Accounts merged after name mix-up

6 November 2012 Last updated at 08:06 ET

Tens of thousands of pounds ended up in the wrong savings account following a mix-up over two customers with the same name and date of birth.

Insurance company Prudential mistakenly merged the records of the two customers in March 2007.

The mix-up, which continued for more than three years, resulted in large amounts of retirement savings ending up in the wrong account.

Prudential UK has been fined £50,000 by the Information Commissioner.

“This case would be considered farcical were it not for the serious sums of money involved,” said Stephen Eckersley, the commissioner’s head of enforcement.

A spokesman for the Prudential said that the confused names of the two savings customers were “not uncommon”. He apologised and said that the customers had been compensated.

But he added that the problem originated from a mistake by one of the customer’s financial advisers.

Years of inaccuracy

The two customers, who have not been identified, shared the same first name, the same surname, and the same date of birth.

This led to their two accounts being mistakenly merged by Prudential. It was 42 months later that the confusion was eventually resolved.

In the meantime, Prudential was told about the mistake on several occasions, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said.

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Inaccurate information on a customer’s record can have a significant impact on someone’s life”

End Quote Stephen Eckersley Information Commissioner’s Office

This included a letter from one of the customers involved in the mix-up pointing out that he had not changed his address for 15 years, so there was clearly a problem.

Warning

The fine imposed by the ICO related to the failure of the company to investigate fully when alerted to the problem.

It is the first penalty handed out by the ICO which does not relate to data being lost by an organisation.

Previous fines charged to other businesses have resulted from the loss of disks or memory cards containing customers’ information.

“In this case two customer files were consistently confused and the company failed to remedy the situation despite being alerted to the problem on more than one occasion before it was finally resolved,” said Mr Eckersley, of the ICO.

“While data losses may make the headlines, most people will contact our office about inaccuracies and other issues relating to the misuse of their information.

“Inaccurate information on a customer’s record, particularly when the record relates to an individual’s financial affairs, can have a significant impact on someone’s life.

“We hope this penalty sends a message to all organisations, but particularly those in the financial sector, that adequate checks must be in place to ensure people’s records are accurate.”

Prudential has now improved training for staff and updated its customer records processes, the ICO said.

A spokesman for the insurance company said: “We regret that this incident occurred and was not resolved more quickly. The circumstances surrounding this case are unique.

“The accidental merging of the two customers’ details was not the result of system or process failures. It originally happened when the financial adviser of the first customer mistakenly provided the address of the second customer to us and requested that we change the first customer’s registered address.

“We co-operated openly and fully with the review and we accept the fine imposed.”

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Officials: New mass graves found in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Up to 10 new mass graves have been discovered near the site of a July attack on a camp for displaced people, officials said Tuesday, amid allegations that initial casualty totals were downplayed to mask killings carried out by the national army.

Rights groups claim summary executions were carried out by the Republican Forces of Ivory Coast, known by its French acronym of FRCI. Last month, officials found six bodies in a well close to the former campsite in the western town of Duekoue.

Government, army and U.N. officials toured 10 more graves in the same area on Saturday, said Paul Mondouho, vice-mayor of Duekoue. He said the graves had first been identified by civilians, and that officials did not know the number of bodies they contained because they had not yet been properly exhumed.

“People were suspecting the presence of bodies in these graves because of the smell coming out of them and because of the shoes we saw nearby,” Mondouho said.

Prosecutor Noel Dje Enrike Yahau, who is based in the commercial capital of Abidjan, confirmed that multiple new graves had been discovered but could not provide details. U.N. officials and the local prosecutor in charge of investigating the suspected killings could not be reached Tuesday.

U.N. spokeswoman Sylvie van den Wildenberg confirmed that U.N. forces helped Ivorian authorities secure a perimeter around 10 wells “similar to the one in which six bodies were found,” and that “some of those wells are suspected mass graves.”

She stressed that Ivorian authorities were leading the investigation but that the U.N. was able to provide assistance.

Army spokesmen could not be reached Tuesday. The Justice Ministry has previously vowed to investigate the discovery of the initial grave.

On the morning of July 20, a mob descended on the U.N.-guarded Nahibly camp, which housed 4,500 people displaced by violence in Ivory Coast, burning most of the camp to the ground. Officials said at the time that six people were killed.

The attack was prompted by the shooting deaths of four men and one woman on the night of July 19, according to local officials and residents. In response a mob of some 300 people overran the camp on the morning of July 20 after the perpetrators of the shootings reportedly fled there.

