I--
OTC: CYPR (Cypros Pharmaceuticals), Initiation of Coverage_1997, ICV_Sales/Marketing/Distribtion "business model"
The Island of Cyprus: To TURKEY
ARCHIPELAGO of GREEECE: To King Constantine, Pavlos, Niklaus: Reclaim ThePresidentialPalace, Athens, Greece: Greek Orthodox Church
Pope Benedict XVI has arrived in Turkey on his first trip to a mainly Muslim country since acceding to the papacy.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met him at Ankara airport and they had a 20-minute meeting, despite earlier claims Mr Erdogan would not have time.
The meeting was clearly intended to calm tensions and set a positive tone for the visit, correspondents say.
The visit has been overshadowed by anger among many Muslims, enraged by comments the Pontiff made about Islam.
Security is tight, with 15,000 police on guard. Snipers are in place and a decoy motorcade will be used during the four-day visit.
Turkey says security will be higher than for US President George W Bush's visit in 2004 - but officials insist he will not be in danger during his trip.
The trip was arranged in part so the Pope could meet the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Christian Church, in Istanbul.
In Ankara, the Pope began his trip with a visit to the hilltop mausoleum of modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Flanked by an escort of ceremonial guards, he laid a wreath of red and white flowers.
While in Turkey, Benedict will become only the second pontiff to visit a mosque, and will also meet Islamic and Jewish leaders as well as the heads of Turkey's Christian communities.
The Pope told the prime minister he wanted to visit Turkey because it was a bridge between religions and cultures.
"I want to reiterate the solidarity between the cultures," he said. "This is our duty."
During his airport meeting with Mr Erdogan, the pontiff gave Turkey support for its bid to enter the European Union, the prime minister said.
 | PAPAL TRIP 28 Nov: 29 Nov: 1 Dec: Visits Haghia Sophia (6th Century Byzantine church converted into mosque in 1453, then transformed into museum in 1935) and Blue Mosque  |
Correspondents say that with membership negotiations on a knife-edge, there is extreme sensitivity about the attitude of the Christian West towards Turkey - and the Pope's visit may be a focus for those concerns.
Opposition to Benedict's visit also stems from comments the Pope made during a trip to Germany in September.
In a speech to an academic audience, the Pope quoted a Byzantine emperor who characterised Islam as a violent religion.
While the Pope insisted the remarks did not reflect his own views, the speech was widely reported and caused anger across the Islamic world.
Ahead of the Pope's arrival, one government minister said he hoped the papal visit could become a "turning point" in relations between Christianity and Islam.
"What our guest says, what he does and will do is important," said Justice Minister Cemil Cicek.
In 1981 a Turkish gunman, Ali Agca, wounded Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II, in a Rome shooting.
Popes Paul VI and John Paul II visited Turkey in 1967 and 1979, respectively.
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AVENGED_SEVENFOLD: Dear God
PINO_NOIR:= ' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzX0rhF8buo&list=TLWoIKvHkBOlo '
Filename: Export/Import Company
Date: 1999.01.07
Client: ICV, llc and Dino, llc
Hon. Mario Pino
Alexander Estate & Trust, LLC
Beverly Hills, CA
First Merchant Bank
Standby Letter of Credit
Collateral: PALLADIUM
Escrow Agent: Mohammed Nemeh, Bank of America, Garden Grove, CA
2. HKSB: Hong Kong Shanghai Bank
Standby Letter of Credit
MOMO:= ' http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26787 '
Inci Yalman, Board of Directors, Motorious Global Technolgies
YALMAN:= ' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkv9F1g25_4 '
--
On August 18, 2004, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) announced the designation of First Merchant Bank OSH Ltd., Lefkosa/Nicosia, Cyprus (and its subsidiaries), to be a financial institution of "primary money laundering concern" under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act. For purposes of this document and unless otherwise noted, reference to First Merchant Bank includes First Merchant Bank OSH Ltd. and any other branch, office or subsidiary of First Merchant Bank. Wholly owned subsidiaries of First Merchant Bank OSH Ltd. include FMB Finance Ltd. (British Virgin Islands), First Merchant International Inc. (Bahamas), First Merchant Finance Ltd. (Ireland), and First Merchant Trust Ltd. (Ireland).
