Tuesday, September 24, 2013
HHS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR "AFTER THE STORM"
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Nicholas Garlow with HHS HealthBeat.
We often hear about how to get prepared for natural disasters: Make a plan, have a kit, practice it. But what about after the storm? When you pick up the pieces and start to recover, be ready to face situations you didn’t see coming.
Dr. Nicole Lurie is HHS’ assistant secretary for preparedness and response.
“Have you let your friends and loved ones know that you’re okay? Plan to text or email, or use social media to let everybody know you’re okay. Have you found out if your friends and loved ones themselves are okay?”
How are the kids doing? Talk to them about stress, and limit their TV watching, if it involves images of the storm and devastation.
And recognize that it may take some time for your life to return to normal.
“Do what you can to get you and your family back to a normal routine.”
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Nicholas Garlow with HHS HealthBeat.
We often hear about how to get prepared for natural disasters: Make a plan, have a kit, practice it. But what about after the storm? When you pick up the pieces and start to recover, be ready to face situations you didn’t see coming.
Dr. Nicole Lurie is HHS’ assistant secretary for preparedness and response.
“Have you let your friends and loved ones know that you’re okay? Plan to text or email, or use social media to let everybody know you’re okay. Have you found out if your friends and loved ones themselves are okay?”
How are the kids doing? Talk to them about stress, and limit their TV watching, if it involves images of the storm and devastation.
And recognize that it may take some time for your life to return to normal.
“Do what you can to get you and your family back to a normal routine.”
SEC CHARGES TD BANK & FORMER EXEC WITH VIOLATION OF SECURITIES LAWS IN FLORIDA-BASED PONZI SCHEME
FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged TD Bank and a former executive with violating securities laws in connection with a massive South Florida-based Ponzi scheme conducted by Scott Rothstein, who is now serving a 50-year prison sentence.
The SEC alleges that TD Bank and its then-regional vice president Frank A. Spinosa defrauded investors by producing a series of misleading documents and making false statements about accounts that Rothstein held at the bank and used to perpetuate his scheme. Spinosa falsely represented to several investors that TD Bank had restricted the movement of the funds in these accounts when, in fact, Rothstein could transfer investor money however he desired. Spinosa also orally assured investors that certain accounts held balances totaling millions of dollars, but each account actually held zero to $100.
TD Bank agreed to settle the SEC’s charges in an administrative proceeding and pay $15 million. The SEC filed a complaint against Spinosa in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
“Financial institutions are key gatekeepers in the transactions and investments they facilitate and will be held to a high standard of accountability when their officers enable fraud,” said Andrew J. Ceresney, Co-Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. “TD Bank through a regional vice president produced false documents on bank letterhead and told outright lies to investors, failing in its gatekeeper role.”
Eric I. Bustillo, Director of the SEC’s Miami Regional Office, added, “Spinosa played a key supporting role in Rothstein’s Ponzi scheme by providing false comfort to investors that their money was safe and secure in the accounts at TD Bank. He enabled Rothstein to con investors into believing he couldn’t move their money when he could, and that the bank was holding money that it wasn’t.”
In previous enforcement actions, the SEC has charged two feeder funds to the Rothstein Ponzi scheme.
According to the SEC’s order and complaint, Rothstein claimed to represent plaintiffs who had reached purported legal settlements that were confidential and payable over time by large corporate defendants. He claimed that the purported plaintiffs were willing to sell their periodic payments to investors at a discount in exchange for one lump-sum payment. The legal settlements were fake and the plaintiffs and defendants were not real. Rothstein told investors that the purported defendants had deposited the entire settlement amounts into attorney trust accounts. Rothstein opened 22 such accounts at Commerce Bank and TD Bank (the two merged in 2008) from November 2007 to October 2009.
The SEC alleges that as Rothstein’s scheme began to unravel in the fall of 2009, Spinosa made false statements to investors about the safety of their investments that enabled Rothstein to continue raising funds for the scheme. Spinosa executed so-called “lock letters” from TD Bank purporting to irrevocably restrict Rothstein’s trust accounts. Under these conditions, TD Bank could only distribute funds in the accounts to the investor’s bank account designated in the lock letter. However, the representations were purely false as Spinosa did not apply any procedures to block the accounts or implement any system to restrict Rothstein from moving money out of the trust accounts. Spinosa also misrepresented to Rothstein’s investors that the lock letters were commonplace at TD Bank when, in fact, they were never previously used by the bank. In fact, when Spinosa instructed his assistant to prepare the letters on TD Bank letterhead, she questioned whether it was even permissible because she had never seen such a letter before. Spinosa confirmed that she should prepare the letter for his signature anyway. Later, a vice president and branch manager who reported to Spinosa noted to him shortly after the first lock letter went out in August 2009 that the “lock” instructions put onto an account would have no practical effect because Rothstein could still transfer the money without bank officials being alerted. Spinosa dismissed those concerns.
The SEC further alleges that Spinosa provided false assurances to two different groups of investors that certain trust accounts held the multi-million dollar balances claimed by Rothstein. On Aug. 17, 2009, Spinosa participated in a conference call with Rothstein and representatives of an investor group who asked how much money was in a particular account. Spinosa responded that it held $22 million – the amount the investor was expecting to hear. Spinosa had full access to the account information to know the actual account balance was no more than $100. The following month, Spinosa met with the same group after it made additional investments with Rothstein, and falsely assured the investors that their money was safe because the provisions of the lock letter restricted the movement of their money. Also in September 2009, a different investor group bought a purported $20 million settlement from Rothstein, and one of the investor group’s representatives obtained a TD Bank deposit slip that indicated a $0 balance as of that morning for the account that purportedly held the investor’s $20 million. Rothstein falsely stated that the funds were indeed in the account, but the funds would not appear “available” on the deposit slip because they were in TD Bank’s “federal wire queue.” Rothstein and representatives from the investor group met with Spinosa on Sept. 14, 2009, and Spinosa falsely represented that the $20 million did not appear as available funds for the same reason provided by Rothstein. Spinosa falsely represented that the lock letter restricted the movement of their money. In reality, TD Bank was not holding the money in such a queue, and the account didn’t contain the $20 million.
