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Saturday, October 20, 2007

China's biggest bank to open U.S. branch

The government-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China also plans to open branches in Russia, Australia.

China's biggest bank, government-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, will open its first U.S. branch as part of a global expansion, a state news agency quoted its chairman as saying Wednesday.

"Preparations have been going on smoothly. We hope to receive approval from American authorities as early as possible," said ICBC chairman Jiang Jianqing, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The report gave no dates concerning the U.S. expansion.

The director of ICBC's press department in Beijing, Xie Taifeng, confirmed that the bank plans to open a U.S. branch but declined to say when or where it would be located.

On Tuesday, officials confirmed that another state-owned bank is bidding for a minority stake in U.S. securities firm Bear Stearns (Charts, Fortune 500) amid a rapid foreign expansion by Chinese financial institutions.

Jiang said ICBC also plans to open a branch next month in Russia, take over a bank in Sydney, Australia, and open branches in the Middle East in Dubai and Qatar, according to Xinhua. The report said he gave no details of those plans.


China trade surplus surges

ICBC already has branches abroad in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Luxembourg and Seoul and Pusan in South Korea, according to the bank's Web site. Hong Kong and Macau are part of China but are treated as foreign economies by Chinese regulators.

The bank made its first acquisition in 2006, buying Indonesia's Bank Halim.

China's state-owned banks are growing rapidly amid an export-fueled economic boom and are expanding abroad to serve Chinese clients and try to get a foothold in international business.

They are flush with cash following a series of multibillion-dollar stock market offerings in recent years.

ICBC raised a record-setting $21.9 billion in 2006 with a joint initial public offering on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges. Top of page

Thursday, October 18, 2007

7 Ways To Avoid Credit Card Overload In Your Online Business

There are loads of reasons why people decide to start an online home business and some of them include convincing sales copy and promised riches.

Our emotional response to a sales page is what "hooks" and the need to be lead by someone we hope will show us the way to a no-brainer cash cow with an endless stream of $100 bills is what has us whipping out our credit card faster than we can say "compound interest"

You could try willpower as a method to stop this endless, expensive necessity to buy, but it can be easier said than done. When you are watching a timer ticking down the seconds before the offer ends, or there is a fast action bonus that you have convinced yourself you need. Or even worse, the price is rising with every second that passes and the longer you wait the more expensive the product gets. Resistance of any kind is futile.

And while these are all fantastic marketing techniques when you are the seller, they are an absolute nightmare when you are the buyer.

Your credit card takes yet another "hit" as you buy the latest piece of viral software or adsense templates. Your credit card absolutely cowers when you add the latest article site monthly membership fee, and it gasps for air when you add the new gurus coaching program onto to it!

Yes folks, when the marketing machine "hooks" you there is little you can do but give in and buy. Or is there? Here are 7 proven ways (and I know they are proven because I had to use them myself) to stop credit card overload:

1. Create a vision for your business. I always get back to this because for me it is one of the most important things. If you know you are focusing on writing info products you don't need the latest gadget software. Focus, focus, focus with a vision for your business and whatever that vision is don't allow anything to come along and deter you from it.

2. Stop – okay so the price of the product is increasing before your eyes, but stop anyway and ask yourself "Is this something I really need, and how will I use it within the next 24 hours?" If you don't know how you will immediately put it to use I would argue that you really don't need it right now.

3. Delete the email – don't even read it, when you are stronger (you will know you are stronger because you stop salivating when a new email offer arrives), open the email and unsubscribe from all these mailing lists you are on!

4. If curiosity really is killing you and you have to open and read the email then BEFORE you click that link to take a look, stop and let your logical mind take over. Tell yourself you are only looking and before you buy you will read the entire sales page TWICE!

5. Read the entire sales page TWICE – Research has shown that long sales copy works. It's my personal belief that the only reason why they work is because we are too lazy to read them, so we go from the top of the page and the headline straight down to the fast action bonuses and hit the "Buy now" link. If you really think you need this product then read the sales page from start to finish at least twice. I recommend 4 times to be sure.