Treasury, acting through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), is issuing a proposed rule to impose special measures against First Merchant Bank. The proposed rule would prohibit U.S. financial institutions from opening or maintaining correspondent or payable-through accounts in the U.S. for, or on behalf of, First Merchant Bank. This proposed prohibition extends to correspondent or payable-through accounts maintained for other foreign banks when such accounts are used by the foreign bank to provide financial services to First Merchant Bank indirectly.
Treasury is soliciting written comments regarding this proposed rule. The proposed rule can be found on the FinCEN Web site under "What's New" at http://www.fincen.gov. Comments must be submitted on or before September 23, 2004, to Treasury via electronic mail at regcoments@fincen.treas.gov. Include RIN 1506-AA65 in the subject line of the message. Comments may also be submitted by paper mail to FinCEN, P.O. Box 39, Vienna, Virginia 22183. Include RIN 1506-AA65 in the body of the text.
Please distribute this information to the appropriate personnel in your institution.
For your reference, FDIC Financial Institution Letters may be accessed from the FDIC's Web site at http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2004/index.html . To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Financial Institution Letters through e-mail, please visit http://www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.
Michael J. Zamorski
Director
Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection
# # #
Distribution: FDIC-Supervised Banks (Commercial and Savings)
Spain's Telefonica, Mexico's Iusacell in Network-Sharing Pact
--Alliance aims to make better use of investments, avoid duplication --Two operators team up to compete with America Movil unit Telcel --Spectrum management, commercial operations to remain separate By Anthony Harrup MEXICO CITY--The Mexican unit of Spanish phone company Telefonica SA (TEF) and Mexican mobile operator Grupo Iusacell have teamed up in an infrastructure-sharing agreement with which the two hope to gain an edge in their ongoing competition with the country's largest wireless operator, America Movil SAB (AMX, AMX.MX) unit Telcel. Juan Abellan, the executive president of Telefonica Mexico, likened the agreement signed Wednesday to one the Spanish telecommunications giant reached recently in the U.K. with Vodafone Group PLC (VOD.LN), saying that network sharing is the future of telecommunications. Iusacell and Telefonica, which operates in Mexico under the Movistar brand, will maintain independent spectrum and commercial operations. Company officials said that the agreement will benefit their combined 27 million wireless subscribers in terms of coverage and network quality. Telefonica, which has over 20 million subscribers and a 22% market share, plans to invest between $800 million and $1 billion this year in network expansion, Mr. Abellan said. Iusacell Chief Executive Adrian Steckel said Iusacell is investing between $500 million and $600 million between now and the end of 2013. "Neither Telefonica nor we are lowering our investments because of this agreement, rather we're doing things that we wouldn't be able to do," he said. "There's no reason to duplicate networks." The companies compete directly with Telcel, controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, which has about 70% of the market with close to 67 million wireless subscribers at the end of March. Abellan and Steckel were accompanied at the event by telecommunications regulator Mony de Swaan, who said the telecommunications commission doesn't see any regulatory impediment to the agreement. The network-sharing agreement comes as Iusacell awaits notification of an antritrust decision on a plan by broadcast and media concern Grupo Televisa SAB (TLEVISA.MX, TV) to take a 50% stake in Iusacell for $1.6 billion. Televisa invested the $1.6 billion in Iusacell last year via low-interest notes, but requires antitrust clearance to convert the notes to equity. Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@dowjones.com
