Latest news with #WPB
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Yahoo
West Palm pays $550,000 to two men hurt by the same cop after firing him over cocaine use
West Palm Beach has agreed to pay $550,000 to settle lawsuits by two men who say they were injured by the same police officer within a two-month span. The men say former Officer Nicholas Lordi attacked them in separate incidents in November 2019 and January 2020. The first interaction led to Lordi's arrest in 2022, though prosecutors later dropped the case. Lordi was not fired over either incident but was terminated in 2023 after testing positive for cocaine use, police personnel records show. In the first case, John Monroque, a 63-year-old retired city public works employee, was detained by Lordi as a suspected trespasser outside a grocery mart on the 5500 block of Broadway Avenue on Nov. 1, 2019. Surveillance video showed Lordi push Monroque into a police car, place him in a headlock and wrestle him to the ground. He then punched Monroque 11 times, breaking his nose and knocking him unconscious. He was cleared by his department's internal affairs division, but when surveillance video footage emerged online afterward, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement launched its own probe and arrested him on an aggravated battery charge in February 2022. Prosecutors dropped the charge seven months later. Monroque filed a federal lawsuit in August 2023. In December city commissioners approved a settlement with him for $500,000. In the second case, police were on the street in the 600 block of Fourth Street on Jan. 11, 2020, while paramedics assisted a man who had been attacked. As the medics attended to the patient, a man named Jamiah Smith, then 34, appeared and demanded to know what had happened to the patient, his stepfather, according to court records. Lordi wrote in a police report that Smith ignored commands to step away from the ambulance. In his lawsuit, Smith alleged Lordi tackled him, threw him to the ground and twisted his arm back, causing a wrist fracture. The suit alleged that when Smith was tackled by Lordi he presented 'no actual or apparent threat and was merely inquiring about the well-being of a loved one who was seriously injured.' Smith was arrested on a charge of resisting arrest without violence, but the charge was later dropped. In his suit, Smith contented that the city was liable for his injury given that Lordi had beaten Monroque two months earlier and had faced previous complaints of injuring residents. 'it was unreasonable for defendant, City of West Palm Beach, not to investigate or take corrective action which included, but not limited to, discharge or reassignment,' the suit stated. WEST PALM NEWS: Stephen Ross' luxe condo project wanted extra kitchens; so West Palm is changing its rules WEST PALM NEWS: Families of WPB police officers who died of COVID-19 win $90,000 settlements from city WEST PALM NEWS: 'A city that basically screwed them': West Palm Beach leaders stunned by old, racist city plans City commissioners agreed this month to settle Smith's suit for $50,000. Lordi was fired in July 2023 for 'violation of agency or training school policy' after testing positive for cocaine during an unannounced drug test in December 2022. The positive test led to an internal investigation and the police chief's decision that he be terminated. A grievance filed by Lordi was denied by the city's human resources director. A police department spokesperson confirmed Lordi no longer works for the department but declined to provide additional comment. Andrew Marra is a reporter at The Palm Beach Post. Reach him at amarra@ This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: West Palm settles with 2 men injured by former city police officer
Euronews
19-02-2025
- Business
- Euronews
HSBC announces €1.9bn share buyback as annual profit jumps
Europe's largest bank, HSBC, reported a pre-tax profit of $32.31 billion (€30.91 billion) for the full year 2024, up 6.5% from a year earlier, despite slightly missing analysts' estimates. Its strong performance in wealth and personal banking (WPB) and global banking and markets (GBM) offset a decline in its primary revenue contributor, net interest income (NII). The bank also announced a $2bn (€1.9bn) share repurchase plan, expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2025. The London-based lender's share price jumped 1% before retreating following the results on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Before its earnings report, HSBC's stock reached a two-decade high in London on Tuesday and rose 16% this year after a 23% gain in 2024. The fourth-quarter earnings are the first set of results after Georges Elhedery took the helm at the bank in September last year. He commented: 'Our strong 2024 performance provides firm financial foundations upon which to build for the future, as we prioritise delivering sustainable strategic growth and the best outcomes for our customers.' A decline in NII Notably, the bank reported net interest income (NII) of $32.73bn (€31.32bn) for 2024, down $3.1bn (€2.97bn) or 8.5% from 2023. The decline was due to 'the impact of business disposals and higher funding costs associated with the redeployment of our commercial surplus to the trading book,' stated the bank. The net interest margin declined by 10 basis points to 1.56%. Meanwhile, WPB and GBM both recorded double-digit annual growth of 37.7% and 21.9%, respectively, reflecting HSBC's strategic restructuring efforts. Its overall revenue was recorded at $65.9bn (€63.1bn) in 2024, slightly down from 2023, as growth in WPB and GBM supported the performance. Its operating expenses grew by 3% to $33 billion (€31.6 billion), mainly due to higher spending on technology and high inflation. Its common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio rose by 0.1% to 14.9%. During the fourth quarter of 2024, the company reported a pre-tax profit of $2.3bn (€2.2bn), nearly doubling from the same quarter last year. However, quarterly revenue declined by 11% due to the recycling of foreign currency losses and other reserves relating to the sale of its business in Argentina. Commenting on the results, the CEO of the stock trading platform Webull UK, Nick Saunders said: 'Underneath the expected cost-cutting and restructuring, HSBC's performance is ultimately a reflection of its Asia-first strategy. Asian business is not a line marked 'for future growth' but the best performing sector of one of the largest global banks. "The sale of the Canadian banking business is the most obvious example of this. The decline of the bank's net interest margin is potentially concerning, by the fact that the bank's strategy appears to be working puts it in contrast to its more Western competitors.' Outlook focuses on cost discipline Amid rising costs and reduced profits, HSBC announced a new geographic restructuring last year, merging two of its three major divisions—Commercial Banking and Global Banking and Markets—as part of new CEO Georges Elhedery's cost-cutting efforts. The bank said it would retain a group-wide focus on cost discipline and target annual growth of approximately 3% in 2025. 'Our cost target includes the impact of simplification-related savings associated with our announced reorganisation,' the bank stated. It aims to generate approximately $0.3bn of cost reductions in 2025 and an annualised reduction of $1.5bn (€1.44bn) in the cost base by the end of 2026. HSBC maintained its guidance from the September quarter, continuing to target a mid-teens return on average tangible equity (RoTE) in each of the three years from 2025 to 2027. The NII is expected to be around $42bn (€40.2bn) in 2025, or a 3.9% drop from 2024. This may be related to expectations of falling interest rates.
