International News

While markets plunged Monday on fears of contagion from the debt crisis in Europe, central bankers in the euro area have tried to reassure. "This is to resist the risk of contagion" in Italy, which seems to be the new target markets, or to Spain, and "maintain financial stability in the euro area," said the head of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Junker.

Thus, the finance ministers of the euro area, following a meeting that lasted nine hours Monday, were willing to increase the size of the Financial Assistance Fund, which has now a lending capacity 440 billion euros. They are also considering a "lengthening of maturities of loans" made to give more time to countries in difficulty to repay their debt and reduce interest rate loans to Greece.Other measures are also being considered to "improve the sustainability of government debt." No specific plan of support for the country, however, has been announced. What angered the Prime Minister George Papandreou who believes that "there is no room for indecision and errors", and regrets that European leaders are indulging in "cacophony".

For its part, the executive director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, said she, that the effort of Greece to reduce its budget deficit is still "not enough". The patron of the institution has also sought to reassure over Italy. While the surge in borrowing rates to 10 years in Italy has shown concern on the situation of the country, Christine Lagarde said that "some of the Italian figures are excellent easy pay day loans."She added that "it is clear that Italy is currently facing problems which are essentially driven by the markets." Former Economy Minister further stated that the rating agencies' role "without elaborate. These are singled out: besides the Brussels wants to silence forbade them to assess a country subject to an assistance plan.

The international community "can not save Spain"

But nothing works. Markets are not satisfied and the stock markets tumbling again Tuesday morning. Bank stocks have been particularly affected. In Madrid, the Ibex index lost more than 2%. The Spanish Minister of Economic Affairs, Elena Salgado, said Tuesday he was "not logical" that Spain and Italy are "affected by market volatility," because their economies are "strong and diversified. ""If we are able to transmit the determination that we all, markets should reasonably calm down," she said.

But markets, they do not see things this way: "While the international community can save Greece, Ireland and Portugal, it will not save Spain, too important contributor to the euro area" , said Monday Laurent Geronimi, director of rate management at Swiss Life Private Banking.

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The 2012 presidential election will be decided in part on the field of taxation. In an interview in Le Monde, the Paris mayor proposes, as an individual and "beyond tax reform" in the program of the Socialist Party, to do more to contribute to debt reduction the richest of France. Bertrand Delanoe, who also claims to support the candidacy of Martine Aubry, decides to create a tax "exceptional and limited in time" on high incomes.

"The truth is that we need new resources to reduce debt of France and restore the public, he says in the daily newspaper. [...] So yes, I support what you ask most favored an effort "extra.In a context where the countries situated on the outskirts of the euro area are struggling to convince markets of the sustainability of their debt, the mayor of Paris has combined the fight against the deficit to a real "war": "And when you are war, they say the truth, "he said.

Fusion of the income tax and the CSG

Asked about the unpopularity of this measure, the elected official responded that "citizens may be more courageous leaders" and recalled that in 2008, when he announced to the Parisian tax increases before the election, "They put their trust in me well quick pay day loan." The government in turn made a recent tax reform, repealing the tax shield and at the same time reducing the wealth tax.

If the program of the Socialist Party is not considering special tax aimed at the richest, yet it provides to increase the progressivity of the income tax, now he considers unfair. His plan for 2012 provides for merging the income tax and the CSG, with the aim to simplify taxes and make it more redistributive. An idea which is also his way to the right, particularly in Jean-Francois Cope and Henry Gaino. The pen of the Elysée found Saturday morning in Libération that the proposal "is worth pondering. A condition to be very attentive to the issue of escalation, "he said.

It was twenty years commissions on credit card transactions had not fallen and that the regulator two years campaigning for change that. Following a lengthy litigation, the Competition Authority announced Thursday that French banks got a discount on fees so that they in turn require merchants and consumers for a withdrawal to the distributor or a card payment. This payment remains the most widely used in France and has grown steadily since its introduction, mainly to the detriment of the check.

According to the Competition Authority, which accused the banks to agree to the detriment of consumers, the main interchange fees should drop by 20% to 50%. The agreement will take effect from 1 October and will be valid for four years, with an estimated loss of revenue for banks to 600 million euros a year.

Effect on customers' bills

In detail, the interchange fees for payment, paid by the merchant's bank to the consumer, are expected to decline by 36%. These costs were strongly disputed by the traders, who thought a large majority "penalizing" according to a survey by the Professional Union scale (UPA). The Federation of Enterprises in trade and distribution was also the source of the complaint filed with the Competition Authority no fax cash advance.

More sensitive to the consumer, the fees charged for each withdrawal by the bank's ATM to that of the cardholder to fall by more than 20%. Currently, most institutions charge a euro each withdrawal at another bank in more than a few transactions. Only the Postal Bank currently fails to puncture such fees."The decline of this commission, now passed to the holders of a majority of banks will most likely be a direct down" on consumers' bills, welcomed the Competition Authority in a statement.

