Bacardi is a family-controlled spirits company, best known as a producer of rums, including Bacardi Superior and Bacardi 151. countries.

[3] [2]

The company sells in excess of 200 million bottles per year in nearly 100

The company's sales in 2007 were US$5.5 billion, up from $4.9 billion in 2006.

Bacardi is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda and has a 16-member board of directors led by the original founder's great-great grandson, Facundo L. Bacard. The President Bernard F. Ramrez and CoPresident Charles M. Hernndez, also play a large part in production and sales.
Contents
[hide]

1 Early history 2 Cuban Revolution 3 Bacardi and Cuba today 4 Brands 5 Awards 6 Hemingway connection 7 Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 8 United States headquarters 9 Mexico City buildings 10 References 11 Bibliography 12 External links

[edit]Early

history

Facundo Bacard Mass, a Catalan wine merchant, was born in Sitges, Catalonia, (Spain) in 1814, and emigrated to Cuba in 1830. During this period, rum was cheaply made and not considered a refined drink, one rarely sold in upscale taverns. Don Facundo began attempting to "tame" rum. After experimenting with several techniques he hit upon filtering the rum through charcoal, which removed impurities. In addition to this, Facundo aged the rum in oak barrels, which had the effect of "mellowing" the drink. Moving from the experimental stage to a more commercial endeavour, he and his brother Jos set up shop in a Santiago de Cuba distillery they bought in 1862; that distillery housed a still made of copper and cast iron, and was in a building in whose rafters lived fruit bats.
[4]

The 1880s and 90s were turbulent times for Cuba and the company. Emilio Bacard, Don Facundo's eldest son, was repeatedly imprisoned in a Spanish prison on (legitimate) suspicion of running a rebel financing and support network during the Cuban War of Independence.
[5]

Emilio's brothers, Facundo and Jos, and his brother-in-law Henri (Don Enrique) Schueg, remained in Cuba with the difficult task of sustaining the company during a period of war. The women in the family were refugees in Kingston, Jamaica. After the war and the US occupation of Cuba, "The Original Cuba Libre" and the Daiquiri were both born with Bacardi rum. Emilio Bacard mayor of Santiago de Cuba.
[6]

In 1899 US general Leonard Wood appointed

The Bacardi Building in Havana, Cuba.

In 1912 Gerard Ransom travelled to Egypt where he purchased a mummy for the future Emilio Bacard Moreau Municipal Museum in Santiago de Cuba, a mummy still on display.
[7]

In Santiago, his brother

Facundo M. Bacard continued to manage the company along with Schueg, who began the company's international expansion by opening new bottling plants in Barcelona (1910) and New York City (1915).
[8]

The New York plant was soon shut down due toProhibition, yet during this time Cuba became a

hotspot for US tourists. In the 1920s, Emilio opened a new distillery in Santiago. During this decade, the art deco Bacardi building was built in Havana and the third generation of the Bacard family was entering the business. Facundo Bacard invited US-Americans (still subject to Prohibition) to "Come to Cuba and bathe in Bacardi rum." A new product was introduced: Hatuey beer.
[7]

The "Cathedral of Rum" at the Bacardi distillery in Catao, Puerto Rico, near San Juan.

Bacardi's transition into an international brand was due mostly to Schueg's "business genius"; Schueg "branded Cuba as the home of rum, and Bacardi as the king of rums" and expanded overseas, first to Mexico (1931), then to Puerto Rico (1936), and then again to the United States (1944).
[9]

Bacardi moved after-Prohibition production first to Puerto Rico (which enabled rum to be sold tariff-free in the U.S. after Prohibition), and then to Mexico.
[10]

Those changes were accompanied by a new brand

[9]

name: Ron Bacardi ("Ron" is the Spanish word for rum). Several trademark disputes went to court during this time regarding uses of the Bacardi name on rum produced outside of Cuba.

