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Video: Knight Says U.K. Bank Exposure to Ireland ‘Containable’

November 24, 2010

Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) — Angela Knight, chief executive officer of the British Bankers’ Association, talks about U.K. banks’ exposure to Irish debt. She speaks with Maryam Nemazee on Bloomberg Television’s “On The Move.”

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Market Group Makes A Case For European Securitization

November 21, 2010

Rick Watson head of capital markets at the Association for Financial Markets in Europe says the economy on the continent will suffer unless policy makers learn to embrace securitization again reports GFSnews

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Social Security Judges Face Violent Threats

November 14, 2010

WASHINGTON — Judges who hear Social Security disability cases are facing a growing number of violent threats from claimants angry over being denied benefits or frustrated at lengthy delays in processing claims. There were at least 80 threats to kill or harm administrative law judges or staff over the past year – an 18 percent increase over the previous reporting period, according to data collected by the agency. The data was released to the Association of Administrative Law Judges and made available to The Associated Press. One claimant in Albuquerque, N.M., called his congressman’s office to say he was going to “take his guns and shoot employees” in the Social Security hearing office. In Eugene, Ore., a man who was denied benefits said he is “ready to join the Taliban and hurt some people.” Another claimant denied benefits told a judge in Greenville, S.C., that he was a sniper in the military and “would go take care of the problem.” “I’m not sure the number is as significant as the kind of threats being made,” said Randall Frye, a judge based in Charlotte, N.C., and the president of the judges’ union. “There seem to be more threats of serious bodily harm, not only to the judge but to the judge’s family.” Fifty of the incidents came between March and August, including that of a Pittsburgh claimant who threatened to kill herself outside the hearing office or fly a plane into the building like a disgruntled tax protester did earlier this year at the Internal Revenue Service building in Austin, Texas. A Senate subcommittee is expected to hear testimony on Monday at a field hearing in Akron, Ohio, about the rising number of threats, as well as the status of the massive backlog in applications for disability benefits, which are available to people who can’t work because of medical problems. Nearly 2 million people are waiting to find out if they qualify for benefits, with many having to wait more than two years to see their first payment. Judges say some claimants become desperate after years of fighting for money to help make ends meet. “To many of them, we’re their last best hope for getting relief in the form of income and medical benefits,” said Judge Mark Brown, a vice president of the judge’s union and an administrative law judge hearing cases in St. Louis. While no judges were harmed this year, there have been past incidents: A judge in Los Angeles was hit over the head with a chair during a hearing and a judge in Newburgh, N.Y., was punched by a claimant when he showed up for work. In January, a gunman possibly upset about a reduction in his Social Security benefits killed a security guard during a furious gunbattle at a Nevada federal courthouse. About 1,400 administrative law judges handle appeals of Social Security disability claims at about 150 offices across the country. Many are in leased office space rather than government buildings. Brown said the agency provides a single private security guard for each office building that houses judges. Frye said he has sought more security and a review of the policy that keeps guards out of hearing rooms. He said Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue has promised to look into it. Social Security Administration spokeswoman Trish Nicasio said the agency continually evaluates the level and effectiveness of office security and makes changes as needed. “We are taking appropriate steps to protect our employees and visitors while still providing the level of face-to-face service the public expects and deserves,” Nicasio said. Visitors and their belongings are screened before entering hearing offices and hearings room, she said, and reception desks are equipped with duress alarms to notify the guard immediately of any disturbance. ___ Online: Social Security disability program: http://tinyurl.com/23mb78r

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San Francisco Bay Area Agency’s Robert Fakhimi Elected to Head MassMutual’s General Agents Association

November 9, 2010

WALNUT CREEK, CA–(Marketwire – November 9, 2010) –  The San Francisco Bay Area Insurance Agency LLC ( www.sfbaa.com ), a Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) general agency based in Walnut Creek, today announces that General Agent and CEO Robert Fakhimi has been elected president of the MassMutual General Agents Association. During his one-year term, Fakhimi will head the 90-member independent Association which helps provide MassMutual corporate with information from the field, among other responsibilities.

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Video: SEC’s Schapiro Says Global Effort Needed for Regulation: Video

November 8, 2010

Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner Mary Schapiro talks with Bloomberg’s Lisa Murphy about financial market regulation and global coordination on new rules. Schapiro speaks from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association conference in New York. (Source: Bloomberg)

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NAR Installs 2011 Officers

November 8, 2010

NEW ORLEANS, LA–(Marketwire – November 8, 2010) –  Ron Phipps, a Realtor ® from Warwick, R.I., was installed today as 2011 president of the National Association of Realtors ® at the association’s Board of Directors meeting during the REALTORS ® Conference & Expo here. Approximately 20,000 Realtors ® and guests from the U.S. and abroad attended the annual meeting this year.

