The deVere Group Announces a New Partnership with Real Estate Advisory, IP Global

    BIRKIRKARA, MALTA, August 03, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ -- IP Global, the full service real estate investment company, and deVere Group, the world's largest independent international financial consultancy, have announced a landmark global partnership. The tie-up between two industry-leaders will see IP Global provide real estate investment services and advisory to up to 70,000 of deVere's high net worth clients around the world.

The agreement is a first in the financial consultancy sector and comes at a time of growing investor interest in real estate investment. The deVere Group operates in 70 offices around the world, and the new partnership will provide deVere's clients, who currently have US$9 billion of funds under management, with access to strategic property investments in high-value real estate markets for the first time.

The new partnership will expand IP Global's international reach by giving the company a platform to offer its end-to-end real estate investment service in a variety of new markets.

Tim Murphy, CEO, IP Global, said: "We are delighted that IP Global will be providing property investments for the deVere Group. Our team of experts ensure we deliver the high standards and satisfactory returns our clients expect, plus our end-to-end service to manage all aspects of the investment process. This will complement deVere Group's existing investment offering and open up this high-potential investment sector for its clients.

With over US$1 billion invested alongside our clients in 19 markets throughout the world since 2005 and over GBP 100 million invested in London this year alone, this partnership will further enhance IP Global's offerings to investors globally. This is a testament to the expertise and reputation IP Global has developed for providing credible, independent real estate investment advice."

Nigel Green, chief executive of the deVere Group, said: "We have seen growing demand from our clients around the world for real estate investment services and products, and this partnership will help them develop their wealth portfolios further, with access to expert advice and support from a leading real estate investment company". "We have been consistently impressed by the knowledge and service delivered by IP Global, and we look forward to expanding together as a result of this partnership."

The IP Global model supports the needs of IFAs' wealth management clients by offering property as a key asset class and managing the end-to-end investment process. The company will continue to work with a range of IFA partners around the world to identify the right real estate investment solutions for their clients.

IP Global aims to provide investors with an increasing range of property investment opportunities and will expand its teams and operations to support the growth generated by the partnership with deVere Group.

About IP Global Ltd
IP Global is a property investment company that researches and sources prime investment opportunities in high-value markets and invests alongside its clients, sharing the same risk and rewards. It supports investors throughout the purchase, ownership, leasing and resale of their property investment, including financing and legal assistance, providing a uniquely unified, end-to-end service. Established in Hong Kong in 2005 and with a worldwide presence through offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, China, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and London, IP Global provides unique property investment opportunities for its multimarket client base. It has successfully invested in more than 19 markets globally, with total assets under management exceeding USD1 billion.

About deVere Group
The deVere Group is the World's Largest Independent International Financial Consultancy. International investors and expatriates employ us to find financial services products that suit their medium to long term requirements for investments, savings and pensions. With in excess of US$9 billion of funds under administration and management, deVere has more than 70,000 clients in over 100 countries. Our independence and ability to offer financial products that are tailor-made to fit an individual's needs are behind our success.

For media enquiries and more information, please contact Cohn & Wolfe-impactasia:
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Tel: +852 3665 1000

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Jurisdiction Issues in Global Intellectual Property

? Edyta Pawlowska - Fotolia.com

"An underlying premise in pure intellectual property issues is that the law should encourage and reward innovation," wrote Raymond T. Nimmer in his book, "The Law of Computer Technology: Rights, Licenses, Liabilities." In the modern digital world, traditional trade borders are collapsing and competitors can steal valuable intellectual property and send it around the world at the speed of light.

How can the general counsel of a Texas company obtain justice when the company is the target of theft, infringement, fraud or other unfair business practices? How can he navigate jurisdictional issues when protecting the company's intellectual property from foreign corporations? What are alternatives to financing multiple lawsuits throughout the world?

Determining where to fight the battle to protect these rights is a crucial decision. To date, there is no clear law on how the global community will handle international intellectual property jurisdictional issues. Here are some steps general counsel can take when thinking through these issues.

