Top Economics News

After the loss of triple A, the real estate professionals were inclined rather to an increase in lending rates. But the opposite occurs in February, according to the online broker best rate.

Contrary to the fears widely reported by the loss of triple-A, mortgage rates are down slightly for this month. This is apparent from a study of online broker, Meilleurtaux.com. In February, 45% of banks show declines of 0.15 points on average, 31% have left the stable. Only 24% have made gains. Overall, the average credit rate stood at 4.28% against 4.31% in January.

OAT rates down

"We do not expect this result" surprising Sandrine Allonier, head of economic research meilleurtaux.com. It must be said that the rate of OAT (comparable Treasury obligations), that is to say the rate at which France takes the 10-year bond has not increased. The Hexagon borrows at preferential rates. And on the contrary, it borrows a better rate. "For example, in February it reached 2.89%, whereas before the loss of the triple A, it was 3.40%," says Sandrine Allonier. Second explanation, the rates of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the interbank rate, the interest rate charged between banks themselves, remain stable. Finally, the loss of the AAA had been anticipated by financial markets and banks have rebuilt their capital. Consequently, they can lower their lending rates long and short term.

March, the month in real estate transactions

"Presumably, this slight decline will continue in March, one month is very rich in real estate transactions." Banks are trying to position themselves in relation to competition. Hence their strategy to attract new customers by lower lending rates in the long and short term. "Some had rates at 4.30%, which rose 4% in February. These banks want to take their game," said Ms. Allonier. Before continuing, "the banks are still selective about the cases. All require a contribution of 10%."

Apply for credit up

The increase in the number of credit reports is the second conclusion of the study meilleurtaux.com. A figure up 20% compared with December, while still down 2% year on year. Borrowers do not turn away the real estate market. There are still a safe haven, especially since many of them expect lower prices in 2012, "the order of 5% in some areas," said Sandrine Allonier. However, "there is a caution for future buyers: they are occasionally more likely to assess their borrowing capacity before they have found a property. Those who led a project with a signed sales agreement fell 4% over a year. "

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Greece wants a solution to their debt problems that would apply to all of its debt maturing until 2035, said Monday a government source.

"We think of all the Greek debt, expiring until 2035, not 2020 as planned in the previous plan," the source said, adding that "nothing can be done without the European Central Bank ".

Leaders of the 17 euro zone members must agree by the EU summit Wednesday on how the second aid package granted to Greece, including a marked discount on Greek bonds held by the private sector , which represent the 200 billion euros.

"We oppose any unilateral action that could be interpreted as a reconstruction of the debt," the source said.

Whatever emerges from the top of Wednesday, Greek banks are not nationalized, also said the source.

According to the information that leaked a report on the debt of Greece by international inspectors, it seems that the second aid package of € 109 billion agreed in July is no longer sufficient unless private investors n 'accept a discount of 60% on their Greek bonds.

Without it, it would take more than 250 billion euros for Greece is solvent, say economists.

Private creditors of Greece may have to accept a loss of up to 60% on their sovereign debt to the Greek debt can become sustainable over the long term, according to a report that will serve as the basis for decisions of the leaders of the euro area meet Sunday and Wednesday in Brussels.

The EU finance ministers STRIPS for their Saturday on different scenarios and try to resolve their differences in voluntary or not of such private sector participation to a new bailout for Greece.

Friday night, they brought a breath of fresh air in Athens, giving the green light to the payment by mid-November of the next tranche of international assistance by 8 billion euros, without which Greece would default on its securities sovereigns in the coming weeks.

The International Monetary Fund still has to also accept the payment, he conditioned ambitious decisions of Heads of State and Government of the euro area to reduce the mountain of Greek debt.

According to the scenarios included in the report of the troika – IMF, ECB and European Commission – representing international donors in Greece, a 50% discount on Greek bonds held by private investors is necessary to reduce debt to 120% of GDP , against 162% today.

If it was intended to bring it below 110%, a discount of 60% would be necessary, the report, which warns that the Greek debt could have a peak at 186% of GDP.