During the World War II years the company was led by Schueg's son-in-law Jos 'Pepin' Bosch. Pepin founded Bacardi Imports in New York City, and was named Cuba's Minister of the Treasury in 1949. [edit]Cuban

Revolution

Portuondo and other Bacard family members initially supported the Cuban revolutionaries, including Fidel Castro and the broader M-26-7 movement: Bosch personally donated tens of thousands of dollars to the movement, and acted as an intermediary between the revolutionaries and the CIA to assuage the latter's concerns.
[10]

Family members, employees, and facilities were put to use by the

[10]

movement and the company supported the revolution publicly with advertisements and parties. their support turned to opposition as the pro-Soviet Che Guevara wing to dominate and as Castro turned against American interests.
[citation needed] [citation needed]

But

of the movement began

The Bacard family (and hence the company) maintained a fierce opposition to Fidel Castro's revolution in Cuba in the 1960s. The Bacard family and company left Cuba after it became clear that Castro was serious about his pledges for change; in particular, in nationalising and banning all private property on the island as well as all bank accounts. However, the company had started foreign branches a few years prior to the revolution; the company moved the all important Bacardi international trademarks out of the country to the Bahamas prior to the revolution as well as constructing a plant in Puerto Rico after the prohibition

era to save in import taxes for rum being imported to the US. This helped the company survive after the communist government nationalised all Bacardi assets in the country.
[11]

Bacard family members had close ties to the US political elite as well as organisations of state such as the CIA. The family funded various Cuban exileorganisations such as CANF. Embittered Bacardi helmsman Jos Pepin Bosch bought a surplus B-26 bomber with the hopes of bombing Cuban oil refineries (the bold plan was foiled when a picture of the bomber appeared on the front page of The New York Times). He was also allegedly involved in the CIA plot to assassinate Fidel Castro; documents uncovered during congressional investigations into John F Kennedy's death bring to light a message outlining how he had plans to assassinate Castro, his brother Ral Castro, and Che Guevara. The RECE (Cuban Representation in Exile) also receives funding from Bacardi family members. More recently, Bacardi lawyers were influential in the drafting of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act which sought to extend the scope of the United States embargo against Cuba.
[12]

In 1999 Otto Reich, a lobbyist

in Washington on behalf of Bacardi Rum, drafted section 211 of the 1999 Omnibus appropriations act, a bill that became known as the Bacardi Act. Section 211 denied trademark protection to Cuban businesses products expropriated after the Cuban revolution, a provision keenly sought by the Bacardi family. The act was aimed primarily at Havana Club brand in the US, which had been registered by the Cuban government.
[13]

Section 211 has been challenged unsuccessfully by the Cuban government and the

European Union in US courts; however, the act has been ruled illegal by the WTO (August 2001). The US Congress has yet to re-examine the matter. [edit]Bacardi

and Cuba today

Bacardi drinks are not found in Cuba today. The main brand of rum in Cuba is called Havana Club, a formerly private company nationalised by the government. Drinks now made in the former Bacardi distillery are sold in Cuba under the name Caney. Bacardi, despite having no business ties (in terms of production) to Cuba today, has decided to reemphasise its Cuban heritage in recent years. This is mainly due to commercial reasons. Facing increased competition in the rum market from the now international brand Havana Club, the company concluded that it was important for sales to associate its rum with Cuba. TV advertisements with slogans of 'Welcome to the Latin Quarter' are but one example of this. In 1998, under the distinctive bat logo, the phrase "company founded in Santiago de Cuba in 1862" was added. Bacardi has faced criticism and legal problems for supposedly attempting to falsely convince consumers it was purchasing rum made in Cuba rather than just marking its heritage. Bacardi adverts in Spain, since 1966, had described a popular combination of rum and coke as "rum and coke". However, after 1998, it

began to describe the drink as Cuba Libre literally translated as "free Cuba" which is the original name of the drink and how it's mostly called in Latin America. In this instance, Bacardi faced a legal ruling from the Spanish Association of Advertising Users which forced the company to stop the advert. They concluded that it could "mislead the viewer as to the true nature of the product" as the advert contained so many pieces of Caribbean imagery, one might conclude it came from Cuba.
[14]

