International Business News

The new head of the Italian government announced the implementation of the reform of the labor market as well as delaying the retirement age to 67 years against 65 now. Mario Monti.

The new Italian Prime Mario Monti said on Thursday before the Senate that he intended to reform the pension system and labor market, two structural reforms demanded by the European Union and expected by the markets. The Italian pension system is one of the strongest in Europe but it has "ample disparities in treatment areas of unjustified privileges," he said. The Italian system is based on two pillars.

The system of "old age", in which the retirement age should increase to 67 in 2026, against 65 years now, thanks to reforms adopted in recent years such as providing for the gradual increase in the age based on life expectancy.

The G20 countries pledged Saturday to support and rebalance the global economy face "significant risk of deterioration" and said they expect a robust response of Europeans to contain the crisis in the euro area.

Meeting in Paris to prepare the annual summit of the Forum on 3 and 4 November in Cannes, the finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 welcomed the decisions taken in late July to strengthen the powers and capacity of intervention of the EFSF, the emergency fund of Europeans.

But they said to wait for new work to maximize the impact of the fund, with $ 440 billion, and "avoid any risk of contagion" from the Greek crisis to other economies.

"We expect the results of the European Council of 23 October, which will present a comprehensive plan to provide an aggressive response to current challenges," we read in the final communique of the meeting.

The U.S. Secretary of State to the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, said he was "encouraged by the speed and the direction in which the Europeans are progressing."

"They clearly have more work to do on the strategy and details, but when France and Germany agree on a plan and decide to pass the act, great things are possible", has he said.

French and German partners presented their G20 outline of the plan which they work for a solution "comprehensive and lasting peace" to the crisis in the euro area, which is due October 23.

Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, said that the world economy had changed "negative" from the meetings of the IMF and the World Bank last month in Washington and that emerging economies had expressed concerns contagion of the crisis in advanced countries.

To deal with these "heightened tensions", the 20 largest economies in the world have expressed their agreement to conduct coordinated policies in the short and long term as part of an action plan to be presented at Cannes.

ALL WILL BE DONE FOR THE STABILITY OF BANKS

This "cover a range of measures to respond to immediate vulnerabilities and strengthen the foundations for strong, sustainable and balanced".

Advanced countries adopt policies to build confidence and support growth and implement measures clear, credible and targeted to rebalance public finances, we read in the press release.

Countries with large current account surpluses will take further measures by which their growth will rely more on domestic demand, while those with large current account deficits will implement policies to increase national savings.

Emerging countries to adjust their macroeconomic policies on their part to maintain the growth momentum to face downside risks and contain inflationary pressures.

They are also encouraged to continue "their efforts to move toward systems of greater exchange rate determined by the markets."

On this point, Timothy Geithner acknowledged that China had allowed its currency, the yuan, appreciate gradually but should do so more quickly for the benefit of the global economy.

The G20 countries could not agree on the principle of an increase in IMF resources desired by some to strengthen its response capacity in the current crisis.

The statement said only that they have pledged to "ensure that the IMF has adequate resources to fulfill its responsibilities systemic."

The Slovak government resigned and the main opposition party agreed Wednesday to support a strengthening of the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) on the occasion of a new parliamentary vote by Friday.

The leaders of three of the four parties in the coalition government met with the leader of Smer, following the rejection by members of the EFSF reform and the resignation of the government of Iveta Radicova, which was liable the vote.

Of the 17 Member States of the euro area, only Slovakia has not yet ratified the plan that strengthens the powers of the EFSF to fight against the debt crisis.The green light 17 is required for its entry into force.

The Smer, which supports the EFSF in principle, abstained from the vote, causing the development of minority government. A new vote in Parliament to be held by no later than Friday, said the leaders of the majority party, the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU), and Smer, Robert Fico and Mikulas Dzurinda.

"We decided that during the parliamentary session (Thursday), we will work on a proposal to shorten the election period to conduct an election on March 10.Immediately after, tomorrow or Friday, we will discuss proposals related to EFSF, "said Mikulas Dzunrinda, who was foreign minister of the government resigned, at a press conference.

"With this agreement, and the laws associated EFSF may be approved either tomorrow night or Friday morning at the latest," said Robert Fico.The vote, he added, "will take place immediately after the adoption of the constitutional law on holding early elections in March 2012."

The Smer remain in opposition until the deadline of March.

The increase in lending capacity of EFSF to 440 billion represents a contribution of 7.7 billion euros in Slovakia.

"RAPID ADOPTION"

The day after the rejection of the text, the presidents of the European Union and the European Commission, Herman Van Rompuy and José Manuel Barroso, urged Slovakia to approve as soon as possible the expansion of the EFSF.

"We call on all parties in the Slovak Parliament to overcome the short-term political considerations and use the next opportunity to quickly adopt a new agreement," they wrote in a joint statement.

