Posted by Ryan Rogers on Apr 27, 2011
Vancouver, April 28, 2011 – ‘Choice for risk managers’ is the rallying cry for a global coalition of independent brokers who will be hosting their third annual event at RIMS 2011 in Vancouver. This year’s opening address will be by Carol Fox, RIMS Director of Strategic and Enterprise Risk Practice. She will give an address themed ‘harnessing ERM to tap risk appetite’ to the international audience of risk managers, brokers and carriers. The Independents are part of the fabric of RIMS with several members having been invited to speak in the RIMS educational sessions. The wide-rang Read more…
Posted by Jeffrey Nelson on Apr 27, 2011
PROVIDENCE – Bodies of work produced by Providence Business News, along with The Providence Journal, WRNI, PrimeTime Magazine and NBC 10 WJAR-TV, have been selected to be honored for educating the public on issues of diversity.
The 23rd annual Rhode Island for Community and Justice Metcalf Awards for Diversity in the Media will honor recipients at a ceremony on May 12 at 8 a.m. at the Hotel Providence at 139 Mathewson St.
The 2011 winners are:
Daily publication The Providence Journal “Census Bureau figures show a sharp rise in Hispanic-owned business” by Kate Bramson.
Weekly/biweekly publication Providence Business News. “2010 Business Women Issue” a collaborative issue with Editor Mark S. Murphy an
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Posted by Nicholas Adams on Apr 26, 2011
Simon Johnson, the former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, is the co-author of “13 Bankers.”
Under the Dodd-Frank financial regulation legislation (in Title II of that act), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is granted expanded powers to intervene and manage the closure of any failing bank or other financial institution. There are two strongly held views of this legal authority: that it substantially solves the problem of how to handle failing megabanks and therefore serves as an effective constraint on their future behavior, and that it is largely irrelevant.
Both views are expressed by well-informed people at the top of regulatory structures on both sides of the Atlantic, at least in private conversations. Which view is right?
In terms of legal process, the resolution authority could make a difference. But
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Posted by Jeffrey Nelson on Apr 25, 2011
Social media has made it cheaper and easier for small business owners to market their companies. Now, social media companies might be making it easier for small businesses to raise capital, too.
Back in January, I posted on Small Business Trends about the rise of crowdfunding as a possible solution for small business owners seeking financing. Closely related to peer-to-peer lending sites, such as Prosper.com, crowdfunding goes one step further. While peer-to-peer lending focuses on individual transactions, crowdfunding uses the Internet to encourage many individual investors to contribute small amounts, adding up to substantial capital.
Today, individual investors are clamoring for a piece of hot social media companies like Facebook and Twitter, but those companies don’t want to go through the complex legal disclosures current securities laws require. A
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Tags: Easier, Small Business
Posted by Alexander Murphy on Apr 23, 2011
Consumers have been fighting for financial compensation for increasingly small sums, indicating a growing reluctance to accept poor deals and service.
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), which deals with unresolved disputes between financial service providers and customers, says it has seen a jump in the number of cases involving involving sums as low as £500.
“There has been a hardening of attitudes from both consumers and financial businesses over the last year,” said Emma Parker, the FOS spokesperson. “This has led to an increasing number of complaints involving relatively small amounts being resolved by a formal decision by an ombudsman.”
Figures provided to the Financial Times by the FOS show a huge rise in the number of complaints made in the last year relating to low-value claims.
C
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Tags: Small, Small Claims
Posted by Nicholas Adams on Apr 22, 2011
HONG KONG China’s economic boom has made many Chinese very wealthy indeed. A new study by the consulting firm Bain Company shows just how many — and how rapidly — the ranks of the rich are swelling in this country of 1.3 billion.
Bain estimates that the number of high-net-worth individuals — mostly first-generation entrepreneurs who have more than 10 million renminbi, or about $1.5 million, in investable assets — will grow to 585,000 this year. That’s twice the number than in 2008. Moreover, the number of individuals who are worth more than 100 million renminbi is rising at its fastest pace.
‘‘Wealth creation in China is marching on unimpeded,’’ said Johnson Chng, Bains chief of financial services in greater China and the author of the study.
The greatest concentration of millionaires and multimillionaires are in Beijing; Shanghai; the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu, which are adjacent to Shanghai; and the southern province of Guangdong. More than 30,000 hi
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Tags: China
Posted by Nicholas Adams on Apr 20, 2011
The Financial Planning Association (FPA) wants the use of the term “financial planner” restricted by law, while the rival Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) wants the term “financial adviser” given similar protection.
FPA Chairman Matthew Rowe says the use of the term “financial planner” should be restricted to members of an approved professional association and enforced by law.
“This would include life insurance advisers, who I see as a specialist financial planners,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.
“You can’t exclude them from the professional space.”
Meanwhile, the AFA says the term “financial adviser” should only be used by people with an Australian financial services licence (AFSL).
“Those who work under an AFSL are obliged by law to act in the best interests of their clients,” CEO Richard Klipin said.
“In the interests of properly protecting consumers, it is this distinction that they need to understand, so it makes sense to enshrine the term in legislation.”
Under the Corporations Act 2001 there is currently no constraint on individuals calling themselves financial planners or financial advisers, irrespective of their training, competence or licensing.
Mr Rowe wants financial planners to have the same status as tax agents and stockbrokers.
“The FPA believes this to be a fundamental public confidence issue,” he said. “Consumers deserve the right to diffe
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Tags: Associations Want, Want
