Swiss bank Pictet gave data to U.S. in tax probe

Reuters, ZURICH, Sun May 6, 2012

(Reuters) - Swiss bank Pictet said on Sunday it handed over bank account details to U.S. authorities probing cases of tax evasion, as a newspaper reported it had accepted funds from two former UBS (UBSN.VX) clients suspected of having cheated on taxes.

Pictet said in a statement the data handover took place in November 2010 via the Swiss tax office, which had received a request for assistance from its U.S. counterparts.

This is the latest episode in an ongoing dispute between the United States and Switzerland over wealthy Americans accused of avoiding taxes by hiding money in secret Swiss accounts.

Eleven Swiss banks - including Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) and Julius Baer (BAER.VX) but not Pictet - are under scrutiny by the United States for aiding U.S. citizens suspected of tax dodging.

Banking secrecy has helped the Swiss build up a $2 trillion offshore wealth management industry.

Citing 130 pages of court documents, the SonntagsZeitung said that two U.S. citizens transferred more than $2 million to accounts at the private bank Pictet, registered under the names of two front companies in Switzerland, at a time when UBS was under scrutiny by U.S. authorities investigating tax evasion.

The article, which was also carried in the French-language Le Matin Dimanche, did not say whether the U.S. authorities might take action against Pictet.

In its statement, Pictet did not say from which bank it had received a money transfer or how much it was. The Geneva-based bank said it closed the accounts in 2010.

Pictet said it was not being accused of breaking U.S. law.

"Moreover, we vigorously refute any allegation that Pictet is being targeted by the U.S. tax authorities," it said, adding there had been no subsequent data handovers after November 2010.

"The affair referred to in the Sunday newspapers was handled in full compliance with US and Swiss legal requirements," it said.

Finance Ministry spokesman Roland Meier declined to comment on the report.

The investigation into the 11 Swiss banks was fed by data culled in a crackdown on UBS, which that bank settled in 2009 by handing over thousands of client data, paying a fine and admitting wrong-doing.

In a related interview with the SonntagsZeitung, Patrick Odier, president of the Swiss Bankers Association, said another case like that of Wegelin & Co. could not be ruled out.

Wegelin, Switzerland's oldest bank, buckled under the pressure of a long-running campaign by U.S. tax authorities and broke itself up in January. Wegelin had accepted money from UBS clients suspected of dodging tax.

"U.S. authorities could have enough material to weigh on banks other than those on the 11-bank list," Odier said.

Switzerland is trying to get investigations into 11 banks dropped in return for the payment of fines and the transfer of U.S. client names. It is also seeking a deal to shield the remainder of its 300 or so banks from U.S. prosecution.

Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf has said she hoped for a deal before the end of the year.

"We need to draw a line under it, so there are no more charges," Odier said.

Odier also said he did not know how high any fines would be, but that any money due would be divided up amongst the Swiss banks based on the size of their U.S. client base.

Switzerland has also been locked in a similar tax dispute with Germany. The two countries last year agreed to tax secret offshore accounts but are still arguing over whether the deal is too lenient or not.

"Switzerland has made many concessions to Germany," Odier was quoted as saying. "More is not possible."

(Reporting by Catherine Bosley; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters)

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German president addresses Dutch WWII remembrance

Deutsche Wellle, 05 - 05 - 2012

The Netherlands has marked its annual day of liberation from Nazi rule in 1945 by inviting Germany's new President Joachim Gauck to be the first German to deliver a keynote speech at the Dutch remembrance ceremony.

German President Joachim Gauck recalled the more than 100,000 Jews deported and murdered by Nazi Germany after its invasion of the neutral Netherlands in 1940, the German aerial bombing of Rotterdam, the many Dutch forced into slave labor, and Dutch resistance fighters who gave their lives. 

Gauck was the first German to
 speak at Dutch WWII commemoration

May 5, a Dutch national holiday, marks the moment in 1945 when German forces capitulated in the Dutch town of Wageningen, near Ahrheim on the lower Rhine. The Netherlands, then with a population of about eight million, was freed largely by Canadian troops assisted by British, American and Polish forces.

Gauck in his speech, which was broadcast live on Dutch and German television, recapped his central theme, freedom and responsibility, saying even in times of war individuals could and did make choices, for example, those who tried to save Jewish children.

