Financial news

• UK Financial Regulatory Developments - April 2016 #12 - JD Supra (press release)

  18-04-2016 23:35
  
  UK Financial Regulatory Developments - April 2016 #12
  JD Supra (press release)
  The Basel Committee has published its tenth progress report on adoption of the Basel III regulatory framework as part of the Committee's regulatory consistency assessment programme. As of March, all 27 member jurisdictions have final risk-based capital ...
  
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• Those who can’t afford a home are being abandoned | Polly Toynbee

  18-04-2016 21:46
  
  Cash from council sell-offs will go to high-earning first-time buyers. It’s a huge blow to social housingIs this the worst thing this government has done? That’s a tough choice for those low-earning households written off as unlikely to vote Tory. Governments come and go, attempting to reverse each other’s actions – Labour spends more, then Tories cut back, but the housing and planning bill now in the Lords will do virtually irreparable damage. Related: The new housing an
  
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• UK's Financial Conduct Authority - Inducements And Conflicts Of Interest ... - Exchange News Direct

  18-04-2016 21:40
  UK's Financial Conduct Authority - Inducements And Conflicts Of Interest ...
  Exchange News Direct
  Hospitality provided or received did not always appear to be designed to enhance the quality of service to the client. Individuals from firms had participated in or spectated at sporting or social events, eg golf, tennis, concerts. These benefits did ...en meer »
  
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• Govia Thameslink takes Aslef union to court over longer trains dispute

  18-04-2016 20:58
  
  Gatwick Express service operator launches legal action after drivers refuse to operate new 12-carriage trains without guardsThe operator of the Gatwick Express train service is taking the Aslef union to the high court after its drivers refused to carry passengers on new longer trains.Govia Thameslink Railway has launched legal action over what it described as the “baffling” refusal of drivers to run the 12-carriage trains without guards. Continue reading...
  
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• Opec's failure to agree a curb on oil production is hardly surprising

  18-04-2016 20:54
  
  It was always unlikely that Iran, newly back in the market, its big rival Saudi Arabia and others including Russia couldn’t do a dealOpec struggles to speak with a single voice these days, so it was always a wobbly assumption that the cartel of oil producers would be able to agree a deal with non-members, such as Russia, to curb output.So it has proved. The weekend talks in Doha fell apart over a single issue. Saudi Arabia wanted Iran, its big regional rival, to be included in a deal to fr
  
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• Brussels steel summit fails to find answer to oversupply problem

  18-04-2016 20:50
  
  No breakthrough at gathering of 34 nations as Chinese state news agency says it is ‘lame and lazy’ to blame crisis on China The world’s largest steel-producing nations failed to make a breakthrough on the oversupply problem that has thrown the industry into crisis, at a meeting in Brussels.Ministers from 34 countries, representing 93% of global steel production, attended Monday’s talks, on the day the Chinese state news agency said it was “lame and lazy” to bl
  
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• British farmers best served by UK staying in EU, says NFU

  18-04-2016 20:21
  
  Decision by organisation representing farmers in England and Wales comes after report on impacts of Brexit on farmingFarmers’ interests are best served by the UK remaining in the European Union, their union has concluded.
  The National Farmers’ Union, which represents farmers across England and Wales, said it would not be actively campaigning in the EU referendum and would not tell its 55,000 members how to vote. Continue reading...
  
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• Sir Martin Sorrell: I'm worth every penny I'm paid

  18-04-2016 20:19
  
  Founder of advertising giant WPP defends likely £70m pay package, arguing building the company took 30 years of hard workSir Martin Sorrell has defended his bumper pay package, arguing that he has put three decades of his life into building WPP from a maker of wire baskets into a £21bn global marketing business.Sorrell, whose total remuneration is likely to hit £70m when full details are revealed in WPP’s annual report in the summer, is set to face a backlash from shareho
  
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• Almost half of world's superyachts have UK or US owners, survey finds

  18-04-2016 20:13
  
  Report says Americans own one in three of the luxury vessels and global rich spent $2.68bn on them last yearAlmost half of the world’s superyachts belong to the moneyed inhabitants of the UK and US, a new survey suggests, as the global rich spent $2.68bn (£1.88bn) on their floating status symbols last year. Owners based in the US own one in three of the world’s luxury superyachts – defined as a vessel of 30 metres or more – and the yachts have an average value of $1
  