"We remain confident that the Slovak authorities and the Parliament are well aware of the centrality of having a stronger European support fund to preserve the financial stability of the euro area.And this in the interest of all countries have adopted the euro, including the Slovak people. "

Under pressure from its European partners, President Ivan Gasparovic, who must nominate the next prime minister, cut short a visit to Asia and is expected to return to his country Thursday.

Iveta Radicova asked Mikulas Dzurinda, the head of SDKU, to initiate discussions also involving two smaller parties in the governing coalition.

The Freedom and Solidarity Party (SAS), the fourth component of the coalition that refuses EFSF, will not take part in the new round to break the deadlock.

The Sas had refused to ratify the European level, in accordance with the position of its leader, Richard Sulik, who estimates that less wealthy countries in the euro area do not have to incur expenses for the rich as Greece .

The group LVMH said on Thursday replaced by Francis Morel Nicolas Beytout to the general direction of Les Echos.

Nicolas Beytout, former managing editor of business daily, was appointed in 2007 after the takeover of the newspaper by the world leader in luxury.

He became editorial writer "for all group titles," said LVMH in a statement.

After weeks of rumors about a possible departure of Nicolas Beytout, LVMH has finally passed the act, while the newspaper Les Echos recorded losses for the second consecutive year.

"Nicolas Beytout is punished for his bad management," they say internally to Echos, where writing is concerned about his appointment as a columnist.

"We know its proximity to Nicolas Sarkozy and the ethical charter signed by the shareholder recognizes the need for a non-partisan editorial in the newspaper," says one.

Les Echos journalists are scheduled to meet Friday morning at a general meeting to discuss the appointment.

The group, in addition to the Les Echos newspaper, magazine Enjeux-Les Echos, Investir, Connaissance des Arts and the station Radio Classique.

General Manager of Le Figaro from 2004 to 2011, Francis Morel was the architect of the development of internet newspaper, owned by the Dassault family, and the revitalization of its sales.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange finished up Wednesday modest, increasing only its rich gains yesterday, but investors have become wary about the willingness of Europeans to stem the debt crisis.

In addition, the stock market no longer had the support of procurement from the dividends that had enabled the Nikkei gaining almost 3% Tuesday.

Tuesday was for investors on the last day to buy Japanese equities and collect their dividend for the first half of the fiscal year.

Finally, the volume of business was low, suggesting that investors prefer to sit on the sidelines as the bargain hunting.

"Half or less of the shares of the Tokyo Stock Exchange were ex-dividend today, so there has been tying this, not to mention the uncertainty about the developments in Europe, it makes buyers cautious and it limits the upside potential, "said Yutaka Miura (Mizuho Securities).

The Nikkei gained 5.70 points (0.07%) to 8615.65. The Topix, broader, more compelling displays a gain of 5.52 points (0.74%) to 754.07.

Values, Japan Tobacco, the cigarette third world was a very popular time, the state has announced that it would sell its 50%. The action peaked three years to shift down and to include in closing down 2.86% to 356,500 yen.

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) jumped 8.23%.The Yomiuri newspaper wrote that the government advise the operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant to remove 14% of its regular staff, or 7,400 jobs, to participate in the repairs that followed the disaster of 11 March.

The restructuring plan Tepco be unveiled on October 3, the paper said, without citing sources.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended down 1.86% Monday, erasing its gains of the previous week, investors feared that the measures expected on the employment front in the U.S. this week are not enough to prevent a new recession .

The Nikkei lost 166.28 points to 8,784.46 points and the Topix, broader, dropped 13.96 points (1.81%) to 755.82 points.

Japanese exporters have suffered from the strengthening of the yen against the euro, Sony and Toshiba 4% yielding 2.49%.

Nomura Holdings fell 4.64%, the bank is covered by a complaint from the federal agency overseeing the mortgage market in the United States, which accuses 17 major institutions have sold bonds backed by mortgages in with these operations is misleading.

The Nikkei, which had 1.7% last week on hopes of a Fed intervention to support the U.S. economy, fell in the wake of Wall Street Friday in response to halt the creation employment in the United States.

Trade volumes were found well below average.

President Barack Obama must present Thursday in a speech to the nation a plan for employment, as investors increasingly fear the scenario of a relapse into recession the world's largest economy.

"In this atmosphere, foreign investors should remain risk averse and inactive," predicted Mitsushige Akino, fund manager for Ichiyoshi Investment Management.

The benefit of General Motors has nearly doubled in the second quarter exceeded market expectations, thanks to an increase in market share, particularly in the United States, the number one U.S. auto.

Net income stood at $ 2.52 billion, $ 1.54 per share, against $ 1.33 billion, $ 0.85 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I / B / E / S had forecast $ 1.20 per share.