The Dutch resistance illustrated that people "always had a choice," even in times of war and terror, Gauck said.

Gauck said he as German head of state could not take for granted "that I stand here with you today and that I be allowed to address you."

"We commemorate jointly with everyone the liberation from the National Socialist yoke," Gauck told his audience, including Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, in the Grote Kerk, the main church in the city of Breda.

Astonished by 1941 protest

While preparing his speech, Gauck said he was particularly surprised to learn about the general strike in northern Holland in February 1941. The Dutch had protested against the deportation of 400 Jews to the death camp at Mauthausen in Austria

.

And, had people at the end of the war in 1945 been able to gaze 67 years into the future, then they would regard the present-day partnerships of the Netherlands and Germany within the European Union and NATO " simply as paradisical," he added. 

Invaders, Rotterdam, May 1940

In a reference to the recent popular uprisings in northern Africa and the Middle East, Gauck said when authorities abused the fundamental rights of citizens, it was "no longer an internal matter."

Gauck, a former pastor and head of the East German Stasi secret police archives, was elected president in March.

Since taking office, Gauck has visited the diplomatic hubs of Brussels and Strasbourg, and Sweden. His first visit was to Poland.

ipj/ng (AFP, epd, dpa)

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"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Lose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Pedal wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.)

Neelie Kroes backs ACTA protests

RNW, 4 May 2012

Neelie Kroes, the European Commissioner for Digital Agenda, says she appreciates the protests against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Speaking at an internet conference in Berlin, the Dutch politician said she thought it unlikely that either the ACTA international anti-piracy agreement or the US Stop Online Piracy Agreement (SOPA) would come into force.

Neelie Kroes, the European
Commissioner for Digital Agenda

ACTA has met with fierce protests in various European countries over the past months. Opponents argue that the part of the agreement aimed at combating illegal downloading endangers internet freedom. The European Parliament’s International Trade Committee is expected to vote on ratification of the agreement in July.

“We have recently seen how many thousands of people are willing to protest against rules which they see as constraining the openness and innovation of the internet,” Mrs Kroes said. “This is a strong new political voice. As a force for openness, I welcome it, even if I do not always agree with everything it says on every subject.”

Mrs Kroes, a member of the Dutch free-market liberal VVD party, described the internet as “the new frontier of freedom”. She said that crime constituted a “tiny minority of online activity”, adding that legislators should avoid an overreaction and “balance liberty and security”. Mrs Kroes went on to argue in favour of “net neutrality”, or openness of access to internet services.

The anti-piracy proposals have prompted protests
across Europe 

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Irish deputy PM says head of Church should resign

Reuters, by Conor Humphries, DUBLIN, Thu May 3, 2012

Irish Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore leaves after a ceremony in

 the Hall of Remembrance at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in

Jerusalem January 29, 2012. (Credit: Reuters/Baz Ratner)

(Reuters) - Ireland's deputy prime minister said on Thursday he thought the head of the Irish Catholic Church should resign after a TV documentary reported the cleric had failed to warn parents their children were being sexually abused by a priest in 1975.

A BBC documentary broadcast on Tuesday said that Cardinal Sean Brady was given the names and addresses of children being abused by notorious pedophile Brendan Smyth during a Church investigation but had failed to act to ensure their safety.

"It is my own personal view that anybody who did not deal with the scale of the abuse that we have seen in this case should not hold a position of authority," Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore told parliament, when asked about Brady's response to the BBC program.

Gilmore described the revelations as "another horrific episode of failure by senior members of the Catholic Church to protect children", adding his voice to calls by groups representing victims of abuse for Brady to stand down.

Two of the victims whose identities were made known to Brady at the time were subjected to abuse long after the Church inquiry was completed and Smyth continued to abuse other young victims for more than 15 years afterwards.

The sister and four cousins of one of the victims were also abused for several years after the investigation.

However, Brady said the documentary was seriously misleading, saying it had exaggerated his role in the inquiry and that he did not see it as a resigning matter.

In a statement, he said he was only a note-taker in the investigation and not the "designated person" responsible for reporting the matter to the civil authorities.

He had trusted his superiors to deal with the matter, he added, saying the Church did not fully understand the impact of the abuse at the time.