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David Isenberg: Let’s Tell It Like It Is

October 21, 2010

I have, on occasion, in the past been critical of IPOA (formerly the International Peace Operations Association and now the Association of the Stability Operations Industry), the Washington, DC-based trade association for private military and security contractors. So it is only fair to mention them when they do something inarguably right. That something was their three day 2010 Annual Summit that took place earlier this week. To go to the event and listen to the panels on such subjects as international standards and accountability, logistics and support in contingency operations, regulatory evolutions in the industry was to see both private companies and public officials seriously grappling with issues of oversight and accountability at a practical, not a rhetorical, level. There was some serious reflection going on. At the beginning of the first day Chris Taylor, CEO of Mission Essential Personnel, an IPOA member company, and a main sponsor of the summit, said the following in his opening remarks: All of us have been asked to testify or to speak about a great many issues. And deservedly so. Spending the taxpayer’s money is an important task that comes with a great responsibility [Note: Let's call this the Peter Parker principle: with big contracts comes big responsibility] But one of the things that we can’t let it do is force the industry to be transactional instead of transformational. We do bring a certain value to the government and to taxpayers. Because of the scrutiny I don’t believe that – I think it can actually be our finest hour for the industry; not a reason to hunker down and not be cooperative, not be forthcoming with people who may have questions about what it is that we do. As a matter of fact I think it should be quite the opposite. I think it should be an opportunity for us to tell it like it is; to inform people of the facts about our abilities, about the complexities of working in contingency operations, and working in development operations, and working in security operations. I don’t think we should, we shouldn’t miss that opportunity whatsoever. We certainly should not shy away from it. … I would encourage all of us to ask tough questions of each other first… To me that reflects the emergence of a mindset that is self-confident but not boastful, proud of its accomplishments but mature enough to understand that legitimate questions can be raised about their operations. It is hard to imagine a CEO of a traditional military-industrial company, such as Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman, saying something similar. For those people who think that PMC or the U.S. government don’t take seriously issues of oversight and accountability they should view the video of the panel on international standards and accountability. I recorded it with a Flip camcorder and you can watch the segments on my YouTube page. I had to break them up due to Youtube’s size limit on what can be uploaded at one time but you can view them here. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 One of the more interesting parts of that panel was the discussion of the forthcoming International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers. Among other things it: – Sets out clear obligations and operational standards for PSCs based on international human rights standards – Launches a process to establish effective oversight and compliance mechanisms. There will be a high-level signing ceremony for it on 9 November 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland. You can find the code online here . As IPOA taped the entire summit it will, hopefully, transcribe and post online the proceedings as soon as possible. Hint, hint.

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Video: AIMA’s Lee Says Hong Kong Leads Asia Hedge Fund Startups: Video

October 19, 2010

Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) — Christophe Lee, chairman of the Hong Kong and China national group of London-based Alternative Investment Management Association, talks about the outlook for Asia’s hedge fund industry. Lee speaks with Phillip Yin at the Bloomberg Link Hedge Funds Asia event in Hong Kong. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Chamber Of Commerce Hosting Event With Foreign Bank Members Today

October 8, 2010

Tomorrow, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce plans to hold a reception for the Bahrain Banks Association, a trade group for banks operating in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Bahrain Minister of Finance, Central Bank, and Bahrain Ambassador will be attending, and the event listing invites “banks and investment firms” to attend.

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Video: Berman Says Mortgage Market Needs Private Capital: Video

August 17, 2010

Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) — Michael Berman, chairman-elect of the Mortgage Bankers Association, talks with Bloomberg’s Peter Cook about today’s Treasury Department summit on housing finance and the outlook for the mortgage-finance industry. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Video: Miller Questions Education Department Loan Metrics: Video

August 17, 2010

Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) — Harris Miller, president of the Career College¶ Association, talks about student-loan trends at for-profit colleges.¶ Colleges owned by Career Education Corp., Corinthian Colleges Inc. and Washington Post Co. have campuses where fewer than 20 percent of federal student loans are being repaid, according to the U.S. Department of Education, which wants to use the data to determine whether programs can¶ remain eligible for aid. Miller speaks on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop With Betty Liu.” (Source: Bloomberg)