A footnote on page mentions, however, opposition from the European Central Bank to the publication of such scenarios because it believes that investors will refuse to subscribe voluntarily to these losses, resulting in an inadequate Greek.

Fearing to trigger a credit event with unforeseeable consequences, France and several other countries are also reluctant to go beyond the envelope of 50 billion euros negotiated last July 21 with the banks, as demanded German authorities if necessary by forcing them to go the extra mile.

FUND SUPPORT FOR THE EURO AREA

Reflecting a view increasingly shared by European leaders, the Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg has called for Saturday to a "substantial discount" on the Greek titles.

"I do not think we should use taxpayers' money.The safeguards system can not only restore confidence, "he said on his arrival at the meeting of EU finance ministers.

In addition to the Greek plan, they try to move forward on Saturday a comprehensive plan to recapitalize banks on the continent, aimed not only to prepare them for losses in Greece but also to restore investor confidence.

Several European and banking sources told Reuters earlier this week that the plan could be around 100 billion euros.

They must also continue work to define a formula acceptable to all the Fund to leverage support for the euro area (EFSF), on which Paris and Berlin are divided.

Friday night, after a meeting of the Eurogroup, which barely touched the issue, the economy minister, Baroin said that France continued to believe that the conversion of cash in bank was the best solution but did not make "one final point of confrontation."

"What counts is what works.And what works is what will go towards deterrence and effective firewall and it is around that we're trying to work, "the minister said to the press.

SARKOZY, MERKEL MEETING

Granted a banking license in EFSF would allow access to funding from the European Central Bank to increase its capacity for action by a factor of up to five.

But Berlin rejects this possibility, which would be to accept that the institution of Frankfurt finance the countries of the euro area, one of the dogmas explicitly excluded by the European treaties.

The other members of the euro area are also divided, Belgium and Spain having voted for a reconciliation BCE-EFSF while Slovakia and Austria have indicated that this solution was not studied.

A European source said Friday that among the solutions on which floor the ministers, not imply the

ECB.

This issue could be decided on Saturday evening at a bilateral meeting in Brussels between Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel, who will be joined by the presidents of the Commission and the European Council, José Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy.

European leaders are under intense pressure by their international partners to take decisive action against the crisis, less than two weeks of the G20 summit in Cannes, where they planned to hold them accountable.

Olympus still has the title fell 6.81% Friday, the market value of the Japanese and melted with about 50% since last Friday, the day he announced the dismissal of its chief executive Michael Woodford.

Investors have pushed the action and the manufacturer of cameras and optical instruments of precision to a low of two and a half years, adding to even more pressure on the group to be explained on unusually high consulting fees paid in connection with an acquisition and revealed by the ousted leader.

Olympus acknowledged Wednesday it had paid $ 687 million (498 million) in financial advisors in the purchase of the British manufacturer of medical equipment Gyrus.

These fees represent a third of the price of the acquisition, whereas traditionally they account for only 1% or 2% of the value of a transaction, according to a PriceWaterhouseCoopers study commissioned by Michael Woodford.

POLICE PROTECTION

The latter told Reuters on Thursday it had filed for protection under the British police after submitting new information to investigators British anti-fraud regarding fees.

In the data transmitted to the authorities by Michael Woodford, a former investment banker from Japan appears to be the central figure in the matter of fees.

According to these documents, Hajime "Jim" Sagawa was the owner of AXIS, a financial services company little known American who received the exorbitant fees reported by Michael Woodford.

Olympus, which denies any impropriety, said the fees had been paid to its subsidiary AXIS Axam Investments, a company registered in the Cayman Islands, including Hajime Sagawa was a member of the Board, the report of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Reuters visited the home of the latter, a former Nomura banker, only to find that his wife, who assured that her husband had done nothing wrong.

INVESTIGATION OF SESC JAPAN

Michael Woodford has also written to the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC), the authority of the Japanese financial markets, asking him to consider the case Olympus.

An investigation by the SESC could take months. Financial Services Minister Shozaburo Jim said the policeman of the financial sector would work, but refused to comment on individual cases.

