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November 26, 2014 nº 1,573 - Vol. 12

"There is little success where there is little laughter."

  Andrew Carnegie

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Read Migalhas LatinoAmérica in Spanish every Tuesday and Thursday. Visit the website at www.migalhas.com/latinoamerica

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• Top News

UN rights experts urge stronger efforts to eliminate violence against women

Four UN human rights experts on Tuesday stressed [press release] a need for greater international and national efforts to eliminate violence against displaced women. Noting substantial levels of violence perpetrated against the world's roughly 17 million conflict-displaced women, the UN's release came during the worldwide International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women [UN backgrounder]. The experts, Chaloka Beyani, Rashida Manjoo, Rosa Kornfeld-Matte and Urmila Bhoola [official profiles] urged measures including a more punitive approach to deterring violence, greater security for those displaced and increased education for individuals offering aid at camps for internally displaced persons.

Justice Department investigating possible HSBC leak to hedge fund

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating allegations that an employee of HSBC Holdings PLC leaked confidential client information to a major hedge fund, according to people familiar with the matter, a new twist in a cross-border government probe into misconduct in the foreign-exchange market. U.S. prosecutors are interviewing HSBC traders about the alleged event, which is believed to have taken place in March 2010, as part of their broader criminal investigation into improprieties in the currencies markets, these people say. The alleged event, which HSBC self-reported to U.S. and British authorities and is being examined as part of a U.S. criminal investigation, happened when HSBC was advising a major client, British insurer Prudential PLC, on a huge acquisition and was working on a related multibillion-dollar currency transaction.

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• Crumbs

1 - China high court to investigate ways to reduce death penalty crimes - click here.

2 - Bribery Probe Hits Builders - click here.

3 - Italy court annuls conviction for Swiss billionaire in asbestos scandal  - click here.

4 - Obama Foes Need Laws or Impeachment in Immigration Fight  -click here.

5 - Amazon to deliver to customers via local post offices - click here.

6 - Inheritance law needs to catch up with economic and social change - click here.

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• MiMIC Journal

Public smoking ban

China has sought public opinion on its plans to prohibit tobacco advertising and ban smoking in public places. According to the proposed plans, the government wants to ban certain smoking scenes in films and TV shows. It also plans to ban smoking in all indoor public places and some outdoor areas like schools and hospitals. The report notes that China has more than 300 million smokers, making it the world's largest tobacco maker and consumer.

(Click here)

China high court to investigate ways to reduce death penalty crimes

China's highest court, the Supreme People's Court [official website, in Chinese] will investigate ways of reducing the number of crimes punishable by death according to remarks by Hu Yunteng, a senior researcher at the Supreme People's Court, published Monday. Hu told [Reuters report] a group of academics Saturday that the government must reduce the use of the death penalty and use the death penalty with care to prevent the execution of innocent individuals, according to the Supreme People's Court official newspaper the People's Court Daily [official website, in Chinese]. While the Chinese government does not publish the exact number of executions each year, the San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation [advocacy website] estimated that 2,400 people were executed in 2013.

(Click here)

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• Historia Verdadera

Compraventa

Los banqueros que representan a Venezuela en la venta de Citgo Petroleum fijaron una fecha para que posibles compradores presenten ofertas revisadas, aunque el ministro de Finanzas del país había descartado públicamente la venta de la red de refinación en Estados Unidos, confirmó la agencia Reuters. (Presione aquí)

Acuerdo

Colombia y Holanda suscribieron en Bogotá un acuerdo de servicios aéreos que servirá para ampliar el turismo, el comercio y la inversión entre ambos países mediante vuelos directos. Con este acuerdo, la aerolínea KLM operará a partir de 3/2015 vuelos directos entre Holanda y Colombia en la ruta Amsterdam-Bogotá-Cali.

Socio

Una empresa china podría sumarse al escenario de la minería que opera en la Argentina. Todo dependerá de la habilidad de la canadiense Barrick para encontrar un socio que esté dispuesto a poner fondos para financiar la operación del yacimiento Pascua Lama, ubicado parte en Chile y parte en la Argentina, prácticamente paralizado por orden de la Superintendencia de Medio Ambiente de Chile. (Presione aquí)

• Brief News

United States subpoenas Brazil's Petrobras

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed documents in its investigation into corruption allegations at Petrobras, Brazil's state-run oil giant said. In a statement late Monday, Petrobras pledged to "cooperate with the United States public authorities with the same dedication it has been cooperating with Brazilian public authorities." Petrobras acknowledged the documents requested were "related to an investigation into the company initiated by the SEC" and said the materials would be forwarded to the U.S. market regulator following consultations with the company's U.S. and Brazilian attorneys. Brazil's largest company had already hired two law firms, one local and the other based in the U.S., in order "to conduct an independent internal investigation," the statement said. (Click here)

Ferguson protests spread across US

Crowds have gathered across the US to protest against Monday's decision not to charge a police officer over the killing of black teen Michael Brown. Demonstrations from New York to Seattle were mostly peaceful, with protesters chanting and waving placards. In and around the St Louis suburb of Ferguson, scene of major riots on Monday, 2,200 National Guard troops were deployed to stop further unrest. Meanwhile, the officer who shot Brown said he had a "clean conscience". The grand jury's decision announced late on Monday, means the police officer will not face state criminal charges over the shooting. "The duty of the grand jury is to separate fact and fiction," the prosecuting attorney, Robert McCulloch, said. After weighing the evidence, at least nine of the 12 members of the grand jury decided that Wilson acted within the limits of the lethal-force law. Lawyers for Brown's family have denounced the grand jury's decision as "unfair".

