Can you Trust big business? Feburary review 2013

(1)Mail Online Friday, Feb 01 2013
Toxic hip implants sold by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary ‘which knew for THREE YEARS that they could be dangerous’
• DePuy marketed metal-on-metal implants ‘despite surgeon’s warnings’
• Hips failed after 2.5 yrs far more regularly than other models, tests found
• They were suspected of causing potentially toxic metal to get into blood
• Revelations on warnings come in Los Angeles compensation court case

(2) The Guardian Feb 01 2013

Italy rocked by scandal at world’s oldest bank
Monte dei Paschi di Siena asks for €3.9bn bailout amid scandal over loss-making derivatives contracts and alleged fraud

(3) The Guardian Feb 01 2013

BP tried to manipulate gas market, alleges trader.

BP faces new embarrassment in America with a court case brought by one of its former traders, who claims the company was trying to manipulate the natural gas liquids market. Drew Sickinger, who joined BP’s Houston office in 2009, says the company “created a pretext” for disciplining him late last year and then unfairly dismissing him.

(4) • The Guardian, Friday 1 February 2013

Barclay’s boss waives bonus as bank rocked by new Qatar allegations.

pressure mounted on Barclays when it faced fresh allegations on Friday about its relationship with Qatar at the height of the 2008 financial crisis. The Qataris were the main contributors to a £7.3bn lifeline to Barclays that allowed it to avoid a taxpayer bailout. The Financial Times reported that the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Services Authority are investigating whether Barclays lent Qatar funds to buy shares in the bank

(5)  Guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 February 2013 

The political crisis in Spain is deepening following allegations that a number of senior officials in the ruling People’s Party received secret payments from a so-called slush fund.
Prime minister Mariano Rajoy now faces calls to resign, following claims that he and other senor officials had received secret payments over almost two decades.

(6)Guardian.co.uk, 5th feb

Standard & Poor’s feels Justice’s lash, but can the law ever conquer greed?
The DOJ is making headlines with high-profile suits against Wall Street firms, but singling out a few won’t fix systemic wrongdoing
In politics, public humiliation can often be a useful motivator. Take the Department of Justice, which was hauled over the coals in a recent PBS Frontline documentary on its lack of vigor in Wall Street prosecutions. The DOJ has been on a rampage lately.
The DOJ has been reportedly planning to file charges against the Royal Bank of Scotland, and last night, it filed an actual lawsuit against Standard & Poor’s for misrating mortgage bonds before the financial crisis

(7) • The Guardian, Wednesday 6 February 2013

RBS fined £390m for ‘widespread misconduct’ in Libor-rigging scandal
Royal Bank of Scotland bankers continued to rig Libor rate until November 2010 – two years after it was bailed out by taxpayer

(8) 08 Feb 2013 Telegraph

Former boss of Next and JJB Sports charged
Sir David Jones, the man who turned Next into one of Britain’s largest retailers, has been charged over allegations of forgery and making misleading statements to the market while he was executive chairman of JJB Sports.

(9) • The Observer, Saturday 9 February 2013

British sugar giant caught in global tax scandal
Associated British Foods accused of Zambia tax avoidance after sending massive profits abroad

(10) • The Guardian, Monday 11 February 2013 

Britain’s top accounting regulator is investigating claims that Autonomy, a former darling of the technology sector, fraudulently misrepresented its profitability.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said it had launched a rare investigation into Autonomy’s financial reporting between January 2009 and June 2011, three months before it was taken over by Hewlett-Packard in an $11bn (£7bn) deal.

(11)  Telegraph

26 Feb 2013

Tesco to pay £6.5m fine in dairy price fixing settlement
Tesco is to pay a £6.5m fine for its part in a dairy price fixing scandal, after losing a decade-long court battle.

(12)The great  Horse meat s scandal