OpEdNews – Iceland Says Yes To New Constitution

 Paul Fontaine

With all votes now counted from last Saturday’s referendum, the majority of Icelanders have voted in favour of having a new constitution, including a number of significant changes.

Iceland’s original constitution is more or less borrowed from the Danes. In the wake of the 2008 economic collapse, a public outcry to change the very structure of Iceland’s socio-political system led to an initiative to write a new constitution. This led to the formation of a Constitutional Council. The council – comprised of 25 men and women from around Iceland, and appointed by the Prime Minister for the task – have been working on writing a new constitution for Iceland.

The council has been posting their progress on a website, inviting comments from the general public on what changes they would like to see, or what changes the public would like made to new constitutional articles that the committee has drafted.

Last Saturday, a referendum was held on six important questions related to a new constitution – including whether or not the constitution should be changed in the first place. The results are now in, RÚV reports, with the majority of Icelanders approving not only a new constitution, but also some changes to their society.

The results are as follows:

1. Do you wish the Constitution Council’s proposals to form the basis of a new draft Constitution? Yes: 66.3% No: 33.7%

2. In the new Constitution, do you want natural resources that are not privately owned to be declared national property? Yes: 82.5% No: 17.5%

3. Would you like to see provisions in the new Constitution on an established (national) church in Iceland? Yes: 57.5% No: 42.5%

4. Would you like to see a provision in the new Constitution authorising the election of particular individuals to the Althingi more than is the case at present? Yes: 77.9% No: 22.1% (This question pertains to the ability of unaffiliated politicians, or those from smaller parties, to run for parliament.)

5. Would you like to see a provision in the new Constitution giving equal weight to votes cast in all parts of the country? Yes: 65.5% No: 34.5%

6. Would you like to see a provision in the new Constitution stating that a certain proportion of the electorate is able to demand that issues are put to a referendum? Yes: 72.8% No: 27.2%

Of the 236,941 in Iceland with the right to vote in this election, 115,814 took part, giving a turnout of 48.9%

Not everyone has been excited about the idea of a new constitution, though – the Independence Party has been decidedly against the idea. Birgir Ármannsson, an MP for the Independence Party, told Vísir that the results show the turn-out was small, which he believes casts doubts on whether or not the people actually want a new constitution.

Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir said that she believes the election results send a “clear message” for a new constitution.

“I am very proud that the people should send parliament such an unreserved message,” she said. “Here, important issues that have long been in the public discussion were put to a vote.”

Indeed, the separation of church and state, as well as the ownership of natural resources, have been contentious issues in Iceland for a long time now. The “equal weight” question has also been much debated – as it is, votes cast in the countryside are counted as slightly more than one vote. Unsurprisingly, many living in the countryside voted against this question.

As a result of this referendum, the Constitution Council’s draft of a new constitution will soon be submitted to parliament.

www.opednews.com link to original article

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WallStreetJournal – 9 More Banks Subpoenaed Over Libor

By Reed Albergotti aand Jean Eaglesham

Nine more banks have received subpoenas in connection with a probe into alleged widespread interest-rate manipulation by banks, a person familiar with the investigation said.

The probe, a joint effort by the offices of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, could lead to civil enforcement action related to breaches of antitrust and fraud laws.

The subpoenas, which were issued in August and September but haven’t been previously reported, bring the total number of subpoenas in the case to 16. The banks involved in the probe include most members of the panel that helps set the dollar London interbank offered rate.

The investigation by the state prosecutors is part of a global probe, in which more than a dozen federal and other regulators across three continents are looking into allegations that several banks rigged Libor.

Read the whole story at: online.wsj.com link to original article

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TheGuardian – Giles Tremlett – Bankia Executives Ordered To Pay Back Bonuses

Bankia did not say how much the executives had received as bonuses last year. Photograph: Kiko Huesca/EPA

Top executives at Spain‘s giant nationalised Bankia are to be ordered to pay back last year’s annual bonuses as the bank admits to having run up record-breaking losses of €7bn (£5.6bn) in the first three quarters of this year.

The size of the losses, the biggest ever reported by a Spanish bank, was revealed on the same day that recession-hit Spain also saw unemployment rise to above 25%. Some southern Spanish provinces are now reporting unemployment at almost 40%.

Bankia will tell its executives to return the money in response to a petition from the European commission, which says they should not have been paid bonuses just months before the bank admitted it needed €23bn in bailout money.

