy landlords to get rid of their regulated tenants. But the vast majority of vacation rental apartments are not regulated, and if not rented to tourists, would be left to wealthy investment bankers.
In the off chance that a landlord tries to convert a regulated apartment into a vacation rental, there is a simple way around this, according to some vacation rental owners. No apartment that has been rent-controlled or regulated in the last five years would be allowed to be used as short stay housing.
The issue of vacation rentals mirrors the unlicensed illegal "black car" dilemma, which for decades forced millions of outer boroughs residents to hail unlicensed and uninsured taxis.
The problem was that yellow cabs, with pricy, tightly regulated medallions, did not venture outside of the wealthier neighborhoods of Manhattan. This left a huge gap in taxi service to the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and northern areas of Manhattan. Thousands of uninsured "black car" limos stepped up to meet with this overwhelming demand and developed a thriving entrepreneurial business servicing millions of people who wanted to hail taxis on the street.
The stifling of a free market taxi medallion monopoly and neglect of this important need by both the city and taxi medallion owners continued for decades, until last year, when Mayor Bloomberg broke the stranglehold of medallion cab owners by passing a plan to license and tax thousands of black taxis that had been operating for years.
Former mayor Mike Bloomberg said the city stands to make one billion dollars from this previously unlicensed and unregulated industry, which will now provide safe, insured 'green' taxis to an under-served population in the boroughs outside Manhattan.
There's no reason Bill de Blasio can't make the same call to regulate, improve and encourage New York's vacation rental industry.
The economic boost of B&Bs and vacation rentals -- in jobs created, and billions brought to the local economy -- should far outweigh the fears of tenant activists and the hotel lobby. If NYC continues to ban vacation rentals, it will cost the local economy up to $2 billion in tourist spending and up to twenty thousand jobs. Bottom line: the more tourists come to the city, the more unskilled jobs there are for local residents.
Bloomberg said it best: "What really matters in the city? More tax revenues and jobs."
_____________________________________  4000 vacation rental accommodations works out to 1,448,000 room nights at double occupancy totals nearly 3 million visitors, which, allowing for vacancies, makes the figure of 2 million vacation rental visitors reasonable.  Poll of Vacation Renters by STRAHA  These two million visitors spend at minimum $1,000 per person per domestic visit. Overseas visitors, on average, spend $3,000 per visit to the U.S. Visitors from China have an average spend of $6,243, India $6,131 and Brazil $4,940, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce figures.

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A massive theme park widely described as the Disney World of Italian food will open to the public in November in Bologna, as the largest "agro-food park in the world."
After months of hype and fanfare, FICO Eataly World announced plans to open their doors November 15, in a sprawling space that will span the length of a kilometer and the area of 100,000 square meters.
For comparison, that's bigger than Buckingham Palace, which occupies a space of 77,000 square meters.
Like its sister Eataly markets around the world, FICO (which stands for Fabbrica Italiana Contadina, which, roughly translated, means Italian Farming Factory) Eataly World will be a gastronomic mecca, with 40 restaurants and food stalls serving authentic Italian fare.
Think pizzerias, fresh pasta and truffles.
But the $106 million food park in Bologna will also be much more than a dining space, with workshops, live animals, seminars and farmer's markets set up to help visitors better understand the food they eat.
The indoor farm, for instance, will house 200 live animals including cows, goats, rabbits, donkeys, sheep and pigs.
Visitors will learn about Italian agriculture and farming traditions and how their food goes from field to fork.
At the dedicated "Factories" space, visitors will be able to watch how their cheese, pasta, prosciutto, and olive oil are made.
The park will also lay claim to the world's biggest Italian farmer's market, with 9,000 square meters of stalls selling locally grown, Italian produce.
And cooking classes, demonstrations, educational seminars and multimedia exhibits will also be regular events at the park.
Eataly is currently present across Italy and the US, in cities like New York, Chicago and Boston. Other locations include Seoul, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, and Istanbul.


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Years ago, ethnic ingredients for the American consumer meant tomato sauce, maybe basil and garlic and pasta. Flash forward a few decades and ethnic foods are so much a part of our national pantry a divide is actually increasing between ethnic foods and ethnic-style foods, and both categories are growing.
Ethnic cuisine is all about fresh, authentic and the traditional; ethnic-style uses the tastes of ethnic foods on foods characteristic of a host cuisine in order to expand it.
Consumer demand for Southeast Asian flavors such as sriracha garlic chili sauce, shows familiarity way past soy sauce.
According to ACNielsen (www.acnielsen.com), Chicago, the most popular new frozen ethnic entrees remain Asian and Hispanic -- no surprise -- echoing the restaurant trends of years 2000-2002. As food trends mature, they go mainstream, with fast food, frozen and prepared products taking on the popularity of yesterday's dining-out trends.
Total retail sales (excluding Wal-Mart) of Asian foods rose by 4.5 percent, to $1.1billion for the 52 weeks ended Nov. 4, 2006. Sales of Mexican foods continued a four-year upward trend to reach $3.2 billion, up 3.5 percent from the previous year.
However, the star within Asian foods (Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean) has become two-item frozen entrées. That segment has been on a four-year roll that culminated in a 21 percent sales gain in 2006 to almost $88 million. That category has more than doubled in size since 2002.
Same story in the Mexican category, where growth of the two-item frozen entrée eclipsed all others, increasing 36 percent, to more than $30 million in the last year (these are still relatively new categories).
"Although a modest part of Asian and Mexican offerings overall, the popularity of frozen ethnic entrées suggests they play a growing role in ethnic, and even non-ethnic, households as convenient packaged foods that make meals easy to assemble and prepare," says a spokesperson for ACNielsen. The largest contributor to Asian sales continues to be one-food frozen entrees, which edged down 1.6 percent to $379 million in 2006.
A study by Business Insights (www.businessinsights.com), London, compared ethnic flavor trends. Although Asian flavors made up the majority of ethnic-flavored items, its share, as a percentage share of new products launched, dropped from 43 percent to about 39 percent between 2004 and 2006. The difference between the two time frames is small, but German and Slavic flavors gained 3.5 percent, and Indian flavors gained about 1 percent. It should be noted this is the British point of view, and the U.K. trends as more accepting of new flavors than the U.S.
According to Business Insights, "Southern European flavors will take a much larger share of total ethnic product launches over the next three to five years as consumers become increasingly health-conscious and consequently interested in the Mediterranean diet, which is associated with longevity and optimum health. Products such as olive oil, salad, fish and bread will benefit from this positive reputation."
Hummus, the Middle-eastern dip made of chickpea and sesame, is becoming an ingredient in chips (or "crisps"), and its flavors include the span of Indian, Thai, Japanese and other flavors. London has a heavily ethnic population, and curry is a major food influence. U.S.-based companies view the U.K. as a trend setter, but usually don't act on its influences right away. Yet the past few years have seen geometric increase of flavored snack chips hit the market, including ethnic-influenced flavors.
Americans have developed a familiarity with tortillas that extends beyond tacos.
On the Mexican side, tortillas remain the most popular product. While the population of Hispanic residents increased by around 15 percent in the past five years, sales of tortillas doubled in the same time frame, reaching $1 billion in the 2006 period. Mexican salsas and sauces ran a close second at $945 million, up 2.8 percent from the previous year. The Tortilla Industry Assn. notes that tortilla sales are catching up to white bread sales in this country.
In a telling mix of ethnic influences, Tumaro's Gourmet Tortillas and Snacks, Hollywood, Calif., was among the first tortilla processors to manufacture certified-kosher tortillas. The company also offers such multicultural tortilla flavors as pineapple-banana and garlic-pesto.
As a means of transferring a plate meal to hand-held, the tortilla has gone beyond Mexican and Spanish-American specialty to the now-ubiquitous wrap. Mission Foods (www.missionfoodsfsc.com), Oldsmar, Fla., introduced a no trans fat tortilla, sold primarily to the restaurant industry. The company supplies flour tortillas, corn tortillas, wraps, multigrain tortillas and low-carb tortillas with extra fiber. Another company, Azteca (www.aztecafoods.com), Summit-Argo, Ill. has specialized in low- to zero-fat flour tortillas and salad bowls, baked or fried.
Ingredients for tortillas and taco chips have been of special interest to Cargill Co.'s (www.cargillcornmilling.com) dry corn milling group, with production facilities in Paris, Ill., and Indianapolis. For those interested in pursuing a whole-grain health claim, the line of whole-grain corn products under Cargill's Innovasure line (identity preserved) includes a wide variety of textures, grinds and colors, both white and yellow.


