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The law is clear: each person can have only one tax-free booklet, A book or booklet blue. But who knows exactly where his grandparents do not stock a book to his name between the sheets of the linen closet? The Observatory of regulated savings admits that part of the 60 million books is linked to "a significant number of cases" of multidétention the booklet by the same investor. This situation existed even before the normalization of the Livret A, but increased with distribution efforts led by banks such as Credit Agricole and Societe Generale. "I have two savings books, but my savings bank refuses to close one that depends on it," says an investor.

The government, aware of the significant risk of slippage, had threatened the special penalty ": a fine on 2% of the outstanding or additional booklets had been provided by the Act of August 4, 2008. At this stage, however, no penalty has been applied, we recognize the Bank of France. To punish, would it still have the ability to distinguish between the intentional fraud and unintentional multidétenteurs No checking account payday advance."The computerization of some later historical networks did not facilitate the long-term management of these booklets, which have long shelf life support equipment," says the report, acknowledging that fiscal controls "remained limited in scope."

A central

Since the reform of the distribution of the Livret A, efforts are being made to remedy this situation. A central recency bank accounts in France, but it is still not an accurate picture of the holders of tax-free books. Each account is opened or a booklet, the banks have the obligation to consult. These planchent services of the State to establish the second half of 2010 an effective due diligence. "The process is complicated to implement, it is done gradually," said a representative of the Observatory of regulated products.Meanwhile, the Ministers of Economy and Budget have written twice to banks to encourage them to ensure the right information to their customers. What encouraged them to regularize their situation.

Late fees; car payments, an unexpected hospital visit. Those are legitimate reasons to secure a fast cash personal loan.

Financial regulation in the United States is running. The most comprehensive reform in this area since the 1930s has been passed by the U.S. Senate by 60 votes against 39. A key legislative victory for Barack Obama after the reform of health coverage in March.The U.S. president did not hesitate to declare last May: "Wall Street has failed," referring to lobbyists who tried to prevent the adoption of this project.

New legislative victory for Obama

Obama can now enact this historic piece to prevent another financial crisis and economic such as the United States had known in autumn 2008.

"Today the Senate will take action and send the bill on the president's office, so that the country can finally feel the effects of reform on which we have discussed for so many months," said Thursday Senator Chris Dodd, one of the main authors of the text with the Representative Barney Frank.

The text of over 2300 pages of the law "Dodd-Frank", aims to extend regulatory control over whole sectors of finance, which escaped him.It thus provides for the creation of a consumer of financial products within the central bank and it prevents the rescue of large financial institutions at taxpayers' expense.

For regulators play now

Among other measures leading text include a provision for better control of the vast market of derivatives traded over the counter, these tools have been speculative in the heart of the recent financial crisis in the United States instant credit reports.The text finally contains a measure dubbed the "rule of Volcker," the name of Barack Obama's economic adviser, Paul Volcker, whose idea is to encourage commercial banks to focus on their lending activities and take fewer risks .

While most Democrats have supported this project, the Republicans have signaled their opposition to the text, notably in that it gives too much power to regulators who failed to prevent the recent financial crisis.

The Chairman of the Central Bank of the United States, Ben Bernanke on Thursday hailed an "important step" with the vote by the Senate of legislation to reform financial regulation, which gives them considerable powers of oversight at the institution.

The ball is now in the hands of regulators. "We will pay with meticulous application and our responsibilities under the new law," promises Ben Bernanke.Legislation passed by the Senate because the Fed responsible for regulating all major financial institutions in the country, more than 50 billion dollars in assets.

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This is the most reassuring news announced by the U.S. authorities for more than two months. According to Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen American to oversee cleanup operations in the Gulf of Mexico, BP should be able to contain 100% the gap in the well from which oil flows to by Monday. A new funnel, bigger than previous ones, is currently installed by the British oil.

This funnel, called "Top Hat Number 10", should recover up to 80,000 barrels of oil per day (12.7 million liters), against 25,000 now. The authorities are optimistic that based on their assessments, the well lost more than 60,000 barrels per day. The previous dome will be first removed. A large quantity of oil escape so well for 48 hours.But once the new funnel posed, the results will be immediate, promises Thad Allen.

Since April 20, the day of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon platform off the coast of Louisiana, BP has increased its attempts to clogging, all unsuccessful.

No stop before August

BP was more cautious in its forecasts. Bob Dudley, responsible for managing the disaster, spoke of another scenario where difficulties in installing the new funnel could delay the time from Monday to Thursday.