TD Bank consented to the entry of an administrative order finding that it violated Sections 17(a)(2) and (3) of the Securities Act of 1933. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, TD Bank agreed to pay $15 million and cease and desist from committing or causing any violations and any future violations of Sections 17(a)(2) and (3) of the Securities Act.
The SEC’s complaint against Spinosa charges him with violating Sections 17(a)(1), 17(a)(2), and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Spinosa also is charged with aiding and abetting Scott Rothstein’s violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5. The complaint seeks disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, financial penalties, and a permanent injunction.
The SEC coordinated the filing of its cases with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which today announced their own actions against TD Bank.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Steven J. Meiner, D. Corey Lawson, and Tonya E. Tullis under the supervision of Chad Alan Earnst in the Miami Regional Office. The SEC’s litigation against Spinosa will be led by Amie Riggle Berlin. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged TD Bank and a former executive with violating securities laws in connection with a massive South Florida-based Ponzi scheme conducted by Scott Rothstein, who is now serving a 50-year prison sentence.
The SEC alleges that TD Bank and its then-regional vice president Frank A. Spinosa defrauded investors by producing a series of misleading documents and making false statements about accounts that Rothstein held at the bank and used to perpetuate his scheme. Spinosa falsely represented to several investors that TD Bank had restricted the movement of the funds in these accounts when, in fact, Rothstein could transfer investor money however he desired. Spinosa also orally assured investors that certain accounts held balances totaling millions of dollars, but each account actually held zero to $100.
TD Bank agreed to settle the SEC’s charges in an administrative proceeding and pay $15 million. The SEC filed a complaint against Spinosa in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
“Financial institutions are key gatekeepers in the transactions and investments they facilitate and will be held to a high standard of accountability when their officers enable fraud,” said Andrew J. Ceresney, Co-Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. “TD Bank through a regional vice president produced false documents on bank letterhead and told outright lies to investors, failing in its gatekeeper role.”
Eric I. Bustillo, Director of the SEC’s Miami Regional Office, added, “Spinosa played a key supporting role in Rothstein’s Ponzi scheme by providing false comfort to investors that their money was safe and secure in the accounts at TD Bank. He enabled Rothstein to con investors into believing he couldn’t move their money when he could, and that the bank was holding money that it wasn’t.”
In previous enforcement actions, the SEC has charged two feeder funds to the Rothstein Ponzi scheme.
According to the SEC’s order and complaint, Rothstein claimed to represent plaintiffs who had reached purported legal settlements that were confidential and payable over time by large corporate defendants. He claimed that the purported plaintiffs were willing to sell their periodic payments to investors at a discount in exchange for one lump-sum payment. The legal settlements were fake and the plaintiffs and defendants were not real. Rothstein told investors that the purported defendants had deposited the entire settlement amounts into attorney trust accounts. Rothstein opened 22 such accounts at Commerce Bank and TD Bank (the two merged in 2008) from November 2007 to October 2009.
The SEC alleges that as Rothstein’s scheme began to unravel in the fall of 2009, Spinosa made false statements to investors about the safety of their investments that enabled Rothstein to continue raising funds for the scheme. Spinosa executed so-called “lock letters” from TD Bank purporting to irrevocably restrict Rothstein’s trust accounts. Under these conditions, TD Bank could only distribute funds in the accounts to the investor’s bank account designated in the lock letter. However, the representations were purely false as Spinosa did not apply any procedures to block the accounts or implement any system to restrict Rothstein from moving money out of the trust accounts. Spinosa also misrepresented to Rothstein’s investors that the lock letters were commonplace at TD Bank when, in fact, they were never previously used by the bank. In fact, when Spinosa instructed his assistant to prepare the letters on TD Bank letterhead, she questioned whether it was even permissible because she had never seen such a letter before. Spinosa confirmed that she should prepare the letter for his signature anyway. Later, a vice president and branch manager who reported to Spinosa noted to him shortly after the first lock letter went out in August 2009 that the “lock” instructions put onto an account would have no practical effect because Rothstein could still transfer the money without bank officials being alerted. Spinosa dismissed those concerns.
The SEC further alleges that Spinosa provided false assurances to two different groups of investors that certain trust accounts held the multi-million dollar balances claimed by Rothstein. On Aug. 17, 2009, Spinosa participated in a conference call with Rothstein and representatives of an investor group who asked how much money was in a particular account. Spinosa responded that it held $22 million – the amount the investor was expecting to hear. Spinosa had full access to the account information to know the actual account balance was no more than $100. The following month, Spinosa met with the same group after it made additional investments with Rothstein, and falsely assured the investors that their money was safe because the provisions of the lock letter restricted the movement of their money. Also in September 2009, a different investor group bought a purported $20 million settlement from Rothstein, and one of the investor group’s representatives obtained a TD Bank deposit slip that indicated a $0 balance as of that morning for the account that purportedly held the investor’s $20 million. Rothstein falsely stated that the funds were indeed in the account, but the funds would not appear “available” on the deposit slip because they were in TD Bank’s “federal wire queue.” Rothstein and representatives from the investor group met with Spinosa on Sept. 14, 2009, and Spinosa falsely represented that the $20 million did not appear as available funds for the same reason provided by Rothstein. Spinosa falsely represented that the lock letter restricted the movement of their money. In reality, TD Bank was not holding the money in such a queue, and the account didn’t contain the $20 million.