HISTORY OF SCANDALS

Brady last year agreed to a legal settlement over his role in administering an oath of secrecy to one of the teenage victims during the 1975 investigation.

A claim the boy's father had been allowed to attend an interview at the time was untrue, the BBC documentary said. None of the parents' of other abuse victims named by the boy had been warned either, it said.

The Church in predominantly Catholic Ireland has been rocked by a series of reports of child sex abuse stretching back decades and of church leaders' complicity in covering them up.

Ireland announced last year it would close its embassy to the Vatican, one of the Catholic country's oldest missions, after relations hit an all-time low over the Church's handling of sex abuse cases.

Hundreds of cases of priests sexually and physically abusing youths have come to light in Europe and the United States in recent decades as new disclosures have encouraged long-silent victims to go public with their complaints.

One of Ireland's most notorious pedophiles, Smyth died in 1997, just one month into a 12-year sentence after pleading guilty to 74 charges of indecent and sexual abuse of boys and girls for more than 30 years.

Sam Adair, one of Smyth's victims who was interviewed by Brady in 1975, called on the Cardinal to resign.

"He did not keep these children from this devil in a dog's collar," he said in an interview with state broadcaster RTE.

(Editing by Andrew Osborn) 

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Financial Times publishes article written by Chinese vice premier

English.news.cn   2012-05-02  

•  Financial Times on Wednesday published an article written by Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang.
•  We hope to see a more inclusive and accommodating Europe.
•  China firmly supports both in words and in deeds Europe in its efforts to overcome the current crisis.

LONDON, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The Financial Times on Wednesday published an article written by Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang. The following is the full text of the article -- "China Has Great Expectation for Europe."

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang

We Chinese have always had a lot of goodwill towards Europe, and there is much I expect to gain from my upcoming visit to the EU. China is the largest developing country in the world, and Europe is an important pillar of the international community. China's reform and opening-up programme and Europe's integration process have both contributed significantly to global peace, development and prosperity. China firmly supports the integration of Europe and regards the EU as a strategic partner that deserves our confidence.

We hope to see a united, strong and prosperous Europe. Despite the debt problems encountered by some EU countries, Europe, with its solid economic foundation and scientific and technological strengthen, can beat the crisis and turn it into an opportunity for greater progress. In fighting the debt crisis, EU countries have enhanced cooperation and carried out reform with tremendous courage. This is applaudable. As a result, the EU has made major progress to fiscal integration, and the long-term mechanism for preventing financial risks, the European Stability Mechanism, will be launched earlier than scheduled. These steps have boosted market confidence and sent an encouraging message to the world.

China and the EU have become indispensable partners for cooperation in pursuing common development. China firmly supports both in words and in deeds Europe in its efforts to overcome the current crisis. In the past two years, China's imports from EU countries have grown at an annual rate of over 25 percent. Last year, China almost doubled its direct investment in Europe, and purchased bonds issued by European countries several times. China will continue to explore possible and effective means to cooperate with the relevant parties and to make a joint contribution to addressing the issue of Europe's sovereign debt.

We hope to see a more open and cooperative Europe. China is implementing its 12th Five-Year Plan, and Europe is pursuing its "Europe 2020" strategy. This has created room for enhancing China-EU cooperation. Economically, both China and Europe have much to benefit from each other's strength; this is the defining feature of China-EU relations. When "designed in Europe" is combined with "made in China" and when European technologies are combined with the Chinese market, there will be amazing results.

Now, over $1.5 billion of goods are exchanged between China and Europe daily, testifying to ever closer ties. China-EU cooperation in innovation is also making steady progress. It is estimated that every percentage point of increase in EU's high-tech exports to China will generate at least 2.2 billion euros of additional exports to China. Relaxing control over high-tech exports to China is conducive to growing China-EU economic ties and so is beneficial for both sides.

We hope to see a more inclusive and accommodating Europe. As a Chinese saying goes, "It may rain in your courtyard but not in the street outside. On a 100 mile journey, you will find wind coming from different directions." "United in Diversity" is a key factor driving European integration. The world today needs both western thinking and oriental vision. If China and Europe can both achieve success by development models suited to their respective conditions, we will make the world more harmonious and prosperous.