But authorities are confident: "We have the climate we need," said Thad Allen. The admiral, however, required to calm the enthusiasm that followed the announcement. "I used the word 'contain' and not 'stop'," he commented. According to him, the well would not be closed as well as two-pass will not be completed.These wells, dug deep to inject cement and mud, should not be installed until mid-August. Once the leak stopped, the extensive cleaning and restoration of the ratings will continue.

Anadarko does not pay

On this last point, BP was again struck Friday denied Anadarko Petroleum. The company, which owns 25% of wells responsible for the spill, said she would not pay the $ 272 million that BP is asking her to cover their share of cleanup costs, according to U.S. law known pollution.

On June 18, the tension was raised a notch between the two partners lorsqu'Anadarko stated that the explosion of April 20 on the platform Deepwater Horizon, "was preventable and was a direct result of decisions and actions BP unthinking.

In another e-mail sent Friday, a spokesman for Anadarko, John Christiansen, however, felt that his group remained "committed to working in good faith with BP to reach a satisfactory resolution."

BP is now awaiting the response of Mitsui, which owns 10% of the wells. The British oil giant is claiming $ 112 million for cleanup costs. The company has not yet made its position.

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Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the graphics.

The controversy swells daily. After the Europeans, it is now the boss of General Electric to accuse China of putting a spoke in the wheels of foreign companies. "I'm really worried, I am not sure that ultimately they want that we will succeed," he complained to an audience of businessmen from Italy, reported the Financial Times on Friday.

Last Tuesday was a report of the European Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, which accused China to increase the discriminatory measures. He denounced a "discretionary application of laws and regulations, the registration process unnecessarily complicated and" inconsistencies in the application of national criteria.

In Beijing, many business leaders say the word to cover: it is increasingly difficult to work in China."They understand that they can leave if they are not happy," says a corporate lawyer. Since April, the party newspaper, the China Daily, had sniffed the wind of revolt and was almost threatening."When foreign companies encounter difficulties in their projects (…) if they do nothing but complain that the foreign media and amplify the case without analyzing the merits and slandering the Chinese economy, they will end up delaying the process of improving the investment environment, "he wrote.

Funny way to appease the spirits when President Hu Jintao says it wants to "take concrete steps to reject any form of protectionism and unequivocal support free trade."

The World Trade Organization said in its latest report "Interest in China and its foreign suppliers of more rapid liberalization of China's service industries.But Beijing, which, in a gesture of goodwill, will leave July 15 rebates for export taxes on certain sensitive products, prefer to believe that foreigners "grunt" on account of wages.

Rising labor costs

Demonstration of support to employees of Foxconn, Hong Kong in June Photo credits: AFP

The association UFC – Que Choisir has just published a study on 3G mobile phone plans denouncing "the false promises of unlimited Internet. According to this study, 41% of consumers are not satisfied with the 3G connection on their mobile phone.

The association of consumer advocacy focuses on two points. First, it denounces the bridle in all mobile networks operators and found that the rate (or velocity) is deficient in all mobile operators. "59% of the reported rates do not exceed one megabit per second when the 3G theoretically allows a throughput of 7.2 megabits" said Edouard Barreiro, director of studies at the association of consumer protection.

Second, the study notes that the nature of the packages called "unlimited internet" is often questioned by users.Indeed, how can it be considered an access to the Internet access to a network crippled (no VOIP or P2P for example) and sometimes (eg in some packages of Orange) excludes even download emails?

In this context, concludes UFC-Que Choisir, it is not surprising that 41% of users are dissatisfied with their 3G connection payday loan lenders. And the association calls on governments a regulatory framework in three points. Firstly, the operators use the term "Internet" to refer only to universal access to all content. Secondly, they cease to call 'unlimited' offers subject to a quota of data exchanged.Finally, the operators are required to provide their customers with a clear and accurate information on the characteristics of service (speed, coverage, network saturation, etc..).

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"Re-enchantment of the hypermarket." Of the seven projects announced just last year by Lars Olofsson, Executive Director of Carrefour, the biggest boost to sales in hypermarkets, particularly the larger ones, whose attendance continues to decline in France.

Tests are carried out recently in a handful of stores in Belgium, Spain and Chambourcy, near Paris. But in Rhone-Alps that focuses the bulk of the efforts of the distributor réattirer customers and make them spend. The group also planned to hold its investor days, 15 and 16 September in Lyon.Between two presentations on the progress of plan savings of 3.1 billion euros, brokers and analysts will be invited to a tour of hypermarkets completely "re-enchanted.

According to our information, the most spectacular project will be unveiled in Ecully, in the upmarket suburb of Lyon. Work will start in the coming days and be completed in late August. The different radii, starting with those on the non-food (textiles, hi-fi …) will be reorganized in the form of blocks, or shops open on a driveway. A radical break with the organization of gondolas "spike", perpendicular to the rays.

