China Huawei espera aumento de ganancias tras caída en 2011

 La empresa china Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, la segunda empresa de equipos de telecomunicaciones más grande del mundo, espera un aumento de ganancias en el 2012 tras haber reportado una fuerte caída en el período anterior, gracias a nuevos proyectos e incrementos de ventas en mercados de teléfonos móviles de alta gama como Japón.
La utilidad neta alcanzaría los 2.400 millones de dólares, dijo el viernes el actual y rotativo presidente ejecutivo de la firma, Guo Ping, en un mensaje de Año Nuevo para los empleados. La cifra implicaría un aumento del 29 por ciento respecto a los 11.600 millones de yuanes (1.860 millones de dólares) del 2011, según su pronóstico.
Los ingresos excederían los 35.000 millones de dólares, indicó Guo. En el 2011, las ventas crecieron un 11,7 por ciento a 203.900 millones de yuanes, o alrededor de 32.000 millones de dólares.
Huawei y su vecina rival ZTE Corp han estado expandiendo su presencia en los sectores globales de equipamiento telefónico y teléfonos móviles en los últimos años.
Aunque Huawei ha aumentado sus ventas y ha ganado terreno de mercado en Europa, Africa y Asia, el último año se topó con algunos obstáculos en otros mercados como Estados Unidos y Australia, como consecuencia de preocupaciones en torno a la seguridad nacional y el espionaje cibernético.
El desacelerado gasto en telecomunicaciones derivado de una economía global débil y una feroz competencia en el cada vez más atestado sector de telefonía móvil también pesaron sobre las proyecciones de proveedores y fabricantes de equipamiento.
"Deberíamos dedicar nuestra energía limitada a objetivos comerciales específicos y evitar el impulso de expandir el negocio ciegamente", remarcó Guo.
En octubre pasado, ZTE, el cuarto fabricante de teléfonos móviles más importante del mundo y el quinto en el sector de equipamiento de telecomunicaciones, reportó su peor pérdida trimestral desde que empezó a cotizar en bolsa como consecuencia de márgenes más pequeños, retrasos en proyectos y cambios contables en China.
Guo no dio un detalle sobre los ingresos por segmento comercial. Huawei anunciaría sus cifras auditadas en los próximos meses, aunque todavía no hay fecha para eso.
Su rival Ericsson aún no ha reportado sus cifras anuales, con lo cual no está claro si la empresa china logró superar al gigante sueco como el principal fabricante de equipamiento de telecomunicaciones del mundo.

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Android’s explosive content consumption growth threatens Apple

Smartphone market share surveys from IDC and Kantar have shown for a long time that the Android phone volume surge is leaving the iPhone in the dust in major growth markets from Brazil to India. But one thing that Apple has had on its side has been the propensity of iPhone owners to consume far more content than Android phone owners. One argument has been that it does not matter if iPhone has a 5% share vs. Android’s 40% share if Apple (AAPL) still dominates in  app revenue generation and browsing volume. Content is king. Another argument is that it does not matter who moves the most units, since only hardware margins count. Here Apple reigns supreme.
[More from BGR: First leaked picture of the Samsung Galaxy S IV emerges]
In the long run it’s difficult to say whether selling smartphones at extremely high margins is more important than dominating mobile content. As consumers keep shifting their precious entertainment consumption minutes to smartphones from television, print media and video games, the value of owning the mobile browsing and mobile application markets increases. Samsung (005930) is playing the deep game of flooding the world market with hundreds of millions of Android phones, most of them cheap, some of them very expensive. The goal is to blanket the globe with Samsung devices and bet that the content consumption of Android devices can catch up with Apple in aggregate.
[More from BGR: Google’s rumored ‘X Phone’ could be an ‘attack on Samsung’]
That is why it’s interesting to see how different research houses started to detect clear signs of Android surge in content consumption in 2012. According to AppAnnie, Google Play showed 48% download growth over the summer, while iOS download volume ticked up by just 3%. In South Korea, Google Play moved ahead of iOS in app revenue generation.
And StatCounter numbers on mobile browser usage seem to be pointing to the same direction. A year ago, Android phones had 17% mobile browsing market share in the Philippines vs. iPhone’s 12%. In January 2013 that lead had grown to 27% vs. 14%. This was the first month when Android took the browsing share lead from Opera in the Philippines. As feature phones fade, Android is grabbing their share of mobile page views.
In Brazil, Android’s mobile browser share has vaulted from 19% to 38% in a year. The iPhone still has a respectable 11% share, which is maybe five times higher than iPhone’s slice of smartphone shipments in Brazil. But that outperformance is no longer enough to keep up with the avalanche of Android phones that are now a prime vehicle for mobile content consumption for Brazil’s middle classes.
In Germany, Europe’s leading mobile market, Android has just pulled into a dramatic 51% vs. 31% lead in page views. In Russia, Android has opened a 25% vs. 18% lead in just the past five months. In affluent Japan, iPhone is leading Android by just 48% v. 44%.
Apple is still punching way above its unit volume class when it comes to grabbing consumers who use the smartphone most frequently for content consumption purposes. But the Google (GOOG)-Samsung strategy of swamping the market with cheap smartphones is working. Android’s lead in mobile browsing is growing at an accelerating rate in many major markets. The new wave of sub-$150 smartphones from Samsung, Huawei and ZTE is shooing consumers across the globe under Google’s mobile content umbrella. These consumers will shape the future of mapping, shopping, localized news and other mobile content industries.
One of these days Apple must choose between the goals of dominating mobile content and maintaining sky-high phone operating margins. The blended iPhone ASP of $620 is not compatible with competing against the Android Armada in Latin America, Africa and Asia, and perhaps not even in Germany or Spain.

