Switzerland: $43 million Geneva money laundering settlement
HSBC (HSBA.L) agreed to pay Geneva authorities 40 million Swiss francs to settle a money- laundering investigation at its Swiss private bank, one of a number of probes facing its Geneva-based wealth manager. Leaked files published earlier this year sparked allegations that HSBC's private bank may have enabled clients to conceal millions of dollars of assets and dragged Europe's largest lender into the sights of regulators including Geneva's public prosecutor. Following four months of inquiries, Geneva authorities said they had closed their investigation after HSBC agreed to pay 40 million francs for wrongdoing, the largest such figure imposed by local prosecutors. Olivier Jornot, Geneva's attorney-general, told reporters, ‘This affair shows the weakness of Swiss law in fighting the entry of criminal funds into the financial circuit.’
Sweden: The Jesus Prayer Network- for a technology-driven society
Online there is a Swedish Prayer Network that provides a global opportunity for the Church to connect and partner with individuals and businesses, to provide answers to any and every need. They desire to agree with the will of God on behalf of anyone seeking to find biblical spiritual help for the problems in life. They are not a counselling service, but are a faith-based prayer service. They receive free-will financial offerings that help support their Affiliate Prayer Partners around the world. They meet people every day looking for someone to encourage them and others looking for someone to encourage. This is the driving force of Open 4 Prayer. Each of their Affiliate Prayer Partners agrees to keep every prayer request confidential. Jesus Prayer Network is working to be the largest Social Prayer network of its kind. It’s their goal to be available in every translatable language and accessible in every country.
Spain: 'Suitcase boy' smuggled into country reunited with mother
An eight-year-old Ivorian boy discovered being smuggled into Spain from Morocco in a suitcase has been reunited with his mother. Adou Ouattara was said to be in a ‘terrible state’ when he was found last month in a bag without air vents at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. The boy's father was arrested for arranging his son to be smuggled, but is due to be released on bail. The Moroccan woman who carried him in has also been detained. The boy underwent DNA tests before the Spanish authorities would hand him over to his mother, who lives legally on Spain's Canary Islands. The father tried to bring his son into Spain through legal means but his income fell short of the amount required by law. Officials have granted the boy a year to stay in Spain. The incident highlights the often desperate, dangerous means migrants use to try to make it into Europe through Ceuta, and another Spanish enclave, Melilla.
Slovenia: EU call for ‘Sustainable Pension System’
After Slovenia introduced measures to reduce pressure on the mid-term sustainability of the pension system, the European Commission is calling for a reform that would guarantee sustainability after 2020. Trade unions are warning that even an announcement of a new reform could trigger a wave of new retirements. Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis, in charge of the euro and social dialogue, said, as he visited Ljubljana on Friday, that the reform should build on intergenerational solidarity. Given the demographic changes, the issue needs to be addressed, he said. ‘The longer you delay with a solution, the harder it will get,’ he pointed out. The effects of the 2012 pension system reform are positive and a bill creating a demographic fund is expected to be passed soon, the Commission said. But the Commission believes additional reforms will be needed to ensure long-term sustainability of the system.