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Sprint is essentially betting all of its chips on the iPhone. As the third largest mobile operator looks to become a bigger player in a world largely dominated by AT&T and Verizon, the Wall Street Journal reports today that Sprint is poised to "bet the company" on the iPhone.
The No. 3 wireless company is making a multibillion dollar gamble that Apple Inc.'s gadget will be the ticket to a turnaround, even though Sprint Chief Executive Dan Hesse told the board in August that Sprint would likely lose money on the deal until 2014, according to people familiar with the matter.
For now, sources close to Sprint will only say that the amount of cash Sprint is putting into the iPhone is ""staggering." But if the gamble pays off - and that's a big "if" - and Sprint attracts new customers (presumably, some of which will be siphoned away from AT&T and Verizon) the carrier may see itself on the most positive course it has charted in years.
Still, industry analysts and market watchers say the gamble is worth it. As Sprint's chief executive confirms, the lack of the iPhone remains "the No. 1 reason customers leave" Sprint.


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There may be a battle brewing over who will buy Motivate, the owner of the Big Apple’s Citi Bike program.
Uber is weighing a bid for the company, according to a report on Friday.
On June 1 it was reported that rival ride-hailing company Lyft was close to a deal to buy the Citi Bike operator — which also runs the Ford GoBike program in Detroit.
The price for Motivate was expected to be above $250 million.
If Uber gets its way, it would be double-dipping in the bike-share market — in April it ponied up almost $200 million for Brooklyn-based Jump, which operates about 425 dockless electric bikes in San Francisco and Washington, DC, and which will be participating in a pilot program in New York City’s outer boroughs this summer.
Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said the Jump acquisition will help Uber go beyond “just being about car sharing and car hailing to really helping the consumer get from A to B in the most affordable, most dependable, most convenient way.”
It’s not yet clear what Uber’s potential purchase of Motivate would mean for its dockless bike efforts — Citi Bike and its 12,000 regular foot-powered bikes have the exclusive right through 2029 to serve most of Manhattan and select parts of Brooklyn and Queens.
Citi Bike, which celebrated its fifth anniversary last month, has provided New Yorkers with 60 million rides since it started in 2013.
Motivate also operates bike-share programs in eight US cities, including San Francisco, Washington and Boston, and reported 3.18 million rides last month.
Axios first reported Uber’s interest in Motivate.
Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


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Paychex Survey: Business Owner Optimism is Trending Up, Tariffs Impacting Some
Latest Paychex Business Sentiment Report shows navigating the overall regulatory environment is the top challenge for business owners
Rochester, N.Y. (September 23, 2019) – The Paychex Business Sentiment Report, a quarterly survey that measures business owner optimism and confidence, shows that navigating a complex and evolving regulatory landscape is the top challenge currently impacting business owners. In addition, tariffs are having a negative effect on the cost of supplies and materials for 27 percent of business owners, with the remaining 73 percent reporting no supply chain impact. The report was issued by Paychex, Inc., a leading provider of integrated human capital management solutions and services for human resources, payroll, benefits, and insurance services.
“Businesses, especially those in the small and mid-market, don’t always know about or have the ability to quickly adapt to changing regulations. Tariffs can have a major impact as smaller companies often lack leverage when it comes to switching suppliers or passing along increased costs to customers,” said Martin Mucci, Paychex president and CEO. “While we’re encouraged to see that the majority of business owners are not affected at this time, we are keeping a close eye on the evolving trade regulations and small and mid-sized businesses.”
According to the survey results, gathered via an online poll of 500 randomly selected business owners with 500 employees or less between August 1 and 13, business owners’ optimism is trending up in every area – including business outlook, ability to raise wages, and access to capital – since the last report in March 2019. On a scale of 1-100 with 1 representing the highest level of pessimism and 100 representing the peak of optimism, business owners’ overall outlook is up eight points to 73/100 since March (65/100), the highest it’s been since the report debuted in October 2018.
Owners’ confidence in the U.S. economy rose one point to 63/100 since March, yet marks the lowest level of optimism across all areas included in the survey. Business owners’ confidence in their ability to raise wages increased by 26 points to 67/100.
“These results indicate a positive shift in business owner outlook as we head into the back half of 2019,” Mucci added. “The uptick in their level of confidence in their ability to raise wages is consistent with our latest wage data, which shows hourly earnings have grown 2.61 percent year over year.”
Other areas that saw a notable increase in business owner sentiment since the March 2019 report include:
- Ability to make capital investments: up 21 points to 74/100
- Ability to find new customers: up 12 points to 74/100
- Access to capital: up 12 points to 76/100
“My overall business outlook is positive right now,” said one survey respondent. “However, I do worry about how America’s trade war with other countries will affect my business. I also fear that the U.S. will go through another economic recession.”
According to another respondent, “My business is a startup, so the current economic outlook will definitely impact our ability to grow in the short-term and possibly for the first few years in business. The current business outlook does not make building a successful business impossible, just more difficult.”
Acerca del Informe de perspectivas empresariales de Paychex
Data included in the Paychex Business Sentiment Report was taken from the results of the Paychex Business Survey, administered by Bredin, a third-party research firm. The survey was conducted online between August 1, 2019 and August 13, 2019 and polled 500 randomly selected principals of U.S. companies with 1-500 employees. Results are representative of how small business owners feel, on a scale of 1 to 100 with 1 representing the highest level of pessimism and 100 representing the highest level of optimism. The margin of error for this study was +/- 4%. This is the fourth installment of the Paychex Business Sentiment Report. The previous three reports were released in summer 2018, fall 2018, and spring 2019.
Disclaimer: The data cited in this news release represents the opinions of the survey respondents and not those of Paychex or its employees.
Acerca de Paychex
Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) is a leading provider of integrated human capital management solutions for payroll, benefits, human resources, and insurance services. By combining its innovative software-as-a-service technology and mobility platform with dedicated, personal service, Paychex empowers small- and medium-sized business owners to focus on the growth and management of their business. Backed by more than 45 years of industry expertise, Paychex serves over 670,000 payroll clients as of May 31, 2019, across more than 100 locations in the U.S. and Europe, and pays one out of every 12 American private sector employees. Learn more about Paychex by visiting paychex.com, and stay connected on Twitter and LinkedIn.


