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Dutch pensions policy: In the balance
March 2015 (Magazine)By Carlo Svaluto Moreolo
Pages in: Dutch pensions policy: In the balance
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Best hands on deck: The consolidation of Dutch pension funds
The national debate on the future of the Dutch pensions system is now over – Carlo Svaluto Moreolo sifts opinions as the broad outline of a new system slowly takes shape
"The Dutch pension system is among the best in the world. We want to keep it that way." This is how Mariëtte Hamer, chair of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands, introduced the council's latest report on the future of the Dutch pension system. The Social and Economic Council (Sociaal-Economische Raad, SER), is the body advising the Dutch government on how to make the country's pension system sustainable in the long-term.
Mounting pressure on the sustainability of the system led Jetta Klijnsma, state secretary in the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs, to launch the National Pension Dialogue (De Nationale Pensioendialoog), a wide-ranging discussion involving all stakeholders in the industry, in 2014.
The process, which began with a nationwide series of meetings, has now entered its final phase. This will culminate in a reform proposal to be presented to the Dutch parliament by Klijnsma this spring.
The purpose of the dialogue was to bring stakeholders together to discuss the changes needed to ensure the Dutch occupational pension system can continue delivering suitable retirement income in the future. The question is whether and, to what extent, the founding pillars of the system – collectivity, solidarity, compulsory enrolment and defined benefits – should be retained in order to avoid significant shortfalls for future generations.
Every stakeholder has a different answer to that basic question. The most divergent opinions are on solidarity and compulsory enrolment. But the discussion has converged towards an acceptance that collectivity provides the best outcomes, and that defined benefits are no longer possible.
The SER, with input from stakeholders collected during a separate set of meetings, has developed four 'scenarios' for the future of Dutch occupational pensions (figure 1). These were outlined in a paper published at the end of January.
Of the four scenarios, the SER deems one more likely to succeed and is studying it in depth. It is the fourth variant described in the SER report and is summarised as 'personal pension assets with collective risk-sharing'.
SER's options for pension reform
Variant I: Payout agreement with degressive accumulation
Variant II: National pension arrangement
Variant III: Personal pension assets with voluntary risk sharing
Variant IV: Personal pension assets with collective risk sharing (preferred)
• Accumulation of personal pension assets
• Pension remains part of employment conditions (analogous to compulsion)
• Compulsory sharing of longevity risk (insurance compulsion)
• Possibility of various options for degree of greater risk sharing
Source: SER, Committee on the Future Pension Plan, Draft Future Pension Plan, 23 January 2015
Essentially, this is an attempt to provide the best of both worlds. It foresees accumulation of personal pension assets to provide much-desired transparency and avoid the 'hidden' transfer of rights that are made under solidarity arrangements. It retains compulsory enrolment as part of employment contracts. However, social partners would be able to choose different levels of risk-sharing, and dependent on that, a degree of choice would also be given to individuals. However, a basic level of longevity risk would be shared between members, no questions asked.
A similar approach has been proposed by a group of academics belonging to the Netspar research network. They propose combining collective risk-sharing with individual ownership rights, to benefit from economies of scale, but without offering guaranteed benefits. Collective buffers would be built and used to withstand market shocks.
PFZW, the €162bn healthcare pension fund, has also publicly backed collective defined contribution, although it has said that it would also support a 'soft' DB approach, with contributions decreasing in line with age meeting a set real benefit target.
The SER proposal will be integrated with the information collected as part of the dialogue. The data will be analysed by the ministry and used as the basis for the proposal.
However, further work is needed before the bill is presented. Lawmakers must first establish how the shift from the current system to the new one will be made. They also need to understand how the new second pillar will interact with the first and third pillars.
Moreover, the Netherlands is facing a general election in 2016, which limits the time horizon for legislation. This means it is difficult to predict whether this potential revolution will keep its momentum.
• The National Pensions Dialogue has been a frank and open discussion about the sustainability of the Dutch pension system.
• A gradual move to collective DC is the likely outcome of the reform process
• Many details about solidarity, transparency and freedom of choice are still unclear.
• There is broad agreement in the industry, but the reform process will be politically-driven.
But as Gerard Roelofs, member of the management committee and head of client group at ING Investment Management, puts it, the Netherlands is 'crossing the Rubicon'. The system is changing and there is no turning back.
In the period leading up to the National Pension Dialogue, legislators took steps to develop the DC sector and to offset the risk of DB overburdening the industry, thus increasing choice in the system. As well as DC pension funds and insurance products, the past few years have seen the rise of Pension Premium Institution (PPI) and General Pension Fund (APF) arrangements.
The PPI was created in 2011, initially with only a handful of providers permitted to offer it. A PPI is essentially a pure DC scheme that is suitable for multinationals because of its flexibility. Partly due to the introduction of the PPI, DC assets in the Netherlands have increased, though they still are a small fraction of total pension assets (around 10%).
Last year saw the introduction of the APF. This is a risk-taking vehicle that allows shared management of the assets of pension funds from different sectors, while keeping them ring-fenced. It has been introduced to relieve the pressure on struggling DB schemes.
Will the reform process abolish these new pension institutions? It seems unlikely. Still, it is hard to envisage that the current structure will be left unchanged – the pressure on the industry and politicians is too strong.
It is possible to imagine three different outcomes. The first would be a move to a fully collective DC world. If all stakeholders agreed to forgo real benefit guarantees then the focus of the discussion would be entirely on risk-sharing, ownership rights and on how to convert accrued rights. This is where the proposal by SER and Netspar (and to an extent PFZW's position) would sit.
It is a sustainable solution, but would require a lengthy discussion about the technicalities of collective DC. Also, the question is: would unions agree to do away with guaranteed benefits? What would they ask in return for that concession?
Another possible outcome would be that the system enforces transparency about accrued rights, but keeps a layer of guaranteed benefits. This would maintain the focus on inter-generational solidarity, making the matter even more politically sensitive. Plus, the problem of sustainability would not be addressed.
The third outcome would be an occupational pension system with plenty of choice for employers and employees. Both parties would be able to decide which type of arrangements they prefer along the spectrum – from industry-wide schemes with a high degree of collective risk-sharing and some benefit guarantees to individual DC arrangements with defined ownership rights.
"Some employers will not feel entirely comfortable with full DC, but the fact that employers and employees have more options to choose from is positive. It drives innovation"
Arthur van der Wal
This solution would answer the doubts raised by some about compulsory enrolment and the need for individual choice. But if this were the outcome, the industry would have to devote resources towards educating employees and, in the case of commercial providers, marketing their solutions. More importantly, in this scenario it would be difficult to ensure everyone makes the best choice.
Insurers manage a portion of Dutch pension assets, and enjoy an uneasy relationship with pension funds. Insurance companies believe industry-wide pension funds in particular are an uncompetitive oligopoly, while pension funds believe commercially-run insurers enjoy disproportionate influence over policy and represent a threat to the traditional values of collectivity and solidarity.
Arthur van der Wal, head of pensions at Nationale-Nederlanden, the insurance brand of the NN Group, believes that as the level of understanding of pension investment among the public is low, pension providers must be responsible for educating their clients and making sure that their communication standards are better.
The company is among those that hopes to benefit from an increase in DC assets, and that is one of the reasons why it supports increased choice. "Due to the pension dialogue, we are compelled to have more choice and to take into account market-driven dynamics," Van der Wal says. "Some employers will not feel entirely comfortable with full DC, but the fact that employers and employees have more options to choose from is positive. It drives innovation."
Among Nationale-Nederlanden's clients, the pillar of collectivity is not under discussion, says van der Wal. But he believes that one of the main benefits of the dialogue has been to expose the issue of transparency. "Solidarity worked as a black box," van der Wal says. "The discussion has made very transparent what solidarity can cause. But you need political will and the support of all stakeholders to bring about real change."
Van der Wal makes the case that because solidarity and compulsory enrolment are closely linked, the former will be affected if compulsory enrolment in specific schemes – namely, industry-wide ones – is no longer required.
But Tjerk Kroes, director of corporate strategy and policy at ABP-owned asset manager APG, believes that risk-sharing arrangements become more important when risk is assumed by individuals. This implies that schemes such as ABP, are among the best placed to realistically deliver those kinds of risk-sharing arrangements.
"Precisely because the risk is shifted to the participants, they need mechanisms to offload this risk. They only way you can do that is sharing," says Kroes. "You can share risk at a particular point in time, or across time over various age cohorts. Obviously, the more you share in terms of risk, theoretically, the easier it becomes to create redistribution within the fund. But, if you offer full transparency and you design legislation against redistribution, you can create a system where the participant is protected."
Whatever the outcome, politics will play an influential role and will clearly affect the new structure. Timing is an issue; Kroes welcomes the involvement of social partners in the dialogue, but notes that, matters might become risky for the pension sector should the cabinet fall.
He argues that the industry is reaching a state of "convergence" in terms of how each stakeholder views the future, but warns that if that process is not completed before the election, there is a danger that parties might exploit divergent positions for political purposes.
With elections scheduled next year, there is plenty of time for debate – and for politicians to postpone controversial decisions until after the election.
Dialogue distilled
• Peter Borgdorff
• Managing director, Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (PFZW)
Pension schemes should be able to choose from different types of arrangements, based on the type and the age structure of members. But in all cases we find that collectivity and solidarity should be the basis. Risk sharing within and between generations must be preserved, and both employers and employees have to be on board to provide a sufficient premium. To allow all this, PFZW advocates the design of a framework law for pensions. As far as the dialogue is concerned, I believe that is important to take into account the contribution the social partners, who are the owners of the system.
• Ernst Hagen
• Executive director, fiduciary management, F&C
The current system is unsustainable because all the risks are shared. But a system where risks are born by individuals to a full extent is hardly going to get enough support. The second pillar concerns employers and employees, so they need to find a common ground. Getting rid of the average premium and the unconditional nature of pensions is fine. But any transition has costs and benefits that need to be shared equally. It may take several years, but we are heading in the right direction.
• Jacqueline Lommen
• Senior vice-president and head of European pensions, Robeco
Today's pension schemes are too complex and opaque about the way wealth is redistributed. People do not oppose redistribution of wealth, so long as it is transparent and agreed upon beforehand. The National Pension Dialogue is a welcome initiative to address that. It is driving change through a consensus model, but more importantly there is a focus on members, who are directly involved in the discussion. We need that focus to secure long-term support for the system. Future pension schemes need to be simple, smart and transparent. Collective DC would ensure simplicity, transparency and an appropriate level of collective risk-sharing.
• Eric Mathijssen
• Senior risk management consultant, Ortec Finance
My hope that the future Dutch pension fund system will be simple but at the same time one that allows for more choice by employers and employees. One of the problems with the current system is that it is difficult to explain. A simpler system would bring back the confidence we used to have in pensions. But labour mobility makes it very difficult to have solidarity. The most likely and best outcome is a simple DC system with choices. The question that is still open is whether there should be collectivity and solidarity in the payout phase.
• Anton van Nunen
• Director of strategic pension management, Syntrus Achmea
With more flexible labour contracts and a rising number of independent self-employed, there is an inherent development towards DC. The current system, including the discounting rules, implies a fundamentally different treatment for the young and the old. In this setting, collective DC would be the best alternative. But the environment in which pension funds work makes it very difficult to achieve a well-functioning CDC system. Regulation is making pension claims look like insurance policies. But a pension fund's mission should be managing risk, not necessarily hedging it.
• Pieter Omtzigt
• Member of parliament, Christian Democratic Appeal
First of all, we need to make sure that discussion is in the interest of the participants, not the industry. Second, I believe that standardisation is of utmost importance. We need to develop one pension contract, as having many contracts would hamper portability and make it more difficult for members to choose the right option. Collectivity and compulsion should be maintained. There should be a limit in how much risk is shared ex-post, but ex-ante risk sharing should be retained. That is the whole idea of a pension system.
• Gerard Riemen
• CEO, Dutch Pension Federation (Pensioenfederatie)
It is fair to say the old DB system is unsustainable, so we have to design an optimal pension agreement that starts with DC. But we still think that everyone would benefit from having a mandatory system with risk sharing. How can we maintain those pillars under a DC system? There needs to be an investigation about which risks should be shared and between whom. Another pillar that needs to be maintained is the labour negotiations that support the system. In the future it is foreseeable that the social partners will decide the way risks are shared as part of a negotiation process.
• Gerard Roelofs
• Head of client group, ING Investment Management
We should try to empower the individual. In the current system, it is impossible for an individual employee to understand what his or her individual accrued rights are. That needs to change. But collectivity ensures protection and purchasing power, which in turn reduces costs – that needs to be maintained. That said, the trends in the labour market force us to think about portability of pensions. Once we define what individual accrued rights are we should make them portable.
• Cees de Veer
• Deputy chairman of the board of trustees, ABP pension fund
The system based on solidarity has to be changed. We have to ensure that it is fit for today's labour market. At the same time, we have to address the outcry for more flexibility, perhaps by allowing members to have more influence in the way their pension is built. That said, should employees be free to choose their own pension fund? We don't think that would work. We believe collectivity is better, because it makes the system more robust for the participants.

