Conflict of interest

Whistleblower accuses US medical firm of illegal marketing

Topics:
0

MassDevice – May 14, 2012

An unsealed whistleblower lawsuit accuses Medtronic of violating the Medicare False Claims Act through illegal marketing of its Infuse bone growth protein, alleging that the medical device maker installed a crony as editor of an influential spine journal to push positive data on the controversial compound.

A whistleblower accused Medtronic of installing a stooge, spinal surgeon Dr. Thomas Zdeblick, as editor of an influential spine journal to push positive – and possibly premature – data on its Infuse bone growth stimulant.

Judicial council dismisses complaint against Federal Court justice

Topics:
0

Don Butler – April 5, 2012

The Canadian Judicial Council has dismissed a conflict of interest complaint made by an Ottawa businessman against a Federal Court judge.

Don Powell, president of TPG Technology, filed the complaint last October after Justice David Near quashed a $250-million lawsuit TPG had filed against the federal government. He charged that Near had an undisclosed conflict of interest and should have recused himself from the case.

Financial Advisers Flunk Undercover Sting

Topics:
0

A new study finds advisers often put client interests second to their own.

Ryan Sager – April 2, 2012

By now, you may have realized that you aren't always the most rational manager of your money. Chasing returns. Buying into bubbles. Selling into troughs. Keeping too much in cash or company stock. Heck, even if you keep a textbook, well-diversified portfolio of low-fee index funds, you've still probably felt tempted over the last month or so to buy Apple at $600. (You may turn out to be right in retrospect; that won't make it rational.)

To keep yourself in check, perhaps you've turned to a financial adviser. The majority of retail investors have. If so, a new study posted this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research has some bad news for you: Financial advisers not only fail to curb investors' worst habits, they actually tend to reinforce them -- especially when those habits generate fees for the advisers.

Ethics commissioner: Christian Paradis broke conflict of interest rules

Topics:
0

Jordan Press – March 22, 2012

When Industry Minister Christian Paradis directed his staff to organize a meeting between former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer and department staff at Paradis’ then ministry of Public Works and Government Services, he seemed to just want to help a friend, the country’s ethics commissioner said.

Ethics commissioner Mary Dawson said that Paradis was not alone in wanting to help Jaffer in 2009 and 2010, the years after Jaffer lost his Edmonton seat in the 2008 general election, the only Conservative to lose in Alberta that year. But only Paradis violated the Conflict of Interest Act, making himself the first sitting minister to be found guilty of an ethics breach.

Clarence-Rockland politicians caught up in OPP probe

Topics:
3

Force's anti-rackets squad investigating emails about ousting of a town manager

Gary Dimmock And Chloé Fedio – March 20, 2012

The mayor of Clarence-Rockland and three town councillors are caught up in an investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police anti-rackets squad into emails about ousting a town manager from office, the Citizen has learned.

The emails between Rockland Mayor Marcel Guibord and his former business partner, Rockland lawyer Stéphane Lalonde, and three current town councillors date back to November 2010 - weeks before the politicians were sworn into office following municipal elections held that fall.

Credit rating agencies lack credibility: author

Topics:
2

CBC Radio Sunday Edition – January 22, 2012

Late last week, the credit rating agency Standard and Poor's downgraded nine countries in the European Union. Being downgraded is akin to being judged and found wanting ... and the countries in question were none too happy about it.

But who are these credit rating agencies, and who's rating their work? After all, aren't they the same bunch that missed the warning signs for the near economic apocalypse of late 2008?

Revolving Door Between Government, Big Business

Topics:
2

December 22, 2011

A series of Venn diagrams shows visually how strong the links are between the US Government and big business: dozens of people moving to and fro between top positions in government and in politically-connected corporations.

It is blatant conflicts of interest like these that lead to regulatory capture, corruption and crony capitalism. The industries covered in this analysis are: Big Oil, Comcast, General Electric, Goldman Sachs, Media, Monsanto and Pharmaceuticals.

Ex-MP Jaffer broke lobbying rules, commissioner finds

Topics:
3
Rahim Jaffer

Jason Fekete –  December 12, 2011

Canada's lobbying commissioner has found that former Alberta MP Rahim Jaffer and associate Patrick Glemaud broke federal rules when they sought more than $175 million in government funds for their green power company.

In a decision delivered Monday, lobbying commissioner Karen Shepherd ruled that Jaffer - a former Edmonton Tory MP - and Glemaud breached the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct by failing to register as lobbyists when they tried in 2009 to obtain about $178 million in federal cash for their company GPG-Green Power Generation Corp.

Canada’s top spy watchdog resigns following revelations

Topics:
0

Kathryn Blaze Carlson and Brian Hutchinson – November 10, 2011

Arthur Porter, the chair of Canada’s spy review board, resigned on Thursday amid revelations of his business dealings with a notorious international lobbyist and his own close ties to the president of Sierra Leone.

“Dr. Porter has submitted his resignation to me, and I have accepted it, effective immediately,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.

Spy review board chief offered me job: Senator

Topics:
0

Brian Hutchinson – November 8, 2011

The federally appointed chairman of Canada’s spy review board and “Ambassador Plenipotentiary” to his native Sierra Leone offered a Canadian senator the position of honorary consul general to the African country, the National Post has learned.

Arthur Porter, a Montreal-based physician who also serves as the chief of executive of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), one of Canada’s largest public health-care providers with almost 12,000 employees, approached Conservative Senator David Angus and asked if he “would ever be interested” in the position as consul general to Sierra Leone in Montreal.

Syndicate content