TD Bank consented to the entry of an administrative order finding that it violated Sections 17(a)(2) and (3) of the Securities Act of 1933. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, TD Bank agreed to pay $15 million and cease and desist from committing or causing any violations and any future violations of Sections 17(a)(2) and (3) of the Securities Act.
The SEC’s complaint against Spinosa charges him with violating Sections 17(a)(1), 17(a)(2), and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Spinosa also is charged with aiding and abetting Scott Rothstein’s violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5. The complaint seeks disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, financial penalties, and a permanent injunction.
The SEC coordinated the filing of its cases with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which today announced their own actions against TD Bank.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Steven J. Meiner, D. Corey Lawson, and Tonya E. Tullis under the supervision of Chad Alan Earnst in the Miami Regional Office. The SEC’s litigation against Spinosa will be led by Amie Riggle Berlin. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service.
SEC CHARGES FILMMAKER WITH INSIDER TRADING
FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Manhattan-based independent filmmaker with insider trading on confidential information about impending takeovers of two biotechnology companies.
The SEC alleges that Lawrence Robbins reaped illicit profits by trading Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Sepracor Inc. securities based on confidential information that he received from his business partner John Michael Bennett in advance of the acquisition announcements by the two companies. Bennett had received the inside information from his friend Scott Allen. The SEC previously charged Bennett and Allen for their roles in the scheme.
Robbins, who lives in New York City, has agreed to settle the SEC’s charges by paying more than $1 million.
“Robbins plotted with his business partner to perpetrate an insider trading scheme that enabled him to invest a portion of his illegal profits in their film production company,” said Sanjay Wadhwa, Senior Associate Director for Enforcement in the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “Their plot, however, did not account for the real world consequences of being caught by the SEC.”
According to the SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, Allen learned confidential information in advance of the two acquisitions through his job at a global consulting firm that was advising the acquiring company in each deal. Based on the information that Allen leaked, Robbins and Bennett collectively spent tens of thousands of dollars acquiring call options in the companies. They made more than $2.6 million in illicit profits following public announcements of the deals, and Robbins used a portion of his proceeds to fund the independent film production business that he shared with Bennett.
The SEC alleges that Allen communicated with Bennett about the Millennium and Sepracor transactions through phone calls or in-person meetings, some of which were tracked through their simultaneous use of Metrocards at subway stations in New York City as well as large ATM and bank cash withdrawals made by Bennett prior to the meetings. Allen first obtained non-public information about the Millennium transaction in mid-February 2008 when his firm began advising Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical Company during its negotiations with Millennium. On February 27, Allen tipped Bennett with inside information about Takeda’s impending cash tender offer, and Bennett then tipped Robbins. Starting on February 29 and continuing up until the week before the public announcement of the acquisition, Robbins and Bennett spent tens of thousands of dollars amassing Millennium call options. Additionally, Robbins purchased Millennium shares and sold Millennium put options. After the deal was publicly announced on April 10, the price of Millennium shares increased more than 48 percent, and that afternoon Robbins began liquidating his holdings of Millennium securities for ill-gotten gains of more than $1.12 million. Bennett liquidated his Millennium holdings for illicit profits of more $602,000.
The SEC further alleges that in May 2009, Allen participated in due diligence work for the Japanese firm Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co. Ltd. (DSP) in connection with its impending acquisition of Sepracor. Allen again tipped Bennett with inside information about the upcoming transaction, and Bennett again shared the information with Robbins. In the months leading up to the September 3 public announcement that DSP had agreed to acquire Sepracor, Robbins and Bennett purchased more than $350,000 worth of call options in Sepracor. Additionally, they sold tens of thousands of dollars of Sepracor put options, and Robbins purchased Sepracor shares. Following the public announcement, Sepracor's stock price rose more than 26 percent, and both Robbins and Bennett liquidated their entire positions in Sepracor for ill-gotten profits of more than $388,000 and $516,000 respectively.
The SEC’s complaint charges Robbins with violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5, and Section 14(e) of the Exchange Act and Rule 14e-3. Robbins has agreed to pay $865,000 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest and a $150,000 penalty. The settlement, which is subject to court approval, takes into account Robbins’s current financial condition. Without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, Robbins also agreed to be permanently enjoined from future violations of these provisions of the federal securities laws.
The SEC’s case continues against Allen and Bennett, who have now pled guilty in parallel criminal actions filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Charles D. Riely of the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit in New York and Layla Mayer, Sandra Yanez, and Amelia A. Cottrell in the New York Regional Office. The SEC acknowledges the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Options Regulatory Surveillance Authority, and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Manhattan-based independent filmmaker with insider trading on confidential information about impending takeovers of two biotechnology companies.
The SEC alleges that Lawrence Robbins reaped illicit profits by trading Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Sepracor Inc. securities based on confidential information that he received from his business partner John Michael Bennett in advance of the acquisition announcements by the two companies. Bennett had received the inside information from his friend Scott Allen. The SEC previously charged Bennett and Allen for their roles in the scheme.
Robbins, who lives in New York City, has agreed to settle the SEC’s charges by paying more than $1 million.
“Robbins plotted with his business partner to perpetrate an insider trading scheme that enabled him to invest a portion of his illegal profits in their film production company,” said Sanjay Wadhwa, Senior Associate Director for Enforcement in the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “Their plot, however, did not account for the real world consequences of being caught by the SEC.”
According to the SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, Allen learned confidential information in advance of the two acquisitions through his job at a global consulting firm that was advising the acquiring company in each deal. Based on the information that Allen leaked, Robbins and Bennett collectively spent tens of thousands of dollars acquiring call options in the companies. They made more than $2.6 million in illicit profits following public announcements of the deals, and Robbins used a portion of his proceeds to fund the independent film production business that he shared with Bennett.