The victims in the July 19 attack lived in a district dominated by the Malinke ethnic group, which largely supported President Alassane Ouattara in the disputed November 2010 election. The camp primarily housed members of the Guere ethnic group, which largely supported former President Laurent Gbagbo.

Gbagbo’s refusal to cede office despite losing the election to Ouattara sparked months of violence that claimed at least 3,000 lives.

Albert Koenders, the top U.N. envoy to Ivory Coast, said one week after the attack that U.N. security forces had been inside and outside the camp at the time but that no Ivorian security forces were present. He said the U.N. forces decided not to fire at a large group of people that were attacking the camp in order to avoid “a massacre.”

Several witnesses have said soldiers and traditional hunters, known as dozos, participated in the attack on the camp. Both military and dozo leaders have denied the claims, saying they had tried to protect the camp.

In a statement released Friday, the International Federation for Human Rights, known by its French acronym of FIDH, said it had information — including the preliminary results of autopsies — confirming that the six bodies found in October were men who had been summarily executed by the army.

“The disappearance of dozens of displaced persons after the attack, as well as confirmation of cases of summary and extra-judicial executions, suggest a much higher victim rate than the official figures report,” said the organization, which counts Ivorian civil society groups among its members.

Duekoue was one of the hardest-hit towns during the post-election violence. The U.N. has established that at least 505 people were killed in and around the town, including during a notorious March 2011 massacre that claimed hundreds of lives and was allegedly carried out by fighters loyal to Ouattara.

Duekoue residents belonging to ethnic groups that supported Gbagbo have long complained about abuses carried out by the FRCI, with some pointing to the direct involvement of the local commander, Kone Daouda. FIDH said in its statement that Daouda had been transferred following the discovery of the grave in October, and called for him to be interrogated over the matter.

The group also said two FRCI members were being “actively sought” after failing to return to their barracks on Oct. 16, noting that they are believed to have fled to neighboring Burkina Faso.

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Google says Apple patent lawsuit dismissed

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by Apple Inc alleging that Google Inc-owned Motorola‘s patent licensing practices were unfair, Google said on Monday.

Apple had been set to square off against Motorola on Monday in a trial in U.S. District Court in Madison, Wisconsin, involving Google’s use of the library of patents it acquired along with Motorola for $ 12.5 billion in May.

“We’re pleased that the court has dismissed Apple’s lawsuit with prejudice,” a Google spokeswoman said in an emailed statement on Monday.

Dismissal of a case with prejudice means the case is over at the trial court level, though it can be appealed.

Apple could not immediately be reached for comment.

“Motorola has long offered licensing to our extensive patent portfolio at a reasonable and non-discriminatory rate in line with industry standards,” Google said in its statement. “We remain interested in reaching an agreement with Apple.”

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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No Doubt apologize to Native Americans for Wild West video

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Pop band No Doubt was forced to remove a new Wild West-themed music video and issue an apology after getting complaints from the Native American community, saying its intention was “never to offend, hurt or trivialize” their culture or history.

The Southern California band – made up of lead singer Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young – posted an apology on their official website on Saturday following the release of their latest video for the single “Looking Hot.”

“As a multi-racial band our foundation is built upon both diversity and consideration for other cultures. Our intention with our new video was never to offend, hurt or trivialize Native American people, their culture or their history,” the band said.

The video, which debuted on Friday, featured Stefani dressed in tribal garments as a Native Indian princess captured by Young and Dumont dressed as cowboys, while Kanal played a tribe chief who rescues Stefani.

Some users took to social media platforms to criticize the band’s use of tribal imagery, leading No Doubt to remove the video online, adding that “being hurtful to anyone is simply not who we are.”

“Although we consulted with Native American friends and Native American studies experts at the University of California, we realize now that we have offended people … We sincerely apologize to the Native American community and anyone else offended by this video,” they said.

“Looking Hot” is the second single from No Doubt’s latest album “Push and Shove,” their first studio release in a decade. The band initially rose to fame in the early 1990s in the new wave ska-punk scene and crossed over into pop with hits such as “Don’t Speak” and “Just A Girl.”

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Paul Simao)

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Service sector growth slips in October, hiring picks up

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The pace of growth in the U.S. services sector slowed modestly in October, though a measure of employment improved to its highest in seven months, underscoring expectations the economic recovery will remain modest.