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February 6, 2002 A Mismanaged Palladium Stockpile Was Catalyst for Ford's Write-Off By GREGORY L. WHITE Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL DEARBORN, Mich. -- Last month, Ford Motor Co. shocked Wall Street with a $1 billion write-off of the value of its stockpile of precious metals, primarily palladium. Why had the No. 2 car company made a massive bet on a commodity notorious for its price volatility? All of the big car makers buy precious metals used in exhaust systems to make emissions cleaner. Ford accumulated an unusually large hoard in recent years, anticipating growing need and fearing unpredictable supplies from Russia. But the car company left the job of acquiring palladium to the same purchasing-department employees who buy its steel and copper, according to Martin Inglis, Ford's chief financial officer. He says the purchasing staff didn't take the sort of precautions sophisticated buyers routinely use to hedge risk in dicey markets. What's more, Ford's own engineering innovations were shrinking its need for palladium, even as the purchasing department was loading up on it at near-record prices. Credibility Questions Now, Ford has way too much of the stuff at a time when palladium prices have fallen drastically and seem unlikely to return to their highs. The result was the big write-off, which elicited dismay from some investors and securities-industry analysts. "These surprises over time begin to affect the credibility of the company," says Rod Lache, an analyst at Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, noting that Ford stunned Wall Street late last year by warning that its once highly profitable finance unit had stumbled because of rising losses on loans. Last week, an investor filed suit against Ford and its top executives in federal court in Manhattan, alleging they misled investors about the risks from precious metals. Ford denies the allegation. The controversy comes at a particularly bad time for Ford. Last year, it ran its first annual loss in nearly a decade, putting it under closer financial scrutiny than usual. And in light of the Enron Corp. scandal, any massive corporate write-off is getting extra attention these days. In Ford's case, there isn't any indication so far that the palladium misadventure involved accounting practices similar to those that got Enron in trouble. Ford officials point out they repeatedly warned in regulatory filings that the company faced risks in commodities markets. Some analysts complain, however, that the notices were written in boilerplate and didn't signal the extent of Ford's palladium bet. Announced at the same time as a broad restructuring of the company, the write-off's effect on Ford's depressed stock price is difficult to separate out. In New York Stock Exchange composite trading Tuesday, Ford shares closed down 59 cents, or 4%, at $14.04, just three cents above its 52-week low. Rival auto makers also use palladium to scrub pollutants from exhaust but say they don't have anything like Ford's precious-metal problem lurking on their balance sheets. For years, Ford has prided itself on trying to stay ahead of the curve on emissions technology. On the third floor of its modern research building here in Dearborn, Haren Gandhi's corner office is adorned with certificates attesting to the patents he has been granted for advances in the field. A 35-year Ford veteran, Mr. Gandhi joined the auto maker with a corps of other Ph.D. chemical engineers trained in catalyst technology, as Detroit geared up in the late 1960s for the first wave of federal auto-emissions rules. Mr. Gandhi, now 61 years old, has since risen to the rank of technical fellow, Ford's highest post for scientists. Across the hall from his office, a lab full of equipment quietly tests Ford's latest catalytic converters. These are the usually cylindrical units in exhaust systems -- some about the size of a one-liter soda bottle -- that cleanse emissions. For most of the last three decades, progress in this field has relied on increasing use of the related precious metals platinum, palladium and rhodium. The metals are dissolved in liquid that is spread thinly over ceramic honeycombs within the catalytic converter and then dries. These rare, naturally occurring elements have a unique ability to stimulate chemical reactions in hot exhaust that convert pollutants into largely harmless compounds. The metals occur in only a few remote locations. Most of the world's output comes from mines in South Africa and a giant arctic complex in Russia built by Stalin's prisoners in the 1930s and 1940s. Unpredictable supplies, especially from Russia, have periodically caused wild price swings, particularly in recent years. Big Discovery Through most of the 1980s, platinum was viewed as the most effective of the metal catalysts. Palladium, which was cheaper, wasn't widely used in the auto industry, and its price hovered below $100 an ounce. In the late 1980s, however, Mr. Gandhi and his colleagues at Ford discovered that they could lower costs and still meet federal emissions standards by using more palladium in each converter to replace platinum or