"Olympus has clearly withheld information to investors. And even if she is not guilty of actions contrary to law, management has breached its obligations vis-à-vis shareholders.It should take responsibility, "said Shigeo Sugawara, manager of Sompo Japan Nipponkoa investments in Asset Management.

Olympus may have to spend significant impairment likely to weaken its balance sheet. And even if, according to manager, many candidates would be interested in the instruments of precision optics group, no one would touch it before the case is improper fees paid.

The company is now worth some $ 4.5 billion.

Brokers have suspended their coverage of Olympus as key shareholders and require that the group be made public links between management and its financial advisors.

Banks must be better capitalized to avoid an escalation of the crisis that would be caused by a financial collapse, said Sunday the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble on the ZDF television, adding that banks no longer trust the to each other.

"We need better regulation and better capitalization of banks," he said.

"Everyone will not like this, but it is the best way there is no escalation of the crisis caused by a collapse of the banking system."

"The cause of this crisis is too much debt, but we must fight the danger of contagion. We must simply recognize that banks currently have more trust towards each other, so the market Banking is not working as it should.The best way to combat this is a better recapitalization. "

The new organization called the head of Renault after the false spy case will come into force on 2 November as planned and strengthen the power of the CEO Carlos Ghosn with the aim to avoid the fiasco of the early recurrence in 2011.

Two audits were presented last April to the board of the diamond group to shed light on the failures that led to falsely accuse several of its executives of industrial espionage.An audit was conducted in-house and one by the firm Bearing Point.

Among the organizational changes confirmed Friday night in a brief statement included a redesign of the security service of Renault, who was at the heart of the case that began in January and now suspected to be a scam.

The new management of protection and prevention group, the prerogatives extended, will be led by Eric the Great, who was previously a function similar to the Post Office.But in the future to reduce the risk of error, the direction will be doubly locked with the appointment of an Inspector General, Jean-Marc Berlioz, who led a time IGPN (General Inspectorate of the National Police), and who will report directly to the CEO.

"President Carlos Ghosn had communicated its intention to implement all the report's findings as soon as possible," it said in a statement from Renault.

The new organization also confirms the reunification of HRD and the enlargement of the former General Secretariat (support functions, management and legal protection group, the famous security service), Mouna Sepehri told.Both services are now placed directly under the authority of Carlos Ghosn, and not under that of his number two as in the previous architecture.

The responsibilities of the new Chief Operating Officer Carlos Tavares are reduced compared to those of his predecessor Patrick Pélata, ousted after the affair.

Carlos Ghosn turns his back on a tandem operation that has punctuated the history of Renault with famous couples, like the one formed by CEO Louis Schweitzer and the Secretary General Michel de Virville in the 1990s.

So far, Carlos Ghosn had seemed like a time to step back and focus on long-term strategy of the Renault-Nissan, and had delegated for this purpose from 2008 operational direction of the diamond group at Patrick Pélata.

"It's a good thing he is more responsible for Renault, he made it clear from the case that the company was within its responsibility, and employees expect there to be a boss and a single" said a source told Reuters the company.

The state, which owns 15% of Renault, has never hidden its displeasure over the matter.Renault said Friday that Veronica Dosdat named director of public affairs, will be responsible for defending the interests of the group with public authorities in France and worldwide.

REDESIGN THE COMMUNICATION

Audits of spring had never accepted the responsibility of the CEO of Renault.The two reports believed that the president of the company was not part of those "who played a key role in the investigation of the case and / or the anchoring of the belief that it was a case of corruption.

Carlos Ghosn had however provided in January at 20 hours of TF1 that he had "certainty" and evidence "multiple" to support the dismissal of executives.

The espionage case ultimately led to the indictment of Dominique Gevrey, one of the security officials of Renault for organized fraud.The executives were charged for their compensation and, for two of them returned to Renault.

The audit also recommends the establishment of a new management expanded audit and risk management, reporting directly to Carlos Ghosn, whose spokeswoman for Renault said it would be entrusted to Farid Aractingi, who held this function in the previous version of the chart.

Mouna Sepheri had also given the task of learning from the management of the crisis in communications.The audit criticized the internal and external communications have left no room for doubt for several weeks, the group announced Friday the appointment of a new communications director e, in the person of the automotive journalist Florence Goldfiem.

