Excerpt:
SHELL EARLEY CONNECTION WITH THE SAUDI ARABIA / AL YAMAMAH BAE ARMS SCANDAL
7 Feb 2007: Dr. Vincent Cable (Twickenham) (LD):
"Let me turn to the history of this issue. The al-Yamamah contract originated in the mid-1980s, and the context is often forgotten. It was not achieved primarily as a result of competition and British technological excellence; the context at that time was the very close relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States, which both sides wished to perpetuate. However, the problem was that, as President Reagan provided Saudi Arabia with more and more sophisticated equipment, there were objections from Israel. Perfectly understandably, the Israelis were concerned about one of their potential adversaries acquiring sophisticated technology. The situation was not helped, of course, by the tirade of anti-Semitic abuse that often comes from the Saudi authorities. Israel protested, and friends of Israel in the United States Congress blocked the F-15 deal, which was in turn passed on to Britain and Mrs. Thatcher. The Reagan Administration were very anxious to bless this arrangement. They owed the Saudis various favours. They were supporting the Nicaraguan Contras and helping gallant freedom fighters in Afghanistan—such as Osama bin Laden. Reagan was perfectly happy to support this British arrangement, which proved to be one of the largest arms deals in history. It has been worth about £40 billion to date, and could be worth something of the same magnitude again in the future. It is not merely an arms deal, but one of extraordinary complexity that involves two major subsidiary features. One is an offset agreement, which, essentially, is a joint venture set of arrangements under which British companies put in capital and expertise, and their Saudi partners take their cut. There is also an oil element. There was an oil barter arrangement whereby oil was marketed, initially by Shell and BP, and the proceeds were routed through the MOD to BAE Systems."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2011227669_bae02.html
Excerpt:
Military contractor BAE fined $400M for fraud
BAE Systems, Europe's biggest military contractor, was ordered to pay a $400 million fine after admitting it conspired to defraud the U.S. government, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Bloomberg News
BAE Systems, Europe's biggest military contractor, was ordered to pay a $400 million fine after admitting it conspired to defraud the U.S. government, the Justice Department said in a statement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAE_Systems
Excerpt:
BAE Systems plc (LSE: BA.) is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the second-largest based on revenues.[3][4] It was formed on 30 November 1999 by the £7.7 billion merger of two British companies, Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc (GEC), and aircraft, munitions and naval systems manufacturer British Aerospace (BAe).
http://www.soxfirst.com/50226711/bae_bribery_fallout.php
Excerpt:
Massive implications from last week's High Court decision in London overturning the British government decision to drop an investigation into alleged bribery and corruption in a major deal between arms maker BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia. The Serious Fraud Office abandoned the inquiry into a 1985 BAE deal worth billions of pounds to provide Riyadh with fighter jets and other military equipment. At the time, the Saudis had issued the British Government with a threat: if the investigation was not stopped, there would be no contract for the export of Typhoon aircraft and the previous close intelligence and diplomatic relationship would cease.
http://www.baesystems.com/WorldwideLocations/UnitedStates/AboutBAESystemsUnitedStates/index.htm
Excerpt:
About BAE Systems in the United States
- CMWS protect Army fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.
BAE Systems, Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of BAE Systems plc, a global defense, security and aerospace company which delivers a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, security, information technology solutions and customer support services.
Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, BAE Systems, Inc. employs approximately 46,200 employees in the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Israel, Germany, Mexico, and South Africa, and generated 2010 sales of $17.9 billion. BAE Systems, Inc. provides support and service solutions for current and future defense, intelligence, and civilian systems; designs, develops and manufactures a wide range of electronic systems and subsystems for both military and commercial applications; produces specialized security and protection products for law enforcement and first responders; and designs, develops, produces, and provides service support of armored combat vehicles, artillery systems, and munitions.http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=BAE_Systems
Excerpt:
BAE Systems is the largest arms manufacturer in Europe and the fourth biggest in the world. Registered in the UK, the company has annual military sales of $15bn. Products include fighter and trainer aircraft, warships, submarines, torpedoes, missiles, radar and tactical communications systems, artillery and ammunition. The company employs 90,000 people, 41,000 of whom are in the UK. The company was formed on November 30, 1999 with the merger of British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems, which was made up of several divisions of GEC-Marconi in the UK and overseas.
The company has drawn heavy criticism, both for the use of its products to facilitate human rights abuses and corruption. Its Hawk jets alone have been sold to Brunei, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe. The company is currently under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office over allegations that the company kept a "slush fund" worth some £60m to bribe officials from Saudi Arabia. The company sells more to Saudi than to the UK Ministry of Defence.
