Posts Tagged ‘special’

Europe is entering a zone of turbulence

May 8, 2012 - 12:56 pm Comments Off

 

From our correspondent in Brussels.

The French like the Greeks have sanctioned the rigor and Europe seeking his bearings again. After the victory of Francois Hollande and the crushing defeat of the supporters of the euro in Athens, the EU has launched Monday in a forced march to catch up policy. Under the banner of growth, but piecemeal.

Much will depend on the ability of the elected president and German chancellor to silence by their dissonances to May 15 on what was until Sunday the compass of European capitals: the fiscal pact and collective discipline. But it is the vote that created consternation Greek. By depriving democratic legitimacy of the bailout which Europe has devoted two years in a considerable energy, it immediately wakes up the specter of a breakup of the euro.

"Greece is at the limit of what its people can cash in" on austerity, Michel Barnier recognizes facing the electoral advance of the extreme. For the French commissioner, the balance needs to find throughout the EU "between what is credible for the markets and what is bearable for the people." Angela Merkel is weakened by the ordeal, but financial orthodoxy is not provided under attack: "There is no question of renegotiating the bailout" laboriously reached in February with Athens, provides an official at the heart the discussion.

"All debts are created equal"

Sacrificing the Greek plan, or give a penknife in the Treaty budget, would be far worse than burning idols of yesterday. This would pave the way for overflow. Portugal, also on a drip European, certainly require adjustments. In Ireland, it might find in a compact variable geometry a right to say again "no" to a European treaty in the referendum of May 31

Francois Hollande has not specified how its European partners "for that austerity is no longer inevitable." Approaching his victory speech had already begun to move to Brussels as the European capitals. This was done in small steps, but the austerity of the mantras are already chipped or less: less structural reforms and budget cuts, more flexibility, employment and growth. "All public debts are not created equal," ahead of anonymity a senior official opponent of bureaucracy and cost of future investments.

A first dam jumped this weekend when the Finnish Commissioner Olli Rehn, in charge of the case, implicitly admitted that the objective of a budget deficit reduced to 3% in 2013 would perhaps not required by all. Greece, of course, but also Spain overwhelmed by the recession and unemployment could well benefit from this exemption the first inexpressible last month. Under "exceptional circumstances", validated by other EU countries.

The bet is that markets will accommodate this as an act of political realism and not as a confession of laxity on the euro. The big question remains of course France: its budget program is already extraordinary and rare are those who still believe she can hold the line, despite repeated assurances from President-elect.

The second exception to the rule of the game for the Relief Fund of the euro, too painstakingly negotiated treaty with Berlin. Again, this is Spain and its banks eroded by the recession that give cold sweats. The idea agitated in several capitals would authorize the "European Monetary Fund" to provide loans directly – that is to say unconditionally – Spanish banks. But this window open still faces opposition front of Angela Merkel.

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The CEO of Yahoo! accused of having lied on his CV

May 5, 2012 - 3:52 am Comments Off

 

Inflate his resume … "inadvertently"? It is possible, according to Yahoo!, which has adopted this line of defense when one of its shareholders accusing its CEO had lied on his resume.

The investment fund Third Point, which is mounted to 5.8% stake in Yahoo! in a few months, denounced in a letter to the Board an anomaly on the resume of Scott Thompson, CEO of Yahoo! since January.

In the financial records of Yahoo!, Carol Bartz's successor is introduced as a degree in accounting and computer science from Stonehill College. Now the university has begun offering this course in 1983, four years after Scott Thompson finished his studies there!

For Third Point, this embellished resume "undermines its credibility as an expert in technology" and gives a poor impression when his "character" bad credit personal loan lenders. Incidentally, it also tackles the activist fund board, which would not properly investigated and considered the nominations for the position of CEO.

The risk oversight, however, be difficult to argue, to the extent that this error has been made several times on the resume of Scott Thompson. Previously President of the payment service Paypal online, a subsidiary of eBay, it is always presented as a computer science graduate of the Australian editions of these two sites

.