Expensive and spectacular

Another radical change, hyper might be organized around a single street, which would allow customers to wander at will … without missing a spoke."A spiral path, which would impose a smooth path to clients as Ikea," says one close to the matter. A precision belied by Carrefour.

Rather expensive, spectacular concept, designed by the design office Malherbe, should be reserved for the most hyper among the high-end 231 of the brand in France. Also, changes may not be as radical, but they should nevertheless be numerous, as in Venissieux.

There remains the issue of the less profitable stores in the chain. Here the group test by the end of an adaptation of his Brazilian concept Atacadao involving hypermarket and hard discount, with few services and references 7000 sold to declining prices based on volumes purchased.Eventually, nearly a dozen stores could be converted, and renamed Hypercash.

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After a long weekend of three days, U.S. stocks ended the session sharply downward after Abor open in bright red, then climbed into the green after two good U.S. indicators.

In the end, the Dow Jones folds of 113 points (-1.14%) to 10,023 points, the Nasdaq drops 1.54% and the S & P lost 18 points to 1070 points (-1.7%). Oil, too, ended down sharply on 72.7 dollars a barrel, weighed down by a series of disappointing economic indicators in Europe and China, bad news for energy demand.

On the energy side, the sector suffers greatly (-4.3% for the sector index) of the state of BP (-14.97% to 36.52 dollars), which fails to control the flow of oil 's escapes into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico since April 20.Titles BP have lost more than 13% at the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday and 40% since the explosion of the platform.

The United States has opened a criminal investigation and civil and criminal cases to shed light on the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the explosion of a platform operated by BP, said Tuesday the U.S. Department of Justice.

Two good stastitiques U.S.

The increased activity in the manufacturing sector in the United States has slowed slightly in May, the ISM index fell to 59.7 with measuring, according to figures released Tuesday by the association. But his pace, however, exceeded expectations and the industry and displays its tenth consecutive month of growth.

Moreover, construction spending in the U.S. jumped 2.7% in April, according to official figures released Tuesday in Washington, showing up much more than expected by analysts.Economists on average had forecast an unchanged rate of expenditure after the decline of 0.3% originally announced for March.

June catastrophic better after May

Yesterday, the NYSE was closed for Memorial Day. Friday, after falling heavily in meeting Wall Street had ended the week around the equilibrium. The Dow Jones had lost up to 3% in session after the announcement of the lowering of the Spanish debt rating by rating agency Fitch has finally yielded 0.23% at closing.

The month of June begins on a note strongly negative, while the month of May had already been disastrous for U.S. and European financial centers.

The euro hit a four-year low

On the foreign exchange market, the euro is down sharply.The euro fell Tuesday to 1.2115 dollars in morning, its lowest level in more than four years against the greenback.

The currency was dragged down by a report suggesting the ECB further write-downs for banks in the euro area. According to the ECB, the need for reserves of banks in the euro area to cover potential losses amounted to 90 billion extra in 2010 and 105 billion in 2011. After dropping Friday, the euro had rebounded Monday above $ 1.23.

Prudential pressure

On the side of values, the U.S. insurer AIG (-3.19% to 34.25 dollars) on Tuesday sent a procedural bar to his British rival Prudential, which claimed to be lowered from 14% the price of selling its Asian subsidiary AIA, which could derail the transaction record in the history of insurance.

Also note, the aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. (-1.92% to 62.95 U.S. dollars) has won a tender to provide civilian aircraft to Russian conglomerate Rostekhnologuiï facing the European Airbus and United Aircraft Corporation Russian UAC.

Among the largest declines in the Dow, Alcoa is the red lantern, with a decline of 3.87% to 11.2 dollars, then comes JPMorgan Chase, which fell 2.63% to 28.54 dollars.

Only six values are listed in the green, including Kraft Foods (+1.05% to 28.9 dollars), more strongly, and Wal Mart (0.71% to 50.92 dollars).

General Motors has for its part announced its intention to invest $ 385 million in Brazil in the renovation of its existing production units. The U.S. company plans to renew the production line of a factory that manufactures Classic, Corsa and Vectra in Sao Paulo.

"Greece can she leave the euro area?

"What is the role of rating agencies?

"Greece can go bankrupt?

"Is there a risk of contagion to the rest of the euro area?

"What risks for European banks?

"Why do they attack the markets as Portugal?

"Does France have any reason to worry?

• Greece can she leave the euro area?