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Margaret River wine industry receives grant for ecommerce development
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The Margaret River Wine Industry Association has received a $152,335 grant from the Federal Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research for an ‘AusIndustry’ initiative.
The money will support the association’s ‘Uncorking the Web for Wineries’ project, designed to assist grape growers and wine producers to deliver efficient eCommerce.
Association president Leah Clearwater says it will assist the greater regional wine industry in meeting present challenges.
“The Board is strategically focused on providing tangible platforms for the Margaret River wine industry to grow and develop in a range of areas, particularly online commerce and internet marketing,” she said.
Over the next two years, Uncorking the Web for Wineries will deliver information on internet use for grapegrowers and wine producers in developing and sustaining their businesses.
“And we are very pleased to take this opportunity to partner with Dr Cam O’Beirne and his company, Free the Wine, to implement a project that will increase the innovative profile of our region,” Clearwater said.
“We have already achieved great success with Cam in the past on our very popular Margaret River podcast series.”
Dr O’Beirne says the program’s main objectives are eBusiness development, targeted training and strategic mentoring services.
“The project will use multiple methods to educate and enhance the skills of people within the wine industry, including seminars and one-to-one training, as well as other innovative new media techniques such as online resourcing and podcasting,” he said.
“In today’s rapidly changing communication world, utilising a Web 2.0 framework will allow the ‘Uncorking the Web for Wineries’ project to enable all wine businesses, small or large, to maximise their participation in the digital economy.”
The first ‘Uncorking the Web for Wineries’ workshop is scheduled for early April 2010 with more information available soon from the Association website at www.margaretriverwine.org.au


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Newsmakers: Moss Adams' Michelle Gall goes deep on the sustainable imperative
Michelle Gall is a senior manager at Moss Adams where she audits the financial statements of food, beverage, and agriculture companies.
Can businesses do well by doing good? The answer appears to be murky.
On the one hand, broadly speaking, sustainable products that cost more to produce still trail their conventional counterparts in sales. Consumers haven’t yet exhibited a widespread willingness to spend more on goods that come with an ethical or environmental mark of approval.
On the other hand, many businesses are beginning to realize that there are costs associated with not making an effort to operate sustainably. Those same consumers that might not always want to dig deeper into their pockets for, say, a hybrid vehicle at least want assurances that the automobile they did buy doesn’t contain parts produced under exploitive working conditions or that its assembly plant doesn’t unnecessarily pollute a nearby river.
What’s more, not offering sustainable products or operating in a sustainable fashion can harm a brand’s reputation and provide an opening to competitors. Many large national and global retailers — most prominently Walmart — have made sustainability commitments of their own, and if your product or service doesn’t match those commitments, they may seek an alternative supplier.
|More stories from the SBO Awards special section >>|
And then there’s the increasing legislative pressure. The Dodd-Frank Act, for example—a law that primarily addresses regulation in the financial sector—contains a little-known provision that requires publicly traded companies to disclose more about their supply chains, specifically whether they include so-called conflict minerals from war-torn Central Africa.
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Natures Organics is upgrading its IT systems as the natural cleaning products business seeks to polish operations and support a brand image of sustainability.
Natures Organics sells a variety of Earth-friendly cleaning and personal hygiene products. Its brands include Earth Choice, Australian Pure and Organic Care.
Historically, IT had not been a major focus for the natural cleaning products company, with other areas taking priority due to cost concerns and insufficient resources, according to the company’s CTO, Phillip Smith.
“Due to the dynamic nature of the business and the lean senior management team the focus on IT has historically been a ‘when required’ approach,” he said.
In the last 12 months, however, the IT department received additional resources and the go-ahead to buy a new ERP and business intelligence platform from Pronto Software, he said. The new software is currently being implemented.
In addition, the business last month completed a migration from Windows XP to Windows 7 and enabled native dual-stack IPv6 on our desktop network. Natures Organics is also working on a longer term project to green its IT systems.
External customer demands convinced the business to overhaul its IT environment, according to Smith.
“While we have been aware for some time that we had simply outgrown our current system, one of our key drivers behind this project is some external requirements from our customers around [electronic data interchange (EDI)] interactions,” he said.
The old system didn’t “have any EDI features, and the third-party systems we retrofitted around it were clumsy, unmaintainable and unscalable. One customer in particular had pending requirements that we just could not meet.
“This was the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’ that tipped us over the edge into finally initiating the process of replacing our legacy system.”
Natures Organics met with about eight potential vendors, eventually narrowing the list to Pronto and Epicor, said Smith.
“For a long time we actually believed Epicor would be best for us, but ultimately there were a couple of main concerns that led us to Pronto.”
Natures Organics liked that Pronto was an Australian company, with R&D being conducted “15 minutes up the road rather than half a world away,” he said.
“We also felt that Epicor's scope was more suitable to a larger business than ours. Yes, it would be capable of meeting our needs, but it was going to be a lot more complex and expensive to maintain when anything went wrong.”
While Natures Organics is still implementing Pronto Xi, Smith said he expects the software will provide more accurate details about basic information like creditors, debtors and stock.
In the next stage of the project, the business will implement Pronto’s advanced warehouse management module.
“We have around 6000 pallet spaces in our warehouse at the moment, and no proper system to manage it – even simple things like ‘what product is where’ is mostly down to warehouse staff just knowing where they put it,” Smith said.
“Being able to track and analyse our stock turns to efficiently store stock will be a big improvement for us. Some of our products turn 20 times a year, others two or three times.”
Another major IT objective for Smith is to extend the Natures Organics brand’s “natural ethos” into IT.
The business has an aggressive power-saving policy and a plan to green its server room, including an initiative to extract hot air to heat office space, the CTO said.
“The latter is still a work in progress, but we hope to get there one day,” he said. “The company does have plans to expand into a greenfield site, where we will be able to build a new server room from the ground up which will make these kind of things easier to do.”
However, Smith admitted that not all of these green IT initiatives have gone over well with the business.
“Unfortunately our most recent initiative of shutting down all computers, printers and servers over lunch breaks wasn't well received,” he said, calling it “our April fools to the company!”


