Paperless Tax Returns Nix Refund Checks in Oklahoma

For years, you filed your tax return, waited a few weeks, then got a check in the mail. If you're expecting a return on state income taxes in Oklahoma, there will be something different showing up in your mail box.

"Oklahoma has issued a new debit card. It's for people who do no have a banking account," explained tax professional Jamie Burkhart.

If you do have a bank account, the money will be deposited directly into your account, but Oklahoma hopes the option of a debit card will take care of everyone.

"They're feeling that this is more convenient for the taxpayers. They don't have to worry about issuing checks, checks getting lost, and you can replace your debit card for four dollars," said Burkhart.

Jamie Burkhart prepares taxes at Liberty Tax Services in Ardmore. She has already seen the plastic option gain popularity.

"There are a lot of people who don't have or choose not to have a debit card. Students, stuff like that, it's easier to just take a debit card with them, that way they don't have to worry about mom and dad cashing their check for them," Burkhart said.

For added convenience, multiple cards can be issued for one return.

"Each individual gets a card, so if they choose to do married filing jointly and they have that deduction, they both will get a card," Burkhart explained.

Unlike check cashing services that charge extra for putting money on a prepaid debit card, there is no initial cost for choosing plastic. Of course, like all cards, there can be extra charges.

"It's just like a check, but they issue it on a card. The only charge is the standard merchant charge for using a debit or master card, which is usually around a dollar fifty," said Burkhart.

The State of Oklahoma is hoping the new program cuts down on waste as well as hassle.

Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee Hearing

Recognizing the enormous impact on many peoples' lives resulting from the events surrounding the MF Global bankruptcy, I appear at today's hearing with great sadness. My sadness, of course, pales in comparison to the losses and hardships that customers, employees and investors have suffered as a result of MF Global's bankruptcy. Their plight weighs on my mind every day - every hour. And, as the chief executive officer of MF Global at the time of its bankruptcy, I apologize to all those affected.

Before I address what happened, I must make clear that since my departure from MF Global on November 3, 2011, I have had limited access to many relevant documents, including internal communications and account statements, and even my own notes, all of which are essential to my being able to testify accurately about the chaotic, sleepless nights preceding the declaration of bankruptcy. Furthermore, even when I was at MF Global, my involvement in the firm's clearing, settlement and payment mechanisms, and accounting was limited.

The Members should also understand that the Committee turned down my request to testify voluntarily in January. I had hoped that, by that time, I would have obtained and reviewed relevant records so that I could be more helpful to the Committee.

As a consequence of my situation, not every fact of which I am or may have been aware that may be relevant to your inquiry is contained in this statement. While I intend to be responsive to the best of my ability today, without adequate time and materials to prepare, I may be unable to respond to various questions members might pose. Other questions, given my specific role in the company, will be questions for which I simply have no personal knowledge. Many of your questions may well be ones I myself have.

Considering the circumstances, many people in my situation would almost certainly invoke their constitutional right to remain silent - a fundamental right that exists for the purpose of protecting the innocent. Nonetheless, as a former United States Senator who recognizes the importance of congressional oversight, and recognizing my position as former chief executive officer in these terrible circumstances, I believe it is appropriate that I attempt to respond to your inquiries.

I was born in 1947 and raised in the rural community of Taylorville, Illinois. After high school graduation in 1965, I attended the University of Illinois, from which I graduated in 1969. In the summer of 1969, I joined the United StatesMarine Corps Reserve, in which I served until 1975. In 1970, I enrolled in the University of Chicago Business School. I took classes at night while working at a bank during the day, and I and received my MBA in 1973.

FSDC to firm up framework to deal with global crises

A high-level FSDC panel will firm up a crisis management framework to deal with the impact of global financial problems at its meeting in Kolkata later this week.

“We will discuss the Financial Stability Report and decide steps to deal with the global crisis,” said a senior Finance Ministry official ahead of the meeting of the Finance Stability and Development Council (FSDC) sub-committee.