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Elizabeth Warren Apologized to Cherokee Nation for Her DNA Test Debacle
Nick Martin
Tucked away at the bottom of an article announcing Sen. Elizabeth Warren's plans to fully enter the 2020 fray was a report that Warren has officially apologized to Cherokee Nation for her DNA test video.
Here We Present Chris Cuomo at His Most Wild and Relatable
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Warren will make her presidential bid official on Feb. 9, The Intercept reported Thursday night, citing a pair of anonymous sources. The piece went on to detail Warren's path to entering what will surely be a crowded Democratic Party primary, noting her wealth tax proposal (a very good idea!) and her ongoing rebuttals to dingleberry Howard Schultz. The piece then moved into the sole damaging gaffe Warren's committed since she started to ramp up her push for the Oval Office—the DNA test.
In October, Warren released a six-minute video in which she revealed the results of a DNA test, which included interviews with former bosses, family members, and the geneticist that conducted the test. It did not go over well in Indian Country. The major concern among Native peoples was the fact that in releasing the video as a response to President Donald Trump's ongoing racist and derogatory remarks, Warren's chosen shield—a DNA test showing she had North or South American ancestry way down the line—undergirded the already frail understanding American citizens have of tribal sovereignty and tribal citizenry.
After the Intercept reported, citing two sources, that Warren had approached and apologized to the Cherokee Nation, the tribe responded with a statement confirming the interaction:
"Senator Warren has reached out to us and has apologized to the tribe," Cherokee Nation's executive director of communications Julie Hubbard told The Intercept. "We are encouraged by this dialogue and understanding that being a Cherokee Nation tribal citizen is rooted in centuries of culture and laws not through DNA tests. We are encouraged by her action and hope that the slurs and mockery of tribal citizens and Indian history and heritage will now come to an end."
The statement is fairly big (and relieving) news, because aside from when the New York Times and an attendee at an Iowa speech asked her about it, Warren has remained mum on the backlash to her test, at least publicly. Based on the statement, and an op-ed written yesterday by the tribal nation's Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr., Warren's message appears to have been accepted and understood by Cherokee Nation officials.
Neither Cherokee Nation or Warren's camp responded to our request for comment; we will update this post if either of them do.
Elections2020