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Look Who's Already in Trouble Over the Steubenville Rape Case

If this was the week that the whole country found out about the alleged gang rape of a 16-year-old girl in football-crazed Steubenville, Ohio, next week might be the one when the punishments arrive. Steubenville High's famed football coach may resign as soon as Monday, and the recent graduate whose shocking video confession was leaked by hackers who took the case national may be in trouble with his college.
RELATED: Everything You Need to Know About Steubenville High's Football 'Rape Crew'
Instagram photos from the night in question emerged almost immediately after the August incident, and today the site LocalLakes, which is partnering with the hacking collective Anonymous to collect eyewitness details and speak truth to rumor, provided a narrative of what it says happened. But the most emotional — and viral — leak out of the so-called The Steubenville Files came in the form of this unsavory video, in which a former Steubenville student is thought to be referring to the victim when he says local football players "raped her more than the Duke lacrosse team":
RELATED: Inside the Anonymous Hacking File on the Steubenville 'Rape Crew'
RELATED: Local Leaks Tipsters Allege Steubenville Victim Was Drugged
The YouTube video identifies the speaker as former Steubenville student Michael Nodianos, who according to his Twitter account or someone who had access to it, said some pretty gross things the night of the alleged attack:

Local Leaks and Anonymous tracked Nodianos, now 18, to Ohio State University and released his e-mail and personal information on the Internet, adding that he might have had a gun in his possession during the filming. On Friday afternoon OSU's press office gave in to just how crushing the effects of the viral wave of leaked information has become, releasing the following cryptic statement:
Sexual assault is a terrible act of aggression and violence, and our hearts go out to all victims. The situation in Steubenville is particularly disturbing, and our thoughts are with those affected. To our knowledge, the only students who have been criminally charged in this matter are high school students with no affiliation to Ohio State. To the extent there are inquiries about any Ohio State student, the university is not at liberty to comment due to Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations, other than to confirm that the student in question was in attendance at Ohio State only through Dec. 12.
When reached for comment by The Atlantic Wire, an Ohio State spokeswoman refused to clarify the statement, merely repeating the last line above (emphasis ours). But the phrase "only through" is still throwing us for a loop: Why isn't he there any longer? Because OSU is still on vacation until January 7? Because Nodianos decided to leave? Or has he been punished by the school? Nobody's really saying.
Someone who has spoken up about Nodianos and the viral video is Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdala. "Sheriff Abdalla is proud of his town but when it comes to the video released Wednesday, he called it disgusting," reports WTRF-TV. But Sheriff Abdala still doesn't like the way the national press has covered the involvement of Anonymous and LocalLeaks:
This is all over the world now. It's in the Huffington Post and New York Times but some of these papers are reporting this stuff based on what this Anonymous is telling them. How do you support what they're saying? Where's your proof? I thought newspapers where to be able to back it up with good, solid information. How can you do a story when someone is giving you information that's not even factual?
But... but... that video? Can't we agree it's pretty disgusting? The Steubenville Files allege that Sheriff Abdala and Steubenville football's head coach, Reno Saccoccia, are friends. Abdala hasn't denied that allegation because, well, it seems like everyone in Steubenville knows Coach Reno.
Now rumors are surfacing that Saccoccia, who has become a Friday Night Lights-style legend in the small Ohio city during his 35 years at Steubenville High, will be resigning on Monday. The school is on a community-wide gag order at least until the rape trial's preliminary hearings on Februar 13, but there are growing calls for the coach, who didn't bench his players when he was told even the non-accusers were posting photos of the alleged victim as she was allegedly being attacked, to either resign or be fired. And those calls will only grow louder on Saturday, when an Occupy Steubenville rally rolls into town.