The FSDC sub-committee, which is headed by Reserve Bank Governor D. Subbarao, is scheduled to meet on December 8. The panel includes the heads of regulating agencies like SEBI, IRDA, PFRDA and Finance Ministry officials.

According to sources, the FSDC will also be discussing various scenarios with regard to the sovereign debt crisis in euro zone countries and the possible steps to neutralise the impact of global problems on India.

The agenda for the meeting includes “creation of a framework for decision-making involving the agencies that will be involved in the decision-making process, with clearly defined responsibilities and a mechanism for information exchange and coordination.”

The effort, sources said, would be to develop a mechanism to deal with “sudden shocks” in the balance sheets of financial institutions, which could be on account of natural or man-made crises. The institutions would include banks, non-banking financial companies, mutual funds, primary dealers, merchant bankers and pension funds.

At its earlier meetings, the FSDC sub-committee had asked the regulators to make an assessment of the impact of the sovereign debt crisis on the Indian financial system.

With worsening of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, especially in countries like Greece and Italy, it has become imperative for India to develop a framework to deal with the problems as the government is not in a position to provide a stimulus to boost growth.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had recently said, “I am not in a position to provide that level of fiscal stimulus which I was able in 2008-09, but certain policy changes can improve the situation a little bit, which we are doing.”

According to Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn, “In recent weeks, the macroeconomic environment has become particularly turbulent. Global conditions have contributed to a significant rebalancing of portfolios as a result of rapidly changing risk perceptions and appetites.”

“This has led to increased instability and volatility in financial markets, particularly currency markets... While overall macroeconomic conditions may cause concern, we need to take an integrated and forward looking view of positive and negative indicators and future risks while thinking about appropriate policy responses,” he said.

Cases of credit/debit card fraud on DI slow

As the old slogan for a popular credit card goes, "it’s everywhere you want to be." But that also means the risks are everywhere as well. Even on Daniel Island.

About one in three consumers in the United States have reported credit card fraud in the last year, according to a National Public Radio report. Last summer, Daniel Island residents Lora and Pat Connelly were reluctantly added to those statistics when they joined a growing list of island residents to be impacted by the crime.

"We have had that account for over two decades and never had any trouble," said Lora. "Our son noted the irony that he lives in the inner city of Baltimore and we live in a nicer, overall safer area. We had credit card troubles and he has not."

Jeanette Henderson, another Daniel Island resident, had two cards breached, one in March and another in September.

"There is still a risk," said Henderson. "…Even if this data was stolen four months ago, they could just be getting around to printing the cards….Because I did a little research on it, I think I’m a lot more aware of ways my credit card numbers can be stolen….And there is really no way you can completely protect yourself against it."

When the investigation into the Daniel Island cases began last April, reports initially were filed with the City of Charleston Police Department. About 24 cases of credit or debit card fraud on Daniel Island were reported to police, and another six were reported in other parts of the city, according to Sgt. Donald Daquigan of the department’s white collar crimes division. Later, the Charleston office of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) took over the cases, but continued to work with police and other authorities. A "point of compromise" was identified on Daniel Island, said USSS Resident Agent-in-Charge John Kenney, and steps were immediately taken to shut down the breach.

"We feel that the cyber breach that occurred was closed and if people are still getting their credit cards compromised at this time, that’s a separate occurrence," said Kenney, who did not disclose the business impacted. "…That merchant has taken very specific steps that the industry demands…and they are costly steps, to repair that breach."

According to Sgt. Daquigan, the cases on Daniel Island are similar to others that have been reported in Columbia, S.C., as well as in Alabama and other states. He believes the breach, not your typical credit or debit card theft, may have taken place in another location altogether.

"With the time period we’re talking about, we’re not even sure if the compromised cases were on Daniel Island or in Charleston or anywhere else," he said. "It could be happening at a place where all of this information is stored…I know people (on Daniel Island) are worried, but I don’t believe it’s going to be a restaurant or a grocery store doing this. It’s a little bit more sophisticated than that."

