Il Duce means leader in Italian.

It is a term that is often applied by those that choose to influence others in a dictatorial manner.

A national franchise association assists the setting up and marketing of business format franchises in that country.

They lobby and represent the franchisors’ view and oppose franchisees when their interests are in conflict with their masters’.

Most national associations are members of the World Franchise Council, WFC. The WFC is headquartered in the franchise powerhouse nation of Belgium and controlled by the U.S. International Franchise Association.

Each Nation: Every country has one lawyer who is recognized as Il Duce, the general, the top dog or alpha male (ie. the individual in the community to whom the others follow and defer.).

He wields influence primarily through the national franchise association where he is often the general counsel, Chairman of the Board or other such title.

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The children’s game, “Where’s Waldo?” was a big hit with my kids a few years back. Here is a link to Waldo Wiki for some fun.

Otherwise, it appears from New Zealand’s One NEWS that the Blue Chip founder is somewhere in Australia (Blue Chip hope sparked by frozen funds).

Hundreds of Blue Chip investors across New Zealand have been given fresh hope that they might be able to recover millions of dollars worth of deposits for apartments they never wanted to buy.

The High Court has frozen funds in solicitors trust accounts until a full hearing takes place later this year…

We’ll wait and see if any cash actually surfaces from freezing the lawyer’s escrow accounts for the 2,000 seniors (mostly) who have lost over $84-million.

It does seem that Mr. Mark Bryers is keeping a pretty low profile these days. It appears that lawyers are having a hard time tracking him down in Australia to serve him with bankruptcy papers. Read more »

Photograph by labatata on Flickr

• Gothamist went on the Wall Street roller coaster during a crazy week for financial institutions (bankruptcy, sale, bailout) and the county.
• Phillyist analyzed the problem of hecklers at live performances.
• Londonist eagerly anticipated the annual Open House Weekend, where for one weekend only, the public get to poke around some of the capital’s more interesting buildings.
• LAist headed to the LA County Fair to earn a heart attack by checking out all the deep-fried foods such as deep-fried avocado and deep-fried Oreos. And then they ate a huge brick of cheese fries.
• Shanghaiist was happy to learn that Shanghai is one of the world’s five most improved places for gay tolerance.
• Torontoist took a look at a photographer whose exhibit of photographs of street art was shut down last week, after local graffiti artists took issue with their work being photographed and re-sold for thousands of dollars without permission, credit, or compensation.
• Bostonist dared to criticize horny hometown heroes NKOTB.
• Chicagoist found out they live in America’s Most Stressful City and then were given another reason why as they dealt with massive flooding.
• SFist captured images of PARK(ing) Day, an annual event where people take over metered parking spaces for a day, turning them into fun-sized public parks.

The President of China Investment Corp, Gao Xiqing, has made his way to the U.S. with Wei Christianson, CEO and Managing Director of Morgan Stanley China, sparking rumours that the Chinese sovereign wealth fund may buy up to 49% of the beleaguered investment bank. Gao has been scheduled to meet Morgan Stanley executives in San Francisco after the New York-based company plunged 42% after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch sold itself to Bank of America.

AFP reports that the Chinese are pragmatic about their prospects:

When asked by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency, an unnamed CIC official did not rule out the prospect of buying a stake in Morgan Stanley but pointed to political hurdles in the United States over such a deal.

Even if the CIC intended to buy a stake, it could be very hard now as the purchase of a stake, even one smaller than 10 per cent, could be subject to the US government foreign investment review,’ the official said.

Meanwhile, conflicting reports are swirling around on CITIC’s interest in Morgan Stanley. Reuters reports that after CITIC’s near miss on Bear Stearns earlier this year, Beijing began Beijing began tightening approvals of investments by Chinese financial institutions overseas and any foreign investment worth “a considerable amount of money” will now require approval from the government before a legally binding agreement can be confirmed.

In a related development, the Government of Singapore Investment Corp, another of the world’s largest sovereign funds, has taken a more high-handed approach by suggesting it will explore an investment in Morgan Stanley if it is approached.

“I can’t explain myself, I’m afraid, Sir, because I’m not myself you see.”
~ Alice, from Alice in Wonderland

According to the South China Morning Post (subscription required), the Chinese government has taken to censoring the financial media in effort to stem the floodgates of discontent brewing over dismal market sentiment.

With the craziness of the financial meltdown in the United States, the Shanghai Stock Exchange has followed the rest of the world down the rabbit hole. Within 10 minutes of the opening of the SSE on Tuesday morning, right after the declared bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the SSE Composite fell by almost 5% but slowly steeled itself back around the 2000 mark.

The idea of the SSE breaking the 2000 barrier might have seemed impossible this time last year but the stock market has been free-falling, losing more than half its value since January. Frustrations have been mounting despite varied efforts by the regulators to stem the volatility (loan controls, bank reserve rates, administrative fiats, etc). Calls for government intervention have grown louder as fund managers, academics and regulators debate the efficacy and timeliness of a Chinese-styled bailout. The US Federal Reserve’s recent rescue package for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and now insurance AIG have only raised the volume of why-them-not-us, whens and hows among Chinese investors.

SCMP reports that perennial fears of social disunity have led the Communist Party’s Publicity Department (rather than the securities regulator) to verbally inform major financial websites to sift out negative and sensitive commentaries, reports and headlines about the hard-hit markets. There is no paper trail backing up such claims, but editors of online financial media have confirmed them.

Sound familiar? Regulators had warned fund managers not to say anything publicly that could harm the stability of the market weeks before the Summer Olympics. The gag worked only because international financial markets were quiet since half the world was actually in Beijing at the Olympics.

While we do not underestimate the power of censor, it may not work as well this time round. For one, the market doom and gloom is palpable as Asian economies, many of which have tight trade links with China, are tumbling faster than Jack and Jill. China’s capital markets may not be completely open, but some of the problems it has suffered thus far are of its own doing as well. Couple that with twitchy and inexperienced dealers currently panic-selling and a significant portion of Chinese investors who lack proper financial education, a shiny gold-plated band aid is surely not enough to address the roots of the problem.

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