The Institute for Supply Management said its services index eased to 54.2 last month from 55.1 in September, shy of economists’ forecasts for 54.5, according to a Reuters survey.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

The forward-looking new orders gauge fell to 54.8 from 57.7, but the measure of employment rose to its highest since March at 54.9 from 51.1.

The vast services sector has fared better than its manufacturing counterpart, which contracted during the summer. Still, this was the first time since June that the rate of growth in services firms has cooled.

While manufacturing has begun to grow again, the services sector is expected to remain stronger as it feels less of an impact from weaker exports.

Taken together, the two reports point to an economy that is growing at around a 2 percent pace, analysts said, maintaining the third quarter’s rate of growth and reinforcing the view that the United States is holding on to a modest recovery.

“Moderate growth in the U.S. economy continues,” said Joseph Trevisani, chief market strategist at Worldwide Markets in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

New export orders contracted to 47.5 from 50.5 against the backdrop of slower global growth and the euro zone’s ongoing debt crisis.

Financial markets saw little reaction immediately following the data. Wall Street was little changed in late morning trading as investors were wary of taking aggressive bets the day ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

Services companies in other parts of the world also saw slower growth in October, separate reports showed on Monday. The pace of activity in China slipped, while Britain’s sector grew at its slowest in almost two years. (Reporting by Leah Schnurr Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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Methane warnings ignored before NZ mine disaster

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand coal mining company ignored 21 warnings that methane gas had accumulated to explosive levels before an underground explosion killed 29 workers two years ago, an investigation concluded.

The official report released Monday after 11 weeks of hearings on the disaster found broad safety problems in New Zealand workplaces and said the Pike River Coal company was exposing miners to unacceptable risks as it strove to meet financial targets.

“The company completely and utterly failed to protect its workers,” New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said Monday.

The country’s labor minister, Kate Wilkinson, resigned from her labor portfolio after the report’s release, saying she felt it was the honorable thing to do after the tragedy occurred on her watch. She plans to retain her remaining government responsibilities.

The Royal Commission report said New Zealand has a poor workplace safety record and its regulators failed to provide adequate oversight before the explosion.

At the time of the disaster, New Zealand had just two mine inspectors who were unable to keep up with their workload, the report said. Pike River was able to obtain a permit with no scrutiny of its initial health and safety plans and little ongoing scrutiny.

Key said he agrees with the report’s conclusion that there needs to be a philosophical shift in New Zealand from believing that companies are acting in the best interests of workers to a more proscriptive set of regulations that forces companies to do the right thing.

The commission’s report recommended a new agency be formed to focus solely on workplace health and safety problems. It also recommended a raft of measures to strengthen mine oversight.

Key said his government would consider the recommendations and hoped to implement most of them. He would not commit on forming a new agency. Workplace safety issues are currently one of the responsibilities of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

In the seven weeks before the explosion, the Pike River company received 21 warnings from mine workers that methane gas had built up to explosive levels below ground and another 27 warnings of dangerous levels, the report said. The warnings continued right up until the morning of the deadly explosion.

The company used unconventional methods to get rid of methane, the report said. Some workers even rigged their machines to bypass the methane sensors after the machines kept automatically shutting down — something they were designed to do when methane levels got too high.

The company made a “major error” by placing a ventilation fan underground instead of on the surface, the report found. The fan failed after the first of several explosions, effectively shutting down the entire ventilation system. The company was also using water jets to cut the coal face, a highly specialized technique than can release large amounts of methane.

The report did not definitively conclude what sparked the explosion itself, although it noted that a pump was switched on immediately before the explosion, raising the possibility it was triggered by an electrical arc.

The now-bankrupt Pike River Coal company is not defending itself against charges it committed nine labor violations related to the disaster. Former chief executive Peter Whittall has pleaded not guilty to 12 violations and his lawyers say he is being scapegoated.

An Australian contractor was fined last month for three safety violations after its methane detector was found to be faulty at the time of the explosion.

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Monster’s U.S. online jobs index gains in October

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A monthly gauge of online labor demand in the United States rose in October, while construction and housing-related fields saw improvement compared with a year ago, the operator of a job search website said on Friday.

Monster Worldwide Inc, an online careers and recruiting firm, said its employment index gained 2 percent to 156 last month from 153 in September. The index was up 3.3 percent from 151 a year ago.

The index saw annual growth in 13 of 19 industries and 15 of the 23 occupations monitored last month.

Demand for jobs in the construction industry was up 17.2 percent on an annual basis, while the real estate, rental and leasing category gained nearly 9 percent.