Bacardi continues to fight a war in the courts attempting to legalise their own Havana Club trademark outside of the United States. Havana Club is owned by the Cuban government and has a business joint venture with the French company Pernod Ricard.
[15]

The Bacardi legacy lives on in Santiago and Havana through its grand buildings and its historic significance. The Bacardi Building (Edificio Bacardi) in Old Havana is regarded as one of the finest art deco buildings in Latin America. [edit]Brands Bacardi has made several acquisitions to diversify away from the eponymous Bacardi rum brand. In 1993 Bacardi merged with Martini & Rossi, the famous Italian producer of Martini vermouth and sparkling wines, creating the Bacardi-Martini group. In 1998 the company acquired Dewar's scotch and Bombay Sapphire gin from Diageo for $2 billion. Bacardi acquired the Cazadores tequila brand in 2001 and in 2004 purchased Grey Goose, a French made vodka, from Sidney Frank for $2 billion. In 2006 Bacardi purchased New Zealand vodka brand 42 Below. Other associated brands include theUS version of Havana Club, Drambuie Scotch whisky liqueur, Disaronno Amaretto, Eristoff vodka, B&B and Bndictine liqueurs, and the Canadian alcopop Rev. Despite focusing on the middle and lower end of the price spectrum, some Bacardi rum offerings have achieved a modicum of success at international spirit ratings competitions. For example, their eight-year aejo rum earned gold medals at the 2008 and 2009 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Bacardi is also the only brand to feature the Mexican free-tailed bat as its icon or logo. [edit]Awards Despite the fact that many of Bacardi's offerings are aimed at the lower and middle-part of the price spectrum, Bacardi rums have been entered in a number of international spirit ratings competitions. Several Bacardi spirits have performed notably well. The Bacardi 8-year Ron Reserva, for example, received two gold medals and a silver from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition between 2008 and 2010. In addition, it also received a Grand Gold Medal at Monde Selection's World Quality Selections in 2011. Proof66's aggregate score, which accounts for San Francisco competition outcomes as well as scores from other professional rating organizations, places the Ron Reserva in the First Tier of all rated spirits.
[17] [16] [citation needed]

[edit]Hemingway

connection
[18]

Ernest Hemingway ordered his daiquiris with Bacardi White Label rum

and mentions Hatuey beer in

three of his works: For Whom the Bell Tolls, To Have and Have Not and The Old Man and the Sea. [edit]Chalk's

Ocean Airways Flight 101

On 19 December 2005 Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Bimini, Bahamas, with an unscheduled stop at Watson Island, Miami, Florida, crashed off Miami Beach, Florida. Sergio Danguillecourt, a member of the board of directors of Bacardi Ltd and a great-great-grandson of the rum company's founder Don Facund Bacard i Mass, and his wife Jacqueline Kriz Danguillecourt were on board. There were no survivors. [edit]United

States headquarters

The Bacardi building in Midtown Miami onBiscayne Boulevard served as the USA headquarters of Bacardi.

In 2006, Bacardi USA leased a 15-story headquarters complex in Coral Gables. Bacardi had employees in seven buildings across Miami-Dade County at the time.
[19]

Bacardi vacated its former headquarter buildings on Biscayne Boulevard in Midtown Miami. Miami citizens began a campaign to label the buildings as "historic". University of Miami professor of architecture Allan Schulman said "Miami's brand is it's [sic] identity as a tropical city. The Bacardi buildings are exactly the sort that resonate with our consciousness of what Miami is about".
[21] [20]

In 2007 Chad Oppenheim, the

head of Oppenheim Architecture + Design, described the Bacardi buildings as "elegant, with a Modernist [look combined with] a local flavour."

The current headquarters is at 2701 LeJeune Road in Coral Gables. 230,000 square feet (21,000 m ) of leased office space. [edit]Mexico
2 [23]

[22]

The 300 employees occupy

City buildings

Bacardi had architects Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe and Felix Candela design office buildings and a bottling plant for them in Mexico City during the 1950s. The building complex was added to the tentative list of UNESCO's World Heritage Site list on 20 November 2001. [edit]References
[24]

1. 2.

