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It’s clear that migrating business to the cloud reached a tipping point in 2011 where it is no longer a trend, but has become an absolute business requirement. This growth stems from the fact that it’s available and effective.

In the most transformative technology shift since the personal computer and the Internet, it’s clear that companies, both large and small, now fully recognize the advantages of shifting their IT and business needs to the cloud. No longer does it take a team of IT professionals and large budgets to deploy upgrade and manage a company’s technology. Developers, business managers and IT pros turn to the cloud for the reason that it simply solves their problems.

However, while 2011 may be the year companies got serious about the cloud, 2012 will prove to be the year of cloud management. Since cloud is our business, we at RightScale are always tracking the latest developments and where the technology is headed.As they gear up for another busy year, they have identified a few of the top trends that they feel are set to make an impact on businesses in 2012:

1. Step 2 Is Visibility. In 2011, companies realized that virtualization is only the halfway point and that a true cloud is automated, scalable and most importantly, API-driven. In 2012, enterprises must increase visibility into the entire lifecycle of cloud-based applications, from development to deployment to operations – and across multiple cloud provide...

Patent litigator John Desmarais raised eyebrows when he left Kirkland & Ellis two years ago to start a firm that—unlike most large firms—would be game to take on plaintiffs-side work for nonpracticing entities (NPEs), less flatteringly called patent trolls. But he appears to have sparked a trend. At least three more patent litigation boutiques with a similar strategy have since arrived on the scene. Tensegrity Law Group; Freitas Tseng Baik & Kaufman; and Feinberg Day Alberti & Thompson are each staffed by defectors from large firms seizing what they see as a tantalizing opportunity to bring lucrative patent claims on contingency—in some cases for NPEs.

Other patent litigators may follow suit, predicts Mark Lemley, the director of Stanford Law School's program in law, science, and technology. "We are seeing more and more people moving in this direction," Lemley says.

Recent years have seen the emergence of a "robust secondary and tertiary market for patent sales and acquisitions and enforcement," says Matthew Powers, a former cochairman of the 500-lawyer litigation department at Weil, Gotshal & Manges. (Just how robust was demonstrated by one of the landmark deals of 2011, the $4.5 billion sale of Nortel Networks Corporation's patent portfolio to a consortium of technology companies.) Demand has increased for litigators who will represent patent holders itchy to monetize their intellectual property by court action. But client conflicts and fee c...

Market Size

The size and growth rate of the market is crucial to a company’s success and impacts the ultimate size of the outcome.

Often what propels Bradley Associates’ overall financial success from above average to extraordinary are the large wins of only a few investments. Accordingly, market size and growth characteristics are key in our investment decision-making.

Product/Service

The product or service offered must be unique and serve a genuine need, cost effectively, without requiring a significant behavioral change on the part of the purchaser or end user.

Business Model

The economics of the business must be such that it is not capital intensive and provides for high sustainable gross margins. The combination of these two elements allows for a high, internally sustainable growth rate, thereby minimizing subsequent dilution.

These characteristics are also highly valued in the public markets or by potential acquirers. There must exist a reasonable scenario for the business to achieve revenues of $50 million - $100 million within 5 years.

Strong management teams are the foundation of Bradley Associates’ investment strategy.

When we invest, we look for management partners who have a proven track record in building a company, and a clear vision for taking that company to the next level.

Over the past 20 years, our investment partnerships have taken many forms:

We’ve partnered with families to help them sell all or part of their business, to solve succession problems, or to raise money for expansion.
We’ve helped entrepreneurial management teams buy out corporate divisions and set them up as independent companies.
We’ve provided growth capital to help businesses acquire complementary products and services, or to scale their operation domestically or internationally.
We’ve taken public companies private, and allowed management to build long-term company value, without having to answer to the quarterly demands of Wall Street.
We’ve recapitalized companies, helping them rebuild and reposition themselves for greater success going forward.

The Royal Bank of Scotland says it will vigorously defend itself against US government claims it misrepresented the quality of mortgages it sold.

The US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has filed lawsuits against 17 banks, including RBS, Barclays and HSBC, over mortgage-based investments.

Values plunged during the financial crisis and a bailout of mortgage firms cost US taxpayers billions of dollars.

RBS says it has “substantial” legal and factual defences to the US claims.

A spokesman said: “We believe we have substantial and credible legal and factual defences to these claims and will defend them vigorously.”

HSBC and Barclays declined to comment to the BBC on the legal action.

‘Improper actions’

Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Nomura, Citigroup, and Societe Generale are among the other banks facing legal action from the FHFA.

BBC business correspondent Joe Lynam says it is believed the financial institutions are being sued for a sum in the tens of billions.

The FHFA said in a statement that there had been “improper actions by the firms and individuals”.

“Based on our review, FHFA alleges that the loans had different and more risky characteristics than the descriptions contained in the marketing and sales materials provided to the Enterprises for those securities,” the statement said.

The FHFA ...

England 7-1 Spain: it happened once, but while it is unlikely to happen anytime soon, the world and European champions are not invincible and England have got the better of them before…



SPAIN 2-4 ENGLAND: 1987
Four goals from Gary Lineker, who was playing for Barcelona, gave Bobby Robson’s side a morale-boosting win in Madrid. However, the thrilling victory had little effect as they crashed out of the European Championships the following year at the group stage having played three and lost three to Ireland, the Netherlands and the Soviet Union.