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Tom Silva: The Other Health Care Crisis

August 2, 2010

The health care reform bill provides millions of dollars to educate new doctors via several programs , but the nation still faces a severe shortage of physicians and it’s uncertain if medical schools have the capability or desire to add an adequate number of physicians to fill the void. “The act increases incentives for primary care and it adds maybe 300 more physicians trained per year in residency slots, which is a drop in the bucket,” said Valerie Parisi, M.D., interim dean at the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. That’s quite an understatement, considering that the nation presently has approximately 756,000 active physicians. Given an estimated United States population of 309,000,000, that adds up to just one physician for every 408 persons. What’s more, the majority of America’s physicians are concentrated in urban areas; doctors are a scarce commodity and specialists remains virtually nonexistent in rural areas. The doctor deficit goes back to the 1980s and 1990s when medical schools capped their enrollments at 16,000 students per year because they believed that managed care would create a physician glut. The exact opposite has happened and medical schools were “woefully wrong” in their assessment, according to Josef Fischer, chairman of surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Just 10 years from now, the nation will face a shortage of 66,000 primary-care physicians, including 7,000 in underserved urban and rural areas, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. An additional 100,000 specialty physicians will be needed, such as geriatric specialists and pulmonologists as the estimated 76 million baby boomers retire and require treatment for chronic health conditions. Compounding the crisis is the fact that between 1985 and 2006, the percentage of physicians aged 55 and older climbed from 27 percent to 34 percent, according to statistics from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Approximately 250,000 active physicians are expected to retire between now and 2020. These shortages are especially critical among surgeons and family medicine practitioners. In the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, which is facing a similar physician shortage, they’re flying in general practitioners from as far away as Lithuania, Poland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland — at significant cost. Last year, more than 20,000 doctors from 123 countries registered to work in the UK. The doctor shortage is particularly acute in London, where many areas have deficiencies exceeding 10 percent.

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Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) Hires Executive Director

August 2, 2010

ST. LOUIS, MO–(Marketwire – August 2, 2010) –  The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association ( WISPA ) hired an Executive Director, Rick Harnish, to start August 1, 2010.

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Video: Vietnam’s Low Costs Luring Manufacturers Away from China: Video

July 25, 2010

July 26 (Bloomberg) — Bloomberg’s Haslinda Amin reports on Vietnam’s attractiveness to manufacturers as a low-cost production base. The communist nation drew 13.5 percent of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ foreign direct investment pool in 2008, up from 4.4 percent two years earlier, according to the 10-member group. Bloomberg’s Susan Li also speaks. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Video: Gray Discusses LeBron James’s Decision to Sign With Heat: Video

July 9, 2010

July 9 (Bloomberg) — Reporter Jim Gray discusses two-time National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player LeBron James’s decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. Gray, who hosted the ESPN special where James announced his decision, spoke with Deirdre Bolton and Michele Steele on Bloomberg Television’s “InsideTrack.” (Source: Bloomberg)

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Craig S. Lowenthal of Glatfelter Insurance Group Elected IASA President

July 8, 2010

DURHAM, NC–(Marketwire – July 8, 2010) –    At the 2010 IASA Annual Educational Conference & Business Show, the association’s members elected Craig S. Lowenthal of Glatfelter Insurance Group (Glatfelter) as president of the association for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

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Video: Soshnick Discusses Lebron James’s Live Television Show: Video

July 8, 2010

July 8 (Bloomberg) – Bloomberg Columnist Scott Soshnick discusses the outlook for LeBron James of the National Basketball Association and the reigning Most Valuable Player’s live television special tonight to announce where he’ll be playing next season. James, who became a free agent July 1, will end months of speculation by announcing whether he’ll return to Cleveland or spurn his hometown Cavaliers. Soshnick talks with Betty Liu on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop.” (Source: Bloomberg)

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Video: James Meets With Heat, Clippers on Day 2 of Free Agency: Video

July 2, 2010

July 2 (Bloomberg) — LeBron James is meeting with the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers today, a day after he was courted by the New York area’s two National Basketball Association franchises as free agency began. Bloomberg’s Michele Steele reports. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Investors Concerned Shadow Supply of Distress Could Add to Delinquency Troubles

June 23, 2010

Delinquency rates continued to increase in the first quarter for all commercial/multifamily mortgage investor groups, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Commercial/Multifamily Delinquency Report. The delinquency rate for loans held…