Industrial production in France rose by 0.5% in August after rising 1.8% in July, against 1.5% in the first estimate, show statistics released Monday by INSEE.

Manufacturing output, which is to say, but including non-energy food, rose 0.7% after rising 1.8% the previous month, against 1.4% initially estimated.

Economists polled by Reuters on average expected a 1% drop in industrial production in August.

At three months, "the production is increasing (2.2%) in electrical, electronics, computers and machines and relatively stable in the other positions," said INSEE said in a statement.

Parallel to the industrial sector, construction activity rose 3.2% in August after rising 0.3% the previous month, against 0.1% originally announced.

A few days after the piracy suffered by Areva, Paillou Patrick, the patron of the National Security Information Systems, was called to order hexagonal businesses and governments. He said protection systems are "permeable" and "abandoned." A participant of the Chaos Communication Congress, held in Berlin in December 2010.

Computer protection systems administration and French companies are they permeable? In any case, the conviction of Patrick Pailloux, the executive director of the National Security Information Systems (ANSSI). He called to order Friday in Monaco these companies and administrations judging their systems "in danger". "The situation can not remain as it is, information systems are in danger and we sometimes feel they were abandoned to their fate," said Mr Pailloux.

In his closing conference on security and information systems of Monaco, which were held from October 5 to 7, he was willing to cite any company. But the speech comes just days after French nuclear giant Areva has admitted being the victim of a cyber attack. The hackers had required the intervention of the ANSSI agency attached to the General Secretariat of Defence and National Security, a service of prime minister. Areva has ensured that the attack was focused on "non-critical information and not on sensitive information."

"We are far from the account. The situation everyday reality on the ground, is that our information services are often porous, and that malicious actors have benefited greatly.We often security loincloth, who does not eat bread and that ultimately does not bother anyone "insists the director general of ANSSI. And to prevent him:" we must take back control of our own systems, it no fatality, it's possible because it is not that difficult. We must mobilize to ensure that safety rules are followed. "

The current account deficit widened from France in July to 4.5 billion euros from 3.4 billion in June, preliminary figures show released Tuesday by the Bank of France.

The trade deficit in goods reached 6.7 billion, one billion more than the previous month.

Trade in services have in parallel a surplus of 1.2 billion, down slightly from June.

The balance of revenue reached 3.2 billion euros from 3.0 billion while the deficit on current transfers remained unchanged at 2.2 billion.

The financial account showed net outflows of direct investments of 8.5 billion euros from 6.2 billion in June.

French direct investment abroad stand at 4.3 billion, the Bank of France said in a statement, "while an exceptional operation makes the negative balance of foreign investment in France: the purchase by a French group of significant foreign participation. "

Portfolio investment recorded net inflows of 5.3 billion euros residents reduced their holdings of 16.0 billion while non-residents making sales of French securities to 10.7 billion.

Other investment posted a net outflow of capital limited to 5.3 billion from net outflows of 49.0 billion.

Italy must complete structural reforms and implement the commitment made last month to reduce the deficit and make the economy more flexible, wants the President of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet.

In an interview published Friday by the financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore, the chairman of the ECB considers that the measures announced in Rome on August 5 is "extremely important".

Council President Silvio Berlusconi had promised then to bring the Italian budget balance for 2013.

"It is therefore essential that the stated objectives for the improvement of public finances are fully confirmed and implemented," said Jean-Claude Trichet.

The latter made no direct comment on the economic plan of 45.5 billion currently being debated in the Italian Parliament, merely to emphasize the importance of Rome to implement measures enhancing the entire national capacity in the medium and long term.

He however reiterated his call to the governments of the euro area to address the weaknesses of their economies and strengthen mutual surveillance and governance.

"The European states must correct the current situation," he said.

Asked about the prospects for creation of Euro-bonds common to all countries of the monetary union, he said that the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) already issued securities backed by the European authorities.

"The key message of the Board of Governors is a call for rapid implementation, full of decisions taken by Heads of State and Government of Europe July 21," said the president of the ECB.