Revenues came out up 19% to 39.4 billion, better than the 36.74 billion expected by the consensus.

The new car registrations in France were charged in July the fourth consecutive month of decline, and the Committee of French Automobile Manufacturers (CCFA) maintains its forecast of a decline of 8% to 10% of the market this year with the end of scrapping.

The CCFA said Monday that new car registrations in France fell by 5.9% last month to 159,945 units. July 2011 had counted 20 working days, one fewer than in July 2010, the decline in comparable number of working days (CJO) stood at 1.2%.

"July is an important month for the market before the August break, performance remains quite good," said a spokesman for the CCFA."It turns well to a decrease of 8% to 10% throughout the year as it will be impossible to trace levels of late 2010."

The French market continues to nibble advance acquired in the first quarter, delivery period of the last cars ordered before the end of the scrapping. In the first seven months of the year, it remains still rising, but only just (0.2%).

Demand is traditionally strong in July before the last burst of holiday departures. In June, the market shrank from 12.6% in raw data – and 3.9% on CJO.

"No real surprise in July, a small decline.The market is now entering a phase worst, with a second half ahead mechanically more difficult, "said Philippe Barrier, industry analyst at Societe Generale.

THE PRODUCT MIX OF BENEFIT TO FOREIGN

The scrapping has benefited mainly small cars and French manufacturers, which is a great specialty, the 'product mix' has rebalanced toward larger models since the end of aid.Foreign manufacturers such as Volkswagen's German (7%) benefit.

In July, registrations French manufacturers have fallen by 9.3% – those of PSA Peugeot Citroen fell 7.0% and Renault's 12.4% – while sales of foreign manufacturers have declined only 1.2%.

Of these, however, Italy's Fiat showed a fall of 22.8% across the group because of its high exposure to the city car segment.

The performance of the Renault group in the past month hides a wide disparity between the low cost brand Dacia (-48.8%) and diamond brand (-2.7%).

Dacia continues to suffer from supply problems in diesel engines because many manufacturers in Spain and Turkey fail to keep up with demand, and the fall in sales of LPG Sandero since the abolition of the government bonus for this type of engine.

In contrast, commercial offers for motorists to shift to diesel fuel to alleviate the supply problems have borne fruit on the Renault brand.

The market for light trucks for its part, experienced declines of 11.8% unadjusted and 7.4% on CJO, reflecting the slowdown in economic activity during the summer.

However, registrations of trucks still rose 34.6%, this segment continued to benefit from favorable comparisons because the restart was later.

The expenditure of the European Commission will be increased by 2% in 2012, against 5% demanded by Brussels. The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso (here at a press conference in Brussels April 13, 2011)

The EU governments have cut Monday, July 25 in the spending proposals of the European Commission for the 2012 budget, increased by only 2% compared to 2011, while Brussels called for an increase of 4.9%. Six countries voted against this proposal, however: United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Austria and Sweden, said a statement by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the EU. All these countries had considered the requests the Commission "unacceptable" and "disproportionate".

The draft budget proposed by Brussels in April 2012 included 132.7 billion euros in spending, against 126.5 billion in 2011, an increase of 4.9% to 147.4 billion euros in credits commitments (scheduled and paid only in case of fund-raising) against 142.1 billion in 2011. European governments have limited spending for 2012 to 129,080,000,000 euros, 3.65 billion less, and a ceiling on commitment appropriations at EUR 146.24 billion, a cut of 1.59 billion euros in the proposal in Brussels.

"Governments have made a special effort to reduce operating costs of the Council of 5.45% compared to 2011," the statement said.This position "is exactly inflation" and is "the basis for negotiations given to the Polish presidency of the EU" to deal with the European Parliament and the Commission to conclude an agreement on the common budget for 2012, says the statement.

Governments have cut 1.29 billion in payments of EU funds (social funds, funds for regional development and cohesion funds), cut off 786 million euros for agricultural expenditure planned by Brussels, reduced benefits for most agencies Europe, especially that of the anti-fraud office (Olaf) and those of several institutions, including the Ombudsman, the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee. The EU budget is the primary mechanism for redistribution within the Union. It essentially consists of contributions from the states, supplemented by levies customs duties (12% of budget).

Swedish bank Swedbank said Thursday an operating profit better than expected second quarter and still expected a gradual improvement in its profit before provisions.

The bank generated an operating profit of 4.32 billion kronor (474 ​​million), nearly double the rate published a year earlier, while analysts polled by Reuters had anticipated 4.10 billion crowns .

Its net banking income has increased for the fourth consecutive quarter to 4.7 billion kroner, beating consensus (4.6 billion).

Swedbank also reiterated a forecast continued recovery in the Baltics, Russia and Ukraine.