eNewsWire

Al Gore will be the keynote speaker at an open meeting on environmental issues to be hosted on April 8th in Reykjavik, Iceland.

The former vice-president of the United States and Nobel Prize winner is scheduled to visit Iceland on 7 – 8 April as a guest of Icelandic President, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson.

Larus Welding, CEO of Nordic bank Glitnir, says that the meeting with Al Gore is related to the bank´s overseas efforts to promote its expertise in the field of sustainable energy resources.

“Glitnir is at the forefront in international financial services for geothermal energy projects. We are already engaged in a number of exciting ventures in the United States with leading companies in this field. The Bank has obtained considerable attention among numerous parties who are participants in the public discourse on sustainable energy resources, one of them being Al Gore,” said Mr Welding.

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Actavis in Bulgaria has launched a record 29 products so far this year.

Generic pharmaceutical company Actavis has launched 29 new products in Bulgaria during the first three months of the year.

The company plans to launch a total of 43 new products in Bulgaria during 2008.
The newly launched products include Fosinopril HCT (cardiovascular) and Lisinopril HCT (cardiovascular), both of which were first to market in Bulgaria.

Actavis also released Sertraline (antidepressant), Bicalutamide (oncology) and Irinotecan (oncology), which has also recently marketed in the US.

Of the 29 products, 23 are nutritional supplements (ActaVit® vitamins; Doctor Mom and ActaStyle dietary supplements) and products from the Decubal cosmetics line.

Actavis is a leading generic pharmaceutical company which specialises in the development, manufacture and sale of generic pharmaceuticals. Based in Iceland, the company has operations in 40 countries and 11,000 employees.

For more information on Actavis in Bulgaria visit www.actavis.bg

One of the UK’s biggest live music promoters is set to return to the music festival arena this year with the first major non branded ‘back to basics’ event of its kind.

A Day at The Hop Farm is Vince Power’s latest foray into the competitive festival marketplace and marks a welcome return to the UK circuit for Vince, who has been tied to a non-compete clause since selling his stake in his previous success story The Mean Fiddler Group.

Based at The Hop Farm in Paddock Wood, Tonbridge – A Day at The Hop Farm is a truly unique experience, with the event being totally unbranded, free of registration and without any VIP areas – with the aim of being a festival for festival goers, returning live music to its roots, where you turn up with your ticket and enjoy the same experience as every other ticket holder!

Power was instrumental in the success of Reading, Leeds, Glastonbury, Homelands, Creamfields and Tribal Gathering festivals and venues such as the Astoria, The Forum and Jazz Cafe and also responsible for the re-union of the Sex Pistols. Power recently created one of Europe’s newest and most celebrated festivals Benicassim in Spain, which is extremely popular with thousands of British festival goers who travel to Spain for the ‘Glasto del Sol’ experience each year!

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Rave reviews have appeared for the fifth annual Aldrei For Eg Sudur music festival, which took place over the Easter weekend.

Festival organisers Mugison and Mugipapa have declared the festival – which featured a whopping 34 Icelandic music acts in its two day run – a total success, and have already started laying plans for next year’s bash.

Among the crowd of thousands to attend were a slew of international journalists that travelled northwards to Isafjordur, Iceland, specifically to witness the festival. In an enthusiastic re-telling of the whole festival, NME.com professes its love for Mugison, Megas and recent BBC World Service Battle of the Bands’ finalists Hraun, among others.

Clash Magazine’s journalist, Matthew Bennett, was equally thrilled by the festival, stating that “I Never Went South is a local delight deliberately hosted both geographically and ideologically from the exhausted and beaten track of corporate sponsored brand wank fests which appear to be popping up like generic ring fenced mushrooms in increasing propensity.”

Other equally positive reviews have been pouring in this week. Intro Magazine fawns over the festival in German, as do the good people at Laut. International jet-setter Olaf Furniss also does an excellent job of describing Aldrei For Eg Sudur and its vibrant atmosphere in an excellent Scotsman piece.

Some of the visiting journalists also documented the festival on their Flickr and YouTube accounts.

For full details of the media reviews and for more information on music festivals in Iceland, visit www.icelandmusic.is.

Icelandmusic.is is also offering readers a chance to see Faroese superstar Eivor Palsdottir perform the time-tested classic ‘Stand by Your Man’ at the Aldrei For Eg Sudur closing party.

More than 1,500 attendees from the United States and 40 countries have signed up to the Money Laundering Alert 13th Annual International Conference at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, Florida March 17-19, 2008.

The conference organizer, Miami-based Alert Global Media, Inc. is the publisher of Money Laundering Alert and moneylaundering.com Premium, the world’s foremost sources of money laundering news, analysis and guidance.