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Tales of love, loss, and crushing disappointments – the failures of Kingdom Hearts 3
By Viki on 25th Jan 2020 • ( Leave a comment )
So. January 25, 2019. One of the most important days in gaming history.
We were finally, finally getting Kingdom Hearts 3.
To put it in perspective, I jumped on this bandwagon in 2009, just before the release of Birth By Sleep, and the hype was skyrocketing even then.
Fans had been waiting for this since 2006 (the last "main," game, if we're being pedantic), and this was supposed to be it. The climax, the finale, the ending that was going to leave us sobbing over our controllers and cheering as we stabbed the most evil man in the universe through the head with a Keyblade.
Instead, we got a game that was 95% Disney, 5% rushed original content, and Naminé got five minutes of non-missable screen-time. Not even close to what I'd been hoping for.
The upcoming Kingdom Hearts 3: Re-Mind DLC/ Square Enix
So here it is, folks, the deep dive into Kingdom Hearts 3 that was promised, and how it fell so short of expectations, it instead hit six feet under.
I'm going to cut to the chase, because I'm sure those of you who aren't too happy with the game will already know its glaring flaws.
The fact that Disney dominates the plot for the bulk of the game. The fact that what scant content we did get of the characters we'd followed for seventeen years was bundled into the last few hours of the game. That the Disney worlds were fairly empty, lacklustre, and altogether pretty one note.
Also finding ingredients. Please, never again…
Now, I'm not going to pretend that Kingdom Hearts has ever been a series that's been particularly fantastically written. It's always been a somewhat cheesy fantasy story that runs on far too much exposition and and the power of friendship. But the one thing Kingdom Hearts has always done well is the small, intimate moments, the parts that make these characters feel human and alive. And that was exactly what was missing in Kingdom Hearts 3.
Dunkey's review hit it on the head – "Kingdom Hearts 3 is all flash and no substance." We've got all the Attraction Flow summons, rehashes of Disney plots, and clichéd dialogue we want, but the game itself feels like a flimsy veneer to market movies.
Kingdom Hearts 3/ Square Enix
In the beginning, there was a certain magic about the original Kingdom Hearts.
Weird? Absolutely.
Incredibly dorky, yet very heartfelt? Sure.
Beating up leopards and horrible chameleon Heartless again and again? I'm down for that.
Yes, it was silly and talked about hearts, light and darkness with a straight face, but it all felt very genuine. Sora, Riku, and Kairi, hell, even Donald and Goofy, have a lot of moments where it feels like they have a real connection; it's the small moments in-between the flashy Disney fights that speak the loudest.
It's stuff like Kairi's good luck charm. Riku and Sora having races on the beach and being competitive idiots, meticulously tracking down 101 Dalmatian puppies because the thought of them being locked in chests made me sad, and the iconic "This ship runs on happy faces!" moment.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is missing that charm that makes it feel real. All the genuine human moments have been stripped out, leaving behind, ironically, a shell of its former self.
Though at least we got one of the best theme songs in years.
For example, you know who I would consider the most well rounded character to be? Naminé. Followed closely by Lea.
Naminé is introduced as a woebegone helpless moppet who is manipulated by the 'Big Bads' into doing something awful and (literally and figuratively) kicked around.
She struggles with her conscience the entire way through Chain of Memories and eventually finds the courage to defend Sora and herself, and then spends the rest of the series trying to make up for what she did.
Her character growth is chartered through the course of only one game, and yet she goes through so many emotions, good and bad.
Her relationship with Sora and Repliku (who absolutely deserved better, by the way) changes and morphs before it reaches its conclusion. There's so many small moments that make the game worth playing, from Sora's devotion to her, to her pitiful monologues about what a bad person she is for manipulating Sora's memories.
Kingdom Hearts 3, on the other hand, has very little in the way of human connections or emotional moments – they're few and far between and relies far too much on stilted theatrics rather than subtlety.
The peak of show don't tell – take note, writers!
Look at it this way – imagine Uncharted without its strong bonds and character driven plot. I can guarantee you it would have fallen into the ether with all the other generic action adventure games out there; in fact, this is exactly what happened to the Tomb Raider reboot. It started out strong, and the sequels stripped away any character or flaws Lara had, turning it into something instantly forgettable.
Kingdom Hearts was made what it is through its bizarre, lovable aesthetic of a resurrected Aerith hanging out with Donald Duck. No one loves this series because you get to throw down with Ursula in a song battle.
Fans were expecting reunions and closure and instead got 25 hours of Disney plot, a ridiculously easy final battle, and a ton of unanswered questions.
We didn't get to see Lea and Roxas' awkward conversation about "Hey you sacrificed yourself for me and the last tine we met we hated each other."
We didn't get any development or redemption arc for Vanitas, and Repliku didn't get his happy ending (I'm going to start a #JusticeFor Repliku hashtag), or see Ven and Roxas re-enact that Spiderman meme.
Instead, a lot of crucial story stuff and wonderful character interaction has been saved for the DLC.
The DLC that costs £25 and features everything fans desperately wanted from the main game; playable Kairi, Final Fantasy characters, and how Sora gets Kairi back.
In short, Kingdom Hearts 3 feels like Naruto-grade filler, and at least that had the decency to give us team bonding.
There's no character depth, no development, or any shocking plot twists apart from Kairi getting shoved into the fridge to motivate Sora.
I really, really could go on; the atrocious pacing, a much smaller version of Twilight Town, Riku's monotonous lines, and Olette barely having any dialogue, but then this would be a 5000 word emotional rant.
It's gone out with a whimper rather than a bang, and it's a true crying shame. But in the meantime, I can recommend some great fan-fiction authors who are doing a much better job at fixing the plot.
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What is the Dallas County Pioneer Association?
What does the Dallas County Pioneer Association do?
What information is included in the Newsletter?
An association of people who are interested in learning about and preserving the history of Dallas County and of the surrounding area.
They have quarterly meetings that include dinner and a speaker. Visitors are always welcome; the meetings are free unless you wish to have dinner.
The newsletter includes announcements from the president, historical articles about Dallas County or about an interesting historical fact, names and information about his or her life and ancestors of new members, minutes of the last meeting and any other relevant announcements pertaining to the organizations activities. See the Newsletters Button to see an actual newsletter of the association. At this time, only members receive the newsletters by mail.
You may reach the membership either by phone, mail or email, pelase check our Contact Us page for more information.


CABIN ORIGINAL FWB Church, Beulaville will hold a grilled pork loin dinner fundraiser at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 6. Plates $7, eat in or take out. Call 910-298-1276.
MISSIONARY Outreach Harvest Dinner at noon Nov. 22 at Washington Chapel MB Church, 347 Bell Fork Road. Information call 910-455-4469.
EMMANUEL FWB Church, Piney Green Road hosts a free community Thanksgiving meal from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 23. Eat in only, no take outs.
SNEADS FERRY UM Church hosts a holiday bazaar fundraiser from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 23 with breakfast biscuits, chicken dinners, baked goods and yard sale.
ECCLESIA Ministries Church, Richlands hosts its annual Turkey Shoot 3 on 3 basketball game at 3 p.m. Nov. 23 at Maysville Elementary School gym. Admission is canned goods. Call 910-581-9197.


Rose Afriyie is co-founder and Executive Director of mRelief. The nonprofit has built an easy-to-use tool on the web and SMS to connect low-income Americans to the most important social services, like food stamps.
Her nonprofit mRelief is on track to connect more than 100,000 families to social services in 2016. She worked as a Marketing Associate for Google where she co-produced Oprah Winfrey's first Google+ Hangout and President Obama's annual State of the Union Hangout. She interned in the Domestic Policy Council of the White House during the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
She holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Michigan. Rose is a lifetime learner of Ruby code that enables her to make things that decrease the digital divide.