Cultural and people-to-people exchanges provide the basis for such cooperation. There are over 70 flights between China and Europe every day and over five million mutual visits for tourism alone every year. The EU's 23 official languages are taught in Chinese universities, and Confucius Institutes are doing better and better in Europe. We hope Europe will learn more about the real China. China and Europe should both be focused on the future. We need to expand common ground while reserving differences, and strive to build an equal partnership of mutual respect and trust, a cooperative partnership of economic mutual benefit and development, and a harmonious partnership of mutual learning and cultural diversity.

China and Europe are strategic partners. We are ready to work with Europe to ensure our mutual hopes will enhance trust, support and cooperation. China and Europe can progress and develop together.

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Corruption putting the brakes on EU expansion

Deutsche Welle, 2 May 2012

One side effect of the Greek financial crisis are revelations about just how corrupt many EU member states are. If practical measures aren't taken soon, plans to enlarge the bloc could be in jeopardy.

It's not about a few euros that change hands illegally or aren't reported to tax authorities. The Greek financial crisis has been a drastic eye-opener for European Union officials, showing how large-scale graft and corruption are partially responsible for driving a national economy to ruin.

Greece ranks eightieth on Transparency International's 183-country corruption index, and the organisation is likewise critical of Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Italy. Even Germany isn't free of corruption. It's ranked fourteenth within Europe and comes in 14th worldwide.

"The estimated economic costs of corruption in the EU are as high as 120 billion euros ($157.6 billion) per year," says EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström. That's the equivalent of the entire budget of the EU government and one percent of the EU's gross domestic product.

Corruption differs from country to country, but it is harmful to all EU member states and the EU as a whole. It leads to a fewer investments, damages domestic markets and sucks resources from public finances.

Lacking a strategy 

Malmström says the problem is
massive

According to recent Europe-wide polls, a majority of Europeans feels corruption is a permanent problem that is on the rise. That means that the EU has to act or risk compromising its credibility.

But experts say no real progress is being made.

"There has never been any agreement on measures that would yield results," Dominik Enste of the Cologne-based German Economic Institute (IW) told DW. Although Enste did say some individual states had begun to tackle the problem.

Nienke Palstra of Transparency International says it's a positive sign that corruption is now on the agenda.

"We welcome the fact that corruption has been put more firmly on the agenda, but it is important that this lip-service now gets translated into real improvements in the integrity systems of these countries,“ Palstra told DW.

Lacking political will 

Greece, in particular, has suffered
from corruption

Experts say that European states are well-aware of the problem, and know where it comes from and how they could fight it. What they lack is the political will to take action.

"Of course one of the main challenges is the lack of commitment among the politicians and decision-makers to push for a zero-tolerance-policy towards corruption," Malmström said. "The roots are there, but without the political engagement to enforce them effectively the results remain weak."

Just last year, the EU adopted a package of anti-corruption measures, including a report to be published once every two years. It is aimed at "pointing out deficiencies among the 27 member states and boosting the states' willingness to act," Malmström said.

The measures mark an important step forward, both Enste and Palstra said, but the initiative doesn't go far enough: misconduct cannot be persecuted at EU level.

Obstacle to enlargement 

EU and Schengen enlargement
are at stake

Corruption could set back EU expansion by years, as candidates from corruption-prone Southeastern Europe like Croatia or Serbia come in for increased scrutiny.

But such checks are necessary. Strict adherence to accession rules, says Enste,could "prevent the EU from experiencing problems similar to the current debt crisis."

The first European anti-corruption report, to be published next year, will likely create political pressure, especially on candidates for EU membership. The report is also expected to focus on EU members Bulgaria and Romania, who are trying to join Europe's open-border Schengen zone. They'll need to do well in the report to achieve that aim.

The long-term goal is to change attitudes.

"The point is to reach people's heads and hearts so that they feel like they are swindling themselves, when they swindle the state, because they are part of the state," Enste said.

Malmström concurs with that assessment.

"The purpose is not to bring member states to the court but to highlight the problem," the EU Commissioner said. "We are losing the whole EU-Budget in corruption. It's an enormous amount of money, and it affects not only the economy but also trust in polticians."

