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Non-Tech : Auric Goldfinger's Short List -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rrufff who wrote (14118)	12/15/2004 5:23:14 PM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 19428

Man duped of $450,000 in 'It's me' scam Yokohama, Japan, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- A man was swindled out of $450,000 in the latest of a spate of "It's me, send money" scams that have been sweeping Japan, police said Wednesday. The 60-year-old man in Yokohama received a phone call Monday from a sobbing man posing as his son, who said he had hit two people in his car. Four men, claiming to be police officers and lawyers, talked to him in subsequent phone calls, demanding he remit funds to two bank accounts. During the phone calls, one of the men told the man his son had run over a couple, and another threatened, "He'll be jailed." All the money was withdrawn from both accounts after the man sent it, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Wednesday. Though the victim was suspicious, he followed the men's demands after they hinted that an out-of-court settlement would be impossible if he faltered. Later the man realized it was a scam when he contacted the bar association to which the "lawyer" claimed to belong. Reports have surfaced of a wave of similar frauds involving people posing as relatives and demanding money in recent months.

To: rrufff who wrote (14118)	12/15/2004 8:48:31 PM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 19428

Groups make push for ouster of SEC chairman seacoastonline.com By Alan Murray Wall Street Journal Top business groups in Washington have launched a quiet campaign to persuade the White House to dump Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William Donaldson. The groups argue that the post-Enron crackdown on big business has gone too far, and now threatens to hurt the economy by discouraging companies from taking risks. Their hope is to replace Donaldson with a business executive who has a reputation for integrity, but also understands the problems that the corporate crackdown has caused for executives and their boards of directors. Donaldson, they argue, doesn’t. The Business Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors and other business groups took an unusually active role in this year’s election, encouraging their members to reach out to employees and help register and turn out new voters likely to be sympathetic to the president. Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman has given them generous credit for helping to reelect Bush. In return, these groups are now looking for some easing of the harsh regulatory and enforcement climate that has grown up in the wake of the corporate scandals. The effort isn’t discussed much in public, and probably won’t get any attention at this week’s economic summit. That’s because polls show corporate executives still rank low in public esteem, and any effort to ease up on regulation or enforcement against them is likely to be politically unpopular. But in private, the lobbyists have been pressing their case that easing up on SEC enforcement and regulation is necessary to keep the economy healthy. And they believe the White House has heard their message. Donaldson was appointed by Bush two years ago and has worked to restore the reputation of an agency that often appeared asleep at the switch during an outbreak of corporate accounting scandals. In the push for tougher regulatory and enforcement measures, however, he has generally found himself teamed up with the two Democratic commissioners on the SEC-Harvey Goldschmid and Roel Campos-and opposed by the two Republicans-Paul Atkins and Cynthia Glassman-in the minority. As reported in the Wall Street Journal previously, Donaldson broke the mold last week when he sided with the Republicans in opposing a staff recommendation to fine Global Crossing Ltd. Chairman Gary Winnick $1 million for failing to disclose a series of transactions that artificially boosted revenues. Donaldson argued Winnick shouldn’t be held responsible because he was a nonexecutive chairman of the company. The SEC staff argued Winnick was up to his elbows in running the company, regardless of his title. Some SEC watchers wonder whether the unusual vote was an effort by the chairman to save his job. Donaldson, who has indicated to colleagues he’d like to stay on for another two years, wasn’t available to comment. But Matthew Well of the SEC said that "the assertion that any commissioner would vote for political reasons is ridiculous." Thomas Donohue, the feisty president of the Chamber of Commerce, insists he has "no idea about a campaign to get rid of Donaldson." But he has been the most public of the lobbyists in calling for change at the SEC. The Chamber has even sued the agency over its new rules requiring independent directors at mutual fund companies. "I am very anxious to find ways to get Congress, the press, the administration and the judicial system to focus on the implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley and the runaway system of corporate destruction being run by (New York Attorney General) Eliot Spitzer and the people who work at the SEC and the Justice Department," Donohue said. "It’s time for all of us to take a look at what is being done." Other business groups are less public in their criticism, but no less concerned. Republican Commissioner Paul Atkins also has pushed the case against Donaldson at the White House, arguing that the chairman is less friendly to free financial markets than was his Democratic predecessor, Arthur Levitt. Atkins is said to be interested in the top job himself, although business lobbyists argue the job should go to someone with more business experience. On hold for now is any effort to revise the Sarbanes-Oxley law, which beefed up the SEC, created the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and imposed new restrictions on companies. Any effort to revise that law in the current political climate would be opening a can of worms, and could lead to changes that the business community opposes. But changing attitudes at the SEC could go a long way to satisfy the business groups’ concerns. Donohue is particularly bothered by efforts by the SEC, and by Spitzer, to force large settlements out of companies by threatening charges. "They are denying due process, denying their day in court," he said. "They tell these companies, you either agree with us or we are going to indict your company and destroy it or you." Donaldson is a former chief executive himself, and a longtime friend of the Bush family. As a result, everyone involved with the effort seems eager to avoid any personal embarrassment to him. But don’t be surprised to see Donaldson moving on sometime early next year.