Tightening the EPF Act

Proper investment policy, disclosure, governance and accountability should be mandated under the law for EPF’s near half a trillion ringgit funds
THE recent brouhaha over the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) financing a government-sponsored RM1.5bil housing scheme highlights several issues facing the nation’s premier retirement fund.
Considering that it is a major heavyweight, which manages almost RM470bil belonging to some 12 million members, it is important to ensure that the EPF does its job, and does it as well as it should.
Questions swirl around three main issues: The kind of projects that the EPF should finance and the risk they bear; the amount of government influence over what the EPF should do; and the level of transparency and accountability that the fund shows to its members.
Sadly, on all three counts, it shows serious deficiencies. Although it has improved in recent years, in terms of the quality of investments, it has in the past made some dubious investments which have never been fully explained.
In part this is due to substantial government influence over its operations, specifically, the Finance Minister, who not only appoints board members but also has substantial influence over them, the law requiring directors in most cases to be subservient to the Finance Minister.
Meantime, the way the EPF reports its results, and its investments and losses and gains, leaves much to be desired. It is impossible for a fund member or anyone else to independently verify the soundness of its investment decisions. There is no or little statutory requirement for appropriate standards of disclosure, governance and accountability.
Because of its huge size, approaching half a trillion ringgit (it should exceed that mark easily this year), a multitude of sins can be easily hidden in its massive books. That’s all the more reason for an eagle eye to be kept on it at all times.
The way to ensure that the EPF keeps on the straight and narrow is to mandate that unambiguously through an amendment to the EPF Act. That should start with clear definitions of directors’ qualifications, requiring them to be those who have impeccable integrity and have an unblemished and distinguished record of service in the finance, accounting and investment fields.
The current Act gives the power to the Government, through the Finance Minister, to nominate the board members, but this should be preferably done through a committee rather than a single individual.
The Act should then specify clearly the role of the directors, which would be to oversee the implementation of measures which will follow a highly specified investment policy and return objectives.
The investment policy should specify a low risk approach that would preserve members’ contributions, while at the same time providing a moderate rate of return.
It should also specify very broad allocation strategy between various classes of assets, for example Malaysian Government Securities, other investment-grade bonds, equities, property and real estate and other investments.
Changes to the EPF Act should clearly specify that directors and the fund should at all times act solely in the interest of members who own the funds in the first place. While the Government can borrow money from the EPF, it has no business inducing it to invest in businesses that have high risk.
That will stop the board from making a decision to invest in a project just because the Finance Minister or someone else told it so. Those with long memories will remember that the EPF has made strange investments before, like Time dotCom.
The changes to the Act should also specify in fairly specific terms the kind of disclosure that it makes. It should itemise all the investments it makes, and state when they were made and at what price, and how much it is losing or making on each one.
Averages have a way of disguising major outliers. On average, gains may be respectable but that does not mean major losses may not have been made on some investments. The only way to ensure that does not get buried under the mountain of funds is to disclose it.
These are not unrealistic changes. Many retirement funds act this way. Take CalPERS or California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the United States’ largest public pension fund with assets totalling some US$220bil (about RM660bil).
It publicly discloses its investment policy and asset allocation decisions. Those interested can view its investment track record. Journalists can ask for and receive its investment details for specific companies, areas and regions.
Here’s what it says in its own words: “Our goal is to efficiently and effectively manage investments to achieve the highest possible return at an acceptable level of risk. In doing so, CalPERS has generated strong long-term returns.”
We want EPF, whose size is not very far away from CalPERS, to do the same for all its members. The EPF does not belong to the Government and therefore the Government must not have full powers over the way it acts.
Until these changes to the Act are made and the EPF board acts professionally and above board in every decision it makes, taking all the required professional advice, we can’t ever be sure that EPF is always acting purely in the interests of its constituents – the Malaysian working public.
Independent consultant P Gunasegaram (t.p.guna@gmail.com) is happy that the EPF declared 6% dividends. He hopes it can continue to do so.

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Highlights: Euro zone ministers, officials after Greek deal

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone finance ministers and representatives of the private sector finalized a deal on Tuesday that will provide 130 billion euros of new financing to Greece and help to cut Athens‘ debt-to-GDP ratio to just over 120 percent by 2020.
The deal relies on private sector holders of Greek government bonds accepting a greater than 53 percent loss on the nominal value of their holdings, which will help reduce Greece’s debt by around 100 billion euros.
Following are comments by ministers and officials after the talks, which lasted more than 13 hours.
IMF MANAGING DIRECTOR CHRISTINE LAGARDE
“I will take this matter further to the board of the IMF in the second week of March, obviously subject to prior action that Greece has committed to deliver before the end of February being actually delivered.”
EU COMMISSIONER FOR ECONOMIC AND MONETARY AFFAIRS OLLI REHN ON COMBINING EFSF AND ESM POWER
“It should be possible to combine the firepower of the ESM and the remaining amount of the EFSF in order to have a substantially stronger financial firewall than we have at the moment. If you calculate you can see the ESM is 500 billion euro and the EFSF remainder is 250 billion euro, that is a good starting point to reinforce the IMF resources.
“I expect that we can reach our decision in March so that we can come to a conclusion on the reinforcement of the IMF resources in the course of this spring.”
EUROGROUP PRESIDENT JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER
“After a meeting of at least 13 hours, we have reached a far reaching agreement on Greece’s new program and private sector involvement that would lead to a significant debt reduction for Greece and pave the way towards an unprecedented amount of new official financing being provided by the EFSF to secure Greece’s future in the euro area.
“The debt to GDP ratio is expected to reach 120.5 percent by 2020 and program financing is estimated to amount to 130 billion until 2014.
“Greece will launch bond exchange offer in coming days.
“Given the balanced agreement reached with the creditor group led by the IIF and the fact that the package delivers debt sustainability for Greece we expect a high participation rate.”
ON PRIVATE SECTOR ROLE
“In order to show our good faith to the private sector the official sector will be making an important contribution.
“Creditors will implement a further lowering of lending margins of bilateral loans to Greece to 150 bps over the entire period of loans compared to the current margin of 200 bps over the first three years and 300 bps thereafter.
“This will bring the debt-to-GDP ratio down by 2.8 percent by 2020.
ON NATIONAL CENTRAL BANKS’ ROLE
“Governments of member states where central banks currently hold Greek bonds in their investment portfolios will commit to pass on to Greece an amount equal to any future income.
“This will lower financing needs by 1.8 billion euros.”
ON MONITORING OF ATHENS
“The Commission will reinforce the task force for Greece.
“The troika will also substantially reinforce its presence in Athens in order to counteract any slippage in Athens.
“In the meantime a mechanism will be put in place to better trace and monitor funds put in place to service Greece’s debt,” he said, referring to the setting up of an escrow-style account.
GERMAN FINANCE MINISTER WOLFGANG SCHAEUBLE
“The new program for Greece will be 100 bln euros plus 30 bln for the swap deal as agreed. To reach this, given the fresh numbers since the decision of the summit, the private sector had to move a bit further in negotiations. We agreed a haircut of 53.5 percent and the coupon for the new bonds will start at about 2 percent, will rise with time from 3 to 4.3 percent after 2020. In this way we will reach the reduction in debt.
“It’s a result that can be justified and that creates the preconditions to get Greece onto a sustainable return to economic health if the swap deal with private creditors is successful. We didn’t make it easy on ourselves. We insisted that the parameters of debt sustainability of 120 pct of GDP will be maintained just like the 130 billion as an upper limit for the second Greek program.
“All of that now depends on the reaction from the private sector and besides, it’s all conditional on Greece fulfilling the prior actions. Greece has agreed a number of measures but there are others… that it has to get onto the way legally by the end of the month. We also agreed that we as the eurogroup will check this immediately at the start of March on the basis of the troika report.
“The Commission has said it will significantly strengthen the use of staff for the monitoring, advice and support of Greek authorities in implementing these measures and we as member states have also said we’ d provide staff if wanted and requested.
ON IMF
“The IMF has promised it will take part in the new program, but the decision is not a foregone conclusion on the IMF board, so it’s not helpful for us in the eurogroup to talk about it. Madame Lagarde will make the proposal to the IMF board and it will agree. We have voiced our expectations but we also know that we have to accept that each member in the IMF board has its own responsibility.”
(Reporting Claire Davenport and Annika Breidthardt)
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Dollar debt set to remain sparse and steep in Asia

