U.S, RUSSIA TO BUILD ON SUCCESS OF VIGILANT EAGLE 13

A Russian air force Su-27 Sukhois intercepts a simulated hijacked aircraft entering Russian airspace Aug. 27, 2013, at Exercise Vigilant Eagle 13. This exercise is the fifth in a series of cooperative exercises that provide an opportunity for Russia, Canada, and United States military personnel to enhance their international partnership and to cooperatively detect, track, identify, and follow a hijacked aircraft as it proceeds across international boundaries. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jason Robertson 

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
NORAD, Russia Hope to Build on Vigilant Eagle 13 Successes
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2013 - Just concluding the most ambitious Vigilant Eagle exercise yet, senior military officials from the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the Russian Federation told reporters today they're ready to take the lessons learned to make next year's exercise even more challenging.
Canadian Maj. Gen. Andre Viens, NORAD's operations director, and Russian Gen. Maj. Dmitry Gomenkov, commander of the Eastern Military District of Russia's Air and Space Defense Brigade, declared the Vigilant Eagle 13 exercise a major success.
The exercise kicked off Aug. 26, with scenarios that required the United States, Canada and Russia to respond to simulated terrorist hijackings of commercial aircraft. Both NORAD, a binational command that includes the United States and Canada, and Russia had to scramble fighter jets and track and intercept the "hijacked aircraft."

Throughout the exercise series, the participants have developed tactics, techniques and procedures to effectively notify, coordinate, and conduct positive handoff of a hijacked aircraft flying through Russian, Canadian and American airspace, Viens told reporters during a teleconference today.

Vigilant Eagle 13 offered the opportunity to take principles proven in a simulated environment during last year's command post exercise, and to validate them during the third "live-fly" exercise since the exercise series began in 2008, Viens and Gomenkov reported.

This year's Vigilant Eagle was the first time Canadian fighter jets participated, with Canadian CF-18 Hornets and Russian Federation Su-27 Sukhois aircraft following and intercepting the "hijacked" aircraft, Gomenkov noted.

But the exercise delivered another first, with a visual fighter-to-fighter handoff of escort responsibilities in a live-fly situation as the "track of interest" moved from one country's airspace to another's.

"During previous Vigilant Eagle events, Russian or NORAD fighters would escort the simulated aircraft to a point in the sky where airborne or ground sensors would take over the monitoring of the hijacked aircraft," Viens explained. "Later on the route, the fighters of the other nation would intercept the hijacked aircraft and assume escort responsibilities for that track of interest.

"So at no time in the past did we exercise having the Russian, Canadian or American fighters all joining up together to have a positive handoff of escort responsibility on a track of interest," he said. "This is what we did for the first time this year."

That crucial step forward in the Vigilant Eagle series required extensive planning and coordination to ensure a safe, successful transfer, he said.

"We have never done this together in the past, and it went off without a hitch," Viens said. "What this has enabled us to do is have 100 percent control over an aircraft in trouble that is flying between Russian, American and Canadian airspace. Working together as partners in the air and on the ground, we were able to ensure the safety of the civilians in the aircraft, our collective citizens and the safe landing of the aircraft at its destination."

Gomenkov praised the professionalism of all three countries' militaries throughout the exercise planning and said he looks forward to seeing the Vigilant Eagle series continue to build in complexity.

Viens said he, too, sees opportunities to refine the tactics, techniques and procedures being advanced through the exercise, hinting that some new "curve balls" could be introduced in the future.

Planning for Vigilant Eagle 14 is scheduled to begin in November, Gomenkov said, noting that both Russia and NORAD will offer suggestions on how to build on this year's exercise.

Exercising together builds confidence and understanding that enables the United States, Canada and Russia to operate together more effectively, Viens said. "So clearly from a NORAD perspective, there is a great deal of interest to continue this tradition of Vigilant Eagle exercises to further promote cooperation – especially when it comes to air-space activities that require the attention of both Russia and NORAD," he said.