Commissions on levies on the Seletti

In this case, the fear of financial penalty penalizing banks convinced the 130 stakeholders to negotiate with the Competition Authority. In September 2010, the institution has indeed sanctioned eleven banks to the tune of 384.9 million euros for imposing fees on abusive transactions by check.

But the sector is regularly singled out by consumer associations to impose unfair tariffs, has not finished accountable.The Competition Authority also announced Thursday that it will address in the coming months to commissions established by other types of credit cards such as Visa or Mastercard, and those imposed for withdrawals.

Insensitive to the new this morning reported last night, after-hours trading, the rating agency Moody's downgraded four notches of the long-term rating of Portugal, the Cac 40 back into the red. By mid afternoon, the stock index was down 0.59% to 3955.48 points. Moody's does not trust the program "ambitious" in the words of the new government which includes to reduce the country's deficit from 9.1% to 5.9% this year, and 3% by 2013, and believes it is likely that Portugal needs a new aid in addition to 78 billion decided last May.

In addition, major banks and international insurers have go to Paris again today to discuss how they are expected to attend the next Plan aid to Greece. Chaired by the Institute of International Finance in the presence of several countries, this meeting should not be decisive.According to one familiar with the matter, the Minister of Economy Baroin believes that the negotiations will not end until "several weeks beyond the summer."

Finally, China has raised interest rates Wednesday for the third consecutive time this year by 25 basis points from February to April. The rates of the Chinese central bank now stands at 6.56%.

Yesterday, the Cac 40 ended on a decline of 0.61% and dropped below the 4,000 points, while this morning in Asia, stock markets are mixed – only the Nikkei stands out with a strong increase of 1.1 % – after a session on Wall Street in a disorganized manner.

The euro widens its losses against the dollar

On the currency side, the euro fell sharply against the dollar on Wednesday, weighed down by renewed worries about the economic health of the most fragile countries in the euro area.Mid-afternoon in Paris, the single European currency was worth 1.4325 dollars against 1.4418 dollars late Tuesday.

On the macroeconomic front, the German industrial orders rose 1.8% in May after rising 2.9% in April according to a slightly revised upwards, said Thursday the Ministry of Economy . It now expects the annual Arcep to 15 hours and the economic outlook for the euro area in 16 hours.Overseas, we will monitor the ISM index of activity in the service in June in 16 hours and the weekly inventory of crude oil after half an hour.

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Sodexo (-0.07% to 53.91 euros) on Wednesday confirmed its targets from 2010 to 2011, announcing an increase of 7.7% of sales in the first 9 months of the year in which emerging markets achieved growth rates in double digits.

The manufacturer Gemalto smart card (0.32% to 33.33 euros), the world, announced Tuesday it has been selected by Qatar to secure its online public services, after developing a national identity card e for Qatari nationals.

Bank stocks remain under pressure, affected by concerns surrounding the euro area after the rating is downgraded by Moody's from Portugal and the slow pace of discussions on Greece unsecured personal loans.Mid-session, BNP Paribas was down 1.70% to 51.41 euros, Societe Generale of 2.17% to 40.25 euros and Natixis 2.32% to 3.45 euros. Credit Agricole SA (-3.53% to 9.98 euros, the largest decline CAC) announced the day before the departure of its chief financial Badré Bertrand, completing an overhaul of the General Staff of the French bank since the arrival of the new management team in early 2010.

Dia hard discount to the company being divided of Carrefour (-2.38% to 23.58 euros), fell on his first day of trading Tuesday in Madrid Stock Exchange. In addition, the band recorded new setbacks Tuesday in his attempt to form the leading Brazilian distribution.

EADS (+0.38% at 23.64 euros).AirAsia will buy 100 Airbus 320neo more, bringing its total order to 300 aircraft, said a source with knowledge of the agreement.

Air France-KLM (-1.10% to 10.80 euros) anticipates an annual growth in turnover of at least 20% in China.

Renault searched, unscrews Scor

The IPO of Mauna Kea (15.03% to 15.03 euros) on Thursday will take place over 13 euros per share, the top of the range that had set the French manufacturer of equipment 'endomicroscopy for placement on NYSE Euronext.

Groups rated television (TF1, Metropole TV, Bolloré, NextRadioTV) will be in Paris to follow.The gross advertising revenue duty of television amounted to 4.29 billion euros in the first half, up more than 12% over the same period a year earlier, said Tuesday firm specializing Yacast.

Scor (-2.84% to 18.99 euros) announced that the exceptionally high cost of natural disasters in the first quarter led him to issue up to 75 million shares to strengthen its equity as part of an automatic protection.

The examining magistrate Herve Robert, in charge of the investigation into the case of pseudo-intelligence within Renault (-0.52% to 40.92 euros), visited Tuesday the premises of the manufacturer at Plessis -Robinson (Hauts-de-Seine) to view documents, said the lawyer for Renault.In addition, the group expects its second half sales results are better than the first half of the year, said deputy director general of the group, Carlos Tavares.

