S.Sudan inflation eases to 60.9 pct in July but still high

JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan's annual inflation dropped to 60.9 percent in July from 74.1 percent in June, but remains high as the country struggles with an economic crisis, official data showed on Tuesday.

The central African country seceded from Sudan a year ago, prompting widespread hope among South Sudanese that their nation could steer towards prosperity after decades of civil war.

But disputes between Juba's rebels-turned-politicians and their former masters in Khartoum have hammered the economy, piling more hardships on people exhausted by the conflict.

Inflation accelerated after South Sudan shut off oil production in January when a dispute with Sudan over export fees escalated, depriving Juba of 98 percent of state revenues and its main source of dollars.

Before the shutdown, inflation stood at 47.8 percent, and it rose to a record high of 79.5 percent in May.

South Sudan needs to import most of its food as it has no sizeable industry outside the oil sector.

Month-on-month inflation fell by 2.2 percent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said in its monthly bulletin. The cost of food and non-alcoholic drinks, which make up 71.4 percent of the consumer price index, fell 2.9 percent in July.

Annual inflation in the northern city of Malakal, near the unmarked border to Sudan, was 113.3 percent. Food supply routes from Sudan have been disrupted in border regions, forcing many traders to bring in goods from Uganda and Kenya on dirt roads.

South Sudan reached an oil deal with Sudan last week but it is unclear when production will resume as Khartoum wants to reach a border security deal first.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sudan-inflation-eases-60-9-pct-july-still-054743714--business.html

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Source: http://artyapt.com/blog/straightforward-efficient-marketing-for-your-house-business/

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California's hydropower stations to generate less electricity in summer as climate warms

ScienceDaily (Aug. 7, 2012) ? California's hydropower is vulnerable to climate change, a University of California, Riverside scientist has advised policymakers in "Our Changing Climate," a report released July 31 by the California Natural Resources Agency and the California Energy Commission (CEC).

"Climate change is expected to affect the quantity and timing of water flow in the state," explained Kaveh Madani, a former postdoctoral research scholar in UC Riverside's Water Science and Policy Center (WSPC), who led a research project on climate change effects on hydropower production, demand, and pricing in California. "Under dry climate warming, the state will receive less precipitation, with most of it as rain instead of snow, impacting hydropower supply and operations."

On average, 15 percent of California's electricity comes from hydropower, a cheap and relatively clean energy source. About 75 percent of this hydropower comes from high-elevation units, located above 1,000 ft. The state has more than 150 high-elevation units, with most of them located in Northern California and the Sierra Mountains. The majority of the high-elevation reservoirs are small in terms of their storage capacity, being built only for hydroelectricity production and no other benefits, such as water supply and flood control.

"If California loses snowpack under climate warming, these high-elevation reservoirs might not be able to store enough water for hydropower generation in summer months when the demand is much higher and hydropower is priced higher," said Madani, currently an assistant professor of civil, environmental, and construction engineering at the University of Central Florida. "California might, therefore, lose hydropower in warmer months and hydropower operators may lose considerable revenues."

Madani, who led UCR's only research team for CEC's third climate change assessment studies, explained that the major cause of revenue loss is that hydropower prices are expected to decrease in colder months of the year and increase in warmer months.

"The big problem is that hydropower will be less available when it is most needed and expensive: in the summer months," he said. "A warmer California needs more electricity for cooling in summer months and less electricity for warming in winter months. This means that hydropower pricing patterns will be affected by climate change. It is important to analyze climate change effects on this renewable energy source early on to figure out what strategies are available to adapt to the new conditions and thereby minimize the potential negative impacts of climate change on hydropower."

Madani explained that, on average, California could lose up to 20 percent of its hydropower generation under dry climate change, which can result in 8 to 18 percent reduction in hydropower revenues for producers.