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GM: 320 million for its share of PSA

March 6, 2012 - 5:52 pm Comments Off

 

The alliance between the U.S. carmaker General Motors and its French partner PSA is accurate. Last night, the U.S. giant has announced it will pay 320 million euros to take a 7% of PSA Peugeot Citroen. The Detroit-based group said the two groups will manufacture at least four common vehicle models by 2016. In announcing the proposed alliance, Dan Akerson, the CEO of General Motors, was carrying indicated that "each partner will continue to design, manufacture and sell its own vehicles."

In addition, General Motors said in a document addressed to the U.S. stock market watchdog, the SEC, that the alliance is initially sealed for a period of ten years. Both groups can then renew their partnership, unless one party is opposed to this extension. The first manufacturer in the world adds that the proposed alliance may be terminated if a competitor of GM takes 10% or more PSA, or if the share held by the Peugeot family falls below the threshold of 15% and that a competitor amounted to 5% or more. A clause further provides for an end to the partnership if another automaker acquires 3% of PSA following an agreement with PSA Peugeot or with family.

A price of 8.27 euros per share, which disappoints investors

For its part, Peugeot said this morning that the operation will be priced at 8.27 euros per share, representing a discount of 42% over the closing price last night. What irritated investors, awarded the title at the opening of the Paris Stock Exchange on Tuesday Peugeot forfeits 5.39% to 13.44 euros in early trade, while the index referring to the Paris, the CAC 40, posted at the same time a decrease of 0.35%. The group also explained to shareholders that he did not pay a dividend this year.

The proposed alliance announced last week solely to improve profitability and competitiveness of both companies. The partnership will be the occasion of a capital increase of around 1 billion euros. After the operation General Motors will enter the capital of the Lion brand to the tune of 7%, making it the second largest shareholder of the company behind the Peugeot family. The family will in turn invest 150 million euros in the operation to remain the largest shareholder, with about 25% of the capital.

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After the wings, the "nose" of the A380 problem

February 18, 2012 - 11:12 am Comments Off

 

Hard times for the 380. After the case of microcracks detected in the wing of the superjumbo, Airbus will he deplore a new problem, this time in the "nose" of the device? The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is interested in any case the rivets of radom, that is to say the cover that protects the radar of the aircraft.

The authority may decide to issue in the coming weeks an airworthiness directive (AD) requiring the change of six rivets aluminum rivets titanium stronger. The 19 airlines that operate the world's fleet of 69 A380, eight months have to do this for an average of 3:30. Clearly, they would have time to schedule it as part of their regular maintenance schedule.

After the decision to order the Efsa a general inspection of the planes of A 380 in service and production, totaling one hundred aircraft, the image of the A380 takes another blow. However, this type of airworthiness directive is very common in aviation. All aircraft receive throughout their careers.

Two types of directives

"The FAA, U.S. aviation safety authority, has issued more than 830 airworthiness directives for Boeing B 747 in forty years," says one at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse. "For an airplane, receiving such a directive is as ordinary as to think about changing the wiper blades on your car or an oil change," says one.

The Aesa issues two types of directives: the current, AD, and urgent, called "emergency AD." In the case of microcracks, the two directives were common. The agency goes up a notch when it considers that the subject can affect flight safety. In this case, companies have little time to react, sometimes not even 24 hours.

In the case of rivets, flight safety is affected in any part, Airbus insists. The manufacturer points out that these are not structural elements. Six rivets 40 to 50 by radom "are not likely to blow up" the unit cover.

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A380

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Social unrest in Spain and Portugal

February 13, 2012 - 10:32 am Comments Off

 

Social cuts and austerity measures provoke social unrest throughout the Iberian Peninsula. In Spain, the reform of the labor market, adopted Friday by decree, has attracted a first wave of spontaneous protest. In Portugal, it is the application of the rescue plan that creates a massive mobilization.

At the Puerta del Sol of Madrid, hundreds of people gathered Friday night to protest against the reform. Described as "historic" by the Conservative government of Mariano Rajoy, the decree is the latest attempt by Madrid halting the advance of unemployment, which seems unstoppable. At 22.85% of the workforce, the Spanish rate has broken all records in the industrialized world.

