Banks Facing Suits as States Weigh Their Libor Losses

The following is an excerpt from an article in 

The New York Times
Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Banks Facing Suits as States Weigh Their Libor Losses

By NATHANIEL POPPER

The scandal over global interest rates has state officials like Janet Cowell of North Carolina working intensely behind the scenes to build a case for suing the nation’s largest banks.

Ms. Cowell, the state’s elected treasurer, and several of her staff members have spent the summer combing through the state’s investments trying to determine how much the state may have lost because of suspected manipulation of the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, which is used as a benchmark for trillions of dollars of financial contracts around the world.

“We think this could be as big as the mortgage crisis settlement, that this could be a really high impact situation and that we should be aggressive on this,” Ms. Cowell said, referring to the $25 billion settlement that the nation’s biggest banks entered with state attorneys general.

The activity provides a glimpse at how widely the Libor scandal has spread through the financial world, and how much damage may still be in store for the banks accused of manipulating Libor. Her work also suggests just how difficult it is, and how long it may take, to get to the bottom of the losses.

The attorneys general in Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut have all been examining how much their states may have lost as a result of a lowered Libor. A spokeswoman for Connecticut’s attorney general, George C. Jepsen, said that the state’s work with New York’s attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, “has broadened significantly over the last few weeks and we are now coordinating with a much larger group of attorneys general.”

Even before the British bank Barclays admitted in June that its employees had tried to manipulate Libor, there were a number of lawsuits filed by cities and municipal agencies seeking damages from large banks for manipulating Libor. But while those cases were filed by private sector lawyers, the public officials are looking at bringing more wide-ranging lawsuits on behalf of the states. The Justice Department has coordinated with the states and is leading its own investigation.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Press release from Imation:

IMATION MAP OF STATE DATA BREACH NOTIFICATION LAWS SPOTLIGHTS NEED FOR STORING AND PROTECTING SENSITIVE INFORMATION

Compliance Heat Map Illustrates Similarities and Differences in State Laws, with Virginia’s Being Most Strict; Laws Hint at Myr...

Compliance Heat Map Illustrates Similarities and Differences in State Laws, with Virginia’s Being Most Strict; Laws Hint at Myriad of Data Compliance Challenges Facing Businesses of All Sizes

OAKDALE, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 28, 2012-- Imation Corp. (NYSE: IMN), a global scalable storage and data security company, today released results of research into state data breach notification laws and associated penalties. The analysis shows that current state data breach notification laws are strikingly similar but vary in compliance requirements for businesses, with all laws highlighting the need for companies to deploy methods for closely storing, protecting and controlling sensitive information. Imation used publicly available sites (including information obtained via the National Conference of State Legislatures) to analyze state compliance laws in the 46 U.S. states that have such laws, as well as in Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Imation created a “Compliance Heat Map” to depict the strictness of data breach laws and resulting penalties for breaches. The Compliance Heat Map provides a visual snapshot of the strictness of regulations by state, using a color scale ranging from light yellow (less strict) to dark red (more strict). To view the compliance heat map, click here: www.imation.com/compliancemap.

“What the compliance heat map tells us is that data security needs to be at top of mind for all IT pros, as there are rules in place for nearly all states and territories and non-compliance could mean serious penalties,” saidDavid Duncan, software & security solutions marketing director, Imation. “Yet, companies also are challenged by explosive data growth and state and federal requirements that mandate active archiving, long-term retention and accessibility of that data. Businesses need resources to help navigate laws and develop secure and scalable infrastructures for data storage and protection.”

IT pros today are responsible for managing data, which includes ensuring security, business continuity and regulatory compliance. For small- to mid-sized businesses, the challenge is often to meet compliance requirements with limited resources, which leads to higher risk. In fact, the 2011 Verizon Data Breach report found that businesses with between 11 and 100 employees reported more than six times as many data breaches than businesses with between 101 and 1,000 employees, according to the online websiteBusinessNewsDaily. Further, the loss or theft of an unencrypted notebook, flash drive or removable hard disk drive can expose gigabytes, or even terabytes, of private information. IT professionals should implement strategies to protect their data through network security, data encryption and enforcement of information security policies, while staying well-informed of state compliance laws in the not-unlikely event that a data breach does occur.

Compliance Heat Map Findings

Imation’s research found most state data breach notification laws to offer similar definitions of personally identifiable information and requirements regarding the notification of affected parties. Among the research’s noteworthy findings:

• Four states have yet to enact a data breach notification law: Alabama, Kentucky, New Mexico and South Dakota.
• According to Imation’s analysis, Virginia has the most strict law in the nation. The law provides specific requirements on what is to be included in a breach notification, requires government and credit reporting agency notification, and includes a large financial penalty relative to other states.
• A few states, including Virginia, require notification even if breached data is encrypted—if the encrypted data was stolen along with the encryption keys.

Compliance Heat Map Methodology

To conduct the research, Imation applied to the laws a series of questions, organized to evaluate the laws’ requirements regarding encryption, data that is within scope of the laws, notification of data loss and destruction of data, as well as penalties for non-compliance with the laws. Imation also considered other germane laws, such as those dictating data destruction or allowing for consumer freezing of credit report requests. Imation used publicly available information about the laws, including the legislation itself.

