Organized criminal activities such as migrant smuggling, ivory trafficking and maritime 
piracy are increasingly pressing threats in Eastern Africa and must be tackled through a range of measures both within the region and in the markets where illicit goods will end up, according to a United Nations report released today.
The report highlights the principal crime threats facing the region as well as their costs to society.
According to the report, more than 100,000 people were smuggled out of the region last year alone, generating over of $15 million for organized criminal networks operating on the maritime crossing from the Horn of Africa. Many migrants are driven in part by high levels of conflict and poverty, and as they try to escape their situation they are vulnerable to abuse, confinement, extortion and rape from smugglers…
Transnational Organised Crime On The Rise In Eastern Africa
UNODC TOC East Africa Report
Gender diversity on the executive team is becoming a top priority for more firms in the region.
Latin Americahas long lagged other regions when it comes to gender diversity in the C-suite. In 2011, women held only 8 percent of executive committee positions at companies surveyed in Latin America, compared to 14 percent at companies in the United States and 15 percent in Norway…
More Latin American Companies Want Women in C-suite
Equal Pay Day. It falls on the September 3 as a symbolic reminder of the additional 64 days from 1 July that the average woman has to work to earn what the average man took home the previous financial year. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) is calling on employers to help close the pay gap…
The cost of being female 64 extra days at work
A recent survey of finance workers has found men are more likely than women to receive bonuses, and on average the benefits are worth up to three times more.
Bonuses paid to men in the finance sector are worth triple those to women
The U.S. Justice Department signed an agreement with the Swiss government to allow some Swiss banks to avoid or defer prosecution stemming from a long-running probe of tax dodging by Americans using Swiss bank accounts. The Swiss banks that seek to avoid prosecution faced penalties of as much as 50 percent of the value of those assets…
Swiss Agree On Penalties For Banks That Aid Tax Evaders
Treasuries fell for a fourth straight month, the longest losing streak in more than two years, as signs of a mending economy supported the case for the Federal Reserve to moderate monetary stimulus. Treasuries Drop
Two years ago, I had a string of bad luck. First, I needed an operation to remove a small tumor. Then, my beloved Subaru Outback (with more than 120,000 miles) needed major repairs. And, most sadly, my colicky 13-year-old horse was rushed to surgery. She didn’t survive….
Emergency Funds: Women vs. Men
In that study, only 43% of women overall reported having an emergency fund, compared with 63% of men. The gap was even wider between women and men age 55 to 64. Just 58% of women in that age group had an emergency fund, while 82% of men did.
I find this all pretty disturbing. Emergency savings are especially critical in your 50s or 60s, when life can really throw you a curveball, from losing a job to unforeseen home repairs.
Women Need To Get Serious About Emergency Savings
HK$1.39B IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDS FROZEN
According to the Hong Kong Department of Justice “Prosecutions Hong Kong 2012” report, there is little dispute that one of the most effective ways to curb the expansion of criminal enterprises and terrorist financing operations is to deprive criminals of their illicit profits. These profits are the financial lifeblood that sustains their crimes.
As a major international financial centre alongside London, New York and Tokyo, Hong Kong has a free economy which allows the smooth, speedy transfer of funds within a safe, comprehensive financial and legal framework. Commercial enterprises setting up business in Hong Kong can benefit from the simple tax system, low tax rates, reliable legal system and unlimited business potential provided by the second largest economy in the world.
One undesirable yet unavoidable concomitant reality is that money laundering activities can never be utterly eradicated in a free economy of this scale. The question of whether money laundering activity is rampant in Hong Kong should be viewed with this backdrop in mind.
Last year the city froze HK$1.39 billion in crime proceeds under court orders – the largest in three years – with the government confiscating HK$50 million, the Department of Justice said…HK_DOJ_2012_Articles_19.8.13