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Contest underway with lopsided results
Wednesday, August 27 2008 @ 07:45 pm ACST
Contributed by: Brett Northey
The 2008 Australian Football International Cup burst into life today at Melbourne's Royal Park. There was a festive mood in the air for Round 1, with three grounds set to go in dry conditions, almost touching on warm in the sun that often broke through the clouds. The NAB 150 Roadshow was on hand, a few bus-loads of school children were present, a handful of media reps, and music and commentary were playing. It would of course have been nice to see spectator numbers in their thousands, but clearly that will not be the case as long as matches are held on weekdays in Melbourne.
There were big wins to the favourites in Ireland (over Sweden), the United States (over Denmark) and New Zealand (over Japan), and a solid win to PNG (over Nauru). Other winners were Canada (over Finland), South Africa (over China) and Samoa (over India). Full match reports will follow over the next 24 hours, but what have we learnt about the various nations so far?
First up at 11am was Sweden taking on the might of Ireland. The Swedes slotted the first goal through good run and followed it up with some strong contests, suggesting they might be a handful at this tournament. That was where the tide turned, as the Irish Warriors stormed away to win by 78 points in an ominous display. At the same time the Kiwis were stamping their authority on the tournament, 89 point winners over a Japan outfit that was competitive around the ball but just couldn't penetrate. The third match for the early session had Canada destroy an undermanned Finland side by 124 points.
In the 1pm slot Samoa showed they will again be competitive and were far too good for India on debut and looking the least experienced of all the new footy nations at the IC08 - a nasty 110 point loss. Great Britain found the Peace Team a strong adversary in the contests but showed class in steadily drawing away to a rather large 128 point win. The US found Denmark even more competitive, but were too good to the tune of 62 points.
The two matches in the final slot yielded the biggest and smallest winning margins for the day. South Africa were very slick against new side China, a massive margin of 146 points. Next door and Nauru actually gave one of the favourites in PNG an early scare, but the Mozzies settled to pull away to a 49 point win.
Was there anything unexpected about the results? Firstly the margins were perhaps a little larger than predicted. The last Cup had 15 minute quarters so the step up to 17 minutes probably saw more scoreboard damage, especially against teams not match-hardened. The fine weather and full sized ovals compared with some of the games at Murphy Reserve in 2005 also allowed the better sides to keep the scoreboard ticking over, not getting bogged down in packs. And to be honest, if in doubt it's best to err on the small side when predicting winning margins - no one likes to hear they might lose by 100+ points.
Of the five debutantes, Sweden were, as expected, the most impressive. Ireland are a good team but had to fight all the way against them. The Peace Team, China, India and Finland all battled hard and showed courage and reasonable skills, but under pressure could not string together enough possessions to get scoreboard reward for effort. The Finns also struggled for numbers which might explain the size of their loss.
The favourites all did enough to maintain their rating. Some felt New Zealand were a little disappointing in not killing off Japan by more, and PNG's win over Nauru was difficult to gauge given the unknown quantity of the Chiefs, but the match was probably the best standard of the day. The US continue to loom and Canada and South Africa have made people take notice, as have Great Britain who showed a more instinctive feel for the game than in 2005.
Primarily the round confirmed that there is a major gulf between the new sides and most of the more established ones. Perhaps the main thing we learnt was that two of the more difficult nations to judge, Nauru and Samoa, will definitely play some good footy, and Denmark, a dark horse in some people's books, whilst competitive, will not be contenders for the major prize.
Organisationally the day went fairly smoothly, with all teams on time and facilities in place. There were of course a few smaller issues that crop up such as difficulties with the sirens and one team finding their supplier had sent them the wrong coloured shorts; there were a few team managers looking stressed as they tried to put all the pieces into place. But all in all a smooth day for an event bringing together 16 nations.
It was also pleasing to note that the AFL website ran several prominent stories during the day, reaching a large audience given it is Australia's number one visited sports website. From worldfootynews.com's perspective we hope the quarter by quarter score updates were well received but with so many teams competing and contacts to catch up with we did feel a bit stretched for resources which may be reflected in our match reports.
Full match reports will follow, and then next up is Round 2 on Friday 29th August, again at Royal Park just north of Melbourne's CBD.
Canada vs Finland
Watching media and spectators (including other teams)
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Q: Why is a return process assumed to be stationary when there is volatility clustering present? I am analysing a logarithmic returns series only to find the ADF result to signify the stationarity of the series. I understand that this is a way of differencing the original price series, however I am confused regarding how an I(0) process can be used to explain the presence of volatility clustering as this characteristic accounts for unequal variance as time progresses. Would the explanation have something to do with weak stationarity? And if so, how and why?
Thanks in advance

A: A stationary process can exhibit volatility clustering. This has nothing to do with weak stationarity, it is true for strict statioarity as well.
As you say, a stationary process must have the same variance for every point in time. But this doesn't apply to the variance of the distribution at some point in time conditioned on realized values on other points in time.
By volatility clustering one refers to either a conditional relationship or a feature of the sample paths. It doesn't mean that unconditional variances will differ from one point to another.
To see the difference, consider the following example:
Say you have a process: $...,X_{-2},X_{-1},X_0,X_1,X_2,...$ which only has the sample paths: $$...,1,1,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,...$$
$$...,0,1,1,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,...$$
$$...,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,1,1,0,...$$
$$...,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,1,1,...$$
$$...,1,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,1,...$$
Where each of the sample paths has equal probability.
This process is strictly stationary, while there is "clustering" of ones in its sample paths.

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Here at Portland Walking Tours, we love the staff that marks the bicycle lanes in Portland as they always come up with funny and unique designs. This time, they have outdid themselves. According to Shannon Henry, who took this picture and posted it on Flickr, they like unicyclists too!
This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at 9:00 am	and is filed under Portland News.


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Home News Malta starts to crack down on AML-deniers by fining a notary!!
Malta starts to crack down on AML-deniers by fining a notary!!
A notary has been fined almost €62,000 for a series of breaches of money laundering rules.
Roderick Caruana could not identify the ultimate beneficial ownership of certain financial structures he was involved with, the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit said in a notice on its website.
The FIAU on Friday said it had found failures at the notary's office when it came to understanding clients' source of wealth and the source of funds.
In the files it reviewed, they also saw shortcomings in the identification and verification of the identity of the customer and the beneficial owners.
Caruana could also not explain the corporate ownership and control structure of some financial structures. In others, the details were not comprehensive enough to establish who the real ultimate owners are.
"As a result, in a number of files where corporate entities were involved, the notary did not determine the beneficial owners behind the corporate customer being serviced," the FIAU said.
Risks unknown:
The FIAU said in its announcement that Caruana did not have an adequate business risk assessment.
He also did not consider "matters which could be indicative of higher money laundering and funding of terrorism risks".
In all the files reviewed by the FIAU, officials found that no customer risk assessment had been conducted.
The FIAU said Caruana had conceded that his analysis needed to be improved and that risk assessments were not carried out in a structured manner.
Ultimately, Caruana had exposed himself to a higher risk of money laundering, the FIAU said.
Even though a service provider knows his clients, the FIAU said, this can never constitute a justification for not carrying out a comprehensive understanding of the customer risk.
The FIAU also found faults in the notary's customer acceptance policy.
Moreover, there were instances where the beneficiaries of a trust, including the settlor and the protector were neither identified nor verified.
Politically exposed risks:
The notary did not always apply the necessary measures to determine whether the parties within the transactions are politically exposed or otherwise.
Consequently, Caruana could not determine whether enhanced due diligence measures needed to be applied.
The FIAU did not say whether the notary had any politically exposed clients.
It was important, the FIAU said, that a notary carrying out relevant activity, is able to understand and review circumstances surrounding customers and transactions that may raise suspicion, and to determine what action should be taken.
Read more - https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/notary-fined-62000-for-breaching-anti-money-laundering-rules.899573


Pharmacist Tommy Spell pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection to a more than $400 million health care fraud.
A Ridgeland pharmacist pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit health care fraud for his role in a $400 million compound pharmacy scheme with roots in Hattiesburg.
Thomas Spell Jr., 50, admitted to U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett that he participated in the fraud, filing $243,550,803 in false claims with TRICARE, the health benefit program for the military.
Nearly $30 million of the fraudulently obtained money went to Spell. With his plea, the government through forfeiture will seize more than $26 million in assets held by Spell.
Starrett set his sentencing for Oct. 16. He appeared earlier before Magistrate Judge Michael Parker, who set his unsecured bond at $100,000.
Spell's case is part of the largest health care fraud scheme ever investigated and prosecuted in Mississippi, U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst said in a news release.
The government said Spell, who owns several pharmacies across the country, conspired with others to create, market and distribute costly compounded medications to patients who were never seen by doctors and many of whom did not need or want the expensive drugs.
Spell admitted to conspiring with other unnamed persons to planning and carrying out the scheme while in Lamar County.
Spell and others also purchased money orders and prepaid debit cards to make copayments for beneficiaries in an attempt to make the reimbursement claims seem legitimate.
Silas Richmond II, a Jackson pharmacist, pleaded guilty July 18 to conspiracy to commit health care fraud of more than $545,000.
He was released on a $50,000 unsecured bond. His sentencing is set for Oct. 2 in Hattiesburg.
To date, 11 people have been charged in connection to the case. Seven have pleaded guilty, one was convicted and three others will stand trial in November.
Hurst attended Spell's change of plea hearing at the William M. Colmer Federal Courthouse.
He said the investigation remains ongoing nationwide.
"Ripping off our veterans and members of the military is despicable, and that is exactly what this defendant and others have done by defrauding TRICARE and the American taxpayer," Hurst said. "Rest assured that we will hunt down all those who commit this type of fraud and we will not stop until such criminals are brought to justice.
As of Aug. 9, 11 people have been charged in connection to the compound pharmacy scheme that bilked TRICARE and other health benefits providers of more than $400 million.


VENETO is an experience that brings to life the history, culture and traditions of a region in Northern Italy. A warm, enlightening setting that leaves bodies, minds, and spirits nourished through quality, handmade cuisine, an impeccable wine list and the hospitality of Amy and Marco. When you dine at Veneto you are nourished in every sense of the word.
Instagram your experience and hashtag #TasteUtah to see it featured instantly.