“We have received the instruction via the Bank of Spain and, effectively, those people will have to return their bonuses,” a spokeswoman said.

Bankia did not say exactly how much former Bankia chairman Rodrigo Rato, who is also a former president of the International Monetary Fund, and the other 71 executives, received.

“Some had been paid the money already, but others had not,” the spokeswoman said. “The vast majority are still working here, so their cases can be dealt with internally.”

The bonuses were agreed in April when the bank claimed 2011 profits of some €300m. But auditors refused to sign the accounts and the bank eventually recognised a €3bn loss.

That helped tip Spain’s banking sector over the edge and saw the government ask for a eurozone bank bailout. Banks are now expected to take some €40bn of the €100bn on offer, with Bankia accounting for more than half.

The losses reported on Friday came after Bankia set aside €11.5bn to cover losses on toxic real estate that will soon have to be transferred to a Spanish “bad bank” as part of the bailout.

Net profit at Spain’s third-biggest lender, Caixabank, fell 80% to €173m as it, too, recognised real estate losses. The Santander, Popular and Sabadell banks have also this week reported falling profits from balance-sheet clean-ups.

It was not clear whether any of the Bankia executives would refuse to pay back their bonus. Rato resigned soon after the 2011 losses were first made public and waived his right to a golden handshake.

Spain’s government has since capped salary payments to executives at state-rescued banks.

Bankia is at the centre of the storm that has swept through the sector as it struggles to cope with billions of euros of bad loans given to real estate developers and land speculators.

Created by the merger of seven savings banks, or cajas, Bankia is evidence of considerable consolidation in the sector that analysts say is set to continue.

The 45 savings banks that existed five years ago have now been merged into just fourteen, and analysts predict a new round of mergers could see that reduced to 10.

The unemployment figures showed that Three of the country’s seventeen regions now have more than one in three workers out of a job. They include southern Andalucía, Spain’s most populous region with more than 8 million inhabitants, together with the Canary Islands and south-western Extremadura.

www.guardian.co.uk link to original article

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Der Spiegel – Ex-Italian Prime Minister Convicted – Silvio Berlusconi Sentenced To Four Years In Jail

A court in Milan found former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi guilty of tax fraud on Friday and sentenced him to four years behind bars. The conviction stems from the sale of broadcasting rights connected to his company Mediaset. But it is doubtful that the ex-premier will serve any jail time soon.

Ever since former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi left office in 2011, there has been speculation that his myriad legal troubles would eventually catch up with him. On Friday, they did. A court in Milan sentenced the 76-year-old to four years in jail for tax fraud relating to his broadcasting company Mediaset. In addition, according to the website of the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Berlusconi has been prohibited from occupying all public offices.

Despite the sentence, it remains unclear whether the former premier will ever spend any time behind bars. His lawyers immediately announced that he would appeal the sentence, saying in a statement that the verdict was “absolutely incredible” and “totally divorced from all judicial logic.” Berlusoni would not be jailed unless the verdict is upheld by the ensuing appeals process, which promises to be a lengthy one.

The court on Friday also mandated that Berlusconi and his business associates pay some €10 million to Italian tax authorities.

Italian prosecutors had asked for a sentence of three years and eight months. Berlusconi was one of a total of 11 defendants in the Mediaset trial, which began fully six years ago. He was found guilty of being personally involved in a scheme to artificially inflate the cost of television rights using offshore companies under his control. The money thus generated was used to establish illegal slush funds, the court ruled. Berlusconi, Milan public prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale found, led the “chain of command.”

‘Out of Love for Italy’

De Pasqale argued that Mediaset was able to boost television rights it was selling by hundreds of millions of euros. He asked that all 11 defendants be sent to jail.Berlusconi insisted on his innocence throughout the trial. As head of government, he pushed through several laws aimed at shielding himself from potential punishment in connection with the Mediaset trial as well as several other cases still pending. The laws also meant that the proceedings were interrupted for years at a time, a strategy seemingly aimed at voiding the charges by way of the statute of limitations.

The verdict comes just days after Berlusconi announced that he would not seek a fourth term in general elections scheduled for next June. “I will not run for the office of prime minister,” he announced on Wednesday, a decision taken “out of love for Italy.” While he said that he still “had enough strength and a head on my shoulders,” his role from now on would be that of a consultant for his party.

cgh — with wire reports

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