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• Oil exporters' failure to cap output shakes markets

  18-04-2016 20:02
  
  Breakdown of weekend talks in Doha knocked 5% off oil prices before they recovered from kneejerk reactionA failure by leading oil producers to agree to a freeze on the level of production has led to volatile trading on global markets, with the price of oil slumping more than 5% at one point before recovering in a kneejerk reaction to Opec’s inconclusive meeting.The breakdown of the talks in Doha on Sunday raised questions about the credibility of the oil cartel after Saudi Arabia, the worl
  
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• Dan Wagner and the fall of 'unicorn' startup Powa Technologies

  18-04-2016 19:43
  
  Company praised by David Cameron went into administration in February, providing a lesson in how not to manage potentialThe technology entrepreneur Dan Wagner, once one of the highest profile entrepreneurs of the dotcom era, appeared on television on Monday discussing the future of the high street and why it is struggling to survive.
  Speaking on Sky News, he said: “There needs to be more of an engagement to drive people out of their homes and into those stores, and make that more compellin
  
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• Frank Field proposes national wage top-up for lower paid over-50s

  18-04-2016 19:39
  
  Labour MP and welfare reform campaigner says idea would help counter higher unemployment rate among 50–64 age groupWorkers over 50 forced into lower-paid work after losing their jobs would receive an earnings top-up worth £200 a week under a national wage plan proposed by the Labour MP Frank Field.The longstanding campaigner for welfare reform said employees aged between 50 and 64 should be eligible for government financial support worth £10,000 a year for two years provided th
  
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• Veolia vows to recruit 10% of workforce from marginalised groups

  18-04-2016 19:05
  
  French-owned outsourcing company pledges to employ army veterans, ex-offenders, long-term unemployed and homeless peopleVeolia, the rubbish collection and road sweeping company, has vowed to ensure that 10% of new recruits come from marginalised groups – including army veterans, ex-offenders, long-term unemployed and the homeless.The French-owned outsourcing company employs 14,000 people in the UK and operates water, waste management and energy services for local councils across the countr
  
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• George Osborne says UK would lose £36bn in tax receipts if it left EU

  18-04-2016 18:50
  
  Treasury’s 200-page Brexit analysis said it would make British families poorer, as recent polls predict tight referendumGeorge Osborne has said the British government would lose £36bn in net tax receipts, equivalent to 8p on the basic rate of income tax or 7p on VAT, if the UK leaves the EU and negotiates a bilateral trade agreement with the bloc. The chancellor said a 200-page Treasury analysis of the impact of Brexit showed it would make British families poorer, and he accused leav
  
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• Financial trader's plan for mast higher than the Shard suffers setback

  18-04-2016 18:42
  
  Dover council challenges Vigilant Global’s communications tower proposal and queries whether it would benefit rural KentA financial trading firm’s plan to make millions by building a mast higher than the Shard in rural Kent has suffered a setback after its proposals were challenged by Dover council.Vigilant Global is one of two companies hoping to build a communications mast designed to boost profits by shaving milliseconds off the time it takes to beam information to European market
  
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• Iran urges other oil producers to freeze output after Doha debacle -- as it happened

  18-04-2016 18:36
  
  Iran wants OPEC members to keep talking, despite Sunday’s failed talks, but won’t impose new sanctions on itselfLatest: Iran won’t join freezeOil recovers some early losses
  Saudi and Iran can’t reach a dealThe agenda: Oil, Brazil, Brexit, steel and Greece5.36pm BSTStock markets recovered from an early slide in the wake of the weekend’s failure by oil producers to agree an output cut, when Saudi Arabia insisted Iran should take part but the latter refusing, writes Ni
  
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• British Gas lost 220,000 customers in first three months of 2016

  18-04-2016 17:13
  
  Parent company Centrica reveals fall in number of domestic accounts, nearly twice total for whole of 2015, at AGM in LondonBritish Gas lost more than 220,000 customer accounts in the first three months of this year, almost double the number for the whole of 2015, as consumers turned away from the big energy providers.Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, said the number of domestic accounts fell by 224,000 to 14.44m between the end of December and the end of March. British Gas lost 119,00
  
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• Ex-Libor chief accepted claim that rate could not be rigged, court told

  18-04-2016 16:45
  
  Former BBA director John Ewan tells trial of five men that he took word of senior Barclays employee at ‘face value’The man in formerly in charge of overseeing the Libor benchmark lending rate took banks at “face value” when they said it could not be rigged, a jury has heard.Testifying at the trial of five former Barclays employees accused of conspiring to manipulate Libor, the former British Bankers’ Association (BBA) director John Ewan said he had not been concerne
  
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• Why is my gas bill so high when energy prices are at a 10-year low?

