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Bernard Madoff, convicted of running an $65 billion Ponzi scheme, was sentenced to 150 years in jail. What’s your take on his punishment?

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By Knight Kiplinger

The Kiplinger Washington Editors

July 2, 2009

By year-end or so, Congress will give the nod to a major rewriting of the nation's financial regulatory system. This week’s Kiplinger Letter explores whether the package will do more harm than good and what lawmakers are likely to include.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: The Economy, Business Costs, Taxes, Supreme Court, Energy, Workplace Regulations, Climate Change, Health Care Legislation and Foreign Policy

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I just attended a franchise seminar. The speaker represents a few hundred franchises that (he says) are hand picked. He has the prospect (aka victim?) answer some questions about themselves then he makes recomendations - based on your personality, capital situation, etc.. If you pick a franchise, then he does some due dilligence for you. If you both decide it's a good idea, he helps you get started. He says he offers this service free of charge, which means he gets a commission if he's able to sell you a franchise. Has anyone done this? Successfully? Unsuccessfully?

-- fender

SEC Wants More Information from Firms on Climate Risks

Responding to a big investor push, regulators will soon require that companies be more forthcoming on the potential business effects of global warming.

By Matthew Mogul, Associate Editor, The Kiplinger Letter

November 13, 2007

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will require climate change disclosures as early as next year. Under pressure from big institutional investors and state officials, federal securities regulators will issue guidance clarifying that certain kinds of climate-related information is "material," meaning it involves significant business risks and must be included in corporate filings under existing law.

Investors want to know more about what firms are doing -- and not doing -- to clean up the environment. They want to know which companies are major emitters of greenhouse gases and thus potentially liable to future lawsuits. They also want to know what plans they have for reducing emissions and how much they will cost. And they want to know which insurance companies are exposed to risk from climate change and to what extent. The push for more disclosure is being led by state pension managers from California to Florida to New York and by big investor groups that control several trillion dollars.

All companies will need to report to shareholders a wide range of information on risks associated with climate change. That includes anticipated hits to earnings as well as capital expenditures due to complying with state and federal environmental laws. They'll also have to acknowledge when the firm's reputation could be tarnished because it's not being "green" enough for investors.

Some oil, power and insurance companies see that it's in their best interests to do so and have already begun disclosing climate change information to investors. In deals struck with environmental activists, American Electric Power, the biggest greenhouse gas emitter in the country, and Cinergy Corp. agreed to report publicly on what they're doing to cut down on carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions. Meanwhile, insurers such as Allstate and MetLife have also started disclosing financial risks tied to calamities like droughts, fires, floods, hurricanes and other climate-driven phenomena.

Others sectors will be forced to follow suit, from banks to retailers to telecommunications firms. Each will also have to disclose and document in quarterly and annual statements everything from loans made to environmentally unfriendly firms to bad building practices polluting the environment.

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