The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which has assets believed to be between $500 billion and $700 billion, said that plans on taking back stimulus measures by the governments create uncertainty in the economic recovery efforts/

The uncertainty was deeply expressed by ADIA when it released its first annual review in an effort to enhance transparency.

The managing director of ADIA, Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, said that exit strategies by international government can endanger the world economy in 2010.

Sheikh Ahmed further stated in the review that developed markets, where interest rates and taxes are higher, may experience slower economic recovery.

Sovereign wealth funds, whose primary purpose is to invest national windfalls for future generations, opened their books after pressure came to improve their transparency.

The International Working Group of Sovereign Wealth Funds was established in 2008 by the world’s largest sovereign funds. The organization announced the Santiago principles, consisting of 24 principles and best practices.

ADIA said in a statement that its latest actions, including adding more information to its website (www.adia.ae), is their way to show their adherence to the Santiago principles.

The company revenue dropped from $2.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008 to $2.1 billion during the same period last year. Sales across all departments and branches have fallen, the company added.

In January 2009, Nortel, which used to be the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, filed for protection from creditors. It opted to auction its assets rather than to restructure its business to be able to pay its debts.

Ericsson purchased Nortel’s LTE access technology and CDMA wireless business; Avaya bought the Enterprise Solutions unit; CVAS had gotten hold of the CVAS unit; Ciena Corp. took over the Metro Ethernet Networks; Hitachi Ltd purchased Next Generation Packet Core Assets; and Ericsson and Kapsch bought the GSM business.

The gross margin of Nortel fell by 2.7 percentage points to 38.3 percent in last year’s fourth quarter compared to the figure from the same period a year ago.

Wine exports in the U.S. dropped by almost 15 percent last year. The wine industry saw the biggest loss of 21 percent with its shipments to the European Union which is considered to be the biggest importer of U.S. wines.

Helping to offset that drop was an increase in the shipments to Hong Kong and mainland China, the Wine Institute reported Friday. The U.S. has also overtaken Chile to become the biggest wine exporter by bulk to Japan where imports significantly increased by 42 percent.

The total wine export was valued at $912 million. This is lower than the value of exports in 2008 when it reached $1 billion for the first time in history of the wine industry

Over 110 millions were shipped out of the U.S in 2009, 90 percent of which came from California.

Coca-Cola FEMS is the largest bottler of Coca-Cola drinks in Central America and is under Fomento Economico.

The company also said that “decisions related to the ordinary operations” can also be made by a simple majority.

However, when it comes to acquisitions and several other issues, the approval of two directors appointed by the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. is needed along with the majority vote.

The change in the bylaws will be discussed during a shareholders meeting on April 14.

Bank of America, however, offered a rather different twist for its depositors to abide the new rules: If there is not enough money on the account, then the debit card transaction will not go through.

If the customer wants to withdraw money from the ATM which is more than what he has, he will be notified first that he will be charged $35 for the overdraft fee if he wishes to continue.

According to Susan Faulkner, senior vice president for consumer banking of Bank of America, most overdraft transactions stem from debit card purchases which the customers are often unaware of.

Unlike in an ATM where the bank can notify the customer about impending fees, it would not be able to do so if the customer is already at the register so the transaction will just be rejected.

Banking analysts Greg McBride said that while customers are willing to pay overdraft fees for mortgage and insurance payments, they would often refuse paying extra fees for a cup of coffee.

Bank of America will roll out this new policy for new accounts on June 19 and for existing accounts sometime in August. Currently, overdraft fees are charged when the account goes more than $10 below zero.

Data show that overdraft contribute to more than $1.77 billion in annual revenue for the whole banking industry. The new rules are expected to have a significant effect on this figure.

Faulkner was not able to give an estimate as to how Bank of America benefited from such fees.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says that about 41 percent of that number is from debit card transactions, 8 percent comes from ATM withdrawals and the rest from checks and online bill pays.

The FDIC also said that only 14 percent of customers are responsible for 93 percent of the fees. This shows that it was always the same people who keep on overdrawing their account.

But some analysts believe that banks might turn into other products such as free checking that are not included in the new rules to get around the new fees scheme.

The bottom line is if the banks are not able to charge fees on one product anymore, the other product offered for free may already be charged in the future.

The department lifted a ban on exports of software and Internet services so that Cuban, Iranian and Sudanese people can “exercise their most basic rights,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin.