Interested what users have to say about Power Prompter?
Here you'll find some of the reviews customers have left in the Mac App Store.
Also don't miss out the free 30 day trial version!
"If I could, I would give it 10 stars. It has enough customization to create scripts how you like. But just enough that it is clear and not confusing. I tired 10 other apps and tried the free version of this one to see if it was what I wanted. I film fitness videos - I used to use foam board and a timer. With this app I could time the script to move to the next exercise. I love this app!"
"I use the paid version of Power Prompter. I now write my content right into Power Prompter and can see how long the video will be. This has reduced my edit time by days. Takes me an hour to record a 30 min. presentation and about 2 hours to edit the content since I don't have nearly the mistakes I did before. Excellent tool."
"Truly pleased with this purchase. Easy step by step instructions. Simple to use. Ease of editing. iPhone app works well. Over all… this is a great purchase. Both myself and my partner learned to use in minutes and had it running and recorded our first training module in a half hour after purchase. Brilliant product… satisfied customer!"
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Not convinced? Try for yourself!


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Quicken Loans Celebrates Black History Month
by Allison Saunders
Our Diversity and Inclusion team at Quicken Loans created a video series promoting the contributions and achievements from people of various backgrounds.
This month, we celebrate Black History Month with a video produced by our AmazeU team celebrating the many contributions from African-Americans that have impacted our country.
Juanita Moore, president and CEO of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, narrates the video. In it, many achievements of influential African-Americans who shaped our nation's history are highlighted, with a special perspective on our hometown, Detroit.
One important mention belongs to Carter G. Woodson, the second African-American to to earn a Ph.D from Harvard University and the founder of Negro History Week in 1926. In 1976, President Gerald Ford and the federal government formally recognized Black History Month.
"America really is about inclusion and everybody having a voice and everybody's voice being important to make this country what it is," Moore asserts in the video. "I think that African-American history is just a part of that history."
Quicken Loans is excited to be part of the people moving Detroit forward. Please enjoy the video as we celebrate Black History Month and the impact of African-Americans in not only our city, but our country.
Rebecca Wright says:
Beautiful && very informative… Thank you:)
Kevin Graham says:
Sheila Rice says:
That was a awesome presentation team. I think you should continue to provide monthly information on our city/culture/diversity/nationality. I believe it will be helpful to hear, see and bring light to our diversities.
I'm really glad you enjoyed it, Sheila!
Absolutely wonderful &uplifting. Thank you!
Glad you liked it, Carolyn! Have a great night!
Deidra Harris-Watkins says:
Great clip of African Americans and what we all have to celebrate. Thank You
Thanks for watching, Deidra!
Mia Calloway says:
This video was uplifting and awesome.
I agree, Mia! Thanks for watching!
Intern Alley- Expect the Unexpected
Quicken Loans Celebrates Women's History Month


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Former diplomat urges Canada to stop conducting diplomacy via social media
By Canadian Press. Published on Aug 8, 2018 2:39pm
OTTAWA — A former Canadian diplomat says the diplomatic crisis between Canada and Saudi Arabia is largely the result of "diplomacy by tweet."
Colin Robertson, vice-president at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, says tweets should not be used to convey complex diplomatic messages where language and nuance are critically important.
"We are becoming too carefree with tweets," said Robertson.
Saudi Arabia suspended diplomatic relations with Canada on Sunday in response to a tweet from Global Affairs Canada that criticized the Saudis for the arrest of social activists.
"Very alarmed to learn that Samar Badawi, Raif Badawi's sister, has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia," the tweet read. "Canada stands together with the Badawi family in this difficult time, and we continue to strongly call for the release of both Raif and Samar Badawi."
Raif Badawi is a Saudi blogger who has been in jail since 2012 for criticizing the regime. His sister, Samar, was arrested in Saudi Arabia last week. Raif Badawi's wife and three children became Canadian citizens earlier this year and live in Quebec.
It took several days for Saudi Arabia to react to the original tweet, which was sent Friday. Conservative foreign affairs critic Erin O'Toole says he's been told that the tweet included language that's considered improper and condescending when translated into Arabic.
"If you look at the tweet in Arabic, it was several days after language in tweets by the minister — and from what my sources have said, the choice of some words left an entirely different tone to the conversation," O'Toole said.
In particular, Canada used a word often used in Arabic to scold children, he noted, calling it another reason why conducting official diplomatic relationships on social media is bad policy, particularly relationships that can be challenging.
"Increasingly, both ministers and departments in this government have started using Twitter as a primary means of expressing concern and that has already caused a number of embarrassments for (Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau."
Both O'Toole and Robertson pointed to Trudeau's "Welcome to Canada" tweet from January 2017, which came as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration was taking steps to block refugees from certain countries from seeking asylum.
Records show that tweet has led to confusion about Canada's policies, a spike in global interest in Canada among potential refugees and has been cited by critics as part of the reason for the influx of asylum seekers coming across Canada's southern border.
Canada needs to learn from its mistake and work on its face-to-face diplomatic skills, said O'Toole, who nonetheless characterized the Saudi response as being "over the top."
Robertson said he likens Twitter to a headline service, which provides limited space and next to none of the nuance demanded by diplomacy. It's also unlikely the tweet was vetted by Canada's ambassador in Saudi Arabia, who would normally approve relevant news releases before their release.
Twitter can convey information by ministers if they link to the longer press release or official government statements, he added.
Freeland did just that Sunday, tweeting a link to the government's statement expressing concern after Saudi Arabia expelled Canada's ambassador and recalled their own from Ottawa.
Saudi Arabia didn't stop there, however.
The kingdom has also cancelled new trading, rescinded student scholarships and recalled thousands of Saudi students studying in Canada and barred Canadian wheat imports. One media report even has banks and state-owned pension funds being ordered to sell all their Canadian assets.
In Riyadh Wednesday, Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir said Canada made a mistake when it posted its tweet and has all the information it needs to correct the record. There is nothing to mediate in the dispute and the ball is squarely in Canada's court, al-Jubeir added.
Some of Saudi Arabia's moves will have little impact in Canada. Canadian trade data shows no Canadian wheat has been exported to Saudi Arabia since 2016, and what little exports there were represented only 0.2 per cent of all Canadian wheat exports.
Cancelling scholarships for Saudi students studying at Canadian universities and colleges, however, could be a different matter: Saudi Arabia is the fourth-largest source country for international students in Canada, with an estimated 15,000 Saudi students enrolled.
The U.S. and Europe have so far remained largely on the sidelines, requesting more information from Saudi Arabia about the arrests but maintaining a neutral tone.
Earlier this week, Freeland said there is nothing new about Canada's position on human rights and that Ottawa is awaiting more details from the Saudi government before responding further.


With a shared passion for psychology and photography Nicola Malkmus experiments with perspectives and shifts of perception, using her photography to find different approaches to express processes and questions. She shoots film, 35mm and 120 mediumformat. Living abroad for many years has widened her view for observation through not knowing. Sometimes we can capture glimpses of other truths. Like alternate realities. Shifting your awareness shifts what you see and what you experience.
In her profession as a Hypnosis-Coach, she helps people deal with stress and pressure through hypnosis. Altered states of consciousness are her second home, which doesn't come as a surprise if you've seen her photos.