By Umesh Desai and Kelvin Soh
REUTERS – In a world awash with cheap cash from major central banks, it may seem ironic that companies in the top emerging market growth hotspot cannot get their hands on reasonably priced bank loans.
But Asia‘s credit landscape has changed dramatically over the past year and January provided the strongest evidence to date, with dollar lending by banks virtually non-existent except for the most pristine names — and at very rich prices.
Borrowers rushed into the more fickle and demanding bond markets, catching investors early in the year but still paying through their nose for the cash.
The flurry included eight top-tier Hong Kong-based companies that hit debt markets with a record $8 billion worth of dollar bonds in January.
“There’s never been a period with such a level of activity from Hong Kong corporates in the bond market. It’s unprecedented,” said Anthony Arnaudy, head of debt capital markets for North-east Asia at Standard Chartered Bank.
Hong Kong property developer Nan Fung International Holdings was a first time bond issuer in January, as was property firm Wheelock (0020.HK).
Spreads widened and yields soared. Bond issuers in Hong Kong paid a mark-up of as much as 4 percentage points above U.S. debt yields to secure 5-year funds, about 10 times more than they did in 2007 before the U.S. subprime crisis.
The risk, say bankers, is now of a long-term jump in funding costs in the region as U.S. and European banks stay away.
At first glance what has been happening in Asian credit markets might seem incongruous .
On the one hand, the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank have pumped cheap dollars and euros into the financial system to support their faltering economies. U.S. rates are set to stay near zero for at least two more years.
And yet corporates in fast-growing Asia are not able to get banks to lend them dollars or euros. This had not happened before. Not in 2009, and certainly not in any of the previous episodes when financial markets were this liquid.
But the past year has been different. The easiest carry trade in global markets has been disrupted by trussed up bank balance-sheets, the stringency of Basel III capital requirements and, most of all, the drawn out European debt crisis.
It’s not the best time to be seeking foreign currency loans, yet there’s potentially huge demand. At least $14 billion of dollar, euro and Hong Kong dollar denominated loans are scheduled to mature this year and might come up for refinancing.
And borrowers are sensing the terrain is not going to shift in their favour anytime soon. Hong Kong’s Nan Fung returned quickly to the dollar bond market with another issue this month, paying 5.15 percent for 5-year debt.
Others too, have been adapting to the changing game. Singapore’s MMI holdings decided to replace its loan with a bond, India’s Power Finance Corporation (PWFC.NS) had to cut the tenor on a loan proposal, and Hong Kong’s IFC Development both cut its bond offering by more than a third and upped its yield.
TAPS RUN DRY?
Forced by the turn in the credit cycle, borrowers have sought out alternate sources of funding, shifting to more liquid markets in Singapore or Japan.
Henderson Land (0012.HK), for instance, issued a S$200 million 5-year bond in Singapore late last year, while Cheung Kong Holdings (0001.HK), controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing, also raised its bond offerings in the city-state.
Even so, loan volumes have collapsed. Across Asia, there were 28 deals totalling $3.4 billion in January 2012, a tiny fraction of the 63 deals worth $19.5 billion in January 2011.
That is worrisome, given the mountain of loans to be refinanced in Asia this year. Australia has about $53 billion maturing this year, Hong Kong has $26 billion and Singapore has $17 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data.
“Even with the monetary easing, some banks are trying to preserve capital, which will have an effect on loan pricing,” said Benjamin Ng, head of Asia syndicate and acquisition finance at Citigroup.
One fear is that European banks, traditionally the biggest providers of foreign funding in Asia, will continue deleveraging. Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimate European banks, excluding British ones, have claims of about $680 billion on Asia.
No one is quite sure how much of that cash has left the region in 2011, but one thing is certain: these banks are not committing new funds to Asia. And the billions of euros the European authorities are injecting into their banking systems are simply being recycled into safe deposits at the ECB and government debt.
“Not surprisingly, pricing on Asian loans has not budged much and the higher pricing is here to stay for some time to come,” said Birendra Baid, head of loan syndication, Asia-Pacific at Deutsche Bank.
Local banks, such as Singapore’s DBS (DBSM.SI) and India’s ICICI Bank, have sensed there are rich pickings among the assets the Europeans are offloading.
The problem though is that the foreign currency part of their balance-sheets is already stretched, and Basel III will require them to be even more prudent about managing risk and liquidity.
Foreign currency loan growth at most Asian banks has hit the 40-70 percent annual pace, Morgan Stanley estimates, which means their lending in dollars has been far faster than the 15-20 percent average rise in overall credit.
Moreover, dollar deposit growth has not kept pace, which has meant the ratio of dollar loans to deposits is upwards of an unhealthy 100 percent for most Asian banks, particularly those in South Korea and Thailand.
In Korea for instance, savings banks, which are big non-banking lenders in the economy, deposited $5 billion with their local lobby group late last year, preferring low yields over any exposure to risk.
“I don’t think it is a crisis by any stretch,” said Viktor Hjort, head of Asian credit strategy at Morgan Stanley.
“What you have though is a situation where over the past two years Asia’s grown used to there being this very generous and very cheap access to dollar funding by Asian banks.
“That’s now much more constrained because lending has already expanded aggressively over the last few years and the European banks, historical providers of cheap wholesale funding, are pulling out.”
The implications are two-fold. One is the risk that Asian banks join the issuance queue aggressively, going on a dollar-funding binge as they try to cherry-pick assets and expand balance-sheets — what Morgan Stanley terms the “dollarisation” of Asian banks.
Australia’s Macquarie Bank kicked off that country’s yankee bond issuance for 2012 this week, offering 420 basis points over U.S. Treasury yields for a 5-year U.S. dollar bond.
The other risk is a more permanent jump in funding costs for Asia, at least until the U.S. and European banks are able to come back into the emerging market wholesale lending business. Even though private banks and funds have stepped into the space vacated by the banks, Asia’s funding needs are growing.
PRICIER DOLLARS
There has already been a marked jump in borrowing costs. And a simultaneous and worrying trend of banks invoking “market disruption clauses” to increase pricing on pre-committed loans to better reflect the rise in their own cost of funds.
One interesting example is the refinancing by the top-tier IFC Development Ltd in Hong Kong, which owns the building of the same name in the city’s business district. It initially wanted to borrow HK$17 billion, but had to slash it by 71 percent to HK$5 billion, hit by the liquidity squeeze. It also had to lift the pricing by about 20 percent to attract more lenders.
Hong Kong-based Kerry Properties (0683.HK) is currently offering 230 basis points for a HK$2.4 billion three-year loan, 70 percent or 135 bps higher than it paid on a five-year loan in January 2011.
Loan pricing in Hong Kong needs to be at least 200 basis points over HIBOR, even for top rated companies, according to several loan bankers. This is almost double what was being offered about a year ago.
The all-inclusive pricing for a 5-year loan for a BBB rated borrower in Australia is close to 300 bps, a jump of 100 bps since November.
Simon Milne, treasury consultant at iSelect, an Australian insurance broker, said borrowers were facing the most difficult market conditions he has ever seen.
Milne, who has more than 20 years experience in the Australian debt markets, including four as treasurer of gaming company Crown Ltd (CWN.AX), says top-tier firms are still able to get loans at competitive rates. It’s the mid-range corporates that are struggling. “The risk of pulling a deal has increased,” he said.
Across in India, the Export-Import Bank of India, a frequent borrower in offshore loan markets with a good following given its status as a wholly state-owned borrower, is borrowing up to $250 million for 3 years, paying an all-inclusive charge of 250 bps over Libor. That is nearly double the 140 bps over Libor that it paid on a US$150 million three-year loan in March 2011.
(Writing by Vidya Ranganathan; Additional reporting by Prakash Chakravarti, Jacqueline Poh, Michael Flaherty and Stephen Aldred in Hong Kong, Sharon Klyne in Sydney,; Sumeet Chatterjee in Mumbai and; Yoo Choonsik in Seoul; Editing by Alex Richardson)http://tourism9.com/    http://vkins.com/