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Video: USGA Debuts New Apps, Web Features at U.S. Open: Video

June 17, 2010

June 17 (Bloomberg) — Bloomberg’s Michele Steele reports on new mobile applications and online features that that the U.S. Golf Association is introducing at the U.S. Open, which begins today in Pebble Beach Golf Links, California. (Source: Bloomberg)

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States Face $127 BILLION Budget Shortfall As Stimulus Dries Up

June 15, 2010

Spending cuts by state and local governments from New York to California may act as a drag on the economy into 2011, only the second time in more than a half century that such reductions have restricted growth for three consecutive years. States face a cumulative budget gap of $127.4 billion as 46 prepare for the start of their fiscal year on July 1, according to a report this month by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers.

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Axa Said in Talks to Sell U.K. Life Unit to Resolution for $4.1 Billion

June 13, 2010

By Kevin Crowley and Fabio Benedetti-Valentini June 13 (Bloomberg) — Axa SA , Europe’s second-biggest insurer, is in talks to sell most of its U.K. life insurance unit to Clive Cowdery’s Resolution Ltd. for about 2.8 billion pounds ($4.1 billion), two people briefed on the talks said. The discussions are at an advanced stage and both companies are aiming to reach an agreement by the end of the month, said the people, who declined to be named because the talks are private. Resolution, the investment firm Cowdery started two years ago, is likely to fund the purchase by selling new stock to existing shareholders, one of the people said. European insurers including Axa and Prudential Plc are seeking to free up capital reserves used to back policies in slower-growing markets like the U.K. to fund growth in Asia, where margins are wider. Resolution paid 1.9 billion pounds for Britain’s Friends Provident Plc last year, the first of as many as four purchases it’s planning as it aims to merge U.K. life insurers and sell the enlarged group back to investors by 2013. “For Axa, the U.K. wasn’t the most successful and profitable country,” said Karim Bertoni , who helps manage $18.5 billion at Banque Syz & Co. in Geneva. “Resolution is very committed to gain market share in the U.K., and a deal would allow Axa to move some capital to other regions with better profitability.” Axa’s life insurance division is the eighth-biggest in the U.K., according to data compiled by the Association of British Insurers. Resolution’s offer values the unit at 80 percent of embedded value, a measure insurers use to calculate future revenue from policies, one of the people said. Resolution bought Friends Provident for 65 percent of its embedded value. Wealth Management Officials at both companies declined to comment. Resolution may seek to raise as much as 2.2 billion pounds in a rights offering to fund the purchase, the Sunday Express reported, without saying where it obtained the information. Resolution is seeking to buy Axa’s with-profits fund, one of the people said. The Paris-based insurer would go on selling unit-linked funds, wealth management products and non-life insurance in the U.K., one of the people said. Axa’s U.K. life and savings operations posted a 33 million- euro ($39 million) net loss in 2009, compared with a 257 million-euro profit a year earlier. Axa’s gross annual life and savings sales in the U.K. fell 22 percent to 2.78 billion euros as investment fees and premiums dropped. John Tiner Axa SA is trying to acquire Axa Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd.’s operations in eight Asian countries, including China, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The insurer already owns 54 percent of the Melbourne-based company. Resolution closed 0.2 pence, or 0.3 percent, lower at 60.7 pence in London trading on June 11, valuing the company at 1.46 billion pounds. Axa rose 2.3 percent to 13.115 euros in Paris trading, giving the company a market value of 30 billion euros. Resolution Chief Executive Officer John Tiner , who served as CEO of the Financial Services Authority from 2003 to 2007, said in March he aims to make two or more purchases, adding to the Friends Provident purchase. After creating a life insurer worth 10 billion pounds, Tiner intends to sell it by 2013, he said. Resolution said in a June 11 statement it plans to consolidate the U.K. businesses of Axa, France’s biggest insurer, with its Friends Provident operations. There was no certainty of a sale, it said. “The combination of the two businesses would create one of the U.K.’s largest providers of protection products and group pensions services,” Resolution said. Resolution posted net income of 1.16 billion pounds in 2009, compared with a 1 million-pound loss in 2008. First-quarter insurance sales rose 19 percent to 178 million pounds, as interest rates at record lows pushed British savers to seek higher returns in pension and savings products rather than hold their assets in cash. Standard Life Plc , St James’s Place Plc and Legal & General Group Plc, which also sell life insurance in the U.K., all posted higher-than-expected sales in the first quarter. To contact the reporter on this story: Kevin Crowley in London at kcrowley1@bloomberg.net Jon Menon in London at jmenon1@bloomberg.net