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Best Accredited Medical Training Colleges In Kenya 2022
by Kenyan Magazine
What are the Best Medical Training Colleges in Kenya?.
Here is a list of Kenya's Best Medical Training Colleges this year that you should consider to join when looking for good medical training institution to pursue your medical career.
These medical training colleges in Kenya, have proved for the past several years to offer nothing but the best medical training to its students and producing highly qualified medical professionals year after year.
Because of this, graduates who are from these medical training institutions listed below are among the most preferred by employers.
If you want to pursue a medical career in Kenya, whether it's on certificate, degree, undergraduate, postgraduate or diploma in medicine, and its other fields.
In this article, we have provided a list of the Best Medical Schools in Kenya, that not only have a good learning environment but also, they are some of the top performing institutions in Kenya.
With that said, below is the list of the best the medical training colleges in Kenya that are recommended for students who want to pursue certificate, degree or diploma in Medicine.
Best Medical Training Colleges In Kenya:
Kenya Methodist School of Medicine and Health Science
The Kenya Methodist School of Medicare and Health Science is a leading medical training institution in Kenya.
The institution is renowned for providing high quality education and environment friendly for learning to all their students who are currently enrolled at the school.
If you are thinking of joining a medical training college that is dedicated to your success and knowledge of the industry, this institution should be in the list of your choices before making your final decision.
Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC)
Also Read: Nairobi Aviation College Courses Offered (full list) and Contact
The Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) is the most renowned medical training facility in Kenya with branches spread all over the country, including in major cities and counties in Kenya.
KMTC has gained a lot of good reputation in Kenya as a reliable medical training institution.
If you want to join an affordable medical training facility in Kenya that is dedicated in medicine and its fields, then KMTC would be a good choice for you to pursue your medicine career in Kenya.
Egerton University School of Medicine
The Egerton University School of Medicine is a leading medical school in Kenya and one of the most highly recommended medical training institution in the country.
The medical training facility offers both medical training programs, namely diploma and degree courses in the institution.
If you want to join a reliable and enjoy a professional training experience in a medical school, this is one of the best in Kenya.
Jomo Kenyatta College of Health Science
The Jomo Kenyatta College of Health Science is among the best medical training facilities in the country.
When it comes to the Health Science sector, The Jomo Kenyatta College of Health Science proudly leads the park, by offering diploma, undergraduate degrees and post graduate programs to all their enrolled students.
Nairobi School of Medicine
The Nairobi School of Medicine offers all the medical training fields courses and they are one of the most specialized institutions in Kenya when it comes to medical training.
The institution has a history of producing highly trained medical professionals.
Maseno University School of Medicine and Surgery
Also Read: Kolping Vocational Training Center Courses Offered (full list) and Contact
The Maseno University School of Medicine and Surgery located in Kisumu County (Western, Luanda) is one the most highly recommended medical training facility in Kenya.
If you want to pursue medicine in an institution full of professionals and skilled staff in every medicine department, then Maseno University School of Medicine and Surgery should be in your list of choices.
Moi University School of Medicine
The Moi University School of Medicine is one of the best and most recommended medical training school in Kenya.
If you want to study medicine in a well established public school, Moi School of Medicine is one of the best choices for you.
Kenyatta University School of Medicine
The Kenyatta University School of Medicare is among the top performing medical training institutions in Kenya today.
The Kenyatta University School of Medicine offers the best medical training and skills to its students, not mentioning the fact that it is neighboring Kenya's largest referral hospital, The Kenyatta National Hospital, which means more detailed practical skills for the students enrolled at the University.
Aga Khan University School of Medicine
The Aga Khan University of Medicine is a top performing medical training institution that is highly dedicated in providing students with professional education and knowledge in their well established learning environment.
The Private medical training facility has been producing highly skilled medical professionals since its first year of establishment in the country.
Aga Khan University School of Medicine is among Kenya's Most Recommended Private Medical Training Institutions.
Other renowned medical training institutions in Kenya include;
Also Read: Havard Institute Courses Offered (Full List) and Contact
Karen Hospital Medical Training College
Kijabe College of Health Sciences (AIC Kijabe Medical College)
Nyahururu Medical Training College
Nazareth Medical College
Thika School of Medical and Health Sciences
Those are Kenya's Best Accredited Medical Training Institutions so far as of this year, listed above in no particular order.
They are all accepting new admissions and applications for new students aspiring to be the future medical professionals in the country.
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Mombasa Aviation Training Institute Courses Offered (full list) and Contact
by Kenyan Magazine · Published March 4, 2021
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If you are granted membership in the Intel® Technology Provider Program ("Program"), these Terms and Conditions ("Terms and Conditions") constitute a legal agreement between Intel Corporation and its subsidiaries ("Intel"), and You. "You" refers to you or your employer or other entity for whose benefit you act, as applicable. If You are agreeing to these Terms and Conditions on behalf of a company or other legal entity, You represent and warrant that You have the legal authority to bind that legal entity to these Terms and Conditions, in which case, "You" or "Your" shall be in reference to such entity.
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5.7 Self-reported Revenue: Intel may also request that You self-report the number of systems containing Intel CPUs that Your Company has sold in the prior calendar year. Intel reserves the right to validate this self-reported information. Intel will have the right to audit and inspect Your Company records up to and including a physical site visit/inspection of Your facility. At Intel's option or upon Your written demand, such audit will be performed by an independent third party at Intel's expense and on at least ten working days' notice to You. The results of such audit shall be kept confidential by the auditor and, if conducted by a third party, only Your failures to abide by the obligations of this Terms & Conditions shall be reported to Intel.
(v) permit Intel to list Your firm name, address, and member status on a publicly available website and to provide a link to Your company's website, with a disclaimer that Intel is not responsible for the content on Your website.
6.1 Points: Points ("Points") are a discretionary earned benefit that Intel offers to active members depending on membership level within the Program who purchase qualifying Intel® products from Sellers (hereinafter referred to as "Eligible Program Members"). Intel® Authorized Distributors, Intel® Approved Suppliers, Intel Component Suppliers are not eligible to earn Points. Points may also be provided to Eligible Program Members who complete other non-purchase activities (hereinafter referred to as "non-transactional activities") as defined by Intel. Exhibit A of this agreement sets forth supplemental Terms and Conditions in relation to Points.
6.2 Additional Benefits and Services. From time to time, Intel may offer benefits or services, in addition to those specified herein, to members of the Program. Such benefits or services may be governed by separate guidelines, rules, or other Terms and Conditions. The guidelines, rules, or Terms and Conditions for a particular benefit or service shall govern that particular benefit or service. A member may be eligible to participate in multiple programs when meeting the specific guidelines; however, financial benefits from the programs may not be combined.
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It is Your responsibility to review these Terms and Conditions at least once a year or sooner if Intel notifies You of a change in the Terms and Conditions. You agree that Your continuing participation in, or access to, the Program after any changes or modifications constitutes Your acceptance of the Terms and Conditions as modified.
8.3 Probation. Intel may place You on Probation if You fail to comply with these Terms and Conditions, or any applicable CTLA, or Intel logo usage guidelines. "Probation" is a period of time of up to 90-days during which You may not be eligible for Program benefits. During this period You must take action to correct deficiencies brought to Your attention. If deficiencies continue at the end of the Probation, You may be terminated from the Program. Intel will not consider any application for re-entry to the Program until at least six (6) months after the date of termination. Re-entry into the Program will be at Intel's sole discretion.
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(viii) Failing to comply with any other provisions applicable to You as a Program member, or applicable to any benefits offered to You as a Program member, including breach of Intel's Channel Warranty Program (CWP) requirements.
8.6 Terminate Membership - Program Partner. You may voluntarily terminate Your membership in the Program at any time by providing written notice to the Program administrator.
8.7 Effect of Termination. Upon termination, all rights granted to You under these Terms and Conditions and any applicable trademark license agreements, such as the CTLA, shall cease immediately, and You shall immediately comply with all termination obligations specified in these Terms and Conditions and other applicable agreements.
8.8 Upgrade. From time to time, Intel will evaluate Your eligibility to upgrade Your membership status either from Registered to Gold or Gold to Platinum. All upgrades are subject to the membership criteria in effect at that time for the new membership level and require confirmation by Intel. Upgrades to the Platinum level require manual validation; it may be several months before You are activated as a Platinum Partner.
9.1 No Endorsement. You acknowledge that Intel makes no claims on Your behalf as to the quality of products or services You offer. You shall make no claims that Intel endorses Your products or services.
9.2 Member Website and Password. You must have a password to access certain parts of the Program website. You shall keep Your password secure and confidential and use it only for Your authorized access to the Program website. You are solely responsible for all activities that occur with Your password. You shall notify Intel immediately of any actual or suspected unauthorized use of Your password. Intel is not responsible for any consequences that result from any unauthorized use of Your password. Direct any questions or problems with Your password or the website to: http://www.intel.sg/reseller or https://www.intel.sg/technologyprovider.