France puts Russian warship on hold

France has suspended "until further notice" the controversial delivery of a helicopter carrier to the Russian navy. President Hollande blamed continuing unrest in eastern Ukraine, where Russia is accused of backing separatists in their fight against the government in Kiev. The Vladivostok warship was due to be handed over last month as part of a two-ship deal. Russia says it will stick to the terms of the contract. Since March, the EU and US have been imposing sanctions on Russian individuals and companies because of the annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the subsequent outbreak of conflict in Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. However, France had been reluctant to put the deal on ice because of the legal cost of breaching the contract.

N.Y. Court gives map to insulate deals

A four-page opinion from an appellate court in New York suggests a way to insulate companies and their boards from lawsuits in going-private transactions. The decision stems from the 2012 buyout of Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. by its namesake chairman and founder. The deal had been structured so that it couldn't proceed unless it was approved by both a special committee of independent directors and a majority of the minority shareholders. Litigation ensued, but a trial court dismissed the case, and the appellate court affirmed, before pretrial information exchanges, known as discovery, began. "Pre-discovery dismissal based on the business judgment rule was appropriate since there are no allegations sufficient to demonstrate that the members of the board or the special committee did not act in good faith or were otherwise interested," the court held. The business judgment rule invoked by the court is more lenient and deferential than a fairness standard, which requires discovery. The ruling in many ways parallels a similar Delaware case involving Ronald Perelman's $250 million going-private buyout of his M&F Worldwide Corp. In March, the Delaware Supreme Court upheld that deal, which, like the Kenneth Cole transaction, required approval by a special committee of independent directors as well as a majority of the minority shareholders. In that case, the court also evaluated the transaction under the business judgment rule. The Kenneth Cole case goes further, however, because it was dismissed before any discovery had occurred. The ruling "provides a road map for structuring a going-private transaction involving a controlling shareholder under New York law that not only provides protection for minority shareholders, but also reduces burdensome litigation."

Eurozone area may be in 'persistent stagnation trap'

The euro area may be stuck in persistent stagnation, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has said. Insufficient policy stimulus could be undermining potential growth, and risks deflation in the area, the market economy group said. Meanwhile, Japan will grow less than previously expected over the next two years, it said. The US and the UK are expected to grow more strongly in comparison, it added.

Israel's cabinet oks controversial nationality measure

The bill, which must be approved by Parliament, defines Israel as "the nation-state of the Jewish people." It has angered not only Israel's Arab citizens, but also members of the coalition government.

Georgia top court rules use of private probation companies constitutional

The Supreme Court of Georgia [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Monday that private companies may continue to monitor probationers in that state but that it is illegal to elongate a probationer's sentence from the original sentence. Thirteen plaintiffs filed suit against Sentinel Offender Services [corporate website] challenging the constitutionality of the state's probation law [text] and alleging that the company violated their due process rights.

French dad loses adoption fight

A French appeal court has refused to allow a father to take custody of his biological son, who was given up for adoption by his mother. Yoan Delorme, 29, was in jail when his son was born and the baby's mother did not write either parent's names on the birth certificate. His case was backed by a court in Nantes earlier this year, but the local council appealed as the boy was already settled with his new family.

Asbestos scandal

Italy's top court has overturned an 18-year jail sentence for a Swiss billionaire convicted over his role in the country's biggest asbestos scandal, saying too much time had passed since the alleged wrongdoing. Stephan Schmidheiny was found guilty in 2012 of negligence at his company's Italian factories in the 1970s and 80s, which eventually led to almost 3,000 asbestos-related deaths. The decision means that the Swiss businessman will also escape having to pay millions of euros in fines and compensation ordered by Italian courts in 2012 and 2013. (Click here)

Cambodia Khmer Rouge tribunal postpones war crimes trial to January

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website] announced [press release, PDF] Monday that the trial of two Cambodian leaders accused of committing genocide will be postponed to January 2015. Lawyers for Khieu Samphan have refused to participate [JURIST report] in trial proceedings before the appeal from the decision at the first trial is filed.

S.E.C. settles Swiss secrecy case with HSBC

The S.E.C. said a private banking unit in Switzerland failed to register before providing advice to American clients. The unit faces inquiries from other authorities around the globe. The S.E.C., which requires banks and other firms that offer investment advice to comply with basic registration rules, extracted a $12.5 million penalty from the HSBC unit. The payout is a fraction of the penalty assessed in the S.E.C.'s case against Credit Suisse, which paid $196 million in February to settle similar accusations. But like Credit Suisse, HSBC acknowledged wrongdoing.

The business tycoons of Airbnb

The so-called sharing economy is supposed to offer a new kind of capitalism, one where regular folks, enabled by efficient online platforms, can turn their fallow assets into cash machines. According to its fans, Airbnb, along with the car-sharing company Uber, and others, is leading us into a less wasteful, more virtuous future. In it, anyone with excess time or space — or a car and a driver's license — can easily become an entrepreneur with little to no start-up costs. But the reality is that these markets also tend to attract a class of well-heeled professional operators, who outperform the amateurs — just like the rest of the economy.

ING to cut 1,700 jobs and invest $248 million in digital push

The Dutch financial services company is the latest European lender to cut jobs and invest in technology to cater to customers who are conducting more of their financial business online.