Sony's 'The Interview' makes $18 million in opening weekend

Sony Pictures (6758.T) said "The Interview" has earned more than $15 million in online sales and another $2.8 million in theaters, an impressive return made possible by the publicity surrounding the cyberattack blamed on North Korea.

The raunchy comedy that depicts the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made almost as much money through online distribution and in limited theaters in its opening weekend as it would have in a wide release that was shelved after threats from hackers.

The studio said on Sunday the film had been purchased or rented online more than 2 million times on the four days through Saturday, making it Sony Pictures' No. 1 online movie of all time.

Britain posts 41 million wills, including Princess Diana’s

LONDON: Some 41 million British wills dating back to 1858, including those of Winston Churchill and Princess Diana, were made available in an online database Saturday.

The government´s full archive of wills from England and Wales, stretching back more than 150 years, has been put on the probatesearch.service.gov.uk website.

It includes the wills of World War II prime minister Churchill; novelist Charles Dickens; Diana, princess of Wales; children´s writer A. A. Milne; code-breaker Alan Turing; writer George Orwell and author Beatrix Potter.

The digital copies of the wills cost £10 ($15.50, 12.75 euros) but basic details for some of them are available online.

"This fascinating project provides us with insights into the ordinary and extraordinary people who helped shape this country, and the rest of the world," said Courts Minister Shailesh Vara.

"It is a fantastic resource not only for family historians but also for anyone with an interest in social history or famous figures."

Previously the archives had only been publicly available to search in person.

In Churchill´s will he gave £304,044 -- worth more than £5.1 million nowadays -- to his family.

When Dickens died in 1870 he left a will written in cursive script that laid out highly specific directions for his funeral.

Asian shares mostly up after Christmas break

HONG KONG: Asian markets mostly rose Monday on the first full day of trade after the Christmas break, with confidence boosted by Chinese easing measures and another Wall Street record.

Shares in AirAsia tumbled after one of the budget carrier´s jets went missing with 162 people on board Sunday and had still not been found early Monday.

Tokyo added 0.31 percent, Hong Kong jumped 1.48 percent, Sydney rose 1.01 percent and Seoul lost 0.51 percent while Shanghai rallied 1.26 percent.

With most bourses were closed at the end of last week, Monday was the first time dealers were able to react to the positive news out of the United States and China.

On Wall Street Friday Dow notched its seventh straight gain, advancing 0.13 percent to another record, while the S&P 500 jumped 0.33 percent, also a hitting an all-time high following news that the US economy grew five percent in July-September. The Nasdaq gained 0.70 percent.

The rate was the best in 11 years and is yet another indicator showing the world´s number one economy is well on the recovery track.

It will also add to calls for the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates next year, boosting the dollar against the yen.

In early Tokyo trade the greenback was at 120.48 yen, compared with 120.37 in New York Friday.

The euro bought $1.2183 and 146.80 yen, against $1.2179 and 146.59 yen.

Adding to buying confidence is news that China´s State Council late Wednesday announced preferential policies for manufacturers, including a promise to extend financial support, especially to large-scale equipment makers, to expand their exports.

The move is the latest by Beijing to kickstart the Chinese economy, which has been hit by a slew of weak data, including on exports, manufacturing consumer spending and INVESTMENT.

Kuala Lumpur-listed shares in AirAsia shed 12 percent at one point on news that a plane from its Indonesian affiliate went down in the Java Sea Sunday morning.

However, they recovered slightly to sit 7.5 percent lower in late morning trade as search and rescue operations resumed.

Oil prices rose after fresh violence erupted in Libya. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for February delivery gained 73 cents to $55.46 while Brent crude for February was up 55 cents to $60.00.

Forces loyal to Libya´s internationally recognised government on Sunday carried out air strikes against militia following attacks on the country´s crucial Al-Sidra oil export terminal.

The Fajr Libya group has been been trying to take Al-Sidra and the nearby Ras Lanuf terminal since Thursday.

Seven oil storage tanks at Al-Sidra were set on fire as a result of the fighting.

Since fresh clashes first erupted around the export terminals on December 13, Libya´s oil production has dropped to fewer than 350,000 barrels per day compared with 800,000 previously, industry experts say.

Gold was at $1,194.56 an ounce, compared with $1,196.96 Friday. (AFP)

 

Child abuse inquiry: Survivors want new panel and extra powers

Dozens of child abuse survivors have urged the government to scrap an inquiry into historical abuse and replace it with a more powerful body.

The call comes after a leaked letter from Theresa May told inquiry members their panel might be disbanded.

Peter Saunders, from National Association for People Abused in Childhood, said the move would be supported by the majority of survivors.

