France tagged posts

Delays in agreeing wording of EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is “bad for democracy”

cameron06june14-480632Impatience with the progress of the forthcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is starting to grow within the European Union.

A recent joint declaration adopted by representatives of the German, Austrian, Belgian, Croatian, French, Greek, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Luxembourg, Dutch, Portuguese, Czech, Romanian, UK, Slovakian and Swedish  parliaments called on European legislators to adopt the GDPR “by 2015”.

German Green MEP Jan Philipp Albrecht, vice chairman of the civil liberties committee at the European Parliament warned this week that failure to agree on the new security and data protection rules was “bad for democracy” as this left European citizens exposed...

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When bankers cry

croc tearsThe recent out of court deal between US authorities and the French bank BNP Paribas have raised eyebrows within the global banking community about whether the punishment for providing banking facilities to the totalitarian regime in Sudan is proportionate with the billions of US dollars that the bank must now pay out to settle the matter – equivalent to about a year’s profit.

Perhaps not one of its finest hours, the French bank has been forced to admit helping the Sudanese Government sell oil, clearing proceeds through New York in direct violation of US sanctions.

At that time, Sudanese Government-backed militias in the region of Darfur were massacring innocent civilians ...

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UK shoppers are world’s biggest spenders online, according to new report by regulator Ofcom

Shopping-cartAccording to a new report by regulator Ofcom, UK shoppers topped the list of those that spend comparatively more money shopping online compared with consumers in other countries.

The International Communications Market Report compared the availability, take-up and use of services in the UK and 16 other countries and analysed the responses of over 9,000 consumers across nine countries.

Researchers found that the UK had the highest per capita spend online in 2012, at £1,175, which was up 16% year on year. It was also 35% more than Australia, the second highest country of the eight considered on this metric, and 77% more than the US in third place.

UK consumers were spending ...

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India is a better bet for investors than China, claims new report by Ernst & Young

India flagA new report by global accountants Ernst & Young (E&Y) shows India as the most attractive investment destination ahead of China. Researchers point to a number of factors including the recent slew of reforms that resulted in the relaxation of foreign direct investment (FDI) rules that has contributed to a boost in global investor sentiment.

“With sharp currency depreciation and opening up of FDI in various sectors, India has become an attractive destination for foreign investors,” say the report’s authors.

As a result of macro-economic pressures and heavy debt pile, several Indian companies are looking to divest non-core businesses and this has created a large opportunity ...

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GBP 5.9bn incremental new business for UK sports marketing, infrastructure and consultancy sector in wake of London 2012 success

ASP-World-Cup-Al-Wakra-02-5New global research that I recently carried out on behalf of the British Government identified GBP 5.9bn in incremental new business opportunities for UK sports marketing and consultancy services sector across 55 one-off single global sports and entertainment events over the next decade.

These findings are being used by the British Government to inform its strategy for the future development of the UK’s professional and business services sector, published Thursday 11 July 2013.

The UK’s professional and business services (PBS) sector is a global success story and the growing UK sports marketing and consultancy services segment is set to be worth of GBP 1bn over the next deca...

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