International News

The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended the session Monday, sustained growth, the Nikkei 225 index ended up 0.80% at 10,293.89 points, driven by good U.S. indicators and the progress of the financial center of Shanghai.

The Nikkei continued its momentum so bullish. Since the beginning of November, the Nikkei was up over 12%. After touching a high of seven months on the morning of Friday at 10,373.70 points, it fell as a result of profit taking. According to analysts, technical signs that the market is overvalued. Coupled with the approaching end of the year, this should be downward pressure on the Nikkei.

Elsewhere in Asia / Pacific, the trend is upward Globle moderate. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng 0.31% advance to 23,234.60 points. In Australia, the S & P / ASX rises from 0.21% to 4755.90 points.In India, the BSE allows itself 0.35% to 19,576.50 points.

China: no increase in rates or price controls

In China, this weekend, the rise in the index of consumer prices, the main gauge of inflation, last month, reaching 5.1% year on year, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released Saturday, against 4.4% in October. This is the largest increase since July 2008 when prices in one year had increased by 6.3%. The news did not result in a rate hike as was anticipated by the markets last week. Single turn of the screw: the rise in foreign currency reserves on Friday for the sixth time since the beginning of the year.

No price controls either. In retail, food prices rose in November from 11.7% a year, an increase smaller than what has been recorded in recent months.The government had said last month he was ready if necessary to establish price controls on essential commodities.

At the Exchange, the Shanghai CSI still climbing from 1.37% to 3205.14 points, after a good session on Friday. These increases are due to the concerns last week, related to anticipation of monetary tightening.

Oil up

Crude prices were up Monday in electronic trading in Asia (88.07 dollars), encouraged by a decline in the U.S. trade deficit and cold weather in the Northern Hemisphere and the United States, in terms of higher consumption , according to analysts.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), meeting Saturday in Quito, has unsurprisingly renewed its production quotas for the seventh consecutive time, judging the world market well supplied and relativizing the recent rise in oil prices."The conference decided to maintain its current production levels, set at 24.84 million barrels per day (bpd) since January 1, 2009.

ALSO READ:

"China's new anti-inflation measures in order

Two years after the start of the case Madoff, the liquidator of the fund's American crook, Irving Picard, multiplies the proceedings to recover $ 50 billion lost by investors in the largest securities fraud in history . The banks involved are particularly targeted:

HSBC

Nine billion. It is the largest amount claimed by Irving Picard to a company in Madoff. And this company is HSBC, which the liquidator has "created, promoted and supported an international network of a dozen feeder funds domiciled in Europe, the Caribbean and Central America." British bank denies everything."HSBC will vigorously defend against the prosecution of the case Madoff who are in various jurisdictions worldwide, including lawsuits in partnership with the United States," argued the bank in a statement.

JP Morgan

Main bank fund Madoff, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, JP Morgan is also accused of complicity by the liquidator. The liquidator claimed $ 6.4 billion. He said the U.S. financial institution would be encouraged and assisted the fraud set up by Madoff. "JP Morgan has voluntarily closed its eyes to this fraud, even after being aware of the many warnings against Madoff," wrote one of the boards of Irving Picard in a statement.JP Morgan said the accusation was "irresponsible and exaggerated."

UBS

Irving Picard calls for an additional $ 555 million in Swiss bank. This brings the total amount requested from 2.5 billion dollars.UBS is accused of complicity in the scam. Specifically, he alleged that UBS had recovered the money stolen by Madoff investors in its two funds, mutual funds and Luxalpha Financial Group Limited. UBS, which has denounced the accusations "false", said he was not "liable to those investors unfortunate consequences of the scandal Madoff.

Natixis / Citigroup

And the list goes on. The administrator responsible for the liquidation of the company from American financier Bernard Madoff has filed a new action against seven banks, including Citigroup and Natixis which Irving Picard calls respectively 400 million and $ 425 million.The other five are the Belgian Fortis (BNP Paribas), the Dutch ABN Amro, the Spanish Banco Bilbao Argentaria Vzcaya, Japan's Nomura and Merrill Lynch groin Americas, owned by Bank of America. Natixis dispute a charge, saying "have always acted in good faith and has neither received nor participated or had knowledge of the fraud committed by Bernard Madoff.

BNP Paribas

The liquidator has also filed a complaint against Legacy Capital BNP Paribas and he accuses of having profited from the scam. According to Irving Picard, Legacy Capital has received at least $ 255.8 million (191.3 million euros) by Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities (BLMIS) between 2000 and December 11, 2008, when the fraud was revealed. Of this total, some 89.3 million represented payments fraud.However, according to the administrator, BNP Paribas took control of the accounts of Legacy Capital in 2004 while being aware of suspicions of fraud at the time already weighing on Bernard Madoff.

UBP

Also, good news reached the ears of victims: Tuesday, the Geneva bank, UBP has paid cash almost half a billion dollars to the Trustee, American authority administering the bankruptcy funds formerly controlled by Bernard Madoff. An agreement between the bank and the liquidator that the Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan must approve. This is the first international agreement on such a scale. Victims will cross our fingers that this is not the only one.

ALSO READ:

"Madoff 20 billion claimed from an Austrian bank

PPR Conforama succeeded in selling at high prices. The furniture chain, bought in 1991 to LVMH, will pass under the flag of South Africa. Steinhoff, a manufacturer and distributor of furniture now in England, Germany and Italy, won the auction organized by Rothschild.

Reportedly, the group, advised by RBS, Citigroup and HSBC, had already completed its financing, and set the table a little over 1.6 billion euros. Steinhoff, who was interested in Conforama past two years has outstripped the Carlyle consortium led by the owners of Purpose, associated with the Permira Funds. With the result of this sale, François-Henri Pinault, the CEO of PPR, which also seeks to separate from FNAC and La Redoute, may redeem the clothing brands to build a pole "sport-lifestyle" around Puma.

ALSO READ:

"PPR hopes Fnac and sell at high prices Conforama