Hany Abou-El-Fotouh, First Vice President and Group Head of Corporate Governance and Compliance at ABC Bank Egypt has participated at three panels among prominent panelists from leading world financial institutions and regulatory authorities. He describes the conference as “an opportunity to offer guidance from Anti Money Laundering (AML) experts offering strategies and solutions particularly how to survive in this demanding regulatory environment”

Abou-el-Fotouh has tackled major misconceptions about Islamic finance and banking, preparation of AML independent testing and regulatory examinations as well as best practices about tailoring AML training program .The panels have been highly interactive.

About the size of Islamic finance Abou-El-Fotouh said “Islamic finance is rapidly growing. It is estimated at USD 700 bn globally and expected to be USD 1.4 trillion. There are more than 300 Islamic financial institutions and Islamic windows operating globally. The major principles of Islamic finance are prohibition of all kind of interest, no financing of sinful and socially irresponsible activities as well and dealings are on contractual basis”

He clarified several common misconceptions about Islamic banking and finance. “The major myth about Islamic banking is that it is about a cluster of hard line religious believers and about religion only. The reality is nearly 60% of Islamic banks’ customers are non-Muslims who mostly believe that Islamic finance is an alternative way of doing business and making money through wealth creation and distribution” Said Abou-El-Fotouh.

He further added “another misconception describes Islamic banks as being regulated only by Sharia (Islamic law). The reality is Islamic banks draw their founding blocks from Sharia and they operate fully under the `law of land’ where they exist”

“Anti-money-laundering training is an integral component of compliance program”, said Abou-El-Fotouh. “The training program must be tailored to all professional staff relevant to the work they do. Board members and senior management should understand AML regulatory requirements, ramifications of noncompliance, and the risks posed to the financial institution. The training should be conducted annually.”

Speaking on the requirements of independent audit testing of AML compliance program, Abou-El-Fotouh said “The regulations require an independent review, not a formal audit by a certified public accountant or third-party consultant. The institution does not necessarily need to hire an outside auditor or consultant. The review may be conducted by an officer, employee or group of employees, so long as the reviewer is not the designated compliance officer and does not report directly to the compliance officer. Frequency and scope depend on the financial institution’s risk assessment.”

He further explained that regulators assess an internal audit’s thoroughness and findings, as well as how effectively it tracks management’s corrective action to determine whether they, the examiners, can rely upon the audit department’s results to better scope their work.

Abou-El-Fotouh concluded by saying “there is much to be done to fight money laundering. It is a financial crime that damages financial institutions, impacts economic growth, reduces productivity, and distorts the economy’s trade and capital flows. It takes away funds that could be used to alleviate health and social problems”.

About the author

First vice president and group head of corporate governance and compliance, ABC Bank, Egypt, he is a leading expert on money laundering and terrorist financing controls in the Middle East-North Africa region with extensive experience in AML compliance and training. Founder of the Middle East Compliance Officers’ Forum, he has been honored for his work in promoting compliance awareness in Egypt and the MENA region. Previously, he held top compliance positions in multinational institutions, such as HSBC Bank Egypt, Banque Saudi Fransi, and Oman International Bank.

Contact:

Hany Abou-El-Fotouh, CAMS
FVP Corporate Governance & Compliance Group Head
ABC Bank – Egypt
Tel- 2011-2665600
hany.abouelfotouh@arabbanking.com.eg
hanyfotouh@yahoo.com

http://www.wac-online.org/

Real Estate TV, the TV channel exclusively dedicated to the world of property and now majority-owned by Fox International Channels, today announced its partnership with Fractional Life to become the exclusive Property TV brand at the forthcoming Fractional Life Expo 2008, 28 – 30 April, Broadgate Event Venues, City of London.

The largest and most diverse consumer fractional ownership and asset-sharing exhibition in the world, Fractional Life Expo 2008 will cater for the growing number of people who want to enjoy ownership of life’s luxury items – without the ties, responsibilities and capital outlay of a complete purchase.

Organised by Fractional Life Limited, the event showcases the opportunities for shared ownership of a diverse range of luxury items, including property, yachts, jets, classic and supercars, racehorses, designer handbags and fine wines.

Bill Miller, Lead Sales Consultant for Real Estate TV – available on Sky channels 273/274 and Virgin TV to over 21 million adults in the UK and Ireland 24 hours a day – said “we’ve noticed a growing influx of property Clients interested in fractional ownership as a real alternative to 100% ownership and therefore it makes sense for Real Estate TV to be involved with the Fractional Life Expo to cater for this growing trend.”

Real Estate TV will be filming the first ever UK programme dedicated to fractional property ownership in conjunction with Fractional Life, which will be due for broadcast later in the year.

Aaron Weddell, Editor of Fractional Life said “In these unpredictable times a lot more people are looking to “invest” in an enhanced luxury lifestyle together with greater flexibility as part of their property investment choice. Fractional property ownership is ideal for this and we look forward to working with Real Estate TV at the show and during filming.”