6. Don't put your email receipts in a separate folder – It is easy to forget about that $27 ebook, or $8 domain you bought. Leave all your receipts for that month in your inbox. It is important they remain unopened and highlighted. You will be surprised at how many "purchase receipts" you actually accumulate and it definitely stops the spending!

7. Find yourself a business where you don't need any extras! Internet marketing is such a huge area that it's easy to believe you need to buy all the latest products for your business. Find yourself an online business that provides you with just about everything you need. That doesn't mean you never have to buy anything again. It just means that you need less and so can be conservative in your spending.

Credit card overload can become an occupational hazard for anyone working online, and running a home based business.

If you are fairly new to internet marketing there is still time to save yourself, re-read my 7 ways to avoid credit card overload, in fact print it off and hang it on your wall as a reminder of what you must do to survive online.

If you are a long-term internet marketing veteran who has managed to buy more than you have ever sold online, here's my advice……… step away from the computer, put the credit card down and put your hands behind your head!

Bank security breach may be biggest yet

Bank of America Corp. and Wachovia Corp. are among the big banks notifying more than 670,000 customers that account information was stolen in what may the biggest security breach to hit the banking industry.

Account information on the customers was illegally sold by bank employees to a man identified as Orazio Lembo, whom police said was doing business by illegally posing as a collection agency.

When police in Hackensack, N.J., first announced arrests in the case on April 28, they estimated that more than 500,000 people were affected. That number was raised to 676,000 Friday. Because some people have more than one account, Hackensack Police Chief Charles "Ken" Zisa says the number of accounts breached may top 1 million.

"As this gets going, these numbers are going to go up and up," Hackensack Detective Capt. Frank Lomia told CNN earlier Monday, adding that more arrests may be coming in the case.

The data-theft may have been the biggest ever in banking, the Hackensack, N.J., police department said in a statement, citing an unnamed Treasury Department official.

Of the four banks involved in the case, Bank of America (up $0.01 to $46.58), the nation's No. 2 bank, has notified 60,000 customers of the problem. Wachovia has notified 48,000 customers.

Customer account numbers and balances were allegedly sold to Lembo, who then sold the information to collection agencies, the Hackensack police department said in a statement.

Wachovia customers whose account information was stolen have received complimentary one-year credit monitoring service and each account will also be monitored by the bank, a Wachovia spokesman told CNN, adding that two former Wachovia employees have been charged in the case.

Bank of America spokeswoman Alexandra Liftman said the bank was notifying customers affected, but added there was no evidence of account fraud or identity theft. Customers affected would be offered free credit monitoring, she said, adding Bank of America is cooperating with law enforcement officials and conducting its own internal investigation.

One associate who was named by police is "no longer with the bank," Liftman said.

Charges filed

Last month, New Jersey police arrested and charged nine people, including seven bank employees and Lembo, who operated DRL Associates, the bogus collection agency, Hackensack police said. A tenth person was subsequently arrested. DRL did not qualify as a collection or detective agency, the police said.

"Based on forensic examination of Lembo's computers, it was determined that he had employed upper-level bank employees to access and identify individual accounts in their respective banks," the police statement said. "That information was then sold to his clients, which included more than 40 law firms and collection agencies."

Lomia told CNN that Lembo paid $10 a name, convincing the bank employees that they wouldn't get caught. He said the department has not yet classified this as an identity theft case but is watching it closely.

In addition to confidential bank information, DRL also obtained employment information from the manager of the New Jersey Department of Labor in Jersey City, Hackensack police said.

Police estimate that Lembo made several million dollars over the past four years; and that his informants each made tens of thousands of dollars in the scheme.

The department said it is continuing its investigation, and the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service also are involved.

The FBI in Newark told CNN it is not handling the case, but that the Secret Service may become involved.

Lomia said the law firms that allegedly sought Lembo's services are part of "phase two" of the investigation.