"Our results do not yet suggest that we need to build more dams in California for hydropower generation," said Madani, who was recently selected as one of the 10 New Faces of Civil Engineering in 2012 by the American Society of Civil Engineering. "But they suggest that hydropower, a highly valuable energy source, may be less available. So we have to look for clean replacements and we have to reduce our energy demands as much as we can."

Madani began his research on climate change effects on California's hydropower as a graduate student at UC Davis, where, along with a colleague, he developed an "Energy-Based Hydropower Optimization Model" (EBHOM) that covers more than 150 high-elevation hydropower units in California. An optimization model, EBHOM prescribes the best operation policies in response to the changes in climatic conditions.

A new version of the model that Madani developed can estimate changes in hydropower pricing and demand in response to temperature changes.

"It helps us consider the effects on supply and demand simultaneously," Madani said of the model's new version. "But modeling studies have limitations that need to be addressed as more data become available and the science improves. Future studies need to have a closer look at the environmental side of this problem. Changes in operations of the high-elevation systems should be done after careful consideration of all possible environmental damages."

Madani's research at UCR was funded by CEC. As the principal investigator of the research project, he worked with fellow-researchers at Lund University, Sweden; the University of Central Florida; and the Bourns College of Engineering at UCR.

Madani's postdoctoral research took place during 2009-2010 at the WSPC, where he closely worked with Ariel Dinar, its director.

"I am an engineer and Ariel is an economist," Madani said. "We talk different languages and sometimes might think differently about the same problem. The different views helped me learn many new things and gave me the ability to think out of the engineering thinking box. Working at the WSPC was thus a true interdisciplinary research and education experience for me."

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/_iVcMQPc0xU/120807132306.htm

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Standard Chartered questions New York action

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - A New York bank regulator's broadside against Standard Chartered Plc over transactions tied to Iran left investors and the bank questioning the action, which on Tuesday wiped $17 billion off the bank's value.

The White House signaled its strong interest in the case, saying the U.S. government takes alleged violations of economic sanctions "extremely seriously."

London-based Standard Chartered said it has been in talks with U.S. authorities over its Iran transactions since early 2010 and said the public accusations by New York came as a shock.

The state's banking regulator, Benjamin Lawsky, called Standard Chartered a "rogue institution" and threatened to revoke its state banking license on Monday.

Lawsky, head of the state's Department of Financial Services, accused the bank of hiding 60,000 secret transactions worth $250 billion over nearly a decade. The transactions generated hundreds of millions of dollars in fees, Lawsky said.

Chief Executive Peter Sands scrambled back from vacation to help the bank plan a defense and limit damage to its reputation.

Shares in Standard Chartered closed down 16.4 percent at 12.28 pounds, taking their losses to 24 percent since the news surfaced just before Monday's close. They had earlier slumped as low as 10.92 pounds, their lowest for three years.

The White House said it took sanctions violations seriously but made no direct reference to Lawsky's action.

"Sanctions violations are something that this administration takes extremely seriously and has a strong record of action to this end," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters. "The Treasury Department remains in close contact with both federal and state authorities on this matter."

The inquiry into Standard Chartered is not the first time Lawsky has been involved in a state investigation of alleged conduct traditionally probed by federal investigators.

When he worked at the New York Attorney General's office, Lawsky helped spearhead a still unresolved 2010 lawsuit against Bank of America Corp over its acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co, even while that bank was settling a similar case by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Marc Greenwald, a former federal prosecutor who is now a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, said it is "not completely surprising" that Lawsky might press ahead now if he felt other regulators were moving too slowly.

Lawsky did not respond to several requests for comment.

The bank had been one of the least tarnished during the financial crisis because of its focus on emerging markets and conservative approach to capital and liquidity. It said Lawsky's order does not present "a full and accurate picture."

"Some people were walking around under the illusion that Standard Chartered was the world's first riskless bank, and it's not," said Gareth Hunt, financials analyst at Canaccord Genuity, who rates the stock a "sell." "We've discovered that Standard Chartered is a mortal bank -- as they all are."