Author: Ralf Bosen / jc

Editor: Neil King

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Based in Greece, Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to built Africa to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - New !

Hungarian Parliament confirms new President

Deutsche Welle, 2 May 2012

The parliament in Hungary has confirmed Jan Ader as the new Hungarian president. The choice, though expected, is controversial in some quarters.

The Hungarian parliament on Wednesday confirmed Jano Ader, a close long-term ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, as the country's new president.

Ader, who is a co-founder of the Fidesz party and member of the European Parliament since 2009, was elected to a five-year term by a vote of 262-40. The result was expected, though the far-right Jobbik party voted against him and the vote was boycotted by some other opposition parties.

The 52-year-old Ader was nominated by Orban last month following Pal Schmitt's resignation after being stripped of his 1992 doctorate on plagiarism charges. Ader will formally assume office on May 10.

In his first address to parliament after taking the oath, Ader struck a conciliatory note.

"We may have different values, different convictions and faith, but we all have one country, and that is Hungary," he said.

He also warned against putting down others and having double standards.

Growing tensions with EU

The choice of Ader as president is, however, likely to further strain relations between Budapest and the European Union of which it is a member. The EU and civil rights groups fear that Orban and Fidesz, which holds a two-thirds majority in parliament, are trying to monopolize power, with a resulting reduction of basic freedoms and civil rights.

An analyst at the Nezopont Institute in Budapest, Orsolya Szomszed, said Ader was voted into the position because of his fidelity to the government.

"The main criteria for Ader's election was loyalty to the governing majority," he said.

The choice of Ader is also controversial within Hungary itself. The Socialists, the Green LMP and a new faction led by former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany boycotted the vote, saying a key member of the ruling party could not represent national unity as required by the constitution.

A lawyer by training, Ader drafted the government's 2011 overhaul of the judiciary system, which the European Commission has referred to the European Court of Justice over concerns that it limits courts' independence. He also drew up Hungary's new election system, which opposition parties say will tip future elections in Fidesz's favor.

The Hungarian president has a mostly ceremonial role, but is also the head of the army and must sign all legislation into law after it has been approved by parliament.

tj/mz (AP, AFP)

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Westminster bar staff to be retrained

Parliamentary commission issues new guidelines concerning alcohol and opening times of bars in House of Commons

guardian.co.uk, Rajeev Syal, Tuesday 1 May 2012

MPs’ drinks are to be topped up less frequently under new guidelines
issued by the Commons Commission. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

House of Commons staff are being ordered to top up MPs' glasses less frequently at functions amid concerns over the drinking culture at Westminster.

They will also receive training on how to refuse to serve drunken customers, and opening hours of bars on the estate could also be curtailed.

The moves by the Commons Commission follow the bar brawl which led to Eric Joyce's conviction for punching and butting Tory MPs.

A spokesman for the cross-party committee said it agreed at a meeting that "a wider range of non-alcoholic drinks and lower strength beers will be provided in catering outlets".

Staff serving alcohol will "receive further training and support in refusing to serve customers when necessary", and "at receptions and events where alcohol was served, glasses would be topped up less frequently".

A consultation is also to be held on the opening hours of bars on the Parliamentary Estate, and there will be efforts to publicise health and welfare support on offer to politicians and House staff.

Additionally, the Commission has acted to cut the amount of money being spent on olive trees which have been criticised for being a waste of money.

The cost of maintaining the shrubs, which dominate the MPs' new offices in Portcullis House, has been around £44m a year. The Commission says it has negotiated the maintenance deal of £18.5m which will include other shrubs on the parliamentary estate.

Man shareholder anger focuses on Alison Carnwath

Director on several boards hurt by Barclays vote as Man hedge fund investors exercise new-found sense of dissent

guardian.co.uk, Jill Treanor and Rupert Neate, Tuesday 1 May 2012

Alison Carnwath's presence on the boards of a number of firms and her
 length of tenure at Man has concerned investors. Photograph: Tom Stockill/
Camera Press/Camera Press

Alison Carnwath, a high-profile serial director with a seat in the boardrooms of a number of major companies, has become a focus of discontent among investors after suffering an embarrassing protest vote by investors at hedge fund Man.

