United Kingdom banking law

United Kingdom banking law refers to banking law in the United Kingdom, to control the activities of banks.
History.
The Bank of England was originally established as a corporation with private shareholders under the Bank of England Act 1694, to raise money for war with Louis XIV, King of France. After the South Sea Company collapsed in a speculative bubble in 1720, the Bank of England became the dominant financial institution, and acted as a banker to the UK government and other private banks.
The Bank of England could, simply by being the biggest financial institution, influence interest rates that other banks charged to businesses and consumers by altering its interest rate for the banks' bank accounts. The Bank of England Act 1716 widened its borrowing power. The Bank Restriction Act 1797 removed a requirement to convert notes to gold on demand. The Bank Charter Act 1844 gave the bank sole rights to issue notes and coins. It also acted as a lender through the 19th century in emergencies to finance banks facing collapse. Because of its power, many believed the Bank of England should have more public duties and supervision. The Bank of England Act 1946 nationalised it. Its current constitution, and guarantees of a degree of operational independence from government, is found in the Bank of England Act 1998.
Central bank.
UK banking has two main parts. First, the Bank of England administers monetary policy, influencing interest rates, inflation and employment, and it regulates the banking market with HM Treasury, the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority. Second, there are private banks, and some non-shareholder banks (co-operatives, mutual or building societies), that provide credit to consumer and business clients. Borrowing money on credit (and repaying the debt later) is important for people expand a business, invest in a new enterprise, or purchase valuable assets more quickly than by saving. Every day, banks estimate the prospects of a borrower succeeding or failing, and set interest rates for debt repayments according to their predictions of the risk (or average risk of ventures like it). If all banks together lend more money, this means enterprises will do more, potentially employ more people, and if business ventures are productive in the long run, society's prosperity will increase. If banks charge interest that people cannot afford, or if banks lend too much money to ventures that are unproductive, economic growth will slow, stagnate, and sometimes crash. Although UK banks, except the Bank of England, are shareholder or mutually owned, many countries operate public retail banks (for consumers) and public investment banks (for business). The UK used to run Girobank for consumers, and there have been many proposals for a "British Investment Bank" (like the Nordic Investment Bank or KfW in Germany) since the financial crisis of 2007–2008, but these proposals have not yet been accepted.
Central bank governance.
Under the Bank of England Act 1998 section 1, the bank's executive body, the "Court of Directors" is "appointed by Her Majesty", which in effect is the Prime Minister. This includes the Governor of the Bank of England (currently Andrew Bailey) and up to 14 directors in total (currently there are 12, 9 men and 3 women). The Governor may serve for a maximum of 8 years, deputy governors for a maximum of 10 years, but they may be removed only if they acquire a political position, work for the bank, are absent for over 3 months, become bankrupt, or "is unable or unfit to discharge his functions as a member". This makes removal hard, and potentially a court review. A sub-committee of directors sets pay for all directors, rather than a non-conflicted body like Parliament.
Interest rates.
The Bank of England provides finance and support to, and may influence interest rates of the private banks through monetary policy. Possibly the Bank's most important function is administering monetary policy. This affects growth and employment. Under BEA 1998 section 11 its objectives are to (a) "maintain price stability, and (b) subject to that, to support the economic policy of Her Majesty’s Government, including its objectives for growth and employment." Under section 12, the Treasury issues its interpretation of "price stability" and "economic policy" each year, together with an inflation target. To change inflation, the Bank of England has three main policy options. First, it performs "open market operations", buying and selling banks' bonds at differing rates (i.e. loaning money to banks at higher or lower interest, known "discounting"), buying back government bonds ("repos") or selling them, and giving credit to banks at differing rates. This will affect the interest rate banks charge by influencing the quantity of money in the economy (more spending by the central bank means more money, and so lower interest) but also may not. Second, the Bank of England may direct banks to keep different higher or lower reserves proportionate to their lending. Third, the Bank of England could direct private banks adopt specific deposit taking or lending policies, in specified volumes or interest rates. The Treasury is, however, only meant to give orders to the Bank of England in "extreme economic circumstances". This should ensure that changes to monetary policy are undertaken neutrally, and artificial booms are not manufactured before an election.
Private bank governance.
Outside the central bank, banks are mostly run as profit-making corporations, without meaningful representation for customers. This means, the standard rules in the Companies Act 2006 apply.
Directors and shareholders.
Directors are usually appointed by existing directors in the nomination committee, unless the members of a company (invariably shareholders) remove them by majority vote. Bank directors largely set their own pay, delegating the task to a remuneration committee of the board. Most shareholders are asset managers, exercising votes with other people's money that comes through pensions, life insurance or mutual funds, who are meant to engage with boards, but have few explicit channels to represent the ultimate investors. Asset managers rarely sue for breach of directors' duties (for negligence or conflicts of interest), through derivative claims.
Concerns about "short-termism" have been written about by the Kay Review (2014) on short and long term thinking in equity markets, and the Walker Review (2009) on bank governance. These have not yet examined the responsibility of institutional investors, and asset managers who vote with other people's money.
Employee rights.
Since the Credit Institutions Directive 2013, there are some added governance requirements beyond the general framework: for example, duties of directors must be clearly defined, and there should be a policy on board diversity to ensure gender and ethnic balance. If the UK had employee representation on boards, there would also be a requirement for at least one employee to sit on the remuneration committee, but this step has not yet been taken. The Credit Institutions Directive 2013 (2013/36/EU article 95 states "If employee representation... is provided for by national law, the remuneration committee shall include one or more employee representatives."
Licensing and passport.
There is some public oversight through the bank licensing system. Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 section 19 there is a "general prohibition" on performing a "regulated activity", including accepting deposits from the public, without authority. The two main UK regulators are the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. Once a bank has received authorisation in the UK, or another member state, it may operate throughout the EU under the terms of the host state's rules: it has a "passport" giving it freedom of establishment in the internal market.
Customer rights.
While banks perform an essential economic function, supported by public institutions, the rights of bank customers have generally been limited to contract.
Customer accounts.
In general terms and conditions, customers receive very limited protection. The Consumer Credit Act 1974 sections 140A to 140D prohibit unfair credit relationships, including extortionate interest rates. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 sections 62 to 65 prohibit terms that create contrary to good faith, create a significant imbalance, but the courts have not yet used these rules in a meaningful way for consumers. Most importantly, since "Foley v Hill" the courts have held customers who deposit money in a bank account lose any rights of property by default: they apparently have only contractual claims in debt for the money to be repaid. If customers did have property rights in their deposits, they would be able to claim their money back upon a bank's insolvency, trace the money if it had been wrongly paid away, and (subject to agreement) claim profits made on the money. However, the courts have denied that bank customers have property rights. The same position has generally spread in banking practice globally, and Parliament has not yet taken the opportunity to ensure banks offer accounts where customer money is protected as property.
Deposit protection.
Because insolvent banks do not enable customers to recover their money as a property right (only contract), governments have found it necessary to publicly guarantee depositors' savings. This follows the model, started in the Great Depression, the US set up the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, to prevent bank runs. In 2017, the UK guaranteed deposits up to £85,000, mirroring an EU wide minimum guarantee of €100,000.
Markets.
Insolvency.
Because of the knock-on consequences of any bank failure, because bank debts are locked into a network of international finance, government has found it practically necessary to prevent banks going insolvent. This system began with the Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008, emergency legislation for the nationalisation of Northern Rock, which was recast the following year. Under the Banking Act 2009 if a bank is going into insolvency, the government may (and usually will if "the stability of the financial systems" is at stake) pursue one of three "stabilisation options". The Bank of England will either try to ensure the failed bank is sold onto another private sector purchaser, set up a subsidiary company to run the failing bank's assets (a "bridge-bank"), or for the UK Treasury to directly take shares in "temporary public ownership". This will wipe out the shareholders, but will keep creditors' claims intact.
All other standard rules of the Insolvency Act 1986 apply, including wrongful trading provisions, and the rules in the Company Director Disqualification Act 1986.
Capital requirements.
One fashionable method to prevent bank insolvencies, following the "Basel III" programme of the international banker group, has been to require banks hold more money in reserve based on how risky their lending is. EU wide rules in the Capital Requirements Regulation 2013 achieve this in some detail, for instance requiring proportionally less in reserves if sound government debt is held, but more if mortgage-backed securities are held. It is not clear that a lack of capital is the root cause of the problem, although the Basel Committee of banks advocates it.


Francis Irving

Francis Irving is a British computer programmer, activist for freedom of information and former CEO of ScraperWiki.
Francis Irving developed TortoiseCVS.
He co-founded Public Whip with Julian Todd and became a developer of the affiliated TheyWorkForYou website, a project which parses raw Hansard data to track how members vote in the UK Parliament. Initially risking prosecution for re-using the raw data which was under Crown copyright, the developers of Public Whip were later successful in getting permission to use it. In 2004, Public Whip was recognised in the New Media awards. In 2008, "The Daily Telegraph" rated TheyWorkforYou 41st in a list of the 101 most useful websites. Irving together with Matthew Somerville wrote the code for FixMyStreet.
Irving was also a senior developer of PledgeBank. He collaborated again with Julian Todd to create 'The Straight Choice, a website (later renamed 'Election Leaflets') that archives election leaflets.
He was the Campaign Director of the Save Parliament campaign which opposed the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill.
He was one of two people to suggest the winning idea of a site through which Freedom of Information Act requests could be made in a mySociety competition for ideas for public interest websites to build. He was later to become the main developer of the site which was called WhatDoTheyKnow. Francis has won seven New Statesman awards for websites he has worked on.


