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January 7th, 2013

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Politicians threaten Danske Bank over fees
The PM’s Socialdemokraterne party has threatened Danske Bank with new legislation, should the bank continue its practice of trying to shed basic depositors. Danske Bank, the nation’s largest bank, charges a fee to set up basic accounts, including a so-called ‘Nemkonto’, which banks have an obligation to offer everyone, and the move has resulted in allegations that the bank is trying to rid itself of small-time customers. Benny Engelbrecht, a party spokesperson, warned political action would be taken if the banking industry was unable to solve the issue themselves. The news comes in the wake of the news recently that over 10,000 customers have already left Danske Bank since April. – Berlingske

Footballers unknowingly sold to investors
Financial duress has forced a number of football clubs to sell the financial rights to their own players to investors, sometimes without the players’ consent or knowledge. One such player, Mads Albæk only found out from a news article that his club, FC Midtjylland (FCM), had sold its rights to him to third party investors without even consulting him. In FCM alone, investors own the rights of over 10 of the club’s most promising players, worth nearly 30 million kroner. Allan Hansen, the head of DBU, the Danish football association, argued that the practice of selling footballers behind their backs was akin to slavery. The players’ union, Spillerforeningen, has also criticised the practice, which is illegal in countries like England and France. – Politiken

Teachers and nurses get easy access to Denmark
Nurses and teachers are among the 20 new positions that have been added to the ‘positive list’ of fields suffering a lack of qualified applicants. Foreigners with qualifications in these fields have an easier time gaining residency. But unions are perplexed by that the move, which comes at a time when every tenth teacher position has been slashed and that Danish nurses are looking to Norway for work in a bid to avoid unemployment. MP Leif Lahn Jensen, a spokesperson for Socialdemokraterne, agreed with the criticism and promised to touch on the ‘positive-list’ in the upcoming reform of immigration employment procedure. – Jyllands-Posten

Number of arson cases dwindling
The number of arson cases has fallen by more than half in the last four years, according to new figures from Beredskabsstyrelsen, the national emergency management agency. As of December 1, there had been 1,751 cases of arson in 2012, compared with over 4,000 in 2008. The falling number of arson cases has also contributed to the low number of fires in general being reported to Beredskabsstyrelsen, down to 12,953 this year from over 20,000 in 2008. Insurance companies agreed with Beredskabsstyrelsen that one of the reasons for the decrease is due to a fall in criminality in disadvantaged areas. – MetroXpress

Weather
Cloudy with a little rain. Highs around 4 C. Temperatures falling to around 3 C overnight. – DMI