Bank of America, Merrill in $39 million gender bias settlement - Obama rejects G20 pressure to abandon Syria air strike plan | Video - 2020 city contest becomes ‘least-ugly parade' - Syria, Egypt turmoil nudges Israel, Palestinians toward peace

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• Bank of America, Merrill in $39 million gender bias settlement
  6:09pm EDT

  Bank of America, Merrill in $39 million gender bias settlement

  
  

  

  By Jonathan Stempel

  NEW YORK | Fri Sep 6, 2013 6:09pm EDT
  

  (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp agreed to pay $39 million to settle a gender bias lawsuit by female brokers who claimed they were paid less than men and deprived of handling their fair share of lucrative accounts, court papers made public on Friday show.
  The settlement was disclosed less than two weeks after news that the bank reached a $160 million settlement with hundreds of black Merrill Lynch & Co brokers who alleged racial bias in pay, promotions and how big accounts were allocated.
  

  

   

  About 4,800 current and former female financial advisers and trainees at Bank of America and Merrill, which the bank bought in January 2009, are eligible for the latest settlement.
  The lawsuit filed on their behalf accused Bank of America and Merrill of intentionally discriminating by favoring male brokers when awarding pay, allocating client accounts and referrals, and providing professional and marketing support.
  According to court papers, such practices created a "cumulative advantage" effect that perpetuated and widened earnings disparities by gender. Bank of America was also accused of retaliating against female brokers who complained of bias.
  The three-year settlement agreement requires Bank of America to retain an independent monitor to oversee improvements to its practices, and hire a consultant to study how it "teams" brokers and how its teaming practices affect the allocation of accounts.
  Bank of America did not admit wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement, which requires approval by U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen in Brooklyn, New York.
  "The world of financial advisers remains a very male environment in this company and this industry," said Rachel Geman, a partner at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein representing the plaintiffs, in an interview.
  She said the settlement provides "significant monetary relief, as well as programmatic relief to help insure that women are on a fair playing field."
  Bill Halldin, a Bank of America spokesman, said the bank is pleased to settle, and that the accord "will enrich our existing diversity, inclusion and development programs, providing even more opportunities for women to succeed as financial advisers."
  Bank of America is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and said it ended June with nearly 15,800 financial advisers.
  MAKING STRIDES
  The lawsuit dates from January 2007 when Judy Calibuso, a Miami-area broker who had worked for Bank of America or its predecessor Barnett Bank since 1995, filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
  Five women - Calibuso, Mary DeSalvatore of New Jersey, Jean Evans of Missouri, Dianne Goedtel of New York and Julie Moss of Louisiana - now lead the lawsuit, court papers show. Only Calibuso remains with the merged company, her lawyers said.
  Large U.S. brokerages are often targets of bias lawsuits, and others have settled charges they unfairly deprived female brokers of compensation and opportunities for career growth.
  In 2007, Morgan Stanley settled one such lawsuit for $46 million, while Citigroup Inc reached a $33 million settlement in 2008 and Wells Fargo & Co a $32 million accord in 2011.
  "Generally, Wall Street has recognized the need for a level playing field for its employees and business interests," Cara Greene, a partner at Outten & Golden who also represents the plaintiffs, said in an interview. "Strides have been made, but generally speaking women are still making less than men."
  The $160 million Merrill accord with black brokers is one of the largest by an employer of a U.S. racial bias lawsuit.
  The gender case is Calibuso et al v. Bank of America Corp et al, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 10-01413.
  (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Ken Wills)
   
• Obama rejects G20 pressure to abandon Syria air strike plan |
  6:47pm EDT
   

  
  

  Obama stands firm on Syria air strikes, G20 summit divided

  10:36am EDT

  • Fractious G20 smile thinly for family photo
  • Reuters Today: Round one to Putin at 'awkward' G20
  • Putin greets Obama at G20 summit

  Obama stands firm on Syria air strikes, G20 summit divided (01:42)