Unearth electronic evidence: Gathering evidence of theft, infringement and other unfair business practices often will include using computer forensics. Investigating electronic evidence can include looking at email messages, evidence of hacking, telephone communications, bank transactions, web sites, browser histories, press releases, file transfers, etc. Such electronic evidence, including the money trail, will help determine the identity of the potential defendants.Identify defendants: Using the gathered evidence to identify responsible parties can be difficult, so the legal department may need to dig deeply to figure out the corporate shell game. Separating various corporate subsidiaries and independent contractors that may be responsible for the theft and fraud will take time. Evidence trails can lead to employees, partners and officers, as well as other businesses.Review jurisdictional issues: Determining potential jurisdictions and venues for a lawsuit can be difficult when the offending party is not a Texas or even a U.S. business. Unfortunately, there is no true global intellectual property law. International intellectual property disputes often can involve simultaneous lawsuits in multiple countries throughout the world.

There are currently four main legislative proposals to establish rules on international jurisdiction, choice of law and enforcement of foreign judgments in intellectual property lawsuits. The American Law Institute (ALI) principles are based on the laws of the United States. But businesses considering global litigation should be aware that other principles exist, including the European Principles on Conflict of Laws in Intellectual Property (CLIP), the Japanese transparency principles and Korean Waseda principles, as well as private international law.

When the potential defendant is not a Texas or U.S. business, the legal department may need to establish specific jurisdiction by proving that the defendant purposely availed itself of the privilege of acting in the forum state, the cause of action arises from such acts, and exercise of jurisdiction is not unreasonable. Specific jurisdiction can stem from the stream of commerce, hacking trails, a website sliding-scale test (in which courts are more likely to find jurisdiction as the website's interactivity and the business' electronic contacts increase), licensing and franchise agreements, posted defamatory comments, commercial activities, agency and civil conspiracy with other defendants, patent and trademark infringement, securities fraud, etc.

Overall, in determining whether a court has specific jurisdiction over a defendant, the court will look to see if the defendant was doing business in the forum state. This case-by-case determination often hinges on the foreign business' use of intellectual property or wrongful actions in Texas or the United States.

Anchoring jurisdiction: Selecting a favorable court, jurisdiction and remedy can be essential in protecting a company's intellectual property. General counsel can improve the company's ability to select a favorable jurisdiction by including anchor-jurisdiction clauses in all contracts, including letters of intent, license agreements and employment contracts. Such language also should exist on all company websites and its other marketing materials. Registering the company's intellectual property in all places where it needs to be protected is key, as is identifying the most crucial markets in which to seek protection.Limiting costs and risk: It's worth exploring whether law firms will handle large infringement cases on a contingent or hybrid contract. That can prevent the company from paying large retainers to investigate and litigate expensive lawsuits that may last years.Governmental resources: When evaluating any significant commercial litigation case against a large international corporation registered to do business in the United States, general counsel should be aware of potential governmental resources. Corporations that commit fraud, violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or other significant illegal acts may have violated U.S. Securities and Exchange Act regulations, and they may be held accountable in whistle-blower recovery lawsuits. Exposing the illegal actions of the opposing corporation can result in a whistle-blower recovery, as well as a finding against the corporation that can be used in a civil action.

In the modern digital world, technology is breaking down many traditional borders. International trade and competition is more common than ever before. Many Texas and other U.S. businesses will find themselves in a highly competitive business environment where they are the target of intellectual property infringement and corporate espionage. It pays to prepare now.

Jason S. Coomer of The Law Offices of Jason S. Coomer in Austin handles international IP litigation, SEC Foreign Corrupt Practices Act bounty actions, and international probate matters.

This article originally appeared in Texas Lawyer.