Nuclear Energy Quarterly Deals Analysis – M&A and Investment Trends, Q4 2011

NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:
Nuclear Energy Quarterly Deals Analysis – M&A and Investment Trends, Q4 2011
http://www.reportlinker.com/p0369454/Nuclear-Energy-Quarterly-Deals-Analysis—MA-and-Investment-Trends-Q4-2011.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Nuclear_energy
Nuclear Energy Quarterly Deals Analysis – M&A and Investment Trends, Q4 2011
SummaryGlobalData’s “Nuclear Energy Quarterly Deals Analysis – M&A and Investment Trends, Q4 2011″ report is an essential source of data and trend analysis on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) and financings in the nuclear energy market. The report provides detailed information on M&As, equity and debt offerings, private equity and venture capital (PE/VC) and partnership transactions recorded in the nuclear energy industry in Q4 2011. The report provides detailed comparative data on the number of deals and their value in the last five quarters, categorized by deal types, segments and geographies. The report also provides information on the top advisory firms in the nuclear energy industry.
Data presented in this report is derived from GlobalData’s proprietary in-house Nuclear Energy eTrack deals database and primary and secondary research.
Scope
- Analyze market trends for the nuclear energy market in the global arena- Review of deal trends in uranium mining & processing, equipment and services, and power generation markets- Analysis of M&A, Equity/Debt Offerings, Private Equity, Venture Financing and Partnerships in the nuclear energy industry-
Summary
of nuclear energy deals globally in the last five quarters- Information on top deals happened in the nuclear energy industry- Geographies covered include – North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South & Central America, and Middle East & Africa- League Tables of financial advisors in M&A and equity/debt offerings. This includes key advisors such as Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Goldman Sachs
Reasons to buy
- Enhance your decision making capability in a more rapid and time sensitive manner- Find out the major deal performing segments for investments in your industry- Evaluate type of companies divesting / acquiring and ways to raise capital in the market- Do deals with an understanding of how competitors are financed, and the mergers and partnerships that have shaped the nuclear energy market- Identify major private equity/venture capital firms that are providing finance in the nuclear energy market- Identify growth segments and opportunities in each region within the industry- Look for key financial advisors where you are planning to raise capital from the market or for acquisitions within the industry- Identify top deals makers in the nuclear energy market1 Table of contents1 Table of contents 21.1 List of Tables 31.2 List of Figures 42 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Deals Summary 52.1 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Deals Analysis, Q4 2011 52.2 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Number of Deals by Type, Q4 2011 72.3 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top Deals, Q4 2011 83 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top Deal Makers, Q4 2011 94 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Deals Summary, by Type 104.1 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Mergers and Acquisitions, Q4 2011 104.1.1 Top M&As in Q4 2011 114.2 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Asset Transactions, Q4 2011 124.2.1 Top Asset Transactions in Q4 2011 134.3 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Equity Offerings, Q4 2011 144.3.1 Top Equity Offerings in Q4 2011 154.4 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Debt Offerings, Q4 2011 164.4.1 Top Debt Offerings in Q4 2011 174.5 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Partnerships, Q4 2011 184.5.1 Partnership Deals in Q4 2011 195 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Deals Summary, by Sector 205.1 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Uranium Mining and Processing Deals, Q4 2011 205.1.1 Uranium Mining and Processing – Deals of the Quarter 215.2 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Power Generation Deals, Q4 2011 225.2.1 Power Generation – Deals of the Quarter 235.3 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Equipment and Services Deals, Q4 2011 245.3.1 Equipment and Services – Deals of the Quarter 256 Nuclear Energy Industry, Deal Summary, by Geography 266.1 Nuclear Energy Industry, North America Deals, Q4 2011 266.1.1 North America – Deals of the Quarter 276.2 Nuclear Energy Industry, Europe Deals, Q4 2011 286.2.1 Europe – Deals of the Quarter 296.3 Nuclear Energy Industry, Asia-Pacific Deals, Q4 2011 306.3.1 Asia-Pacific – Deals of the Quarter 316.4 Nuclear Energy Industry, Rest of the World Deals, Q4 2011 326.4.1 Rest of the World – Deals of the Quarter 337 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top Advisors 347.1 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top Financial Advisors, M&A, Q1 2011-Q4 2011 347.2 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top Financial Advisors, Equity Offerings, Q1 2011-Q4 2011 357.3 Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top Financial Advisors, Debt Offerings, Q1 2011-Q4 2011 368 Further Information 378.1 Methodology 378.2 About GlobalData 378.3 Contact Us 388.4 Disclosure information 388.5 Disclaimer 38
List of Tables
Table 1: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Deals Summary, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 6Table 2: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Deals by Type, Number and %, Q4 2011 7Table 3: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top Deals, Q4 2011 8Table 4: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top Deal Makers, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2011 9Table 5: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Mergers and Acquisitions, Deal Summary, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 10Table 6: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top M&As, Q4 2011 11Table 7: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Asset Transactions, Deals Summary, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 12Table 8: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top Asset Transactions, Q4 2011 13Table 9: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Equity Offerings, Deals Summary, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 14Table 10: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top Equity Offerings, Q4 2011 15Table 11: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Debt Offerings, Deals Summary, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 16Table 12: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top Debt Offerings, Q4 2011 17Table 13: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Partnerships, Deals Summary, Number of Deals, Q4 2010-Q4 2011 18Table 14: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Uranium Mining and Processing Segment, Deals Summary, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 21Table 15: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Power Generation Segment, Deals Summary, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 22Table 16: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Equipment and Services Segment, Deals Summary, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 24Table 17: Nuclear Energy Industry, North America, Deals Summary, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 27Table 18: Nuclear Energy Industry, Europe, Deals Summary, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 28Table 19: Nuclear Energy Industry, Asia-Pacific, Deals Summary, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 30Table 20: Nuclear Energy Industry, Rest of the World, Deals Summary, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 32Table 21: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top Financial Advisors, Mergers and Acquisitions, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q1 2010-Q4 2011 34Table 22: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top Financial Advisors, Equity Offerings, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q1 2011-Q4 2011 35Table 23: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global Top Financial Advisors, Debt Offerings, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q1 2011-Q4 2011 36
List of Figures
Figure 1: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 5Figure 2: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Number of Deals by Type (%), Q4 2011 7Figure 3: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Mergers and Acquisitions, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 10Figure 4: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Asset Transactions, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 12Figure 5: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Equity Offerings, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 14Figure 6: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Debt Offerings, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 16Figure 7: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Partnerships, Number of Deals, Q4 2010-Q4 2011 18Figure 8: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Uranium Mining and Processing Segment, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 20Figure 9: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Power Generation Segment, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 22Figure 10: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Equipment and Services Segment, Number of Deals and Deal Values (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 24Figure 11: Nuclear Energy Industry, North America, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 26Figure 12: Nuclear Energy Industry, Europe, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 28Figure 13: Nuclear Energy Industry, Asia-Pacific, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 30Figure 14: Nuclear Energy Industry, Rest of the World, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q4 2010-Q4 2011 32Figure 15: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top Financial Advisors, Mergers and Acquisitions, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q1 2011-Q4 2011 34Figure 16: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top Financial Advisors, Equity Offerings, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q1 2011-Q4 2011 35Figure 17: Nuclear Energy Industry, Global, Top Financial Advisors, Debt Offerings, Number of Deals and Deal Value (US$m), Q1 2011-Q4 2011 36
To order this report:Nuclear energy Industry: Nuclear Energy Quarterly Deals Analysis – M&A and Investment Trends, Q4 2011
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Joint exploration of hydropower: Pakistan, Qatar may sign 2 MoUs

Saturday, 04 February 2012 09:00

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Qatar are likely to sign two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) according to which the two countries will jointly explore development of hydropower, identification of sources of financing, exploration of investment opportunities in energy sector, rehabilitation of existing hydropower plants and construction of National Highway and Motorway infrastructure, official sources told Business Recorder.
These MoUs, sources said, will be inked during the visit of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, scheduled for February 6-8.
They said that a draft of MoU has been prepared which will be signed between the Ministry of Water and Power and Ministry of Energy, Qatar.
The objective of this MoU is to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries, which will accelerate the process of providing energy access and sustainable power and water sector development cooperation for the benefit of both countries.
The Ministry of Energy of Qatar and Pakistan’s Ministry of Water and Power will cooperate in accordance with the MoU, subject to the relevant laws of each country, to jointly explore different avenues of cooperation.  The MoU will take effect on the date of its signing and will remain in force for a period of three years, unless earlier terminated or extended by mutual consent of the two countries.
Sources said that Ministry of Water and Power has examined the MoU and supports its signing as it pertains to hydropower development through joint research, transfer of technologies and capacity building. However, for procurement or construction of projects and in order to ensure transparency, relevant rules, instructions, international competitive bidding (ICB) and PPRA Rules shall be followed.  The MoU was referred to Law Division for vetting on January 30, 2012. Since the MoU will be signed during the Prime Minister’s visit to Qatar in the first week of February, the Ministry of Law and Justice should give its opinion in the Cabinet meeting.
Sources said that to create fiscal space to fund important projects of highways and motorways another MoU is likely to be signed with Qatar on provision of financial assistance through Qatar Development Fund (QDF).  Prime Minister, sources said, is also expected to discuss Afghanistan situation with his Qatari counterpart, in addition to situation in Arab countries.
Last month, Director General  Inter Services Intelligence(ISI), Lieutenant General Shuja Pasha (retired) visited Qatar to discuss matters relating to Afghanistan after which the United States of America (USA) allowed Afghanistan-based Taliban to open their offices in Qatar, aimed at facilitating talks between Afghan government, USA , Pakistan and other stakeholders.  Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar visited Kabul last week where she held meetings with her counterpart and Afghan President Hamid Karzai and discussed different options for peaceful resolution of Afghanistan dispute. -MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN

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» Pakistan struggling at 53-7 at lunch

DUBAI: Pakistan went into lunch at 53-7 on the opening day of the third and final Test against England at Dubai Stadium on Friday.At the break Asad Shafiq was 24 while Saeed Ajmal was one not out after Pakistan won the toss and elected to…