Some 33% of investors failed to support her re-election to the board of the hedge fund group at Tuesday's annual meeting. Shareholders who attended were reported to have criticised her lengthy tenure on the Man board and her performance at "another place".

That appears to be a reference to her role as chairman of the remuneration committee at Barclays bank. At the bank's AGM last week 22.5% failed to back her re-election to the board in protest at the £17m pay package handed to chief executive Bob Diamond– and the £5.7m tax bill the bank agreed to pay on Diamond's behalf..

Man held its annual meeting at a time when investors appear increasingly prepared to exercise their votes. They are under pressure from the government to clamp down on executive pay and hold companies to account.

Company directors usually expect near unanimous support at annual meetings but the introduction of annual votes on directors seems to be encouraging shareholders to take action against individuals.

Carnwath is one of the highest profile non-executive directors in FTSE 100 boardrooms and chairs the property company Land Securities. The 59-year- old, who read economics and German at Reading University, worked as an investment banker for more than 20 years before moving into some of the UK's biggest boardrooms.

In addition to Barclays, Land Securites and Man Group, she also sits on the board of the insurance group Zurich and US technology company Paccar.

She has previously held directorships at companies as diverse as Friends Provident, Glas Cymru and Gallaher. She also serves on the board of ISIS private equity partners, which owns the casualwear brand Fat Face and womenswear chain Bonmarché. Carnwath was chair of MF Global, the now-bankrupt brokerage, until March 2010.

The shareholder advisory body ISS had recommended to its clients – pension funds and other investors –to vote against her election to the board on the basis that she is no longer independent. Corporate governance guidelines say directors can no longer be independent if they have spent more than nine years in a boardroom. Carnwath has been at Man for 11 years.

ISS also highlighted that Carnwath's tenure on the board was "concurrent" with that of chief executive Peter Clarke, who has been under fire from some investors for the under-performance of the group.

To head off concerns about her lack of independence, Carnwath had stepped down as the senior independent director– a key point of contact for investors – in July 2011.

However, ISS noted that she remained a member of the remuneration committee and said it "does not consider her to be independent; she remains a member of the remuneration committee, which should be wholly independent".

Man insisted Carnwath was "unquestionably" independent.

Executive who agreed Diamond's £17.7m deal

To use Nick Clegg's words, Alison Carnwath is the embodiment of "crony capitalism" that allows a small group of City figures to set each other's pay and bonuses without having to worry about the real world.

Carnwath, 59, is one of two executives to serve on the remuneration committee of three FTSE 100 companies – Barclays, Man Group and Land Securities.

The government wants to ban executives at one company from setting pay at another. Shareholders have also begun to act against this cosy arrangement that lifts executive pay across the board, with a third of Man's shareholders failing to back Carnwath's re-election to the board after a 21% protest vote at Barclays last week. Carnwath was responsible for pushing through a £17.7m pay package for Barclays boss Bob Diamond and £7m for Man's chief executive Peter Clarke.

Investors have also complained that Carnwath, who has a holiday home in the Bahamas, does not have the best attendance record.

Pirc, the shareholder advisory body, urged investors to vote against Carnwath's reappointment at Barclays noting that she "missed three audit committee meetings". She earns £300,000 as chair of Land Securities, £158,000 from her role at Barclays and a further £100,000 at Man.

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Rupert Murdoch 'not fit' to lead major international company, MPs conclude

Select committee also says James Murdoch showed 'wilful ignorance' of extent of phone hacking at News of the World

Read the full select committee report

guardian.co.uk, Dan Sabbagh and Josh Halliday, Tuesday 1 May 2012

Rupert Murdoch. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Rupert Murdoch is "not a fit person" to exercise stewardship of a major international company, a committee of MPs has concluded, in a report highly critical of the mogul and his son James's role in the News of the World phone-hacking affair.

The Commons culture, media and sport select committee also concluded that James Murdoch showed "wilful ignorance" of the extent of phone hacking during 2009 and 2010 – in a highly charged document that saw MPs split on party lines as regards the two Murdochs.

Labour MPs and the sole Liberal Democrat on the committee, Adrian Sanders, voted together in a bloc of six against the five Conservatives to insert the criticisms of Rupert Murdoch and toughen up the remarks about his son James. But the MPs were united in their criticism of other former News International employees.