RISK MAKERS AND/OR TAKERS: PROPOSED RULE REVISION

FROM:  U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION 
JOINT RELEASE
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
Department of Housing and Urban Development 
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 
Federal Housing Finance Agency 
Office of Comptroller of the Currency 
Securities and Exchange Commission 

Six federal agencies issued a notice revising a proposed rule requiring sponsors of securitization transactions to retain risk in those transactions.  The new proposal revises a proposed rule the agencies issued in 2011 to implement the risk retention requirement in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

This proposal is being issued jointly by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. As provided under the statute, the Secretary of the Treasury, as Chairperson of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, played a coordinating role in the rulemaking. The rule would provide asset-backed securities (ABS) sponsors with several options to satisfy the risk retention requirements. The original proposal generally measured compliance with the risk retention requirements based on the par value of securities issued in a securitization transaction and included a so-called premium capture provision.  The agencies are now proposing that risk retention generally be based on fair value measurements without a premium capture provision.

As required by the Dodd-Frank Act, the proposal would define “qualified residential mortgage” (QRM) and exempt securitizations of QRMs from risk retention.  The new proposal would define QRMs to have the same meaning as the term qualified mortgages as defined by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  The new proposal also requests comment on an alternative definition of QRM that would include certain underwriting standards in addition to the qualified mortgage criteria.

Similar to the original proposal, under the new proposal, securitizations of commercial loans, commercial mortgages, or automobile loans of low credit risk would not be subject to risk retention.  Further, the rule would recognize the full guarantee on payments of principal and interest provided by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for their residential mortgage-backed securities as meeting the risk retention requirements while Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in conservatorship or receivership and have capital support from the U.S. government.  This provision also is unchanged from the original proposal.

The agencies are requesting comment on the revised proposed rule by Oct. 30, 2013.

MEDICAL TESTING COMPANY WILL PAY $3.57 MILLION TO RESOLVE FALSE CLAIMS ACT ALLEGATIONS

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Tuesday, August 27, 2013

MRI Diagnostic Testing Company, Imagimed LLC, and Its Former Owners and Chief Radiologist to Pay $3.57 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations
New York-based Imagimed LLC, the company’s former owners, William B. Wolf III and Dr. Timothy J. Greenan, and the company’s former chief radiologist, Dr. Steven Winter, will pay $3.57 million to resolve allegations that they submitted to federal healthcare programs false claims for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) services, the Justice Department announced today.  Imagimed owns and operates fifteen MRI facilities, located primarily in New York state, under the name “Open MRI.”

 Allegedly, from July 1, 2001, through April 23, 2008, Imagimed, Greenan, Wolf and Winter submitted claims to Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE for MRI scans performed with a contrast dye without the direct supervision of a qualified physician.  Since a potential adverse side effect of contrast dye is anaphylactic shock, federal regulations require that a physician supervise the administration of contrast dye when it is used for an MRI.  Also, allegedly, from July 1, 2005, to April 23, 2008, Imagimed, Greenan, Wolf and Winter submitted claims for services referred to Imagimed by physicians with whom Imagimed had improper financial relationships.  In exchange for these referrals, Imagimed entered into sham on-call arrangements, provided pre-authorization services without charge and provided various gifts to certain referring physicians, in violation of the Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute.

 “The Department of Justice is committed to guarding against abuse of federal healthcare programs,” said Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division.  “We will help protect patients’ health by ensuring doctors who submit claims to federal healthcare programs follow proper safety precautions at all times.”

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, Richard S. Hartunian said: “This case is an example of our commitment to using all of the remedies available, including civil actions under the False Claims Act, to ensure patient safety and combat health care fraud.  Stripping away the profit motive for circumventing physician supervision requirements has both a remedial and a deterrent effect.  The settlement announced today advances our critical interest in both the integrity of our health care system and the safe delivery of medical services.”

The allegations resolved by the settlement were brought in a lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act’s whistleblower provisions, which permit private parties to sue for false claims on behalf of the government and to share in any recovery.  The whistleblower in this case, Dr. Patrick Lynch, was a local radiologist and will receive $565,500.

