Uruguays Mujica to Obama Tobacco is murder
Related posts:6 Guantanamo detainees turned over to Uruguay US prepares to ramp up transfers from Guantanamo Uruguay plan to sell pot at pharmacies slammed Obama seeks $1.9 billion to combat spread of Zika virus WASHINGTON, D.C. – Uruguay’s President José Mujica warned U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday of the mass “murder” of smokers across the world, highlighting his nation’s legal battle to preserve tough anti-tobacco laws.Mujica met Obama in the Oval Office for talks focusing on wider U.S.-Uruguayan relations and issues including education and trade.But he made a point of bringing up Uruguay’s tough restrictions on smoking, which have led to it being sued for $25 million by U.S. tobacco giant Philip Morris at the World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).Mujica told Obama, a reformed smoker, that eight million people a year were dying from tobacco-related illnesses, as the two leaders held a photo-op in the Oval Office.“That is more than World War I, [and] World War II,” he said.“It’s murder. We are in an arduous fight — very arduous — and we must fight against very strong interests,” Mujica said through a translator.“Governments must not be involved in private litigation, but here we’re fighting for life.“Nobody must be distracted in this fight for life, because out of all values, the most important one is life itself.”In March 2006, Uruguay became the first Latin American country and the fifth nation worldwide to implement a ban on smoking in enclosed public places.It also enacted some of the world’s toughest tobacco laws, requiring large health warnings on packages and banning advertising and the use of multiple products for one brand.Philip Morris, owner of the Marlboro brand, is the largest cigarette manufacturer in the United States. It has huge global business interests and its case against Uruguay is being closely watched.The company, which is headquartered in Lausanne, contends that the anti-smoking rules infringe Uruguay’s investment treaties with Switzerland. Facebook Comments
Here are the Top 5 Issues Lenders are Facing With Loan Officer Compensation Compensation Compliance Lenders Loan Officers 2016-01-21 Staff Writer Share As lenders gear up to attract new loan officers (LO), many have them are requesting unique or complex compensation plans. The real challenge lenders face is adapting their compensation plans to these requests, while complying with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) standards.Joe Ludlow, VP at Advantage Systems shares his insights about the recent trends he’s seen in loan officer compensation, and offers best practices to lenders to meet compliance standards, while attracting the most talented loan officers.MReport: What trends are you seeing in terms of loan officer compensation?Ludlow: The trends that we’re seeing with loan officer compensation right now relate primarily to being creative within the Dodd Frank rules. And then also, a higher interest in making sure you have a system that’s auditable and can be reviewed in the event that you have a regulatory audit down the road. So it’s really two things: flexibility and auditability. Those are the two things that seem to be driving most of the decisions right now. On the other hand, it needs to be great from the loan officer’s perspective, because we need to attract loan officers.What’s really happening in the industry is the decision about the compensation plan is made between the recruiting sales manager for the retail mortgage compensation and the prospective loan officer. These arrangements are made almost with accounting and procedural commission calculations as an afterthought. The beleaguered accounting department gets this compensation plan for LO compensation for a new LO that they didn’t get a chance to comment on. And that’s a very simple example, but the complexity of it goes far beyond this.Another big trend we’ve seen lately is different compensation plans based on the source of the lead. So in a given mortgage compensation any, you have a compensation any marketing strategy where they’re out advertising in the marketplace. Oftentimes, because there are costs associated with any compensation any-driven market program or internet-based marketing program, a lot of times the compensation paid to the LO for leads that come from that source is less than if the LO goes out and finds it on their own. So, that’s another factor that can contribute to when they hit a tier or not. The mathematics behind some of these calculations is extraordinary.Never underestimate the creativity of the American loan officer. Within any regulatory structure, they will find a way to squeeze a few extra dollars out of each deal if they can get the mortgage compensation any to agree.MReport: What if the loan officer is working in a team, where there are three loan officers that share all the deals? Perhaps a senior and two juniors?Ludlow: This is becoming more and more common. So then you either split the loan up and calculate the commissions, or calculate the commissions for the senior guy and then split it up afterwards. Either way, you have to give them the options.In many cases, you have a branch manager that has five loan officers working within their branch. That brand manager might negotiate for what we call an override on the production of the loan officers that they manage. So a branch manager might be paid as a loan officer, and then get a second paycheck where they’re paid an override as the manager of the compensation based on the productivity of their business unit.MReport: What kind of compliance issues are you seeing among these lenders, in terms of LO compensation? How can they adhere?Ludlow: For us, compliance is based on reviewing the compensation plans in our system, looking at the reports of the compensation plans in our system and