The Executive intends to promote employment by making IDUs more attractive. In addition to some tax incentives, the reform lowers the costs of layoffs and wage cuts authorize unilateral when the company through a bad patch.

General strike on hold

The event on Friday, unauthorized, has been dissolved violently by police as the protesters approached the Parliament. Unions, criticized by protesters who think they are too timid, were not represented Puerta del Sol. Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and Union General de Trabajadores (UGT) intend to channel anger Social next Sunday: a "general mobilization" was convened and processions will be organized throughout Spain paydayloans. The possibility of a general strike, it remains outstanding.

In Portugal, the mobilization has already taken place. "The biggest demonstration in thirty years' 300,000 people gathered Saturday in Lisbon, according to the CGTP, the main union. In a long speech, the secretary general of the Central attacked both the troika (European Commission, ECB and IMF), responsible for monitoring the implementation of the bailout, and the government, accused of submission. Many times Arménio Carlos was interrupted by protesters when he cited the name of the Prime Minister, Pedro Passos Coelho. "Gatuno! Gatuno "(" Thief! "), The crowd chanted. Also put into question, the finance minister, accused of violating the "dignity" and "sovereignty" of the Portuguese. In an exchange with his German counterpart, Vitor Gaspar had thanked Berlin for accepting an "adjustment" of the financial plan.

Advocating a debt renegotiation, Carlos called for a higher minimum wage Portuguese, currently set at 485 euros gross. A new day of action is scheduled on February 29.

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"Greece is in revolt against the austerity plan

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November 16, 2011 - 2:12 am Comments Off

The bank said target savings of 4 billion euros of equity at end-2013.

To this end, she had set the goal of lowering rapidly than 5% of the costs CIB. Plans job cuts had been launched in Romania, Poland, Egypt and Russia.

Before the General Society, Italian UniCredit, the British HSBC and Barclays, Credit Suisse or Bank of America announced this summer plans job cuts payday loans guaranteed no fax.

Employees of BNP Paribas will be set for their Wednesday morning on their fate: the management of the bank called a central works council (CEC) to present its own special plan to cut staff in France.

November 2, 2011 - 2:04 pm Comments Off

Doubt continue to settle on Asian financial markets. Investors fear that the referendum in Greece announced Monday by Prime Minister George Papandreou.

After losing 1.70% yesterday, the Tokyo Stock Exchange Wednesday morning unscrewed at the close of 2.21% to 8640.42 points. Same atmosphere on Chinese stock markets: the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.92% to 19,192.70 points and the CSI 300 Index of Shanghai fell by 0.63% to 2680.49 points. "The Greek opinion is not favorable at the European level that includes austerity measures. Optimism prevailed before the G20 summit has faded, "said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, a broker at SMBC Friend Securities.The euro fell by 0.07% to 107.20 yen and the dollar fell by 0.32% to 78.12 yen.

Oil retreats

Oil prices were down Wednesday in Asia after the announcement of a referendum in Greece that could jeopardize the settlement of the debt crisis in Europe, said the courtiers.Le barrel of "light sweet crude" for delivery in December lost 74 cents to 91.45 dollars in early electronic trading. Barrel of Brent North Sea crude for December delivery gave up 59 cents to 108.95 dollars.

The offenses of the leaders of Dexia

October 21, 2011 - 7:12 pm Comments Off

The fall was accelerated by Dexia irregularities. A document written by the supervisory authority in 2010 reported several violations of the Franco-Belgian bank, reported Liberation.

The body responsible for regulating the banking sector would have directly challenged the previous management but also the leaders still in office. The report was quoted as saying, "number of findings concerning mechanisms for managing derivative positions are likely to contravene the regulations." Regulators cite "in 2007 and until 2008, the disclosure of Dexia Credit Local has remained evasive about the increasing risks, including the CEO and directors were aware. She ignored the violations of regulations and monitoring liquidity risk. "And the report says "the information to the public was not accurate, precise and sincere."