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Water charges and Property Taxes leading to the creation of a ‘Shutter Island’ - Tóibín
Responding to the latest CSO unemployment figures, Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Peadar Tóibín TD has stated that there are three important facts emerging from the governments activities.
“The first is that the rate of job creation is slowing down. On a seasonally adjusted basis employment rose by 1,700 in the last quarter compared to 10,600 in Q4 2013.
“Secondly those sectors that are most sensitive to government austerity policies such as retail are suffering most with a drop of over 5,000 jobs in the sector in the years to Q1 2014. Citizens’ expectations with regards income and expenditure determine their spending patterns. Every year when the budget debates occurs spending falls as people start to save to meet expected flat taxes.
“Retailers noticed this specifically during the property tax debacle and they are noticing it with regards the Water charges debacle. The wholesale and retail sector is a weather vein of the Irish government policy and 6 years of retrenchment has led to the characterisation of our country as ‘Shutter Island’. The truth is the Property Tax and Water Charges are anti-job measures costing thousands of jobs in already hard hit sectors such as retail.
“The third issue causing great worry with regards policy development is the fact that the figures emanating from the CSO on jobs are now unreliable. In March of this year total figures for job creation and those in the Agriculture sector were grossly overestimated. Where figures are reliable it shows great volatility.
“The government cannot proceed on this basis. The retail sector needs to be allowed to consolidate and grow. It needs the government to desist from its anti-jobs policies.”


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The European Securities and Markets Authorityappear
that it is banning binary options and placing restrictions on the auction of contract for differences (CFDs) to retail investors.
Binary options and contracts for differences are financial products that are often abused by cybercriminals to perpetrate online investment scams.
Beginning in the center of the last decade, a multi-billion dollar online trading industry developed in Israel that offered binary options, forex and CFDs to ordinary, unsophisticated investors in Israel and away. Much of the manufacture perpetuated fraud against its investors, earning money when the investors lost money. The fraudsters lied to the investors nigh the potential for profit and nigh the identities and locations of its “brokers,” and frequently disappeared with the money when investors attempted to withdraw profits.
Many binary options, forex and CFD companies have operated from Israel with no regulation whatsoever, while others found a friendly regulator in the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (Cysec), which immune them to legally offer their products throughout the Eu. Binary options were largely an Israel-centered industry while forex and CFDs are peddled by Israelis, Cypriots, Russians and others.
ESMA, the European Spousal relationship’south fiscal regulator, said Tuesday it will publish the new rules in the Official Journal of the European Union in the coming weeks. The binary options ban will get into outcome a month from the engagement of publication, and the new rules applying to CFDs will go into consequence ii months from their publication.
I industry adept described ESMA’due south decision, however, as akin to “closing the barn door after the horse has escaped.” Andrew Saks-McLeod, the editor of the FinanceFeeds trade publication, has long been disquisitional of the binary options manufacture and has sought to draw a stardom between those online trading websites he views as legitimate and those that are frauds.
Saks-McLeod told The Times of Israel that since State of israel passed a constabulary banning binary options in October 2017 — as a straight result of Times of Israel investigative reporting on the fraud — most Israeli binary options operatives take been selling cryptocurrencies instead. The ESMA’s ban on binary options, he warned, will exercise picayune to stop the phenomenon of investment scam boiler rooms operating from Israel and other jurisdictions with lax law enforcement.
“I’ve noticed nearly of the Israelis in Republic of cyprus who used to sell binary options are now offering ICOs [initial coin offerings]. They don’t even need a license from Cysec to offer these products and the investor who loses all his coin has no legal recourse,” he said.
ESMA’s binary options ban will consist of a “prohibition on the marketing, distribution or auction of binary options to retail investors,” co-ordinate to a March 27 ESMA press release.
The contracts for differences regulation will restrict the amount of leverage that can be offered to retail investors, volition not permit investors to lose more than they invested, and will preclude the utilize of “bonuses” and other incentives to trade. The new rules volition initially apply for three months and will be extended as ESMA deems necessary.
Twitter follows Facebook and Google
ESMA’s announcement came a day after Twitter appear a ban on ads for cryptocurrencies and ICOs. The company had said it would no longer advertise binary options in August 2017.
Less than two weeks ago, the net giant Google announced that beginning in June, it will restrict the advertising of contracts for difference, rolling spot forex and fiscal spread betting, as well as enforce an outright ban on advertising for binary options and cryptocurrencies.
Google’s move is perceived as the greatest blow notwithstanding to fraudulent cryptocurrency, binary options, forex and CFD websites.
Facebook banned ads for binary options, cryptocurrencies and ICOs in January.
In its press release, ESMA explained that information technology considered CFDs and binary options potentially dangerous to investors. CFDs pose a risk considering of “excessive leverage” while binary options have a “structural expected negative render and embedded conflict of interest betwixt providers and their clients.”
Legal action against Israeli binary options firms
Despite the fact that Israeli law enforcement has yet to indict a single binary options fraudster, operatives are facing legal troubles from other directions. Several alleged operatives are facing lawsuits from investors away. Meanwhile, Israeli banks accept airtight the accounts of Israel-based forex companies.
Four lawsuits have been brought confronting Banc de Binary and the Israeli visitor that operated the site, owned by Oren, Hezi and Lior Shabat, according to State of israel’s corporate registry. The kickoff lawsuit, for NIS 360,060 ($103,275), was filed by a 69-year-old man from Finland through his Israeli lawyers Adam Ashkenazi and Raouf Najar. The Finnish human lost a total of 88,250 euros ($110,000) to the visitor and as a result fell into a deep depression, suffered the demise of his matrimony, moved out of his home, and has been compelled to return to piece of work in his retirement.
In their response to the complaint, Oren Shabat and the local Israeli company Global App Technologies Ltd. asserted that the investor had signed an agreement acknowledging that he understood the risks involved in trading binary options. The defendants also claimed that the investor had signed a document giving upwardly his merits to some of his money.
A plaintiff in a separate case brought by attorneys Ashkenazi and Najar is a 62-year-old musician and music teacher from Switzerland who is suing Banc de Binary and Oren Shabat for 460,168 shekels ($132,000). The amount was his pension, which he lost in its entirety.
“He lost his entire alimony while the defendants live in luxurious houses and drive fancy cars,” the homo’s lawyers wrote in the complaint.
In addition, ii alleged victims of the binary options website TitanTrade filed lawsuits against MIG GA Marketing Finance Ltd. (which has since changed its name to Gtech Media Development Ltd), a company registered in Israel at 13 Tuval Street in Ramat Gan whose director is Guy Galboiz.
The offset lawsuit was filed by a Polish woman who was suing the company for $93,000 or 358,050 shekels. Her lawyers, Nir Friedman and Yossy Haezrachy, claimed that MIG GA Marketing Finance Ltd. employed skilled salespeople who represented themselves equally working for TitanTrade. MIG GA Marketing Finance Ltd. countered that at that place was a lack of privity between the plaintiff and defendants since MIG GA Marketing Finance Ltd. is an Israeli company that merely provides services to foreign companies and is not the company that transacted with the plaintiff.
In a dissever lawsuit, a Lithuanian man was suing Guy Galboiz and Gtech Media Development for NIS 76,720 ($22,000).
The lawsuits were withdrawn before they reached the evidentiary stage. The Times of Israel has been told that the plaintiffs requested to withdraw the lawsuits and too stated that they had no cause for action against Gtech. The plaintiffs did and so considering every bit the proceedings were commencing, the plaintiffs received all their coin dorsum from TitanTrade, even though TitanTrade was not the accused.
Other lawsuits making their style through Israeli courts include a $382,422 lawsuit past an Australian homo against Roey Shagan and Paperclick Marketing Ltd. The man claims to have been defrauded by 365BinaryOptions.com and that Paperclick Marketing ran the website.
A Canadian man is suing another Israeli visitor, IGMD Ltd., owned past Yehoram and Shay Hillel, for $54,436. His lawyers are Adam Ashkenazi and Raouf Najar and the man claims he was defrauded by the binary options website OptionBit.com.
Earlier this month, a Tel Aviv Commune Court ruled against Haim Toledano and his company Toyga Media Ltd., which is associated with the website UFX.com. Toledano had sued State of israel’southward Beginning International Bank for closing his account, unlawfully, he claimed.
The bank argued that the activity in the visitor’southward accounts raised many cherry flags for possible coin laundering and that the bank was within its rights to close the account. The judge agreed with the banking concern. Israeli banks have been stepping upwardly their anti-money laundering due diligence in the concluding year in an effort to comply with new laws passed by Israel’s Knesset whose purpose is to assist Israel meet international anti-money laundering standards.
Toyga and Toledano are currently fighting a similar legal battle against State of israel’s Mizrahi Bank, which also took steps to shut downward their bank accounts. An email sent from one of the bank’south compliance officers to other staff members, that was revealed in the lawsuit’s discovery process, hints that the closing of Toyga’s bank account may not be an isolated case, and that it may go increasingly difficult for Israeli forex, CFD and cryptocurrency companies to maintain bank accounts in the country.
On November 22, 2016, Amos Lottem, a compliance officer for Banking company Mizrahi told other staff members that they cannot have further money transfers into Haim Toledano’southward depository financial institution account.
“The money comes from offshore, with no explanation of its source,” he wrote, “The companies he reported receiving money from in the past operate without a license and he himself is under investigation by the Israeli Taxation Authorisation. Until nosotros go all the proper documents proving the source of the money and that he paid taxes on it, we cannot take the money.”
In his complaint, Toledano disputed the bank’south findings and claimed the source of the money was dividends from legitimate business organisation action.
In an electronic mail dated Dec thirteen, 2016, Lottem suggested that the bank had scrutinized the activity of other forex companies too.
“Haim Toledano has a forex company in Republic of cyprus and he likewise operates ‘marketing’ and ‘call centers’ for additional forex companies. This is similar activeness to the activity of IDI Ventures at Branch 36 and to RBPKR.”
IDI Ventures is associated with the online forex brands Xforex and Xtrade while RBPKR is associated with KSFtrade.com.