Limits on Depreciation Deduction

Section 280F was enacted to limit certain deductions on depreciable assets. Section 280F is a policy that makes the Internal Revenue Code more accurate by allowing a taxpayer to report their business use on an asset they may also need for some personal reasons.
General description.
To put 280F in context a general understanding of 167(a) and 179 is useful.
Section 167(a) allows a depreciation deduction for property used in the trade or business of the taxpayer. If property is used partially for business and partially for personal use, the basis of the property must be allocated between those uses.
Under Section 179, a taxpayer may elect to expense (deduct) all or a portion of the cost of the depreciable property purchased during the taxable year if it was intended to have a business use, despite generally having to capitalize this property. However, Section 280F was enacted to limit these deductions on certain listed property.
Property.
Listed property includes luxury automobiles as well as the other assets listed in 280F(d)(4). For passenger automobiles, section 280F(a)(1)(A) limits the depreciation deduction by listing the amounts a taxpayer can deduct in the years following its purchase. These listed amounts are subject to an adjustment for inflation under 280F(d)(7).(a) The sum for 2007, after adjustment for inflation, is $12,800. These limits seem to reflect what the legislature means by using the term "luxury automobile."
Passenger automobiles fall within the definition of "listed property" as well. 280F(d)(4)(i), see also Ferrada v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Opinion 2004-93 (2004). Other "listed property" is subjected to more limitations, under 168(g), if it is "not predominantly used in a qualified business." 280F(b)(1). If listed property is not used for a qualified business, the accelerated depreciation deductions will be recaptured under 280F(b)(2). Whether a listed property qualifies as being used predominantly for business is determined by section 280F(b)(3).
Business use.
Under 280F(b)(3), if the business use is less than 50%, only straight-line depreciation may be used. Even if the taxpayer uses the automobile, or other listed property, exclusively for business use, the depreciation deductions are still limited by 280F(b)(3). There are some exceptions as seen in 280F(d)(5)(B) and 280F(d)(6)(C).


E. Fessler

E. Fessler is a stove-fitter company that produces stoves, fireplaces and other ceramics in Vienna. The company headquarters is located at the Mozartgasse 3 in the 4th District Wieden.
The company was founded in 1794 Lorenz Fessler from Vorarlberg at Alt Lerchenfeld 40. Over the centuries, it became very successful and received an imperial warrant from the emperor as a purveyor to the imperial and royal court of Austria-Hungary.


Pequest and Wallkill Railroad


Crispin S. Gregoire

Crispin S. Gregoire (born 1956, Commonwealth of Dominica) is a businessman from Dominica and was the Permanent Representative to the United Nations for the Commonwealth of Dominica until 2010. He presented his credentials to Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 1 October 2002.
Career.
Gregoire was Director of Consulting and Training for Africa and Latin America at BoardSource in Washington, D.C. prior to assuming his position at the United Nations. He has worked in many organizations, some of which include Program Consultant for the Ford Foundation in New York City, Program Adviser to TechnoServe, Inc. in Norwalk, Connecticut, Acting Director for the New York City Department of Health, Field Office Director for the Save the Children Federation in Westport, Connecticut, Associate Producer for CBS News in New York, a Program Associate for Appropriate Technology International in Washington, D.C. and an Adjunct Instructor at Brooklyn College in New York.
Education.
Gregoire has a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations degree from Columbia University and a master's degree in education from Howard University. He speaks fluent English and Dominican Creole French, and is efficient in Spanish and French.


Dethronement


Charles Grey (British Army officer)

General Charles Grey (15 March 1804 – 31 March 1870) was a British army officer, member of the British House of Commons and political figure in Lower Canada. In later life, he served as private secretary to Prince Albert and later Queen Victoria.
He was born in Northumberland, England, in 1804, the second son of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, by his wife, the Hon. Mary Ponsonby, daughter of William Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby. He was the younger brother of Henry, the 3rd Earl Grey. After a good private education he joined the British Army as a sub-lieutenant in 1820 and commanded the 73rd Regiment from 1833 to 1842.
Grey represented Wycombe in the British House of Commons from 1832 to 1837, defeating Disraeli to win the seat, which he held until 1837.
In 1838 he went to Canada with his brother-in-law, John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, where he was named a member of the Executive Council and Special Council of Lower Canada in June of that year, serving until 2 November. He returned to England with Lambton later that month and later obtained the influential position of secretary to Prince Albert from 1849 to 1861 and secretary to the Queen from 1861 until his death in 1870.
He was given the colonelcy of the 3rd (East Kent) Regiment of Foot in 1860, and transferred to the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot in 1863, a position he held until his death. He was promoted full general in 1865.
In 1836, he had married Caroline Eliza, daughter of Sir Thomas Harvie Farquhar, 2nd baronet. Their children included:
In popular culture.
A heavily re-imagined version of Grey appears as a character in popular manga and anime franchise "Black Butler", with a key role in "Black Butler: Book of Murder", as he was a popular character through the series .


Philip, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal

Philip of Hesse-Philippsthal (14 December 1655 – 18 June 1721) was the son of William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and Hedwig Sophia of Brandenburg. He was the first landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal from 1663 to 1721 and the founder of the fifth branch of the house of Hesse.
Marriage and issue.
In 1680, Philip of Hesse-Philipsthal married Catherine of Solms-Laubach (1654–1736) (daughter of Count Charles Otto of Solms-Laubach). They had 8 children:
Branch.
Philip of Hesse-Philippsthal belonged to the Hesse-Philipsthal branch - this fifth branch was issued from the first branch of the House of Hesse, itself issuing from the first branch of the House of Brabant.
After the abdication of landgrave Ernest of Hesse-Philippsthal (1846-1925) in 1868, the Hesse-Philippsthal branch perpetuated itself through the sixth branch of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, currently represented by William of Hesse-Philippsthal (1933-).


Insured Cash Sweep

The Insured Cash Sweep or ICS service is used by banks and savings associations that are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Financial institutions that are in the ICS Network can place the deposits received from their customers into interest-bearing savings accounts at other FDIC-insured banks in the Network. Banks can also place their customer funds into demand deposit accounts using the ICS demand option. Because the funds are placed at multiple banks across the Network in amounts that stay within the FDIC deposit insurance limit at each bank ($250,000), the customer is eligible for total amounts of deposit insurance that are greater than the standard insurance limit for any one bank.
The customer's relationship bank sets the interest rate offered on the entire deposit amount, and the customer gets one statement from the bank covering the full amount of the deposit. The Bank of New York Mellon provides custody, settlement, and recordkeeping services for the ICS service.
ICS is referred to as a "sweep" service because the customer's funds are transferred from a transaction account at the relationship bank into the savings accounts at other banks in the ICS Network. Each customer may make up to six withdrawals per month in the amounts that have been placed into the savings at the other banks.
The provider of the Insured Cash Sweep is IntraFi Network (formerly Promontory Interfinancial Network), which is based in Arlington Virginia. Promontory also offers the Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service or CDARS service, and the Insured Network Deposit or IND service. The CDARS service allocates deposits in a way that is similar to the ICS service, but allocates the funds to time deposits (certificates of deposit or CDs) at other Network banks, whereas the ICS service allocates the funds to money market deposit accounts.