Imation does not intend for this research to constitute a legal review of the laws, and in no way are the results of this research intended to be legal advice. Companies should consult with their legal counsel before making any decisions regarding legal compliance.

For more information, please visit www.imation.com/compliancemap.

About Imation

Imation is a global scalable storage and data security company. Our portfolio includes tiered storage and security offerings for business, and products designed to manage audio and video information in the home.Imation reaches customers in more than 100 countries through a powerful global distribution network and well recognized brands. For more information please visit www.imation.com.

Avnet Embedded to Hold Free, Solid State Drive Virtual Summit

March 15, 2012 - Avnet Embedded to Hold Free, Solid State Drive Virtual Summit

PHOENIX -- The worldwide solid state drive (SSD) market is experiencing unprecedented growth. Avnet Embedded, the largest distributor of SSDs and a division of Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas, a business region of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), has teamed up with 13 leading suppliers to offer a free, two-day virtual summit covering the rugged, durable, energy efficient benefits of SSDs. Registration is open now at Avnet's website.

Click to Tweet: Avnet Embedded to hold free, #SSD virtual summit 4/3 and 4/4. Register now:http://avnet.me/72742

On April 3 and 4, 2012, Avnet Embedded will spend an entire 48- hour period examining the intricacies of SSDs. Beginning at 12:01 a.m. PDT on April 3, representatives from Adaptec by PMC, Dell OEM, Hitachi GST, Intel, LSI Corp., Kingston, Micron Technology, OCZ Technology, Rorke Data, an Avnet Company, Smart Storage Technology, Seagate, STEC and Toshiba will participate in more than 25 on-demand technical courses regarding SSDs. Attendees can choose from courses that delve into:

• SSD tiered storage solutions;
• Data security in SSDs;
• SSDs in rugged embedded computing;
• High-performance caching;
• Calculating SSD endurance and performance;
  And more.

For a full listing of courses visit the Solid State Drive Virtual Summit webpage.

In addition to technical courses, Avnet's Solid State Drive Virtual Summit will also feature presentations from industry analysts Jim Handy, director of Objective Analysis and Jim Feldham, president of Semico Research. Both Handy and Feldham will give an industry insider's perspective of the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities presented with SSDs.

Attendees of Avnet's SSD Virtual Summit can also participate in 30-minute, live chat sessions with technical experts from each supplier. Engineers are invited to use these sessions to pose questions, discuss current trends and get real-time design assistance direct from the source. The schedule of sessions is posted on the Solid State Drive Virtual Summit page.

"SSDs are quickly becoming an appealing alternative, offering our customers throughput improvement and near real-time response times for applications delivered across cloud and mobile devices," said Chuck Kostalnick, senior vice president, Avnet Embedded. "Our SSD Summit helps engineers navigate through the nuances and complexities of SSD technology, ultimately providing the right resources to choose the right solution for each attendee's particular product or service."

Accenture Upgrades Technology to Help Massachusetts Manage $45 billion Annual Budget

March 08, 2012

 

Accenture Upgrades Technology to Help Massachusetts Manage $45 billion Annual Budget

 

Commonwealth Raises Standards for State Budgeting and Forecasting

  

BOSTON, Mass.; March 8, 2012 –At a time when state governments face unprecedented challenges in meeting the needs of their citizens, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has implemented a new budget system and adopted standards that enhance the state’s ability to project and allocate financial resources throughout the fiscal year.

 

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) worked with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance (ANF) to complete the Commonwealth’s annual budget process using the new “Massachusetts Budget Application.”  

 

The system enhances the state’s ability to provide a uniform, consistent and comprehensive budget process for the state’s 156 agencies by creating a common approach to project budget needs and reviewing and approving budget proposals. A detailed workforce-planning capability now enables agencies to project spending by individual positions and full-time employee staffing levels.

 

The new system also provides administration officials with a powerful tool that creates the foundation for more informed decisions about allocations to support programs and services while providing increased visibility on how agencies match financial and personnel resources to critical services and needs.

 

“Our goal was to build a foundation for better analysis and continual enhancements of the state’s performance, leveraging information to improve outcomes and fulfill missions of each state agency as well as the Commonwealth’s fiscal responsibilities to its citizens,” said Matthew Gorzkowicz, Massachusetts undersecretary for Administration and Finance.

 

Additional features and benefits of the new system include:

• Ability to do detailed workforce planning and position-based budgeting
• All funds (Operating, Federal, Trust) budgeting and reporting capabilities
• Visibility into the budget development, review and approval process
• Detailed point-in-time capabilities that reconcile budgeted costs to actual expenditures
• Increased accuracy to project cash flow to better identify spending patterns

 

“State governments face new fiscal constraints and increased pressure to control costs,” said Pallavi Verma, Accenture senior executive. “Massachusetts has demonstrated leading-edge fiscal management and a commitment to its citizens.”  

 

Accenture will continue working with the Commonwealth on other budget-related projects, including consolidating the state’s budget technology platform, implementing a planning application for capital budgets, creating budget management dashboards for state executives and the production of the governor’s budget.

 

Learn more about Accenture’s work with governments on cost reduction and budget transformation and delivering Public Service for the Future.

 

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 244,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.  Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.  The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011.  Its home page is www.accenture.com.

 

# # #