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Video causes web furor over OH athletes' rape case

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (AP) — An online video fueling social media reaction to the case of two eastern Ohio high school football players charged with rape isn't new evidence for state investigators handling the case, the attorney general said Friday.
The 16-year-old boys are set for trial Feb. 13 in juvenile court in Steubenville on allegations that they raped a teenage girl last August. Special prosecutors and a visiting judge are handling the case because local authorities knew people involved with the football team in the small city.
At a probable cause hearing last fall, teenagers not charged in the case testified that the victim was intoxicated and at times unresponsive on the night of the alleged assault, according to the local newspaper, the Steubenville Herald-Star.
Public interest increased this week with the online circulation of an unverified video, lasting more than 12 minutes, that purportedly shows another young man joking about the alleged rape victim, also 16. The video apparently was released by hackers who allege more people were involved and should be held accountable.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's office said state investigators aiding local police were aware of the video before it spread online. They're not commenting on details of the video or what other evidence authorities have.
DeWine criticized the video Friday and said his heart goes out to rape victims.
"I think what is unique and different about this case is that the victim continues to be victimized every time that there is some image that's posted up on the Internet, every time that you have a despicable 12-minute video like we saw yesterday," he said. "You know, I can just imagine how I would feel if this was my daughter."
Attorneys for the defendants, Trent Mays and Ma'Lik Richmond, who played football for Steubenville High School, didn't immediately respond to Associated Press requests for comment Friday. The attorneys have denied the charges in court.
The boys were charged with rape after the teenage girl's parents contacted police about the alleged assault in mid-August. Mays also is charged with illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material.
Kidnapping charges against both defendants were dropped after a probable cause hearing, according to the court. The visiting judge has ruled the case will remain in juvenile court, not be moved to adult court.
Authorities continue pleading for anyone with information about what happened to come forward, and the investigation has spurred heated commentary online. Some support the defendants and question the character of the teenage girl, while others allege a cover-up or contend more people should be charged.
The latter group includes hacker-activists associating under the Anonymous and KnightSec labels who point to comments they say were posted around the time of the alleged attack on social media by several people who are not charged. A peaceful protest publicized by the hackers drew scores of people to the local courthouse last weekend.
In a related issue, student Cody Saltsman and his family sued a blogger and anonymous posters to her blog site in a case that arose from online comments suggesting the student might have been involved but not charged. The suit was settled with the operator of the crime blog acknowledging that there was no evidence of Saltsman's involvement in the rape, and Saltsman apologizing in a statement for tweets he sent the night of the alleged attack.
The alleged victim, who doesn't attend Steubenville schools, is "doing as well as I guess could be expected," said Bob Fitzsimmons, an attorney for her family. He said the publicity and online commentary has been tough on her family.
It's possible she could be compelled to testify in court next month, but that decision is up to prosecutors, Fitzsimmons said. He declined to comment on any facts of the case, including whether or how the victim knew Mays and Richmond.