The SEC alleges that Allen communicated with Bennett about the Millennium and Sepracor transactions through phone calls or in-person meetings, some of which were tracked through their simultaneous use of Metrocards at subway stations in New York City as well as large ATM and bank cash withdrawals made by Bennett prior to the meetings. Allen first obtained non-public information about the Millennium transaction in mid-February 2008 when his firm began advising Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical Company during its negotiations with Millennium. On February 27, Allen tipped Bennett with inside information about Takeda’s impending cash tender offer, and Bennett then tipped Robbins. Starting on February 29 and continuing up until the week before the public announcement of the acquisition, Robbins and Bennett spent tens of thousands of dollars amassing Millennium call options. Additionally, Robbins purchased Millennium shares and sold Millennium put options. After the deal was publicly announced on April 10, the price of Millennium shares increased more than 48 percent, and that afternoon Robbins began liquidating his holdings of Millennium securities for ill-gotten gains of more than $1.12 million. Bennett liquidated his Millennium holdings for illicit profits of more $602,000.
The SEC further alleges that in May 2009, Allen participated in due diligence work for the Japanese firm Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co. Ltd. (DSP) in connection with its impending acquisition of Sepracor. Allen again tipped Bennett with inside information about the upcoming transaction, and Bennett again shared the information with Robbins. In the months leading up to the September 3 public announcement that DSP had agreed to acquire Sepracor, Robbins and Bennett purchased more than $350,000 worth of call options in Sepracor. Additionally, they sold tens of thousands of dollars of Sepracor put options, and Robbins purchased Sepracor shares. Following the public announcement, Sepracor's stock price rose more than 26 percent, and both Robbins and Bennett liquidated their entire positions in Sepracor for ill-gotten profits of more than $388,000 and $516,000 respectively.
The SEC’s complaint charges Robbins with violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5, and Section 14(e) of the Exchange Act and Rule 14e-3. Robbins has agreed to pay $865,000 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest and a $150,000 penalty. The settlement, which is subject to court approval, takes into account Robbins’s current financial condition. Without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, Robbins also agreed to be permanently enjoined from future violations of these provisions of the federal securities laws.
The SEC’s case continues against Allen and Bennett, who have now pled guilty in parallel criminal actions filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Charles D. Riely of the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit in New York and Layla Mayer, Sandra Yanez, and Amelia A. Cottrell in the New York Regional Office. The SEC acknowledges the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Options Regulatory Surveillance Authority, and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
GSA SAYS IT IS WORKING TO TRANSFORM THE GOVERNMENT WORKPLACE TO SAVE MILLIONS
FROM: GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
GSA Transforming the Government Workplace, Saving Agencies Millions
Initiative to do away with “Mad Men” style offices, modernize the federal government
Full service offerings include design, technology, furnishings to cut office space, reduce costs and increase collaboration
Washington, DC -- Today, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) launched a comprehensive service to create a 21st century workplace throughout the federal government. GSA’s Total Workplace initiative provides resources and expertise to help federal agencies reduce their office space, foster collaboration, better manage IT spending, and increase energy efficiency. In a time of shrinking budgets, the initiative is already saving taxpayer dollars and helping customer agencies better serve the American people. The U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Health and Human Services (HHS), Homeland Security (DHS), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) have announced today that they have joined the Total Workplace program and are on their way to realizing significant savings and reducing their real estate footprint. The effort will also help agencies meet Obama Administration goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs, including the freeze the federal footprint directive.
GSA has been meeting with agencies throughout the federal government to lay out the benefits of this program. Here's how GSA’s Total Workplace is already delivering savings and cost avoidance for federal agencies and the American people:
- At DHS, a reduction of rented space with subleasing, increased teleworking and the adoption of desk sharing, has allowed the agency to begin reducing its real estate footprint, resulting in a projected savings of $55 million in office real estate costs.
- USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will reduce its footprint from 43 state offices across the country to 12 regional locations which will create significant savings. Through the efforts to-date, the agency is projected to save more than $700,000 in annual real estate costs.
- HHS will improve space efficiencies, reduce the agency’s footprint, and save the federal government more than $15 million in real estate costs over a ten year lease.
GSA’s Total Workplace will also allow FWS to eliminate 72,200 square feet, saving taxpayers more than $3 million in annual real estate costs.
“We are replacing buildings built around hierarchies from an era where people used the telegraph with workspaces more suited to today’s world,” said GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini. “The kind of open office environment that Total Workplace creates encourages collaboration and cooperation that in turn leads to better services for the American people. By using our space more efficiently, we also save valuable taxpayer dollars.”
“Total Workplace gives federal workers access to the technology they need to accomplish their missions not only effectively, but also efficiently. Today’s workforce demands the tools necessary to work anywhere, anytime. Reducing the federal footprint gives agencies appropriate work spaces to get the job done together, while encouraging mobility,” said Charles Hardy, GSA’s Chief Total Workplace Officer.
GSA is leading workplace transformation with the renovation of its own headquarters in Washington, DC. GSA was able to collapse a number of leases in the region and bring those employees into the renovated headquarters, allowing it to go from 2,200 to 3,300 employees. By consolidating GSA employees into a single facility, the agency is eliminating $24.4 million in annual lease payments. The renovation also includes high-performance green building initiatives, such as photovoltaic rooftop arrays; an underground cistern to recapture and reuse rainwater/grey water; a green roof; solar hot water panels; high efficiency mechanical systems; and daylight harvesting.
GSA Transforming the Government Workplace, Saving Agencies Millions
Initiative to do away with “Mad Men” style offices, modernize the federal government
Full service offerings include design, technology, furnishings to cut office space, reduce costs and increase collaboration
Washington, DC -- Today, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) launched a comprehensive service to create a 21st century workplace throughout the federal government. GSA’s Total Workplace initiative provides resources and expertise to help federal agencies reduce their office space, foster collaboration, better manage IT spending, and increase energy efficiency. In a time of shrinking budgets, the initiative is already saving taxpayer dollars and helping customer agencies better serve the American people. The U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Health and Human Services (HHS), Homeland Security (DHS), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) have announced today that they have joined the Total Workplace program and are on their way to realizing significant savings and reducing their real estate footprint. The effort will also help agencies meet Obama Administration goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs, including the freeze the federal footprint directive.