This settlement illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.  The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation.  One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act.  Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $14.8 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $10.8 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.

The investigation and settlement were the result of a coordinated effort among the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York; the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General.

The case is United States of America ex rel. Lynch v. Imagimed LLC, et al. (N.D. N.Y.).  The claims released by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

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DOD ANNOUNCES RECRUIT AND RETENTION NUMBERS FOR FISCAL 2013, THROUGH JULY

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
DoD Announces Recruiting and Retention Numbers for Fiscal 2013, Through July 2013

           The Department of Defense announced today recruiting and retention statistics for the active and reserve components for fiscal 2013, through July.

           Active Component.

            Recruiting. All four active services met or exceeded their numerical accession goals for fiscal 2013, through July.

 Army – 56,437 accessions, with a goal of 55,760; 101 percent
Navy – 32,692 accessions, with a goal of 32,692; 100 percent
Marine Corps – 24,785 accessions, with a goal of 24,743; 100 percent
Air Force – 21,969 accessions, with a goal of 21,969; 100 percent
           Retention. The Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps exhibited strong retention numbers for the 10th month of fiscal 2013. The Navy exhibited strong retention numbers in the mid-career and career categories. However, the Navy's achievement of 87 percent in the initial category is a result of reduced accessions from four to six years ago.


           Reserve Component.

           Recruiting. Five of the six reserve components met or exceeded their fiscal-year-to-date 2013 numerical accession goals. While the Army Reserve met its July goals, it remains 3,241 accessions short of its fiscal goal.

Army National Guard – 41,539 accessions, with a goal of 41,236; 101 percent
Army Reserve – 21,681 accessions, with a goal of 24,922; 87 percent
Navy Reserve – 4,667 accessions, with a goal of 4,656; 100 percent
Marine Corps Reserve – 8,050 accessions, with a goal of 7,950; 101 percent
Air National Guard – 8,605 accessions, with a goal of 8,605; 100 percent
Air Force Reserve – 6,307 accessions, with a goal of 5,201; 121 percent

           Attrition – All reserve components have met their attrition goals. Current trends are expected to continue. (This indicator lags due to data availability.)

PACIFIC REGION DEFENSE MINISTERS END JOINT MEETING IN BRUNEI

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
Defense Ministers End Brunei Meeting with Joint Declaration
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei, Aug. 29, 2013 - Eighteen defense ministers from nations throughout the Asia-Pacific region sat together after their meeting here today, each in turn signing a joint declaration that reaffirms their commitment to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and to working together peacefully and cooperatively for a better future.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was among them, having traveled here as part of an Asian trip -- his second in three months -- that also includes stops in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Yesterday, Hagel attended a meeting here of defense ministers from the 10 ASEAN member states of Burma, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. He also held bilateral meetings with counterparts from several other nations.

This morning, he attended the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus, made up of the 10 ASEAN defense ministers and eight dialogue partners: defense ministers from the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, New Zealand and Russia.

This year, Russia's deputy defense minister, Anatoly Antonov, participated in the ADMM-Plus meeting.

"I see this second ministerial of the ADMM-Plus as a landmark event," Hagel said in remarks prepared for delivery during the meeting.

"In 2010, when then-Secretary [Robert M.] Gates joined you, our countries committed to making the ADMM-Plus action-oriented," Hagel said. "Under ASEAN leadership, we are well on our way, with three multinational field exercises this year -– a major accomplishment. I am proud that the United States has been a partner and participant all along the way."

After the signing of the Bandar Seri Begawan Joint Declaration, Mohammad Yasmin Bin Umar, chairman of this second meeting of the ADMM-Plus, discussed key outcomes. He said the group was pleased with its substantial achievement this year, especially the five ADMM-Plus expert working groups that have forged political cooperation among defense forces.