Available jobs in retail trade were up 10.3 percent compared with last year ahead of the holiday shopping season.

The report was another look at the jobs market ahead of the government’s non-farm payrolls report later on Friday. Jobs growth is expected to have picked up modestly in October.

The Monster Employment index is a monthly analysis based on a selection of corporate career sites and job boards. The margin of error is approximately plus or minus 1 percent.

(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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Robbie Williams returns to top spot on UK pop charts

LONDON (Reuters) – Robbie Williams‘ new single “Candy” shot straight to number one in Britain’s pop charts on Sunday, the Official Charts Company said, dislodging Labrinth and Emeli Sande‘s “Beneath Your Beautiful” from the top spot.

Scottish producer and singer Calvin Harris entered the album charts at number one with “18 Months”, his second top-selling effort, and Kylie Minogue‘s “The Abbey Road Sessions” came in at number two on the long player list.

“Candy”, written with Take That band mate Gary Barlow, is Williams’ 14th career number one.

(Reporting by Matt Falloon)

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Turkish ex-president’s autopsy fuels poisoning speculation

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – An autopsy on late President Turgut Ozal, who led Turkey out of military rule in the 1980s and whose body was exhumed last month, will reveal he was poisoned, his son believes, calling for a full investigation of the “dark years” two decades ago when he died.

Ahmet Ozal was speaking after a newspaper report said high levels of poison had been identified by the autopsy, carried out after his father’s body was dug up on the orders of prosecutors investigating suspicions of foul play in his death.

State forensic authorities have denied the media report.

Ozal’s moves to end a Kurdish insurgency and create a Turkic union with central Asian states have been cited as motives for would-be enemies in the shadowy “deep state”, in which security establishment figures and criminal elements colluded.

Ozal died of heart failure while in office in April 1993 at the age of 65. After undergoing a triple heart bypass operation in the United States in 1987, he kept up a grueling schedule while remaining overweight until he died.

But his family believe he was the victim of a plot.

“Even though 19 years have passed, thanks to technological advances and rigorous investigation they are capable of finding poisonous substances … I believe they will be found,” former member of parliament Ahmet Ozal told Reuters late on Saturday.

“I am 100 percent sure his death was not normal. If it is indeed proven, then Turkey should thoroughly investigate the dark years,” he said, noting that top investigative journalist Ugur Mumcu was killed in a car bomb the year Ozal died.

It was Turkey’s military leaders who appointed him as a minister after a period of military rule following a 1980 coup.

Ozal went on to dominate Turkish politics during his period as prime minister from 1983-89. Parliament then elected him president, but those close to him believe his reform efforts displeased some in the security establishment.

While prime minister, Ozal survived an assassination attempt by a right-wing gunman in 1988 when he was shot at a party congress, suffering a wounded finger. Ahmet Ozal said he believed there was a cover-up over the assassination attempt.

“If the assassination (attempt) is investigated … we may see interesting connections to things happening these days. It could also offer an insight into my father death,” he said, noting a presidential order would be needed for such an investigation.

Turkish political history has been littered with military coups, alleged anti-government plots and extra-judicial killings. A court is currently trying hundreds of suspects allegedly linked to a nationalist underground network known as “Ergenekon” accused of plotting to overthrow the government.

Turgut Ozal‘s brother, Korkut Ozal, said in 2010 he believed Ergenekon had killed the president. ‘Extrajudicial killings’ were common at that time and have been blamed on shadowy militant forces with ties to the state.

STRYCHNINE CLAIM DENIED

Those suspicious about his death have pointed to efforts which Ozal made to end the conflict with Kurdish militants during his time in office, including securing a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) ceasefire shortly before his death.

A report in Bugun newspaper on Friday said it had obtained a copy of the autopsy which revealed high levels of “strychnine creatine” in Ozal’s body.

Strychnine is a highly toxic alkaloid used as a pesticide which causes muscular convulsions and death through asphyxia. Creatine is an organic acid which supplies energy for muscle contraction.

However, the head of the state forensic medicine institute, Haluk Ince, said such a substance had not been found and the report had not yet been completed.

“We did not find the material referred to in the newspaper story. We don’t know how that story came about,” Ince told reporters in the wake of the Bugun article, adding the institute aimed to complete its work in December.

No post-mortem examination was conducted at the time of Ozal’s death, reportedly at the request of his widow.