GSA has been meeting with agencies throughout the federal government to lay out the benefits of this program. Here's how GSA’s Total Workplace is already delivering savings and cost avoidance for federal agencies and the American people:
- At DHS, a reduction of rented space with subleasing, increased teleworking and the adoption of desk sharing, has allowed the agency to begin reducing its real estate footprint, resulting in a projected savings of $55 million in office real estate costs.
- USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will reduce its footprint from 43 state offices across the country to 12 regional locations which will create significant savings. Through the efforts to-date, the agency is projected to save more than $700,000 in annual real estate costs.
- HHS will improve space efficiencies, reduce the agency’s footprint, and save the federal government more than $15 million in real estate costs over a ten year lease.
GSA’s Total Workplace will also allow FWS to eliminate 72,200 square feet, saving taxpayers more than $3 million in annual real estate costs.
“We are replacing buildings built around hierarchies from an era where people used the telegraph with workspaces more suited to today’s world,” said GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini. “The kind of open office environment that Total Workplace creates encourages collaboration and cooperation that in turn leads to better services for the American people. By using our space more efficiently, we also save valuable taxpayer dollars.”
“Total Workplace gives federal workers access to the technology they need to accomplish their missions not only effectively, but also efficiently. Today’s workforce demands the tools necessary to work anywhere, anytime. Reducing the federal footprint gives agencies appropriate work spaces to get the job done together, while encouraging mobility,” said Charles Hardy, GSA’s Chief Total Workplace Officer.
GSA is leading workplace transformation with the renovation of its own headquarters in Washington, DC. GSA was able to collapse a number of leases in the region and bring those employees into the renovated headquarters, allowing it to go from 2,200 to 3,300 employees. By consolidating GSA employees into a single facility, the agency is eliminating $24.4 million in annual lease payments. The renovation also includes high-performance green building initiatives, such as photovoltaic rooftop arrays; an underground cistern to recapture and reuse rainwater/grey water; a green roof; solar hot water panels; high efficiency mechanical systems; and daylight harvesting.
SEC CHARGES OWNER NY ADVISORY FIRM WITH INSIDER TRADING IN ADVANCE OF MERGERS
FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the owner of a New York-based advisory firm with insider trading in his own account and client accounts based on non-public information in advance of a merger announcement by pharmaceutical companies.
The SEC alleges that Tibor Klein, who lives on Long Island and is president of Klein Financial Services, learned confidential information about Pfizer Inc.'s planned acquisition of King Pharmaceuticals. He misappropriated the information and traded in advance of the public announcement for illicit profits of more than $300,000 for himself and his clients.
The SEC also charged Klein's close friend Michael Shechtman, a stockbroker living in South Florida who was tipped by Klein and traded on the non-public information for more than $100,000 in illegal profits.
According to the SEC's complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Klein learned material, non-public information about the impending merger in August 2010 from one of his clients - an attorney who works on matters for King Pharmaceuticals. On August 16 - the first day that the markets opened after he learned the confidential information - Klein began purchasing large amounts of King Pharmaceuticals' stock. Klein had not purchased so many securities of an individual stock for so many clients in such a short time period in 2010 as he did when he made these purchases.
The SEC alleges that Klein then went one step further and tipped his best friend, Shechtman, with the non-public information about King Pharmaceuticals. Klein and Shechtman speak often but rarely more than once a day. But Klein called Shechtman six times on August 16, when Shechtman submitted an application to open an options trading account and handwrote "Please expedite ASAP" at the top of the form. Shechtman had never before traded in options. On August 18, Klein called Shechtman 11 more times as Shechtman purchased 2,500 shares of King Pharmaceuticals stock and 300 call options in his personal account, and 2,400 shares in his wife's Roth IRA account.
According to the SEC's complaint, the public announcement was made on Oct. 12, 2010. King Pharmaceuticals stock subsequently rose 39 percent and trading volume increased by more than 12,000 percent from the previous day. Following the announcement, Klein sold his King Pharmaceuticals stock and generated profits of $328,375.02 for himself and his clients. Shechtman sold his shares and his wife's share in King Pharmaceuticals stock and options for profits of $109,040.53.
The SEC's complaint charges Klein and Shechtman with violations of Sections 10(b) and 14(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5 and 14e-3. The SEC seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, financial penalties, and permanent injunctive relief against Klein and Shechtman to enjoin them from future violations of the federal securities laws.
The SEC's investigation was conducted by Rachel K. Paulose and supervised by Elisha L. Frank in the Miami Regional Office. The SEC's litigation will be led by Robert K. Levenson. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the owner of a New York-based advisory firm with insider trading in his own account and client accounts based on non-public information in advance of a merger announcement by pharmaceutical companies.
The SEC alleges that Tibor Klein, who lives on Long Island and is president of Klein Financial Services, learned confidential information about Pfizer Inc.'s planned acquisition of King Pharmaceuticals. He misappropriated the information and traded in advance of the public announcement for illicit profits of more than $300,000 for himself and his clients.
The SEC also charged Klein's close friend Michael Shechtman, a stockbroker living in South Florida who was tipped by Klein and traded on the non-public information for more than $100,000 in illegal profits.
According to the SEC's complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Klein learned material, non-public information about the impending merger in August 2010 from one of his clients - an attorney who works on matters for King Pharmaceuticals. On August 16 - the first day that the markets opened after he learned the confidential information - Klein began purchasing large amounts of King Pharmaceuticals' stock. Klein had not purchased so many securities of an individual stock for so many clients in such a short time period in 2010 as he did when he made these purchases.