These omissions or falsehoods for the purchase of a portfolio of bonds and speculative securities amounting to 100 billion euros, an "illogical financing local government, the report quoted by Liberation. Regulators also suggest a failure on the part of the Dexia value of this portfolio of assets, both at the time of purchase as to resale. Worse, the leadership in place deliberately magnified the value of assets. The "overvaluation is estimated at at least 2 billion euros." Auditors such as Deloitte and Mazars have closed their eyes, the report said.

Loans to shareholders to purchase securities

The management team in place is also not spared.In a letter dated September 4, 2009, the report stresses that "the director of the institution has provided an underestimation of the volume of transactions."

Meanwhile, the Financial Timesaffirme that Dexia has paid 1.5 billion euros in its first two institutional shareholders before 2008 so that they carry out acquisitions of securities of the Franco-Belgian bank. But Dexia would, at the time, not breaking the law then in effect. The question is whether the court will examine the case Dexia.

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Energy: simplified access to social tariffs

October 18, 2011 - 11:28 am Comments Off

Avoid the brake of the form. The Minister of Industry and Energy, Eric Besson to file on Monday an order to simplify the procedures for access to social tariffs for electricity and gas, announced Europe 1.

These rates are for beneficiaries of the Universal Health Coverage (CMU) or any person whose monthly income is less than 634 euros per month (for a single person). To request the application of these rates, you must obtain and complete an administrative form. Exercise inherently complicated for the target populations, not used to write. Worse, most of the time, people who could benefit do not even know they exist!

Effective in 15 days

The decree, in preparation since last year is expected to overcome these obstacles by automating access to these rates.Now, energy suppliers will receive a file directly from the CMU and will identify the affected customers. They will inform them they automatically assign the preferential tariff within 15 days guaranteed pay day loans. The new procedure should apply from the publication of the decree. EDF has already announced that its computer systems were ready.

The social tariff saves on the electricity bill of around 90 euros per year and 142 euros for the gas bill. A helping hand needed for 13% of households suffering from fuel poverty is to say that spends more than 10% of their budgets to cover their energy needs. Some 600,000 households currently receive social tariffs. The decree could raise the total to 1.5 million.

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Third session of consecutive increase for the CAC 40

September 16, 2011 - 12:20 am Comments Off

The Paris Bourse finally returns to the threshold of 3000 points. On Thursday, the CAC 40 closed up on 3.27% to 3045.62 points. Other European markets follow the same path: Milan ended up 3.56%, 2.11% from London, Frankfurt and Madrid from 3.15% to 3.63%. Wall Street was also in the green fence at the time in Europe.

Investors seem reassured by the willingness of European leaders to develop concrete actions to leave the eurozone its difficulties. Among them is the establishment of an agreement in principle to toughen the Stability Pact and fiscal discipline common in the EU, which provides for sanctions for countries that would leave too lax spinning their deficits. Another reassuring element: the willingness of German and French leaders to avoid an out of Greece in the euro area and the Greek government's determination to break the budget impasse.

Brazil and Russia have also said they were considering a support action. While international solidarity is organized to support Europe, Christine Lagarde since Washington recalled the need for world leaders to "common front" to avoid falling into a global recession will spare "person."

These statements on the euro area, combined with bargain hunting, did overshadow the release of mixed U.S. indicators (including the employment front) and European (growth on less-than-expected expected in the second half).

Side values, the banking sector was further illustrated by a sharp rise. Operators have particularly appreciated the decision taken by the central banks of the richest countries to take concerted action to expand the supply of banks in dollars.BNP Paribas is the largest increase in the ACC (13.38% to 30.50 euros). It is followed by Natixis (7.12% to 2.49 euros), Axa (6.49% to 9.89 euros), Credit Agricole (5.89% to 5.52 euros) and Societe Generale ( 5.44% to 18.33 euros). The area was not affected by the announcement of the massive fraud that hit UBS.

Another day value, LVMH, which climbed 3.44% to 115.65 euros after announcing choosing Jordi Constans, come to Danone, to succeed Yves Carcelle at the head of Louis Vuitton in 2013.

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