The businessman Bernard Arnault, CEO of luxury group LVMH (+0.16% to 127.25 euros), retains the top spot of the professional fortunes of France, with 21.24 billion euros, before Gerard Mulliez and Liliane Bettencourt, according to a ranking published yesterday Challenges.

L'Oreal (0.55% to 90.02 euros). Françoise Bettencourt Meyers Thursday filed a motion requesting the revocation of the mandate to protect his mother, while urging the judge of guardianships in Courbevoie (Hauts-de-Seine) to take legal action, said Tuesday in an AFP judicial source.

LE FIGARO. Why launch this new brand, B & You?

Olivier ROUSSAT .- Today, with the success of smartphones and mobile Internet, a whole segment of customers has become an expert. They can do many things for themselves via the Internet without the need for assistance. For them we run B & You. It's very innovative. Five years ago, this kind of customer did not exist.

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In recent months, the market has sharply segmented into two blocks, with one side clients who are willing to pay for expensive packages smartphones with many services and, on the other clients are doing by them themselves but want less expensive packages.They are equally distributed among all operators.

How is it innovative?

B & You is a new concept: a revolutionary price, a non-binding offer, all in full on the Internet. All this together, it had never been done. We are entering a new era of data, and we are only in infancy. We are in the early history of digital homes.

You offer no phone packages included. Is this the end of the model based on the grant, which strike the costs of operators?

For the operator, in terms of value is almost equivalent: either we subsidize the phone, and packages are more expensive, or we make the economy of the phone, and we are making this economy the customer by lowering the price of his crime.In the same vein, the fact that everything happens on the Internet can not charge the cost of distribution in stores, and the customer relations center.

On the issue of commitment, is a way to get ahead of the bill presented by Frédéric Lefebvre?

The government's plan does not prohibit the engagement. What is important is that the customer has a choice. The commitment is absolute evil. Some customers ask for formulas without commitment, others with a commitment sooner or later.

You feel that the TV will be blurred in 20% of households in future 4G mobile. Will you still at the tender 4G?

Yes, because the frequencies are necessary for our business. But such interference will have a major impact: TVs will not work, it will be black screen. TV makers should take into account now.That the State to determine precisely the measures to be taken.

Are not you exaggerating the problem?

The financial impact can be heavy, everyone knows it. In addition, I note that much interference on all frequency blocks, not one.

Why fiber optic only does much to take off?

For our purposes, we are making very good recruiting subscribers and Bbox fiber meets the needs of our customers who expect very high speed. It is true however, that in very dense area, the operators had to deploy four networks in parallel, which is a non-economic sense. We should not repeat this mistake in the medium density areas. Bouygues Telecom hopes that the facilities are pooled as possible between the different operators. This should facilitate investment, therefore the deployment.

There are 140 operators in Europe, against five in China and three in the United States. The concentration is inevitable?

For Bouygues Telecom, there would be no incentive to merge with another operator. On purchases of infrastructure, we are well positioned. And terminals, exclusive agreements are reduced to a very short period.

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"The project of the PS does not the road." The essayist Alain Minc does not beat around the bush to try the program of the Socialist Party should he win the presidential election in 2012.

In addition to his friendship with Martine Aubry, Alain Minc believes that this project is "totally unsuited to the economic situation." "This is a project that was modern in 1981!, Says in an interview with the daily Le Parisien / Today in France. Youth employment is the world of yesterday. We can not, with the blade of the debt so close to our neck, having a Keynesian program. " The essayist and remember that "debt represents 80% of our gross domestic product. 20% is what he had to do to end the crisis. The remaining 60% are the result of thirty years of accumulated cowardice, left and right wing. "

Alain Minc goes even further in his indictment.He said a victory for the Socialist Party in 2012 would be penalized by financial markets. "The application of the socialist project would lose to France's 'AAA'," says Alain Minc. If for now the rating agencies have confirmed the rating of the country, it could be questioned if France did not take more drastic measures to reduce its deficit.

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Among the various proposals of the PS, Alain Minc attacks the merger of the income tax and social contribution. It considers the measure "extremely devastating for the middle class. I have long been convinced that all European countries should increase VAT by 2%. It will not escape, "said he.

Another topic discussed: compensation of top managers.While Nicolas Sarkozy and François Fillon supported the measure to overtax Xavier Bertrand and Jean-Francois Cope was cautious, Alain Minc "tearing his hair" when he sees the boss of Renault, Carlos Ghosn, will reach 10 million euros for fiscal 2010. "The selfishness of the ruling classes should encourage them to be more moderate in terms of pay. I persist and sign: we must know to practice self-regulation, "says he.

On the euro, Alain Minc said the German attitude to save Greece "intelligently selfish." "If Germany was up to the Deutschmark, it would be in recession," said he.

Finally, he welcomed the appointment of Christine Lagarde to head the International Monetary Fund."It's miraculous! Obviously there was a decisive push to Sarkozy, "he enthuses.

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