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Global Prediction of Continuous Hydrocarbon Accumulations in Self-Sourced Reservoirs

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GoHardXtreme Commences National TV Brand Awareness Campaign For Its New Line Of Urban Clothing With Stardust Global TV

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DOJ balks at MF Global advisers' fees

* U.S. Trustee objects to $1.85 million of $14 million in fees sought

* Professional fees are major priority for bankruptcy regulator

By Nick Brown

NEW YORK, April 11 (Reuters) - The Department of Justice is objecting to about $1.85 million in professional fees in MF Global's wind-down, including more than $500,000 for the primary law firm that represents bankruptcy trustee Louis Freeh.

The U.S. Trustee Program, the DOJ's bankruptcy watchdog, lodged court papers on Thursday criticizing compensation applications from a slew of professionals for entries like vague time records, travel expenses and meal charges.

In total, eight firms sought about $14 million in interim fees for work done between Oct. 1 and Jan. 31. That includes about $4 million from Morrison & Foerster, the law firm representing Louis Freeh, the former FBI chief and trustee in charge of winding down MF Global's estate.

The DOJ objected to about $503,000 of the firm's fees and expenses, complaining of messy time records and high charges for trainees not yet admitted to practice law. Morrison & Foerster partner Brett Miller had no immediate comment.

The U.S. Trustee commonly objects to professional fees because the more money advisers make, the less is available to repay creditors. The issue has been even hotter lately, with the U.S. Trustee planning to launch new guidelines that increase disclosure requirements for compensation requests.

Money matters are especially sensitive in MF Global because the case became a political firestorm after regulators discovered that the commodities broker had misappropriated money in the accounts of trader customers, leading to a shortfall in customer accounts. Customers are expected to eventually recover all of their money.

Run by former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, MF Global is liquidating after filing for bankruptcy in 2011 when investors were spooked by its exposure to European sovereign debt. Its creditor payback plan was approved last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

Other firms advising Freeh as well as MF Global creditors, including Pepper Hamilton LLP and Proskauer Rose LLP, also drew objections from the U.S. Trustee on Thursday to fee applications.

The Trustee's largest gripe was with Capstone Advisory Group, financial adviser to MF Global's creditors' committee. The Trustee took issue with about $541,000 of Capstone's roughly $2 million application, citing vague time records and too many attendees present at routine meetings.

A spokeswoman of Capstone could not immediately be reached. The firm earlier this year was in hot water with the U.S. Trustee in a different case -- the bankruptcy of investment management firm GSC Group Inc -- where it settled allegations of covering up potential conflicts of interest with one of its contractors.

The case is In re MF Global Holdings Ltd, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-15059

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Cyber security poses ongoing threat to Canadians: CGI clients leverage local and global security expertise to protect against escalating risk

CGI Group Inc. (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), a leading provider of information technology and business process services, today announced the consolidation of its security expertise and offerings in response to the rapidly increasing risk security threats pose to Canadian business by establishing a Security Centre of Excellence, located in Ottawa, Ontario. The Security Centre of Excellence comprises over 200 security professionals, a 24/7/365 Security Operations Centre and one of three accredited security evaluation test centres in Canada.

Working closely with CGI’s UK and US security experts, this move unifies CGI’s security practice in Canada, creating a focal point for all of CGI’s national and local security services. The centre will provide CGI’s private and public sector clients with full access to all of CGI’s security capabilities and deep expertise no matter where they are in Canada. The centre also creates a unified point for CGI’s multi-national security teams to support Canadian companies and Canadian interests, in Canada and abroad.

“Our clients are well supported locally, while being confident that CGI has the international expertise to stay ahead of the global nature of cyber threats,” said Dominique Gagnon, Vice-President, Security Services, CGI. “With over 200 security experts in Canada, many with the highest level security clearance, it’s our view that well executed security practices are a business enabler for our clients. There is no doubt that our ability to anticipate and combat cyber threats is closely linked to peace of mind and profitability for our clients.”

"CGI has been a trusted partner to the Canadian Payments Association for over 20 years and we value the knowledge and expertise that CGI's security team provides,” said Nora Cox Director, Corporate Risk and Security at Canadian Payments Association. “Millions of financial transactions are made by Canadians every day and they rely on the CPA to ensure that the over $170 billion dollars a day that are cleared through our systems do so safely and securely so Canada can do business.”