  By Matt Spetalnick and Alexei Anishchuk

  ST. PETERSBURG, Russia | Fri Sep 6, 2013 6:47pm EDT
  

  (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama resisted pressure on Friday to abandon plans for air strikes against Syria and enlisted the support of 10 fellow leaders for a "strong" response to a chemical weapons attack.
  Obama refused to blink after Russian President Vladimir Putin led a campaign to talk him out of military intervention at a two-day summit of the Group of Twenty developed and developing economies in St. Petersburg.
  He persuaded nine other G20 nations plus Spain to join the United States in signing a statement calling for a strong international response, although it fell short of supporting military strikes, underscoring the deep disagreements that dominated the summit.
  A senior U.S. official said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the only European leader at the summit who did not sign the statement, held off because she wanted to let the European Union have a chance to weigh in first.
  Leaders of the G20, which accounts for 90 percent of the world economy and two-thirds of its population, put aside their differences to unite behind a call for growth and jobs and agreed the global economy was on the mend but not out of crisis.
  But there was no joint statement on Syria, despite a 20-minute one-on-one talk between Obama and Putin on the sidelines of the summit on Friday, following a tense group discussion on the civil war over dinner late on Thursday.
  "We hear one another, and understand the arguments but we don't agree. I don't agree with his arguments, he doesn't agree with mine," Putin told a closing news conference dominated by questions about Syria.
  Participants at the dinner said the tension between Putin and Obama was palpable but that they seemed at pains to avoid an escalation. Obama said credit was due to Putin for facilitating the long discussion of the Syrian crisis on Thursday night.
  But he defended his call for a military response to what Washington says was a chemical weapons attack by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that killed more than 1,400 people in rebel-held suburbs of Damascus on August 21.
  "Failing to respond to this breach of this international norm would send a signal to rogue nations, authoritarian regimes and terrorist organizations, that they can develop and use weapons of mass destruction and not pay a consequence. And that's not the world that we want to live in," Obama told a separate news conference..
  Putin said Washington had not provided convincing proof that Assad's troops carried out the attack and called it a "provocation" by rebel forces hoping to encourage a military response by the United States.
  Chinese President Xi Jinping tried to dissuade Obama from military action during talks on Friday, telling him that Beijing expected countries to think twice before acting. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned against military action that did not have the approval of the U.N. Security Council.
  Unable to win Security Council backing because of the opposition by veto-wielding Russia and China, Obama is seeking the support of the U.S. Congress instead.
  He declined to speculate whether he would go ahead with a military strike in Syria if Congress opposed it, but said most G20 leaders condemned the use of chemical weapons even if they disagreed whether to use force without going through the United Nations.
  "The majority of the room is comfortable with our conclusion that Assad, the Assad government, was responsible for their use," he said.
  Those who signed up to the call for a strong international response were the leaders or other representatives of Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, Britain and the United States.
  The senior U.S. official said the statement had been worked out over the past two days and while there were changes to a draft produced by U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice, the final version had in it everything the United States wanted. A final chat at the summit between Obama and French President Francois Hollande sealed the deal, the official said.
  The statement's endorsement of the U.S. approach represents an implicit backing of the use of military power, even if that is not spelled out in the statement, the official added, contradicting Putin's assertion that the only countries to support the use of force are Canada, Saudi Arabia, France and Turkey.
  Washington's ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, made clear on Thursday that the United States had given up trying to work with the Security Council on the issue, and accused Russia of holding it hostage.
  Hollande, who supports Obama over military action against Syria, said he would try to bring together a coalition of states in favor of such an intervention if the Security Council could not agree on action.
  HUMAN RIGHTS TALKS
  The dispute over Syria has deepened strains in U.S.-Russian ties, already difficult because of differences over human rights and Moscow's hosting of Edward Snowden, a spy agency contractor who revealed details of U.S. surveillance programs. Putin said Obama had not requested Snowden's extradition on Friday, adding that it would be impossible anyway.
  Obama later met rights activists, including gay rights campaigners, to show support for civil society in Russia, where critics say Putin has clamped down on dissent in his third term.
  But some invitees declined to attend, citing what they said were repeated changes in the timing of the meeting. One added her voice to warnings against a military strike on Syria.
  The G20 achieved unprecedented cooperation between developed and emerging nations to stave off economic collapse during the 2009 financial crisis, but the harmony has since waned.
  Despite their differences, the leaders agreed on a summit declaration that the global economy is improving although it is too early to declare an end to crisis.
  The leaders stuck closely to a statement issued by G20 finance ministers in July that demanded monetary policy changes must be "carefully calibrated and clearly communicated".
  "Our most urgent need is to increase the momentum of the global recovery, generate higher growth and better jobs, while strengthening the foundations for long-term growth and avoiding policies that could cause the recovery to falter or promote growth at other countries' expense," the leaders said.
  Member states are at odds as the U.S. recovery gains pace, Europe lags, and developing economies worry about the impact of the Federal Reserve's plans to stop a bond-buying program that has helped stimulate the U.S. economy.
  The BRICS emerging economies - Russia, China, India, South Africa and Brazil - have agreed to commit $100 billion to a currency reserve pool that could help defend against a balance of payments crisis, but the mechanism will take time to set up.
  (Writing by Steve Gutterman, additional writing by Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Peter Cooney)
• 2020 city contest becomes ‘least-ugly parade'
  