"This is evident with the first-of-its-kind ADMM-Plus humanitarian assistance/disaster relief and military medicine exercise held in Brunei Darussalam last June," he said. An upcoming exercise will be held on maritime security, counterterrorism and peacekeeping operations, he added, and the group decided last year that ADMM-Plus would begin meeting every two years rather than every three years.

Yasmin said the group reaffirmed the principle of ASEAN centrality, where ASEAN is the primary driving force in the ADMM-Plus processes.

"We also reaffirmed our relation to be guided by the fundamental principle enshrined in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation," he said, "especially reunification of the threat of the use of force and exercise of self-restraint."

The group recommitted to strengthen defense cooperation in promoting peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, he added, based on the enduring principle of equality, mutual respect, mutual benefit, and respect for international law.

"In doing so," Yasmin said, "we agreed to promote capacity building through greater engagement and interaction, enhance interoperability through training and joint exercises, and establish mechanisms for effective response."

He said the defense ministers also agreed to establish practical measures for reducing vulnerability to miscalculation and avoid misunderstanding and undesirable incidents at sea.

"We also agreed on the establishment of the ADMM-Plus Expert Working Group on Humanitarian Mine Action and on the transition process of the ADMM-Plus Expert Working Group on Co-chairmanship," Yasmin said. "Our senior official will develop a work plan and key milestones for the next cycle that begins in April 2014."

A new ADMM-Plus initiative will promote capacity building through a humanitarian aid/disaster relief tabletop exercise and mine action workshop, he said. And the group will reaffirm the direction of the ASEAN leader during the association's summit in May to promote synergy among regional mechanisms, including those of ADMM-Plus and the ASEAN Regional Forum.

The group also extensively discussed international and regional security and defense issues, and plans to meet again in Malaysia in 2015, he said.

In his remarks, Hagel said the ADMM-Plus is setting the right example with coordinated approaches to transnational and nontraditional threats.

"Pirates and terrorists, proliferators, diseases, natural disasters, and cyber criminals are not contained by national borders, and they will jeopardize all of our futures if we fail to act together," the secretary said.

"Working together develops regional capacity and the habits of cooperation we need to solve today's complex problems," he said. "Exercising together builds trust and understanding, and reduces the risk of conflict when disputes arise."

EXPORT-IMPORT BANK APPROVES $1.5 BILLION FINANCING FOR ENERGY EQUIPMENT TO MEXICO'S PEMEX

FROM:  U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK 
Ex-Im Bank Approves $1.5 Billion to Finance Energy Equipment and Services to Mexico 
Financing Supports 6,800 U.S. Jobs

Washington, D.C. – The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has authorized $1.5 billion of export financing in a pair of transactions to support the export of U.S. goods and services to Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Mexico's national oil and gas company.

For the second time, Pemex will issue Ex-Im Bank-guaranteed bonds in the capital markets to fund the transactions. In the event the funding cost is prohibitive, Pemex may exercise an option to seek Ex-Im Bank direct loans priced at Commercial Interest Reference Rates.

Ex-Im Bank’s financing will support approximately 6,800 U.S. jobs spread across about 10 states, according to bank estimates derived from Departments of Commerce and Labor data and methodology. The procurement includes oil and gas field drilling services, drilling platforms, equipment rentals, pumps, well-completion services, associated spare parts and chemicals, geophysical services and safety equipment.

“These two transactions will increase the flow of American exports to one of our neighbors and in the process support large- and small-business jobs across America,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “It is clear that the ‘Made in America’ brand is valued now more than ever.”

Detcon Inc., a small-business that will benefit from the transaction, designs and manufactures a wide range of industrial grade fixed gas detectors, control systems, pipeline analyzers, and wireless technology. The company, which is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, employs about 90 people.

“Detcon is proud of its association with Pemex,” said Adam Markin, Detcon’s CEO. “Ex-Im Bank’s support of Pemex in this transaction is a large help to smaller U.S.-based companies like Detcon and to their jobs.”

Since 1998, Ex-Im Bank has approved approximately $13.5 billion in financing to support Pemex’s activities.