“The number, frequency and sophistication of these cyber incidents are truly staggering, and they are unquestionably on the rise,” said John Proctor, Director, Cyber Security, CGI. “For example, CGI’s Security Operations Centre, at the heart of the Centre of Excellence, protects some of Canada’s largest corporations and deals with roughly 45 million potential cyber events per week, every week.”

With the cost of cyber attacks growing to $1.4B in 2012 in Canada, clients are facing unprecedented risk not only to their bottom line, but also to their reputation. As part of the Security Centre of Excellence, CGI will continue to provide Security services, testing, managed services and training for clients.

About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI Group Inc. is the fifth largest independent information technology and business process services firm in the world. With approximately 71,000 members located in offices and global delivery centers in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, CGI offers a comprehensive portfolio of services including high-end business and IT consulting, systems integration, application development and maintenance, infrastructure management as well as a wide range of proprietary solutions. Further to the recent acquisition of Logica, CGI’s annualized revenue is in excess of C$10 billion, with an estimated order backlog of approximately C$18.3 billion; its shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB) and are included in the FTSE4Good Index. Website: www.cgi.com.

Investors
Lorne Gorber
Senior Vice-President, Global Communications and Investor Relations
lorne.gorber@cgi.com 
514 841-3355

Media
Carolyn Rouse
Director, Communications>
carolyn.rouse@cgi.com>
416 304-7323

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IEA Lowered Global Oil Demand Growth Forecast for 2013

ONG Focus | Insights | Written by Oil N' Gold | Thu Mar 14 13 08:50 ET

Both the IEA and the EIA released their oil demand forecasts. The former estimated oil demand to grow +0.82M bpd this year, down -0.02K bpd from last month’s forecast. The agency said that deterioration in Chinese business sentiment, European slowdown and US budget cuts would weigh on the demand for oil worldwide. As stated in the report, the IEA expects “together these three economic ‘hits’, affecting as they do the three largest economies and oil consumers, appear to further delay an elusive turnaround in global economic and in turn oil demand, growth”. The EIA released their monthly Short Term Energy Outlook with no change in their projection for the year.

The RBNZ left the OCR unchanged at 2.5% and delivered a rather dovish statement signaling that uneven recovery in New Zealand's economy would lead the central bank to maintain the OCR unchanged for the rest of the year. There are 3 issues that the RBNZ is worried the most. Strength in New Zealand dollar remained a key worry as exports were affected. Governor Wheeler warned that prolonged "overshooting" in the currency would trigger reduction in the OCR. Also, policymakers stressed that 'ongoing fiscal consolidation' would slow overall demand. The central bank also stated that 'worsening drought conditions are creating difficulty in much of the country'. Indeed, the drought condition has deteriorated since the RBNZ's economic forecasts and this would probably cause the central bank to lower its forecast of farm activity in the June MPS.

The SNB also left the 3-month LIBOR target at 0-0.25% with policymakers committing to maintain the minimum 1.20 EURCHF exchange rate “with utmost determination”. The central bank remained cautious about the global economic outlook, stating that 'global economic growth was rather weak in the fourth quarter'. Domestically, economic activity also moderated during the inter-meeting period with the jobless rate climbing up slightly. The central bank forecast GDP growth of 1.0–1.5% this year. The central bank said "downside risks to the Swiss economy remain considerable but tensions in the Eurozone might increase again. outlook. Based on the assumption of an unchanged 3-month Libor at 0.0% over the next 3 years, inflation rate would be around -0.2% for 2013, +0.2% for 2014 and +0.7% for 2015, compared to corresponding projections -0.1%, +0.4% and +0.7% previously. Policymakers saw 'no threat of inflation in Switzerland'. The central bank continued to express concerns about strength in CHF and stated that they would 'take further measures at any time" should conditions require. The franc plunged after the announcement.

On the dataflow, US initial jobless claims surprisingly fell to 332K in the week ended March 10, down from a upwardly revised 342K in the prior month.

 

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