Labour's Simon Danczuk said the inquiry so far had been an "utter mess".

Mr Danczuk, who exposed child sex abuse allegations against former Liberal MP Cyril Smith, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that survivors would be "dismayed" by the progress of the inquiry - which was set up in July and has started work, but has no chairman.

'Very good people'

He later told BBC Radio 5 live: "It is verging on a disgrace in terms of how government, how Theresa May, and how Home Office officials have organised or failed to organise this particular enquiry."

Mr Saunders said he had not met any survivors who had any confidence in the process and the panel, "as it is currently constituted".

"There are some very good people on that panel as it stands at the moment, but there are one or two characters who sadly have an association with the past that would make them inappropriate," he said.

He added that if the panel was disbanded it would not "take us back to square one", and argued that getting the inquiry set up correctly would win the support of survivors.

But former children's minister and Tory MP Tim Loughton told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that all the survivors he had met wanted to get the inquiry going, and he did not accept that disbanding the panel was the will of the majority.

Peter Saunders: "Theresa May has my and many other people's backing"

In the letter to Home Secretary Theresa May from survivors, survivors' groups and associated professionals, they call for a new inquiry with the power to "compel witnesses to give evidence under oath".

It is "essential" the inquiry has these legal powers to "prevent evidence being withheld or tampered with", they say.

The letter also says they would welcome a "dedicated police team to take evidence alongside the inquiry and investigate and prosecute offenders".

They say this would "increase confidence", adding it is "essential" those conducting the inquiry "are free from strong links to prominent establishment figures or any other potential conflict of interest".

The letter also calls for the terms of reference of the inquiry to be extended to include allegations of historical abuse dating back as far as 1945, rather than 1970 as is presently the case.

One of the people who signed the letter was abuse survivor and campaigner Ian McFayden. He said the government only had "one chance" to get an inquiry like this right, and it needed to have teeth.

Lib Dem MP Tessa Munt, who has revealed that she suffered from child abuse herself, also agreed the inquiry needed greater powers, and people should be compelled to give evidence under oath.

Mrs May's first two choices to be the inquiry's chairperson both stood down amid claims they had close links with establishment figures.

The inquiry, sparked by claims of paedophiles operating in Westminster in the 1980s, will investigate whether "public bodies and other non-state institutions have taken seriously their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse in England and Wales".

Tesco accounts face fresh inquiry

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has announced an inquiry into Tesco's accounts for 2012, 2013 and 2014.

The FRC is an independent disciplinary body for UK accountants and actuaries.

BBC business editor Kamal Ahmed says the FRC's investigation will include PwC's auditing and preparation of Tesco's accounts.

In September, Tesco said it had mis-stated its half-year profit guidance by £250m - a figure that was subsequently revised to £263m in October.

PwC, which remains Tesco's auditor, said in a statement: "We take our responsibilities very seriously and remain committed to delivering work to the highest professional standards. We will cooperate fully with the FRC in its inquiries."

And Tesco said: "We will provide support to the FRC's investigation."

Slump in profits

In December, Tesco said full-year profits would be well below market expectations.

Instead of the £1.8bn to £2.2bn expected by the markets, the supermarket chain said group trading profit for the full financial year "will not exceed £1.4bn".

Analysis: Kamal Ahmed, business editor

The announcement by the Financial Reporting Council that it is investigating Tesco's accounts will heap pressure on the beleaguered retailer. The Serious Fraud Office is already investigating allegations of accounting irregularities following the admission in September that Tesco had over-stated its profits by £263m.

The FRC's inquiry will be into PWC's auditing of Tesco's accounts as well as the preparation of those accounts. The fact that the inquiry will investigate three years of accounts will concern investors as it could reveal further evidence that the problems go back further than initially thought.

The FRC's arsenal if any wrongdoing is found is formidable. It can impose unlimited fines on PWC; it can demand unlimited costs; and it can strike off any individual found to have behaved improperly.

The fact that the FRC's investigation is likely to take at least a year (and the SFO inquiry could take two years) means that Tesco will be dealing with its accounting problems until at least 2016.

In October, Tesco reported that underlying profits for the first half of its financial year slumped to £783m, down almost 47% on the previous year.

The company's share price has fallen nearly 45% over the last year as the accounting scandal and falling sales have disappointed investors.

The scandal, which is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office, saw eight executives suspended - one of whom has been reinstated while others have since left the company.

And chairman Sir Richard Broadbent has announced he is to step down.

An investigation by accountancy firm Deloitte found that rebates from suppliers had been moved to different periods on the company's balance sheet, and that this practice went at least as far back as Tesco's 2012/13 accounting period.