The partnership also includes joint PR and promotional activity in the run up to and during the Expo.

For more information please log onto http://www.fractionallifeexpo.com.

ENDS

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Glitnir successfully issued and sold an ISK 15bn ($200m) five year mandatory convertible bonds in a closed offering to Icelandic institutional investors, which commenced on 12 March ending yesterday. The bonds are subordinated and count as Tier 1 capital and strengthen the bank’s capital ratio considerably. Glitnir Capital Markets was sole manager of the offering.

Glitnir CEO, Lárus Welding, was pleased with the successful issue. “The convertible issue was successfully concluded in the face of uncertain market conditions and demonstrates investors trust in Glitnir’s underlying operation and credit. The issue was focused on Icelandic institutional investors which know the bank, in particular the pension funds, and was well received by the market”, said Lárus Welding.

The bonds will convert into shares in Glitnir banki hf in five years. The issue of the bonds and the authorisation for the increase in share capital is subject to the approval of a shareholders’ meeting, which will be held on 19 March 2008 at Glitnir banki hf. headquarters.

For further information:
Bjørn Richard Johansen, Managing Director, Global Corporate Communication, mobile +47-47 800 100, e-mail: brj@glitnir.no

Már Másson, Executive Director, Iceland, Corporate Communications, mobile: 354-844 4990, e-mail: mar.masson@glitnir.is

Vala Pálsdóttir, Head of IR, mobile: +354 440 4989, mobile: +354 844 4489,
e-mail: vala.palsdottir@glitnir.is.

About Glitnir Bank
Glitnir is a Nordic bank, with headquarters in Iceland and operations in ten countries. Our home markets are Iceland and Norway where we offer a broad range of financial services, including corporate banking, investment banking, capital markets, investment management and retail banking. Outside of our home markets we have operations in Finland, Sweden, UK, Luxembourg, US, Canada, China and Russia. We will furthermore open an office in India in the second half of 2008. Our international expansion is mainly driven by two specialized industry sectors – Seafood and sustainable energy – in which we have developed significant industry expertise built on our Icelandic and Norwegian heritage. Our shares are listed on OMX in Iceland under the symbol, GLB.

For more information on Glitnir bank visit www.glitnirbank.com

WebCertain today announced details of the International Search Summit, the first UK event to focus specifically on international and multilingual search.

Produced by multilingual search specialist WebCertain, the International Search Summit will give delegates the knowledge required to implement successful international search engine marketing campaigns in multiple languages. Thought-leaders, industry analysts, consultants and international marketers will identify and discuss the latest challenges, insights, tools and techniques in international search marketing.

The International Search Summit will be held on 22 May at the British Library, London. See www.internationalsearchsummit.com

Andy Atkins-Krüger who is recognised as one of the UK’s foremost international search marketing experts and is a well known international speaker on multilingual search will chair the summit, introducing a line up of presentations, case studies and panel debates. Speakers will include representatives from Microsoft and Xerox as well as leading international search experts including Barry Lloyd of MakeMeTop, Kristjan Mar Hauksson of Nordic eMarketing and Dixon Jones of Receptional.

Andy Atkins-Krüger says:

“It clear that search marketing is a fundamental part of any online business marketing plan, and many operators now have an understanding of how to achieve success in the UK using this effective marketing tool. As businesses look to expand into new lucrative global territories they will need to implement an international search marketing plan which targets markets through multilingual campaigns. The international market presents a number of new challenges for online marketers so, for the first time in the UK, we have produced a Summit which focuses entirely on international and multilingual search to help businesses marketing on a European and global scale.”

Contacts:

To register as an attendee visit www.internationalsearchsummit.com or contact: WebCertain on +44 1904 780 030.

Media Contact:

Jenny Simpson

NewsCertain

Tel: +44 (0) 1904 780030

Jenny.simpson@webcertain.com

The annual Aldrei fór ég sudur music festival, beloved brainchild of musical mastermind Mugison, is set to take place for the fifth time in his hometown of Ísafjördur this Easter.

A two day, free-for-all affair, Aldrei fór ég sudur has been steadily gaining a solid reputation as a remarkable venue to catch the most exciting artists Iceland has to offer at a given time, performing to an enthusiastic all-ages crowd in an enchantingly unorthodox setting.