The move was requested by the Department of State to “ensure that individuals in these countries can exercise their universal right to free speech and information to the greatest extent possible.”

Wolin cited the recent protests in Iran where demonstrators and activists used the social networking site Twitter when the government shut down all communication lines to the outside world.

Wolin also added that other types of sanctions will continue to be enforced to pressure the government of Iran to take responsibility for its international obligations.

The three countries have different forms of control over Internet access among its citizens and it was still not clear how the move of the Treasury Department can impact them.

US-based Internet companies have some of their services, like Google’s Gmail, already used in countries affected by US sanctions. Most of the services, however, are inaccessible as mandated by US laws.

US State Secretary Hillary Clinton has condemned “electronic barriers” and called on other countries to have give their people the rightful access to the Internet.

The United States has imposed economic embargo on Cuba since 1962 as a move against the regime of Fidel Castro.

The US also banned any trade with Iran since 1997 and has even called for tougher sanctions on Monday as a campaign against the country’s nuclear program.

Sudan is on the list of countries with US economic sanctions because it is alleged that its government supports Islamic militants and its failure to resolve the situation in the war-torn Darfur.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou thanked Sarkozy in its drive to help Greece in an effort to appease its 12.7 percent budget deficit.

Sarkozy, however, did not provide any details on its promised assistance to Greece. Papandreou said that he is still open to seeking help from the International Monetary Fund if there will be no European consensus.

The French president and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are trying all their best to assure the world that Europe is still stable and to lower down Greece’s debt.

Sarkozy and Papandreou held talks on Sunday before the Greek leader heads to Washington for a state visit.

A new resolution has been proposed recently to Iceland by the other two European countries that improved the repayment terms compared to the one that has just been voted on.

The votes showed that 93 percent of the Icelandic population rejected the proposal while only 2 percent supported it. The remaining ballots were either invalid or blank.

Iceland must now confer again with the British and Dutch officials to come up with a better deal as soon as possible. The longer it takes to resolve the issue, the harder it is for Iceland to recover.

According to Foreign Minister Ossur Skarphethinsson, Britain and the Netherlands have already indicated that they would be willing to go into talks again.

Iceland became a symbol of the global recession when its economy collapsed a year and a half ago. Now the country badly needs help from the international community.

The problem, however, is that its neighboring Nordic countries and the International Monetary Fund have halted financial aid to Iceland until it is able to resolve the Icesave issue.

The debts started when the leading banks in Iceland fell one after the other in 2008. One of the banks that suffered was Landsbanki, owner of Icesave online bank.

During its run, Icesave attracted about 400,000 depositors from Britain and the Netherlands. When the bank collapsed, the British and the Dutch governments were forced to pay Icesave depositors from their countries from their own pockets.

Now the two countries are asking for payment. A resolution was passed by the parliament in January but Iceland’s President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson refused to sign it. Instead, he asked the Icelanders to cast a vote on it.

Although Britain and the Netherlands had already softened terms for the repayment of debts, the Netherlands managed to drag the Icesave issue to Iceland’s acceptance to the European Union. As a result, more than half of Icelanders now are opposed to Iceland’s accession to the EU.

The voters’ turnout was unexpectedly high considering the freezing temperature and strong winds. Protesters also gathered to call for the government to help its own citizens first before fulfilling foreign obligations

The company’s statement, which was issued on Wednesday, is in response to protests by gun control advocates after a campaign by pro-gun groups testing business in states where gun-carrying is allowed started.

In most cases, gun owners only entered Starbucks and other establishments one by one. However, in some cases, a parade of gun-carrying individuals walked right into the stores.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence protested the actions by the pro-gun groups and urged Starbucks to “offer espresso shots, not gunshots” and declare its coffeehouses as “gun-free zones.” The group sent 28,000 to Starbucks’ headquarters in Seattle.

The Brady Campaign maintained in a press conference that people carrying guns frighten other people. The group believes that Starbucks will sooner or later change its policy on gun-control.

In response, Starbucks said that they would be putting their gun-owning customers in an unfair situation if they exercise a gun ban on their stores when it should have just been allowed. Starbucks emphasized that it is only complying with laws of the state where their stores are standing.

Starbucks is asking both the gun supports and gun-control advocates to avoid using Starbucks or any of their partners as a source of debate for this issue.