Viewed as a visionary who helped pave the way for the free market economic policies under which modern Turkey has thrived, Ozal also gave firm support to the West, supporting the U.S.-led coalition which expelled Iraq from Kuwait in 1991.

Ahmet Ozal said his father helped transform Turkey from a coup-torn, state-run economy to the emerging power it is now, boosting freedom of expression, religion and private enterprise.

“This was the foundation that gave birth to modern Turkey. Along with this, perhaps the most important was the transformation of people’s mindset. With that you can change anything,” he said.

(Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Jon Hemming)

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Analysis: Waiting for housing to drive the U.S. economy

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. housing market is on the mend, but the so-called “missing piston” of the world’s biggest economy doesn’t have enough power to get the broader recovery firing on all cylinders any time soon.

Construction and related activity will help rather than hinder U.S. economic growth this year for the first time since 2005. That was before the housing bust helped push the United States into recession, triggering the global financial crisis.

Higher sales, prices and building, albeit modest so far, are a welcome boost as other drivers of the economy falter.

Nonetheless, housing still accounts for only a small part of gross domestic product compared with the boom years.

The housing sector “would have to be on steroids to significantly boost GDP growth,” Paul Dales, an economist with Capital Economics, wrote in a recent research note.

Neither presidential candidate has signaled any new plans to help housing, although the Federal Reserve, aware of the important role of the sector in underpinning the economy, is focusing its latest stimulus efforts in mortgage bonds.

Typically, housing leads the U.S. economy out of recession. But the vast equity losses have stymied the market this time.

Housing’s most direct impact on growth is via construction, remodeling and associated services, known as residential investment. Its contribution to GDP has shrunk from a historical average of about 5 percent, and over 6 percent in 2005, to 2.5 percent in the third quarter of this year.

Economists expect residential investment will add two- to three-tenths of a percentage point to GDP in 2013, helping the economy maintain this year’s pace of growth.

Americans are likely to spend more on home renovations – probably $ 134.2 billion in the 12 months to June 2013, up from $ 115.3 billion at the end of September this year, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

That would still be 8 percent off the peak in mid 2007 when borrowing against home values was still soaring.

Now, homeowners remain wary of taking on debt. Most prefer to save for renovations rather than borrow, said Adi Tatarko chief executive of Houzz, a home remodeling online platform.

Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics says housing-related jobs have grown by an average of 11,000 a month this year. That contrasts with an average monthly decline of 1,000 in 2011 and they should speed up to 30,000 a month by early 2013 as new home construction picks up, he estimates.

Superstorm Sandy, which hammered the U.S. Northeast last week, could put more people to work in construction.

Analysts estimate the U.S. economy needs to create roughly 150,000 jobs a month just to hold the unemployment rate steady.

‘EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS’

The influence of housing reaches further than just construction jobs; it can be a big jolt for consumer spending, which makes up two-thirds of the economy.

Michael Gapen, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Capital, said real estate wealth should begin to boost consumer spending again next year. That would mark an important turning point for households’ finances, badly damaged by the housing market collapse and the drop in stock prices during the financial crisis.

“As the consumer goes, so will the broader economy,” Gapen said.

The swath of homeowners who owe more on their mortgage than the value of their home is a big factor that has held back the housing recovery. Many “underwater” Americans have been unable to sell their home and buy something more expensive. Such upward mobility in housing has traditionally fueled the market.

More than 20 percent of U.S. mortgages were underwater at the end of June, amounting to 10.8 million homes. Of those, 1.8 million borrowers would recover if prices rose 5 percent, according to data analysis firm CoreLogic .

Price gains like that may not be such a tall order. Economists expect prices to have risen 1.7 percent this year and pick up a further 3.1 percent next year, according to a Reuters poll.

Rising home prices helped 1.3 million homeowners get out from under water in the first half of this year, CoreLogic says.

Those are more homeowners who could potentially refinance their mortgages, putting more spending money in their pockets.

A number of factors suggest the recovery will be slow and modest, like that of the broader economy. These factors include a backlog of pending foreclosures, the large amount of distressed homes up for sale, often at low prices, and the difficulty in getting a mortgage.

In the meantime, the Fed will buy $ 40 billion in mortgage-related debt each month as it tries to bolster the housing sector which Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has called the “missing piston” of the U.S. economic recovery.

“Every little bit helps,” Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James, said of housing.

“People always ask, ‘What’s going to drive the recovery?’ It’s never usually one particular thing, but a lot of little things getting better at the same time.”

(Editing by William Schomberg and David Gregorio)

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