The latest scandal coming your way from Britain involves mis-selling and unfair trading of annuities, according to Neue Zuericher Zeitung. (For some reason the Swiss like to highlight bad banking behavior in other financial centers). It happens there too.

Hundred of thousands of UK retirees, often with low saving, have been lured into high-risk insurance products with low payouts. This from a warning by the Financial Services Consumer Panel (FSCP), an independent advisor to the UK Financial Conduct Authority, which follows an investigation into the annuity market calling for stricter rules and against excessive fees.

Pensioners often buy annuities using their retirement accounts under rules dating to 1975 which allow those over 65 to make the switch, About half eligible retirees now do so. Last year 400 000 annuities were sold, the most significant form of UK private investment.

According to the FSCP, retirees making this one-time, irreversible switch are often badly informed and advised. "They land amidst sharks", the Swiss paper says winding up with meager pensions costing high fees. Pension Minister Steve Webb has already spoken out against 'excessive' earnings in this business.

Trying to switch annuities in this unsupervised market confronts the pensioner with a total lack of transparency regarding pay-out levels and very high fees to intermediaries, a commission of as much as 6%. They are confronted with unappealing alternatives aimed at maximizing the fees they can collect. Complaints are rising and regulations are coming to improve the annuities market. At the start 2013, UK insurance advisors had to meet minimum standards and guarantees. The result was that they used aggressive unregulated middlemen to avoid the rules.

It reminds me that US investors are often mis-sold variable annuities too. In a period of low interest rates and longer life expectancy on both sides of the pond (as well as in the Alps) insurance companies have an incentive to chase after annuities business. The scandal is not confined to the City of London.

More news today from China, Japan, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Israel, Finland, The Netherlands, Thailand, Ireland, Singapore, Panama, and a stock sale follow:

*First up is news note from Japan via Singapore. Just because investors are going into Japanese real estate doesn't mean they believe in Abenomics stimulating growth. It's just that Japan lacks modern buildings. Vacancy rates at Tokyo logistics properties were at 2.7% in Q2, the lowest since at least 2004, according to real estate services firm CBRE.

“With 97.5% of the market still being older, obsolete buildings” there will continue to be opportunities to invest, said Jeffrey Schwartz, co-founder and chairman of Singapore-listed Global Logistic Properties Ltd, GBTZF. He added: “With the growth of e-commerce, same-day delivery, and the need to get closer to your customers, all trends point to the need for more efficient, better logistics.”

*Second Japan note from reporter Chris Loew, about DeNA" Mixi user numbers reached 12.5 mn in Sept. vs 7.6 mn the year before. The stock rose from c1000 yen in mid-Nov. to over 9000.

One game hit can make the fortune of a game-maker. Revived interest in developers resulted from a Goldman Sachs upgrade of Mixi and Gree (JP: 3632) from "sell" to "neutral." Mixi rose further, but is now declining from profit taking. Gree still is rising.

Gree and our pick DeNA are viewed as very similar, so DeNA benefits too. It's up c30% this month despite lower sales and revenues in their last quarterly. Having long kvetched that DeNA suffers from Gree's problems, now I don't mind!

Vivian will sell our illiquid DNACF ADR and keep the Tokyo share JP:2432.

*Brazilian shenanigans at Cosan Ltd (CZZ) hurt the share. The sugar cane-ethanol producer plans to move debt from its offshore financie sub to its Brazil-listed operating company and remove some limits on early calls. The bond-holders get to vote on this Dec. 20; the shareholders don't.

CZZ also suffers from a Motley Fool item today writing that Brazil is taking money meant for biofuel advances to build stadiums for next year's football world cup. Moreover, the contracts involve government corruption, MF writes, citing Cosan by name noting that the money being tapped would have helped its advanced and energy efficient Raizen jv in cellulosic ethanol enzyme fuel production with Royal Dutch Shell, now delayed para futbol!

*Fear that China will aim policy at reform rather than growth is why Chinese stocks are falling, notably coal producers which also make Chinese air un-breathable. This has affected Guangshen Railway (GSH).  GSH, off 3.1%, moves goods and people in the Pearl River basin around export center Hong Kong, the main export trade center. Hong Kong means fragrant harbor and in fact is less impacted by pollution from burning coal than rival ports like Shanghai.

*A swingeing attack on Dr. Phillip Frost and his Opko Health group published by seekingalpha.com (run from Israel) may herald his departure from chairmanship of Teva. By Lakewood Capital, which is shorting OPK, it argues that Dr Frost's company has an empty drug pipeline and overpaid for Prolor Biotech (PBTH, sold, prior to acquisition by OPK). Dr Frost's steady buys of OPK misleads investors who don't realize that it is stuffed with "placebos" rather than viable drug finds. Lakewood says Ladenberg Thalmann recommendations for OPK result from Dr Frost being the brokerage's chairman. Those from Jefferies come because it is M&A advisor and lead underwriter to Opko.