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FCC’s Brendan Carr Slams Apple Over Allegedly Blocking VOA App in China
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 4-21-22
Republican FCC Commissioner and Big Tech critic Brendan Carr says Apple is blocking Voice of America’s mobile app from its App Store in China and he wants some answers, actually a single answer, from Apple CEO Tim Cook by the end of the month.
Following Cook’s speech last week to an IAPP Global Privacy Summit April 12 in Washington, one in which he spoke eloquently, according to Carr, about “Apple’s commitment to operating its App Store in a manner that promotes privacy and human rights,” Carr said the CEO’s words did not match “the reality” of the company’s actions in China. » Read More
By Richard T. Kaplar|2022-05-03T21:21:36-04:00April 21st, 2022|Issue Watch|Comments Off on FCC’s Brendan Carr Slams Apple Over Allegedly Blocking VOA App in China


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In my Toys for Torts post, I covered the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s fight to force a recall of magnetballs. These toys (or should I say “science kits?”) have become the modern lawn dart. Federal regulators say the product poses an inherent danger to children and animals. Magnetball sellers say the dangers are exaggerated and warning labels should suffice.
Two of the largest magnetball companies were named Buckyballs and Zen Magnets. Each sold millions of magnetballs into the U.S. market, starting around 2009. The companies had some friction in 2011 when Buckyballs CEO threatened to sue Zen Magnets and got this YouTube video in return. But regulatory enforcement makes strange bedfellows, and the intra-industry tiff took a back seat in 2012 when the CPSC sued both companies, trying to force a recall.
The companies had different reactions to the lawsuit. Buckyballs CEO Craig Zucker fought the lawsuit in the press and with lobbying efforts in Washington, but eventually shut down the LLC that was selling the product. The CPSC responded by amending its lawsuit to add Zucker as an individual defendant. Zen Magnets, on the other hand, continued business as usual. It still offers magnetballs for sale through its website.
Just last month, Zucker and the CPSC signed a consent order. Zucker, with no admission of wrongdoing, pledged $375,000 toward a recall of Buckyballs. Here is the consent order. It looks like Zucker will need to put up $100k towards publication of a website, to last five years, and administration of a six-month recall, with the rest of the money put in escrow to pay claims. However, if there are any unclaimed funds left in the escrow after one year, Zucker gets the money back. (It’s not clear to me what would happen if there were more recalls in one year than could be supported by the escrow account. Do the U.S. taxpayers foot the bill?)
Both sides claimed victory – Zucker (or an anonymous supporter) through a WSJ opinion piece, and the CPSC Commissioners through their website. However, each Commissioner had a different reaction. Robinson’s press release crows almost as loudly as Zucker’s. Buerkle supports the settlement, but takes offense at the fact that Zucker was added as a defendant by unilateral action of the Presiding Officer, and not by a vote of the Commission. Only Adler, who dissented from the settlement, says it didn’t go far enough. He makes two points that were in my mind upon reading the consent order – why pay to maintain a recall website for five years if customers only have six months to respond? And is $375k enough?
The second point is significant in deciding who really won this battle. Did Zucker beat City Hall? Or did he end up doing basically what the CPSC wanted in the first place? Let’s do a little back-of-the-napkin math. In its Complaint, the CPSC estimated 2.5 million Buckyballs (or variants) were sold. A set of 10 cost $3.50. 250k sets at $3.50 each gives us $875k. Now, Zucker himself has been quoted as saying he made millions off Buckyballs, so we might assume the $875k number is low. But how many purchasers are likely to actually return their Buckyballs? Presumably anyone who finds the product dangerous already got rid of it. The $275k in escrow covers the return of about 78,000 sets. Of course there is postage, etc., but I have a hard time believing Zucker would have experienced this level of returns even if he agreed to a recall at the outset (and he might have saved some hefty litigation fees).
What effect will this consent order have on future market behavior? Does a penalty of this size have a deterrent effect? I doubt it, but the CPSC’s willingness to hold LLC members personally liable might. Or the maneuver may simply have made Zucker a hero to small gov advocates, with a strong base of support for his future projects.
And what now for Zen Magnets? They are still in the fight and beginning the discovery phase of litigation. Zucker is out of the CPSC’s sights but might still be on its deposition list. Will Zucker take the chance to sink his former rivals? I think Zucker wants to preserve his anti-establishment image, and he still might be on the hook for tort liability. So, for now, I expect these magnetball magnates to stick together.
Thanks for the update on the BuckyBalls case, I remember you discussing this when we talked about the legality of torts in your Business Law class. Being an inspiring entrepreneur, I always enjoy learning about avoiding potential litigation as it pertains to products offered to end consumers.
I wrote a paper on product recalls for an International Business course that outlined the trouble for Craig Zucker, and his now, no longer exisiting company. This particular case is rather interesting to me due to the tremendous amount of consumer negligence surrounding the danger of swallowing the magnets. (I know many consisted of young children, but are parents not suppose to keep choking hazards out of the hands of their kids? Explicit warnings were placed on packaging to inform consumers of health hazards from swallowing the magnets)
America (and the world in general) is becoming, for lack of better words, a “sue” happy place. Every where you go, people are pointing the finger elsewhere, blaming others and corporations for wrongdoing done upon them. While at the extremes this can be understood, the vast majority of these claims come from consumers who are blatantly negligent in handling the products. It is sad to see, but it keeps a future entrepreneur like myself on my toes when coming up with ideas and actually implementing product offerings for end consumers.
I think Zucker did the smart thing in avoiding litigation (it seems he got off cheap if he made as much as he states he did). Zucker has been successful in starting up several businesses and I would not be shocked to see him have success with another great idea, this time around I am sure he will give the product development stage a little more thought!
Keep blogging, love the reads!
Marketing and Finance Undergraduate Student~Georgia College and State University