»Back to top

The want it – despite the financial risks – Greece would have the greatest difficulty to get out of the eurozone for legal reasons. If a Member State may be expelled from the EU if it no longer meets the political criteria, this option is not provided by the Treaties for the euro area. This legal vacuum is subject to interpretation."It is inconceivable that a Member State legally so the euro area without retiring in parallel with the European Union," says Phoebus Athanassiou, legal adviser to the ECB. As for expulsion from the monetary union, it would be "virtually impossible from a legal standpoint, because it would amend the treaties unanimously, says he, in a research note. Angela Merkel had called in March to exclude the possibility of a country does not fulfill the conditions of membership of the single currency. Without revising the treaties, the option of expulsion would be "perhaps achievable through the back door" by establishing a de facto monetary union with two speeds. The emerging countries could keep the euro as parallel currency.But it is more of a possibility is more theoretical than practical, as the hazards are many.

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• What is the role of rating agencies?

»Back to top

Rating agencies – the number three in the world – are private and independent agencies that assign a score to countries or financial companies. Investors rely on this note to know the risk level of bonds they buy. Each agency to its own methodology. Standard & Poor's, for example, attributes the "AAA" rating to the best transmitters, then descends to "AA" and "A" and "BBB". Each time, these notes are accompanied by signs + or -.Then, the notes come down to "BB" and are then considered to reflect the level of obligations "rotten" … In general, the rating reflects the percentage probability that the issuer will default. Thus, an issuer rated triple AAA, like France, has 0% chance to fail in three years. An issuer 'BB', as is now Greece, 23.08% to fail within three years.

• Greece can go bankrupt?

»Back to top

Photo credits: AFP

STOCK markets take a breather. In Paris the CAC 40 tumbled 1.94%, to finish the session in 4000 exactly 3 points at 986.63 points. The announcement of action against the U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs has literally showered the markets.

The indices that had evolved sawtooth most of the day were immediately plunged. Almost everywhere, investors chose to pocket their gains on the values that have risen more. In London, the FTSE fell 1.39% and in Frankfurt the Dax dropped 1.76%.

Wall Street had previously lined up six sessions was washed away.Shortly before the close of European stock exchanges, the Dow Jones slid 0.51% and the Nasdaq by 0.76%.

Goldman Sachs Sticky

The U.S. stock market watchdog, the SEC announced Friday it was suing the U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs to "fraud" on the sale of investment securities linked to subprime mortgages, called "subprime" ( see also page 21). The good news continued to flow as the business side as the economy fell into the background. Thus, the highly anticipated conglomerate General Electric, as well as those of Bank of America, the Internet giant Google, the specialist of AMD microprocessors, or the toy maker Mattel has exceeded all expectations.

Good news also on the side of macroeconomic indicators in the United States.Housing starts housing as the number of building permits issued rose more than expected in February. In Europe, the public debt remains a central concern. Greece announced Friday its intention to raise 1.5 billion euros in Treasury bills. Tuesday an initial public offering had already helped to raise 1.56 billion euros. The announcement comes as the Europeans and the IMF are finalizing the program of aid to Greece. Finance ministers from the euro zone met in Madrid on Friday for an update on the crisis in Greece. And a new mission of the IMF and the European Commission is expected in Athens on Monday.

The green color should still be the day the Paris Bourse. Comforted by the end of the Japanese Nikkei up on Monday, the CAC 40 should continue its momentum on Friday. The key index in Paris had ended the week up almost 2%, surpassing the 4000 points to 4050 points.

Investors should be reassured by Parisian rescue plan with Greek details, as expected, were finally unveiled this weekend. The European system, operational since Sunday, includes up to 30 billion euros in loan agreements with joint assistance from the IMF. The new fact in any case already boosted the euro. In morning trading, the euro is worth 1.3675 dollars, up 0.12% against the greenback.

On the face of macroeconomic indicators, no news likely to react to the markets is expected.Important data such as current accounts or French industrial production in the euro area, will in the coming days.

However, the quarterly publications begin Monday in France and the U.S. cash till payday. Intel, Google, Bank of America, or General Electric are expected across the Atlantic this week. The France oversee Alcoa or Atos Origin.

Values follow

In an interview with the Journal du Dimanche, the chief executive of Publicis said this weekend that the advertising investment is not expected to regain its 2008 levels by 2012.The latter also expressed readiness to re-evaluate its offer for the advertising of France Televisions, if the advertising was finally upheld.

France Telecom is in difficulty in Egypt where a court on Saturday confirmed its decision to block the bid from France Telecom on the minority of ECMS, the first mobile operator in terms of number of subscribers.

According to sources close to the deal, EADS will unveil its position on a possible bid to tender for the supply of tanker aircraft to the U.S. Air Force.

Alcoa publishes figures for its first quarter after market close in New York.