Northern Running Track


Patricia Elaine Joan Rodgers

Patricia Elaine Joan Rodgers (born July 13, 1948) is a Bahamian diplomat who served as the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the High Commissioner in the United Kingdom (16 May 1988 – 30 October 1992) and to Canada. In 2014, Rodgers was awarded the Janet Bostwick Medal for Women in the Foreign Service.
Education.
Master of Arts English, University of Aberdeen, 1970, Diploma in International Relations from the University of the West Indies St Augustine, Trinidad, 1972, PhD


British Gas

British Gas is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Serving around twelve million homes in the United Kingdom, British Gas is the biggest energy supplier in the country, and is considered one of the Big Six dominating the gas and electricity market in the United Kingdom.
History.
1812–1948.
The Gas Light and Coke Company was the first public utility company in the world. It was founded by Frederick Albert Winsor and incorporated by Royal Charter on 30 April 1812 under the seal of King George III.
It continued to thrive for the next 136 years, expanding into domestic services whilst absorbing many smaller companies including the Aldgate Gas Light and Coke Company (1819), the City of London Gas Light and Coke Company (1870), the Equitable Gas Light Company (1871), the Great Central Gas Consumer's Company (1870), Victoria Docks Gas Company (1871), Western Gas Light Company (1873), Imperial Gas Light and Coke Company (1876), Independent Gas Light and Coke Company (1876), the London Gas Light Company (1883), Richmond Gas Company (1925), Brentford Gas Company (1926), Pinner Gas Company (1930) and Southend-on-Sea and District Gas Company (1932).
On 1 May 1949, the GLCC became the major part of the new North Thames Gas Board, one of Britain's twelve regional gas boards after the passing of the Gas Act 1948 by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government.
1948–1973.
In the beginning of the 1900s, the gas market in the United Kingdom was mainly run by county councils and small private firms. At this time the use of a flammable gas (often known as "town gas") piped to houses as a fuel was still being marketed to consumers, by such means as the National Gas Congress and Exhibition in 1913. The gas used in the 19th and early 20th centuries was coal gas, but in the period of 1967–77, British domestic coal gas supplies were replaced by natural gas.
In 1948, Clement Attlee's Labour government reshaped the gas industry, bringing in the Gas Act 1948. The act (on the vesting date of 1 April 1949) nationalised the gas industry in the United Kingdom and 1,062 privately owned and municipal gas companies were merged into twelve area gas boards, each a separate body with its own management structure.
The twelve gas boards were: Eastern, East Midlands, Northern, North Eastern, North Thames, North West, Scottish, Southern, South Eastern, South West, Wales, and West Midlands. Each area board was divided into geographical groups or divisions which were often further divided into smaller districts. These boards simply became known as the "gas board", a term still sometimes used when referring to British Gas.
In addition, the Gas Act established the Gas Council, its constitution was such that control lay effectively with the area boards. The council consisted of a chairman and deputy chairman, both appointed by the minister, and the chairmen of each of the twelve area boards. The council served as a channel of communication with the minister; undertook labour negotiations; undertook research; and acted as spokesperson for the gas industry generally.
The Gas Act 1965 shifted the balance of power to the centre: it put the Gas Council on the same footing as the area boards, with the powers to borrow up to £900 million, to manufacture or acquire gas and to supply gas in bulk to any area board. In May 1968, the Gas Council moved to large new offices at 59 Bryanston Street, Marble Arch, London.
1973–1986.
In the beginning of the 1970s, the gas industry was again restructured after the Gas Act 1972 was passed. The act merged all the area boards and created the British Gas Corporation, and abolished the Gas Council.
From its inception, the corporation was responsible for development and maintenance of the supply of gas to Great Britain, in addition to satisfying reasonable demand for gas throughout the country. Its leadership, like that of the area boards, was appointed and supervised by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry until 1974, when those powers were vested in the newly created position of Secretary of State for Energy.
1986–1997.
The Conservative Government, led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher introduced the Gas Act 1986, which led to the privatisation of the company, and on 8 December 1986, its shares floated on the London stock market as British Gas plc. In the hope of encouraging individuals to become shareholders, the offer was advertised with the "If you see Sid... Tell him!" campaign.
The initial public offering of 135p per share valued the company at £9 billion.
1997–2020.
In February 1997, eleven years after it had been privatised, British Gas plc demerged to become the entirely separate BG Group and the Gas Sales and Gas Trading, Services and Retail businesses.
The Gas Sales and Gas Trading and Services and Retail businesses, together with the gas production business of the North and South Morecambe gas fields, were transferred to Centrica, which continues to own and operate the British Gas retail brand.
British Gas acquired Dyno-Rod in October 2004. In May 2007, British Gas signed a landmark deal which saw 1,000 Volkswagen Caddy vans being supplied to the firm, which were fitted with a bespoke racking system and a speed limiter, designed by Siemens.
The deal was renewed in September 2015. In April 2016, it was announced that 224,000 residential customers had left the company, citing customers coming to the end of their fixed deals and then moving on to other suppliers as the main reason for this loss.
In the same month (April 2016) British Gas also announced it would be closing a call centre and office in Oldbury (West Midlands), with a loss of approximately 680 jobs. In May 2018, Centrica announced that British Gas had lost 100,000 customers since the start of the year. However, the parent company was still likely to hit its targets of 2018, and pay dividends of 12p per share.
British Gas is now led by chief executive, Sarwjit Sambhi, who oversees a business that provides energy and services to around ten million homes, and employs over 28,000 staff based across the United Kingdom. A further seven hundred job cuts in the United Kingdom were announced by Centrica in July 2019, amid growing marketplace challenges, which include the loss of 742,000 customers in 2018, and the government's price cap.
2021.
In April 2021, British Gas changed the contractual terms and conditions for thousands of its workers. Those who did not accept the changes by midday on 14 April 2021, were told to leave the firm. This resulted in a public outcry over the treatment of long-time workers, in particular over social media and with support from workers' unions and the opposition Labour Party.
Advertising, sponsorship and marketing.
British Gas has actively been involved in sports sponsorship, including a six-year deal with the British swimming team which commenced in March 2009, and is expected to net the team £15 million, and from 2006 to 2009, it sponsored the Southern Football League of England.
The company's extensive television advertising has featured many high-profile individuals, and in the beginning of the 1990s, one advertisement included Cheryl Tweedy as a small child, more than ten years before the beginning of her pop music career. In November 2012, the Information Commissioner's Office publicly listed British Gas as one of a number of companies that it had concerns about due to unsolicited telephone calls for marketing.
The concerns were based on complaints. In response, British Gas said that "We uphold the highest standards when contacting people in their homes, and only use contact information if we have express permission to do so."
In July 2014, regulator Ofgem reached an agreement with British Gas for the company to pay £1 million in compensation to hundreds of people, who had been advised to switch from other suppliers to British Gas by British Gas advisers using exaggerated claims. On 20 September 2015, British Gas launched an advert, including their new mascot, Wilbur the Penguin.
Distribution network operators.
British Gas is an energy supplier for homes across the country. The infrastructure (pipes) which delivers the gas to consumers is owned and maintained by other companies. They do not, however, manage the network of towers and cables that distributes electricity – these are maintained by distribution network operators (DNOs) which vary from region to region. If, for instance, there is a power outage it is necessary to contact the appropriate DNO rather than the energy supplier.


Florens Luoga

Florens Luoga is a Tanzanian lawyer and academic.
He is the deputy vice chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam and the chair of the Tanzania Revenue Authority. He has been appointed to be the next governor of the Bank of Tanzania, the country's central bank.


Thames River Bridge (Amtrak)

Amtrak's Thames River Bridge spans from New London to Groton, Connecticut, United States, crossing Connecticut's Thames River.
Design and history.
The bridge was originally a Strauss heel-trunnion Warren through-truss bascule design, built in 1919. It was built by the American Bridge Company for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, replacing a span dating from 1889. In June 2008, the bridge underwent replacement which included the span's conversion from a bascule to a vertical-lift mechanism.
As built in 1919, the bridge's abutments and piers were designed to carry a second set of double-track spans, in the event that an expansion to four tracks was ever undertaken at this location by the New Haven Railroad (it never was).
Operation.
The bridge opens for marine traffic more than four times per day and serves up to 36 passenger trains and two freight trains per day. The bridge sits above mean high water (MHW), and the vertical lift span opens to above MHW and provides of horizontal clearance.
It is one of eight moveable bridges on the Northeast Corridor through Connecticut surveyed in one multiple-property study in 1986.


Fred L. Banks Jr.

Fred Lee Banks Jr. (born September 1, 1942) is an American lawyer, politician, and former Mississippi Supreme Court justice, having served on the court from 1991 to 2001.
Early life, education, and career.
Banks grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, the son of F. L. Banks Sr. and Violet Mabery Banks, and graduated from Lanier High School in 1960. He received a B.B.A. from Howard University in Washington, D.C., followed by a J.D. from the Howard University School of Law, in 1968, where he graduated "cum laude", second in his class. Banks "chose to enter the law to help African Americans achieve equality", being one of only a handful of African American attorneys in the state at the time of his graduation. After gaining admission to the bar in Mississippi, he entered into private practice in Jackson with several other attorneys acting as local counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. He then formed a law firm with several of those attorneys, Reuben Anderson, E.M. Nichols, and Melvyn R. Leventhal.
Career.
Legislative service.
In 1975, Banks was elected to represent Hinds County in the Mississippi House of Representatives. He was twice re-elected. During his time in the House, Banks chaired the House Ethics Committee, the House Judiciary Committee, and the Legislative Black Caucus. Banks, along with Representatives Horace L. Buckley and Douglas L. Anderson, also from Jackson, fought to preserve records from the pro-segregation Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, in opposition to a bill which would authorize the destruction of these records. Also during this period, on September 24, 1979, President Jimmy Carter announced his appointment of Banks as one of nine members of the National Advisory Council on the Education of Disadvantaged Children.
Judicial service.
During this time, Reuben Anderson had been appointed to a seat as a Circuit Judge for the 7th Circuit District, encompassing Hinds County and Yazoo. Banks served in the legislature until February 1985, when Governor William Allain, having elevated Reuben Anderson to the Mississippi Supreme Court, appointed Banks to Anderson's seat on the 7th Circuit District. Banks was twice re-elected without opposition. In January 1991, following Anderson's resignation from the Mississippi Supreme Court, Governor Ray Mabus appointed Banks to fill the remainder of Anderson's term. Banks was elected to serve the remainder of that term in November 1991 and re-elected to a full term in November 1996.
In 1993, Banks was mentioned as a potential nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, during the administration of President Bill Clinton, as there were no African American judges on the Fifth Circuit. Clinton ultimately appointed Louisiana state court judge Carl E. Stewart as the first African American judge on the Fifth Circuit.
Banks retired from the court in 2001, and thereafter became a senior partner at the law firm of Phelps Dunbar.