The SEC alleges that Klein then went one step further and tipped his best friend, Shechtman, with the non-public information about King Pharmaceuticals. Klein and Shechtman speak often but rarely more than once a day. But Klein called Shechtman six times on August 16, when Shechtman submitted an application to open an options trading account and handwrote "Please expedite ASAP" at the top of the form. Shechtman had never before traded in options. On August 18, Klein called Shechtman 11 more times as Shechtman purchased 2,500 shares of King Pharmaceuticals stock and 300 call options in his personal account, and 2,400 shares in his wife's Roth IRA account.
According to the SEC's complaint, the public announcement was made on Oct. 12, 2010. King Pharmaceuticals stock subsequently rose 39 percent and trading volume increased by more than 12,000 percent from the previous day. Following the announcement, Klein sold his King Pharmaceuticals stock and generated profits of $328,375.02 for himself and his clients. Shechtman sold his shares and his wife's share in King Pharmaceuticals stock and options for profits of $109,040.53.
The SEC's complaint charges Klein and Shechtman with violations of Sections 10(b) and 14(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5 and 14e-3. The SEC seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, financial penalties, and permanent injunctive relief against Klein and Shechtman to enjoin them from future violations of the federal securities laws.
The SEC's investigation was conducted by Rachel K. Paulose and supervised by Elisha L. Frank in the Miami Regional Office. The SEC's litigation will be led by Robert K. Levenson. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
FROM DEFIBRILLATOR TO "LIGHT HEART"
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| Photo Credit: CDC |
Researchers envision switching a heart beat on and off with light
With a few flicks of a light switch--on-off-on-off--Stanford University's Oscar Abilez is one step closer to changing the lives of millions.
Why? Because as a focused speck of light turns on and off in Abilez's lab, a cluster of heart cells begins to expand and contract. He demonstrates that he can control the rhythm of a heart using just light.
Currently, 4 million Americans suffer from some degree of cardiac arrhythmia, wherein a person's heart beats too slowly, too quickly or at irregular intervals. Such heart rhythm problems can cause a shortness of breath, fainting and, in worst-case scenarios, death.
The good news is devices like pacemakers and defibrillators allow doctors to introduce electrical signals to set patients' hearts at regularly timed beats. But these small mechanical devices come with risks.
"It's like using a cannon to kill an ant," says Leon Esterowitz, director of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Engineering's Biophotonics program, which funds this research through the Living Matter Lab at Stanford, under the direction of Ellen Kuhl, a professor of engineering at Stanford.
Patients must undergo invasive surgical procedures to permanently implant the devices, which can cause cardiac tissue damage. There are other challenges too, such as lifestyle limitations and the occasional battery malfunction.
Doctors and patients agree there must be a better solution.
"I think progress has to happen," says Ryan Aleong, a leading University of Colorado Denver cardiologist who diagnoses and treats the heart's electrical irregularities. "I think we all realize there's going to be a move for more translational medicine to solve some of these problems."
Dr. Light to the rescue
That's where Abilez, a cardiovascular physician with a doctorate in bioengineering, comes in. He's working with a team of Stanford scientists to develop a novel biological pacemaker--one that controls the human heart with light.
The project, Optogenetic Control of the Human Heart--Turning Light into Force, received $600,000 from NSF last year. The Biomechanics and Mechanobiology program and the Mechanics of Materials program in NSF's Engineering Directorate co-fund the research along the Biophotonics program.
It was one of 40 new projects funded during the first round of NSF's INSPIRE initiative, which addresses complicated and pressing scientific problems that do not fit neatly into any one traditional scientific field or domain.
Abilez's research suits that characterization. It involves two seemingly disconnected and developing technologies: optogenetics and stem cells.
At first glance optogenetics seems more like a magic trick than science, using just flashes of light to control a targeted group of cells.
But, not so fast. Optogenetics uses techniques from both optics and genetics to control the activity of individual neurons in living tissue.
Only a few organisms, such as algae, have naturally light-sensitive cells. In 2002, however, scientists in Germany were able to isolate the genes for the proteins--called opsins--responsible for cells' light sensitivity and modify the genetic code of other cells so that they, too, would produce opsins.
Once produced, the opsins act like small hatches on the surface of a cell. When light shines on them, the hatches either open or close, depending on the type of opsin they are. If the hatches open, electrical signals are able to flow through the cell and be translated into some action, such as regulating a heart. In 2005, Karl Deisseroth and colleagues, also at Stanford, were able to genetically introduce opsins into neurons and control these cells with light; this work and subsequent work has led to the field of optogenetics.
Optogenetics has huge implications for medicine. Researchers, for example, already have shown that they can stop a seizure, cure anxiety and even implant fake memories into the minds of mice using the technology.
Shining a light on someone's chest
Abilez's grand vision is to take stem cells from a person suffering from cardiac arrhythmia and convert the cells into light-sensitive cardiomyocytes--cells that constitute cardiac muscle and are responsible for pacemaker functions in the heart. The cardiomyocytes would then be grafted onto a person's heart, thus allowing doctors to control the whole heart's rhythm using light.
"The applications can be of very high reward," says Natalia Trayanova, director of John Hopkins University's Computational Cardiology Lab.
Current high-energy defibrillation is painful, traumatic and has been associated with a higher rate of mortality, she says. Trayanova also works on cardiac optogenetics.
"Wouldn't it be nice to be able to shine a light on someone's chest and defibrillate them painlessly?"
Abilez has already successfully grown light-sensitive cardiomyocytes. His next step is to test whether the lab-grown cells are accepted when coupled with a larger body of non-stem-cell derived heart cells.
If they are, then Abilez will be on his way to creating a less-invasive, longer-lasting and glitch-free treatment for arrhythmias.