The cross-party group of MPs said that Les Hinton, the former executive chairman of News International, was "complicit" in a cover-up at the newspaper group, and that Colin Myler, former editor of the News of the World, and the paper's ex-head of legal, Tom Crone, deliberately withheld crucial information and answered questions falsely. All three were accused of misleading parliament by the culture select committee.

Rupert Murdoch, the document said, "did not take steps to become fully informed about phone hacking" and "turned a blind eye and exhibited wilful blindness to what was going on in his companies and publications".

The committee concluded that the culture of the company's newspapers "permeated from the top" and "speaks volumes about the lack of effective corporate governance at News Corporation and News International".

That prompted the MPs' report to say: "We conclude, therefore, that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of major international company."

James Murdoch is described as exhibiting a "lack of curiosity … wilful ignorance even" at the time of the negotiations surrounding the 2008 Gordon Taylor phone-hacking settlement and into 2009 and 2010. The younger son of Rupert Murdoch is criticised for failing to appreciate the significance of the News of the World hacking when the "for Neville" email first became public in 2009 and during subsequent investigations by parliament in February 2010 and a New York Times report in September 2010.

"We would add to these admissions that as the head of a journalistic enterprise, we are astonished that James Murdoch did not seek more information or ask to see the evidence and counsel's opinion when he was briefed by Tom Crone and Colin Myler on the Gordon Taylor case," the select committee said.

Even if James Murdoch did not appreciate the significance of the £700,000 Taylor payout, the committee concluded it was "simply astonishing" that he did not realise that the "one 'rogue reporter' line was untrue" until late 2010, after a previous inquiry by the culture select committee which ran during 2009 and reported in February 2010.

According to minutes published by the committee, the MPs were almost unanimous in their criticism of Hinton, Myler and Crone.

Rebekah Brooks, the former News of the World editor and News International boss, was largely spared from the MPs' criticism. The report said that it would not draw conclusions on evidence to the committee about Milly Dowler, the murdered schoolgirl whose voicemail messages were hacked by the News of the World in 2002, because of an ongoing police investigation into Brooks.

However, the MPs said that Brooks must take responsibility for "the culture which permitted" unethical newsgathering methods over Dowler in 2002. The MPs said: "The attempts by the News of the World to get a scoop on Milly Dowler led to a considerable amount of police resource being redirected to the pursuit of false leads."

Brooks is on police bail after being arrested as part of Scotland Yard's investigation into phone hacking on 17 July 2011 and, separately, on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice along with her husband, Charlie, on 13 March this year. Brooks denies knowledge of or involvement in phone hacking or other illegal activities.

The culture select committee charged Hinton with being "complicit" in a cover-up of wrongdoing at Rupert Murdoch's media empire.

MPs said that Myler and Crone deliberately withheld crucial information and answered falsely questions put by the committee.

The executives demonstrated contempt for parliament "in the most blatant fashion", the MPs said, in what they described as a corporate attempt to mislead the committee about the true extent of phone hacking at the News of the World.

The MPs said that Hinton, executive chairman of News International until December 2007, had "inexcusably" mislead the committee over his role in authorising the £243,000 payout to Clive Goodman, the former royal editor convicted of phone hacking in January that year.

"We consider, therefore, that Les Hinton was complicit in the cover-up at News International, which included making misleading statements and giving a misleading picture to the committee," the MPs said.

Crone and Myler were accused of deliberately misleading the MPs on the culture select committee in 2009 and again in 2011 about their alleged knowledge that phone hacking went beyond a single "rogue reporter" at the now-closed Sunday tabloid.

"Both Tom Crone and Colin Myler deliberately avoided disclosing crucial information to the committee and, when asked to do, answered questions falsely," the MPs said in the report.

All three executives now face the prospect of being called to apologise before parliament, in a constitutional move that has not been used for almost half a century.

The report could prove especially problematic for Myler, who is only five months into his editorship at the New York Daily Post.

The select committee said it would table a Commons motion asking parliament to endorse its conclusions about misleading evidence.

News Corp said in a statement: "News Corporation is carefully reviewing the select committee's report and will respond shortly. The company fully acknowledges significant wrongdoing at News of the World and apologises to everyone whose privacy was invaded."

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