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You Won't Believe How Many Americans Are Falling Asleep at the Wheel

RELATED: An HIV Vaccine; LSD as Treatment for Alcoholism
Who are all these people falling asleep at the wheel? We all know about the dangers of drunk driving. And texting while driving. But new data suggests we might need more PSAs that raise awareness about the issue of drowsy driving. A report from U.S. Centers for Disease Control researchers found that among 150,000 drivers surveyed from around the country, 4.2 percent admit to falling asleep at the wheel at least once in the last month. Not year—month. If you break it down by year, as much as 11 percent have snoozed while driving. It's a wonder that only 2.5 percent of fatal car collisions stem from drowsy driving. If you're nodding off, pull over to any gas station and get yourself some Red Bull, people. [Los Angeles Times]
RELATED: Forget Big Gulps: Mayor Bloomberg's Latest War Is on Bad Drivers
Our moon might soon get a meta-moon. That giant rock orbiting our planet could soon have its own less-giant rock orbiting it, astronomers with the Keck Institute for Space Studies are saying. They plan to coax an asteroid into orbiting the moon this April so they can study it better. They aim to do these by sending a robotic spacecraft to drag an approximately 500 ton object into the moon's gravitational pull. "Such an achievement has the potential to inspire a nation," the researchers write.  [Discover]
RELATED: What Can Go Wrong with a Proven, FDA Panel-Approved Anti-HIV Drug?
Decoding malware "genome" could prevent future cyber attacks. Not all malware viruses are identical, but they often share certain encoded similarities. You might even say they have similar baseline "genetic" structures. Invincea labs' Josh Saxe is trying to crack that code in order to undertand how to prevent future malware attacks. "Our vision is to have a database of the world's malware, which people can use to share insights," he says about his and his colleagues research. His program is funded by the DARPA's Cyber Genome Program. [New Scientist]
RELATED: 48% of L.A. Crashes Are Hit-and-Runs
Fighting HIV with HIV. There's a saying about fighting fire with fire, but when it comes to HIV the approach might actually work. A new paper in Science Translational Medicine shows that injecting HIV-positive patients with an inactivated version of the virus can boost immune response, making people better equipped to stave off the active HIV in their bloodstream. "It is likely that the person’s immune system is already damaged, and so they cannot mount a sufficiently efficient functional antiviral response," says Statens Serum Institute physician Anders Fomsgaard. "It may be more optimal to vaccinate during antiretroviral therapy

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Despite deal, taxes to rise for most Americans

While the tax package that Congress passed New Year's Day will protect 99 percent of Americans from an income tax increase, most of them will still end up paying more federal taxes in 2013.
That's because the legislation did nothing to prevent a temporary reduction in the Social Security payroll tax from expiring. In 2012, that 2-percentage-point cut in the payroll tax was worth about $1,000 to a worker making $50,000 a year.
The Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan Washington research group, estimates that 77 percent of American households will face higher federal taxes in 2013 under the agreement negotiated between President Barack Obama and Senate Republicans. High-income families will feel the biggest tax increases, but many middle- and low-income families will pay higher taxes too.
Households making between $40,000 and $50,000 will face an average tax increase of $579 in 2013, according to the Tax Policy Center's analysis. Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 will face an average tax increase of $822.
"For most people, it's just the payroll tax," said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.
The tax increases could be a lot higher. A huge package of tax cuts first enacted under President George W. Bush was scheduled to expire Tuesday as part of the "fiscal cliff." The Bush-era tax cuts lowered taxes for families at every income level, reduced investment taxes and the estate tax, and enhanced a number of tax credits, including a $1,000-per-child credit.
The package passed Tuesday by the Senate and House extends most the Bush-era tax cuts for individuals making less than $400,000 and married couples making less than $450,000.
Obama said the deal "protects 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small business owners from a middle-class tax hike. While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country."
The income threshold covers more than 99 percent of all households, exceeding Obama's claim, according to the Tax Policy Center. However, the increase in payroll taxes will hit nearly every wage earner.
Social Security is financed by a 12.4 percent tax on wages up to $113,700, with employers paying half and workers paying the other half. Obama and Congress reduced the share paid by workers from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent for 2011 and 2012, saving a typical family about $1,000 a year.
Obama pushed hard to enact the payroll tax cut for 2011 and to extend it through 2012. But it was never fully embraced by either party, and this time around, there was general agreement to let it expire.
The new tax package would increase the income tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent on income above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for married couples. Investment taxes would increase for people who fall in the new top tax bracket.
High-income families will also pay higher taxes this year as part of Obama's 2010 health care law. As part of that law, a new 3.8 percent tax is being imposed on investment income for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples making more than $250,000.
Together, the new tax package and Obama's health care law will produce significant tax increases for many high-income families.
For 2013, households making between $500,000 and $1 million would get an average tax increase of $14,812, according to the Tax Policy Center analysis. Households making more than $1 million would get an average tax increase of $170,341.

