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Less than half of non-executive directors (NEDs) are protected by personal indemnity insurance. Yet NEDs could soon take on further responsibilities and be held accountable for their work under revised corporate governance rules, putting businesses and individuals at risk, warns accountants and business advisors PKF.
Only 43% of NEDs had personal indemnity insurance, according to The Non-Executive Director Survey 2003, a study of 1,000 NEDs by PKF in association with the Quoted Companies Alliance, Top Pay Research Group and Longbridge International.
04/06/2003
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The Directorate General for Enterprise (DG Enterprise) of the European Commission has published its study of the role that factoring plays in financing small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) within and across EU Member States.
Greater London Enterprise Ltd. (GLE) prepared the study for DG Enterprise.
Respondents to the survey include Michael Bickers, managing director of BCR Publishing Ltd, Jeroen Kohnstamm, secretary-general, Factors Chain International and Robin Clarke, chief executive, Factors and Discounters Association (FDA).
03/06/2003
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The president, John Agyekum Kufuor, speaking at the Ghana Investors’ Advisory Council’s (GIAC) meeting, said that some modest gains had been made in the quest to address the problem of accessing long-term funds by the establishment of a credit line of US$40million, which had been secured from the HSBC Exim bank of USA to support small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).
03/06/2003
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Gerling NCM has reduced the political risk price for Kuwait. This is as a direct result of the end of the Iraq war, which has improved the country’s political risk environment.
03/06/2003
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George (Carl) Alexander Jr. faces 12 counts of mail fraud and money laundering said the U.S. Attorney's Office. The authorities allege that Alexander used the US mail to defraud Yankton Factoring, Comdata Corp and Allied Carriers Exchange for about US$35 million.
Alexander allegedly mailed false freight invoices to the corporations for payment to several nonexistent freight companies he claimed to operate. He is also accused of establishing dozens of shell corporations in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma.
03/06/2003
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In an unusual move, BBVA Seguros, the insurance subsidiary of Spain's second largest bank, BBVA, has teamed up with an insurance company to design an insurance package for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The insurance company, whose identity has not been revealed by the bank, will assume the risk and will help distribute the product.
BBVA already works with French insurance group Axa in this sector, where the two groups own 50 per cent of the insurer Direct Seguros.
Source: Expansion
03/06/2003
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Credit Guarantee Corp Malaysia Bhd (CGC) has revised its Islamic banking guarantee scheme (IBGS) to increase available funds for small- and medium- scale enterprises (SMEs).
Managing director and chief executive Datuk Wan Azhar Wan Ahmad said the revised IBGS allows viable businesses to obtain maximum financing of up to RM10 million at a reasonable rate set by the financier.
03/06/2003
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Business conditions for local small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are becoming increasingly unfavourable with the local economy showing no signs of recovery.
According to the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (KFSB), mounting inventories are pulling down factory operation rates at small domestic manufacturers and the financial crunch is driving a number of firms into bankruptcy.
03/06/2003
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The Bibby Group of Factors have unveiled a solid set of results, with total income growing by 27% and gross factored debts increasing by 31% to Ј1.7 billion from a client base that has swelled to over 1,800. Pre-tax profits increased by Ј800,000 to top Ј12 million.
Of the Ј43 million income in 2002, 3.7% (Ј1.56 million) came from outside the UK, more than a fourfold increase over 2001 (Ј295,000).
02/06/2003
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Current insolvency legislation allows directors of failed companies to be pursued in the courts for recovery of money where there has been negligence, misconduct or misappropriation of assets. However, all too often liquidators cannot pursue actions because of lack of funding.
Under the civil recovery scheme The Insolvency Service and a team of private sector insolvency specialists known as the Forensic Insolvency Recovery Service ("FIRS") work together to take legal action against directors in appropriate cases. The legal action is on a no-win-no-fee basis.
02/06/2003
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The Mexican Foreign Trade Bank (Bancomext) reported that between January and April it has provided financing of 14.13 billion pesos (US$1.37 billion) to support export activities. Of this amount, more than 12 billion pesos (US$1.16 billion) were used to provide loans, while the remaining amount was spent in guarantees and insurance.
02/06/2003
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As the first step in a process set to last several years, the government recently approved the main concept of modifying Hungary’s Civil Code, which provides guidelines for the business relationship between companies and private individuals.
One planned major change will be the insertion of certain types of contracts into the law, such as leasing and factoring contracts, according to Бgnes Simkу, who is involved in the lawmaking process on behalf of the Justice Ministry.
02/06/2003
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The Small Enterprise Development Corporation (Sedco), which is facing serious financial constraints, could be forced to further downsize its operations if it fails to secure more funding.
The corporation's general manager, Mr Joseph Nyamunda, said things were not well at his organisation. The Corporation has reduced its work force by half to about 100 employees and downsized four branches. The affected branches included Bindura, Mutare, Masvingo and Gweru while the Chinhoyi satellite branch had to be closed down.
02/06/2003
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A Japanese consultant said SMEs in the region need robust financing and adequate marketing assistance to attain sustainability in entrepreneurship. Mr. Seiji Sugimoto, a member of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), made the comment saying that financial assistance should be afforded to the SMEs so they can sustain expansion and upgrading of their plants and processing operations.
In his list of observations, Sugimoto said SMEs need information and assistance in sourcing the appropriate machinery for their operations.
02/06/2003
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The widely expected interest rate cut by the European Central Bank on Thursday (5 June) will be the talking point in the market this week.
While the ECB is expected to cut rates by 25 or 50 basis points, from the current 2.5 per cent, the Bank of England is forecast to hold firm when it meets the same day.
Ian Stewart, chief European economist at Merrill Lynch, said slowing economic growth, rising unemployment, weakening consumer spending and the appreciation of the euro against the dollar point to the right conditions for a rate cut.
02/06/2003
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