making sure that your compliance officer agreed that these were compliant. Because, the definition of what’s compliant continues to change. You’d think that by now we’d have the rules well defined, but they’re not, so most mortgage companies have a compliance officer of some sort whose job it is to review these things and make sure they’re compliant.I have begun to see retail mortgage firms where they are providing a minority partnership to a loan officer in an effort to allow that loan officer to earn more beyond what’s consider just a straight sales commission as a member of the ownership of the compensation any. So, in fact, the income on the loan was taboo in the Dodd Frank world, but if you’re a partner in the compensation, you’re entitled to participation in the income of the compensation. Now, the whole concept of income is coming back into the conversation, which tends to throw the whole compliance issue on its ears.We instruct and provide best practices to those companies to intend to be compliant, until we started to see this partnership stuff come out. And now this is a trend, and so who knows. Fortunately, we were ready for it. From a technology standpoint, we can provide it any way we want to do it.MReport: How does tech play into compensation?Ludlow: All these calculations I’ve described as trends can be calculated in our system. So, what’s happening is when a loan officer signs on, if you’re an AMB user you set up the LO in AMB as an LO, who will be paid through the compensation module. And then as loans are defined as being closed, whereby the loan is recorded as an asset on the books, then the compensation system then produces a report saying, based on the two week timeframe or whatever date range you want, here are all the loans that closed and the compensation as it should be paid to the Los and it produces a report – a variety of different reports. Some of them are meant to be distributed to the Los, some of them are meant to be distributed internally to managers, different reports. So the idea here is that regardless of how complex or how your compensation structures follow the ever-changing fashions in the mortgage community, AMB will then – you can set those compensation structures up in AMB and then AMB will look at the loans that funded and produce a report that tells you what your compensation per LO should be.Why is this important? Because loan officers – it’s very important to loan officers that they have an easily understandable and every detailed report that shows them why they’re getting paid what they’re getting paid. A loan officer won’t just take your word for it. They need to see why you’re paying them what you’re paying them for the loans that they did.So our technology is the engine that does that. Without our system, if you have a relatively complex compensation plan, and you’re doing several hundred loans a month, without our system it’s probably costing you an extra salary just to deal with these compensation issues in spreadsheets on a bi-weekly basis. And that’s kind of a tax on the compensation any. With our system, which is always less than the cost of a new employee, it’ll do it for you in a very automated way and it will distribute through our web reporting tools, it will distribute through email. Of course, there’s another added benefit to doing it our system, which is it is under the control of the accounting department, so the accounting department can create a controlled environment so that branch managers and loan officers don’t have direct access to the calculations.Well what if your compensation arrangement was very complicated and there were 8 different types of loans you could do, based on different sources, different types of loans, so 8 different ways you could get paid. You’d want a report that could show you exactly which loans you did and which ones you got paid on and how–to compensation are to the arrangement that agreed to when you signed on. So that’s a very complicated process. AMB creates those reports and sends them out–takes the confusing element out of the process.I’d like to emphasize one thing: Compliance has been an important part of this whole process here–making sure the compensation plans can be set up in a compliant way and that we survive the audits and that we’re within the rules–but the other side of this is kind of where I started. It’s about loan officer recruitment and loan officer retention. Any business manager anywhere will tell you that the hardest thing to do is to get good people and keep them in any business.MReport: How do you attract the best loan officers? And keep the best loan officers? Ludlow: And as this marketplace turns over to a more purchase money driven marketplace, which I think everybody anticipates–the number of refis is probably going to go down, as a percentage, and the number of purchasing loans is going to go up–purchase loans are more loan officer-driven than refis. Therefore, your success as a mortgage compensation any, in large part, depends on your ability to attract and retain loan officers. And proper compensation reporting is a big part of that, because loan officers are in it for the salaries. Everybody works for a living. You’ve got to have great technology to speak to that basic understanding of, I want the best employees, the best loan officers working for me and I need to attract them by, in part, providing great reporting, timely reporting, and detailed reporting about how they’re going to get paid. That’s going to enhance my arrangement with them.I think this is really–all this compensation stuff is driven in part by compliance issues, but more importantly by the basic market need of attracting great loan officers. Never underestimate the creativity of the American loan officer. I can’t speak for other loan officers in other countries, but that’s how it is here.Click here to learn more about Advantage Systems.