Lakewood dredges up shady penny-stock operations Dr Frost is accused of being involved with in the past. It argues that the Opko market cap of $5 bn is 75% overvalued. Post-Prolor, it trades in Tel Aviv as well as the NYSE. (see below.)

After the resignation by Moshe Many, Teva named Amir Elstein, former chairman of Israel Corp (parent of Israel Chemicals) as vice-Chairman. Like Prof Many, Elstein is a member of one of the founding Teva Israeli mishpachot (families.) Some Israeli investors led by Benny Landa have been trying to engineer a replacement of Dr Frost and Elstein would be a candidate. There will be no vote until next year's annual general meeting.

*Delek Group continues to sag over worry that Israel will veto Australia's Woodside Petroleum's participation in Leviathan, the huge offshore gasfield. There is no timetable on Jerusalem's natural gas quandary, over whether to use gas to make nice with its Moslem neighbors using pipelines or to export liquefied gas to the Far East.

*Yesterday's US budget deal increased military aid to Israel for defense by c$350 mn, although the actual number is hard to extract from the deal. Reuters says Israeli missile defense systems will get $173 mn more if Congress votes to approve the compromise. Ituran Location and Control (ITRN), maker of vehicle-tracking software, wound up providing the tracking system for attacking missiles used by Israel's Iron Dome defenses which were cobbled together from off-the-shelf software by clever Israeli engineers like my cousin Esti's terrible Technion twins. She's just become a grandmother for the first time.

*News of three deals failed to boost Canadian Solar (CSIQ). It will supply solar modules to EOSOL of Durango, Mexico to generate an eventual 200 megaWatts/d of electricity from photovolaic modules on the ground. CSIQ also signed a $40 mn loan agreement with North Star Capital to finance Japanese ground-mounted solar projects eventually to produce 145 mW/d, starting with 40 to 50 mW to be built early next year. CSIQ will also provide solar electricity as a standard feature (not an option you have to pay for) at JMC Homes' 'Executive Series at Lakeside', in Lincoln California.

*Compugen (CGEN) reorted that it has found 5 more candidate targets for antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), following two earlier ones, usable as cancer therapy. Israel's CGEN researches using a library of proteins "in silico", by software. ADC therapy targets surface proteins on cancer cells to deliver toxic chemicals to them without hitting healthy cells.

*Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is sinking into the loch. It has just lost its new finance director after less than 3 mos with RBS whose preferreds we own. Nathan Bastock is returning to Banco Santander (SAN) to become deputy CEO to First Daughter Ana Patricia Botin running its UK sub. We own RBS preferreds only, not common.

*Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI) of Holland landed a pair of contracts each worth $2.5 bn shares with Zachry Industrial, to build two liquefaction plants in Freeport (Texas, USA). The plants will turn out nearly 9 mn metric tonnes of LNG annually for export presumably from shale gas.

*Cameco (CCJ) was rated hold by FBR Capital which initiated coverage, with a target price of $24. We sold CCJ which mines uranium too soon.

*Société Générale downed Nokia (NOK) to hold from buy.

*Barclays rates Covidien (COV), a global healthcare products company and manufacturer of medical devices and supplies, with a target price raised to $77 from $72, over 13% over the current level. COV confronts US class action suits over its purchase of Israel's Given Imaging, the 'camera-in-a-pill maker. The deal, valued at $860 million, was closed without seeking higher offers on Sunday.

*UBS upped its stake in Paddy Power plc (PDYPF) to 8.35% today.

Fund notes: The Thai Fund (TTF) declared a special long-term capital gain divvie of $7.869386 for shareholders of record Dec. 20. It will be paid next Jan. 31 and go ex-div Feb. 3, but is taxable in 2013. TTF will also pay its regular dividend of 0.545525/sh.

*New Ireland Fund (IRL) declared a 7 cents/sh annual distribution made up of income. It will go to shareholders of record Dec. 20 paid Dec. 30. Taxable this year.

*Patti the biotech maven points out that my Monday note about GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) seeking FDA OK for its futicason-fluoride-vilatanterol squirt (Relvar elsewhere; Breo Ellipta in the US) developed with Theravance for asthma as well as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) failed to mention that it is already approved in Europe for both problems. And asthma is a huge market including lots of young people signing up for a lifetime of FFV whereas COPD is mainly a disease of the old, of which there are fewer. GSK will boost asthma-COPD respiratory squirt output in its native UK with a new GBP 200 mn investment helped by UK tax benefits. The total being spent in 2014 will be GBP 700 mn.

*Bladex (BLX) upped its quarter divvie by 17% to 35 cents, payable to shareholders of record Jan. 6 on Jan 14. BLX is a Panamanian trade finance bank.

*Oops. Watch those decimals. The Teva forecasts yesterday were that sales would hit $19.3-20.3 bn next year if Teva meets generic competition for its multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone soon. If it is delayed revenues will hit $19.8-20.8 bn.