Verizon Investment Join $8M Round for Skyfire Labs

More Topics:
Posted January 26, 2012
Skyfire Labs, a leader in mobile video optimization and cloud solutions for mobility, today announced it has raised $8 million in its Series C financing. Verizon Investments LLC, a subsidiary of Verizon Communications Inc. participated in the round, alongside current investors Matrix Partners, Trinity Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Verizon’s investment was arranged by Verizon Ventures, which seeks promising entrepreneurial companies that complement Verizon networks and service platforms. Skyfire will use the funds to meet the demands of its growing list of wireless operator customers through increased engineering, sales and support resources, and also to expand into European and Asian markets.
“Wireless operators around the world are facing an explosion in mobile data on their networks, driven largely by mobile video,” said Andrew Verhalen, general partner at Matrix Partners. “Skyfire is well positioned with solutions for operators that can expand network capacity by over 25 percent, as well as generate incremental revenue.”
“Skyfire is poised to expand globally in 2012 after winning deployments with two tier-one operators in North America, and adding world-class international executive talent,” added Larry Orr, general partner at Trinity Ventures.
Concurrent with this latest financing, Skyfire has announced a new European footprint. John Rintoul has been named vice president of sales for Skyfire’s newly-opened EMEA office, based in London. Rintoul previously led sales with the Vodafone account for Cisco’s Mobile Internet Technology Group, and prior to that, was a sales executive at Starent Networks, Juniper Networks, and Kagoor Networks. Skyfire also announces Scott Boehmer has been named vice president of sales for Americas. Boehmer previously was vice president of sales for SEVEN networks, and a product executive at Sprint. Both regional leads will now report to Skyfire’s SVP Global Sales, Jason Guesman.
“Skyfire’s Rocket Optimizer product is delivering an average of 60 percent savings for operators on video bandwidth,” said Jeff Glueck, CEO of Skyfire. “We welcome the participation of Verizon, which is renowned for its network planning sophistication.”
Rocket Optimizer 2.0, the latest iteration of Skyfire’s powerful carrier-grade network video and data optimization platform, was launched in October 2011. With mobile video demand expected to rise steeply over the next three years, Rocket 2.0 aims to help carriers solve capacity issues linked to the rapid rise of mobile video streaming. The solution offers real-time optimization of mobile video to enable smoother streaming, and can be applied to specific cell towers or backhaul regions as soon as congestion is detected. Rocket Optimizer 2.0 also offers the broadest support for video formats, including the world’s first instant MP4 optimization (which comprises more than 50 percent of today’s mobile video, including most HTML5 and iOS video). By leveraging cloud computing power, Skyfire’s solution is highly cost effective to scale on both 3G and 4G LTE networks.
Full details about the Rocket 2.0 platform can be found here: http://www.skyfire.com/en/for-operators.
Skyfire also offers the Rocket Toolbar product line, a fully customizable web-based operator portal embedded in the default browser of new smartphones. The Rocket Toolbar adds value for users on every page of the Internet by making browsing more social, facilitating app discovery, m-commerce, and quick access to news updates. The Rocket Toolbar has been selected by a tier one North American carrier for upcoming deployment, and is in numerous trials across the U.S. and Europe.
Full details about the Rocket Toolbar platform can be found here:
http://www.skyfire.com/en/for-operators/rocke….
Skyfire will continue to maintain its consumer app business as a showcase and laboratory for its technology. Skyfire apps across Apple iOS® and Google Android® devices have been downloaded by over 12 million users.
To learn more about Skyfire, visit: http://www.skyfire.com.
About Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a leading global venture capital firm with over $2 billion of committed capital under management. Lightspeed’s investment professionals and advisors are located in Silicon Valley, China, India and Israel. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed more than 150 companies, many of which have become leaders in their respective markets, including Blue Nile, Brocade, Calista, Ciena, DoubleClick, eHealth, Galileo Technology, Growth Networks, Informatica, Kiva Software, LightLogic, Maker Communications, Metasolv, Openwave, Quantum Effect Devices, Riverbed, Sirocco, Virsa Systems and Waveset.
About Matrix Partners
Matrix Partners is a premier venture capital firm that has generated outstanding returns for more than three decades. By focusing on early-stage investments and emphasizing long-term relationships with entrepreneurs, the firm has delivered several of the industry’s top performing funds of all time. Matrix Partners has offices in Cambridge and Waltham, MA; New York, NY; Palo Alto, CA; Mumbai, India; and Beijing and Shanghai, China. Matrix Partners has invested in several game-changing, industry-leading businesses such as Apple Computer, Gilt Groupe, JBoss, Netezza, Phone.com, Polyvore, Starent Networks, Sycamore Networks, Veritas, Zendesk, and Zong.
About Trinity Ventures
Founded in 1986, Trinity Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm dedicated to partnering with passionate entrepreneurs to transform revolutionary ideas into reality. With over $1 billion under management, Trinity Ventures believes in personal engagement, mutual respect and goal alignment with the entrepreneurs. Trinity focuses on early stage and seed technology investments with particular emphasis on social shopping and entertainment, cloud computing, mobility, and internet infrastructure areas.
Trinity Ventures has invested in such leading companies as Aruba Networks, 21Vianet, Blue Nile, LoopNet, Photobucket, SciQuest, Starbucks, BeachMint, Infoblox, Trion Worlds and Zulily.
About Verizon Ventures
Verizon Ventures arranges investments in promising entrepreneurial companies to drive innovation in Verizon Communications Inc. The portfolio arranged by Verizon Ventures focuses on new products, technologies, applications and services that complement Verizon networks, service platforms and distribution channels. Deal size ranges from seed capital to $5 million depending on the needs and opportunities. Verizon Ventures often arranges investments with other venture firms and strategic partners.
About Skyfire:
Skyfire is dedicated to leveraging the power of cloud computing to improve radically the mobile Internet experience for both Operators and Consumers. Skyfire’s solutions provide game-changing cost savings, better end-user experiences, and compelling incremental revenue opportunities. Skyfire was recently recognized as no. 4 on Light Reading’s 2011 Startups to Watch list; and by OnMobile as a Top 100 Private Company. As both a laboratory and showcase for new capabilities, Skyfire has honed its technology through a variety of consumer apps, which have more than 12 million downloads to date.
Skyfire is based in Mountain View, Calif., in the heart of Silicon Valley.

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AMD Reports Fourth Quarter and Annual Results

SUNNYVALE, CA–(Marketwire -01/24/12)- AMD (NYSE: AMD – News)
Q4 2011 Results

• AMD revenue $1.69 billion, flat sequentially and increased two percent year-over-year
• Net loss $177 million, loss per share $0.24, operating income $71 million
• Non-GAAP(1) net income $138 million, earnings per share $0.19, operating income $172 million
• Gross margin 46 percent

2011 Annual Results

• AMD revenue $6.57 billion, flat year-over-year
• Net income $491 million, earnings per share $0.66, operating income $368 million
• Non-GAAP(1) net income $374 million, earnings per share $0.50, operating income $524 million
• Gross margin 45 percent
• More than 30 million Accelerated Processor Unit (APU) shipments in 2011 drives record annual notebook revenue

AMD (NYSE: AMD – News) today announced revenue for the fourth quarter of 2011 of $1.69 billion, net loss of $177 million, or $0.24 per share, and operating income of $71 million. The company reported non-GAAP net income of $138 million, or $0.19 per share, and non-GAAP operating income of $172 million. Fourth quarter non-GAAP net income excludes an impairment of AMD’s investment in GLOBALFOUNDRIES of $209 million, restructuring charges of $98 million, the loss from discontinued operations of $4 million, the amortization of acquired intangible assets of $3 million and a loss on debt repurchase of $1 million.
For the year ended December 31, 2011, AMD reported revenue of $6.57 billion, net income of $491 million, or $0.66 per share, and operating income of $368 million. Full year non-GAAP net income was $374 million, or $0.50 per share, and non-GAAP operating income was $524 million.
“AMD shipped more than 30 million APU’s in 2011, resulting in record annual notebook revenue,” said Rory Read, AMD president and CEO. “The unmatched combination of computing and graphics capabilities in our low-power ‘Brazos’ platform has made it our fastest ramping platform ever, paving the way for continued growth in key segments and geographies. Our server business has re-gained momentum, delivering two consecutive quarters of strong sequential growth.
“We continued optimizing our financial model in 2011, consistently delivering operating income and creating the foundation for sustained success. We begin 2012 clear on our priorities and opportunities. We are building an AMD that consistently delivers on its commitments.”