Margaret Carwood

Margaret Carwood (fl. 1567), was a maid-of-honour at the court of Mary, Queen of Scots. Her wedding to John Stewart of Fincastle was celebrated at the time of the murder of Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, the Queen's consort.
Background.
Margaret was an heiress of the family of Carwood of that Ilk in Lanarkshire. Her sister Janet married John Fleming of Persellands. Margaret became a lady of the Queen's chamber in May 1564.
When Mary was pregnant in Edinburgh Castle with her son James, Margaret helped draw up her will with a list of bequests of personal jewellery from her cabinet. In August 1565 the queen gave her sewing silk for embroidering her linen. On 5 October 1565 the queen gave her a coffer and a length of taffeta, and in November and June 1566 material for black velvet gowns.
Margaret worked with Piers Martin, the tapestry-man, in 1566 making a mat and a green canopy and coverlet for the Queen. She was also the Queen's "Pantrice", in charge of the royal pantry. Mary gave Margaret a black silk dress made in the Spanish fashion.
Events at the end of the reign.
In March 1566, according to some accounts, after the murder of Mary's Italian secretary David Rizzio, Margaret Carwood accompanied Mary, Darnley, and the servant or musician Bastian Pagez on their escape from Edinburgh to Dunbar Castle. A 17th-century history mentions that a Sebastian Broune and a lady-in-waiting rode with the party.
George Buchanan wrote in his "Detection" that Margaret was privy to all the Queen's secrets. Buchanan's story, published to incriminate the queen, was that Mary lodged in the Exchequer House in Edinburgh rather than her Palace in September 1566. In a night-time escapade the queen and Margaret Carwood dangled another servant Margaret Beaton, Lady Reres, with a string or a belt, over the garden wall to fetch the Earl of Bothwell.
After the murder of Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley on 10 February 1567, during his trial the servant called French Paris (Nicolas Hubert) declared that he went the Kirk o'Field lodging on 8 February to retrieve a fur wrap of the queen's, on Margaret Carwood's orders. Margaret was attending Mary at the Kirk o'Field, waiting with the other ladies in the queen's chamber next to Darnley's bedchamber, when the ladies were suddenly called to Holyroodhouse. Some histories say that Margaret married Bastian Pagez on Sunday 9 February 1567. Sources agree that Mary attended a masque or dance in honour of Bastian's marriage that night. Mary's husband, was killed at 2:00am the next morning. Margaret's wedding was celebrated at Holyroodhouse on the following day.
One of the Casket Letters, which were thought to incriminate the Queen in Darnley's murder, mentions Margaret Carwood and her previous departure from court. The letter was endorsed by its Scottish copyist, "Anentes the depesch of Margaret Carwood, quhilk was before her marriage, (proves her affection)," and by another hand that Margaret was in special trust with the Queen.
Two weddings and a funeral.
Bastian Pagez married Christily Hogg on 9 February, and Margaret Carwood married John Stewart of Tulliepowrie and Fincastle, on Tuesday 11 February 1567, two days afterwards.
Queen Mary gave Margaret Carwood a gift of 15 ells of black velvet for her wedding on Monday 10 February. Mary's participation at Margaret's wedding on the day after Darnley's murder caused adverse comment. The date, 11 February, was given in the list of evidence and charges against Mary supplied to Elizabeth I of England called Hay's articles, which mentions both the masque attended by the Queen for Bastian's marriage before the King's murder, and Margaret's marriage the morning after the murder. Hay's articles mention that there was no show of mourning clothes and more enquiry made after money stolen from Margaret Carwood than for Darnley's murder, and the King was buried at night without ceremony.
In March 1584 John Stewart and Margaret Carwood complained to the Privy Council about their land near Dunkeld, held from the estate of Dunfermline Abbey. The Commendator Robert Pitcairn had offered them a new tenancy contract called a "tack", but the remaining monks refused to sign it.


ISVEIMER

Istituto per lo Sviluppo Economico dell'Italia Meridionale S.p.A. known as ISVEIMER is a former Italian bank based in Naples, Campania. The bank was in liquidation since 1996, which the headquarter of the company was relocated to Rome. However, due to the subsidized loan, the company was still in wind-down phase as in 2015.
History.
The bank was established in 1938 and since 1953 as one of the 19 Mediocredito of Italy and one of the three Istituti per il Finanziamento a Medio Terminealle Medie e Piccole Industrie nell'Italia Meridionale e Insulare (Istituti Meridionale) which was funded by Cassa per il Mezzogiorno. The bank provided medium term loan to small and medium industries from Southern Italy, except in the two islands (covered by Credito Industriale Sardo and IRFIS respectively). Due to Legge Amato, the bank became a limited company () in 1993. At the time Banco di Napoli owned 44.859% stake, plus an additional 6.16% stake were purchased from Cassa di Risparmio di Calabria e Lucania, Banca Popolare di Novara, Banca Sannitica, Banca di Roma, Banca della Provincia di Napoli, Cassa di Risparmio della Provincia dell'Aquila, Cassa di Risparmio Salemitana, Banca Popolare di Taranto, Banca di Credito Popolare di Torre del Greco and Banca Popolare di Crotone.
However, in 1996, the bank entered a voluntary liquidation. After the start of liquidation, Banco di Napoli owned a controlling stake in ISVEIMER (65.22% in 2001), as well as an additional 0.17% stake owned by Banca dell'Adriatico, a bank joined Sanpaolo IMI Group in 2002. The stake held by Banco di Napoli and Banca dell'Adriatico soon transferred to parent company Sanpaolo IMI (65.40% stake in 2006), and then Intesa Sanpaolo in 2007 (65.47% stake). An additional 0.04% stake was owned by Cassa di Risparmio di Ascoli Piceno, a Banca Intesa subsidiary.


Kim Darroch

Nigel Kim Darroch, Baron Darroch of Kew, (; born 30 April 1954) is a former British diplomat. He served as the British Ambassador to the United States between January 2016 and December 2019, and previously as National Security Adviser and UK Permanent Representative to the European Union.
On 10 July 2019 following the leak of diplomatic cables in which he had been critical of the Trump presidential administration, he resigned from his position as HM Ambassador in Washington. Lord Darroch concluded his post in December 2019 upon retirement from HM Diplomatic Service after a career spanning 40 years of public service.
Early life.
Nigel Kim Darroch was born in the village of South Stanley in County Durham, England, on 30 April 1954, to parents Alastair Macphee Darroch and Enid Darroch. He was educated at Abingdon School and at Durham University (Hatfield College), from where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in zoology in 1975. Darroch was an avid fives player in his youth, representing his school and later Durham University.
Career.
Darroch joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1976. He was appointed to the Diplomatic Service in 1980 to serve as a First Secretary in Tokyo from 1980 to 1984. He served in a number of posts, including as desk officer for the Channel Tunnel project and co-secretary of the UK-French Channel Tunnel Treaty Group, as private secretary to David Mellor and then The Lord Glenarthur as the FCO's Minister of State from 1987 to 1989, and as Counsellor for External Affairs at the British Permanent Representative to the European Union for a year before being promoted to Director as head of the FCO's press office in 1998.
In 2000, Darroch moved back to policy work as Director of EU Comd, and in 2003 promoted further to be Director-General, Europe. In 2004, he transferred to 10 Downing Street, as Head of the Cabinet Office European Secretariat, where he served as the Prime Minister's principal advisor on European affairs. After three years, Darroch was appointed to replace John Grant in Brussels, as British Permanent Representative to the European Union in 2007 for a four-year term.
On 24 June 2011, it was announced that Darroch would replace Peter Ricketts as National Security Advisor in January 2012, with Jon Cunliffe selected as Darroch's replacement as Permanent Representative to the European Union.
Ambassador to the United States.
On 7 July 2015, the Foreign Office announced that Darroch would be replaced by Mark Lyall Grant in September 2015. On 20 August 2015, the Foreign Office announced that Darroch's new role would be as the Ambassador to the United States, replacing Peter Westmacott on 28 January 2016.
In November 2016, following the US election, a memo by Darroch to Prime Minister Theresa May was leaked in which he said the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, could be influenced by the British government. The following week, Trump tweeted that Nigel Farage should serve as British ambassador to the United States. Downing Street said that there was no vacancy and that the UK had "an excellent ambassador to the US". Darroch was in London the next day for consultations with May that were said to have been long-planned.
Cables leak and resignation.
On 7 July 2019, secret diplomatic cables from Darroch to the British government, dating from 2017 to 2019, were leaked to Steven Edginton, a 19-year-old "freelance journalist" and Brexit Party employee. Darroch assessed the Trump administration as "inept and insecure". In response, Nigel Farage said Darroch was "totally unsuitable" for office, and Trump tweeted that Darroch was "not liked or well thought of within the US" and that "we will no longer deal with him". The Prime Minister, Theresa May, expressed support for Darroch and ordered a leak inquiry. It led to a criminal investigation by Scotland Yard.
On 10 July, Darroch resigned as Ambassador to the United States. He wrote that "the current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like". Previously, Boris Johnson, the frontrunner in the election to replace May, had declined to publicly support Darroch. Consensus among political commentators in the UK was that this made Darroch's position untenable. Both May and the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, praised Darroch's service in the House of Commons and deplored that he had to resign under pressure from the United States. A spokesman for the prime minister said that it was an ambassador's job to provide "an honest and unvarnished view" of the US administration. Darroch remained in the post until the end of the year. In a July 2019 "Washington Examiner" article, Darroch was accused of repeatedly leaking highly classified U.S. intelligence material to an unnamed American journalist. Darroch made no comment on the allegations.
Darroch was nominated for a crossbench Peerage in the 2019 Resignation Peerages.
"Collateral Damage".
In 2020, Darroch wrote "Collateral Damage: Britain, America and Europe in the Age of Trump".
Honours.
Darroch was appointed a Companion of Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1997 New Year Honours, and promoted to Knight Commander of the same order (KCMG) in the 2008 Birthday Honours. He was created a life peer in Theresa May's 2019 Resignation Honours List. He was created Baron Darroch of Kew, of St Mawes in the County of Cornwall on 11 November 2019. on 26th November 2020, Lord Darroch made his maiden speech in the House of Lords.
Personal life.
In 1978, Darroch married Vanessa, now a teacher at the British International School of Washington. They have two children, Simon, a geologist based at Vanderbilt University who also studied at Durham, and Georgina, a botanist at Kew Gardens.
"The Times" reported on allegations about a 2018 “passionate affair [lasting] at least several months” with a US journalist. The journalist denied the scoops originated with the ambassador.


