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| US bankers set for record pay and bonuses for second year Pay and bonuses at US banks and hedge funds are set to rise 4% this year – outpacing the growth in revenues – study findsUS bankers are set for record compensation for a second consecutive year, shattering both the illusion of pay-reform and the expectation that bank bonuses would be tempered while the US economy remains weak.With third-quarter figures from JP Morgan expected to begin a bumper profit reporting season tomorrow, a study of more than three dozen banks, hedge funds, money-management and securities firms estimates they will pay $144bn (£90bn) in salary and benefits this year, a 4% increase on 2009.The research, by the Wall Street Journal, found pay was rising faster than revenue, which gained 3% to $433bn, despite a slowdown in stock trading.And while profits have fallen from their 2007 peak, the percentage directed to compensation has increased by 23%."Until the focus of these institutions changes from revenue generation to long-term shareholder value, we will see these outrageous pay packages and compensation levels," Charles Elson, director of the Weinberg Centre for Corporate Governance, told the WSJ.Banks say their hands are tied, arguing that firms say that do not adequately compensate risk losing their top bankers. Political pressure and regulatory reform is no match for the market forces.Where watchdogs were successful in altering the structure of compensation, they were not able to control its levels.At Goldman Sachs, where revenue is projected to fall 13.5% this year to $39.1bn, compensation is expected to rise 3.7% to $16.8bn.Still, compensation experts say regulation has successfully kept compensations "relatively flat" and pay may not rise in the near future as new rules come into effect governing capital requirements that will limit compensation pools.Where revenue falls short, the study found, Wall Street firms will lay off employees in order to keep bonus pools high. UK-based Barclays Capital and Credit Suisse have cut some staff, while Morgan Stanley has a hiring freeze in place.The report also found that bankers at closely regulated businesses are looking to join less closely monitored firms and hedge funds. At private equity firms Blackstone and Fortress Investment, compensation is projected to climb 12% and 29% respectively.BankingUS economyUnited StatesEdward Helmoreguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Chile miners given clean bill of health Doctors say the health of most of the 33 rescued miners is surprisingly good. The most common complaint? ToothacheThe 33 rescued Chilean miners have undergone extensive medical checks since being hauled to the surface, but doctors believe that most of them are in surprisingly good health after their two-month ordeal.At least one of the men is believed to have suffered a perforated eardrum in the catastrophic rockfall which sealed the San José mine, and may require surgery. Another is being treated for pneumonia, but the most common complaint among the men is toothache.One man, Osmán Araya, was in so much pain from an infected tooth that, for the last few nights in the mine, he was told to sleep sitting up and take painkillers. For Araya, surgery is almost certainly necessary, according to a nurse who had access to his medical files.John Milne, chair of the General Dental Practice Committee of the British Dental Association, said the miners' dental problems probably stem from the first 17 days of their incarceration, during which they survived on sips of water and small amounts of tuna fish."If they couldn't brush their teeth properly for that length of time then they would have got a build up of plaque and bacteria," said Milne."And if they weren't eating fruit and vegetables, then they won't have been getting vitamin C. They would probably have had an acute infection of the gums, which is very painful."Minor dental problems can easily be treated, but the men's most enduring problems may be emotional."There should be concern about their psychological adjustment over time, particularly after the joy of the reunion period, which will last for a few days to a few weeks," said John Fairbank, a professor of psychiatry at Duke University medical centre.During the 10-week confinement, 19-year-old Jimmy Sánchez suffered repeated panic attacks and hallucinations.At times Sánchez was so disoriented that he saw visions of his mother who he thought had come to visit him in the mine, bringing him food and comfort.The youngest member of the 33 is expected to have extensive post-trauma counselling, and will be among the most closely monitored of the rescued men.By contrast the miner who survived in the best condition is Edison Peña, an exercise enthusiast who chopped down his mining boots to turn them into makeshift running shoes, bruising his feet yet still running up to six miles a day through the darkened tunnels.Peña's exercise