  18-04-2016 15:45
  
  I’ve not been running a blast furnace or bakery, but my bill is still astronomical. There must be a more trustworthy supplier out thereWhat a nasty surprise from my gas provider last month. My fairly incomprehensible gas bill, for my flat, through a mild winter quarter, was £401.27. Yes, £401.27! And no, I have not been sweltering, running a blast furnace or bakery. I’ve had my thermostat very low, but my “gas usage ... based on an actual reading ... is up 95% [comp
  
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• Bimlendra Jha to head up Tata Steel UK

  18-04-2016 15:45
  
  Indian executive who brokered Greybull Capital deal to buy Scunthorpe steelworks to oversee sale of remaining Tata businessTata Steel has named the executive who led the sale of its Scunthorpe works as the new head of the company’s operations in the UK.The Indian-based business announced that Bimlendra Jha, already an executive committee member of Tata Steel Europe, had been appointed chief executive of Tata Steel UK and would oversee the sale of the remaining business. Continue reading...
  
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• Alibaba financial affiliate valued at $60 bn: reports - Yahoo Finance UK

  18-04-2016 15:23
  
  Alibaba financial affiliate valued at $60 bn: reports
  Yahoo Finance UK
  China's top internet finance company, e-commerce giant Alibaba's affiliate Ant Financial, could start the process of going public this year, reports said Monday, with the firm's latest fundraising valuing it at $60 billion. Ant Financial Services Group ...en meer »
  
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• Will each UK household be £4,300 worse off if the UK leaves the EU?

  18-04-2016 14:24
  
  Treasury analysis of Brexit implications includes claims about impact on growth and households, but do they stack up?The Treasury has published an analysis (pdf) of the implications of Britain leaving the EU and concluded that the economy would be 6% smaller by 2030, costing each household £4,300. But how did the chancellor, George Osborne, come to this conclusion and do the numbers stack up? Related: Would Brexit really force up your mortgage rate?Continue reading...
  
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• Why should anybody trust George Osborne’s Brexit scare figures? | Suzanne Moore

  18-04-2016 13:10
  
  The chancellor has proved himself incapable of predicting anything accurately. There’s no reason to believe his Brexit forecasts are any more trustworthyWhat happens the day after we vote Brexit? The first year? Anything? Nothing? Will anyone actually notice? These are the sort of questions I would like answered instead of being bombarded with fantasy scenarios. George Osborne has said that families will be £4,300 a year worse off if we leave Europe. Will I lose £4,300 from my
  
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• How Brexit would affect the UK's pharma, auto, financial services, digital ... - City A.M.

  18-04-2016 13:09
  
  City A.M.
  How Brexit would affect the UK's pharma, auto, financial services, digital ...
  City A.M.
  You might not agree with it, but this is what the government's bean counters estimate will happen to some of the country's biggest and most important industries. Pharma. The sector, which is worth £13bn of the UK's gross value added (GVA) or 0.8 per ...en meer »
  
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• Tougher EU data rules could cost UK businesses millions - Financial Director

  18-04-2016 12:36
  Tougher EU data rules could cost UK businesses millions
  Financial Director
  THE EU'S parliamentary body has pushed through data protection reform that could end up costing businesses millions of pounds. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was approved by the European Parliament last week, and gives EU citizens ...en meer »
  
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• UK expresses support for President Buhari's anti-Curruption war - FINANCIAL WATCH (press release) (blog)

  18-04-2016 12:06
  
  FINANCIAL WATCH (press release) (blog)
  UK expresses support for President Buhari's anti-Curruption war
  FINANCIAL WATCH (press release) (blog)
  The United Kingdom is fully behind President Muhammadu Buhari in the ongoing efforts by his administration to rid Nigeria of corruption, Mr Nick Hurd, the UK Minister for International Development, has said. Hurd told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN ...en meer »
  