January 21, 2016 1,153 Views in Daily Dose, Government, Headlines, News, Origination, Technology
Entire Travel Group is chuffed to be awarded Best Specialty Wholesaler at this year’s AFTA NTIAs, recognising the company’s knowledge, expertise and experience, as well as access to an unparalleled range of products and services.“We are extremely honoured and grateful for receiving this prestigious recognition. The qualification period was a significant 12 months for Entire Travel Group, its people and its brand and it’s fantastic to see that our achievements have been recognized” says Entire Travel Group CEO, Brad McDonnell. “I am both proud and humbled by this recognition. We will undoubtedly continue to strive for excellence and deliver the best service, experience, and value to our customers.” Entire Travel Group’s team of destination experts is committed to meet the needs of their much-valued industry partners by delivering authentic and genuine experiences. From island escapes and barge cruises to unique small escorted tours and gastronomic travel adventures, Entire Travel Group covers diverse destinations such as France, Spain, Portugal, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Maldives and more recently Italy (with the CIT holidays merger), Switzerland and Canada & Alaska. Entire Travel GroupNTIAwholesalers
Grace expects Greinke trade to have emotional impact There are still mixed messages coming from the Arizona Cardinals regarding whether quarterback Drew Stanton will be healthy enough to play Sunday against the Houston Texans.Stanton says he’s making progress after suffering a knee injury last week, but backup Blaine Gabbert could be the guy to start against Houston.Arizona isn’t revealing its hand. Fair enough.However, Mike Jurecki of The Blitz with B-Train and Jurecki on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station reports Gabbert is expected to start under center. On this edition of Vinny & Skinny with Jurecki and co-host Vince Marotta presented by Arizona Central Credit Union, the guys explain why it makes sense that Gabbert is the man at quarterback. The 5: Takeaways from the Coyotes’ introduction of Alex Meruelo Former Cardinals kicker Phil Dawson retires 2 Comments Share 
Derrick Hall satisfied with D-backs’ buying and selling Top Stories “If he’s 80 percent, I don’t know why you want to risk (Stanton),” Jurecki said.That Arizona is playing the scary pass rush of the Texans, led by Jadeveon Clowney, might have something to do with it. Adding to that worry is a Cardinals offensive line that lost D.J. Humphries last Thursday and is moving right tackle Jared Veldheer to the other side of the line to replace him.True, Houston is without starting quarterback Deshaun Watson along with pass rushers J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus.Likely, it doesn’t matter. Protecting Stanton and giving Gabbert a look sooner rather than later makes sense.“They still have some guys who can get after the quarterback,” Marotta said. “Blaine Gabbert is fresh as they come right now.”Every week, Vinny & Skinny will break down the Arizona Cardinals’ previous game and look ahead at their upcoming matchup.You can also “like” Arizona Sports on Facebook and see Vinny & Skinny broadcast live.
