International Law

Franchise Regulator in Ontario

Posted on January 27, 2008
The Toronto Star has an interesting story about franchise failure and what various lawyers think that the resolution of this problem should be. "They wanted a regulator to review the quality of disclosure given to franchisees, an inexpensive system to resolve disputes, rules to govern contractual relationships and penalties for breaking franchise law...

The Fable of the Rogue Trader

Posted on January 25, 2008
Is there a Rogue Trader in Your Bank? There are a number of interesting posts about the alleged Rogue Trader at Societe Generale. Ed Dickson writes up about double books that the Rogue kept. Michael Thomas, of Daily Caveat, has a nice run down of various posts about the Rogue...

Taleb's Ludic Fallacy

Posted on January 24, 2008
Over at Traffick, there was a nice summary of some Nassim Taleb's thoughts on decision making and model, and one I particularly wanted to comment on - the Ludic Fallacy. Beware the Ludic Fallacy. Author of The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable and the preceding Fooled by Randomness, Nassim Nicholas Taleb tells a witty story about our tendency to trust heavily in the sanctity of models, if we're the type of people who were well schooled and trained to accept the assumptions 'inside the box...

How Much is that Doggie in the Window?

Posted on January 21, 2008
The Consumer Law and Policy Blog has summary of a paper entitledCL&P Blog: How Much Do Consumers Value Not Getting Telemarketing Calls? "Despite tremendous debate and policy interest, there has been relatively little research into the issue of how much individuals value their privacy...

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Four Warning Signs of Franchise Fraud

Posted on January 21, 2008
Rush Nigit has an interesting post about the four warning signs of franchise fraud. 1. You don't need a lawyer to review the agreement. 2. I would prefer you don't talk with the other franchisees. You should only talk with me. 3. We won't negotiate any terms...

Who is Your Independent Franchisee Rep?

Posted on January 21, 2008
Eric Karp, and David J. Meretta have a nice post about the newNew FTC Franchise Disclosure Rule One of the most exciting aspects of the new Franchise Disclosure Rule (which took effect on an optional basis as of July 1, 2007 and will become mandatory as of July 1, 2008) is the wholly new requirement that the franchisor include in its Disclosure Document the name, address, telephone number, e-mail address and web address of any trademark-specific franchisee association within the franchise system that is either (a) created, sponsored or endorsed by the franchisor, or (b) incorporated and asks to be included in the disclosure document for the next fiscal year...

Are You a Perfect Target for a Scam?

Posted on January 21, 2008
Aging baby boomers perfect target for scams "Fraudsters are always looking for opportunities to prey on society's most vulnerable and are masters of manipulation, and focus on exploiting such human traits as greed, fear, excitement and gullibility. Experts in the field of fraud and law enforcement predict that the rising trend in financial fraud will grow exponentially into the foreseeable future...

Taken by the Cleaners - New Zealand Style Franchise Fraud

Posted on January 21, 2008
Ironing scam victims suffer second setback in Franchise Fraud "Defrauded franchisees of former Green Acres master franchisee Keith Lapham were dealt a further blow yesterday. Just when some of them thought they could get their businesses up and running again after two former Lapham employees offered to continue collecting and delivering the ironing, Green Acres issued a legal warning asking the two to stop what they were doing...

Cross Border Fraud: Inefficient Work

Posted on January 20, 2008
The latest from the FTC about how theFTC andCanadian Law Enforcement Partners Target Cross Border Fraud Score card? How much did consumers lose? "Today, the Toronto Strategic Partnership, of which the Federal Trade Commission is a member, released a paper summarizing the joint law enforcement initiatives undertaken in the last seven years to combat cross-border telemarketing fraud and other mass-marketing fraud...

Funny Fraud

Posted on January 20, 2008
I knew Toronto had a parking problem, but this is downright silly. "Five Toronto-area residents face more than 100 fraud-related charges in an alleged real estate scam that sold parking spaces as condos to innocent investors, police say." Read the entire article at Parking spots sold as condos

Canada's Failure to Prevent Fraud

Posted on January 20, 2008
Report to the Commissioner: Enhancing Integrated Market Enforcement Teams, Achieving Results in Fighting Capital Markets Crime "Many people take for granted the integrity of the financial system. Sometimes I was told that capital markets fraud is not the same as other crimes...

5 Myths About Franchising

Posted on January 17, 2008
Here is quite an amusing list:Business - 5 franchising myths Four of the "myths" are true and the "facts" false. It takes real work to be so wrong. Here are the five myths. Myth #1: Bigger is better. Sure, bigger companies have stronger marketing and more sophisticated systems...

5 Most Important Franchise Lawsuits

Posted on January 17, 2008
The well respected Blue Mau Mau site on franchising has a nice list on the Top 5 Landmark Lawsuits Affecting Franchisees of 2007 1. Randall v Lady of America – Federal judge rules that written disclaimers in the disclosure document cannot defeat a franchisor's false promises...

New Zealand Franchise Fraud

Posted on January 17, 2008
The New Zealand National news has a series of reports on a franchise fraud, including the fact that $5m ironing franchise fraudster found. "Disgraced former Green Acres franchise master Keith Lapham has been found hiding in a North Shore house since his disappearance just before Christmas...