^ Fact Sheet ^ Andrew Ross Sorkin (21 June 2004). "Bacardi to Buy Grey Goose,Stirring More Talk of I.P.O.". New York Times.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

^ Bacardi & Company Limited Company Profile from Yahoo! ^ Our heritage: the early years from the company's corporate website ^ Gjelten, Tom (2008). Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba. Viking. ^ "Daiquiri". ^
a b

Charles A. Coulombe. Rum. Citadel Press.

^ Bacardi Limited: Our Heritage Havana and Beyond. Retrieved 10 May 2011. ^
a b

Bacardi Limited: Our Heritage Prohibition and Innovation. Retrieved 10 May 2011. Rum and Revolution an August 2008 review of Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba (ISBN 978-0-

10. ^

a b c

670-01978-6) from The Washington Post 11. ^ Hernando Calvo Ospina (2002). Bacardi: The Hidden War. Pluto Press. 12. ^ The Helms-Burton Act from thinkquest.org/ 13. ^ Ann Louise Bardach: Cuba Confidential. Penguin books 2002. p.131 14. ^ Ospina p. 79 15. ^ Caribbean Business: Bacardi wins round in Havana Club fight Retrieved 30 May 2011. 16. ^ "Proof66.com Website". Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2009. 17. ^ Proof66 Summary Page for Bacardi Ron Reserva 8-Year 18. ^ A. E. Hotchner (1966). Papa Hemingway. Random House. ISBN 978-0-394-43990-7. 19. ^ "Bacardi U.S.A. to take over BK's planned Coral Gables headquarters." South Florida Business Journal. Tuesday 8 May 2007. Retrieved on 2 October 2009. 20. ^ "Miami weighs preserving iconic Bacardi buildings." Associated Press at New York Daily News. Tuesday 7 April 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2009. 21. ^ Rousseau, Bryant. "In Conversation: Chad Oppenheim." Businessweek. 27 June 2007. 2. Retrieved on 3 October 2009. 22. ^ "Bacardi USA Announces New Headquarters in South Florida." Retrieved 18 October 2010. 23. ^ "Bacardi U.S.A. Marks Opening of State-of-the Art South Florida Headquarters." Retrieved 18 October 2010.

24. ^ "Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe and Felix Candela's Industrial Buildings UNESCO World Heritage Centre". Retrieved 18 April 2010.

[edit]Bibliography

Gjelten, Tom. Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause (Viking: 2008).

[edit]External

links

Official website Requires Adobe Flash Player Bacardi Limited, company website Bacardi on Twitter Map of Distillery in Puerto Rico from Google Maps List of brands made/owned by Bacardi

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DEC 22, 2011

Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2010

The text of ICSI Announcement (from www.icsi.edu) on the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2010 is reproduced below: Download ..... The Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2010 We are happy to inform that both the Houses of Parliament, i.e., Rajya Sabha (on December 12, 2011) and Lok Sabha (on December 19, 2011) have passed the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2010 which is awaiting assent of the Honble President of India.

The Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2010 proposes to amend the Company Secretaries Act, 1980 to apply certain provisions of the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 to the Company Secretaries Act, 1980 in order to allow the members of the professional Institute governed by the Company Secretaries Act, 1980 to form the limited liability partnership and insert new definitions of `firm, `partner, `partnership and `sole proprietorship for the said purpose. It will enable the members of the CS Institute to form LLPs and take benefits of provisions of the LLP Act. This will also enlarge the spectrum of the services provided by members of the CS Institute and will also ensure the competitiveness of the members of the Institute.

The Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2010 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 28th April, 2010 and referred to the Standing Committee on Finance by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha on 4th May, 2010 for examination and report thereon. The Committee vide its report dated 26th August, 2010 expressed agreement with the Amendment proposal of the Bill and recommended the same for consideration.

The Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2010 was discussed and passed in Rajya Sabha on 12th December, 2011 and introduced and passed by Lok Sabha on 19th December, 2011 along with the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Bill, 2010 and Cost and Works Accountants (Amendment) Bill, 2010.

The amendments proposed in the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2010 are as under:-

1. Amendment to section 2 (2) of the Principal Act (the Company Secretaries Act, 1980) to insert in sub-section (1) after clause (f), clauses (fa) (gb) (gc) and (jj) to define the terms firm, partner, partnership and sole proprietorship as per details given below:-

`(fa) `firm shall have the meaning assigned to it in section 4 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932, and includes,

(i) The limited liability partnership as defined in clause (n) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008; or

(ii) The sole proprietorship, registered with the Institute;

`(gb) `partner shall have the meaning assigned to it in section 4 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 or in clause (q) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008, as the case may be;

`(gc) `partnership means

(A) a partnership as defined in section 4 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932; or (B) a limited liability partnership which has no company as its partner;

`(jj) `sole proprietorship means an individual who engages himself in the practice of the profession of the Company Secretaries or offers to perform services referred to in clauses (b) to (f) of sub-section (2);

2. Amendment to Section 26 to add explanation to section 26 of the Act to clarify that the company includes any limited liability partnership having company as its partner as under:-

Explanation For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that the `company shall include any limited liability partnership which has company as its partner for the purposes of this section.

INTRODUCTION TO THE CHANGES IN THE COMPANIES ACT

On the 1st of May 2011, the new Companies Amendment Act came into effect. This major piece of legislation affects many professions including CEOs, Directors, Stakeholders, Shareholders, Managers, Bankers, Lawyers, Closed Corporation members and many more. It is important to be aware of the changes that have been implemented in this new legislation. We will cover some of the main changes in this article. To give you a brief background, on 9 November 2010, the Companies Amendment Bill (B40 2010 Download here) was tabled in Parliament which proposed the amendment of the Companies Act, No 71 of 2008 in order to correct various legal issues as well as errors and grammar. This Bill was later approved by the Trade & Industry Portfolio committee on 10 March 2011. On the 19th of April 2011, President Jacob Zuma signed off the Companies Amendment Act of 2010 which has now brought South Africa up to speed or even beyond international trends as we were previously working from legislation passed in 1973.

COMPANIES ACT CHANGES IN BRIEF

The new Companies Act is a major piece of legislation and reform, which has a number of features to it [and] will certainly improve the environment for business operation in South Africa, Trade & Industry Minister, Rob Davies. Some of the changes include:

Less administration or red tape when registering a business. Reduced financial reporting requirements for small businesses. Enhanced protection for minority shareholders ( particularly BEE shareholders) Introduction of a business rescue scheme

o o

Provisions have been made for the early turnaround of businesses in financial trouble. This will prevent companies going into major judicial management and also help to save jobs.

Creditors will be held at bay while stakeholders can work to rescue the company.

Combats business identity hijacking by improving enforcements power to detect this An end to the registration of close corporations (ccs)

NO MORE CLOSED CORPORATIONS (CCS)?

A significant change for small business owners was the ceasing of Close Corporations. From the 1st of May 2011, the new Act does not allow registration of Close Corporations. If you have already applied for a CC prior to 1 May 2011, then you will still receive your registration certificate. All previously registered CCs can opt to covert to the new corporate regime of the Companies Act 2008 but will otherwise remain operational.

CONCLUSION
In many ways the new legislation makes like easier for everyone and is a positive change for South Africa. If you would like to find out more about details of specific changes and how it affects your business, feel free to contact Dirmeik Consulting to setup a consultation. If you were planning to register a CC, we can also advise on the most suitable option for you and your business.Contact Brett on 021 421 4444.

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Cape Town Accountant Brett Dirmeik is the founder and 100% shareholder of Cape Town Accounting Firm Dirmeik Consulting. His responsibilities include the day-to-day operation and long term strategic direction of the organisation, overseeing allbookkeeping, accounting, auditing and taxation activities, as well as providing advisory servicesand maintaining close client relationships.

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