  

  

  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  By Ossian Shine

  BUENOS AIRES | Fri Sep 6, 2013 8:51pm EDT
  

  (Reuters) - Would-be 2020 Olympic cities of Madrid, Istanbul and Tokyo parade before the Games' organizing body on Saturday in a "least ugly" contest as they attempt to conceal their blemishes and win the right to host the world's biggest sporting extravaganza.
  All three cities are wrestling different demons which, in another contest and another time, would likely rule them out of winning the honor to stage the Games.
  

  

   

  But in Buenos Aires on Saturday, the some 100 members of the International Olympic Committee must choose the least worst option and trust the winning city can deliver on their promises.
  All three cities will present their bids to the IOC membership, with Istanbul first up, followed by Tokyo and then Madrid. Each city is being represented in person by leading statesmen.
  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will represent his capital city, with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan backing Istanbul, while Prince Felipe of Spain is part of Madrid's official presentation.
  IOC members will then hear a report from an internal Evaluation Commission formed of IOC members and Olympic experts, before voting begins.
  Should a city not obtain an outright majority of votes, the candidate with the least votes will be eliminated and the two remaining cities will go head to head in a second round.
  Madrid continues to suffocate under a recession, Istanbul is saddled with the specter of military strikes in neighboring Syria and internal unrest while Tokyo is back in the headlines after a series of damaging disclosures about the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant 230 km (140 miles) from the city.
  LEAST-UGLY PARADE
  Publicly, the membership of the International Olympic Committee is smiling through the crisis, but privately many concede that this is now an exercise in evaluating risk rather than celebrating sport.
  "What is usually a celebration... a good news event, is now a contest of the least-bad news," an Olympic insider familiar with the selection process told Reuters. "It is not a beauty contest, it is a least-ugly parade."
  Spain, once an outsider due to the recession which had stymied their ambitions, is gathering pace all the time in Argentina, as Olympic bosses seek the safest option.
  "The economic crisis is starting to get better," Madrid Mayor Ana Botella told reporters, adding that 90 percent of the infrastructure needed to host the event is already in place.
  "The amount we would have to invest over seven years is very small compared to the budget of the state, the autonomous community of Madrid and the city hall," she said.
  EASING CONCERNS
  Such an unsexy claim, made in the wake of the announcement of a sixth month of falling unemployment, would in other circumstances carry little weight in the rarefied Olympic world of bombast and boast.
  But in this contest it strikes to the heart of the matter, and is aimed at easing concerns.
  Staging an Olympics is an expensive proposition and is categorized in two ways - the "Games budget" which covers the cost of staging the 16-day event, and the "non-Games budget" which includes venue construction, and indirect Olympic-related projects like access roads and transportation.
  The Spaniards officials say that with much of the infrastructure already in place, it will be the first time a projected Games budget of some $3.1 billion exceeds investment of just under $2 billion in projects linked to the hosting of the event but not directly related.
  That compares with Istanbul's massive non-Games budget of around $17 billion, dwarfing expected Games expenditure of $2.9 billion. Tokyo, which hosted the Games in 1964, is also planning to incorporate existing venues and has estimated a non-Games budget of around $4.4 billion compared to $3.4 billion for the actual event.
  The Japanese, too, must ease concerns and Prime Minister Abe is flying into Argentina having broken away early from a Group of 20 summit in Russia.
  FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR PLANT
  The disclosures in recent weeks about the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant 230 km (140 miles) from Tokyo came as an unwelcome shock to an Olympic membership not appreciative of surprises.
  The plant's operator has been forced to reverse denials and admit that hundreds of tons of radioactive water are pouring into the Pacific Ocean each day, and radiation levels have spiked.
  Abe's government said this week it will spend almost half a billion dollars to try to fix the water crisis and critics said the government's sudden embrace of the issue was aimed largely at winning the Olympic bid.
  "During our presentation, I look forward to conveying Tokyo's safety, strong finances, world class transportation and organizational ability," Tokyo governor Naoki Inose said on Friday.
  "We believe we have shown that Tokyo is the right partner for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and will host a safe and incredible city-center celebration.
  "Considering the world economy recently, for a true celebration, for a party for mankind like the Olympic and Paralympic Games, strong evidence exists that Tokyo has the ability to deliver."
  Istanbul launched its bid on the back of an Islamic card, of becoming the first Olympics in a predominantly Muslim country and the first staged across two continents simultaneously - Asia and Europe.
  But instead of promoting that angle, the bid team has been fending off fears of unrest following weeks of protest in June after police cracked down on anti-government demonstrators, leaving four people dead and 7,500 injured.
  Now it is also forced to contend with fears a potential U.S. military intervention in neighboring Syria could stop the bid in its tracks.
  "This is a global issue ... now the world leaders are dealing with it," Turkish bid chief Hasan Arat told Reuters when asked whether unrest in the region could harm the city's chances.
  But geopolitics could weigh on Turkey, which has felt the strain of a refugee exodus from Syria's civil war.
  More than 2 million refugees have fled Syria, the United Nations said this week, calling the crisis "the tragedy of the century".
  (Reporting by Ossian Shine; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
• Syria, Egypt turmoil nudges Israel, Palestinians toward peace
  7:32pm EDT
   