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The adoption and recognition that Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) are getting are truly mind-blowing. It is everything that the fans of the crypto space could have ever asked for. While banks and financial institutions getting on the Bitcoin bandwagon is old news now, celebrities doing so is still exciting. And it seems like the king of crypto has managed to make another one bite the dust.
Tom Brady, one of the greatest NFL players of all time seems to have bought Bitcoin. He recently updated his Twitter profile picture which now sports him in red eyes. In the crypto space, red eyes represent switching to the crypto space. Regular folks, celebrities, bankers, and even politicians who have bought into the industry have used the red eyes meme in the past. This clearly shows that the Bitcoin mania is spreading like wildfire.
Made crypto a trend
Tom Brady owning Bitcoin will make millions of people consider doing so too. He has a great influence on his fans, and they are likely to at least try crypto out. Especially in the kind of bull run that the crypto industry finds itself in.
Brady changed his profile picture as a response to a challenge by Jason Yanowitz, co-founder of Blockwors. But it heavily implies that he might have actually gone ahead and invested himself. Fans are eagerly waiting for an official confirmation, and details of his investment. At the time of writing, Brady’s “announcement” doesn’t seem to have an impact on the price of Bitcoin. But things could change with an official announcement.
Even though most people think that this is Tom’s first foray into the crypto industry, that is not accurate. He has been associated with the news of NFT (nonfungible tokens) before. In fact, he had officially stated that he would be investing in an NFT platform called Autograph. This platform would allow people to buy and sell digital collectables and would also be backed by other sports athletes and such.


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A new study conducted in Greece suggests that following a plant-based diet does not necessarily reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Rather, the diet needs to be focused on certain, healthy food groups for this benefit to be seen.
Image Credits: casanisa / Shutterstock.com
The study, which is being presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session Together with World Congress of Cardiology, found that people on a plant-based diet that included less healthy foods such as refined grains or sweets showed no significant benefit in terms of cardiovascular disease risk compared with people who did not follow a plant-based diet.
Lead author of the study, Demosthenes Panagiotakos (Harokopio University of Athens), says: "Based on these results, it seems that simply following a plant-based or vegetarian diet is not enough to reduce cardiovascular disease risk. It is also important to focus on specific, healthful plant-based food groups to see a benefit in terms of reducing cardiovascular disease."
Plant-based diets are becoming increasingly popular
Dietary patterns that include more plant-derived foods are becoming increasingly popular in many parts of the world due to the perceived health benefits. These diets are not always vegetarian or vegan, but typically, they do include more plant-derived foods such as wholegrains, seeds and pulses, and few or no meat, eggs, and dairy products.
For the current study, Panagiotakos and team monitored the eating habits of more than 2,000 Greek adults and tracked the development of cardiovascular disease among them over a ten-year period. At enrollment in 2002, participants answered a comprehensive food frequency questionnaire, which they also completed five years and ten years later.
After ten years, the team assessed the association between participants’ eating habits and the development of cardiovascular disease using a dietary index that categorized them into three groups according to how many animal-derived foods such as meat, eggs, and dairy products they consumed on a daily basis.
The team reports that, overall, men who consumed fewer animal-based foods were at a 25% decreased risk for cardiovascular disease, compared with men who consumed more of these foods. This trend was also observed among women, although it was less significant, with an overall reduction in disease risk of 11% seen among those eating the least amount of animal-derived foods.
Interestingly, although the between-group differences in disease risk were significant, the difference in the amount of animal foods consumed was relatively little. Participants with more plant-based diets ate an average of three animal-based foods per day, compared with five per day among participants with diets that were less focused on plant-based foods.
Even a small reduction in less healthy foods may contribute to heart health
Panagiotakos says: "These findings highlight that even a small reduction in the daily consumption of animal-based products-- principally the less healthy foods, such as processed meat products--accompanied by an increase in healthy plant-based foods may contribute to better cardiovascular health.”
Next, the researchers focused only on participants who followed plant-based diets and divided them into two groups: those who followed a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, oils and tea or coffee and those who followed an unhealthy diet that included more sweetened drinks, juices, refined grains, sweets, and potatoes.
The researchers found that only those in the healthy plant-based diet group were at less risk for cardiovascular disease than participants who followed a more animal-based diet.
Differences in eating habits and cardiovascular risk between men and women
Differences in eating habits and any related reduction in disease risk were also seen between males and females. Overall, men tended to eat approximately three times daily, while women tended to snack more and eat about four to five times per day. Among those participants in the unhealthy plant-based group, women saw a more significant reduction in cardiovascular disease risk than men and among those in the healthy plant-based group this risk reduction was even greater.
Panagiotakos says the findings suggest that snacking on healthy foods throughout the day could provide a health benefit, whereas snacking on unhealthy foods could increase disease risk.
Implications for future dietary guidelines
The team acknowledges that the study was limited by participants’ self-reporting of dietary habits, but say the findings still support evidence that plant-based diets could be beneficial to heart health and could help guide dietary recommendations for reducing cardiovascular risk going forwards.
"In the future, I believe it will be useful if cardiovascular disease prevention guidelines offer clearer and specific nutrition suggestions, in terms of the types of foods that are recommended and the portions that should be consumed," says Panagiotakos.
To reap heart benefits of a plant-based diet, avoid junk food. EurekAlert! 2020. Available at: https://www.eurekalert.org/login.php?frompage=/emb_releases/2020-03/acoc-trh031620.php
Plant-based diet: Food Fact Sheet. BDA: The Association of UK Dieticians 2020. Available at: https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/plant-based-diet.html


