UK Banks Handed Panama Papers Deadline

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has sent a letter to banks and financial institutions in the UK ordering them to check whether they have done business with the law firm Mossack Fonseca, which is at the centre of the Panama Papers scandal.

The leak of financial papers and emails, which were obtained by the German daily newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and passed on to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, was the biggest in history with more than 11.5 million individual files released.
The FCA letter, which was sent to around 20 businesses, instructed institutions to carry out their own investigations into their links to the Panama Papers and report back by next week.
"Beyond April 15 we will require updates on any significant issues or relationships identified and a full response, detailing findings, when your investigation is concluded," the letter reads.
It also reminded recipients that any subsidiaries or branches located outside of Britain are still subject to UK rules and regulations when it comes to monitoring client accounts and researching customers.
The leak is said to indicate that more the 500 banks across the world have worked with Mossack Fonseca to set up nearly 15,600 shell companies, which could allow clients to avoid tax by hiding their money abroad.
Earlier this week HSBC, Credit Suisse and the Royal Bank of Scotland-owned Coutts Trustees all publicly denied they were using complex offshore structures to help their customers commit tax avoidance.
Commenting on the letter, which was written on Tuesday but acquired by the Financial Times on Thursday, the FCA said in a statement that it is working closely with "a number of agencies" to ensure that no wrongdoing has taken place.

"As part of our responsibility to ensure the integrity of the UK financial markets we require all authorised firms to have systems and controls in place to mitigate the risk that they might be used to commit financial crime," it said.
"We have also today [Tuesday] published our annual Business Plan which identifies financial crime and anti-money laundering activity as one of our priorities for the year."
The news comes as it is revealed Prime Minister David Cameron wrote a letter of his own to European Council President Herman van Rompuy in 2013, urging him to differentiate between companies and trusts when drafting anti-money laundering rules.
This is despite warnings that the distinction could create a loophole allowing tax dodgers to continue evading their bills.

When can Leicester City be crowned Premier League champions?

Can Leicester make Premier League history?

          

Leicester could be crowned Premier League champions with three games to spare, if the teams in the title race repeat their results against their remaining opponents from earlier this season.

Claudio Ranieri's side are currently seven points clear at the top of the league with six games to play, with Tottenham in second. Arsenal and Manchester City both have a game in hand on the top two, but are 11 and 15 points adrift respectively.
That means Leicester's home game with Swansea on Super Sunday on April 24 could be an historic moment for the Foxes.

Manchester United 1-0 Everton: Anthony Martial keeps top four hopes alive

Manchester United's French striker Anthony Martial celebrates scoring the opening goal

Anthony Martial scored the winner as Manchester United beat Everton 1-0 at Old Trafford to keep their top four hopes alive.

The striker netted United's 1,000th home Premier League goal in the second half to lift his side up to fifth in the table - just a point behind rivals Manchester City in fourth.
It means Louis van Gaal's side are left with a real opportunity to qualify for next season's Champions League, with seven games left to play.

Teen’s Touching Napkin Note Helps Police Officers Through Dark Days

A teenager left a lasting impression on two police officers after passing them a heartwarming message on a napkin.

The girl casually laid the note down on the table of officer Rance Quinn and his colleague as she left a Chili’s Grill & Bar in Kansas City, Kansas, with her family on Mar. 24, FOX 4 reports.

“Thanks for keeping us safe,” it read.

Quinn was even more stunned to later find out that the girl’s family had covered the officers’ check too. 

He didn’t get the chance to thank the unidentified girl personally. So Quinn shared an image of the napkin on Facebook on Mar. 25, and it went viral after it was shared on the police department’s official Facebook account

“This young lady touched us in a way she might not have realized and before we could react to it the family walked out,” he wrote. “We sat there and talked about what a fantastic gesture.”

Quinn claimed in the Facebook post that “a significant anti-police movement” had built up over the last few years which caused many law enforcers “to want to give up.”

But he said it was this kind of reaction from the public that reminded him his job was worthwhile. “It seems though that the normally silent supporters are speaking out to support the profession,” he added.

The spontaneous acts of kindness in the restaurant towards the two officers didn’t end there. They then spent time with a 5-year-old boy who is deaf and whose mother said had “always wanted to meet a police officer.”

Another woman then approached them and offered to buy lunch. But as it was already paid for, she ended up forcing them to take a gift card, which the officers later passed on to a family in need.

Quinn has carried the napkin around in his pocket ever since. He said it kept it going during difficult days. “We’re human too. We like to feel the love just like everybody else does,” he added.
A video of another police officer in southern California teaching a homeless 11-year-old girl how to play hopscotch also went viral this week.