GAAP Financial Results(2)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q4-11         Q3-11      Q4-10        2011        2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revenue            $1.69B       $1.69B      $1.65B      $6.57B      $6.49B
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating
income             $71M         $138M      $413M       $368M       $848M
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Net income
(loss) /
Earnings
(loss) per
share        $(177)M/$(0.24) $97M/$0.13 $375M/$0.50 $491M/$0.66 $471M/$0.64
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Non-GAAP Financial Results(1)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q4-11       Q3-11       Q4-10        2011        2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revenue             $1.69B      $1.69B      $1.65B      $6.57B      $6.49B
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating income    $172M       $146M       $141M       $524M       $553M
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Net income /
Earnings per
share           $138M/$0.19 $110M/$0.15 $106M/$0.14 $374M/$0.50 $360M/$0.49
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quarterly Summary

• Gross margin was 46 percent, a sequential increase of one percent.
• Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities balance, including long-term marketable securities, was $1.91 billion at the end of the quarter.
• Computing Solutions segment revenue increased two percent sequentially and seven percent year-over-year. The sequential increase was driven by double digit growth in Server and Chipset revenue. The year-over-year increase was driven by higher mobile processor and Chipset revenue.
  • Operating income was $165 million, compared with $149 million in Q3 11 and $91 million in Q4 10.
  • Microprocessor ASP increased sequentially and was flat year-over-year.
  • AMD launched its “Bulldozer”-based AMD Opteron™ 6200 Series and AMD Opteron 4200 Series processors, delivering industry-leading performance(3) for business, increased scalability for virtualization and more efficient economics for the cloud.
    • HP introduced five new ProLiant systems, including the industry’s fastest dual-socket database server.
    • Dell introduced four new PowerEdge systems, including the world’s most power-efficient blade server. The AMD-powered PowerEdge R715 was awarded Technology of the Year from InfoWorld magazine based on its outstanding virtualization performance.
    • The AMD Opteron 6200 Series Processors were honored with the Analysts’ Choice Award for Best Server Processor by the Linley Group and “Technology of the Year” from InfoWorld.
    • AMD Opteron processor adoption in the HPC market continued, as the National Science Foundation announced a new supercomputer at the University of Illinois’ National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) will be powered by approximately 50,000 AMD Opteron 6200 series processors.
  • Worldwide demand for AMD APUs continued to increase throughout the fourth quarter. AMD shipped more than 30 million APUs in 2011, including a record number of mobile processors found in notebooks from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI Samsung, Sony and Toshiba.
  • AMD introduced new A-Series notebook and desktop APUs that offer improved performance and enhanced features. We expect that systems based on the refreshed A-Series APU will be offered from the world’s largest PC companies in early 2012.
• Graphics segment revenue decreased five percent sequentially and 10 percent year-over-year. The sequential decrease was driven primarily by a decline in mobile graphics processor unit (GPU) shipments, partially offset by a seasonal increase in game console revenue. The year-over-year decrease was primarily driven by decreased desktop and Add-in Board (AIB) graphics revenue.
  • Operating income was $27 million, compared with $12 million in Q3 11 and $68 million in Q4 10.
  • GPU ASP increased sequentially and year-over-year.
  • In December, AMD launched the world’s fastest single-GPU graphics card(4) and the first member of its AMD Radeon™ HD 7000 Series graphics family, the AMD Radeon HD 7970. The HD 7970 delivers up to 150% performance improvement per square millimeter compared to our previous generation GPU, and is the industry’s first 28nm GPU(5).
  • AMD launched the AMD Radeon HD 7000M series mobile graphics processors for smaller form factor notebooks. Both HP and Lenovo announced new notebooks powered by the new GPU.
  • AMD is the industry leader in leading-edge graphics technology, having shipped more than 100 million DirectX® 11 graphics engines across its GPUs and APUs that enable superior visual experiences.
• Corporate
  • The Company announced a restructuring plan and implementation of operational efficiency initiatives designed to strengthen the Company’s competitive positioning. The Company plans to reinvest a significant portion of the anticipated savings to fund initiatives designed to accelerate AMD’s strategies for lower power, emerging markets, and the cloud.
  • AMD strengthened its leadership team with the additions of Mark Papermaster as senior vice president and chief technology officer, Rajan Naik as senior vice president and chief strategy officer, and Dr. Lisa Su as senior vice president and general manager, global business units.

Current Outlook
AMD’s outlook statements are based on current expectations. The following statements are forward-looking, and actual results could differ materially depending on market conditions and the factors set forth under “Cautionary Statement” below.
AMD expects revenue to decrease eight percent, plus or minus three percent, sequentially for the first quarter of 2012.
For additional detail regarding AMD’s results and outlook please see the CFO commentary posted at quarterlyearnings.amd.com.
AMD Teleconference
AMD will hold a conference call for the financial community at 2:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. ET) today to discuss its fourth quarter financial results. AMD will provide a real-time audio broadcast of the teleconference on the Investor Relations page of its Web site at AMD. The webcast will be available for 10 days after the conference call.
Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income (Loss) to Non-GAAP Net Income(1)

------------------------------------------------
(Millions except per share
amounts)                         Q4-11           Q3-11           Q4-10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GAAP net income (loss) /
Earnings (loss) per share    $(177) $(0.24)     $97   $0.13    $375   $0.50
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross margin benefit due
to deconsolidation of
GLOBALFOUNDRIES                 -       -       -       -       -       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deconsolidation gain on
the fair value assessment
of investment in
GLOBALFOUNDRIES                 -       -       -       -       -       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity income (loss) and
dilution gain in
investee, net                   -       -       -       -      27    0.05
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Payment to GLOBALFOUNDRIES       -       -       -       -       -       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Impairment of investment
in GLOBALFOUNDRIES          (209)  (0.28)       -       -       -       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non-GAAP net income
excluding GLOBALFOUNDRIES
related items                    32    0.04      97    0.13     348    0.47
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amortization of acquired
intangible assets           (3)       -     (8)  (0.01)    (11)  (0.01)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legal settlement               -       -       -       -     283    0.39
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Income tax related to
legal settlement              -       -       -       -    (47)  (0.06)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gain on investment sale        -       -       -       -      17    0.02
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loss on debt repurchase      (1)       -     (5)  (0.01)       -       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Restructuring (charges)
reversals, net             (98)  (0.13)       -       -       -       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loss from discontinued
operations*                 (4)  (0.01)       -       -       -       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non-GAAP net income /
Earnings per share             $138   $0.19    $110   $0.15    $106   $0.14
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Loss on discontinued operations consists of charges related to the sale of
our DTV division to Broadcom which occurred in 2008.

--------------------------------
(Millions except per share
amounts)                          2011            2010
------------------------------------------------------------
GAAP net income (loss) /
Earnings (loss) per share      $491   $0.66    $471   $0.64
------------------------------------------------------------
Gross margin benefit due
to deconsolidation of
GLOBALFOUNDRIES                 -       -      69    0.09
------------------------------------------------------------
Deconsolidation gain on
the fair value assessment
of investment in
GLOBALFOUNDRIES                 -       -     325    0.44
------------------------------------------------------------
Equity income (loss) and
dilution gain in
investee, net                 492    0.66   (462)  (0.63)
------------------------------------------------------------
Payment to GLOBALFOUNDRIES    (24)  (0.03)       -       -
------------------------------------------------------------
Impairment of investment
in GLOBALFOUNDRIES          (209)  (0.28)       -       -
------------------------------------------------------------
Non-GAAP net income
excluding GLOBALFOUNDRIES
related items                   232    0.31     539    0.73
------------------------------------------------------------
Amortization of acquired
intangible assets          (29)  (0.04)    (61)  (0.08)
------------------------------------------------------------
Legal settlement             (5)  (0.01)     283    0.39
------------------------------------------------------------
Income tax related to
legal settlement              -       -    (47)  (0.06)
------------------------------------------------------------
Gain on investment sale        -       -      24    0.03
------------------------------------------------------------
Loss on debt repurchase      (6)  (0.01)    (24)  (0.03)
------------------------------------------------------------
Restructuring (charges)
reversals, net             (98)  (0.13)       4    0.01
------------------------------------------------------------
Loss from discontinued
operations*                 (4)  (0.01)       -       -
------------------------------------------------------------
Non-GAAP net income /
Earnings per share             $374   $0.50    $360   $0.49
------------------------------------------------------------
* Loss on discontinued operations consists of charges
related to the sale of our DTV division to Broadcom which
occurred in 2008.

Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP
Operating Income(1)
----------------------------------------
(Millions)                            Q4-11   Q3-11   Q4-10    2011    2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GAAP operating income                    $71    $138    $413    $368    $848
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross margin benefit due to the
deconsolidation of GLOBALFOUNDRIES        -       -       -       -      69
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Payment to GLOBALFOUNDRIES                 -       -       -    (24)       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amortization of acquired intangible
assets                                  (3)     (8)    (11)    (29)    (61)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legal settlement                           -       -     283     (5)     283
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Restructuring (charges) reversals,
net                                    (98)       -       -    (98)       4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non-GAAP operating income               $172    $146    $141    $524    $553
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Gross Margin (1)
----------------------------------------
(Millions except percentages)         Q4-11   Q3-11   Q4-10    2011    2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GAAP Gross Margin                       $773    $756    $743  $2,940  $2,961
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GAAP Gross Margin %                      46%     45%     45%     45%     46%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross margin benefit due to the
deconsolidation of GLOBALFOUNDRIES        -       -       -       -      69
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Payment to GLOBALFOUNDRIES                 -       -       -    (24)       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legal settlement                           -       -       -     (5)       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non-GAAP Gross Margin                   $773    $756    $743  $2,969  $2,892
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non-GAAP Gross Margin %                  46%     45%     45%     45%     45%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