Below are some of the bands confirmed to play so far:-

SSSól
A legendary Icelandic act fronted by the even more legendary charmster Helgi Björns (who hails from Ísafjördur), SSSól have long been a party-time favourite of Icelanders. The band was formed in the late eighties and managed to stay on top of the Icelandic pop game throughout their active career by releasing infectious singles and impressively adventurous LPs, and frequently touring the country with their excellent live shows.
www.myspace.com/sssol

Hjaltalín
Often referred to as “the Icelandic Arcade Fire”, Hjaltalín have been winning fans over with their indie-style take on chamber-pop for well over a year now. Hjaltalín recently received a whopping five nominations for the Icelandic Music awards, and their début LP “Sleepdrunk Seasons”, topped many critics’ year-end lists for 2007. With an impressive arsenal of catchy compositions, and some impressively diverse instrumentation, the nine members of Hjaltalín manage to create a compelling live show.
www.myspace.com/hjaltalinband

Retro Stefson
Retro Stefan was founded by a group of eight school friends from Austurbæjarskóli in late 2005. In 2007, they made their mark by playing an untold number of shows in practically every space in Reykjavík you can fit eight kids and some instruments in. Their lively concerts and mature song writing skills far surpass their tender age and have earned them a devoted following in Iceland. It seems like the rest of the world is catching up as well, as they’ve gotten interested enquiries from highly revered UK hipster imprints like Moshi Moshi…
www.myspace.com/retrostefsonmusic

Sprengjuhöllin
Sprengjuhöllin came, saw and conquered in 2007, selling thousands of copies of their début, “Tímarnir okkar” and winning the hearts of critics and music-fans alike. A self-described “hipster oriented pop band” Sprengjuhöllin started their rise to fame when two of their self-made singles made it to the top of Icelandic radio charts. Their single “Verum í sambandi”, managed to keep its place at the top of the uniformed Icelandic song chart for five consecutive weeks, making it Iceland’s most popular song of 2007.
www.myspace.com/sprengjuhollin

XXX Rottweiler
XXX Rottweiler kickstarted an Icelandic hip hop revolution back in 2001 with their self-titled début. With raps in Icelandic that dealt with a variety of topics pertinent to Icelandic urban living backed by sturdy beats and a TV-star frontman, their rise to notoriety was swift and well deserved. Dozens of Icelandic hip hop acts tried to follow in their footsteps, but they remain the unchallenged overlords of Icelandic rap. As their frenetic live-shows will attest, there’s a good reason for that.
www.myspace.com/xxxrottweilerhundar

Sign
Sign rebel, playing direct, unpretentious rock underlaid by strongly driven, emotive riffs, hinging on charismatic 20 year old Zolberg’s distinctive, hard hitting vocals. “A damn near face-frying experience.” KKKKK Kerrang! – “These boys are brought up on a healthy diet of rock ‘n’ roll.” Rock Sound “Driving hard sounds with great riffs, great songs and lot of ‘tude.” Metal Hammer.
www.myspace.com/sign

For more information on Icelandic bands and music visit: www.icelandmusic.is

As part of their ongoing 35th Anniversary celebrations this year, Young Enterprise in Aylesbury Vale held a fundraising dinner on Thursday 13 March at the Hardings Restaurant at Aylesbury College. Many of the Charity’s supporters were there, and an amazing selection of auction prizes helped to make the evening a huge success.

Guests were welcomed as they arrived with a drinks reception where they had a chance to meet their fellow supporters as well as some Young Enterprise volunteers. The evening was hosted by the Chairman of Young Enterprise Aylesbury Vale, Chris Underwood of Smooth, who got the celebrations off to a flying start with the sale of raffle tickets to around 60 specially invited guests. The raffle prizes were donated by companies and individuals who support the Charity’s work, as were the auction prizes later in the evening.

Some of the guests were seasoned supporters of Young Enterprise in Aylesbury Vale, while others were new to the Charity and enjoying their first introduction to the important work that Young Enterprise does. Young Enterprise Business Adviser Roger Churchill of Lohmann Technologies played an active part in the evening’s proceedings, not only drawing the raffle but also as keynote speaker. In his speech he drew similarities between the values and skills that were fundamental to the Great Escape and those that are required in running a business. It is these values that Young Enterprise aims to instil in Achievers that take part in its various programmes.

Unique auction prizes included such gems as a historic tour of Halton House Officers Mess (old Rothschild mansion), the RAF Halton Museum and viewing of a Graduation Parade. Pawl Sawley donated a signed JPR Williams limited edition print. A lot of excitement was generated by Vampire jet dragster fragments from Richard Hammond’s famous crash. Crooked Billet, Hayley Conference Centres and Sivatech also contributed to the auction run by Stephen Hearn from Tring Auctions.

The whole evening raised over £1,400 and helped to spread the word about the work of Young Enterprise to a new audience of potential future supporters.

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Young Enterprise is an educational charity that offers students the opportunity to run a real company in Company Programme. The Young Enterprise Programmes are based on the principle of “learning by doing” and each programme involves practical, fun, hands-on activity, led by a Volunteer from local business or the community working alongside teachers/lecturers with specifically designed Young Enterprise programmes. Young Enterprise Volunteers become part of an exciting and enjoyable learning experience for the local community.

Contact details:

board@yeav.org
01296 435196