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• The problem with negative interest rates

  18-04-2016 11:15
  
  In none of the economies attempting the unorthodox experiment of negative interest rates has there been a return to growth and full employmentI wrote at the beginning of January that economic conditions this year were set to be as weak as in 2015, which was the worst year since the global financial crisis erupted in 2008. And, as has happened repeatedly over the last decade, a few months into the year, others’ more optimistic forecasts are being revised downward.The underlying problem &nda
  
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• AstraZeneca slips on talk of possible £7bn bid for US cancer specialist

  18-04-2016 11:08
  
  US group Medivation attracting interest from major pharmaceutical groupsAstraZeneca has slipped back following weekend reports it was considering a £7bn bid for San Francisco cancer treatment specialist Medivation.The US company has already rejected an approach from France’s Sanofi, and is said to have hired advisers to help fend off any hostile move. Analysts believe there is likely to be interest from other pharmaceutical businesses, with AstraZeneca just one possible bidder. Shore
  
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• FTSE falls as Arm hit by Apple slowdown and oil drops on Opec impasse

  18-04-2016 10:43
  
  Leading shares slip back with technology and commodity companies lowerIn the wake of the weekend’s meeting of oil producers which broke up without agreement on an output freeze, commoditiy companies are helping drag the stock market lower.Technology firms are also under pressure after reports that Apple plans to reduce production of iPhones in the April to June quarter after sluggish sales. Continue reading...
  
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• BP will ignore the anger at Bob Dudley’s £14m pay package at its peril | Stefan Stern

  18-04-2016 10:30
  
  The rejection of the BP CEO’s pay package doesn’t make a ‘shareholder spring’. But it’s put a big boot into big pay“Good God – but people don’t do that sort of thing!” The closing line from Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler came to mind as news of the shareholder revolt at BP’s annual meeting – over the chief executive’s £14m pay package – came through last week. Related: BP's pay committee chair should quit over shareh
  
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• BHP boss says Britain should remain in the EU

  18-04-2016 10:24
  
  Mining firm’s CEO Andrew Mackenzie says complicated trade negotiations post-Brexit would give Britain a worse dealBusinesses could face a decade of damaging uncertainty if Britain voted to leave the European Union, said the chief executive of BHP Billiton, Andrew Mackenzie. Mackenzie, boss of the world’s biggest mining company, said a vote for Brexit on 23 June would inflict a serious blow on the EU and that Britain would lose economic, political and diplomatic clout by leaving the b
  
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• The solution to (nearly) everything: working less | Rutger Bregman

  18-04-2016 10:00
  
  Excessive work and pressure are status symbols. But overtime is deadly. If we worked less we’d make fewer errors, address inequality and have a better lifeHad you asked John Maynard Keynes what the biggest challenge of the 21st century would be, he wouldn’t have had to think twice.Leisure. In fact, Keynes anticipated that, barring “disastrous mistakes” by policymakers (austerity during an economic crisis, for instance), the western standard of living would multiply to at
  
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• Sustainable cashew farming is helping fuel growth in Benin

  18-04-2016 10:00
  
  Tolaro Global joins the Business Call to Action with a commitment to increase production of cashew nuts and provide clean energy solutions
  More from Business Call to Action
  Tolaro Global, a Benin-based processor of raw cashew nuts, has joined the Business Call to Action (BCtA) with a commitment to increase the number of smallholders supplying raw materials, provide fair trade and organic certification to cashew growers, and utilise clean energy solutions to power the company’s plant and su
  
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• Risk in business: does he who dares really win?

  18-04-2016 09:43
  
  An impulse towards risk taking can help entrepreneurs seize opportunities under stress, but resilience, optimism and timing are just as importantWhen Gemma Pond launched her flavoured spring water brand Nuva it wasn’t the only new arrival that week. At the same time as officially introducing the sugar and sweetener free product to the UK market in June 2015, she gave birth to a baby boy. Pond had invested a whopping £50,000 into the design of the bottle so felt she had no choice but
  
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• Brussels steel summit to seek solutions to crisis

  18-04-2016 09:04
  
  In wake of Tata Steel’s decision to sell UK assets, business secretary to hold talks with world ministers, EU officials and WTOThe business secretary is to join ministers from around the world at a meeting to discuss a global glut of steel that has pushed British production to the brink of collapse.Sajid Javid will hold talks in Brussels with counterparts from China and India and 27 other nations to “seek solutions to the overcapacity crisis”. Continue reading...
  