  

  
  

  

  By Arshad Mohammed

  VILNIUS | Fri Sep 6, 2013 7:32pm EDT
  

  (Reuters) - Turmoil in Syria and Egypt is nudging Israelis and Palestinians toward peace, a U.S. official said on Friday as Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Europe for talks about that conflict and a possible U.S. strike on Syrian targets.
  While the chief U.S. diplomat's three-day trip was originally designed to focus on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and will include a lengthy meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in London on Sunday, Syria is sure to consume many of his conversations with European and Arab diplomats.
  

  

   

  Kerry will meet European Union foreign ministers in the Lithuanian capital on Saturday as the U.S. Congress weighs whether to give President Barack Obama the authority to conduct military strikes on Syria following an August 21 attack in which Washington accuses Damascus of using sarin gas to kill at least 1,400 Syrians.
  The White House has argued that any strike would aim to deter Syria, and others, from using chemical weapons and it has denied any intention of getting enmeshed in Syria's civil war.
  A senior U.S. State Department official said Syria's civil war, as well as upheaval in Egypt, whose army ousted Islamist Mohamed Mursi, its first freely elected president, gives Israelis and Palestinians an incentive to end their conflict.
  "Both sides have made clear to us and to each other that they do not want the turmoil to engulf them and that therefore it motivates them to try to resolve their conflict to prevent that from happening," the official told reporters with Kerry.
  The White House has ruled out sending combat troops to Syria and, while it wants to push Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to embrace a political deal to leave power, it has said the purpose of any strike is solely to deter chemical weapons use.
  'WAR OF ATTRITION'
  "I don't expect huge, huge change on the day after (any U.S. strike)," a second senior State Department official told reporters with Kerry. "I think the war of attrition will grind on ... without the use of chemical weapons," he said. "It is a war of attrition that the regime slowly, gradually is losing."
  If the United States failed to act, this would likely lead more refugees to flee Syria - some 2 million have already left - and strengthen "extremist" members of the opposition at the expense of moderates, this official said.
  Obama asked Congress to authorize a strike after it became clear he would not win U.N. Security Council sanction given Russian opposition, after the parliament of U.S. ally Britain voted against taking part, and as opinion polls showed U.S. skepticism about getting dragged into Syria's 2-1/2-year-old civil war.
  Kerry may try to garner international support for a strike but his main focus is likely to be on his signature initiative, the July 29 resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that he hopes will yield the outlines of a deal within nine months.
  The core issues that need to be settled in the more than six-decade-old Israeli-Palestinian dispute include borders, the fate of Palestinian refugees, the future of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the status of Jerusalem.
  After meeting EU foreign ministers on Saturday, Kerry flies to Paris for talks with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius the same day and to see members of an Arab League committee formed to track Israeli-Palestinian peace talks on Sunday.
  He then heads to London for what one U.S. official said was likely to be a several-hour, one-on-one session with Abbas on Sunday, before returning on Monday to Washington, where he is expected to plunge back into the U.S. debate over Syria.
  Kerry has been Obama's primary public advocate for military action against Syria - most likely in the form of cruise missile strikes - and he last week made his case for several hours before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he first appeared as a young Vietnam veteran arguing against that war.
  (Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Vicki Allen)
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