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Taxes rising for most people despite fiscal deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — While the tax package that Congress passed New Year's Day will protect 99 percent of Americans from an income tax increase, most of them will still end up paying more federal taxes in 2013.
That's because the legislation did nothing to prevent a temporary reduction in the Social Security payroll tax from expiring. In 2012, that 2-percentage-point cut in the payroll tax was worth about $1,000 to a worker making $50,000 a year.
The Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan Washington research group, estimates that 77 percent of American households will face higher federal taxes in 2013 under the agreement negotiated between President Barack Obama and Senate Republicans. High-income families will feel the biggest tax increases, but many middle- and low-income families will pay higher taxes too.
Households making between $40,000 and $50,000 will face an average tax increase of $579 in 2013, according to the Tax Policy Center's analysis. Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 will face an average tax increase of $822.
"For most people, it's just the payroll tax," said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.
The tax increases could be a lot higher. A huge package of tax cuts first enacted under President George W. Bush was scheduled to expire Tuesday as part of the "fiscal cliff." The Bush-era tax cuts lowered taxes for families at every income level, reduced investment taxes and the estate tax, and enhanced a number of tax credits, including a $1,000-per-child credit.
The package passed Tuesday by the Senate and House extends most the Bush-era tax cuts for individuals making less than $400,000 and married couples making less than $450,000.
Obama said the deal "protects 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small business owners from a middle-class tax hike. While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country."
The income threshold covers more than 99 percent of all households, exceeding Obama's claim, according to the Tax Policy Center. However, the increase in payroll taxes will hit nearly every wage earner.
Social Security is financed by a 12.4 percent tax on wages up to $113,700, with employers paying half and workers paying the other half. Obama and Congress reduced the share paid by workers from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent for 2011 and 2012, saving a typical family about $1,000 a year.
Obama pushed hard to enact the payroll tax cut for 2011 and to extend it through 2012. But it was never fully embraced by either party, and this time around, there was general agreement to let it expire.
The new tax package would increase the income tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent on income above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for married couples. Investment taxes would increase for people who fall in the new top tax bracket.
High-income families will also pay higher taxes this year as part of Obama's 2010 health care law. As part of that law, a new 3.8 percent tax is being imposed on investment income for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples making more than $250,000.
Together, the new tax package and Obama's health care law will produce significant tax increases for many high-income families.
For 2013, households making between $500,000 and $1 million would get an average tax increase of $14,812, according to the Tax Policy Center analysis. Households making more than $1 million would get an average tax increase of $170,341.
"If you're rich, you're almost certain to get a big tax increase," Williams said.

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Global stocks, commodities rise on U.S. fiscal deal

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global stocks jumped 2 percent or more and commodities rallied on Wednesday after U.S. legislators struck a deal to halt a round of automatic fiscal tightening that threatened to push the world's largest economy into recession.
The deal reached on Tuesday to avert the "fiscal cliff" put off the immediate pain of income tax hikes for almost all U.S. households but did nothing to resolve other political impasses on the budget that loom in coming months, including the debt ceiling.
Oil prices pared some gains but Wall Street rallied at the close, with the benchmark S&P 500 posting its best day in more than a year. The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX <.vix>, a gauge of investor anxiety, dropped 18.5 percent to 14.68 at the close. The VIX has fallen 35.4 percent over the past two sessions.
The markets' reaction to the U.S. budget deal was a "sigh of relief that a recession in the world's largest economy has been averted," said Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York.
Copper rose to its highest in more than two months, while silver and platinum group metals also rose sharply. The S&P 500 achieved its biggest one-day gain since December 20, 2011, pushing the index to its highest close since September 14.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> closed up 308.41 points, or 2.35 percent, at 13,412.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> rose 36.23 points, or 2.54 percent, at 1,462.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> gained 92.75 points, or 3.07 percent, at 3,112.26.
Still, the rally may be short-lived. Spending cuts of $109 billion in military and domestic programs were only delayed for two months, and a fight over the limit for U.S. government debt also looms.
"There was the fiscal cliff euphoria, but the markets are a little overdone and people realize you still have the debt ceiling battle, social security taxes going up and dealing with spending sequestration and budget cuts," said Mark Waggoner, president at Excel Futures Inc.
The deal boosted investors' appetite for riskier assets and depressed the U.S. dollar against major currencies. Brent crude oil hit an 11-week high of nearly $113 per barrel and gold prices rose nearly 1 percent.
Brent February crude rose $1.36 to settle at $112.47 a barrel, after reaching $112.90. U.S. crude for February delivery rose $1.30 to settle at $93.12 a barrel.
The vote in Congress removed a major uncertainty hanging over markets, but some analysts cautioned that the optimism could fade if U.S. economic data later this week, including the December payroll report, disappoints.
U.S. manufacturing expanded slightly in December, bouncing back from an unexpected contraction the prior month, according to an industry report released on Wednesday.
The MSCI all-country world equity index <.miwd00000pus> rose 2.05 percent. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.fteu3> closed 2.1 percent higher at 1157.40.
In currency markets, the euro retreated after reaching a two-week high earlier in the session to trade down 0.15 percent at 1.3183. The U.S. dollar rose 0.06 percent against a basket of major currencies <.dxy>.
Prices of safe-haven government debt fell. Germany's Bund future posted its biggest daily fall since early September, settling down 1.57 points at 144.07.
Yields on U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury notes hit a more than three-month high, with the price falling 24/32 to yield 1.8406 percent.
Venezuela's U.S. dollar-denominated sovereign bonds rallied across the yield curve on Wednesday in a sign of increased appetite for risk. The benchmark 2027 Global bond gained 1.536 points in price to bid 99.79, yielding 9.273.
The Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index <.trjcrb> of 19 commodities rose 0.85 percent, with metals dominating gains.