About AMDAMD (NYSE: AMD – News) is a semiconductor design innovator leading the next era of vivid digital experiences with its groundbreaking AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) that power a wide range of computing devices. AMD’s server computing products are focused on driving industry-leading cloud computing and virtualization environments. AMD’s superior graphics technologies are found in a variety of solutions ranging from game consoles, PCs to supercomputers. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.
Cautionary StatementThis release contains forward-looking statements concerning AMD, its first quarter 2012 revenue, its future growth in key segments and geographies, the momentum of its server business, its ability to deliver sustained success, the timing of future products that incorporate the company’s products, and the company’s restructuring plan implemented in the fourth quarter of 2011, the anticipated operational savings resulting from the restructuring and the company’s plans for reinvesting these savings, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are commonly identified by words such as “would,” “may,” “expects,” “believes,” “plans,” “intends,” “projects,” and other terms with similar meaning. Investors are cautioned that the forward-looking statements in this release are based on current beliefs, assumptions and expectations, speak only as of the date of this release and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. Risks include the possibility that Intel Corporation’s pricing, marketing and rebating programs, product bundling, standard setting, new product introductions or other activities targeting the company’s business will prevent attainment of the company’s current plans; the company will be unable to develop, launch and ramp new products and technologies in the volumes and mix required by the market and at mature yields on a timely basis; GLOBALFOUNDRIES will be unable to manufacture the company’s products on a timely basis in sufficient quantities and using competitive technologies; the company will be unable to obtain sufficient manufacturing capacity or components to meet demand for its products or will under-utilize its commitment with respect to GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ microprocessor manufacturing facilities; the company will be unable to transition its products to advanced manufacturing process technologies in a timely and effective way; global business and economic conditions will not continue to improve or will worsen resulting in lower than currently expected demand; demand for computers and consumer electronics products and, in turn, demand for the company’s products will be lower than currently expected; customers stop buying the company’s products or materially reduce their demand for its products; the company will require additional funding and may not be able to raise funds on favorable terms or at all; there will be unexpected variations in market growth and demand for the company’s products and technologies in light of the product mix that it may have available at any particular time or a decline in demand; and the company will be unable to maintain the level of investment in research and development that is required to remain competitive. Investors are urged to review in detail the risks and uncertainties in the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 1, 2011.
AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Opteron, AMD Radeon, and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other names are for informational purposes only and used to identify companies and products and may be trademarks of their respective owner.
(1) In this press release, in addition to GAAP financial results, the Company has provided non-GAAP financial measures, including for non-GAAP net income excluding GLOBALFOUNDRIES related items, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP earnings per share and non-GAAP gross margin. These non-GAAP financial measures reflect certain adjustments as presented in the tables in this press release. The Company also provided Adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP Adjusted free cash flow as supplemental measures of its performance. These items are defined in the footnotes to the selected corporate data tables provided at the end of this press release. The Company is providing these financial measures because it believes this non-GAAP presentation makes it easier for investors to compare its operating results for current and historical periods and also because the Company believes it assists investors in comparing the Company’s performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that it does not believe are indicative of its core operating performance and for the other reasons described in the footnotes to the selected data tables. Refer to corresponding tables at the end of this press release for additional AMD data.
(2) For the year 2010, the Company accounted for its investment in GLOBALFOUNDRIES under the equity method of accounting. Starting in the first quarter of 2011, the Company started accounting for its investment in GLOBALFOUNDRIES under the cost method of accounting.
(3) The highest 2P TPC-C performance score ever was achieved by an AMD Opteron™ processor-powered server. Based on results published by the Transaction Processing Performance Council as of November 15, 2011, an AMD Opteron™ processor-based server achieved the highest TPC-C performance score of any 2P server. 1,207,982 tpmC using 2 x AMD Opteron™ processors Model 6282 SE in HP ProLiant DL385 G7 server, 512GB memory, Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition, Microsoft® SQL Server® 2005 Enterprise x64 Edition SP3. http://www.tpc.org/results/individual_results/HP/HP_ProLiant_DL385G7_TPCC_111114_01_es.pdf. For the latest TPC-C results, visit www.tpc.org. TPC Benchmark and TPC-C are trademarks of the Transaction Processing Performance Council. SVR-105
(4) As of December 22, 2011, the AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 scores in excess of X2700 in 3DMark® 11, the highest single-GPU graphics card score achieved on a stock platform to date.
(5) The AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 Series GPU offers more than 1.54X times the compute power/mm2 when compared to the AMD Radeon™ HD 6970 Series GPU: the AMD Radeon™ HD 6970 Series GPU has been calculated at 2.703 TFLOPs of compute power with a measured die size of 389mm2, while the AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 Series GPU has been calculated at 3.789 TFLOPs of compute power with a die size of 352mm2.

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(Millions except per share amounts and percentages)

Quarter Ended                Year Ended
-------------------------------  --------------------
Dec. 31,   Oct. 1,    Dec. 25,   Dec. 31,   Dec. 25,
2011       2011       2010       2011       2010

---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Net revenue           $   1,691  $   1,690  $   1,649  $   6,568  $   6,494

Cost of sales               918        934        906      3,628      3,533

---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Gross margin                773        756        743      2,940      2,961

Gross margin %               46%        45%        45%        45%        46%

Research and
development                358        361        352      1,453      1,405

Marketing, general
and administrative         243        249        250        992        934

Legal settlement              -          -       (283)         -       (283)

Amortization of
acquired intangible
assets                       3          8         11         29         61

Restructuring charges
(reversals), net            98          -          -         98         (4)

---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Operating income             71        138        413        368        848

Interest income               2          3          2         10         11
Interest expense            (43)       (42)       (39)      (180)      (199)
Other income
(expense), net            (207)        (7)        14       (199)       311

---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Income before equity
income (loss) and
dilution gain in
investee and income
taxes                     (177)        92        390         (1)       971

Provision (benefit)
for income taxes            (4)        (5)        42         (4)        38

Equity income (loss)
and dilution gain in
investee, net                -          -         27        492       (462)

---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Income (loss) from
continuing
operations           $    (173) $      97  $     375  $     495  $     471

Loss from
discontinued
operations, net of
tax                         (4)         -          -         (4)         -

---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Net income (loss)     $    (177) $      97  $     375  $     491  $     471

---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Net income (loss) per
share
Basic
Continuing
operations       $   (0.24) $    0.13  $    0.52  $    0.68  $    0.66
Discontinued
operations           (0.01)         -          -      (0.01)         -
---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Basic net income
(loss) per share   $   (0.24) $    0.13  $    0.52  $    0.68  $    0.66

Diluted
Continuing
operations       $   (0.24) $    0.13  $    0.50  $    0.67  $    0.64
Discontinued
operations           (0.01)         -          -      (0.01)         -
---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Diluted net income
(loss) per share   $   (0.24) $    0.13  $    0.50  $    0.66  $    0.64

---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Shares used in per
share calculation

Basic                     732        729        717        727        711

Diluted                   732        741        758        742        733

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Millions)

---------  ---------  ---------
Dec. 31,   Oct. 1,    Dec. 25,
2011       2011       2010
---------  ---------  ---------

Assets

Current assets:
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable
securities                               $   1,765  $   1,807  $   1,789
Accounts receivable, net                        919        908        968
Inventories, net                                476        540        632
Prepaid expenses and other current assets        69        157        205

---------  ---------  ---------

Total current assets                      3,229      3,412      3,594

Long-term marketable securities                   149         50          -
Property, plant and equipment, net                726        697        700
Investment in GLOBALFOUNDRIES                     278        486          -
Goodwill                                          323        323        323
Other assets                                      249        268        347

---------  ---------  ---------

Total Assets                                $   4,954  $   5,236  $   4,964
=========  =========  =========

Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity

Current liabilities:
Accounts payable                          $     363  $     467  $     376
Accounts payable to GLOBALFOUNDRIES             177        151        205
Accrued liabilities                             550        590        698
Deferred income on shipments to
distributors                                   123        131        143
Other short-term obligations                      -          -        229
Current portion of long-term debt and
capital lease obligations                      489        489          4
Other current liabilities                        72         27         19

---------  ---------  ---------

Total current liabilities                 1,774      1,855      1,674

Long-term debt and capital lease
obligations, less current portion              1,527      1,571      2,188
Other long-term liabilities                        63         66         89

Stockholders' equity:
Capital stock:
Common stock, par value                         7          7          7
Additional paid-in capital                  6,672      6,652      6,575
Treasury stock, at cost                      (107)      (107)      (102)
Accumulated deficit                          (4,977)    (4,800)    (5,468)
Accumulated other comprehensive income
(loss)                                          (5)        (8)         1
---------  ---------  ---------

Total stockholders' equity                1,590      1,744      1,013

---------  ---------  ---------

Total Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity  $   4,954  $   5,236  $   4,964
=========  =========  =========