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Taiwan, China Hold Third-Round Trade Talks Amid Optimism of June Agreement

June 12, 2010

By Bloomberg News June 13 (Bloomberg) — Taiwan and China started a third round of talks today aimed at strengthening economic and trade ties, amid rising speculation that they may sign an agreement this month. Huang Chih-peng , director-general of Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade met Tang Wei, head of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao affairs at China’s Ministry of Commerce, in a Beijing hotel to discuss the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, or ECFA. A pact will likely be agreed by the end of June, Taiwan’s Commercial Times reported today, citing a business group. Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou has been pushing for an accord to bolster export-dependent Taiwan’s economy after a Chinese trade agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations began this year. The two sides have agreed to include goods and services, as well as a so-called early-harvest list of industries that will be the first to enjoy lower tariffs. Ma’s administration has also said an accord may be signed this month. “The preferred-tariff treatment won’t happen at least for the next one to two years,” Tony Phoo , an economist at Standard Chartered Plc, said by phone in Taipei today. Still, any agreement “will boost market sentiment and confidence overall,” said Phoo. Cross-strait ties improved after President Ma took office in May 2008 and abandoned his predecessor’s pro-independence stance. Ma is seeking better ties with the island’s biggest trading partner and No. 1 overseas investment destination. ‘Very Rich Resources’ “We can make use of each other’s advantages,” China’s Tang said in opening remarks today. “Taiwan has abundant capital, advanced production technology, rich enterprise- management experience and international sales channels. On the other hand, the mainland has very rich resources and a lot of labor and huge potential markets.” Taiwan and China may sign the agreement by the end of this month, the Commercial Times reported today, citing Kuo Shan-huei, chairman of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the mainland. Wang Yi, director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told Taiwan businessmen last night that the two sides will probably agree to the accord, the newspaper said, citing Kuo. Banking, Insurance Taiwan and China agreed in December to boost cooperation in fishing, agriculture and industrial goods at the fourth cross-strait talks as ties reached their warmest in 60 years. In November, they signed three memoranda of understanding to ease access to each other’s banking, securities and insurance industries. Trade between the mainland and Taiwan increased 68 percent in the first four months of 2010 compared with same period last year, and Taiwan investment rose 44.7 percent, China’s Tang said today. An agreement would be in “both parties’ interests, so we have better resource allocation and cooperation,” Tang said. An agreement with China is “vital to Taiwan’s economy,” Chiang Pin-kung , chairman of the Taipei-based Straits Exchange Foundation, said in February. An agreement would help to ensure Taiwan can compete with regional rivals and may prompt other nations to agree to similar pacts with the island, Chiang said. North Korea and Taiwan are the only two economies in the region that haven’t signed trade accords with China and Asean, which groups Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines and Brunei. Taiwan has been unable to join the wave of bilateral and multilateral free- trade agreements in recent years because China regards the island as a rebellious province. Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party opposes the trade accord and on Dec. 20 rallied 100,000 people in Taichung city to protest against Ma’s China policies. — Henry Sanderson in Beijing and Weiyi Lim in Taipei. Editors: Jake Lloyd-Smith , Jim McDonald To contact Bloomberg News staff on this story: Henry Sanderson in Beijing at 86-10-6649-7548 or hsanderson@bloomberg.net

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Wayne Pacelle: The Chickens Come Home to Roost

June 8, 2010

There is big news concerning an ongoing class action lawsuit accusing the nation’s major battery cage egg producers of conspiring to use questionable animal welfare standards to both squeeze birds into tiny cages and squeeze American consumers by illegally fixing prices. In what is looking like a domino effect, Land O’Lakes and its subsidiaries Moark and Norco have become the second set of defendants to wave the white flag in the case–agreeing to pay a whopping $25 million to egg purchasers allegedly defrauded by a price-fixing scheme that drove the price of eggs (and industry profits) to historic highs over the last several years. As part of the settlement, which still requires court approval, Land O’Lakes, Moark, and Norco must also turn over potentially incriminating documents, and help plaintiffs hold the remaining defendants accountable for their actions. As I noted back in April, the evidence of egg industry misconduct amassed so far in the case is damning, including this shocking excerpt from a 2003 letter to the United Egg Producers from egg producer Sparboe: [W]hat concerns us is the “hidden agenda” of the Animal Welfare Program. In short, we believe that if not carried forward properly a strong case could be made that the Animal Welfare Program is, in essence, a program being offered by our trade association and its members to reduce outputs in an effort to increase prices. Naturally that strikes of price fixing to us and we have concerns about future claims of this sort being made against the association and/or its members. The lawyers for Land O’Lakes, Moark, Norco, and Sparboe all apparently agree. The only remaining question is what will happen with the companies that have not settled yet–United Egg Producers, Rose Acre, Ohio Fresh Eggs, and Cal-Maine. We’ll be keeping a watchful eye. This post originally appeared on Pacelle’s blog, A Humane Nation .