rhodium. ![[Palladium Prices]](https://msb040.msb.edu/faculty/bodurthj/unrestricted/teaching/articles/Derivatives/A%20Mismanaged%20Palladium%20Stockpile%20Was%20Catalyst%20for%20Ford's%20Write-Off.gif) "Even inside [Ford], people didn't believe that palladium could be put to such good use," the chemist recalls. Vehicle engineers worried the less-expensive grayish metal might somehow be inferior to platinum, he says. But Mr. Gandhi persisted. He wanted to make a real advance in improving the technology and economics of pollution control. "I had an absolutely mad desire to make palladium work," he says. By the early 1990s, most of Ford's converters relied heavily on palladium. Usually, less than an ounce of the metal is required per vehicle. Other auto makers, including General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Corp., also were discovering the value of palladium, particularly as new, tougher emissions rules came into effect. From 1992 to 1996, global auto-industry demand for the metal nearly quintupled, to 2.4 million ounces, according to estimates by Johnson Matthey PLC, a British chemicals and metals company that is one of the biggest players in the precious-metals business. Prices rose a bit along with demand in the early 1990s, but auto makers figured the market would continue to remain roughly in balance, according to industry veterans. Russia had massive stockpiles of palladium built up during the Soviet era, when demand had been slight. The cash-strapped government of then-President Boris Yeltsin seemed likely to remain a willing seller. But in 1997, the Russians shocked the market by holding up palladium shipments. Outsiders could only speculate on what motivated the move: perhaps internal political or bureaucratic wrangling, or maybe a conscious effort to cause a panic -- and higher prices. Whatever lay behind it, the disruption resulted by early 1998 in a price surge to the previously unheard of level of $350 an ounce. Alarm bells went off within the big auto makers. Most engineers finalizing plans for how they would meet tighter emissions rules that would take effect in 2000 had been planning to add more palladium to catalytic converters. Armageddon Speech David Andres, the man responsible for buying precious metals at General Motors, began giving what he calls "the Armageddon speech" to GM engineers in late 1997. He recalls warning that if they didn't find ways to use less palladium -- and fast -- there might not be enough of the metal available. A potential shortage could be critical. Cars can be sold without compact-disc players or power windows. By federal law, they can't be sold without a catalytic converter that works well for 100,000 miles. GM teams responsible for engines and catalytic converters, which had typically worked separately, cooperated to come up with ways to reduce the need for palladium and still meet the new emissions standards, Mr. Andres says. The redesign process was slow, and GM's palladium usage began to fall just last year. In the interim, Mr. Andres, a GM veteran who has dealt with the commodities markets since the early 1990s, began to use a range of complex financial and trading strategies to lock in supplies and at least partially insulate the No. 1 auto maker from the effect of soaring prices. These include the use of options, which are contracts allowing the holder to purchase a commodity at a set price in the future, even if the market price has risen higher. GM expects to cut its use of precious metals by 30% a year over the next few years, Mr. Andres says. Ford, which by some estimates was the heaviest palladium user in the industry, wasn't as well prepared for the price spike. Churning out millions of gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles, the company was eager to burnish its reputation as environmentally concerned. Using the slogan, "Cleaner, Safer, Sooner," Chairman William C. Ford Jr. regularly touted his company's advances in public appearances. But much of the company's progress on emissions came thanks to increased reliance on palladium, including numerous catalytic converters that used the metal exclusively. Ford was aware of the danger of unpredictable Russian supplies, executives there say. But unlike GM, where the "Armaggedon" warning came loud and early, Ford initially hunkered down, hoping the price spikes would pass without requiring a fundamental change in strategy. The pressure only continued to grow. Palladium prices jumped again in 1999, amid uncertainty about Russian shipments. Anxiety deepened when President Yeltsin resigned in December 1999. By spring 2000, the major metals exchange in Tokyo temporarily froze skyrocketing