Business history: HSBC
HSBC is one of the largest banking and financial service organizations in the world, with over 10,000 offices in 83 countries and territories. Its shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American Depositary Receipts. HSBC Group is named after its founding member, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited established in 1865.
http://www.hsbc.com/1/2/

Q. What are American Depositary Receipts?
A. The stocks of most foreign companies that trade in the U.S. markets are traded as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). U.S. depositary banks issue these stocks. Each ADR represents one or more shares of foreign stock or a fraction of a share
http://www.sec.gov/answers/adrs.htm

EBRI 2008 Recent Retirees Survey: Report of Findings
Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute
From press release (PDF; 62 KB):
Employers have a narrow window of up to two years in which they may be able to change retiring workers’ decisions by offering them incentives to remain with the company, according to results of a survey released by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).
“Although no single incentive is likely to motivate the majority of retirees to stay longer with their employer, it appears that employers may be able to assemble a toolkit of alternatives that would be effective in retaining substantial numbers of workers,” said a report on the survey, published in the July 2008 EBRI Issue Brief. Steps likely to be most successful are: making workers feel needed, offering them a full or partial pension while working part time, and making seasonal or contract work available. The timing of the offer of a delayed retirement incentive is important, the survey found. Nearly two-thirds of retirees (63 percent) report that these offers would have been a lot more effective if the retirees had known about them in the two years before they communicated their intention to retire.
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New Guidelines Aim to Reduce Fraud (PDF; 66 KB)
Source: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
New guidelines for fighting fraud have been released jointly by three leading professional organizations. “Managing the Business Risk of Fraud: A Practical Guide” is sponsored by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). Principles for establishing effective fraud risk management, regardless of the type or size of an organization, are outlined in the guide.
The new guidance provides a practical approach for companies committed to preserving stakeholder value. It can be used to assess or improve an organization’s fraud risk management program, or to develop an effective program where none exists. Five key principles within the guidance address governance, risk assessment, fraud prevention and detection, investigation, and corrective action. Following the guidance will help ensure that there is suitable oversight of fraud risk management, that fraud exposures are identified and evaluated, that appropriate processes and procedures are in place to manage those exposures, and that fraud allegations are addressed in a timely manner.
+ Full Document (PDF; 1.2 MB)

Sing we and chant it
by Anonymous public domain

Sing we and chant it
While love doth grant it.
Not long youth lasteth,
And old age hasteth.
Now is best leisure
To take our pleasure.

All things invite us
Now to delight us.
Hence, care, be packing!
No mirth be lacking!
Let spare no treasure
To live in pleasure.
The Writer’s Almanac

July 17 is the birthday of writer Erle Stanley Gardner, (books by this author) born in Malden, Massachusetts (1889). As a teenager, Gardner was arrested for promoting an illegal boxing match. While he was trying to keep himself out of jail, he became fascinated with the law and got a job as a typist in a law office. He taught himself the law while he worked and then took the bar three years later and passed. After a stint working for a sales agency, he opened up a law office in Ventura, California, in 1921 and became famous there for his ironclad defenses. Gardner augmented his income by writing stories for pulp magazines—and he was quite successful at it. In 1933, Gardner wrote a full-length novel called The Case of the Velvet Claws, which was turned down by several publishers. It was finally bought by a publisher who suggested Gardner take the main character, a brilliant lawyer, and write a series of books about him.
That lawyer, Perry Mason, eventually became the star of more than 80 novels, along with his loyal secretary Della Street, the private detective Paul Drake, and District Attorney Hamilton Burger. He also wrote 15 nonfiction books about environmental issues, including The Desert is Yours (1963) and Hunting Lost Mines by Helicopter (1965). He said, "I write to make money, and I write to give the reader sheer fun."
The Writer’s Almanac