Dexia

Dexia N.V./S.A., also referred to as the Dexia Group, is a Franco-Belgian financial institution active in public finance, providing retail and commercial banking services to individuals and SMEs, asset management, and insurance; with headquarters in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Brussels. The company had about 35,200 members of staff and a core shareholders' equity of €19.2 billion, as of 31 December 2010, and provided governments and local public finance operators with banking and other financial services. Asset Management and Services provided asset management, investor and insurance services, in particular to clients of the two other business lines.
In 2008, the bank received taxpayer bailouts for €6 billion, and it became the first big casualty of the 2011 European sovereign debt crisis. Due to big losses, suffered among others from the debt haircut on Greek government bonds, and an orderly resolution process began in October 2011. As part of the resolution, Dexia Bank Belgium was bought out from the Dexia group by the Belgian state, and will continue to exist under its new name Belfius. The remaining part of the Dexia group was left in a "bad bank", and will either be sold or wound down.
Profile.
In the 2010 Fortune Global 500 (which lists companies by total income) Dexia was ranked 49th, the top-ranked Belgian company.
The company was founded in 1996 through the merger of Gemeentekrediet van België/Crédit Communal de Belgique (founded in 1860) and Crédit Local de France (founded in 1987). The Dexia Group was founded as a dual-listed company, but in 1999 the Belgian entity took over the French entity to form one company. The company is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. France and Belgium just injected another combined €5.5 billion ($7 billion) into Dexia.
History.
Crisis 2008/2009.
On 29 September 2008 Dexia came under pressure during the crisis in the banking sector. Other banks and financial institutions refused to provide further credit to Dexia because of potential losses at its U.S. subsidiary FSA and from a multi-billion loan to troubled German bank Depfa. The price of the Dexia share, having peaked above €20 in the previous years, but gradually fallen to around €10, dropped in one day to €6.62.
The next day the rating agency Moody's downgraded Dexia's long term debt and deposits ratings from Aa1 to Aa3, and downgraded the individual banks' strengths to C- ("adequate intrinsic financial strength") with a negative outlook.
Dexia was quickly forced to apply for a taxpayer bailout. This support was assured within days, taking two forms:
The three states have the potential to make a profit from their intervention:
Since Dexia had a New York banking office they were eligible for various bailouts from the US Federal Reserve. At its peak Dexia had borrowed $58.5 billion.
On 30 September 2008 the company's chairman Pierre Richard and CEO Axel Miller were dismissed, and were replaced on 7 October 2008 by former Belgian prime minister Jean-Luc Dehaene and respectively. On 24 October 2008, Francois Rebsamen, the socialist Mayor of Dijon and a French Senator, vacated his place on the board of Dexia Credit Local, while Antoine Rufenacht, UMP mayor of Le Havre, Philippe Duron, socialist mayor of Caen, and Christophe Bechu, president of Maine-et-Loire province stayed.
At the end of 2008 Dexia sold the healthy parts of FSA, ceased its trading activities in Paris and trading on its own account in the financial markets.
Further losses are still possible on the remaining FSA portfolio. On 19 January 2009 Moody's lowered the credit rating for Dexia's long term obligations and saving accounts of the three banking parts of Dexia (Dexia Credit Local in France, Dexia Bank Belgium and Dexia Banque Internationale in Luxembourg) from Aa3 to A1. The rating agency also downgraded the Bank Financial Strength Rating for the three banks from C− to D+.
On 5 March 2009 Dexia's share price fell to an all-time low of €1.21, a loss of over 90% in a year. A further restructuring plan was announced, with the firm aiming to concentrate on its primary activities, and to avoid risks on the financial markets. A total of 1,500 job cuts were announced, of which more than half were in Belgium, 260 in France, and the rest worldwide. Dexia's share price subsequently increased over the rest of 2009, largely varying between €4 to €7.50.
On 31 March 2010 Bloomberg reported that Dexia was one of the largest borrowers from the discount window of the United States Federal Reserve, having outstanding loans of over $30 billion.
Losses.
In February 2009 the bank announced net losses of 3.3 billion euros (approximately 4.2 billion US dollars) for 2008. The Dexia 2008 annual report mentions among others losses of €1.6 billion from selling FSA, €600 million on portfolios and €800 million on counterparties (including Lehman Brothers, Icelandic banks, and Washington Mutual)
According to the financial services provider Bloomberg Dexia lost €78 million through the Ponzi scheme of Bernard Madoff.
2010: Downsizing and reorganizing.
On 6 February 2010 Dexia could announce that the European Commission had, under certain conditions, approved of the restructuring plan that was necessary to justify the government support for Dexia and to prevent unfair competition:
Vintage retail activities represented a bigger share in profits again in 2010; apart from Belgium and France, Turkey became very promising in this area. So much so that predictions were that Turkish staff would account for half of the Dexia employees by 2014. At the same time, outgoing cashflows were diminished by reducing the bonds portfolio; even selling bonds at a loss, if necessary, which explained to a large extent the lesser profits in 2010.
More incoming funds from private saving accounts and less outgoing capital through bonds and loans to public institutions meant that Dexia could already worry a bit less about finding sufficient short term funding. The greater international trust in the company also showed when it announced an early retirement from the State Guarantee in 2010.
2011.
Dexia and La Banque postale, the bank subsidiary of the French postal services, reached an agreement in January 2011 about a cash transaction involving covered bonds worth €3 billion. This was presented for La Banque Postale as an investment at market conditions, and as an extra source of liquidity for Dexia.
Alleged differences of opinion were reported at the top of Dexia. More specifically about tensions between Belgian directors and the French CEO, Pierre Mariani, concerning on the one hand the deficitary investments that had been mostly done in the French division of Dexia, and the liquid funds that were above all present in Belgium.
On 15 July the European Banking Authority, as part of its European bank stress tests, gave Dexia a clean bill of health, reporting that its tier 1 capital was 12.1 percent, and would fall to 10.4 percent in 2012 under its "adverse scenario". This would make it one of Europe's safest banks.
Dexia posted a €4 billion loss for the second quarter, the biggest in its history, after writing down the value of its Greek debt. On 4 October its shares fell 22% to €1.01 in Brussels, cutting its market value to €1.96 billion. Discussions were taking place about a possible breakup, with a plan to place its "legacy" division into a bad bank with government guarantees.
On 10 October, it was announced that the Belgian banking arm will be purchased for €4 billion by the Belgian federal government. Some units such as DenizBank and the Luxembourg retail bank will be put up for sale. Part of its French operations are likely to be purchased by Caisse des dépôts et consignations and La Banque Postale. The remaining troubled assets, including a €95 billion bond portfolio would remain in a "bad bank" that would receive funding guarantees of up to €90 billion provided by the governments of Belgium (60.5%), France (36.5%) and Luxembourg (3%).
2012.
On 27 July, Dexia confirms the sale of its 50% share in RBC Dexia Investor Services. The business moves under the sole ownership of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and is renamed RBC Investor Services.
In the same year Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (for €730 million) and DenizBank were sold.
2013.
