Friday, February 27, 2004
France says deficit, cross-border mergers forcing policy shift
PARIS (AFP) - France, cornered by EU budget rules, sent particularly strong signals that its deficit problems and cross-border corporate activity are driving change in French budget and industrial policy.
French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said his government was determined to push ahead with privatization to raise money.
And he insisted that companies must look to European alliances rather than the state to ward off foreign takeover bids.
Speaking in particularly blunt terms, he said that France had to control spending, raise money from selling state assets and reduce sharply its role in industry.
Raffarin said that the state was likely to withdraw completely from some companies, mentioning the particularly sensitive case of France Telecom.
Yahoo! News - France says deficit, cross-border mergers forcing policy shift
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
With a Recovering Economy, the Day of the Big Deal Is Back
With the economy improving and memories fading of the disastrous deals during the last stock market boom — combinations like America Online and Time Warner and Vivendi and Seagram — big-time Wall Street deal making is back.
With a Recovering Economy, the Day of the Big Deal Is Back
Fed's Gramlich Warns on Mounting U.S. Debts
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Board Governor Edward Gramlich warned on Wednesday that large, persistent U.S. budget and trade deficits could lead to "significant economic adjustments" worldwide, and suggested a fiscal belt-tightening was in order.
"From a policy standpoint, neither deficit may be terribly harmful in the short run," Gramlich said, referring to record shortfalls in both the budget and the current account, the broadest measure of U.S. trade with the rest of the world.
"In the long run, however, both deficits could become much more worrisome," he said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Euromoney Bond Investors Congress in London. A copy of his remarks was made available in Washington.
+ Yahoo! News - Fed's Gramlich Warns on Mounting U.S. Debts
+ Budget and Trade Deficits: Linked, Both Worrisome in the Long Run, but not Twins
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
UN urges eurozone rate cut, easing in Stability Pact
The United Nations (news - web sites) called for lower interest rates in the 12-nation eurozone and for an easing in the Stability and Growth Pact that governs eurozone public finances.
The annual report from the UN Economic Commission for Europe also made clear the panel's concern that a fragile European economic recovery could be endangered by a weakening US dollar.
"In view of the strong appreciation of the euro, which is unlikely to be reversed in 2004, a lowering of interest rates would now appear to be necessary to avoid a further tightening of monetary conditions," the commission wrote.
+ Yahoo! News - UN urges eurozone rate cut, easing in Stability Pact
+ Recovery is under way but can it be sustained?
UNECE launches its Economic Survey of Europe, 2004 No. 1
Friday, February 20, 2004
Opec en productieverlaging
Groot gevaar voor economisch herstel
De wereldeconomie heeft al meer dan een jaar de hoge olieprijzen kunnen weerstaan. De leden van de Opec kwamen kortgeleden overeen de productie per 1 april 2004 met 10% te verlagen, wat overeenkomt met circa 1 miljoen vaten per dag.
Opec en productieverlaging - De Financiele Telegraaf
Dutch shell companies draw scrutiny
A black eye over the Parmalat collapse was the last thing the Dutch trust business needed.
Like the secretive Swiss banks, the shells, also known as conduit companies, typically manufacture nothing, sell nothing, employ no one and have no physical existence beyond a mailbox and a file drawer. But they take part in an estimated $1 trillion in transactions each year.
For decades, the industry was almost entirely unregulated. But a number of outside voices, ranging from the European Union to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, have become concerned about the possible abuse of shell companies here and elsewhere for fraud and money laundering, especially after Enron and its many "special-purpose entities" - more than 120 of them Dutch - imploded more than two years ago.
Dutch regulators have taken that to heart. Last December, the Dutch Central Bank issued a warning. "Nationally, as well as internationally, there are signs of risk associated with trust companies," a director for the bank, Arnold Schilder, said. "The risks are significant."
IHT Dutch shell companies draw scrutiny
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
Binck beste Internet Broker
Volgens Beurs.nl is Binck op het ogenblik de beste Internet Broker, gevolgd door SNS en Alex. De groot banken lopen ver achter in service, maar zijn met een inhaalslag bezig. ABN- Amro is weer hekkensluiter.
BEURS.NL --- Broker onderzoek 2004
Monday, February 16, 2004
Stability and Growth Pact not the 'hobby horse'of some central bankers
Bundesbank Executive Board Member Franz-Christoph Zeitler, speaking at a conference, said violating the pact's terms did not automatically kill it and policymakers must do everything possible to restore public confidence in the rules.
"The Stability and Growth Pact does not exist for its own sake, nor is it the 'hobby horse' of some central bankers; rather, it is a requirement for the long-term effectiveness of monetary union," Zeitler said in the text of his speech.
Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage
De Volkskrant signaleert beurs optimisme: Het feest kan weer beginnen
Het voelt als koorts en als vlinders in de buik, de opwinding die over de financiële markten golft nu het besef is doorgebroken dat het herstel naakt, er misschien al is. Na jaren van deemoed, gehalveerde beurskoersen, dito bonussen en schaamte over beurs- en boekhoudschandalen, keert de beursbranie terug.
de Volkskrant - Het feest kan weer beginnen
Thursday, February 12, 2004
Greenspan calls for budget balance
Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan has painted an upbeat picture of the US economy, at the same time as cautioning against the spiralling budget deficit.
Presenting the twice-yearly central bank report, he predicted that the US economy will grow between 4% and 5% in 2004, up from previous estimates.
Yet he also warned that the country's vast - and seemingly ever-growing - budget deficit could pose a problem in both the short and long terms.
He called for more budget balance.
BBC NEWS | Business | Greenspan calls for budget balance
Monday, February 09, 2004
BBC NEWS | Business | G7 summit's fudged message
The falling value of the dollar on international currency markets was the focus of a key meeting of G7 finance ministers in Florida over the weekend. But crafting their message was bound to cause difficulties.
BBC NEWS | G7 summit's fudged message