Moreover, Abilez also will have paved the way for optogenetic success in other fields. If he can successfully couple light-sensitive cells with normal cells, then his method of creating light-sensitive stem cells could be used by other researchers to grow any type of light-sensitive cell they wanted, from neurons to pancreatic cells, magnifying the applications of optogenetics in an unprecedented way.
Optogenetic hurdles
At a time when many medical treatments, from prescription drugs to surgeries, can result in a laundry list of complications, it may be difficult to trust that cardiac optogenetics offers a relatively complication-free treatment for patients.
In a way, the mistrust is valid, say researchers. There still are risks involved in cardiac optogenetics. Such risks, however, exist not with the treatment itself but with the feasibility of its development. That is to say, there are still major hurdles to overcome before any applications can be realized.
Ronald Berger, professor of medicine at John Hopkins University, is concerned that biological pacemakers might not be able to coordinate electrical activity between the atria and the ventricles.
Abilez acknowledges such risk, saying that there is a chance the team will discover that their light-sensitive stem cells cannot control the heart as well as they hoped. A large part of the research's difficulty is that the team is in uncharted waters--they have no prior research on which to base their efforts.
"We have to invent things along the way. We don't have any precedent," Abilez says.
Computer models reduce uncertainty
Ellen Kuhl, director of Stanford's Living Matter Lab is helping to take out some of the uncertainty by creating computer models that simulate the heart under different conditions.
With her models, Kuhl has been able to predict optimal configurations for the gene expression of opsins, how much light needs to be shined on the cardiomyocytes and where in the heart cells should be implanted. She can predict all of this for hearts of varied sizes and ages.
"Computational models can help interpret observations in the complex cardiac setting and can guide future developments," says Emilia Entcheva, a biomechanical engineering professor at Stony Brook University in New York and a colleague of Trayanova.
More immediately, however, Kuhl says, "We can make physical or experimental models of arrhythmia and use those as a platform to test drugs to see which drugs are effective in stopping arrhythmias." In fact, companies are looking into using the technology for such drug testing purposes now.
The computational models used for cardiac optogenetics are a product of a new way of practicing medicine--one that involves not only biology and chemistry, but also engineering, mathematics and computer science.
While the applications of cardiac optogenetics are far-reaching, the field has been slow to develop. This is in part because interest in the technology started just as the scientific community began to feel the effects of the recession, says Entcheva.
"NSF support will be a great incentive for more cardiac researchers to focus on fundamental questions that can elevate the use of optogenetics in electrophysiology and cell signaling," she says.
The researchers estimate the main applications of cardiac optogenetics will be realized in the next 10-15 years.
Monday, September 23, 2013
JOHN KERRY'S REMARKS TO UN ON DISABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at a High-Level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on Disability and Development
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
United Nations
New York City
September 23, 2013
Good morning. And it’s a great pleasure for me to be able to be here with all of you, an honor to be here for my first high-level meeting at the United Nations General Assembly as Secretary of State.
Before we begin, I want to just reiterate that we are monitoring very closely and with great concern the situation in Kenya. Ruthless and valueless terrorists remain a serious challenge everywhere in the world, as we all know, whether it’s in downtown Manhattan or in a mall in Nairobi or anywhere else in the world, and all of us have a responsibility to remain vigilant. We stand with the Kenyan people. The President has talked to their President; I’ve talked to their Foreign Minister. They are a resilient people, and they will need the world’s support in the coming difficult days.
But the bottom line is that this tragedy is a reminder, a terrible reminder, to all of us that we all share a stake in one another. And that is especially important to keep in mind as the international community prepares to renew the development goals for 2015 and beyond. What happens in one country, we are reminded day to day, matters to many others, to all of us. And what matters in one culture has to be considered elsewhere. That is a bottom line with respect to the topic that we are discussing here today. The way we treat people of all backgrounds, including how we treat disabled and non-disabled alike, this is how we demonstrate our values, and it’s how we define who we are.
Through our development agenda, we have a very important opportunity to show the world that we value everyone’s contributions, and that we leave no one behind, including those with disabilities. It is clear, and we have seen here in the United States over the last years, that we can make an enormous number of lives better in that process.
The principle behind this is really very, very simple: Our societies, all of our societies, are stronger when every single one of our citizens, able bodied and disabled alike, all get to live up to their full potential. And that’s why here in our country, many states have established standards, and they steadfastly enforce them – laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act, which we passed in 1990 and we believe is really a gold standard with respect to how we treat people and how we open up the world for opportunities. We encourage the international community to look at, study, and, hopefully, emulate this law.
Thanks to laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act, nearly one in five Americans are now protected from disability-based discrimination, and all Americans benefit from the contributions of our fellow citizens with disabilities. We see this every day in everyday life in the workplace, in schools, in education all across our nation.
Thanks to other groundbreaking non-discrimination laws like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, nearly 60 percent of students with disabilities are in general education classrooms for 80 percent or more of their school day. Nearly 350,000 infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families now receive early intervention services. And more than 6.6 million children and youth receive special education and related services designed to meet their individual needs.
This year the Federal Communications Commission issued the first-ever National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program in order to help meet the needs of deaf-blind individuals. And since then, hundreds of deaf-blind individuals have gained access to communication technologies through this program, allowing them to lead independent lives and stay connected with their family members and their friends.
In too many countries, however, we still see the rights and the dignity that we have been blessed to be able to now almost take for granted, that it is not existent in many of those places. So as we work to ensure equal access to public spaces, communications technology, education, and more, and though we’ve seen progress internationally, everybody here knows that we still have a lot to do.
Though disabled persons comprise 15 percent of the world, 8 in 10 live in developing countries. And there’s obvious reasons for that. And in those developing countries, 9 out of 10 children with disabilities don’t go to school. Compared with 5 or 10 years ago, many more countries now have laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, and many more countries require buildings to be accessible. But all countries, we believe, can work harder to enforce these laws, and to ensure that disabled people have as much right and ability to access their local supermarket or their school or even election booths.
