NaijaWire

Archive for June, 2008

London - The Financial Services Authority (FSA) of the United Kingdom (UK) has licensed Intercontinental Bank (UK) Plc, a subsidiary of Intercontinental Bank Plc, as a full-fledged bank offering wholesale banking services in the United Kingdom.

The bank is authorized to perform trade services business, including letters of credits, collections and guarantees. Other aspects of its business include structuring and funding of structured trade and project finance transactions as well as arrangement of funding for group entities.

A seasoned international banker, Mr. Marcus Hopkins, has been appointed chief executive, while another international banker, Mr. Richard Wailes, will serve as Chief Operating Officer.

Nigeria - Nigeria’s primary and secondary school teachers under the aegis of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) has commenced a nationwide strike action intended to force the Federal Government to issue approval circular on the new Teacher’s Salary Structure (TSS).

The declaration of strike by teachers came in the wake of Federal Government’s decision to set up a salary review commission to look into all demands for wage increase within the public service.

In what can be described as one of the largest Advanced Fee Fraud (419) bust, the U.S Postal Service agents have discovered counterfeit checks, lottery tickets, and e-Bay overpayment documents worth $2.1 billion while investigating a scam involving some Nigerians and a US citizen.

PCworld.com reports that a cyber investigator with the US Postal Service, Chris Siouris, told a recent conference in Seattle, United States that the discovery was made when the agency sent 15 postal investigators to Lagos on a three-month undercover operation.

Washington State Attorney-General, Rob McKenna, who also spoke at the conference said they were pushing for ways to better educate Internet users to avoid e-mail scams.

Lagos- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines,  has announced that Nigerians will no longer be required to obtain transit visas on KLM flights from Nigeria to major destination in the world including United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), Canada, Ireland, Switzerland, and Japan when traveling via Amsterdam Schipol Airport.

Lagos - Royal Dutch Airlines, KLM, has officially apologized to the 290 Nigerians whose flights were delayed for two days at the Murtala Muhammed Airport. In a statement issued by the airline’s General Manager, Ramon Delima, the Airline apologized for the communication breakdown between the airline management and the passengers.

Delima, who attributed the flight delay to a technical failure, recorded on a brand new Boeing 777-200 meant to be used for the flight, expressed his sincere apologies for the flight cancellation of flight KL588 from Lagos to Amsterdam on the 5th and 6th of June. His words, “During a routine check in Lagos of the brand new Boeing 777-200 aircraft, a technical failure was discovered. Because a spare part had to be flown in from Amsterdam , KLM had no other choice than to delay the flight to the next day. All 290 passengers were accommodated in hotels.”