While Agent Kenney didn’t feel it would further the investigation to comment on the specific nature of the breach, he did report that there are several fraudulent tactics they have ruled out.

"It is not a skimming case, where an individual employee has a device that takes credit card numbers…It’s not dumpster diving. This is high-tech cyber stealing and they utilize faults in the software that companies use to process their payments. This is one of the many ways that people are stealing credit card numbers in cyber world and it so happens that this particular case happened on Daniel Island, but every community that has access to the cyber world can be impacted."

That’s where folks like Daniel Island resident Dana Vosburgh come in. Vosburgh is the senior vice president of sales for Merchants United, LLC, a company that helps businesses with secure payment processing solutions. He estimates that as many as half of all businesses on Daniel Island may not be fully protected against credit or debit card fraud.

"Credit card industry compliance is fairly new, and a lot of merchants don’t realize it," said Vosburgh, who had his own personal credit card compromised back in May. "…You have to be compliant with rules, and the rules vary depending on the volume of transactions you do and the type of system you use."

Consumer anger mounts over debit card charges

Rachel Paul was a Regions Bank customer since moving to Nashville eight years ago. But when the Alabama-based bank recently announced monthly debit card fees, she decided to close her accounts there and switch to another bank.

“I mostly use my credit card or raw cash to buy things, so when I heard about the fees, I thought that was enough,” the 41-year-old Paul said.

Regions, SunTrust and First Tennessee banks are among the first in Middle Tennessee to unveil monthly checking account fees as regulations threaten to slice bank profits from debit cards.

Some customers are responding by switching primary banks to avoid fee increases on their accounts, which start this month or with October bank statements.

SunTrust Bank will charge a $5-a-month fee for debit card purchases, and Regions Bank will charge a $4-a-month fee for debit card purchases (ATM withdrawals and deposits are still free).

“I have always learned to budget. The new fees would have made this more difficult,” said Drew Hollowell, 30, who recently closed his Regions checking account, opting for one at the smaller Avenue Bank.

Paul and Hollowell likely will be joined by other once-loyal bank customers turning to banks with no debit-card fees to escape the additional cost of routine purchases, financial analysts say.

High-net-worth customers may be insulated from the new fees. Regions, for example, offers a checking account that carries no debit card fees but requires an average monthly balance of $5,000 or more.

Still, some believe small and community banks are poised to scoop up many disenchanted customers.

Fee changes are the result of last year’s Dodd-Frank financial overhaul legislation, which, in part, halved the amount merchants pay banks per debit card swipe.

Regions, with the largest market share in Nashville, has estimated the fee caps will cost them about $170 million annually.

First Tennessee Bank, a major competitor, has introduced a monthly debit card transaction fee for some of their checking account products, which charges customers a few cents per swipe up to $3.

“I was upset that I signed up for a free checking account and then found out it’s not going to be free anymore,” Barnes said. “I don’t want to be throwing away $5 a month; $60 a year is a lot to me right now.”

Though the new federal regulations will benefit merchants, McBride doesn’t expect the savings to trickle down to consumers.

“This is what retail lobbying groups have spent millions of dollars to change. This is going straight to the bottom line,” he said.

Banks with assets of less than $10 billion get a pass on the new merchant fee caps, which means smaller institutions and credit unions won’t be scrambling to recover lost revenue, or face pressure to alter fee structures on accounts.

However, it remains to be seen how merchants will handle debit cards from the smaller institutions, since it will cost retailers nearly double what it would to swipe a card from a bigger bank.

Crop prices need to fall along with the rain

With the current outlook for crop yields, who can blame them? Droughts across most of Europe have caused deep concern in the agricultural industry this spring.

Over the past three months, rainfall has been 50pc lower than usual, so even if June has a downpour, yields will still be lower.

And as the healthy fields begin to wilt, grain prices have soared in anticipation of poor harvests – by more than 70pc over 12 months in the case of wheat.

Partly due to Russia's drought and low harvests last year, the cost of a Hovis soft white loaf is already up 11.7pc in the past year, from £1.03 to £1.15.