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Video: Yankee Stadium Boxing Revives as Foreman Battles Cotto: Video

June 4, 2010

June 4 (Bloomberg) — Bloomberg’s Michele Steele reports on the outlook for sports this weekend. Tomorrow, undefeated World Boxing Association super-welterweight champion Yuri Foreman fights Miguel Cotto at Yankee Stadium, while Kentucky Derby runner-up Ice Box is the favorite at 3-1 for the 142nd Belmont Stakes. The Philadelphia Flyers host Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final against the Chicago Blackhawks tonight. (Source: Bloomberg)

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BP Needs Equivalent of Lottery Win in August to Seal Leak at First Attempt

June 1, 2010

By James Paton June 1 (Bloomberg) — BP Plc would need the equivalent of a lottery win to succeed with its first attempt to end the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in August using a so-called relief well, the president-elect of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists said. A relief well intercepts the damaged well at an angle thousands of feet below the seabed and permanently closes it with heavy mud and cement. The method is the surest way for BP to end the largest oil spill in U.S. history, yet initial failure is “almost a certainty,” the association’s David Rensink said by phone from Houston. “It would be like winning the lottery to get it on the first shot.” BP faces some of the same challenges PTT Exploration & Production Pcl encountered last year in trying to stop a leak 2,600 meters (8,500 feet) below the seabed off northwest Australia. The Thai oil and gas explorer finally plugged the well in the Timor Sea after 10 weeks when a relief well enabled the company to pump 3,400 barrels of heavy mud to stanch the flow of oil. During one of the failed attempts to halt the leak on Nov. 1, a fire erupted while the Bangkok-based company was injecting the mud, engulfing and destroying the West Atlas drilling rig. BP forecasts it will finish the first of two relief wells it has started drilling in early August, according to Doug Suttles , the executive in charge of the spill response. The first well has reached a depth of 12,090 feet, London-based BP said today in a statement, two-thirds of the way to completion. A second has reached 8,576 feet. The challenge is intersecting the damaged well, not the actual drilling, said Rensink, who becomes president of the association in July. ‘Hit-or-Miss’ “What you’re doing is trying to intersect a well bore that is probably roughly a foot across with another well that is about a foot across,” he said. “It’s a hit-or-miss sort of thing. Ultimately the relief well will work. It’s just a matter of time, of continuing to poke at it until you intersect it.” BP is drilling two wells because there is a risk it may not reach the target with just one, said Edson Nakagawa, head of the petroleum and geothermal division of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. “Drilling in this kind of environment is challenging with the deep water, deep wells, high pressure and high temperature,” Nakagawa said from Perth today. The cost of responding to the leak has risen to $990 million, BP said today. The well has spewed 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil a day, a U.S. government panel estimated May 27. The spill began after the Deepwater Horizon rig hired by BP exploded April 20, killing 11 crew members. PTTEP estimated as much as 400 barrels of oil a day may have leaked into the ocean between Aug. 21 and Nov. 3. That would make it the third-biggest spill in Australian history, based on figures from the Maritime Safety Authority . A commission set up to investigate what happened at the Montara field, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of Australia’s Kimberley coast, is expected to issue a report and make safety recommendations in mid-June, Australia’s Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said last month. To contact the reporter on this story: James Paton in Sydney jpaton4@bloomberg.net .

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Video: BBA’s Knight Sees Banks Regulated by `Global Principles’

May 28, 2010

May 28 (Bloomberg) — British Bankers Association Chief Executive Officer Angela Knight talks with Bloomberg’s Andrea Catherwood about proposals for international regulation of banks.

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Tech Council of Maryland Elects Members to Board of Directors

May 14, 2010

Larry Letow of Convergence Technology Consulting to Serve as Association Chairman

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