Archive for June, 2010

Trade Electrical trial Kerviel

Friday, June 11th, 2010

The first witnesses in the trial of Jerome Kerviel to show unfavorable to the former trader. However, the three lawyers of the Societe Generale seem nervous.

My Veil, Reinhart and Martineau do not in place. Sometimes they twirl and shake, like swallows on a wire, while nearly two representatives of the Crown. The result is a mass effect on the side of the charge, which accentuates the loneliness of the accused, sitting in a chair – which is probably not displease her advice. Sometimes, in turn, lawyers for the plaintiff are powerful whisper the word to reporters, as if they have trumpeted the court might be misunderstood.

Here are just a witness who has everything to please them: SN is a trader at Societe Generale. Tall, slim, short hair, gray suit (a standard, obviously), this old friend of Mr.Kerviel stands slightly hunched, embarrassed of the man whose belly gargoyle society. "I do not necessarily asked to be there," he slips to the President. But since there is, he sings the lament of an honest financial embittered: "We all have limits to respect. Jerome Kerviel took positions stratospheric, endangering the bank and its employees. We are fighting every day to earn a little money in the bank. I am disappointed and disgusted. "

Mr. Metzner asticote this model employee: "If you say the lesser evil of the Company generally, you would find your chair tomorrow?"

The witness, categorically: "Yes."

The lawyer, humbug "Try …"

Martineau and yelping My Veil: "MSunder oath! We want him to give false testimony: "The prosecutor Jean-Michel Aldebert, while caveat:" Do not terrorize witnesses, Master! "

Mr. Metzner and his partner, Nicolas Huc-Morel, now produce a picture that at first sight, shows that the theoretical limit imposed on the traders would have been "disabled" – understood: it was not expressly prohibited Kerviel to invest billions. Claire Dumas, part of SocGen, refutes the argument. The three councils of the bank seriously nod of the head, Mr. Metzner is gloating.As Mr Kerviel, but it should be noted that his ostensible irony and his disposition to take up anyone questioned irritate the president, who often questioned.

Societe Generale, it comes out of his sleeve a graphic frightening: If it had not "unwound" Kerviel aberrant positions from January 2008, she had said she lost, not 4.9, but 29 billion. This time, his trio swagger, while Mr. Metzner, red as a peony, storm: "These pieces have not been disclosed to the defense!"

The performance resumed Friday morning.

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The Paris Bourse should pause

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

The CAC 40 was up Wednesday night supported the closure through the reassuring words of Ben Bernanke, the Fed chief, after three consecutive sessions of decline. Other major European markets have also hoisted the green flag. In Frankfurt, the Dax gained 1.98%. In London, the Footsie has won 1.15%.

Even mood on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones gained 1.16% and the Nasdaq 1.66% shortly after the close of European stock.

And Thursday morning, Asian stock markets confirms the renewed investor optimism. The indices are displayed in positive territory while a series of good gives figures balsam inside investors.

U.S. growth is reassuring, Ben Bernanke also

Published yesterday, the Fed's Beige Book confirmed an increase in economic activity in the United States without signs of inflation, reinforcing the idea that the Fed is in no hurry to raise interest rates.The Federal Reserve announced it was expecting a GDP of 3.5% for 2010 and "somewhat" more in 2011. In May, the Fed was between 3.4% and 4.5% for 2011.

Its chairman, Ben Bernanke, indqiué he remains attentive to the evolution "of the situation abroad. His comments are aimed at Europe in turmoil budget. He said however, "reassured by the answers of Europeans," holding that they have developed a "substantial program.

The economic indicators of importance

Industrial production in France in April will be known at 8:45. At the same time, figures on employment in the first quarter will be released by INSEE.

In Frankfurt, while it is held by the Governing Council, Jean-Claude Trichet, head of the European Central Bank, will deliver the Bank's decision on interest rates to 1% today.A status quo is preferred.

Like every Wednesday, the weekly unemployment benefit claims in the United States will be published at 14.30. The figures on foreign trade in April will be known at the same time.Then, 20 hours, investors will follow the budget execution figures for the month of May

Japan remains the second largest economy after the United States, while the revised official figures and show a growth of 5% in the first quarter of 2010.