In January 2013 Dexia Municipal Agency was sold. It was reported in September 2013 that Dexia had entered into talks with New York Life Investment Management to sell Dexia Asset Management, which was completed on 3 February 2014. In 2013 Société de Financement Local was sold.
2014.
ECB officials agreed on Thursday 22 May 2014 that Franco-Belgian bank Dexia would not have to demonstrate it could bear a financial crisis in a Europe-wide stress test, reducing the chances of it needing further state aid. The ECB had already acknowledged Dexia's "specific situation", with an assessment of its finances carried out over its 2011 wind-down plan. That EU-approved plans makes Dexia unique among the 128 major euro zone banks being reviewed by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the 124 EU banks that are being subjected to stress tests by the European Banking Authority (EBA). Single Supervisory Mechanism's Comprehensive Assessment in October 2014 shown Dexia had a capital shortfall of €340 million. However, as the bank was guarantee by States, the bank was not required to capital increases.
A subsidiary, Dexia Asset Management changed its name to Candriam following its acquisition by New York Life Investments on 3 February 2014.
2015.
In 2015 Dexia announced that it would suffered from the possible default of Heta Asset Resolution, a bad bank from the residual of Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International. Via the subsidiary Dexia Kommunalbank Deutschland A.G. (DKD), Dexia had a loan of €417 million to former Hypo Bank. Carinthia state government offered to buy back the senior bonds for 75% par value and 30% for subordinated bonds of Heta. Previously Carinthia had guaranteed the subordinated bond but later Austrian central government, as instructed by European Union, could not provide any more state aid. Moreover, Financial Market Authority of Austria used the power given by EU Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive, which bail-in the shareholders and subordinated bond holders.
On the subsidiaries, Crediop would be run-off, Dexia Credito Local Mexico had been placed in a trust, Dexia Kommunalkredit Bulgaria was liquidated, Dexia Nederland and Dexia Luxembourg (ex-Dexia LdG Banque) abandoned their banking licenses.
2018.
Dexia sells its 58.9% interest in Dexia Israel Bank in March 2018. In December 2018, German subsidiary Dexia Kommunalbank Deutschland (DKD) was sold to Helaba for €352 million.
Figures.
Dexia shares.
Dexia was a member of the BEL20 and CAC Next 20 indices. Dexia is also one of the components of the Euro STOXX and Euro STOXX Banks indices.
BIC.
Dexia's BIC codes are:
Controversies.
Netherlands.
Dexia had ambitious plans in the Netherlands, and took over Bank Labouchère from the Dutch insurer Aegon in August 2000 at the height of the market. On top of this, in 2001 the business bank Kempen & Co was bought and removed from the stock market for about €1 billion. The two acquired companies Labouchère and Kempen & Co were merged into Dexia Netherlands. This merger had to be undone however, because of an asset leasing affair that threatened to damage the reputation of Kempen & Co.
The asset leasing affair left Dexia in The Netherlands in the end with so much negative publicity that it decided to reduce its Dutch activities. In 2004 Kempen & Co was sold for about €85 million, a fraction of the buying price, to its management, the Friesland Bank, NPM Capital and .
Dexia Bank Netherlands still continues to unwind asset leasing contracts under the commercial name of Legio Lease, and the corresponding agreements and court cases. Dexia suffered a substantial loss in March 2008, after a ruling from the Supreme Court on the legality of leasing contracts, in which contracts were considered invalid for married couples of which both partners had not signed the contract. Dexia as a consequence had to repay these debts plus accrued interests. Luckily for Dexia many customers had previously agreed to a less favourable Duisenberg-agreement and could not revoke this. Eventually only 3,000 of the hundreds of thousands of Legiolease customers profited from this ruling of the High Council.
Sustainability.
According to research of Netwerk Vlaanderen Dexia in 2005 together with AXA, Fortis, ING and KBC invested over €6.6 billion in companies that were involved in human rights violations. The companies and projects in which banks invest are controversial because of their support for dictatorial regimes, forced displacements and forced labour. The criticism concerns among others investments in a gas pipe line in Myanmar and the BTC pipe line through Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia. In 2005 Dexia announced a new policy concerning the weapons industry. Companies involved in the production of anti-personnel mines will be completely barred from banking services. For investment funds there is no limitation of investments in the weapons industry.
Dexia did on the other hand rank 17th in 2011 on the list of 'The Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World'. Dexia was the third company from the financial sector on the list.
Israeli settlements controversy.
Through its Israeli subsidiary, Dexia operates in certain Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Several Belgian and French NGOs mounted campaigns to attract attention to this. Leading ultimately in 2011 to concrete plans to sell the Israeli division, .
Remunerations.
Axel Miller.
After his forced departure in October 2008, CEO Axel Miller was contractually entitled to a 'golden parachute' of €3.7 million. This provoked protest from the French president Nicolas Sarkozy, and Miller subsequently renounced his bonus, leaving the matter to "the wisdom of the Board of Directors". The board eventually decided to pay him one year's salary (€825,000), thus ignoring Sarkozy's remarks.
The French Ministry of Finance stated in April 2009 that it had voted against the payout, but that its representatives on the board were outnumbered.
Salary of Pierre Mariani.
Axel Miller's successor, , close to Nicolas Sarkozy, obtained a salary that is 30% higher than that of Miller.
The board of directors unanimously accepted on 13 November 2008 to upgrade the yearly salary of the CEO to €1 million, and to fix the maximum bonus at €2.25 million. Miller's salary was €825,000, with a maximum bonus of €1.8 million.
Bonuses in 2008.
Within Dexia Crédit Local, the French component of Dexia group, a pool of €8 million was dedicated to the bonuses of the leading managers, mainly directors. The management indicated that the sum would be shared among 400 to 765 employees.
"Golden hellos".
Philippe Rucheton, the financial director appointed by Dexia in April 2009, coming from Société Générale, received a welcome bonus of €500,000.
Bonus 2010.
In 2010 Dexia announced its plan to provide CEO with a bonus of €600,000. For Jean-Luc Dehaene a remuneration was planned of €88,000. The allotment of high bonuses at Dexia and competitor KBC caused some commotion in Belgium. Leading the city of Ghent to remove some €30 million in short term investments from Dexia and KBC.
Buildings.
Dexia Tower.
The Dexia Tower, the firm's new head office in Brussels, is with its height of 137m an icon in the business district of Brussels-North. In December 2006 the tower was equipped with LED lighting. A total of 126,000 programmable LED strips have been fitted. From 22 December 2006 to 15 January 2007, the colours of the tower could be chosen by the public from a touchscreen. It was spin-off and occupied by Belfius (ex-Dexia Bank Belgium).
Tour Dexia.
The Tour Dexia at La Défense, previously known as the CBX tower, is the bank's Parisian headquarter since 2007.


James FitzRoy, Earl of Euston

James Oliver Charles FitzRoy, Earl of Euston (13 December 1947 – 1 October 2009) was the eldest child of the 11th Duke of Grafton and his wife Fortune.
Biography.
Born in 1947 to the then Earl of Euston he was styled Viscount Ipswich. FitzRoy was baptised with Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother as one of his godparents. He attended Eton and Magdalene College, Cambridge, graduating in 1973.
On 16 September 1972, FitzRoy married Lady Clare Amabel Margaret Kerr, daughter of the 12th Marquess of Lothian and Antonella Kerr, Marchioness of Lothian. They had five children:


Automobile Dacia

Automobile Dacia S.A.
(), commonly known as Dacia, is a Romanian car manufacturer that takes its name from the historic region that constitutes the present-day Romania. The company was established in 1966. In 1999, after 33 years, the Romanian government sold Dacia to the French car manufacturer Groupe Renault, and became a brand of the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance. It is Romania's largest company by revenue and the largest exporter, constituting 8% of the country's total exports in 2018. In 2019, the company sold 736,654 passenger and commercial vehicles.
From January 2021 onwards the Dacia company became part of Renault's Dacia-Lada business unit.
History.
The first facility in the area was built between 1942 and 1945, as an extension of the IAR aircraft manufacturer. The new factory, built in the Colibași-Pitești area under the order of Marshal Ion Antonescu ("Conducător" of Romania during World War II), was scheduled to produce up to 600 aircraft engines per month. The building work was completed in 1945. After the war, the facility was taken over by the Romanian Railways, later generating the Dacia plants.
Founding.
The Dacia automobile company was founded in 1966 under the name . The main Dacia factory was inaugurated in 1968, in Colibași (now called Mioveni), near Pitești. Dacia acquired the tooling and basic designs of the Renault 12. However, until the tooling was ready it was decided to produce the Renault 8 under licence; it was known as the Dacia 1100. From 1968 to 1972, 37,546 cars of model 1100 were produced, with a very minor cosmetic change to the front in early 1970. Also produced in very limited numbers was the "1100S", with twin headlamps and a more powerful engine, used by the police and in motor racing.
The first Dacia 1300 left the assembly line ready for 23 August parade in 1969, and was exhibited at the Paris and Bucharest shows of that year. Romanians were delighted with the modernity and reliability of the car, and waiting lists were always lengthy. By 1970, there were two variants: the standard "1300" and the "1300L" (for Lux); in 1974 the "1301 Lux Super" was introduced, which had novelties such as a heated rear screen, a radio, windscreen mirrors on both sides and a more luxurious trim. This was reserved for the Communist Party nomenklatura.
Changes soon followed as export markets opened up. In 1973, the estate variant, "1300 Break", was produced. There were "1300F" (estate with no rear seats, for carrying goods) and "1300S" (ambulance) variants, and in 1975 the Dacia 1302 pick-up was developed. 2,000 units were made until 1982.
Dacia also produced the "Estafette", a complete knock down version of the Renault Estafette van, in limited numbers, but given the competition of the Bucharest-made T.V. van, numbers were very limited. In the very early 1980s, the Renault 20 was also assembled as the "Dacia 2000"; because of the exclusivity of this model numbers were always very limited. The "2000" was only available in dark blue or black, and was reserved for the Party elite. In 1978 plans were revealed for the Renault 18 to be assembled by Dacia, but the Renault contract lapsed and Dacia went its own way.
At the Bucharest show in 1979, the restyled 1310 models were presented. These had quad lamps at the front, larger lamps at the rear, re-profiled bumpers, and a new interior. The changes were heavily inspired by Renault's own restyling of its 12 in 1975. After a brief series of "crossover" cars in 1981 (for example, there were no more rectangular headlights available for the "1300", so the last models used the quad lamps of the "1310"), the "1310" hit the Romanian market in late 1981. In the UK, where it was known as the "Dacia Denem", the top of the range model included such luxuries as a five-speed gearbox, alloy wheels and electric windows. The advertising slogan used for the car was "The Very Acceptable Dacia Denem". Sales were very limited, and the number surviving are not thought to exceed single digit figures, although the Romanian Embassy in South Kensington kept a fleet running until the mid-1990s. Sales of the pick-up version, known as the "Shifter", continued until the 1990s, and the Aro 10 was also sold as the "Dacia Duster". The plug was pulled on the Denem, however, in late 1982.
At the same time the "Sport" model was produced. At the 1980 Bucharest international trade fair, crowds admired the "", a prototype of a sports coupé based on the "1310" and developed at a service station in Brașov. The go-ahead was given for a prestige model, and so from 1983 the two-door Dacia "1310 Sport" (and later the "1410 Sport"), was available for general consumption. These were very popular for rallies, and racing drivers such as Nicu Grigoraș tuned them to extract extraordinary power from the old Renault engine.
1980s.
The designers were still coming up with fresh ideas, many of them shrouded in secrecy. Prototypes such as the 500cc Mini-Dacia, as well as Dacia "1310" variants, were designed; some, such as the Dacia "1310 Maxi Break", are still on the road. These cars are eagerly prized by Dacia enthusiasts, and Dacia web forums are full of evidence about the rarities and oddities produced by Dacia during the 1980s. The Maxi Break was an eight-seater version of the station wagon (also available as an ambulance), stretched by about a half a metre between the doors. 10–12 such cars were actually built, by Dacia Service Pitesti.
In 1982, after the "1302" was dropped, the Dacia "1304" Pick-up and Drop-side models were introduced. Actually, they had been launched from 1981. These were a commercial success and remained in production, gradually being modified along with the rest of the range, until December 2006. In 1985 were added the "1410" was available as a larger-engined variant, while the relatively short-lived "1210" was the economy variant until about 1992.
For the 1984 model year, the de luxe MS and MLS models presented slight modifications on the 1310 platform, with a new spoiler and chunkier, rubber mouldings around the front grille and headlamps. In 1985, the rear vent was changed from a narrow horizontal aperture to a rhomboid aperture, much like that of the Renault 12 phase 2. From late 1985 all models had the large rubber mouldings around the front grille and headlamps, plus a spoiler: the line-up was changed to TX and TLX, though other designations were occasionally seen. A five-speed gearbox also became an option. Models destined for Canada (initially called GTL) sported twin fuel tanks. In parallel, work was developing on the "1320 CN1" model, which was a hatchback based on the "1310". The new front end seen on the "1320" also appeared on the top-of-the-range and special-order models from about 1986; these cars were distinguishable by two large headlights, a much plusher interior clad in blue plastic and a new dashboard known as the CN1, and – occasionally – faired-in door handles. Many were owned by senior officials in the Communist Central Committee. While the "1320" was the most expensive model in the Dacia range when it appeared in 1988, many were used as taxis. The "1320" did not last long, however; as early as 1989 there were prototypes using the front of the "1320" and a new rear, with wrap-around tail lights and other (relatively) modern features.
1990s.
The "1320" model emerged in 1991 as the Dacia "1325 Liberta" (after the 1989 revolution, themes of liberty were very much in fashion) and stayed in production until 1996.
The last of the quad-lamped models were produced in 1992, and all the Dacia range received the new front end of the "1320", called CN1. An effort was made to rejuvenate the model range: the Sport was dropped, due to lack of sales, and new commercial vehicles were introduced. The "1307" was a double-cabbed pick-up; the "1309" was an estate with a tarpaulin instead of a boot; the car was a cross-over between estate and pick-up and sold very well on the Chinese market. There were also several prototypes, including:
The cars of 1992 to 1994 are curiosities: although efforts were obviously being made to renew the model range, there were numerous stylistic hangovers from the quad-lamped models. Thus, the last of the 1983-designed dashboards were seen in 1994 although a new dashboard had been seen on some model ranges since 1987. Similarly, although the CN1 restyling eliminated anachronisms such as a kink upwards at the C-pillar and a rubber rear spoiler, it was not applied consistently.
The 1994 facelift was known within the industry as CN2. A reprojected front end was distinguished by a horizontal metal line in the grille. There were new headlamps, a new radiator grille, and front and rear bumpers. Inside, there was a new dashboard for the base models, while the top-of-the-range cars had luxuries such as body-coloured bumpers, rear head restraints, a radio-cassette, hubcaps, and the ever-present CN1 dashboard, this time in black plastic. This model was not to stay in production for very long; in 1995 the CN3 type was introduced. Practically the only differences were those of trim level and the radiator grille.
From late 1994 little attention was paid to the improvement of the 1310 range, as Dacia launched a new model, the "Dacia Nova". This was a compact saloon/sedan or hatchback with a three-box design. The design was rather outdated, because development work had started in 1983. The "Nova" is a 100% Romanian design, started after the end of any French involvement in Dacia. The model was unpopular, due to reliability and rustproofing issues. However, after improvements in 1996, the "Nova" became more often seen on Romanian roads. In 1998 a seven-seater prototype was produced using the panels and windows from the standard "Nova" saloon.
In 1998, the anniversary year of three decades of production since the first Dacia rolled off the assembly line, vehicle number 2,000,000 emerged from the plant; this year saw the last restyling of the 1310. It was known as CN4 and involved a comprehensive restyling of the front end, new door handles, and a lightly restyled rear view mirror. The estate version was fitted with larger tail lights. Even though the model was over thirty years old, it sold exceptionally well due to a starting price of about 4,200 euros and high availability of parts. "Goodies" such as a fuel-injection also helped keep the model relatively modern.
In 1999, a special edition was produced for the first time, known as Dacia "Dedicație". This luxury version of the saloon and estate had alloy wheels, body-coloured bumpers, power steering, electric windows, and a far better level of finish. The models were all painted two-tone silver, and sold at a significantly higher price. From 2002, the cars became known as Berlina and Break, with the 1310 lettering being relegated to an insignificant position underneath the side light.
On 21 July 2004, the last models of the 1300 series rolled out the gates of the Mioveni production facility, one month before their 35th anniversary. The last Dacia 1310 (saloon version), number 1,979,730, will be kept in the Dacia Museum.
On 8 December 2006, the utility Dacia Pick-Up suffered the same fate. Although many improvements had been made in recent years, such as four-wheel drive, the introduction of a 1.9 diesel engine, the dashboard from the Dacia Solenza (also seen on the last 1310s) and wheels fastened by five studs as opposed to three, Romania's entry to the European Union effectively prevented the continued production of the old models. The assembly lines will be remodelled and expanded to increase production of the Dacia Logan.