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
(Millions)
Quarter
Ended      Year Ended
-----------  -----------
Dec. 31,     Dec. 31
2011         2011
-----------  -----------
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income (loss)                                $      (177) $       491
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash
provided by operating activities:
Equity in net (gain) loss of investee                    -         (492)
Impairment charge of GF investment                     209          209
Depreciation and amortization                           70          317
Compensation recognized under employee stock
plans                                                  21           90
Non-cash interest expense                                5           21
Net gain on sale of marketable securities               (1)          (4)
Other                                                   (5)           2
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable                                    (10)        (347)
Inventories                                             65          157
Prepaid expenses and other current assets               73          115
Other assets                                             2           (1)
Accounts payable to GLOBALFOUNDRIES                     26          (28)
Accounts payable, accrued liabilities and
other                                                 (91)        (148)
-----------  -----------
Net cash provided by operating activities          $       187  $       382
-----------  -----------

Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property, plant and equipment               (87)        (250)
Proceeds from sale of property, plant, and
equipment                                                 -           16
Purchases of available-for-sale securities              (125)      (1,586)
Proceeds from sale and maturity of available-
for-sale securities                                     311        1,726
Other                                                     (2)         (19)
-----------  -----------
Net cash provided by (used in) investing
activities                                        $        97  $      (113)
-----------  -----------

Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from borrowings, net of issuance cost             -          170
Net proceeds from foreign grants                          10           20
Proceeds from issuance of AMD common stock                 1           18
Repayments of debt and capital lease obligations         (51)        (209)
Other                                                      -           (5)
-----------  -----------
Net cash used in financing activities              $       (40) $        (6)
-----------  -----------
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents                  244          263
-----------  -----------
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period   $       625  $       606
-----------  -----------
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period         $       869  $       869
-----------  -----------

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC.
SELECTED CORPORATE DATA
(Millions except headcount)

Quarter Ended               Year Ended
------------------------------------------------------- --------------------
Dec. 31,   Oct. 2,    Dec. 25,  Dec. 31,   Dec. 25,
Segment and Category
Information               2011       2011       2010      2011       2010

-------------------------------- --------------------

Computing Solutions (1)
Net revenue           $   1,309  $   1,286  $   1,219 $   5,002  $   4,817
Operating income      $     165  $     149  $      91 $     556  $     529

Graphics (2)
Net revenue                 382        403        424     1,565      1,663
Operating income             27         12         68        51        149

All Other (3)
Net revenue                   -          1          6         1         14
Operating income
(loss)                    (121)       (23)       254      (239)       170

Total
Net revenue           $   1,691  $   1,690  $   1,649 $   6,568  $   6,494
Operating income      $      71  $     138  $     413 $     368  $     848

------------------------------------------------------- --------------------

Other Data

Depreciation and
amortization
(excluding
amortization of
acquired intangible
assets)              $      67  $      71  $      78 $     288  $     322
Capital additions     $      87  $      58  $      38 $     250  $     148
Adjusted EBITDA (4)   $     260  $     239  $     241 $     902  $   1,031
Cash, cash
equivalents and
marketable
securities (5)       $   1,914  $   1,857  $   1,789 $   1,914  $   1,789
Adjusted free cash
flow (6)             $     100  $     131  $      11 $     528  $     355
Total assets          $   4,954  $   5,236  $   4,964 $   4,954  $   4,964
Long-term debt and
capital lease
obligations,
including current
portion              $   2,016  $   2,060  $   2,192 $   2,016  $   2,192
Headcount                11,093     12,019     11,068    11,093     11,068

------------------------------------------------------- --------------------

See footnotes below

(1) Computing Solutions segment includes microprocessors, chipsets and
embedded processors.

(2) Graphics segment includes graphics, video and multimedia products
developed for use in desktop and notebook computers, including home
media PCs, professional workstations and servers and also includes
revenue received in connection with the development and sale of game
console systems that incorporate the Company's graphics technology.

(3) All Other category includes certain operating expenses and credits that
are not allocated to the operating segments. Also included in this
category are amortization of acquired intangible assets and
restructuring charges. It also includes the results of the Handheld
business unit because the operating results of this business unit were
not material.

(4) AMD reconciliation of GAAP operating income to Adjusted EBITDA*

Quarter Ended               Year Ended
------------------------------ --------------------
Dec. 31,  Oct. 1,   Dec. 25,   Dec. 31,  Dec. 25,
2011      2011      2010       2011      2010
------------------------------ --------------------
GAAP operating income    $      71 $     138 $     413  $     368 $     848
Payments to
GLOBALFOUNDRIES               -         -         -         24         -
Legal settlement               -         -      (283)         5      (283)
Depreciation and
amortization                 67        71        78        288       322
Employee stock-based
compensation expense         21        22        22         90        87
Amortization of
acquired intangible
assets                        3         8        11         29        61
Restructuring charges
(reversals), net             98         -         -         98        (4)
------------------------------ --------------------
Adjusted EBITDA          $     260 $     239 $     241  $     902 $   1,031
============================== ====================

(5) Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities also include the long-
term portion of marketable securities.

(6) Non-GAAP adjusted free cash flow reconciliation**

Quarter Ended                Year Ended
-------------------------------- ---------------------
Dec. 31,   Oct. 1,    Dec. 25,   Dec. 31,   Dec. 25,
2011       2011       2010       2011       2010
-------------------------------- ---------------------
GAAP net cash
provided by (used
in) operating
activities           $     187  $     189  $    (213) $     382  $    (412)
Non-GAAP adjustment         -          -        262        396        915
-------------------------------- ---------------------
Non-GAAP net cash
provided by
operating activities       187        189         49        778        503
Purchases of
property, plant
and equipment            (87)       (58)       (38)      (250)      (148)
-------------------------------- ---------------------
Non-GAAP adjusted
free cash flow       $     100  $     131  $      11  $     528  $     355
================================ =====================

* The Company presents "Adjusted EBITDA" as a supplemental measure of its
performance. Adjusted EBITDA for the Company is determined by adjusting
operating income for depreciation and amortization, employee stock-based
compensation expense and amortization of acquired intangible assets. In
addition, for the fourth quarter of 2011 and fiscal 2011, the Company
included an adjustment for restructuring charges and reversals, net; for the
fourth quarter of 2010 and fiscal 2010, the Company also included an
adjustment related to its legal settlement with Samsung; and for fiscal
2011, the Company included an adjustment related to a payment to GF. The
Company calculates and communicates Adjusted EBITDA in the financial
schedules because the Company's management believes it is of importance to
investors and lenders in relation to its overall capital structure and its
ability to borrow additional funds. In addition, the Company presents
Adjusted EBITDA because it believes this measure assists investors in
comparing its performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by
excluding items that the Company does not believe are indicative of its core
operating performance. The Company's calculation of Adjusted EBITDA may or
may not be consistent with the calculation of this measure by other
companies in the same industry. Investors should not view Adjusted EBITDA as
an alternative to the GAAP operating measure of operating income (loss) or
GAAP liquidity measures of cash flows from operating, investing and
financing activities. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA does not take into
account changes in certain assets and liabilities as well as interest and
income taxes that can affect cash flows.

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Ask the Elder Law Attorney: Disclosures and Loans

