Corporate Governance

Upon returning to London in 1272, Edward Ist was accompanied by a retinue of advisors from Venice, massive gold reserves and representatives of the leading families who had been instrumental in copying the formula of the guilds of Florence into Venice and were now eager to repeat the process in England. [The Franciscan Order established West Minster Abbey on Thorne Island in the Thames where these same Venetian families rule today under the Franciscan Order]

West Minster Abbey on Thorne Island in the Thames River

Thorney Island was the eyot on the Thames, upstream of mediæval London, where Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster (commonly known today as the Houses of Parliament) [the House of Lords who play chess to monopolize commerce] were built. It was formed by rivulets of the River Tyburn, which entered the Thames near the lowest point where it could be forded from the north bank at low tide.

Thorney, or the Eyot of Thorns, is described in a purported charter of King Offa, which is kept in the Abbey muniments, as a "terrible place" — to the delight of generations of the Westminster Schoolboys who comprise nowadays most of the permanent inhabitants of Thorney Island.

West Minster Hall

Yet the extraordinary feature of the establishment of the most senior Guilds from Venice and their control over London at the time was that the heads or "Lords" of each Guild was required to take solemn religious oaths of the Franciscan Order [Westminster Hall is where at the time Arte de Guidici e Notai known as the Guild of Judges and Notaries resides; Worshipful Company of Sciveners, the most important Livery Company] - to effectively be a "spiritual head" of a commercial enterprise. This paradox is what gave rise to the historic mystery of the true identity of the "Lords Spiritual" not merely the public display of claiming the positions as purely ecclesiastical appointments. Later, by the 16th Century, these 12 "Lords Spiritual" came to be known as the "Twelve Apostles".

Inside West Minster Hall

To train the English nobles and all those associated with the core operation of the guilds, a training system based on the modification of an Arabic game was invented called "Chesse" (Chess). The original instructions of chess identify each piece and the board itself as representing the guilds, their functions and limits. Each of the chess pieces represents a guild used to train those associated with the guilds in the strategies of commerce. [killing people on 9/11 in New York and in Washington at the Pentagon was exactly that: commerce]

Chess - to train the Lords of the Guilds in commerce

NHS fairness tsar urged to quit by doctors over 'conflict of interest' following £799,000 payment for U.S. private health giant

Lord Carter of Coles

Innovation and Agriculture – Footprint Forum: 21st September 2010

Lord Ashcroft

In 1972 at age 26, he started his own business, Michael A. Ashcroft Associates. His first acquisition was Uni-Kleen – a loss-making cleaning company with one thousand employees, which he purchased for just £1 in 1974. With a £15,000 bank loan he worked to turn the company around, selling it just three years later for £1.3 million

On exiting Uni-Kleen in 1977, his next purchase was Hawley Goodall, another poorly-performing company, this time in camping equipment manufacture. Ashcroft used Hawley to make a series of acquisitions, transforming Hawley into a business services group, ranging from janitorial services for hospitals and offices, to car auction services, and later with a focus on the security services industry. By 1981, Hawley had made its first acquisitions in the United States, and its total revenues had grown to $27 million. In 1986, Hawley bought out Ashcroft's former employer, Pritchard Services, leaping to the second place in the U.S. services industry. At this time, Hawley had revenues of more than $1.3 billion.

2007/8
The acquisition of Centex Construction, a leading US construction management company and GMH, a major player in the US PPP military accommodation market creates a major business in the US.
2009
Balfour Beatty is now ranked 19th in the international league table of contractors. The Group is the largest fixed rail infrastructure contracting company in the world, a UK leader in roads, support services, electrical and mechanical engineering and other disciplines. Our excellent financial performance, all round strengths, clear strategy and strong cash position mean that we face the future with great confidence.

"A good measure of a company is the stance it takes on corporate governance. We believe in applying the highest standards."
Steve Marshall
Chairman

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has a status update for Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin: Stop attempting to dodge your taxes by renouncing your U.S. citizenship or never come to back to the U.S. again.

In September 2011, Saverin relinquished his U.S. citizenship before the company announced its planned initial public offering of stock, which will debut this week. The move was likely a financial one, as he owns an estimated 4 percent of Facebook and stands to make $4 billion when the company goes public. Saverin would reap the benefit of tax savings by becoming a permanent resident of Singapore, which levies no capital gains taxes.

At a news conference this morning, Sens. Schumer and Bob Casey, D-Pa., will unveil the “Ex-PATRIOT” – “Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy” – Act to respond directly to Saverin’s move, which they dub a “scheme” that would “help him duck up to $67 million in taxes.”