Bill Cosby faces lawsuit over unpaid legal fees FILE – In a Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016 file photo, attorney Samuel Silver leaves Courtroom A after the Bill Cosby pre-trial conference in the Montgomery County Courthouse, in Norristown, Pa. Silver, a former member of Bill Cosby’s defense team, is suing the 81-year-old comedian for more than $50,000 in unpaid legal fees. The civil claim for failure to pay for legal services rendered was filed Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018 by Philadelphia-based law firm Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis.(Michael Bryant/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP, Pool, File) by The Associated Press Posted Sep 5, 2018 10:52 am PDT Last Updated Sep 6, 2018 at 6:40 am PDT AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to RedditRedditShare to 電子郵件Email
PHILADELPHIA – A former member of Bill Cosby’s defence team is suing the 81-year-old comedian for more than $50,000 in unpaid legal fees.The civil claim for failure to pay for legal services rendered was filed Tuesday by Philadelphia-based law firm Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis. It did not include the exact amount the firm is seeking for work done by attorney Samuel Silver from August 2017 through February.Cosby’s current attorney, Joe P. Green, says the claim arose from a “disagreement over the amount of legal fees charged,” and Cosby had offered to submit the dispute to mediation.Silver says Cosby’s team had not challenged the billing or work before this month, but had not paid the bills despite promising to do so.Cosby was convicted in April of three counts of aggravated indecent assault. Sentencing is scheduled Sept. 24.
AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to RedditRedditShare to 電子郵件Email NEW YORK — HBO’s “Finding Neverland” is heading up the charts.The unsparing documentary about Michael Jackson and his alleged sexual abuse is already the third most-watched documentary of the past decade at the prime cable network, which takes pride in its documentary schedule. HBO says that It’s likely to surpass “Bright Lights,” the movie about Debbie Reynolds and her daughter Carrie Fisher, which is currently in second place.The Nielsen company said the first half of the four-hour program has been seen by 3.67 million people. The second half stands at 2.45 million. Those totals are expected to go up as people catch up with the program through delayed viewing.HBO’s most-watched documentary over the past decade is “Going Clear,” about Scientology.The Associated Press by The Associated Press Posted Mar 12, 2019 12:51 pm PDT
HBO’s doc ‘Finding Neverland’ becomes a network favourite
An action plan has been launched to encourage more visitors to Paphos and help ease ongoing issues of seasonality, officials said on Tuesday.The programme titled Stronger Together is a joint venture effort between the Paphos regional board of tourism, sporting events organisers and a number of Paphos hoteliers.“Through a cooperative innovative effort, the tourist board and others has set up an ad hoc committee and drawn up a relevant promotion plan with specific actions for the period 2018-2019,” Nasos Hadjigeorgiou, head of the local tourist board, told the Cyprus Mail.He stressed that the main goal of the programme is to re-establish Paphos as an all year round holiday destination and to further consolidate it as a destination for athletes “with a view to curbing seasonality through the development of athletic tourism”.According to preliminary information, planning of seat capacity and packages for the summer season already show a slight increase on last year, although Hadjigeorgiou said this is a cautious estimate.“We are in the period of bookings now, so it is not safe to make a secure and firm forecast, however things are looking positive,” he said.The ‘flagship’ events in the Paphos sporting calendar which will be promoted through the latest efforts include the triathlon, as well as individual cycling, running and swimming events, he said.The publication of printed promotional material has already been completed, short films are in progress and the participation in specialised foreign shows is scheduled to take place. The use of social media is also integral to the campaign, he added.The tourist head said Paphos has all of the “ingredients needed” to attract even more athletes for training as well as larger numbers of active holidaymakers, especially during the months of November through to April.“The beautiful countryside and the Paphos hospitality can cement the district as a destination for athletes and is a huge advantage to set us apart from other competitors.”You May LikeDr. Marty ProPower Plus Supplement3 Dangerous Foods People Feed Their Dogs (Without Realizing It)Dr. Marty ProPower Plus SupplementUndoYahoo SearchThe Early Signs Of Type 2 Diabetes. Search Type 2 Diabetes TreatmentsYahoo SearchUndoPopularEverythingColorado Mom Adopted Two Children, Months Later She Learned Who They Really ArePopularEverythingUndo Turkish Cypriot actions in Varosha ‘a clear violation’ of UN resolutions, Nicosia saysUndoConcern over falling tourism numbersUndoPensioner dies after crash on Paphos-Polis roadUndoby Taboolaby Taboola