South Korea downgrades growth forecasts

Asia's fourth largest economy, South Korea, has cut its growth forecast, for this year and next, as consumer and business sentiment weakens.

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said on Monday the economy would now grow by 3.4% this year, down from the 3.7% it forecast in July.

Growth in 2015 was also downgraded to 3.8% from 4% predicted earlier.

The government said private INVESTMENT and consumer spending were coming out weaker than it had expected.

South Korea's economy expanded by 3% last year.

The forecast downgrade shows the challenges facing the economy despite government measures such as the central bank cutting interest rates twice this year to boost growth.

Government boost

The ministry said it does expect conditions to improve in 2015 on falling oil prices and more stimulus measures.

It forecasts domestic consumption to rise to 3% on an annual basis next year, which would be the highest since 2011.

The government is planning to introduce measures to boost wages and encourage businesses to create jobs and increase INVESTMENT

Q&A with Ashoka’s Maria Escorcia: Boosting Entrepreneurship for Social Change

Changemakers can come from anywhere, including the corporate world. Just look at Maria Escorcia, director of the South Florida chapter of Ashoka, a nonprofit that supports a network of 3,000 social entrepreneurs around the world.

Escorcia spent six years managing a corporate social responsibility program for a large Colombian multinational corporation. During her first three years, she was based in Bogotá and was responsible for the company’s community relations and implementing social impact projects where the company operated. She designed and led a project that aimed to eradicate child labor in rural mining areas, for instance. As a result, she was invited to participate as one of the first private sector representatives in the government-led Colombian Forum of Child Labor Eradication.

During the company’s expansion in Latin America, she was offered the opportunity to create a corporate foundation in the newly acquired plant in Cabaret, Haiti. “I arrived to the island in January 2009 and stayed until late 2011, which gave me a glimpse of the country before, during and after the 2010 earthquake. The foundation I established in early 2009 played an active role in the relief and reconstruction efforts after the earthquake,” she said.

After that, Escorcia learned about Ashoka while working on her master’s degree in international development at the University of Pittsburgh. Ashoka’s founder and CEO, Bill Drayton, was receiving an award and gave a keynote speech

Japanese bureaucrat plays key role in Modi investment team

TOKYO -- The man chosen to join "Japan Plus," a special management team established by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration to encourage greater Japanese investment in India, is a bureaucrat with a special connection to the Indian leader.

     Dressed in the manner of a dapper Indian man, in a bandi vest over a white shirt, he entered the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry building in New Delhi on Nov. 17. Once inside, around 150 Japanese and Indian government officials and business people eagerly greeted and shook the man's hand.

     Kenichiro Toyofuku, 45, joined Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in 1993 and was seconded to the Indian government to coordinate the INVESTMENT project in October this year.

     Toyofuku is seen by Modi as a man with a close connection to his home state of Gujarat, in northwestern India. The bureaucrat became Modi's closest Japanese associate on account of a 2006 trip to Gujarat in search of an export port for his country's automakers. At that time, Toyofuku was working in the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi.

     Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat, immediately called for a meeting with the visiting Japanese bureaucrat. Modi pledged his full support, saying that his state would build a new port if necessary.

     Now, as Toyofuku continues to travel around India, he is required to submit fortnightly progress reports to Modi.

Rising to the top

Raised in a poverty stricken family, Modi assesses people without regard for personal connections. In October, trade officials worldwide were surprised by the Indian leader's appointment of Arvind Subramanian as his chief economic adviser. U.S.-based Subramanian is an Indian economist known for his calls to revive the World Trade Organization and open the Indian market.

     On Nov. 13, India and the U.S. reached a breakthrough on full implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, ending a long conflict between the two countries over the issue. The deal was reached when Modi accepted Subramanian's call for India to drop its opposition to the WTO TFA, which it had repeatedly turned down.

     When Modi reshuffled his cabinet on Nov. 9, the Indian media reported that seven of 21 new ministers and deputy ministers have been charged with crimes including attempted murder, fraud and intimidation. However, Modi brushed aside the accusations and pledged to eradicate nepotistic corruption, stating that it is a more serious disease than cancer.

     The Indian leader told parliament members of his ruling party elected for the first time in May that they should meet people, but never only one-to-one.

     When the Indian prime minister moved to the capital to lead the nation, he reportedly took only two suitcases. It appears there are few people the leader can open up to.

Existing account enough to avail Jan Dhan benefits

Government on Wednesday said persons already having bank account need not to open a fresh one to avail benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).

“A person who is already having a bank account with any bank need not have to open a separate account under PMJDY. He/she will just have to get issued a RuPay card in his existing account to get benefit of accidental insurance,” a Finance Ministry statement said.