The senators will call Saverin’s move an “outrage” and will outline their plan to re-impose taxes on expatriates like Saverin even after they flee the United States and take up residence in a foreign country. Their proposal would also impose a mandatory 30 percent tax on the capital gains of anybody who renounces their U.S. citizenship.

The plan would bar individuals like Saverin from ever reentering the United States again.

“Eduardo recently found it more practical to become a resident of Singapore since he plans to live there for an indefinite period of time,” Tom Goodman, Saverin’s spokesman, told Bloomberg News in an email.

Last year 1,700 people renounced their U.S. citizenship.

Under the Ex-PATRIOT ACT, any expatriate with either a net worth of $2 million or an average income tax liability of at least $148,000 over the last five years will be presumed to have renounced their citizenship for tax avoidance purposes. The individual, the act says, "will then have an opportunity to demonstrate otherwise to the IRS by meeting specific IRS requirements. If the individual has a legitimate reason for renouncing his or her citizenship, no penalties will apply. But if the IRS finds that an individual gave up their passport for substantial tax purposes, then it will prospectively impose a tax on the individual’s future investment gains, no matter where he or she resides."

This, the act continues, "would eliminate any tax benefit and financial incentive from renouncing one’s citizenship. The rate of this capital gains tax will be 30%, in keeping with the rate that is already applied on non-resident aliens for dividends and interest earnings."

So long as the individual avoids these taxes, "they would be inadmissible to the United States forever," the act says. "The Ex-PATRIOT Act would improve current law to ensure such an individual cannot re-enter the United States after renouncing his or her citizenship. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 was intended to bar any such individual from reentering the U.S. However, this statute was written in a manner that inhibits its enforcement."

Romney Parks Millions in Cayman Islands

David Cameron's family could have money tied up in offshore tax havens after it was revealed his father made a fortune through a network of offshore investment funds.
Ian Cameron, whose wealth was once estimated at £10m, ran several, perfectly legal, offshore accounts in tax havens such as Panama City and Geneva.
The Guardian newspaper reports that Ian Cameron, who died in 2010, left a fortune of £2.74m, from which the Prime Minister personally received a sum of £300,000.
However the will, which is a public document, only lists assets held in England or Wales.
Offshore investments would only have been listed in submissions made to HMRC for inheritance tax purposes and it remains unclear exactly what those assets are and which family member owns them.

The Prime Minister has been a harsh critic of companies that avoid paying their 'fair share' of tax and recently announced plans to introduce laws to clamp down on the practice.
Earlier this year he suggested he would be willing to disclose information about his own financial affairs.
In his budget speech last month Chancellor George Osborne described ‘tax evasion and, indeed, aggressive tax avoidance as morally repugnant’.
Ian Cameron, who had worked as a city stockbroker, first began setting up investment funds in 1979 shortly after Margaret Thatcher abolished capital controls making it legal to take any sum of money out of the country without it being taxed.
He became chairman of Close International Asset management based in Jersey, senior director of Blairmore Holdings Inc registered in Panama and a shareholder in Blairmore Asset Management based in Geneva.
Blairmore Holdings, named after the Camerons' ancestral home in Aberdeenshire, was established in 1982 when the Prime Minister was a 16-year-old pupil at Eton.

In its investment prospectus for 2006 it states it is seeking 'sophisticated' investors worth at least $100,000 who wished to to legally avoid paying British tax.
It reads: 'The directors intend that the affairs on the fund should be managed and conducted so that it does not become resident in the United Kingdom for UK taxation purposes.
'The fund will not be subject to United Kingdom corporation tax or income tax on its profits.'
As a founder member of the fund, which generated a 116 per cent return from 2002-2007, Ian Cameron was paid a guaranteed $20,000 a year - the highest paid director.
Ian Cameron died in 2010 aged 77. He was survived by his wife Mary Fleur Cameron.
In 2006 his eldest son Alexander Cameron QC became the sole owner of the family home in Berkshire estimated to be worth more than £2.5million.
Another home in Kensington, London, worth around £1million was passed to his two daughters in equal share.
In a speech to business leaders in Maidenhead in January this year The Prime Minister said: 'With the large companies, that have the fancy corporate lawyers and the rest of it, I think we need a tougher approach.
'One of the things that we are going to be looking at this year is whether there should be a general anti-avoidance power that HMRC can use, particularly with very wealthy individuals and with the bigger companies, to make sure they pay their fair share.'
Downing Street refused to comment on the story saying it concerned private matters for the Cameron family.
The spokesman said: 'The government's tax reforms are about making sure that some of the richest people in the country pay a decent share of income tax.'

