Tag: business

What’s MERS? We’ll ALL soon know their importance (via News Unwrapped)

On By southwerkIn business ethics1 Comment

I’ve written about MERS several times, most recently  MERS And Ownership and A Thirty Dollar Fee?

I’m astonished that any lawyer would have encouraged a mortgage bank into this kind of deal, but it was one of those free money things. Any bank using the MERS system paid no property transfer fees like everyone else. So, it was worth millions of dollars to use that system even though it had never been authorized by law in any state.

This is big news. If property cannot be transferred using the MERS system, hundreds of thousands of mortgage foreclosures were done outside the law and hundreds of thousands of pending foreclosures will not be possible.

(This web site, News Unrapped, is brand new and I would like my readers to take a good look at it and consider subscribing. jp)

James Pilant

What's MERS? We'll ALL soon know their importance BREAKING FINANCIAL NEWS >>> This is very big happenings for the entire financial system, including but not limited to banks and investment bankers , real estate owners and investors, stock owners (and all associated with that industry), as well as all of us who exist and are subject to market movement. For sure, there will be lots and lots of spin on t … Read More

via News Unwrapped

Welcome to my blog! (via Business and Life)

On By southwerkIn business ethics
New business ethics blog!

There is a new blog up dealing with business ethics. It just premiered today. I want everyone to extend a warm welcome to the newest blogger in the field.

James Pilant

Hello all! The purpose of my blog, Business and Life, is to teach people about ethical conduct within different facets of business. Ethical business conduct is becoming tougher and tougher to enforce with the advent of new technologies within businesses. Please check back soon for more posts. … Read More

via Business and Life

How The Mubarak Family Made Its Billions ~ Marcus Baram (via PLANETIZEN POST)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Frankly, I was curious about this myself. Amassing 5 to 10 billion dollars or more (there are estimates of up to 70 billion) while working on a government salary, be it in the United States or Egypt,  requires considerable energy.

How did they do it? My figured it was the usual means such as corruption in state-owned enterprises and government-run banks giving out loans without the expectation of being paid back. However, they did it more slowly with the appearance of legality.

This scheme appears to be based on the 51% rule. That rule says that no foreign business can be set up in Egypt without a majority stake being owned by an Egyptian. Obviously, the Mubarak family is more “Egyptian” than anyone else.

There is a warning in this. Nations requiring such partnerships may not in reality be all that friendly to business, not in the long-term. Certainly foreign interests are going to take a hit when they are in such an incestuous relationship with a corrupt government, first by shakedown and then by the inevitable revolution.

Such economic rules exist in many parts of the globe. The most prominent being China. For those businesses investing overseas I would recommend caution in these kinds of partnerships. Such an investment may pay off for the next quarter or the next year. But in theory, corporations are eternal. Having your immortal organization seized by an enraged population is an ignominious end. The situation in Egypt is a textbook example of how such investment can go wrong.

Whether the investment is shared with a corrupt Middle Eastern nation run by a single family or by a single political party (Chinese Communist), the future is hardly serene.

James Pilant

How The Mubarak Family Made Its Billions ~ Marcus Baram A tourist in Cairo spots three photographs on the wall of a restaurant: one of Nasser, another of Sadat, and the third of Hosni Mubarak. He asks the owner who the first man is, and the owner tells him it’s the man who overthrew the Egyptian monarchy and served as the country’s president. “Who’s the second man?” the tourist wants to know. “That’s Anwar Sadat, our next president,” comes the reply. “He made peace with Israel but was assassinated in … Read More

via PLANETIZEN POST

Consumers Losing Faith in Business

On By southwerkIn Uncategorized

The article itself from BNET is a little self paroding talking about Business as the engine of recovery that people ought to look up to and respect but worries that it will take time to regain that respect. You think! This is what happens when business ethics disappear in the search for greater profits. This is what happens when the next quarter’s profits are the only measure of success and not what kind of people we are.

For many people talking about business ethics is just a brief joke, something whose existence is as likely as the Easter bunny. We can do better. No longer can business ethics be taught as a search for ways to avoid public relations problems but a search for what is good and right in all men in all ages.

From the article: Pay is part of the problem but the discontent goes wider. Four out of five people don’t trust business leaders to put the needs of staff or shareholders above their personal interests, according to Edelman’s Trust Barometer. A similar proportion think business ethics have deteriorated.

For years the workers and middle class have been the targets of bad legislation and exploitation by increased costs from banks, internet providers, and health insurance. A vulture culture devoted to worshiping the predator is not conducive to business ethics. It is conducive to lip service and a superficial appearance of compliance with the values of society. This is a great country with an amazing history of accomplishment. We can do better.

http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2009/10/29/why-nobody-trusts-business-anymore/