International Business News

The new lawyer's former trader Jerome Kerviel, who was sentenced in 2010 to five years in prison for three farm loss of 4.9 billion suffered by the bank Société Générale ; eral in 2008, renewed the assault of his former company.

David Koubbi me, who just succeeded Olivier Metzner to defend the prisoner for his appeal hearing in June, wrote to the chairmen of the Assembly Finance e and Senate to be surprised that SocGen could receive a tax deduction of nearly 1.7 billion euros in compensation from the e episode.

In his letter obtained by Reuters has learned me Koubbi asks Jérôme Cahuzac Philippe Marini and the convening of a commission on this episode. This request will remain a dead letter at least for now, the Parliament sitting over pending legislative elections in June

But it is a way for Jerome Kerviel, also condemned in first instance to repay 4.9 billion euros, to start the assault on his former company , it has always accused of being informed of their risk practices and turning a blind eye as they pertained.

Koubbi is me in his letter that a tax deduction for exceptional loss is legally possible that if there were no obvious deficiency in the controls. Now this is the case, since the Banking Commission fined 4 million euros to SocGen in 2008 for this failure.

"It seems to me that the allocation of that amount in favor of Societe Generale goes against the established case law applicable to the deduction tax (…) I therefore ask you to convene a committee to inform our citizens, "the lawyer wrote in his letters.

Convicted of embezzlement, forgery and using false and fraudulent intrusion into a system of data processing, Jerome Kerviel, who was also sentenced to ; repay the loss, is currently free and still has not paid, the appeal is suspensive. 

The trial court ruled that he had deliberately violated his professional engagements and hidden the reality of its position in its hierarchy.

The young man admitted pronouncements risk of dizzy from 2005 to 2008 on European equity market indices, reaching nearly 50 billion euros, and camouflaged by other reversals of orders fictitious market, expected to cover the risk.

Unsettled after the announcement of their discovery by the bank, in full rout of financial markets, these positions, which were once largely the beneficiaries, ultimately caused a net loss of 4.9 billion euros.

The term fast cash does not refer to money that falls from the sky. It refers to the money obtained through a cash advance.

European shares declines sharply at mid-session Tuesday, after a long weekend by Easter, the statistical disappointing U.S. employment numbers in March and in Halftone China's foreign trade darkening global economic outlook at the time opens in the U.S., the earnings season.

In Paris, shortly before 13h, the CAC 40 lost 1.43% (47.37 points) to 3,272.44 points. In Frankfurt the Dax gave 1.06% and London, the FTSE fell by 0.95%. Pan-European Eurostoxx 50 index gave up 1.31%.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of volatility, the main barometer of investor nervousness in Europe jumped 12% to its highest in five weeks.

The sectors most dependent on exports to emerging markets, including automotive and mining, are among the largest declines under the impact of slower growth in Chinese imports. Peugeot lost 3.7%, 3.6% Renault.

Wall Street is expected to rebound in the opening in the light of index futures in New York advancing 0.1% to 0.35%.

At just over 24 hours of the deadline, creditors who have declared themselves in favor of the plan of exchange of obligations still account for only 39.3% of the country's debt. Greece in the storm

Private creditors had already decided in favor of the exchange of Greek debt does currently represent 39.3%, or 81 billion euros, the amount covered by this operation, said Wednesday the committee private creditors in a communiqué.Cependant, the 50% threshold, from which Greece can possibly forcing some creditors to participate, is approaching.

The deadline to tender its shares to the exchange is set at 9:00 p.m. Thursday (2000 GMT). The exchange for 206 billion euros of debt held by private creditors (banks, investment funds, insurers, etc.). In total, the Greek debt than 350 billion euros.  

Greece has already indicated that it would not proceed with the exchange if the turnout did not reach at least 75% of this part of the Greek debt held by private creditors. She also announced that if this threshold was disappointing, it could compel, through collective action clauses (CAC), all private creditors to submit to the exchange.

To date, no non-Greek financial institution holding a significant amount of Greek debt has not officially spoken out against the exchange. Several major banks, insurers and investment funds have not yet publicly announced their decision.

The committee, meeting under the auspices of the Institute of International Finance (IIF), which represents major global financial institutions, in a statement cites 30 banks, insurers and investment funds that have made public their support for the plan. This is mainly European companies, supplemented by the management company American Greylock Capital Management and the U.S. insurer Metlife.

Moreover, contacted by AFP, the largest regional German bank, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) said it would participate in the exchange. The approximately one billion euros of Greek bonds it holds are now housed in the bad bank established with the support of the German state, called Erste Abwicklungsanstalt (EAA).

Another rallying not taken into account by the press, that of German reinsurer Munich Re, said Wednesday that the agency Dow Jones, he would take part in the operation. The gross value of its securities amounted to 1.53 billion euros in late September.  