France Telecom, one aggrégateurplus a producer

Value-laden France Telecom, which held its annual meeting Tuesday, it appeared necessary to adapt its strategy contained in the competitive environment and has therefore become more assertive as an aggregator and as a producer, said Wednesday Stéphane Richard, his manager General at the General Assembly no teletrack payday loan.

In addition, the telecom authority (Arcep) on Wednesday defended a regulatory context to counterbalance the dominance of France Telecom in the telephony market in France.

Air France-KLMSelon information Figaro, Ethiopian Airlines is preparing to sign an agreement with Star Alliance to join the alliance dominated by Lufthansa. Air France is being shaken to its network and the most profitable.

Total oil group participates in the construction of a solar concentrator 100 megawatts in Abu Dhabi, the largest in the world.

Renault head to change the financial department. Thierry Moulonguet will be replaced by the CEO of RCI Banque.

Imerys The Strategic Investment Fund (ISF) has announced Wednesday the fall departure of chief executive Gilles Michel, who will join the group of industrial minerals and construction materials, which is expected to become CEO in 2011, to succeed Gerard Buffière.

The Auchan retail group and its Taiwanese partner Ruentex preparing to list their Chinese activities on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, according to Les Echos published Wednesday. A first for the family business.

French Members Banks, which begin Thursday in open discussion of the draft law regulating banking and finance, also want to discuss with the Government of the German measure to ban naked short selling.

EADS Eurofighter has launched negotiations with Germany, Spain, Britain and Italy to convince these countries to invest 10 billion euros in the next phase of production of its combat aircraft.

Moreover, during the Berlin Air Show, Louis Welsh, the executive chairman said he was "delighted if we could forge a partnership with Embraer, the Brazilian counterpart, said FinanzNachrichten.

The form that could take this partnership has not been specified. In the past, EADS has held a minority stake in Embraer, which he sold in 2007.

Separated hotels, Accor Services is renamed Edenred

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Paradise red … Accor Services changes name and becomes Edenred in 40 countries where it operates, through its Ticket Restaurant and food stamps for the basics. This new identity is part of the demerger of the group Accor, which will be halved on July 2 with a side hotels (Accor) and other services (the new Edenred).

Each of these activities will be listed separately on the stock market. "We wanted a positive name that embodies our values, easy to pronounce and that can be incorporated into many languages, says the Figaro Jacques Stern, head of the service arm of Accor and a future issue of Edenred. We have reviewed hundreds. It was unanimous executive committee. "The firm specializes in creating names Kaos Consulting with teams internally, is behind the new name.

Eden means paradise in eight languages."In 95% of countries where we operate, people understand its meaning without translation," says Jacques Stern. Eden, in Edenred is, above all, "social ties, generosity, sharing. It is also the name of the company's project ("Undertake a different picture"). And the red ("red")? It is a direct reference to the logo that appears on most tickets for the company, a red ball. "In addition, red means network in Spanish, said Jacques Stern. Now our business is a business network, connectivity between businesses, employees and governments. "To have her new name, Edenred had to buy some domain names.To start, the company has installed 40 red balls huge cloth 5 to 7 meters in diameter in symbolic places: the role of Defence in France, in the middle of the Danube in Hungary … Edenred not intended to replace brand names themselves, there will be no major advertising campaign for the general public. "This is a company name. It is primarily for our 490,000 corporate clients, said Jacques Stern. Its launch is very economical, between 1 and 2 million euros. "

Brazil, the largest market

Already a world leader, Edenred intends to use its new autonomy – without Accor – to accelerate its development. It expects an annual growth in issuance volume between 6 and 14% for future years. Jacques Stern seeks settlements in 6-8 new countries by 2016 and it promises to innovate.In Brazil, the largest market Edenred (France is number three, behind Italy), a ticket culture will be launched in September. Dematerialization is a priority. To date, 70% of the offer is sold in paper form, with significant differences from one country to another: 80% in Brazil, but 15% in France. In 2016, the goal is to be 50/50. "At first, this represents an investment, but dematerializing our products, we enrich them," explains Jacques Stern. In Italy we have just launched a prepaid card, which incorporates advances for expenses for employees in addition to the Ticket Restaurant. "

The G20 bury the global banking fee

Saturday, June 5th, 2010

Barely out of cardboard, the global banking fee is already forgotten. After two days of meetings in the South Korean port of Busan, the G20 finance ministers have finally buried the idea of imposing a universal tax on banks to finance the rescue of the financial sector. Under pressure from Canada, Japan and several emerging countries, the G20 has decided that the imposition of tax concerns only countries where governments have funded bailout of their banks following the financial turmoil triggered Wall Street in 2008. A compromise that left the United States and European countries the right to establish their own tax waiver on their banking sectors, but reflects differences in approach within the group of the twenty largest economies in the world.