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The government blocked broadband and mobile internet across the country in the wake of violent protests following the arrest of PTI Chairman Imran Khan last week, which resulted in huge monetary losses for all sectors and even individuals. However, the actual magnitude of losses is debatable, with public sector claiming Rs2.49 billion loss of revenue because of Internet Outage in Pakistan, IT exporters claiming Rs10 billion loss of business, but no institution gauging the loss it caused to daily wagers who couldn’t make ends meet.
According to data shared by local media, the internet outage coupled with restriction on social media platforms the government generates revenue of Rs280 million from mobile broadband services on a daily basis. The suspension grossly affected e-commerce, online services, home delivery and ride-hailing apps too.
Pakistan Software Export Association (PSEA) informed that a day’s business of the information technology sector in Pakistan in worth $12 million. Following the outages last week, the PSEA said, the IT sector suffered a loss of more than Rs10 billion.
Moreover, official sources within the telecom sector informed that the mobile broadband services constitute around 60% of their total revenues. Therefore, on a daily-basis, they earn approximately Rs820 million. Additionally, the government receives around 35% of this revenue.
This is just an estimate from one industry. The overall economic loss to the country is likely to be massive. In addition, millions of daily wagers who earn through online modes of income including delivery riders, ride hailers and freelancers were deprived of livelihood due to the internet blackout.
Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Amin-ul-Haque on Tuesday distanced his ministry from blockage saying that they were not “taken into confidence”.
“Mobile internet service was suspended without taking the Ministry of IT in confidence. After 2017 Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is not under the Ministry of IT,” the federal IT minister was quoted as saying by local media.


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HANOVER, Mass. — Recently, Lapels reports, it has opened a full-service, environmentally friendly drycleaning satellite store at 6431 E. County Line Road in New Tampa, Fla. Note: New Tampa is a residential region within the city of Tampa.
The new location is owned and operated by Burt Ferrer, company franchisee, who also owns and operates Lapels Dry Cleaning of Tampa at 17503 Preserve Walk Lane, the firm notes.
“Our sustainable, non-toxic way of dry cleaning clothes has been very popular with customers and businesses in Tampa,” relates Ferrer. “We anticipate a similar reaction from customers and businesses in the New Tampa area and beyond.”
The drycleaning store in New Tampa, the firm relates, had previously been a Hudson Cleaners and has now been converted to a Lapels.
Lapels indicates it has, “Pioneered its eco-friendly drycleaning experience over the past two decades. Part of that effort includes a partnership agreement with GreenEarth®, the drycleaning industry’s only non-toxic cleaning alternative.”
The company also adds that, “Using these kinds of solutions and the latest technology in equipment, Lapels is one of the few dry cleaners able to boast that there is no hazardous waste in their process.”
The drycleaning company points out that it, “Sets itself apart with its customer service. Lapels customers are greeted to a warm and inviting reception area, with friendly customer service representatives, and alteration services.”