palladium at $700 an ounce. By early 2000, Mr. Gandhi and his team were scrambling for ways to reduce palladium use. They found no quick answer. "We had to develop the chemistry," he says. Worrisome Developments Worried by these developments, Ford's top managers in 2000 approved a proposal from the purchasing staff to begin stockpiling palladium and lining up long-term supply contracts, even though prices were at record highs. This was an unusual move for the purchasing department. It bought a lot of steel, copper and other materials whose prices weren't very volatile. But generally, it maintained only modest stockpiles of rare commodities such as palladium and, as a result, didn't regularly use options and other esoteric financial tools used to hedge risk, according to Mr. Inglis, the Ford CFO. Ford's treasury department regularly used such tools to buffer risks related to interest rates and currency exchange. But the more financially savvy treasury-department employees as a rule didn't work closely with the purchasing staff. The upshot, says Mr. Inglis, was that the company focused only on building up supplies. "What people were doing was protecting against a lack of material that would put us out of production," he says. The purchasing department wasn't taking steps to protect Ford if need for the commodity dropped and prices began to fall, Mr. Inglis says. 'Much More Dialogue' The purchasing staff also appears not to have consulted closely enough with Mr. Gandhi and the research staff to forecast palladium needs. In the future, there should be "much more dialogue on any out-of-the-ordinary positions that we take on any materials," Mr. Inglis says. Ford declined to make purchasing officials available for comment. Mr. Inglis declines to say just how much palladium Ford bought. He will acknowledge only that it was much more than a few months' supply. The company used about 1.5 million ounces of the metal in North America in 2000, he says. That was about half of all the palladium used in the auto-catalyst market in North America that year, Johnson Matthey estimates. As Ford kept buying early last year, continued anxiety about Russian supplies pushed prices to a record of $1,094 an ounce in January. Mr. Gandhi and his team, meanwhile, were racing to come up with ways to reduce Ford's reliance on palladium. A venture begun in 1996 between Ford and research institutes in China yielded new insight into how chemicals known as rare-earth elements can make the precious metals in catalytic converters remain effective longer. Other advances included the invention of better techniques for spreading precious metals on the parts of the converter where they were most needed. By late last year, Mr. Gandhi says, he and his colleagues had amassed definitive, striking results: Improved converters would allow Ford to cut its use of precious metals in half across its entire North American lineup of cars and trucks, starting with the 2003 models that go into production this summer. But what about all of the palladium Ford had been scooping up? Not only was the company now overstocked in an exotic commodity it had much less need for, but demand generally began to fall last year while supplies stabilized. In other words, the value of a stockpile of palladium was about to take a nosedive. Demand was falling in part because other auto makers had also succeeded in capping or reducing their use of palladium. Demand from the electronics industry, which also consumes a lot of palladium for use in capacitors, had diminished with the overall weakening of the world economy. On the supply side, high prices had spurred mine operators in South Africa to increase palladium production. And the unpredictable Russian supply began to stabilize. Prices Fall After reaching their peak above $1,000 in January 2001, palladium prices fell steadily through the summer to their lowest levels since 1999 -- about $350. Ford executives realized by last fall that their fears about availability had proved to be overblown. "You've got a free supply situation now," says Mr. Inglis. "In retrospect, did we have too much [palladium]? Yes." Market analysts estimate Ford could hold more than two million ounces of palladium, either warehoused in physical form or in long-term supply contracts. The $1 billion write-off came as Ford marked down the value of its excess holdings to the market price at the end of the year, which was $440. Mr. Inglis declines to comment on what Ford plans to do with these holdings, although palladium traders say they are watching closely for any sign of the cash-strapped company unloading its stockpile. Such a move could drive down prices further. Ford