ENGLAND 0-0 SPAIN [ENGLAND WIN 4-2 ON PENALTIES]: 1996
Terry Venables’ England team marched all the way to the semi finals of Euro ’96 with notable wins over Scotland and the Netherlands, then a nail-biting win on penalties – yes, win on penalties – against Spain. Unusually for the Three Lions, they emerged victorious via the shoot-out after Alan Shearer, David Platt, Paul Gascoigne and memorably Stuart Pearce, whose delight in scoring was there for all to see, neatly tucked their efforts away. Against Germany in the next round, though, normal service was resumed and their old enemy sent them crashing out on spot kicks.



SPAIN 4-3 ENGLAND: 1929
Hungary may have been the first foreign opposition to win at Wembley, but 24 years earlier, Spain became the first continental side to beat England in a match played in sweltering mid...

Madrid – Spain’s government on Friday doubled the amount commercial banks, smaller regional lenders and cooperatives must pay into the deposit-guarantee fund, raising the minimum contribution to 2 euros for every 1,000 euros in savings they hold.

That fund, currently worth roughly 6 billion euros ($8.03 billion), will collect some 1.6 billion euros annually.

Economy Minister Elena Salgado said the idea is that the process of restructuring Spain’s financial system will not result in any cost to the taxpayer.

The decree approved Friday also set the maximum annual contribution the fund can demand of banks at 3 euros for every 1,000 euros they hold, up from 2 euros.

In addition, all financial entities now will make the same proportional contribution to the fund; previously, “cajas,” or regional savings banks, had contributed 1 euro per 1,000 in savings held, while commercial banks and cooperatives had paid 0.6 euros and 0.8 euros, respectively.

Commercial banks objected to the change, noting that no listed banks have accepted bailout money while several “cajas” have received state aid.

The accord is the continuation of a plan – announced in October – of merging the industry-financed deposit-guarantee funds into one entity. Under the new regulations, all deposits held by customers of commercial banks, cajas and cooperatives will be insured at up to 100,000 euros per account.
...

I’ve been helping entrepreneurs raise capital as a securities lawyer for more than 17 years, and there are certain fundamental mistakes that I’ve seen entrepreneurs make over and over again. Accordingly, I thought it would be helpful to share three basic tips for entrepreneurs in connection with raising capital.
Tip #1: Only Offer and/or Sell Securities to “Accredited Investors”. As a general rule, a company may not offer or sell its securities unless (i) the securities have been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and registered/qualified with applicable state commissions; or (ii) there is an applicable exemption from registration. The most common exemption for startups is the so-called “private placement” exemption under section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933 and/or Regulation D, the safe harbor promulgated thereunder.
The rule of thumb in connection with private placements is only to offer and sell securities to “accredited investors” under SEC Rule 506. There are two significant reasons for this: First, Rule 506 preempts state-law registration requirements — which means, in general, that the company merely must file a Form D notice with the applicable state commissioners (together with the SEC) and pay a filing fee; and second, there is no prescribed written disclosure requirement under Rule 506.

Hildebrand, Carney vying for FSB leadership
* Merkel favors Hildebrand, convinces Sarkozy-paper
* Switzerland back Lagarde for IMF in exchange-paper

ZURICH, Oct 30 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel
and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are backing the candidacy
of the head of Switzerland's central bank to lead the Financial
Stability Board, a newspaper reported on Sunday.
The FSB, the G20's regulatory task force, is charged with
making sure bank regulations are strong enough to prevent
another financial crisis.
It has been headed by Mario Draghi, who will take over as
European Central Bank president on Nov. 1. Swiss National Bank
Chairman Philipp Hildebrand and Bank of Canada Governor Mark
Carney are vying for the job.
Heading the FSB would not require the incumbent to give up
his central bank governorship. An announcement is expected at
the Nov. 3-4 G20 summit.
Citing a source familiar with the election process, the
Swiss paper SonntagsZeitung said Merkel favoured Hildebrand and
also convinced Sarkozy to back him. In exchange, Switzerland
had to support Christine Lagarde to head the International
Monetary Fund, the paper said.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's office would not confirm the
report.
Hildebrand has been a vocal proponent of tougher bank
regulation after the Swiss govern...

Raising venture capital is one of the most difficult hurdles growth stage companies have to overcome. One of the most common funding tools they may have at their disposal is the equity line funding facility. Venture Capital Hedge Funds have been responsible for billions of dollars of funding in the past decade alone.

Global Venture Capital Fund is a private group of funds that provides venture capital funding to public companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and other approved stock exchanges. “Equity Line Funding” is a private equity financing facility that has been utilized by hedge funds for approximately ten years to provide private equity funding to both small and large public companies looking to raise venture capital to fund operating expenses, growth and/or mergers and acquisitions. Equity Line Funding has been utilized for venture capital funding across the globe, and seems to be growing, especially for companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and other approved exchanges. No registration statement is required for Frankfurt Stock Exchange listed companies and the shares are always free trading. This makes it much faster and easier for companies to raise venture capital from private equity funds like ours, with less cost. We concentrate only on providing private equity funds for companies with strong management and an exciting growth plan. The Global Equity Capital Funding group often provides private equity funds through equity line ...