Do You Believe Weird Things?

Posted on January 16, 2008
Michael Shermer wrote an article entitled "Why people believe weird things about money" He writes: "Would you rather earn $50,000 a year while other people make $25,000, or would you rather earn $100,000 a year while other people get $250,000? Assume for the moment that prices of goods and services will stay the same...

Interlake Chemicals Sued By State of Washington

Posted on January 16, 2008
The Manitoba Company, Interlake Chemicals, has been served a

Bizop is Number One According to Google

Posted on January 15, 2008
Business Opportunity due diligence - Google Search Here is the good news: Bizop.ca is, was, as of January 15th, 2008 the number one ranked website for the search term, "business opportunity due diligence." We are only number with Yahoo for the term "business opportunity due diligence" Very cool...

Nebraska Ponzi Scam Alleged

Posted on January 13, 2008
Bryan S. Behrens, et al.: "SEC obtains TRO to halt fraudulent ponzi-like scheme.""On January 10, 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained an order temporarily restraining Bryan S. Behrens and a private entity controlled by him, National Investments, Inc...

Payment Processor Allegedly Took Millions from Consumers Sued by FTC and States

Posted on January 13, 2008
FTC And Seven States Sue Payment Processor that Allegedly Took Millions from Consumers' Bank Accounts on Behalf of Fraudulent Telemarketers and Internet-based Merchants: "The Federal Trade Commission and seven state attorneys general have charged a payment processor with violating federal and state laws by debiting, or attempting to debit from consumers' bank accounts on behalf of numerous fraudulent telemarketers and Internet-based merchants...

Reseller of Telephone Records fined by FTC

Posted on January 13, 2008
Telephone Records Seller Settles FTC Charges "Parties who obtained and sold consumers' telephone records, including information on calls placed and received, without the consumers' knowledge or consent, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that their practices violated federal law...

Mortgage Fraud in Ontario Updated

Posted on January 09, 2008
Good summary of the recent mortgage fraud, by Bob Aaron, in BarEx's News & Resources He points out: In every transaction, those documents are now going to be scrutinized, not only by the lawyer for the seller using the document, but by the lawyer for the buyer and the buyer's bank...

Privacy and ATM Scam

Posted on January 09, 2008
An interesting article:Terror suspects jailed in ATM theft plot Note several elements, which will become more common in 2008. 1. International transfer of stolen identity, from England to US in this case, to facilitate; 2. The creation of phony bank references, in order to; 3...

Is that all there is?

Posted on January 08, 2008
Welcome to the Internet, Quiznos.

How to Misunderstand Earnings Claims

Posted on January 02, 2008
Any prospective franchisee wants to know how much money that they can make when buying a franchise. Unfortunately, this simple question is rife with difficulties. For example, over at the Blue Mau Mau site, one poster, Patricia, asks about getting information about breakeven points: As Mr...

Consumer Credit Card Disclosure

Posted on December 31, 2007
Complex pricing of credit cards should be simplified Interesting story from the Chicago Tribune about the effectiveness of disclosure regarding credit cards: "The Byzantine complexity of credit card pricing structures makes it impossible for people to possibly use credit cards intelligently and responsibly...

Harry in the News Again

Posted on December 31, 2007
TheStar.com: Stinson's towering dream crumbles Harry Stinson's ability to woo small time real estate investors into dubious projects continues to amaze. He is living proof that the internet and full disclosure is no antidote to fraud. From the Star story: "BDO president Uwe Manski said outstanding debt on the project is in the $28 million range...

Strategic Responses to Disclosure Information

Posted on December 30, 2007
One of the oddities about franchise disclosure laws is this: more disclosure law produces less actual due diligence. This is of course not the intended consequence. First, let's review the case against the current disclosure laws regarding the sale of franchises, business opportunities and income earning opportunities...

How We Justify Foolish Acts and Bad Decisions

Posted on December 28, 2007
Carol Travis and Elliot Aronson have written a throughly entertaining and accessible book about self-justification. From the introduction, "the brain is wired for self-justification. When we make mistakes, we must calm the cognitive dissonance that jars our feelings of self-worth...

Does ACN run a Commissions Scam?

Posted on November 21, 2007
Here is an interesting observation about ACNCreating A Lifetime Income from telecomunications industry The authors claim that Commissions on items like, land line connection fees you only get ½ commission rates, and you cannot offer your services to major businesses, and what is worse it is virtually impossible to confirm if the amount ACN pay you as commission is correct, as they don?t give you a copy of your clients bill ( they claim privacy issues) to check what they pay you is correct ! So guess what ? you get paid what they calculate and for reps this is virtually impossible to calculate...

Does NAMA Fight Fraud?

Posted on November 20, 2007
I am a big fan of Trade Associations, of all kinds. Many people don't know that there is a trade association for vending, National Automatic Merchandising Association, NAMA. Here is a story from about vending fraud, from one of NAMA's website. Federal Judge Sentences Three In Vending Opportunity Scam @ Vending Market Watch News at AMonline...

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