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Questionable transactions at Refco, one of the world's biggest commodities brokerage firms, began in 1998 and continued until this year, the company said yesterday.

A former broker with the Bank of America Corporation who was acquitted in June on 29 of 33 criminal charges linked to improper mutual fund trading reached a separate settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission today.

The U.S. multinational Dow Chemical Company -- the new owner of Union Carbide of Bhopal notoriety -- is in Johannesburg to talk sustainable development. Also, in Johannesburg are representatives and supporters of the victims of Union Carbide's gas disaster in Bhopal. Since July 17, 2002, survivors of the world's worst industrial disaster and their supporters have been on a worldwide relay hunger strike. More than 700 people have fasted till date to protest against Dow-Carbide's refusal to acknowledge the pending liabilities in Bhopal, and against the Indian Government's betrayal of the victims merely to protect the interests of the U.S. multinational.

Investigators raided a number of companies connected to the shattered Yukos oil empire, prosecutors said Wednesday, as part of a $7 billion money-laundering probe.

COUNTS of massive corruption within governments weave their way through almost every nation. Yet, the accusations surrounding President Kufuor's involvement in the 'Hotel Scandal' seems negligible and overhand when compared to past and ongoing corruption scandals hitting the headlines elsewhere. It seems a bit of underhand dealing comes with the job. The question arises however, of where does one draw the line?

British officials are seriously concerned about the level of corruption in the Iraqi defense ministry, after the embezzlement of vast amounts of money earmarked for the country's security forces.
Officials from the British Ministry of Defense had already warned US and Iraqi authorities against the squandering of money -- and have been proved right, on a catastrophic scale.

Federal prosecutors say Giffen, a New York investment banker who became an official in Kazakhstan's government, cemented his power by bribing Kazakh leaders with $84 million that Amoco Corp., Mobil Oil Co., Phillips Petroleum Co. and Texaco Inc. paid to win access to Kazakh fields. In January, Giffen goes on trial in federal district court in New York in one of the largest overseas criminal bribery cases ever.

On the eve of the 2002 World Summit Greenwash Academy Awards, carbon kingpins Shell, BP and ChevronTexaco, along with leading purveyors of Frankenfoods, Monsanto, Novartis and Aventis are vying for some of the glittering event's most prestigious awards. Local favorites Eskom and Sasol should not be counted out, however, according to insiders from the Academy.

U.S. companies remain less accountable than European and Asian ones despite recent years' damaging revelations of management chicanery involving finances, labor relations, environmental performance, and consumer protection, a global survey said Friday.

There's one group of people who should be giving thanks daily for the Enron scandal: the partners of KPMG, one of the Final Four accounting firms. That's because the fallout from Enron is what allowed KPMG to extract a favorable settlement from the Justice Department last week. The firm agreed to fork over less than a year's profit in return for not being indicted on a zillion counts of cheating the government by peddling sleazy, dishonest tax shelters for six years.