The lack of rainfall is now being particularly keenly felt in the main producing areas of Germany, France, Britain and Poland, which account for more than two-thirds of European harvests.

Most worries are about the staple crop of wheat, with the International Grains Council cutting its forecast for world production in 2011 to 2012 by 5m tonnes to approximately 667m tonnes.

Arvalis, the grain institute, is forecasting damage of 5pc to 10pc of France's soft wheat crop, the region's biggest. It could be even worse in the UK, with estimates of a 10p to 15pc reduction.

A vast array of other produce has also been hit. One of the worst affected grains is malting barley in the UK, which has reached record price highs this week. Gleadell, a grain merchant, said on Friday that brewers are expecting serious impact on supply into 2012.

There is further concern about oilseed yields. As Jonathan Lane, trading manager at Gleadell, said in a weekly market report: "The weather continues to diminish world rapeseed prospects and the market is concerned as to where it will source imports. Traders are on edge about threats to output after weather disasters."

Dry conditions are jeopardising beet crops as the plants need moisture to access key minerals for growth. Meanwhile, livestock farmers are facing higher feed prices and grain shortages. Although Europe is the most seriously affected area, other parts of the world are also suffering, with Chinese authorities firing more than 4,000 cloud seeding rockets into the sky to try to bring rain to its river regions.

Wheat and corn are also drying out in the southern US. It was therefore a relief when Russia decided on Saturday to lift its ban on wheat exports, which should somewhat ease pressure on global supply.

"We are lifting the grain export ban on July 1," Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced.

Ukraine, known as the bread basket of Europe, already lifted its export quota earlier in the week, causing a sigh of relief in the markets.

"Additional grain supply from Russia and the Ukraine should ease supply fears in the global market somewhat, as substantial crop losses are likely in other main export regions such as the US and the EU because of the drought," said analysts from Commerzbank, the German investment bank.

"This is likely to take the upward pressure off wheat prices."

Some more pressure may be eased if high prices make it uneconomic for biofuel producers to use wheat.

The UK's Ensus site near Teesside was last week mothballed for at least four months because of high grain prices.

Speculative investment in wheat has also dropped this week, indicating funds are not confident that prices will increase further from their current high levels.

A report from Rabobank notes that: "Managed money more than halved their net long position in wheat this week from 24,136 contracts to 11,206 contracts, the lowest level since November 2010."

All this may not be enough to puncture the high prices, maybe just to arrest their climb. Analysts say the best hope of lower prices would be a bout of rain in June – but dampening the price of grain has no easy solution.

And the cotton is high

The cotton price moved higher last week as exceptional drought conditions continued in Texas, the biggest cotton producing US state.

May is typically the wettest month in the Lone Star State, but parts of Texas haven't seen any significant rainfall since August last year, damaging crops.

Yet again the unusual weather has been blamed on the unusual patterns of La Nina, a cooling of the Pacific waters near the equator.
China braced for fall in metal output

Summer energy shortages in China will hit the country's production of metals and bolster global prices, Commerzbank said.

"It is often forgotten that China is not only the world's largest metal consumer but also its largest producer," analysts at the German bank state said. "Consequently, electricity rationing in the country in the next few months should also hit the metals industry hard and support prices."

Commerzbank believes falls in China's metal output on the back of likely electricity shortages are not yet sufficiently priced into metal prices.

"While the China Electricity Council had initially expected an electricity deficit of 30 gigawatts, the electricity provider State Grid now expects a shortage of up to 40 gigawatts, if coal shipments do not pick up soon," it said.

Rising thermal coal prices coupled with government caps on the price of energy is making electricity generation unprofitable in many parts of China.

Coal accounts for more than 70pc of the fuel requirements of power plants in the Asian nation, Commerzbank notes.

Some coal-fired power stations in provinces such as Gansu, Hubei, Hunan, Shanxi and Shaanxi have closed, resulting in the worst electricity deficit since 2004, the official Xinhua News Agency said last week.