After joking about heading to Malta to escape criticism....Chief Justice Roberts heads to Malta as it emerges that he may have written for AND against opinions on Obamacare

By MEGHAN KENEALLY

4 July 2012

Chief Justice John Roberts fled the country on Tuesday opting to take up temporary residence in an 'impregnable island fortress'.

Was it to avoid constant questioning over the Supreme Court's controversial ruling on health care reform? To get out of the glare of Republican ire after siding with the Court's liberal judges and deeming the law constitutional? [as far as the constitution is concerned this is a charade; since Americans have no soul they have to be filled with a 'constitution'; you can bend the legal argument in any direction imaginable - Jesuit casuistry - to make it 'constitutional']


Heading for a hideout: Chief Justice John Roberts will be teaching a two-week course at
the University of Malta and he arrived at the Mediterranean island on Tuesday

He waved such explanations off, saying instead that he was traveling to Malta to teach a two-week class at the Mediterranean island's University.

...enslaving of the people. Generally indeed the ruling power carries its point, the revenues of princes constantly increasing...

Queen gets a pay raise

Why is Nobody Freaking Out About the LIBOR Banking Scandal?

The Council of Europe presented a preliminary report in Strasbourg Wednesday on massive money-laundering by the Vatican. As JP Morgan was the Vatican’s chief bank until the scandal broke, The Morgue may soon have a much bigger scandal and PR nightmare on its hands than a simply $9 billion derivatives loss.
‘It is clear that JPMorgan is complicit in money-laundering in Europe with the Vatican, having abetted Vatican bank money-laundering and fraud by allowing IRS-defined suspicious transactions pass through their institution.‘

This financial account allegedly processed more than a billion euros for the Vatican bank through last year. Italian investigators suspect the account was used to launder funds from “dubious sources.” According to the strict anti-money-laundering laws to which financial institutions are supposed to be held, JPMorgan should be considered a primary suspect in massive money-laundering operations in Europe, centered at the Vatican bank. Considering the blatant record amassed by the Vatican – it’s fraudulent and illegal dealings – JPMorgan worked as one of the pope’s banksters with complete disregard for moral hazard. It was not until JPMorgan was caught naked in bed with the pope, engaging in massive and illegal transfers, did the bank begin scrutinizing the Vatican’s financial dealings to which it was an accomplice. To this point, the mainstream media has focused on the shadyness of the Vatican – an age old story, literally – and not directly implicated JPMorgan in yet further financial crimes.
The transfers did not come with information regarding account holders or purposes for the transfers. Of that amount, 20 million pounds apparently was heading to the Vatican’s JPMorgan account in Frankfurt. The other 3 million euros were heading for an account at a different bank in Rome.
Federal prosecutors in Rome froze the funds. Investigations followed implicating Tedeschi, for one, in violating anti-money laundering regulations. Then, JPMorgan leaped into action late, and “started asking Vatican officials where the money that had been regularly flowing through the Milan account was actually coming from. But they didn’t get any satisfactory answers. As a result, the bank then gave the IOR an internal classification as a high-risk client and started monitoring its transactions for clues that might point to money-laundering.”
Early this year, JPMorgan closed the IORs transfer account in Milan. The bank wrote that anti-money-laundering regulations no longer make available “additional deposits or withdrawals via account No. 1365.” Cardinal Secretary of State Bertone rewrote Benedict’s decree, restating that monitoring of the Vatican bank is only permissible with the consent of Bertone himself. An undated and anonymous document, which, according to the Roman daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, comes from “the very top,” reads that there is a “concrete risk of a rating downgrade and, thereby, of a significant loss in the prestige of the Holy See.”
It is clear that JPMorgan is complicit in money-laundering in Europe with the Vatican, having abetted Vatican bank money-laundering and fraud by allowing IRS-defined suspicious transactions pass through their institution. The bank, knowing full well what it was dealing with, shucked its financial responsibility and put the Vatican’s critical transfers through, never questioning or putting the transactions through the basic financial scrutiny. The US Press has been silent, and the banks $9 billion transaction has taken over the headlines – a rehash of an old story. In the meantime, JPMorgan has partaken in the illegal and unconscionable with some of civilization’s deepest-entrenched institutions, in this case the twenty century-old religious center of Catholicism.