The overdraft facility can be extended in existing account, it said.

Accidental insurance of Rs 1 lakh will be available to all RuPay card holders between 18-70 years. They will need to use their RuPay card once in 45 days of receipt of the card to get the benefit.

The accidental claim intimation should be given to bank within 30 days from the date of accident, it added.

For life insurance coverage, one person per family will get a single cover of Rs 30,000 on one card only despite having multiple accounts/cards.

“The claim of Rs 30,000 is payable to the nominee of account holder who need to submit necessary documents to the nodal branch of the concerned bank,” the Ministry said.

Further, it said government employees either serving or retired and their families, persons filing income tax return/TDS deductees and persons covered under Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana, are ineligible for life insurance under PMJDY.

Markets jump on Fed comments, while Swiss bring in negative rates - business live

Markets end sharply higher

The Federal Reserve’s comments overnight about being patient about interest rises gave markets an early boost, and they did not look back. Even a late fall in the OIL PRICE failed to upset investors, while both Russia and Greece seemed slightly more stable situations after recent volatility. Better than expected UK retail sales helped support the UK market, and some mixed economic signals from the US - poor services PMI, positive weekly jobless claims - only served to convince traders that dearer borrowing would not be on the cards for a while. The surprise news that the Swiss Central Bank had introduced negative interest rates also failed to upset the markets. So the final scores showed:

Thai tuna firm buys US rival Bumble Bee for $1.5bn

The world's largest canned tuna producer, Thai Union Frozen Products, is buying US rival Bumble Bee Foods for $1.5bn (£960m).

Bumble Bee, the largest canned tuna and sardine producer in North America, is currently owned by private equity firm Lion Capital.

The purchase is aimed at expanding Thai Union's presence overseas and is expected to increase revenues by 25%.

Thai Union said the deal was the biggest acquisition in its history.

Its chief executive, Thiraphong Chansiri, called the deal "one of the most exciting external growth propositions".

"Bumble Bee Seafoods is a leading player in North American shelf-stable seafood; combining the business with Thai Union Group will lower costs, improve efficiency, and create the global leader in the shelf-stable seafood space," he said in a statement.

The Thai firm, which owns the John West and Chicken of the Sea brands, has been on an acquisition spree in the past year.

Earlier this year, it announced that it was buying Norwegian seafood firm King Oscar and French smoked salmon producer MerAlliance for undisclosed sums.

Chris Lischewski, chief executive of Bumble Bee Seafoods said the two firms were "a natural combination given the synergies that exist".

Bumble Bee boasts annual sales of around $1bn.

FBR mulls new avenues to offset oil price shock

KARACHI: The country’s energy-related tax revenues are feeling the squeeze from lower OIL PRICES and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is mulling strategies to offset an expected drop in collections, sources said on Thursday.

In a two-day meeting, Muhammad Ashraf Khan, Member Inland Revenue (Operations), held discussions with the officers of Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) Karachi and three regional tax offices (RTOs).

Sources in the revenue body said the authorities expressed concerns over the significant decline in oil prices and focused on the collection of sales tax on oil supplies from domestic supplies and imports.

The global OIL PRICES have come down by around 40 percent, while locally the government has so far passed on over 20 percent in price relief, the sources said.

During the fiscal year 2013/14, the FBR had collected Rs506.78 billion as sales tax on domestic supplies in which the share of POL products is around 44 percent.

During the last fiscal year, the sales tax from petroleum products posted significant growth of 28 percent to Rs231 billion from Rs180 billion in the fiscal year 2012/13.

Similarly, at the import stage, the sales tax on POL products constituted 34 percent share of the total Rs495.33 billion. The sales tax on imports grew by 8.5 percent to Rs169.55 billion in the fiscal year 2013/14 as against Rs156.32 billion in 2012/13.

The share of revenue from the petroleum products is almost one-fourths of the entire tax collection. Analysts said petroleum products and natural gas contribute around 53 percent to the total domestic sales tax collected and 10 major items, including petroleum products and natural gas, jointly contribute 73 percent to the total net domestic sales tax collected.

Petroleum products remain the top revenue spinner of sales tax domestically and contributed around 44 percent to total domestic sales tax collection during the last fiscal year.

The sources said during the meeting held on December 17 with the LTU officers, the Member IR, had been informed the dip in sales tax had already been witnessed on the local supplies in November, which would further aggravate in the coming months.

Industry data revealed Pakistan’s oil consumption clocked in at 10 percent on year-on-year basis and eight percent month-on-month lower at 1.57 million tons in November, as the furnace oil sales dropped 17 percent Y-o-Y and 23 percent M-o-M.

