Not a very happy Father's Day
Back in December, Disclosures wrote about the nutcase – er, that should be nut case – concerning Korean Air Lines, when the daughter of the carrier's chairman flew into a rage after a flight attendant served nuts in a bag rather than on a plate. The ensuing publicity prompted the chairman to give his daughter a public dressing down and relieve her of her duties.
Well, this time the shoe's on the other foot, as Kumiko, the daughter of Katsuhisa Otsuka, outmanoeuvred her father on the board of furniture maker Otsuka Kagu Ltd. last week, The Japan Times reports. It was the culmination of a bitter family feud, and daddy's little girl prevailed with 61 per cent of the vote.
And it doesn't seem as though relations will be easily mended, with Katsuhisa calling the move "a coup," and his wife, Chiyoko, commenting: "I feel very sad to say something like this, but I don't believe that the current management team is capable of running the company."
You're in good company, Greece
Greece has taken plenty of knocks for its seeming inability or unwillingness to collect taxes from its citizens. No such accusations can be levelled at fellow EU member Italy, which has a different sort of problem.
On Wednesday the country's financial police released details about its 2014 study on the state of fraud and corruption in the public sector. It revealed that of the 4.6 billion euros ($6.2-billion Canadian) spent on public contracts, 1.5 billion euros were outright fraud and 2.6 billion were simply wasted. That leaves about half a billion euros that were actually put to their intended use, the Associated Press reported.
Transparency International, the global anti-corruption NGO, rates Italy at 69 out of the 175 countries it covers, putting it in a dead heat with Greece in the Corruption Perceptions Index.
The Student Bank of America
When U.S. central bank interest rates are pretty much at rock bottom, it's hard for lenders to make a buck when spreads are so thin, and few people want to borrow anyway.
Well, thank goodness for the youth of the United States, who, according to the Federal Reserve, now hold a record $867-billion (U.S.) in student debt. About 10 years ago, that figure was about $100-billion, as Quartz reports.
One of the reasons for the jump is the fact that Washington decided to get into the student loan business itself. Rather than just backing the loans made by banks, which would turn a profit on them, the government is now claiming its own piece of the action.
British banks can celebrate losses
Hooray for the Big Five British banks, which have something to celebrate this year as their collective pretax profits in 2014 soared by a whopping 62 per cent while revenues fell by 12 per cent.
This impressive feat was managed through two approaches: cost cutting, and lower loan provisions, according to a study by accounting firm KPMG.
But one cost centre that keeps dragging its heels is that of legal costs. While they fell 9 per cent, the banks still had to shell out £10-billion ($18.52-billion Canadian) associated with litigation and redress.
There's likely to be few tears: Last year those costs were about half of pretax profits, while the year before, they accounted for 85 per cent. And back in 2012, they actually matched profit for the year.
Their problems aren't all behind them, though. Barclays is looking at a billion-dollar settlement over allegations of rigging currency markets and HSBC is the subject of tax probes around the world.