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Swiss bank to pay $57.8M in US tax evasion plea

NEW YORK (AP) — Switzerland's oldest bank became the first foreign bank to plead guilty in the United States to tax charges when it admitted Thursday that it helped American clients hide more than $1.2 billion from the Internal Revenue Service.
Wegelin & Co., founded in 1741, entered the plea in federal court in Manhattan, agreeing to pay $20 million in restitution to the IRS, a $22 million fine and an additional $15.8 million, representing the gross fees earned by the bank on the undeclared accounts of U.S. taxpayers between 2002 and 2011. U.S. authorities said the money, combined with an April forfeiture of more than $16.2 million by the bank, meant the U.S. had recovered about $74 million.
The bank had been accused of helping at least 100 U.S. clients conceal large sums of money from the federal tax collection agency in overseas accounts.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the bank became a haven for U.S. taxpayers looking to cheat on taxes through secret off-shore accounts.
"The bank willfully and aggressively jumped in to fill a void that was left when other Swiss banks abandoned the practice due to pressure from U.S. law enforcement," Bharara said.
He called it a "watershed moment in our efforts to hold to account both the individuals and the banks — wherever they may be in the world — who are engaging in unlawful conduct that deprives the U.S. Treasury of billions of dollars of tax revenue."
Wegelin, headquartered in St. Gallen, Switzerland, said in a statement that it had cooperated with the probe "within the bounds allowed for by Swiss law" since learning that it was under U.S. investigation.
U.S. authorities said Wegelin had no branches outside Switzerland but accessed the U.S. banking system through a correspondent bank account that it held at UBS AG in Stamford, Conn.
Prosecutors said Wegelin in 2008 and 2009 opened and serviced dozens of new accounts for U.S. taxpayers as it tried to capture clients lost by UBS after word surfaced that that UBS was being investigated for helping U.S. taxpayers evade taxes and hide assets in Swiss bank accounts.
Wegelin employees told U.S. taxpayer-clients that their undeclared accounts would not be disclosed to U.S. authorities because the bank had a long tradition of secrecy, prosecutors said. They added that the employees persuaded U.S. taxpayer-clients to move money from UBS to Wegelin by claiming that, unlike UBS, Wegelin did not have offices outside of Switzerland and would be less vulnerable to U.S. law enforcement.
Meanwhile, prosecutors said, Wegelin took additional steps to hide the accounts, including by putting them in the names of sham corporations and foundations formed under the laws of jurisdictions that included Hong Kong and Panama and by using code names and numbers to minimize references to the actual names of U.S. taxpayers on Swiss bank documents. They said the bank also was careful not to send account statements to U.S. clients in the United States and corresponded with clients through private email accounts.
In February 2009, UBS entered a deferred prosecution agreement with U.S. authorities and agreed to pay $780 million in fines, penalties, interest and restitution.