9.3 Counterfeit and Remarked Products. You will not alter the functionality of, overclock, or remark any Intel product. You will not purchase, use, sell, broker, or promote the sale of remarked, altered, or counterfeit Intel products. Any product returned to Intel that Intel believes has been altered in an unlawful manner may be delivered to law enforcement authorities for prosecution. You shall not repackage an Intel product or any other product in Intel product packaging for resale, nor will You alter or tamper with any Intel product packaging.
9.5 Program Privacy Statement. At certain times, Intel may work with other technology ecosystem vendors to deliver new programs and value to Program members. You agree that Intel may collect information on the volume and types of products of Intel and ecosystem vendors that You purchase from those ecosystem vendors participating ("Purchase Information"), and use or share Your profile information, and purchase information with the participating vendors, participating distributors and/or third party service providers in order for them to be able to support those programs and deliver additional benefits to Program members.
(i) Bank Information. We may collect Your bank account information from You to enable the direct payment to Your company's account of any Program financial incentives for which You are eligible. Such information will only be used for payment processing.
(ii) Intel® Authorized Distributors and other Sellers. Intel collects sales out data from Sellers, and uses this information for assessing Your status in the Program as well as determining the appropriate financial benefits, customer support programs or other Program benefits or services for which You may be eligible. We may provide Sellers Program related information (including without limitation, points eligibility, balances and expiration) in order to enable us to deliver to You relevant member benefits or services for the Program. Sellers, and their employees are prohibited from using the information that Intel provides to them for any purpose other than as instructed by Intel and Intel takes reasonable steps to ensure Sellers adequately protect Your information on Intel's behalf.
(iii) Third-Party Service Providers. Intel occasionally hires third party service providers to provide marketing and logistics services on behalf of Intel, such as delivering email newsletters or prizes won in a contest, providing customer support services, hosting web services, processing training or other event registration, conducting program questionnaires, surveys, promotions or contests, processing payments for financial benefits or performing statistical analysis of Intel programs. Intel will provide these third-party service providers with the information they need in order to deliver the benefits or services on behalf of Intel. Our third-party service providers and their employees are prohibited from using the information that Intel provides to them for any purpose other than as instructed by Intel and Intel takes reasonable steps to ensure they adequately protect Your information on Intel's behalf.
9.6 Third Party Content and Websites. The Program websites may contain content of, and links to, the websites of third parties. You acknowledge and agree that Intel shall have no responsibility or liability whatsoever for any statement, advertising or other marketing material provided on such third party websites.
9.7 Disclaimers. THE PROGRAM, PROGRAM WEBSITES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY INFORMATION, TEXT, GRAPHICS, LINK OR OTHER ITEM CONTAINED ON THE WEBSITE AND THE BENEFITS AND SERVICES PROVIDED ON OR THROUGH THE WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED WITH NO WARRANTY WHATSOEVER FROM INTEL AND ITS SUPPLIERS. INTEL DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES EXPRESSED, IMPLIED, OR OTHERWISE, WITH RESPECT TO THE PROGRAM, WEBSITE, AND THE BENEFITS, MATERIALS AND SERVICES PROVIDED ON OR THROUGH THE PROGRAM, PROGRAM WEBSITES, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR ANY WARRANTY OF NONINFRINGEMENT. IN ADDITION, INTEL DOES NOT WARRANT THE CONTINUOUS OR UNINTERRUPTED ACCESS TO THE PROGRAM WEBSITES OR THE OPERATION, FUNCTIONALITY, OR AVAILABILITY OF THE PROGRAM WEBSITES, OR THAT THE PROGRAM WEBSITES WILL BE VIRUS FREE, OR THAT ANY DEFECTS IN THE PROGRAM WEBSITES WILL BE CORRECTED.
9.8 Limitation of Liability. IN NO EVENT SHALL INTEL OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE ANY LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA, INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS, OR COSTS OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, WHETHER UNDER THEORY OF CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE ARISING FROM OR ASSOCIATED IN ANY WAY WITH THE PROGRAM, PROGRAM WEBSITES OR YOUR USE OF THE PROGRAM WEBSITES TO PURCHASE COMPONENTS, SOFTWARE AND/OR SERVICES FROM PARTICIPATING SELLERS ON OR THROUGH THE PROGRAM WEBSITE, EVEN IF INTEL IS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. FURTHERMORE, INTEL'S TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY TO YOU IN CONNECTION WITH OR RELATING TO THE PROGRAM AND PROGRAM WEBSITES (WHETHER A CLAIM IS BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY) WILL NOT EXCEED THE SUM OF THE BENEFITS PAID OR PAYABLE BY INTEL TO YOU UNDER THE PROGRAM, IF ANY. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, AND AS A CONSEQUENCE SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
9.9 Anti-Corruption. You represent and warrant that You are in compliance with all applicable anti-corruption laws, and that You have not and will not violate any anti-corruption law, including but not limited to the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the United Kingdom Bribery Act, and local anti-corruption laws in Your jurisdiction. Without limiting the foregoing, You represent and warrant that You, and Your employees, agents, and representatives have not and will not, directly or indirectly, offer, pay, give promise, or authorize the payment of any money, gift or anything of value to: (i) any Government Official (defined as any officer, employee or person acting in an official capacity for any government department, agency or instrumentality, including state-owned or -controlled companies, and public international organizations, as well as a political party or official thereof or candidate for political office), or (ii) any person You know or have reason to know that all or a portion of such money, gift, or thing of value, will be offered, paid or given, directly or indirectly, to any Government Official, for the purpose of: (1) improperly influencing an act or decision of the Government Official in his or her official capacity; (2) improperly inducing the Government Official to do or to omit to do any act in violation of the lawful duty of such official; (3) securing an improper advantage; or (4) improperly inducing the Government Official to use his influence to affect or influence any act or decision of a government or instrumentality, in order to assist Intel or any of its affiliates in obtaining or retaining business. Intel will terminate this agreement immediately for cause if it reasonably believes that You have violated the FCPA or other similar laws and regulations in Your jurisdiction.
10.1 Variations. The implementation and administration of the Program may vary from country to country.
10.2 Assignment. Your membership in the Program is not transferable or assignable. Intel may assign or delegate its rights and/or obligations, in part or in whole, under these Terms and Conditions to any of its subsidiaries that are wholly owned directly or indirectly by Intel.
10.3 Order of Priority. The English language version of these Terms and Conditions shall prevail over any translations of them. The terms of the CTLA shall prevail over these Terms and Conditions with respect to the subject matter of the CTLA. Intel's Standard Terms and Conditions of Sale (as updated from time to time) apply to any sale of Products by Intel. Intel's Standard Terms and Conditions of Sale are available upon request and available on the Intel Business Link portal.
10.4 Waiver. Failure to enforce any of these Terms and Conditions shall not constitute a waiver of such terms, nor affect their enforceability.
10.5 Modifications. These Terms and Conditions may not be modified except in a writing signed by authorized representatives of both parties. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Intel may, in its sole discretion, modify or cancel the Program and/or Program benefits and these Terms and Conditions, which shall be effective upon notification unless a different time is stated. Posting changes on the Program website and/or sending email notification shall be deemed sufficient notice to You of such changes.
10.6 Compliance with Laws. You shall comply, at Your own expense, with all statutes, regulations, rules, ordinances, and orders of any governmental body, department, or agency, applicable to the performance of Your obligations under the Program and these Terms and Conditions.
10.7 Severability. If any provision of these Terms and Conditions is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the court will server and delete such provision from these Terms and Conditions. Any change or deletion of a provision of these Terms and Conditions will not affect the validity or enforceability of the remainder of these Terms and Conditions which will continue in full force and effect.
10.8 Entire Agreement. These Terms and Conditions and the other documents referred to in these Terms and Conditions contain the entire understanding between You and Intel with respect to the Program and merge and supersede all prior and contemporaneous proposals, agreements, understandings, negotiations, representations, warranties, conditions, and communications, oral or written, between the parties relating to the same subject matter.
10.9 Governing Law and Forum. Any claim arising under or relating to these Terms and Conditions, the Program, its materials, or its websites, excluding any claims arising under or related to the CTLA, shall be adjudicated in the following forums and governed by the following laws: (1) If You are based in the United States of America, Canada, and Latin America including Mexico, the applicable forum will be the courts of the State of Delaware and the applicable law shall be that of the United States of America and the State of Delaware, without reference to its conflict of law principles; (2) If You are based in the Asia Pacific Region, the applicable forum shall be Singapore and the applicable law shall be that of Singapore; (3) If You are based in Japan, the forum shall be the Tokyo District Court and the applicable law shall be that of Japan; (4) If You are based in Europe and the rest of the world, the forum shall be the Courts of England and the applicable law shall be that of England and Wales.
10.10 Export Regulations. You must comply with all laws and regulations of the United States and other countries governing the export, re-export, import, transfer, distribution, use, and servicing of products. In particular, You must not: (a) sell or transfer product to a country subject to sanctions, or to any entity listed on a denial order published by the United States government or any other relevant government; or (b) use, sell, or transfer Product for the development, design, manufacture, or production of nuclear, missile, chemical or biological weapons, or for any other purpose prohibited by the United States government or other applicable government; without first obtaining all authorizations required by all applicable laws. For more details on Your export obligations, please visit www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/legal/export-compliance.html?wapkw-export.
