All articles by Claire Hack
Claire Hack
Expenses scam hits Japanese lessor
The leasing arm of a Japanese construction firm has been found to have inflated profits by underreporting expenses for a period of more than 11 years. Staff at the auto and leasing division of Daiwa Lease Co, a subsidiary of Daiwa House, deliberately used incorrect accounting procedures for automobile taxes, insurance premiums and other expenses. Daiwa House is to record an extraordinary loss of 1.4bn yen (12m) for the period from April to December 2010 to account for the shortfall
KBC hit by faked contracts
So far, the investigation has revealed that the vendor had clandestinely paid a now former employee of KBC Lease UK, which facilitated the acceptance of such files, and prevented the irregularities being detected in time through the normal control mechanisms.
Fraud investigation at Total
The document describes the circumstances leading to the administration and states that Belgian banking group KBC launched an enquiry in Q3 2010 to verify whether contracts between Total and H2O Networks genuinely existed.
Shoosmiths hires fraud partner
Melanie Chell, previously at HBJ Gateley Wareings Leicester office as a banking and asset finance litigation partner, has joined the Birmingham office and will provide her expertise to motor and asset finance clients.
Microlease on growth trail
The push comes after the test equipment lessor was placed a number 85 on the Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100, a list of companies ranked by profit (EBITDA) growth over the past two years. Microlease has set its sights on the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia, where the use of mobile devices is growing rapidly
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Investment in staff training predicted to rise
Soft skills are at a premium as companies look to develop staff capability Spend on staff training is expected to increase during 2011 as leasing companies start to grow and to develop their future strategies.
NZ lessor goes under
A New Zealand leasing company has gone into receivership as it was unable to meet the countrys Reserve Bank capital ratio requirements. Finance & Leasing, based in Christchurch, could not meet the requirements in the specified timeframe, and therefore could not gain approval from the Companies Office for a prospectus extension, lodged in December. It had a years notice of the new regulations and ran down loans in the property sector during that time
Leasing boom for business jets in China
China has begun to deregulate 4,000 feet of airspace, signalling the start of a potential boom in aviation leasing.
US confidence rises
US-based research body the Equip-ment Leasing & Finance Foundation has released its January confidence index, showing a marked improvement in confidence in equipment finance compared to December 2010
Funding upturn in UK
Growth in UK manufacturing was mirrored by an upturn in funding of new plant, machinery and business equipment during the fourth quarter 2010. Manufacturing output was up 1.4% even while the rest of the UK economy shrank, reported the Office of National Statistics