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• Plagued by nuisance calls? It’s time to ring some strategic changes

  18-04-2016 08:00
  
  As the government looks to implement mandatory caller ID, make sure you are doing your bit in the battle against spam callersPensioner Valerie Carter, in a good week, may only get a handful of callers quizzing her about a car accident that never happened, or offering to help her claim thousands in PPI compensation. When her luck is out, the frustrating and unwanted approaches can amount to five a day.In a bid to reduce them, the 72-year-old answers and requests that the company remove her from i
  
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• My brief encounter with Marks & Spencer’s returns policy

  18-04-2016 08:00
  
  They suggested I took a pair of knickers to a charity shop rather than exchange the itemMy sister bought me a set of rather brief knickers for Christmas, but as they were from Marks & Spencer I thought it would be easy to exchange them for some more substantial ones which were more to my taste. However, she didn’t send me a gift receipt.We live a 40-mile round trip from the nearest M&S, so I waited until mid-January, when I was fairly near, to call in – only to be told &ldquo
  
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• I'm a successful sales and marketing manager, but I only earn 20k a year

  18-04-2016 08:00
  
  When I asked my boss about pay reviews, she basically said they didn’t do themTwice a week we publish problems that will feature in a forthcoming Dear Jeremy advice column in the Saturday Guardian so that readers can offer their own advice and suggestions. We then print the best of your comments alongside Jeremy’s own insights. Here is the latest dilemma – what are your thoughts?I am a sales and marketing manager. I got the job in February last year and I love it. It is creativ
  
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• Osborne's Financial Predictions If UK Leaves EU - Sky News

  18-04-2016 03:08
  
  City A.M.
  Osborne's Financial Predictions If UK Leaves EU
  Sky News
  The Chancellor insists Britons will be worse off as he prepares to release in-depth Treasury analysis on the cost of Brexit. 02:47, UK, Monday 18 April 2016. Chancellor George Osborne outside Number 11. Britain's families would be permanently poorer, ...
  How Brexit would affect the UK's pharma, auto, financial services, digital ...City A.M.
  Treasury tome says UK economy will suffer if UK leaves EUFinancial Director
  UK econo
  
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• Sir Martin Sorrell defends £63m pay package ahead of AGM

  18-04-2016 01:01
  
  Founder of advertising giant says his pay reflects success of WPP as shareholders gather to vote at series of high-profile annual meetingsSir Martin Sorrell, the chief executive and founder of advertising giant WPP, has launched a passionate defence of his controversial £63m bonus deal in the wake of last week’s explosive start to the annual general meeting season.Speaking after shareholders voted against pay deals at BP and Smith & Nephew on Thursday – and as boardrooms ar
  
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• Shoppers shun high street as cold weather and early Easter bite

  18-04-2016 01:01
  
  Long-term decline in retail footfall continues with 2.7% drop as consumers move onlineThe number of shoppers on UK high streets continued a long-term decline in March, aggravated by an early Easter and colder spring weather.Overall footfall across retail outlets dropped by 2.7%, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)/Springboard Footfall and Vacancies Monitor, as Easter fell in March rather than April, cutting the number of trading days. Continue reading...
  
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• Sainsbury's hires 150 digital experts for face-off with Amazon and Tesco

  18-04-2016 01:01
  
  Sainsbury’s has doubled its digital and technology staff in the past year as competition from online retailers mountsSainsbury’s is hiring 150 digital and technology experts to help improve its online store as it finalises the buyout of Argos.The team, who will work out of an existing Sainsbury’s office in Manchester’s Arndale centre, will include software developers and engineers and will work in partnership with 900 other digital and technology experts based in London a
  
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• Buy-to-let landlord surge ignites chain reaction in housing market

  18-04-2016 01:01
  
  Rightmove claims landlord rush to beat stamp duty surcharge fuelled rise in homeowners selling up and trading upThe average asking price of homes coming on to the market has risen to a new high, increasing by 1.3% over the past month to an average of £307,033 as landlords raced to buy properties ahead of an increase in stamp duty.According to the property website Rightmove, the change to stamp duty on 1 April helped “ignite an onward chain reaction”, with landlords snapping up
  
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