has instituted new procedures to ensure that treasury-department staffers with experience in hedging are involved in any major commodities purchases in the future, Mr. Inglis says. The company is also trying to allay investor concerns that its balance sheet conceals other billion-dollar surprises. The palladium holding "is by far and away the largest thing we've got out there," and now it has been accounted for, Mr. Inglis says. He says that as a result of writing down the excess palladium holdings, the average cost of the metal Ford uses in each vehicle will, on paper, be lower. This economy -- which Ford expects to amount to $300 million to $400 million this year -- will appear in Ford's financial statements. But it doesn't represent an actual cost reduction, Mr. Inglis says. He explains that Ford wants to make this known because, "we're now doing double somersaults not to mislead anybody on anything." Mr. Gandhi, for his part, is testing the latest converters and trying to use as little palladium as possible. "We are going to work like mad to keep the amount of precious metal from rising," he says. -- Peter A. McKay contributed to this article. -- DEUSENBERG PHAETON:= ' http://www.germancarforum.com/community/threads/vw-presents-pope-benedict-with-w12-phaeton.6927/ ' Pope Benedict XVI received Prof. Dr. h.c. Ferdinand K. Piëch, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG, and Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, in the Vatican City on Wednesday. The Volkswagen representatives presented the head of the Catholic Church with two specially equipped Volkswagen T5 to be deployed as ambulance vehicles in Africa. ‘It is a great honor for Volkswagen to personally present Pope Benedict XVI with two innovative vehicles dedicated to helping people in need on the African continent,’ Piëch emphasized. According to Winterkorn, Europe’s largest automobile manufacturer and its workforce were not only committed to reliable quality products but also to social responsibility and vital aid projects all over the world. The two T5 ambulance vehicles are fitted with extensive medical equipment. They will be deployed in the service of hospitals in Liberia und Rwanda. -- -- Deutsche Boerse said it considers the decision by the European Commission to block the deal to be "faulty" in several respects and will take its complaint to a European court in Luxembourg. It did not specify what aspects of the Commission's ruling it is objecting to. The merger of Deutsche Boerse and NYSE would have created the world's largest financial exchange operator but the Commission blocked the deal Feb. 1. It argued that the combination of Deutsche Boerse's Eurex and NYSE's Liffe derivatives exchanges would have given the company a dominant position in the market for exchange-traded derivatives. Derivatives are complex financial products that allow investors to bet on changes in the price of financial instruments, such as oil, interest rates or stock indexes. Officials from the companies have said in the past that the regulator should have used a broader definition of the derivatives market for its decision. The vast majority of derivatives are not traded on exchanges like Liffe or Eurex, but bilaterally between banks and other investors. NYSE and Deutsche Boerse argued that the Commission should have included such over-the-counter trades in its assessment of the merger, as well as competition from non-European exchanges. A spokesman for the Commission said Tuesday that the regulator stands by its decision and would defend it in court. "It was the right decision because this merger, if it had taken place, would have created a monopoly on a global market," said Antoine Colombani. "And this would have harmed the thousands of companies which use these products (derivatives) to hedge their risks." Gabriele Steinhauser contributed to this story. -- Wolfsburg/Vatican City, 18 October 2006 - Pope Benedict XVI has been presented with a specially equipped Phaeton by the Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Dr. Bernd Pischetsrieder. "It is a particular honor for us to have the privilege of providing Pope Benedict XVI with a fitting limousine", said Pischetsrieder during the presentation in the Vatican City on Wednesday. The extended wheelbase version of the Volkswagen Phaeton is finished in black and is powered by a 450 hp, 6.0 l W12 engine. The limousine has been specially equipped to meet the comfort, privacy and security requirements of the Holy Father. -- [ON_THE_FLOOR]:= ' http://www.vevo.com/watch/jennifer-lopez/on-the-floor/USUV71100181?source=instantsearch# ' -- |
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