The inflationary impact was also discussed at the meeting, which was likely to reduce the sales of companies registered with the LTU Karachi.

The sources said since the LTU Karachi has limited number of big taxpayers, it would be difficult to identify new avenues for additional tax.

However, in the meeting with the officers of the RTOs next day, the members directed to identify new taxpayers for possible revenue generation, the sources said.

The sources said the revenue collection targets would be comfortable during the first half of 2014/15, but it would be alarming in the second half.

The FBR has been assigned the revenue collection target of Rs2810 billion for the fiscal year 2014/15. The revenue body had collected provisional figures of Rs900 billion during July–November, in which sales tax posted only eight percent growth.

Barclays' £500m for forex settlements is not enough, says chief Antony Jenkins

Barclays' £500m for forex settlements is not enough, says chief Antony Jenkins

Barclays' chief executive has admitted that the £500m the bank has set aside to settle allegations of foreign exchange manipulation will not be enough.

Antony Jenkins told Sky News that he expects future settlements with US authorities to push Barclays' total settlement figure to more than £500m.

"My expectation is it will be a bigger number than that," Mr Jenkins said, adding that the British lender hoped to reach a settlement with regulators "in the course of next year".

The banking boss asserted, however, that Barclays had made progress in changing its culture.

"You've got to have a robust culture which defines what the company is about. Just as in this country we have laws, and people obey those laws mostly because it's the right thing to do, sometimes you have situations where people don't obey the law and you need a policing function - in a bank, that's called the compliance department.

"Banks didn't have strong enough compliance departments. We've moved to strengthen ours. As I've always said, changing culture takes time. We're making progress - the industry has come a long way on both topics but we have work to do."

Barclays became the first British bank to set aside money for settlements but was not among the six banks that paid £2.7bn to settle claims with UK, US and Swiss regulators last month.

Barclays rejected that early settlement, saying it wanted to wait for a co-ordinated deal with other regulators, suggesting the total bill for the scandal could top £3bn.

Earlier this month New York’s Department of Financial Services (DFS), led by Benjamin Lawsky, claimed that Barclays and Deutsche Bank may have programmed AUTOMATED TRADING PLATFORMS to systematically rig the currency markets.

The DFS is currently investigating Barclays over FOREX MARKETclaims.

Using algorithms in TRADING SYSTEMS is common practice at banks, but employing them as part of an effort to profit from manipulating forex rates could suggest the problem was more widespread than a select few traders
.

Government to sell down taxpayer stake in Lloyds Banking Group

Government to sell down taxpayer stake in Lloyds Banking Group.

George Osborne has announced plans for a third sale of Lloyds Banking Group shares before the general election, meaning the Government could by next summer recover half the money it spent bailing out the bank.

The Treasury plans to sell as much as 5.4pc of Lloyds over the next six and a half months, returning just under £3bn at current prices.

This would mean the Government’s stake would fall below 20pc, and the taxpayer would have made back £10.4bn of the £20.5bn it paid to bail out the bank at the height of the financial crisis six years ago.

Wedensday’s news came as a surprise to many in the City, who had not expected the Government to sell any more shares in the bank before May’s vote.

However, the Bank of England's stress tests on Tuesday, which spared Lloyds from having to submit new capital plans, proved to be the catalyst for the sale.

“This government is determined to strengthen the banking system and to get back to the taxpayers the money that was put into the banks,” the Chancellor said.

UK Financial INVESTMENTS (UKFI), the body that manages the taxpayer’s stake in Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, has devised a scheme that will see shares sold at a drip feed rather than – as with the previous two sales – in large slices.

A cap on the number of shares that can be sold means the Treasury will retain a significant stake in the bank going into May’s election, however.

UKFI has not defined how much of the Government’s stake will be sold, but instead capped the number of shares it will dispose of.

It will sell no more than 15pc of the total volume of shares trading on the open market between now and June 30, a scheme designed to avoid flooding the market with supply and thus driving down Lloyds’ share price.

Based on typical levels of trading in Lloyds, this means that by the end of June, the Government could bring its holding down from 24.9pc to around 19.5pc, compared to the 38pc of 15 months ago.

Previous sell-offs, in September last year and March this year, have seen UKFI sell off a large number of shares in chunks to institutional investors, and to achieve this it had to sell shares at a discount.

Gradually selling them on the open market means it is likely to avoid this. “We don’t have to accept such a discount,” a source said.

UKFI has appointed Morgan Stanley to gradually sell shares to the market through brokers. It has told the bank not to dispose of them at below 73.6p, the break-even price of 2008’s bail-out to ensure the taxpayer makes a profit.