Frankly, this is as much an economic issue as it is a human rights issue. But it is also profoundly a family issue, a personal issue, and a moral issue. None of the change that is needed is possible without the partnerships that we’re building at the international level, including meetings like this, where the world can come together to learn from each other’s experience of how we can make rights a reality for disabled people. No one can forget, however, that the most important partnerships we build are, in the end, those that we build with persons with disabilities themselves. We cannot afford to forget that disabled individuals are not only the beneficiaries of development efforts and investments, but they are also leaders, and they are the agents of progress. And they do so on an equal basis with others.
I’m honored today to be joined by Judith Heumann and Charlotte McClain-Nhlapo, who are well known to you all as longtime leaders in the international disability movement. We’re honored that they have brought their expertise and leadership into our government to guide United States policy and practice that leaves no one behind in our diplomacy or in our development, including persons with disabilities.
So we’re here because we see the possibilities of diplomacy, the promise of development, and the potential of every single person. And in fact, I think all of us understand and we have learned gracefully in our country that the possibilities are, frankly, unlimited. So I hope everyone will leave here with a commitment to do everything that we can to make sure that we are pursuing the policies of inclusivity and that we mean it when we say we will not leave anyone behind. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
Remarks at a High-Level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on Disability and Development
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
United Nations
New York City
September 23, 2013
Good morning. And it’s a great pleasure for me to be able to be here with all of you, an honor to be here for my first high-level meeting at the United Nations General Assembly as Secretary of State.
Before we begin, I want to just reiterate that we are monitoring very closely and with great concern the situation in Kenya. Ruthless and valueless terrorists remain a serious challenge everywhere in the world, as we all know, whether it’s in downtown Manhattan or in a mall in Nairobi or anywhere else in the world, and all of us have a responsibility to remain vigilant. We stand with the Kenyan people. The President has talked to their President; I’ve talked to their Foreign Minister. They are a resilient people, and they will need the world’s support in the coming difficult days.
But the bottom line is that this tragedy is a reminder, a terrible reminder, to all of us that we all share a stake in one another. And that is especially important to keep in mind as the international community prepares to renew the development goals for 2015 and beyond. What happens in one country, we are reminded day to day, matters to many others, to all of us. And what matters in one culture has to be considered elsewhere. That is a bottom line with respect to the topic that we are discussing here today. The way we treat people of all backgrounds, including how we treat disabled and non-disabled alike, this is how we demonstrate our values, and it’s how we define who we are.
Through our development agenda, we have a very important opportunity to show the world that we value everyone’s contributions, and that we leave no one behind, including those with disabilities. It is clear, and we have seen here in the United States over the last years, that we can make an enormous number of lives better in that process.
The principle behind this is really very, very simple: Our societies, all of our societies, are stronger when every single one of our citizens, able bodied and disabled alike, all get to live up to their full potential. And that’s why here in our country, many states have established standards, and they steadfastly enforce them – laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act, which we passed in 1990 and we believe is really a gold standard with respect to how we treat people and how we open up the world for opportunities. We encourage the international community to look at, study, and, hopefully, emulate this law.
Thanks to laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act, nearly one in five Americans are now protected from disability-based discrimination, and all Americans benefit from the contributions of our fellow citizens with disabilities. We see this every day in everyday life in the workplace, in schools, in education all across our nation.
Thanks to other groundbreaking non-discrimination laws like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, nearly 60 percent of students with disabilities are in general education classrooms for 80 percent or more of their school day. Nearly 350,000 infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families now receive early intervention services. And more than 6.6 million children and youth receive special education and related services designed to meet their individual needs.
This year the Federal Communications Commission issued the first-ever National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program in order to help meet the needs of deaf-blind individuals. And since then, hundreds of deaf-blind individuals have gained access to communication technologies through this program, allowing them to lead independent lives and stay connected with their family members and their friends.
In too many countries, however, we still see the rights and the dignity that we have been blessed to be able to now almost take for granted, that it is not existent in many of those places. So as we work to ensure equal access to public spaces, communications technology, education, and more, and though we’ve seen progress internationally, everybody here knows that we still have a lot to do.
Though disabled persons comprise 15 percent of the world, 8 in 10 live in developing countries. And there’s obvious reasons for that. And in those developing countries, 9 out of 10 children with disabilities don’t go to school. Compared with 5 or 10 years ago, many more countries now have laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, and many more countries require buildings to be accessible. But all countries, we believe, can work harder to enforce these laws, and to ensure that disabled people have as much right and ability to access their local supermarket or their school or even election booths.
Frankly, this is as much an economic issue as it is a human rights issue. But it is also profoundly a family issue, a personal issue, and a moral issue. None of the change that is needed is possible without the partnerships that we’re building at the international level, including meetings like this, where the world can come together to learn from each other’s experience of how we can make rights a reality for disabled people. No one can forget, however, that the most important partnerships we build are, in the end, those that we build with persons with disabilities themselves. We cannot afford to forget that disabled individuals are not only the beneficiaries of development efforts and investments, but they are also leaders, and they are the agents of progress. And they do so on an equal basis with others.
I’m honored today to be joined by Judith Heumann and Charlotte McClain-Nhlapo, who are well known to you all as longtime leaders in the international disability movement. We’re honored that they have brought their expertise and leadership into our government to guide United States policy and practice that leaves no one behind in our diplomacy or in our development, including persons with disabilities.
So we’re here because we see the possibilities of diplomacy, the promise of development, and the potential of every single person. And in fact, I think all of us understand and we have learned gracefully in our country that the possibilities are, frankly, unlimited. So I hope everyone will leave here with a commitment to do everything that we can to make sure that we are pursuing the policies of inclusivity and that we mean it when we say we will not leave anyone behind. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
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