Craig Reaves, past president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, practices elder law in Kansas City, Mo., and fields occasional questions from New Old Age readers. Submit yours to newoldage@nytimes.com. Please limit your queries to general legal issues, as Mr. Reaves cannot respond with individualized legal advice. Questions have been edited and condensed.
After my mother died in 2006, my father’s doctor said he shouldn’t be left alone. Apparently Mom was covering for him. I’d visited seven weeks earlier and had not recognized how advanced his dementia had become.
Their will, stored in a safe, indicated that two of my sisters should manage things if both parents died. So the family — eight siblings in all — agreed that these two should have legal authority. They were added to financial accounts and given power of attorney. No one was in a position to care for my father, so he moved into a care facility, first in Florida, now in Michigan. He’s in relatively good health at age 80, cheerful on most days. He still knows me.
We siblings have had some squabbles regarding the sale of my parents’ house and other issues. Their estate was not large, probably under $350,000; given my father’s condition, it was always a concern whether he could pay for the care he needed.
I’ve requested, from both sisters who are managing things, some kind of statement as to exactly what Dad’s financial status is. These requests have fallen on deaf ears at times and been met with fury at other times. One sister, who’s slightly more forthcoming, recently told me that Dad has about 18 months of long-term care insurance coverage remaining. After that, he probably has enough money for another 18 months’ care.
Do I have any way to compel my sisters to share what I believe they already should have? Friends have warned that their secrecy in itself could mean unethical goings-on. I’m worried that in three years, they’ll ask me for a significant contribution — even greater than a one-eighth share, because some siblings can’t afford to help at all. That will present a wrenching quandary; I’ve accumulated much less myself than the $350,000 Dad started with. He may yet live a good long while, and I’d like to find a way to help my family avoid becoming more anxious about money as time goes on.
Gina
Phoenix, Ariz.
Unfortunately, this is not an unusual story. I strongly suggest that you contact an elder law attorney in the state where your father resides. Every state has its own statutes governing durable powers of attorney, and they can be very different. Whether an attorney-in-fact — meaning the person appointed by the power-of-attorney document to act on another’s behalf — has a duty to keep other heirs and siblings informed will depend on how the document is worded, the applicable state law and the facts of the situation.
Generally, though, the attorney-in-fact owes a fiduciary obligation to the principal (your father, in this case), not his heirs (the rest of the family). Unless the law or the document requires disclosure, an attorney-in-fact is usually not required to share any details with the heirs. She may even be prohibited from doing so.
There may be extenuating circumstances in this case, though, since all the children at one point apparently agreed to contribute time and effort to help their father. Moreover, I’m unsure what you mean when you say that your sisters were added to your father’s financial accounts. It may make a difference whether their names were only added as agents for your father or as joint owners of the accounts.
If directly approaching the attorneys-in-fact brings no satisfaction, and especially if you’re concerned that your sisters may be taking advantage of your father, you can petition the probate court in his county to appoint a guardian or conservator for him.
That will not only provide court oversight but will give you and your siblings access to your father’s financial information. And it will provide a forum in which you can air grievances about your father’s situation. The court will make sure that your father won’t be taken advantage of.
This can be an expensive solution, though, and it is probably a last resort. Perhaps the mere threat of going to court will convince your sisters to be more forthcoming about what they’re doing.
By the way, if your father runs out of money for his long-term care, he should qualify for Medicaid assistance. It generally won’t become his children’s responsibility to pay for his care themselves.
My ex-husband died five months after we divorced. My minor children are his sole heirs. All the accounts and assets were probated, and I was made legal representative. Now my ex-father-in-law is suing the estate for $2,800 in “loans” he made to his son when my ex’s business was slow in 2010.
What proof does he need to provide that this was not just a gift? He may just be trying to hurt me. I’m not sure he realizes, at age 85, that this money would be coming from his grandchildren, not from me.
Dawn
Davie, Fla.
The answer to this question will vary by state, so I suggest that you contact the lawyer who represented you in the probate or an elder law attorney in your community. But generally speaking, if the probate has closed and the decedent’s father knew of the probate, he should be barred from suing to collect on an alleged loan.
If the probate is still underway, the father can file a claim with the court. If the personal representative — that’s you — disputes this supposed loan, the court will schedule a hearing and your former father-in-law will have the burden of proving that this sum was a loan. Normally, that would require a promissory note signed by his son. If he can’t prove that this was a loan, then he can’t collect.

---

Craig Reaves, past president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, practices law in Kansas City, Mo., and fields occasional questions from New Old Age readers. Submit yours to newoldage@nytimes.com. Please limit your queries to general legal issues, as Mr. Reaves cannot respond with personalized legal advice.
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Movement under way to ease investment by Web

OAKLAND, Calif. – Ian Schuster and his business partners have raised almost a quarter of a million dollars to launch their craft beer brewery company, but if they had more money, they could grow the business much faster.
Bryan Brumfield has poured most of his life savings into the artisanal wine business he plans to launch after he retires as an Oakland firefighter in March, and needs additional capital to bring in outside expertise.
Each would love to tap the power of social media to find additional investors online who would each put up small amounts of money in exchange for equity stakes in their companies, a concept called “crowdfunding.”
But they can’t do so under current law. Companies can sell shares to what the SEC calls “accredited investors” – seasoned, high-net-worth people who understand the risks. But financial stakes for small-time investors are limited to 35 people (fewer in some states), just enough to enable some friends-and-family funding, but not enough to harness the Internet’s reach to attract a larger number of equity investors.
Popular websites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo show the power of crowdfunding, by letting people request funds online from strangers to back specific projects – a theater performance, for instance. But the people who pledge money can only receive perks like T-shirts, not equity shares, in exchange.
Then there are lending websites like Prosper.com that allow for person-to-person loans. People ask to borrow money for anything from plastic surgery to starting a company and offer a fixed interest rate in return. But again, equity stakes are not allowed.
Now, legislation pending in Congress that enjoys strong bipartisan support and Obama administration backing may make crowdfunding possible for entrepreneurs.
Crowdfunding “has the potential to be a powerful new venture capital model for the Facebook and Twitter age, and its potential to create jobs is enormous,” said Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., in congressional testimony last month.
“But crowdfunding is currently illegal because of obsolete regulations, some dating back to the 1930s.”
Brown is sponsoring the Democratization of Capital Bill, which would let small companies sell up to $1 million in equity online in chunks of $1,000 or less. It is under review by the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
A similar bill, the Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act, passed the House in November by a wide margin. It would allow up to $2 million in crowdfunded investments in $10,000 increments.
But some worry that crowdfunding would entice online hucksters to set up shop.
“A lot of people believe everything they see on the Internet, so we are concerned about fraud,” said Jack Herstein, president of the North American Securities Administrators Association. “Scam artists follow the hottest trends. They could make up fraudulent websites. … Once you push the button and send your credit card number, your money is gone.”
Still, he said, he is not opposed to crowdfunding. He just wants built-in safeguards.
“Everybody should be behind anything that helps the economy,” he said.
At a time when banks can be reluctant to make loans, letting small enterprises solicit funds online so they can start up and grow makes sense, crowdfunding supporters say.
“Crowd sourcing for us would be a dream come true,” Schuster said. His Schubros Brewery, based in San Ramon, will start beer production in March after getting its government license. The five partners have done well raising money from themselves, friends and family and a couple of accredited investors.
“We have enough to get started,” he said. “But if we could get more money, we would be more stable from Day 1. We could hire full-time salespeople and grow faster than planned.”
Brumfield, the Oakland firefighter, said crowdfunding would make a huge difference to him. “Unless things change in the banking world, crowdfunding would be the best opportunity besides friends and family for the additional capital I need to launch,” he said.
csaid@sfchronicle.com
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OPIC Records Net Income of $269 Million in FY2011, Helping Reduce U.S. Budget Deficit for 34th Consecutive Year

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, generated net income of $269 million in Fiscal Year 2011, helping to reduce the federal budget deficit for the 34^th consecutive year.
In addition to generating revenue for the U.S. taxpayer, OPIC recorded a three-fold increase in the amount of capital the agency’s financing mobilized, rising to $4.4 billion.
In fiscal year 2011, OPIC committed $3.2 billion to companies expanding into emerging markets and supported 92 new investment projects in the power sector, hotels and housing, telecommunications and other infrastructure, as well as many other sectors like agriculture, education and microfinance. Consistent with its focus on supporting U.S. small and medium-sized enterprises, in FY2011, 78 percent of OPIC’s projects, representing nearly $1 billion in commitments, involved American small and medium-sized businesses.
OPIC responded quickly to the events of the Arab Spring, targeting up to $3 billion in financial support for investment and job creation in the Middle East and North Africa. Since setting that goal, the agency has already approved $657 million in transactions for the region, mainly to support investments in small business.
This year, OPIC also lent powerful support to U.S. companies seeking investment opportunities in the high growth renewable resources sector in emerging markets. Its commitment of $1.1 billion in financing and insurance to the sector in FY2011 represented a roughly three-fold increase over last year’s figure. Financing was provided to companies investing in a wide range of projects and regions: solar projects in Peru, India and Thailand, hydropower in Georgia, geothermal in Kenya and biomass in Liberia, among many others. Projects supported by OPIC in FY2011 will generate nearly 728 megawatts of electricity from renewable energy sources, more than a ten-fold increase from FY2010, and help avoid nearly one million tons of CO₂ emissions annually.
“OPIC generated net income and contributed to the reduction of the budget deficit for the 34th consecutive year,” said OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield. “We did this while out performing on our core mission of mobilizing U.S. private capital to catalyze markets and support development in developing countries. OPIC’s work tangibly and profitably advances both U.S. interests and economic development abroad.”
“OPIC projects delivered important economic, environmental and developmental benefits to local populations that will make both the partner countries and the United States more secure and prosperous,” Ms. Littlefield said.
OPIC’s earnings were generated through financing and insurance provided to support U.S. private investment overseas, as well as interest earned on reserves. Those investments helped foster economic development in new and emerging markets, advance U.S. national security, and support growth in U.S. jobs and exports.
OPIC’s financial statements were audited by an independent accounting firm in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) as well as government audit standards specified by the Comptroller General of the United States and the Office of Management and Budget.
OPIC is the U.S. Government’s development finance institution. It mobilizes private capital to help solve critical development challenges and in doing so, advances U.S. foreign policy. Because OPIC works with the U.S. private sector, it helps U.S. businesses gain footholds in emerging markets catalyzing revenues, jobs and growth opportunities both at home and abroad. OPIC achieves its mission by providing investors with financing, guarantees, political risk insurance, and support for private equity investment funds.
Established as an agency of the U.S. Government in 1971, OPIC operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to American taxpayers. OPIC services are available for new and expanding business enterprises in more than 150 countries worldwide. To date, OPIC has supported nearly $200 billion of investment in over 4,000 projects, generated $74 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 275,000 American jobs.


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