Top Stories

May 14, 2013

Corporate Reputation

Bloomberg users’ messages leaked online

More than ten thousand private messages sent between users of Bloomberg’s financial terminals have been leaked online. Two long lists showing confidential Bloomberg messages between traders at dozens of the world’s largest banks and their clients have been found to be accessible online, through a simple Google search. They showed information such as unique Bloomberg user identifiers, real names and traders’ email addresses as well as confidential financial price information and trading activity. The news comes only days after the unrelated revelation that Goldman Sachs had complained that Bloomberg’s journalists had been able to track when users accessed their terminals and which functions they used. (Financial Times*)

Indian drug maker Ranbaxy pleads guilty over drug safety

Indian generic drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd (Ranbaxy) pleaded guilty to felony charges related to drug safety and will pay $500m in civil and criminal fines under the settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. Ranbaxy USA pleaded guilty to three felony counts related to the manufacture of drugs at two Indian locations that did not meet safety standards and to four counts of making material false statements. The settlement is the largest ever with a generic drug maker over drug safety, according to the U.S. government; $150m in payments for a criminal fine and forfeiture and $350m in payments for civil claims will be paid. (Reuters)

Supply Chain

Fashion chains sign deal for worker safety

Some of the world's biggest fashion chains, including H&M, Zara, C&A, Tesco and Primark, have signed up to a legally binding agreement to help finance fire safety and building improvements in the factories they use in Bangladesh. The move came on Monday, as the Bangladeshi government agreed to allow the country's four million garment workers to form trade unions without permission from factory owners, a major concession to campaigners lobbying for widespread reforms to the industry following the collapse of the Rana Plaza building. The government also announced a plan to raise the minimum wage for garment workers, who are paid some of the lowest wages in the world to sew clothing bound for global retailers. (Guardian)

Environment

South Korea to launch world's most ambitious carbon trading scheme

South Korea is preparing to introduce the world's most ambitious emissions trading scheme, potentially paving the way for carbon costs as high as $90 a tonne for many of the country's key industries, according to a

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