10.11 No Exclusivity. Benefits offered under the Program are not conditioned on any exclusivity or market share commitment. Furthermore, nothing in this agreement shall prevent either party from entering into similar arrangements with third parties.
1.1 Earning and spending rules may vary depending on membership level within the Program. The current rules can be viewed on the Points pages of the Program website ("Points Pages"). Participation in Points is subject to compliance with the Terms and Conditions and these Points Supplemental Terms and Conditions (together, the "Terms and Conditions"). Members who do not remain as active members of the Program will no longer be eligible for Points. You are not obligated to participate in Points or to purchase Intel® products.
1.2 Points Primary Contact: Intel uses a primary contact designation within the Intel profile center – as a level of access and authority. You must identify a primary contact to manage Points on Your behalf. The primary contact will be required to assume responsibility for these Terms and Conditions, management, execution, and disposition of all aspects, goods, and services of Points.
2.1 Only those Intel products, activities, and promotions specified on the Points Pages, qualify for Points earnings. Other non-transactional activities which Points may be granted for, may include, without limitation, completing select online training and participating in select surveys as approved by Intel.
2.2 Purchase activity must be correctly reported by Seller for calculating Points. Intel will use purchase earnings data based on sales-out data as reported by Sellers, net of returns, to calculate earnings which will be posted to the Eligible Program Member's Points account on the Points Pages. Intel products that are not purchased from a Seller, do not qualify for Points and such purchases will not be processed for Points.
2.3 If an Eligible Program Member uses a finance company to purchase qualifying Intel products on its behalf, the Eligible Program Member must instruct the Seller to include Eligible Program Member's Active Business ID number along with the Eligible Program Member's name and the name of the finance company in the invoice's "bill to" section.
2.4 Only those purchases and activities specified on the Points Pages will be reported and posted to the Eligible Program Member's benefit summary.
3.1 Intel, at its sole discretion, determines the Point earnings amount for each eligible purchase, activity, or promotion participation. Intel may vary the amount of a point value or discontinue any qualifying products, activity, or promotion at any time without prior notice. Point values may vary by geography and membership tier level or by other parameters at Intel's discretion. Intel, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to place and enforce a minimum threshold and/or ceiling on Points and to limit the quantities of a particular offer in a specified time period. Intel's decision on whether or not a purchase or activity qualifies for Points earnings under the benefit shall be final. Points updates are posted on the Points Pages.
3.2 The relevant date used for establishing the Points earned for the purchase of any qualifying Intel product is the invoice date, not the order date.
3.3 The relevant date used for establish the Points earned for a non-transactional activity, is the attendance/performance date.
3.4 Intel may also award Points for special promotions, offers, or campaigns. Special promotion rules will be communicated to the Eligible Program Member by any method customarily used for communicating with Program members including, but not limited to, electronic mail and/or posting of the Points Terms and Conditions to the Points Pages.
4.1 For each qualifying purchase made by an Eligible Program Member and correctly reported to Intel by a Seller, Intel will grant Points equal to the stated amount for that product and date of shipment. For each eligible non-transactional activity performed by an Eligible Program Member and correctly reported, Intel will grant Points equal to the stated amount for that activity and date of occurrence.
4.2 Intel will process the relevant point earnings based on the sales-out quantity as reported by Sellers and will post them to the Points statement area of the Points Pages. Eligible Program Members are responsible for regularly reviewing their Points balance. If there is any discrepancy with the Point balance posted due to Sellers inaccurate reports, the Eligible Program Member must inform the respective Seller and request that an error report be filed with Intel within 6 months of the original date of purchase(s). In the event of any discrepancies that cannot be resolved between the Eligible Program Member and the Seller, Intel's decision regarding the earnings amount will be final. For discrepancies that cannot be resolved with an Intel® Authorized Distributor please contact local Intel support teams at https://www.intel.sg/content/www/xa/en/technology-provider/buying-and-support/overview.html.
Eligible Program Members must ensure that their business name and address details reported by the Seller are an exact match with the business name and address details provided to and held by Intel.
5.1 Points will become available for redemption immediately after being credited to the account of an Eligible Program Member and can be redeemed for redemption options made available via the Points Pages. Points have no cash equivalent value.
5.2 Eligible Program Members will be able to browse available redemption options, which may be subject to tier and location criteria. Each redemption item will display the corresponding point value, which is inclusive of all associated charges. Eligible Program Members can only redeem for items within their available Points balance and an account must have sufficient Points in credit before a redemption is submitted. All redemptions will create a debit transaction in the member's Points account for the required Points amount. Points will be debited immediately from the account at the point of redemption.
5.3 Redemption options may be offered to Eligible Program Members in specific countries or all countries within a region.
5.4 Certain redemption options may be subject to unique terms, conditions, and/or rules. Where such rules exist, these will be communicated with the item description. By submitting a redemption for such item, Eligible Program Members confirm acceptance of such terms.
5.5 Where permitted, and subject to any redemption-specific terms, Eligible Program Member accounts will be re-credited with the corresponding Points amount in the event of cancellation of a redemption request, or return of a redemption option.
5.6 Intel may make special redemption offers to Eligible Program Members from time to time. Redemption offer rules will be communicated to the Eligible Program Member by any method customarily used for communicating with Program members including, but not limited to, electronic mail and/or posting of the updated Points Terms and Conditions to the Points Pages.
5.7 Intel reserves the right to change the redemption options at any time without prior notice and without incurring any liability to Eligible Program Members.
6.1 Points shall be valid for a period of 12 calendar months commencing from the date the Points are credited to the Eligible Program Member account, unless (i) a different period is communicated for a specific earning opportunity; or (ii) Points are cancelled in accordance with Section 13, below.
6.2 Forfeiture of Points: Points can be forfeited in the following ways: (1) Eligible Program Member voluntarily opts out of the Points benefit or termination in accordance with Section 13; (2) Points which expire as per the published Points expiry rules; (3) Eligible Program Member opts out of the Points benefit (4) Downgrade in Program membership level. Where Eligible Program Members are no longer eligible for Points, they will be able to access their Points statements and will be able to redeem any remaining available Points, provided they have sufficient Points to cover the redemption option, for a period of sixty days from the date their eligibility ended.
7.1 Eligible Program Members are able to view their Point statements on the Points Pages, which detail current Points balance and provide a statement of all transactions on the member Points account. The member statement will record credit and debit transactions on the member account.
7.2 Discrepancies: Eligible Program Members must notify Intel about any account discrepancies within six months of the date on which relevant Points are claimed to have been earned, or such Points will be forfeited. No claim under the Program for the granting of points will be considered by Intel unless the Eligible Program Member submits the claim fully in accordance with the procedure specified on the Points Pages. Successful claims will be awarded by Intel in accordance with the Points procedure as specified on the Points Pages. Intel shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to the failure of any Seller to correctly report any qualifying purchase, or for any report or claim for the granting of an award not received by Intel or which is mutilated, illegible, or incomplete.
7.3 Intel will not investigate and/or make adjustments for purchases that are older than 6 months from the date the issue is escalated to Intel via the published process.
All applicable country, state, and local taxes (including, but not limited to, sales and use taxes, value added taxes, and other taxes) imposed by any government authority having jurisdiction on or with respect to Points granted are the sole responsibility of the Eligible Program Member.
9.1 Intel conducts periodic audits of its benefit programs. In the event that excess Points benefit earnings are discovered by an audit, Intel will notify the affected Eligible Program Member, setting forth in a reasonable amount of detail the amount of over-benefit and the actions to be taken by Intel to recover the over-benefit. Intel may, in its discretion, offset any over-benefit against future accrued Points until the over-benefit is recovered in full. Recovery of over-benefits will be limited to sales transactions dating back to one year from the date the over-benefit is discovered.
9.2 Eligible Program Members must keep original copies of all supporting and accounting documents pertaining to Points benefits and all purchases of Intel® products for a period of one year, and will provide copies of the same upon Intel's request, for the purpose of verifying or reconciling Intel benefit claims.
Intel reserves the right to retain third-party vendors to assist in benefit administration. The third-party vendor and its employees are subject to a non-disclosure agreement with Intel and are prohibited from using members' confidential information for any purpose other than in administering Program benefits. Please contact Your local Intel Support Team with questions or concerns regarding confidentiality of information.
Eligible Program Members may not apply Points earnings against any outstanding charges or debts that the member may have with Sellers unless expressly approved by Intel, in writing, and accepted by the applicable Seller.
Fraud and abuse relating to the accrual or redemption of Points may result in forfeiture of any or all Intel benefits and termination of Program membership, as well as legal actions to recover fraudulently accrued or redeemed Points.
Intel may terminate the Points benefit at any time, for any reason or no reason. In such a case, Point earnings will cease from the date of termination and Points already earned will expire sixty days from the date of such termination. Intel may discontinue elements of the Program at its discretion. Eligible Program Members have the right to opt out of the Points benefit at any time upon notice to Intel.