In August 2004 BAE Systems completed its takeover of armoured vehicle manufacturer Alvis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvis_plc
Excerpt:
BAE takeover
In 2004, the board of Alvis approved a £309m takeover bid by the American defence company General Dynamics. Within three months BAE Systems, which already had a 29% stake in the company, outbid General Dynamics by offering £355m. The action was seen as a defence of the home market from a foreign rival. David Mulholland of Jane's Defence Weekly said "I don't believe BAE expects to make money from this deal," characterising the purchase as strategic rather than commercial. The bid was accepted by the majority of shareholders.[3]
In September 2004, BAE announced the creation of BAE Systems Land Systems, a new company bringing together the BAE subsidiaries, BAE Systems RO Defence and Alvis Vickers. Alvis Vickers became BAE Systems Land Systems (Weapons & Vehicles) Limited, a subsidiary of BAE Systems Land Systems. In 2005, the acquisition of United Defense led to the creation of BAE Systems Land and Armaments.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=General_Dynamics
Excerpt:
Lobbying
The company spent $9,364,234 for lobbying in 2006. In-house lobbyists and over 20 lobbying firms were used, including PMA Group, Clark & Weinstock, and Potomac Advocates. [2]http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=PMA_Group
Excerpt:
PMA Group was a lobbying firm "specializing in securing defense earmarks for its clients."
In March 2009, shortly before the firm closed, the Chicago Tribune reported that "the firm is disintegrating amid a federal investigation into allegations that its founder, Paul Magliochetti, a former top aide to Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., steered donations to lawmakers through sham donors." [1] PMA had been "one of the 10 biggest [lobbying firms] in Washington." [2]
In April 2009, despite ongoing investigations, Murtha requested "$134 million in earmarks for his district this year," including requests benefiting four PMA clients. The PMA-related earmark requests are for Advanced Acoustic Concepts ($5 million request), Argon ST ($8 million request), MTS Technologies, Inc. ($5 million request) and Planning Systems Inc. ($2.3 million request). [3]
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Potomac_Advocates
Excerpt:
Lobbying income
In 2007, Potomac Advocates had an income of $460,000 from lobbying on behalf of 15 clients. A few of the clients were General Dynamics, Goodrich Aerospace, and Raytheon Co. [3]Contact details
Capitol Hill Office:321 D Street, NE
Washington, D.C. 20002
Phone: (202) 547-4192
Fax: (202) 547-4674
Email: info AT potadv.com
Web: http://www.potadv.com/
http://accounting.smartpros.com/x33184.xml
Excerpt:
"Arthur Andersen is in the middle of a firestorm," Vin Weber of Clark & Weinstock, the lobbying firm hired by the coalition, told the WSJ. "For the near term, the coalition and Andersen will pursue separate paths."
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Clark_%26_Weinstock
Excerpt:
Clients
On its website Clark & Weinstock state "confidentiality and discretion are important to us, and we take pride in helping our clients address complex and challenging situations in an atmosphere of trust and candor." [2]A "representative" list of Clark & Weinstock's historical clients lists:
On June 1, 2004 Lisa Hayes from Clark & Weinstock registered with the U.S. Senate that the company had been hired to represent CACI International [4]. The four lobbyists listed on the account were Vic Fazio, Edward Kutler, David Herteau and Sandra Kaplan Stuart.
In a lobbying report filed in August 2004, Vic Fazio revealed that the company had earned $40,000 to the end of June 30 for "strategic planning and outreach work for ongoing defence issues" and "General Services Administration contract and policy issues". [5]
Contact details
New York:Clark & Weinstock
52 Vanderbilt Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-953-2550
E-mail: Info AT cwnyc.com
Web: http://www.clarkandweinstock.com/
Clark & Weinstock
601 13th Street, NW
Suite 410 South
Washington, DC 20005
Tel. 202-261-4000
E-mail: Info AT cwdc.com
http://www.gurufocus.com/news/69673/valuating-berkshire-hathaway-holdings-general-electric-company-ge
Excerpt:
General Electric Company has had a nice run up in share price over the past 3 days. Running up from $14.70 to $17.00 or about 16% in that time span. The question is, why has one of Berkshire Hathaway’s current holdings, GE, run up so much so quickly. Perhaps GE was irrationally undervalued? One problem may be that GE is involved in many cyclical businesses and this might be part of the changing tide. Maybe people are coming into more and more agreement every day that the recession is over or that housing might be on the mend. Whatever the case, does GE provide an opportunity to the investor?
*******************
"GE" redirects here. For other uses of "GE", see GE (disambiguation).
General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States.[1][4] The company operates through four segments: Energy, Technology Infrastructure, Capital Finance and Consumer & Industrial.[5][6]*******************
Not to be confused with the American company General Electric (GE).
The General Electric Company or GEC was a major British-based industrial conglomerate, involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications and engineering. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was renamed Marconi Corporation plc in 1999 after its defence arm, Marconi Electronic Systems was amalgamated with British Aerospace to form BAE Systems. In 2005 Ericsson purchased the bulk of Marconi plc with the remainder of the business renamed Telent.
http://www.mideastmonitor.org/issues/0705/0705_4.htm
Excerpt:
Saudi Arabia and the BAE Arms Scandal
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