regime was so extensive that medical authorities sought to slow him down by lowering his calorie intake – an unsuccessful effort to reign in the hyperactive man.One of the most visible effects of the 70-day subterranean saga has been the men's pale skin caused by prolonged time spent in the dark.Since emerging from the mine, most of them have worn sunglasses at all times. Geoff Roberson, a qualified optometrist and professional adviser to the Association of Optometrists, said the light outside the mine could be "a thousand times brighter" than what the men had experienced over the past two months."Ultraviolet light is a hazard as far as the eyes are concerned," he said. "If they are very adapted to a dark environment then are going out into a place where UV light levels are quite high, then with very dilated pupils they could suffer longer term damage as a result of excessive ultraviolet light exposure."The good news for the miners is that Roberson would be "very surprised" if they suffered longer term damage as a result of their ordeal, and the men could expose their eyes to sunlight over the next few days.Exposure of a rather different kind has come sooner for Oakley, the manufacturer and donator of the sunglasses. Yesterday a US analytics company estimated the product placement could be worth $41m to the firm, given the global coverage of the miners' rescue.ChileJonathan FranklinAdam Gabbattguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Papua New Guinea gives green light to deep-sea mineral mine Plans for a new mine for ore that contains copper, zinc and gold have caused alarm among scientists and indigenous peopleThe green-lighting of the world's first deep-sea mineral mine in Papua New Guinea waters has caused alarm among scientists and indigenous people who fear it will damage local marine life.Papua New Guinea's prime minister, Michael Somare, today licensed the new mine for ore that contains copper, zinc and gold, to be run by Canadian company Nautilus Minerals. Sited in the Manus Basin within Papua New Guinea's territorial waters, it will be near hydrothermal vents 1,600 metres below the surface.Driven by rising copper prices around the world, Nautilus' Solwara 1 project will excavate 1.2 to 1.8m tonnes of high-grade sulphide ore a year.Scientists are concerned about the scale of the mining. Paul Tyler from the University of Southampton and chair of the Census of Marine Life said: "Hydrothermal vents have a very distinctive fauna that is only found on hydrothermal vents so mining close to the vents could wipe out the vents or cause a large amount of damage in the surrounding area."Nautilus says it has carried out extensive environmental research and impact assessments, and has conservation mitigation strategies in place such as moving organisms for later recolonisation. But Tyler said: "When you mine near a hydrothermal vent you change the flow of fluids through the sea floor. You might switch the vent off or create another one elsewhere – that might affect the distributions of animals around the vent." Deep-sea organism populations do not have resilience to disruptions and have slow grow growth because of limits in food supply and the cold water."These organisms catch, store and break down carbon that is removed from the atmosphere by shallow water organisms," said Elliott Norse, president of Marine Conservation Biology Institute in Washington DC. "The deep sea also harbours organisms that could be important to humans as anti-cancer medicines – but that we might not even know about yet."The indigenous communities of Papua New Guinea are also against the mining operation, and have petitioned the government to prevent it.However, one expert said the risks had to be put into the context of damage caused by other types of mining, such as excavating a mountaintop. Linwood Pendleton, the director of Ocean and Coastal Policy at Duke University, said: "Hydrothermal vents are naturally combustible habitats, they blow up, they become colonised, then the vents die and the ecosystems around them die, so if mining were done at a small scale and low frequency then it may fit very well into this chaotic system of destruction. Mining a mountaintop, once it is gone, it's gone."It is unlikely that concerns will stop the mining project going ahead as no one from the international community can interfere in Papua New Guinea's territorial waters of the Bismark Sea.Comment was not available from Nautilus Minerals.Mining environmental impactOceansMarine lifeWildlifeConservationPapua New GuineaChristine Otteryguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Toronto Blue Jays hire John Farrell as manager By 2010-10-25T17:54:18ZTORONTO (AP) -- The Toronto Blue Jays have hired former Boston Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell as manager.... hosted.ap.org |
2011 Done in 60 Seconds Competition - Video Top film industry names star in the Jameson Empire Done in 60 Seconds Film Academy feedproxy.google.com |