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Grand Prairie Assisted Living to Host Balance ClassGrand Prairie of Macomb, a BMA affordable assisted living community, to host a Matter of Balance class designed to reduce the risk of falling. The class will be taught by a representative of the Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging. Bradley, Illinois (PRWEB) January 03, 2013 Grand Prairie of Macomb, a BMA affordable assisted living community in Macomb, Illinois, will be hosting a Matter of Balance Class led by Amy Griswold of the Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging. The class, which is designed to help participants reduce the risk of falling, will meet at Grand Prairie from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Thursdays for eight weeks, beginning on Jan. 10. The class is open to the public as well as residents of Grand Prairie. A $10 donation is suggested for those attending the class. To register or for more information, call Sarah McDonald at 309-833-5000. Grand Prairie is located at 1307 Meadowlark Lane in Macomb, Illinois. "Grand Prairie is the only senior living community in McDonough County that is certified to operate through the Illinois Supportive Living program," says Andrea Keene, Administrator. "This gives us the opportunity to serve older adults of all incomes, including those on Medicaid, who need some help to maintain their independence." Keene adds, "we offer a wonderful alternative to a nursing home or to struggling alone at home." Residents live in private apartments and receive personal assistance and help with medications. Certified nursing assistants are on-duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Meals, housekeeping and laundry are among the included services. "Our focus is on providing residents with the love.compassion and dignity that they deserve in addition to the care and assistance that they need," says Keene. "Our emphasis is on helping residents to achieve and maintain as much independence as possible for as long as possible." In 2012, Grand Prairie launched a $4.8 million expansion project that will nearly double the number of apartments at the assisted living community. Reservations for the apartments, which are scheduled to be ready for occupancy in the Spring, are being accepted. Since March of 2010, Grand Prairie has been managed by BMA Management, Ltd., the largest provider of assisted living in Illinois. Based in Bradley, Illinois, BMA operates 36 senior living communities, housing more than 3,300 homes and apartments. Among the communities managed by BMA are the Heritage Woods affordable assisted living communities in Aledo and Moline, Illinois, and John Evans Supportive Living in Pekin, Illinois.

Grand Prairie of Macomb, a BMA affordable assisted living community, to host a Matter of Balance class designed to reduce the risk of falling. The class will be taught by a representative of the Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging.

Bradley, Illinois (PRWEB) January 03, 2013
Grand Prairie of Macomb, a BMA affordable assisted living community in Macomb, Illinois, will be hosting a Matter of Balance Class led by Amy Griswold of the Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging.
The class, which is designed to help participants reduce the risk of falling, will meet at Grand Prairie from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Thursdays for eight weeks, beginning on Jan. 10.
The class is open to the public as well as residents of Grand Prairie. A $10 donation is suggested for those attending the class.
To register or for more information, call Sarah McDonald at 309-833-5000.
Grand Prairie is located at 1307 Meadowlark Lane in Macomb, Illinois.
"Grand Prairie is the only senior living community in McDonough County that is certified to operate through the Illinois Supportive Living program," says Andrea Keene, Administrator. "This gives us the opportunity to serve older adults of all incomes, including those on Medicaid, who need some help to maintain their independence."
Keene adds, "we offer a wonderful alternative to a nursing home or to struggling alone at home."
Residents live in private apartments and receive personal assistance and help with medications.
Certified nursing assistants are on-duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Meals, housekeeping and laundry are among the included services.
"Our focus is on providing residents with the love.compassion and dignity that they deserve in addition to the care and assistance that they need," says Keene. "Our emphasis is on helping residents to achieve and maintain as much independence as possible for as long as possible."
In 2012, Grand Prairie launched a $4.8 million expansion project that will nearly double the number of apartments at the assisted living community.
Reservations for the apartments, which are scheduled to be ready for occupancy in the Spring, are being accepted.
Since March of 2010, Grand Prairie has been managed by BMA Management, Ltd., the largest provider of assisted living in Illinois.
Based in Bradley, Illinois, BMA operates 36 senior living communities, housing more than 3,300 homes and apartments.
Among the communities managed by BMA are the Heritage Woods affordable assisted living communities in Aledo and Moline, Illinois, and John Evans Supportive Living in Pekin, Illinois.

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