First holder of Greek debt outside Greece, the German bank Hypo Real Estate (HRE), has not spoken publicly since the agreement on the new conditions of the plan, in Brussels on February 21, but had previously expressed its intention to contribute. The bad bank of HRE, called FMS, held at the end of the first half of 2011, about 8.1 billion euros of Greek debt.

France prepares to beat Thursday's record consumption of electricity and gas. Blame the intense cold that strikes the Hexagon. Y there is a risk of blackouts? Cars are blocked due to the snow at Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines toll near Paris December 8, 2010 as winter weather and freezing temperatures sub-continuous in France. (FRANCE – Tags: ENVIRONMENT TRANSPORT)

The cold wave that moved to France will intensify in the coming days, but so far, "no major blackouts are to be expected" reassures Herve Mignon, Director of Economy, Planning and transparency in TEN (a subsidiary of EDF). In total this Thursday, 41 counties are in orange alert "cold and snow", until Saturday, 7 am. Level 3 Plan "Extreme Cold" was triggered in Isere, Savoie and in the Oise and the North. "It is seven degrees below seasonal averages of both north and south," said the forecaster Meteo France Dominique Raspaud. A cold that will become even stronger to the end of the week throughout France. For Friday, says Ms. Raspaud to AFP, "is expected within 5 to Marseille in the south-west, at least 6 Bordeaux and La Rochelle, below the minus 10 in Alsace, France-Comté and Rhône Alps "… Even in Britain, a region often spared the extreme temperatures are expected least 1 or less 2 Friday morning in Brest.

Consumption soaring …

The latest forecast of RTE, EDF subsidiary that manages the French high-voltage network, the national electricity consumption would reach 95,500 megawatts (MW) this Thursday at rush hour, at 19h, grazing and the peak total of 15 December 2010 (96,710 MW). After a hard day following the historic summit next Monday could be exceeded, providing RTE for now peaked at 98,700 MW that day. However, an estimate will be refined at the mercy of weather bulletins France. The reason for the runaway? The cold wave which pushes the Hexagon shiver the French to run their electric heaters at full speed. "During cold spells in winter, when there is a degree Celsius less, this corresponds to 2,300 megawatts of additional consumption, the equivalent of twice the consumption of the city of Marseille," recalls Herve Mignon, Director of the economy, foresight and transparency in TEN.  

But … no risk of "blackout" National

"Nationally, there is no risk now, in the sense that the means of production and available national electricity imports from neighboring countries can meet the electricity consumption as expected, "said M.Mignon.

To spend the winter safely, France is indeed important to the Power Utilities. She buys from Germany and Great Britain. Belgium and Denmark can also provide electricity. Spain, if it is untouched by the cold wave, could also provide some of the energy it needs by turning to its own power base.

Increased prevention of certain departments

RTE enabled for the first time this season the device Ecowatt in both "electric peninsulas" that are Brittany and the Côte d'Azur, which were placed in "orange alert". A clear message was sent: "We invite you to moderate your consumption of electricity between 18:00 and 20:00." And for good reason, these areas suffer from a lack of internal capacity of electricity generation, and therefore rely on neighboring regions to meet their energy needs. They are located at the ends of the national grid, it creates risks of bottleneck in their diet. In the Var, 3,000 homes remained without power Thursday morning.

Some useful tips

The right temperature is 19 ° C, no more! A simple thing: go to 20 ° C to 19 ° C in the living rooms of 7% to reduce your energy consumption. In the rooms, ADEME cautions that it is better to keep a temperature between 16 ° C and 17 ° C. In case of absence, he should lower the heating and do not put them up after work. "They will not heat the room faster," said the Environment Agency and energy management. Reduce power consumption between 17h and 20h in winter. few simple actions like turning off appliances on standby, turn down the heat in unoccupied rooms, close the shutters at night, and use appliances after 20h. Companies must also participate in this national effort.

On the eve of the 51th Paris Boat Show, the uncertainty is set at the manufacturers of pleasure boats in 2012, the sovereign debt crisis with little visibility, while the water sports market has improved slightly in 2010 / 2011.

French production increased 11% between September 2010 and August 2011, compared to the same period in 2009/2010, while the world market has increased slightly from 0% to 3%, said the Federation of Nautical Industries ( FIN).

"We are in a somewhat unique because our customers are there, the practice is growing, but at the same time we are in a period when accumulated outside the marine industry factors of concern," said Yves Lyon Caen, Vice President and President of the END of the supervisory board of Beneteau.

"The day there will be a release of the brakes, mainly psychological, the industry will rebound very important," he pointed out, however.

The rate of exports is 67% in 2010/2011, against 63.2% a year earlier.

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 European Commission will Wednesday unveil new rules for new rules to limit the power of rating agencies. The suspension of a rating and the attack to justice agencies include planned. Moody's in New York.

The "blunder" by Standard and Poor's comes almost timely for the European Commission. Brussels Wednesday will unveil a range of measures to regulate rating agencies, and the announcement erroneous degradation of France by S & P should increase the willingness of the European regulatory agances. Details of the measures to be adopted.