In over 34 years of production, and more than 2.5 million units produced, the Dacia "1300/1310" easily became the most common car on Romanian roads. A large number of people had become adept at carrying out repairs or home-made modifications. For example, many older cars had newer front ends grafted onto them to make them seem more modern, or purely because newer parts were easier to get. Consequently, original early 1300s are quite rare, with prices steadily increasing for the best-preserved models. Tuning of Dacias is also a popular pastime, although the home-made nature of much of the work casts doubt on the level of quality, safety and reliability of the finished product.
According to popular belief, during the Communist era, in the plant where Dacias were made, there were two assembly lines: one line producing Dacias intended for sale in Romania and the other line producing the same car (albeit from superior parts, and assembled with greater care) for export. Romanians living near the border would commonly purchase their Dacia in neighbouring countries expecting a higher level of quality.
Acquisition by Renault.
Meanwhile, work was continuing on the other Dacia models. In September 1999, Dacia became the third brand of the Renault group, with a view to making Romania its hub of automobile development in Central and Eastern Europe, and investment was consequently increased. The first sign of this came in 2000, with the introduction of the SupeRNova, an improved version of the "Nova" with engine and transmission from Renault. The top-of-the range version had air conditioning, electric windows and a CD player. Sales were very good, although the outdatedness of the concept was striking. Dacia sold 53,000 vehicles in 2002 and it holds an almost 50 per cent market share in Romania.
In 2003, a restyled version replaced the SupeRNova with Dacia Solenza, featuring a new interior, the options for an airbag. This was, however, only meant to be a stopgap model filling the need for a saloon model before the introduction of the all-important Dacia Logan, as well as to familiarise workers with the demands of manufacturing a model acceptable to Western European markets. Production was stopped in 2005.
2004–2011.
The Dacia Logan is the most successful model since the original "1300". It was introduced after considerable media interest in August 2004, and despite design-related criticism, it became one of the top-selling cars in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Russia. The Logan is sold in many countries, occasionally under the Renault brand. It was awarded 3 (out of 5) stars in NCAP crash testing. It remains by far the best-selling car in Romania, comprising a 43% share of Dacia's total Romanian sales in 2015. A diesel version was also introduced in 2005. Before its launch, it was known as the 5000-Euro car due to its projected launch price. This was never quite the case, although it is one of the cheapest cars for its size on the market.
In 2006, the prototype Logan Steppe was exhibited. This showed a speculative 4×4 estate version of the Logan. The estate version was launched in late 2006. The van, basically an estate with the rear windows filled in and a separate cabin for the driver, was launched in February 2007 after the stopping production of the classic utility vehicle, the Dacia Pick-Up.
The Renault Technologie Roumanie engineering centre was set up in 2006, in Bucharest, Romania. Employing approximately 2,500 engineers, its main fields of activity are the development, testing and design of the new vehicles in the Dacia range, as well as the marketing and technical support. The following year, the company also set up a styling office, Renault Design Central Europe.
A pick-up model and the Logan-based hatchback Sandero were launched in 2008, the latter at the Geneva Motor Show. This also marked a point of rebranding for the company, which adopted a new logo and later the same year launched the facelifted Logan model.
In 2009, a new concept called the Dacia Duster was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, signaling manufacturer's intentions of releasing an SUV model. This was reportedly the inauguration of the platform that would be used for the second generation of the Logan and Sandero models, released in 2012.
In 2010, the Dacia Duster was exhibited at the Geneva Motor Show. It is the first crossover SUV built by Dacia since the Renault acquisition, in 4×2 and 4×4 versions. It was revealed on 8 December 2009, and became available in Europe on 18 March 2010.
In September 2010, a testing center was opened in Titu, Romania, as part of Renault Technologie Roumanie. It is intended for developing and optimizing the new vehicles in the Dacia range and has nine types of track with a total length of 32 kilometres and around 100 test benches, used to test the resistance of vehicles and replacement parts to cold, heat and rain.
2012–2020.
In 2012, Dacia Lodgy, a new compact MPV, was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show. It is based on a new platform and is manufactured at an all-new Renault factory in Tangier, Morocco.
The Dokker, released in June 2012, is a slightly smaller leisure activity vehicle, also manufactured in Tangier, sharing the same platform with the Lodgy, available in passenger and panel van variants.
In September 2012, the second generations of the Logan and Sandero were revealed at the Paris Motor Show. They feature a common front end design and come with improved standard safety features, a new engine and other new comfort equipment.
The following year, the facelifted Duster was presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It received mild modifications to the front and rear ends, the new interior introduced on the new Logan and Sandero models, as well as a new turbocharged petrol engine.
At the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show, the second generation Duster model was introduced, bringing new comfort and technical improvements, but retaining similar dimensions and engines.
According to reports, in September 2018, Automobile Dacia gained 14th place in Top 500 CEE companies.
In 2020, Dacia announced that they would be releasing an electric car which they showcased in March 2020 with the Dacia Spring Electric concept. The Dacia Spring is said to be based on the Renault City K-ZE and is set to become the cheapest electric car in Europe with the price being estimated by Romanian media at around €15,000 to €20,000.
2021–present.
In January 2021, as part of a company revamp, Renault said it would integrate the Dacia and the Lada marques into a new business unit. It also unveiled a new Dacia logo and a product offensive for the Dacia marque, widening its market segments coverage.
In March 2021, the production version of the Dacia Spring EV was shown at the Renault eWays event by Groupe Renault Executive Denis Le Vot. The Spring will be sold in LHD areas of Europe, alongside updated Sandero And Logan models (announced at the end of 2020) and will have a car-sharing version called the Spring Business.
Facilities.
The company's single plant is located in Mioveni, Romania, together with its headquarters, and has a production capacity of 350,000 vehicles per year. It is divided into several sections, such as bodywork, painting, assembly, mechanical and chassis, foundry etc. It works in conjunction with the Renault Technologie Roumanie engineering centre, located in Bucharest and set up in 2006, which also comprises a styling office, Renault Design Central Europe, and with the testing center located in Titu, opened in 2010.
A large logistical centre was also set near the plant in March 2005, the International Logistic Network, from where complete knock down (CKD) kits are exported to other Renault production sites in Russia, Morocco, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Iran and India. It is reportedly the biggest logistic centre of its kind not only in the Renault Group, but in the entire world automotive industry. In 2012, the total equivalent of the kits sent worldwide from the centre was 920,646 vehicles.
Dacia's CEO from April 2016 until May 2018 was Yves Caracatzanis. He was replaced by Antoine Doucerain, who left after only four months due to "personal reasons." After a brief stint by interim manager Jerome Olive, the position was filled by Christophe Dridi in December 2018. In January 2021, Denis Le Vot became the CEO of the Dacia-Lada business unit.
Overseas.
Furthermore, two of the Dacia models, the Lodgy and the Dokker vans, are manufactured at the Renault factory in Tangier, Morocco. The Logan and the Sandero are also manufactured in Casablanca, Morocco, the latter in Tangier too.
Sales.
The Dacia brand is marketed in most of the Western and Eastern European countries, as well as in some Northern African countries, such as Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. Western European exports began in the late 1970s, entering markets like Belgium and the Netherlands in 1978. Its models have also been produced by Renault in its production sites on other continents (in Russia, Iran, India, South Africa, Colombia and Brazil) and sold under its own brand or other specific local brands (such as Mahindra, Lada or Nissan for example ).
In 2012, Dacia sold a total of 359,822 vehicles, of which approximately 230,000 were exported to Western Europe, the most of them in France and in Germany. Besides the domestic market, its other key markets have been Algeria, Turkey, Italy and Spain.
For 2014 the company sold 511,465 vehicles in 43 different countries, thus breaking another record and exceeding the 500,000 threshold. On 6 May 2014, the main Dacia plant Mioveni produced its five millionth car, approximately the three millionth car since Renault drove the brand.
The 3.5 millionth Dacia car, since the Dacia brand revival ten years before, was sold in the UK in November 2015.
In 2015, the company set a new sales record, with a total of 550,920 units marketed.
Dacia cars sales exceeded 700,000 units in 2018 (seven percent more than in the previous year).
Figures.
The historical sales figures of all the models are the following (under the Dacia brand only):
Marketing.
Sponsorships.
From the 2008–09 season, Dacia was the sponsor of Italian Serie A football club Udinese Calcio and Stadio Friuli.
Dacia became the official car partner of the Rugby League Super League and the Challenge Cup in February 2016 and then deepened their support of the sport by becoming the main sponsors of the men's, women's and wheelchair England teams in June 2017. They also became the principal partner of the Great Britain Rugby League Lions in 2019 for the team's four match tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.


CNP Assurances

CNP Assurances S.A. is a major French insurance corporation. CNP stands for "Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance". It is listed on the Fortune Global 500. The company was formed in 1959 as a subsidiary of Caisse des dépôts et consignations, which continues to hold approximately 40% of the company. Agence des participations de l'État also owned 1.1% for the French State.
Worldwide there are 27 million insured under personal risk and protection policies and 14 million savings and pensions policyholders by the company.
In France, CNP Assurances distributes its individual insurance products through La Banque Postale and the Caisses d’Epargne, as well as through its own CNP Trésor network. In Brazil, its second-largest market, the Group’s partner is Caixa Econômica Federal, the country's second-biggest state-owned bank.


Barry Hall (diplomat)

Francis Barrington "Barry" Hall (12 February 192114 November 2013) was an Australian public servant and diplomat.
Hall was the first Australian Ambassador to Iran when the Australian Government opened an embassy in Tehran in September 1968.
Between 1980 and 1984, Hall was Australian Ambassador to Turkey.