Standard Chartered has hired two prominent law firms -- Sullivan & Cromwell in New York and Slaughter and May in London -- to represent it in its dealings with various U.S. authorities over transactions linked to Iran.

Among the Sullivan & Cromwell partners working for Standard Chartered is Rodgin Cohen, one of the best-known U.S. corporate lawyers, a person familiar with the matter said.

Sullivan & Cromwell has represented other non-U.S. banks probed for allegedly ignoring U.S. sanctions against countries.

Lawsky, in his order, described how officials at Standard Chartered had debated whether to continue its Iranian dealings, which he said exposed the U.S. banking system to terrorists, drug traffickers and corrupt states.

He said that on October 2006, the top official for business in the Americas warned in a "panicked message" that the Iranian dealings could cause "catastrophic reputational damage" and "serious criminal liability."

A group executive director in London shot back, according to a New York branch officer quoted in the order: "You f---ing Americans. Who are you to tell us, the rest of the world, that we're not going to deal with Iranians."

The reply showed "obvious contempt for U.S. banking regulations," the order said.

At that time the bank had five executive directors: Sands, now chief executive; Richard Meddings, now finance director; Mervyn Davies, a British Labour Party peer; Kai Nargolwala, who later joined Credit Suisse Group AG and left the Swiss bank last year; and Mike DeNoma, who this month departed as CEO of Chinatrust Financial Holding Co. Standard Chartered's Americas CEO was Ray Ferguson, who is now its Singapore CEO.

These people either declined to comment or could not immediately be reached for comment.

U.S. RULES "UNCLEAR"

The loss of a New York banking license would be a devastating blow for a foreign bank, effectively cutting off direct access to the U.S. bank market.

Lawsky said Standard Chartered processes $190 billion every day for global clients.

The United States imposed economic sanctions on Iran in 1979. Until November 2008 U.S. banks could process some transactions for Iranian banks or individuals provided they were initiated offshore by non-Iranian foreign banks and were on the way to other non-Iranian foreign banks. Such transactions were known as "U-turns."

David Proctor, who worked for Standard Chartered from 1999 until 2006 and who oversaw the Iran business briefly in 2006 when he was CEO in the United Arab Emirates, said the rules on dealing with Iran were unclear.

"At the time (May 2006), ... the key question was to try and understand exactly what counted as a U-turn transaction," he said.

Proctor, who now provides advice for banks with BAS Consulting in Singapore, added that Standard Chartered now has to help clear up what actually happened. "Banks these days don't have a choice," he said. "You have to be transparent."

Standard Chartered put the value of Iran-related transactions that did not comply with regulations at less than $14 million, contrasting sharply with the New York regulator's estimate of $250 billion.

It also called Lawsky's interpretation of the U-turn exemption "incorrect as a matter of law." Standard Chartered must appear before the Department of Financial Services on August 15.

SIX BANKS

Standard Chartered is the sixth non-U.S. bank implicated since 2008 over alleged dealings with sanctioned countries.

Barclays Plc, Lloyds Banking Group Plc, Credit Suisse and ING Bank NV have agreed to fines and settlements totaling $1.8 billion, while regulatory filings show that HSBC Holdings Plc is under investigation.

Separately, Barclays agreed in June to pay $453 million to settle U.S. and British probes that it rigged Libor, a global lending benchmark, while a month later a U.S. Senate panel faulted HSBC efforts to police suspect transactions, including with Mexican drug traffickers.

The cost to protect 10 million euros of Standard Chartered debt against default for five years rose on Tuesday to 166,000 euros from 140,000 euros on Monday, according to Markit.

($1=0.6415 British pounds)

(Writing by Jonathan Stempel; Additional reporting by Margaret Chadbourn, Karen Freifeld and Noeleen Walder in the United States; Sinead Cruise, Raji Menon, Adam Parry, Martin de Sa'Pinto, Matt Scuffham and Sarah White in Europe and bureaux in Asia; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ny-may-pull-stanchart-license-says-rogue-bank-035904282--finance.html

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