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M&A activity in the restaurants, bars and casual dining sector remained strong in 2015 and into 2016, with 17 deals recorded in Q1 alone. Our sector update reveals why business is booming…
Our latest ‘Come dine with us’ report reveals an ongoing appetite from both trade and private equity (PE) buyers in a sector that remains cash generative, resilient and buoyed by consumer confidence.
There are a number of market trends in the eating out sector, ranging from world cuisines through to steaks, burgers and smokehouses, and from health and wellbeing through to ‘premiumisation’ (the move towards expensive premium products) and indulgence. Some of the hottest trends include:
The UK is experiencing an explosion in the number of pan-Asian restaurants, with Horizons, a foodservice market trends and data company, reporting a figure of more than 4,000 Chinese, Thai and Japanese restaurants in the UK – an 18% rise in the past five years.
While the coffee sector remains dominated by the large established players (Starbucks, Costa, Caffè Nero et al), the artisan coffee shop market continues to grow strongly, driven by a more discerning coffee drinker who is prepared to pay a premium for a high quality, freshly roasted coffee.
Blenders, extractors, spiralisers, superfoods and all things 'coconut' seem to have been flying off the shelves over the past 18 months. Healthy eating trends are also being promoted by nutrition coaches and health bloggers, such as the Hemsley sisters, Ella Woodward, Amelia Freer, Joe Wicks and Madeleine Shaw, fuelling a growing consumer demand for healthy, nutritious food when eating out.
The popularity of the sharing concept continues to thrive but an alternative trend is that of the single dish. There has been a proliferation in recent years of chains with a highly streamlined offering, with the clue often in the name, for example, Cereal Killer Café, Pieminister and Burger & Lobster.
Business booming in the regions
Will Baxter, head of restaurants, bars and casual dining at Grant Thornton, said: “2015 proved a strong year for M&A activity with significant interest from the private equity sector. 2016 has seen a robust start, and although it has not matched the explosive growth seen in early 2015, there is a healthy level of appetite already displayed in the first quarter, particularly from casual dining brands operating outside of London. All eyes are on potential deals for Busaba Eathai and New World Trading Company, as well as Tesco’s potential sale of its Giraffe restaurant chain.
“The huge growth in the number of openings in 2015 has created a heightened environment of over-supply and intense competition, particularly as consumers are becoming increasingly more discerning of their options. Rising living costs in London are also starting to drive commuters out of the city, leading to an increased interest from brands in relocating to less expensive areas. A booming restaurant and bar trade is visible outside of London, with Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, Manchester and Glasgow leading the way.”
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Cintas CEO's huge buy draws attention from Forbes
An $18 million purchase of Cintas Corp. stock by CEO Scott Farmer caught the attention of Forbes magazine this week, but loyal readers of this space got the news months earlier from the Business Courier. Farmer’s buy was one of the largest insider purchases over a trailing six-month period, according to Forbes.
We asked Farmer about his stock buying after the company’s annual shareholders meeting in October. He noted that Cintas’s profits had topped Wall Street expectations in the first two quarters of 2011, but its stock later sold off when the broader market tanked.
“I know a good deal when I see one,” Farmer said.
Farmer paid between $27 and $28 for most of those shares in August. The stock has since rebounded to more than $30 but dipped just below that level in afternoon trading today.
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A report published by Strategy Analytics, a US-based market research company, says that Samsung's global smartphone market share has dropped down to a mere 10% in the last quarter of the year, 2014. The number of units shipped globally were tracked to get down to this number. Using the same yardstick to measure, Apple's share grew to a staggering 49.8% to give you some perspective.
Talking about revenue, Samsung Electronics takes up a 17.2% global share in the fourth quarter of 2014. Comparisons were drawn with Apple here again with the latter owning a 37.6% of the global market share in the same quarter. Samsung knows what it has got itself into, after 2011 this is the first time that their numbers have reached significant lows. Analysts say that the prime reason behind this fall was their relatively unsuccessful flagship for the year. There was a lot riding on the S5, the phone did not sell as per their expectations and this really forced Samsung to take drastic steps on the management side, when a couple of executives were fired. Adding to its losses was Apple which released large screen iPhones and that lead to an even wide gap in terms of numbers. While 2013 was a successful year for the Korean giant, when it chased down apple to a 34.1% market share, 2014 has been a rough patch in its otherwise rising graph.
This time around, Samsung has learnt what users were wanting from the brand and have started making phones with better quality materials and a toned down software skin. The newest release from the company shall be the Galaxy S6 which is scheduled to be announced on March 1, 2015 at Mobile World Congress, Barcelona. While Samsung struggled, LG and Xiaomi raced ahead to capture a share of 4.3% and 3.3% respectively. What are your thoughts here? Do you think that the Galaxy S6 And Galaxy S6 Edge handsets will help Samsung turn things around this year, or will their marketshare keep on dropping? Let us know what you think in the comments down below, we'd love to hear from you, as always.


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CEO and founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos says the company is making the single largest order of electric vehicles to date as part of a “Climate Pledge” initiative to make the online retail giant carbon neutral by 2040.
In a video of the announcement that was posted by the e-commerce company on its Twitter news channel, Bezos says that he wants Amazon to undertake a number of measures that would see the company reach the Paris agreement target of zero net carbon by the second half of the century a full ten years early.
(The Paris target of 2.0°C suggests zero carbon is reached after 2050, but the “stretch” target of 1.5°C requires zero carbon by the early 2040s, analysts say).
Amongst the initiatives that the company will undertake to achieve its target is electrifying its massive delivery network with 100,000 electric delivery vans.
“I’m incredibly excited to announce we have just placed an order for 100,000 electric delivery vans,” Bezos said in the statement.
The electric delivery vans will be made by Michigan-based Rivian, the EV startup that wowed crowds at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show and is now backed by Amazon, US auto major Ford and global auto remarketer Cox Automotive to the tune of $A2.2 billion.
To read the full story on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, The Driven, click here…


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iPhone is the biggest handheld gaming phenom since the 3DS. Here's five reasons why.
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Frankfurt - Porsche took advantage on Saturday of a surge in Volkswagen stock to meet a mandatory requirement to offer to buy out all remaining shares at a price few investors are likely to accept.
Porsche, which controls 27.3% of VW's voting rights and holds an option to buy a further 3.7 percent, said it planned to boost its stake to up to 31 percent soon - a move that triggers a mandatory takeover bid under German law.
"Porsche is firmly convinced that a closer bond with VW through an increase of the stake to more than 30% of the Volkswagen ordinary shares will produce benefits for both partners without diluting or indeed endangering the identity of Porsche," it said in a statement.
The iconic sports car maker hopes that by offering investors the minimum amount required - which is expected to value VW shares at a hefty 14 percent discount to Friday's closing price
- it can cross the 30% threshold on the cheap and never be forced to launch a bid again.
"We don't want a majority," a Porsche spokesman said.
For ordinary shares the offer is expected to be 100.92 euros per share while for preferred shares no specific figure was given, with the amount to be determined by the German securities regulator BaFin.
The announcement caps months of speculation that a bid was imminent, driving VW stock up by more than a third this year to new record highs, as many investors believed Porsche part-owner and VW chairman Ferdinand Piech wanted to cement his control over the world's fourth largest carmaker.
A London-based automotive equity analyst said Porsche may have been waiting for a surge in VW shares before crossing the threshold in order to avoid paying nearly €26bn to buy up the remaining equity in free float.
"Had the stock price traded in a narrow corridor for three months before they launched one, then the legal minimum would have been much closer to the spot price and they wouldn't have been able to control how many investors might take up the offer," he said.
"The share price jump in the past few days offered Porsche an opportunity therefore to ensure the likelihood will be low that shareholders accept the bid," the analyst continued.
Volkswagen's second-largest shareholder, the German state of Lower Saxony, said it would remain invested in the company.
Volkswagen welcomed Porsche's plans to raise its stake as a move that further secures their joint cooperation to build cars, engines and components, but VW declined comment on the offer and
the bid price until it has been formally submitted.
Porsche said the decision to cross 30% followed a recommendation on Feb. 13 from an adviser to Europe's highest court that its judges should force Germany to either abolish or change the Volkswagen Law, which limits individual investors from exercising more than 20% of the company's votes.
"We expect that law will be repealed entirely," the Porsche spokesman said.
The sports car maker believes raising its stake and securing their ties would help both companies better adapt to the industry's pressure to consolidate amidst ever increasing international competition - especially from the up-and-coming nations such as China, India, Malaysia, Russia and others.
"Cooperations and alliances are not uncommon even today, but in the not-too-distant future they will be a part of everyday life. Both Porsche and Volkswagen will be prepared for this,"