Canada, which will host on June 26 in Toronto the next summit of G20 leaders, as well as Australia and Japan have argued that their banks should not pay for the mistakes of their American and European counterparts. An application supported by big emerging countries like Brazil and India argued that their banking sector is healthy and does not require the establishment of a security background. "This is a view somewhat optimistic" said Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the IMF head who introduced new tax proposals in Busan.

The South Korean Presidential G20 hopes to win here at their summit in Seoul in November, an agreement on guidelines that would frame the future bank charges while leaving wide latitude to reluctant countries.

Switzerland: France Telecom renounces its merger

Friday, June 4th, 2010

France Telecom abandoned its proposed merger with the Swiss Sunrise, which had been blocked recently by the Swiss competition authority.

The French telecoms operator and the Danish TDC, parent company of Sunrise, have said in a statement that an analysis "detailed" the situation had led them to decide to stop their discussions.

"An appeal to the Federal Administrative Court will also be removed," added the two groups.

The Competition Commission (Competition Commission) in Switzerland has prohibited the merger in April between Orange Communications, Swiss subsidiary of France Telecom, and Sunrise Communications, the second mobile operator in Switzerland. The Commission had noted that the scale resulting from the merger would have created, together with a number Swisscom, a collective dominant position.

This legal setback in Switzerland should not call into question the policy of merger and acquisition of the operator, however, had said the leaders of France Telecom several times in recent weeks. On April 29, when the annual results of the group, CFO of Orange, Gervais Pelissier, was still reported to remain "convinced that having a strong second operator in Switzerland, Swisscom side, is the way to recover dynamics of competition in the years ahead. "

Always looking for new growth

France Telecom is still looking for consolidation opportunities in mature markets, as well as targets in emerging markets, particularly in Africa and the Middle East.

Switzerland accounts for less than 1% of global sales group, and less than 1.5% of its EBITDA.Orange Switzerland, 100% subsidiary of France Telecom and third mobile operator in the Confederation, was done last year a turnover of 1.3 billion Swiss francs (924 million) with approximately 1156 employees.

Sunrise is in turn the number two industry in Switzerland, with sales of 9.9 billion kroner (1.3 billion euros) conducted in 2009.

The suitors flocked to see Barclays Life

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

After Dexia, which sold its life insurance subsidiary in France at BNP Paribas Assurance in December, it was the turn of Barclays France to seek a buyer for its life insurance subsidiary. According to information published in the daily La Tribune on Tuesday, the British bank is selling half the shares in its life insurance subsidiary. "The first round took place last week during which the takeover candidates have filed an initial non-binding offer," the newspaper said.

Valued around 130 million euros for 100% of capital, the subsidiary of interest to major European insurers. The Tribune cites the names of CNP Assurances, AXA, Aviva, Allianz, The World, Generali, Covea, Groupama or Swiss Life.

CNP Assurances and AXA favorites

According to La Tribune, Barclays Bank would seek a partner insurer in line with the target affluent customers that the bank prefers.What exlurait Groupama Covea, which would be considered too public.

Citing "several sources familiar with the matter," the paper argues that CNP Assurances and AXA would therefore Favorites payday loans. CNP Assurances was signed in June 2009 a 25 year contract with Barclays to expand its life insurance and retirement in Spain, Portugal and Italy. As for Axa, it is the provider of Barclays Bank two insurance products: Guaranteed life accidents and Master Life. The daily added that the group may also be based on proven experience in the field of bancassurance agreement, notably in Italy with the bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Tough competition

But according to La Tribune, Axa has an advantage over CNP Assurances: the insurer owns a network specializing in life consists of general agents.What the British bank would be significant since it would consider "establishing a partnership Cros distribute its products in the distribution of the insurer," says The Tribune. But groups like Aviva, Allianz and Swiss Life have not yet said their last word. The competition looks tough.