Suspend a rating

The Commission will decide to suspend the rating of a State in case of excessive volatility or if it is under European aid program. This decision can be explained by the previous in Greece.

Attack to justice agencies

Any investor can now sue an agency and ask for damages. Brussels wants to create "a European framework of liability in case of serious misconduct or gross negligence." A new measure that should appeal to France after the "true-false" degradation Standard and Poor's.

Impose a turnover in the agencies

Brussels wants to put some competition in the "Big Three", Moody's, Standard and Poor's and Fitch Ratings. The idea of ​​creating a European agency was abandoned now Brussels wants to impose a rotation to the actors who are noted. Clearly, companies and states will be required to change agencies every three years, to encourage competition between agencies. But the idea has been criticized not only by the agencies but also by some of their clients.

The rating agency Fitch has placed on negative watch Thursday's long-term ratings of BNP Paribas (AA-) and Credit Agricole (AA-) as part of its periodic evaluation of European institutions.

The credit rating of long-term Credit Mutuel (AA-) was also placed on negative watch, but that of the Societe Generale (A +) was confirmed.

The notes of sustainability ("Viability rating") of BNP Paribas (AA-), Credit Agricole (AA-) and Societe Generale (A +) are also placed on negative watch.

Fitch said that the negative phase of monitoring should be short, and that if cuts in long-term notes were determined, they could not exceed one notch, the minimum level of major French banks are "A +".

In the case of Societe Generale and BNP, Fitch notes that the business model of universal banking world they have chosen seems "particularly sensitive to increased challenges which face the financial markets."

"These challenges result from a myriad of changes in the regulatory and economic developments, especially in the euro area," said Fitch.

Also as part of its review of banks, Fitch has also downgraded the Swiss bank UBS to "A +" to "A".

Those of Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank are also placed on negative watch, just as the U.S., the Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

Air France, which opened its first Sunday "based province" in Marseille, comes directly hunt on the lands of the companies' low-cost "as Ryanair or Easyjet broken at prices of 13 destinations.

The first flight "new formula" of the French company took off Sunday at 9:35 of the tarmac from Marseille to Istanbul.Passengers paid 80 euros each way.

In total, Air France thus opens 13 new routes from Marseille-Provence – three in France (Mulhouse, Biarritz, Brest) and ten abroad (Athens, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Eindhoven, Milan, Moscow, Prague, Beirut, Casablanca and Istanbul).

"We create a mini-Marseille airline with its aircraft and personnel," said the CEO of Air France-KLM, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, during his visit Thursday to Marseille airport for the official launch of the first "base province" of the French company.

After Marseille, which is the "size test", Air France plans to open bases in spring 2012 in Nice and Toulouse and Bordeaux.

To regain market share against the pressure of the TGV and low-cost airlines, which continue to gain ground on short and medium haul, the French company has set up an optimization of resources and a new organization negotiated with pilots and crews.

TEN AIRBUS based in Marseille

A total of ten Airbus A319 and A320 are now based at the airport in Marseille. Depending on the destination, they will perform at least two trips a day between 06:00 and 23:00.

On a voluntary basis, 120 pilots and 220 flight attendants were assigned to these new lines.The ground staff was also strengthened.

This device should allow the airline to tighten the price (50 euros for domestic flights to 110 euros one way on Moscow) maintaining the benefits typically offered by the French company on its other flights as the choice of place , newspapers and snacks on board or free luggage.

"This development meets one of the main expectations of our customers travel quickly at competitive prices," said the president of the Marseille-Provence airport, Jean-François Brando.

In five years, the airport Provence has surfed the wave of low-cost, doubling the number of scheduled airlines direct: 51 in 2006, 104 in 2011.

The opening of the first low-cost airport in Europe in 2006 allowed him to record a steady growth in passenger traffic, reaching 7.5 million passengers in 2010.

"With more than 150 companies and 5,000 employees on the platform, the airport is one of the leading employers in the area and generates more than three billion euros in economic benefits for the territory Marseille Provence," concludes Jean-François Brando.

Wolfgang Schäuble, German Finance Minister, said that Greece could not come back next year on the capital market and will need a decade to have a competitive economy.

In an interview published Saturday by the economic weekly "WirtschaftsWoche", the great financier think it is "clear that Greece will not be able to return to the capital market in 2012, as we thought in 2010."

Against the backdrop of European fears of a possible failure of Athens to its sovereign debt, the chief economist of the German insurer Allianz, Michael Heise, told German radio that restructuring ("haircut") important Debt holders of Greek government bonds would only increase the risk of contagion in the euro area.

"I do not think the time has come for a similar debt restructuring," he said in response to Greek media reports – denied by Athens Friday – a scenario for overcoming the crisis and would be a default ordered at a discount of 50% for holders of sovereign debt.

To the economist, similar scenario would create new problems and increase the risk of contagion to other countries in the euro area, which would create "a very, very serious."