International & World Report

Banks still working hard to provide for bank charges. Including payment cards. A study by the magazine 60 million consumers, an international card is billed an average of 37 euros per year, while its cost is only 5 euros. Half of the institutions have even raised prices in two years.

Banks 'traditional' is the Postal Bank which offers the lowest rates with an average annual cost of 73 euros, ahead of Caisse d'Epargne Ile-de-France (83 euros) and Societe Generale (93 euros ). Bringing up the rear, there is Crédit Mutuel Ile-de-France (133 euros) and CIC (140 euros). But the banks 'traditional' remain far behind online banking, according to the survey published in the journal business cards.Including ING Direct, which continues to lead but the price of the basket of basic services is no longer free but is 10 euros.

To perform its study, the magazine wrote a basket of ten banking services under the Act Lagarde. It includes an international payment card with deferred debit, the new edition of the code card, a transfer to another bank, the blocking of a check, looking for an archived document for over a year, account management on the Internet and any account maintenance fees.

In recent days, the word "default" is no longer taboo in Greece, where the announced new austerity measures, the rising social unrest and growth forecasts more and grow darker to look for alternative scenarios. While the Troika team must return Monday in Athens to discuss the progress of the country in control of their deficits, the majority of the press reported on Friday a case of a default involving restructuring 50% of current debt. One scenario would have raised the Greek finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, in front of Deputies. Immediately, the minister put a stop to these allegations, pointing out that it would do anything to "implement the decisions of the euro area on 21 July."The European decision includes the restructuring of 21% of the debt through voluntary participation of the private sector, especially banks, holders of Greek bonds. But privately, the Minister would have evoked as alternative scenarios, a restructuring of 50%, a "disorderly failure".

"People panic"

A restructuring would mean a partial collapse of the country. A hypothesis that is growing in Europe as soon as possible to avoid a domino effect on subsequent Greek procrastination. Many economic analysts, as Katerina Sokou, see this as a political game. "The government hopes the restructuring of 50% but does not want to ask, she says. The idea is to pass the measures, even if they are bloody and unjust for the most disadvantaged, in order to be rewarded with a debt restructuring, while remaining within the euro area.Of course, this implies a shower of austerity for years. But having a viable Greek debt is better for Europe. "

Several other European officials have discussed in turn: Klaas Knot, Member of the Board of Governors of the European Central Bank said it had absolutely no idea of ​​a Greek default, indicating that s 'acting in one of the scenarios. This is the first member of the ECB to speak in this sense. More cryptic, the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, said he was "whether what was proposed in June and July for Greece is still sustainable in light of recent developments." At the same time, it is "too early to speculate on this idea right now," he added.

This evocation of more frequent non-payment of Greece begins to cause problems in the country."People are panicking. We receive many calls and emails requesting information, or should keep their money in the bank or not, says Sia Kossioni, presenter of TV news 20 hours SkaiTV. So we pedagogy and what it means to decrypt a bankruptcy, framed or not, a default or restructuring. "What a little more fragile banking sector, already in poor condition. Moody's dropped the rating by two notches from eight Greek banks. A decision justified by including "the expected impact of the deteriorating domestic economic environment of non-performing loans" and "still fragile liquidity position." The rating agency also believes that the outlook for the rating of the eight banks are negative.

Barack Obama has heard Warren Buffett. One month after the American billionaire's call to raise taxes of the richest in the United States, Barack Obama will propose on Monday during a speech at the White House – expected at 16:30 French time – a special tax on the income of taxpayers earning over a million dollars a year (about 725,000 euros). The U.S. president should not indicate the precise tax rate that it intends to apply or the amount it hoped to achieve by this. But according to The New York Times, the tax on millionaires only for 0.3% of taxpayers, less than 450,000 of the 144 million returns recorded in 2010.

Dubbed the "rule Buffett," this tax is in terms of reducing the budget deficit that the U.S. president must explain to Congress Monday.Its goal? Ensure that the wealthiest taxpayers pay at least as much taxes as middle-class homes. This is not the case, as pointed out by Warren Buffett this summer, because of certain provisions of the Tax Code.

1200 billion dollars in savings to find

Thus, capital income such as dividends or interest earned by the fund managers are taxed at 15%, while labor incomes are between 10 to 35% payday loans. "While the poorer classes and middle classes are fighting for us in Afghanistan, while most Americans struggle to make ends meet month we mega-wealthy continue to benefit from special tax exemptions," wrote Warren Buffett in an article published last month in The New York Times.

This tax should allow Barack Obama to approach a little more of his electoral base of the Democratic Party criticized him his "gifts" to tax the wealthiest people. The Republican majority in the House of Representatives have already announced that he would vote no tax increase.

While the United States must find 1.2 trillion dollars in savings by the end of the year, Barack Obama warned on Saturday the Americans that they would provide "pull their weight" to reduce the budget deficit. And pressed again, the Congress, including Republicans, to adopt his plan for the use of 447 billion dollars. "More games or impasses. More division or delay, "he said during his weekly radio address.

The rise in prices over the past decade has not spared the agricultural world. A report published by the Agreste, the agency in charge of "statistics, assessment and agricultural perspective," returns to the soaring prices of agricultural land since 1997. In 2010, arable lands and grasslands sold free worth 5230 euros per hectare, an increase of 66% over 1997.

Sold leased, the price is lower, at 3620 euros per hectare, which is still a 51% increase in 13 years. Rental status is not the only explanation for the difference in price between these two types of terrain. Although subject to the law of the market, characteristics of municipalities where agricultural lands are for sale often come into playThe specialty of the town, that is to say raising grain or cattle, for example, is one of the main factors that come into account when the reserve price. When the municipality has a dominant breeding beef cattle, rates may be on average 10% cheaper than in a town that specializes in cereals.

Geographically, the agricultural land is distributed in a rather orderly in the territory. The leased lands are mainly located in the Paris Basin and the northern half of France, the rest of the country being occupied mostly by vacant land payday loans in one hour.

New competition

More generally, the report highlights the influence of geographical location on the pricing of these lands. Near a city, a parcel is approximately 8% more expensive than in rural deep.An element that is associated with patch size, which also has changed over the years: the area of ​​arable land and grasslands free decreased in urban areas. Instead, the size of land rented sold continues to grow throughout the country thanks in part to farms that do not stop to grow to increase their production.

Another change in size during the past 13 years: the buyers. The report shows in fact that today Agreste fewer farmers acquire land and open meadows. They represent only two thirds of the purchasers against three quarters in 1997. Although this was down due in part to their inability to face economic uncertainties but also the arrival of new competition. A growing number of individuals and communities have actually landed on the market for agricultural land free.Primarily interested in the land, they usually offer to buy the most expensive land that farmers and thus participate in the surge in prices.

The aim is to encourage solidarity among employees. UMP deputy from the Loire, Paul Salen, filed in July 2011 a bill providing a legal framework for donations of RTT. A consistent practice in companies, which had so far developed in the silence of the Labour Code and case law.

The member was itself inspired by an actual case that occurred recently in his constituency. Badoit employees have offered 170 days of RTT to one of them to accompany her to the end of a child with liver cancer. A single gesture of solidarity was observed in April in the automotive supplier Fuji Autotech in the Doubs, in favor of an employee whose husband was suffering from lymphoma. Or at Merial, a subsidiary of Sanofi, which has even signed a collective agreement on this.

Company agreements

For now, no text did not mention the possibility of offering shorter working week, days off or recovery. This practice was not illegal as long. Spontaneous, it has developed on the basis of agreements between employees and employer, which is responsible for the holidays. "The agreements allow the company to implement virtually any provision not prohibited by the labor code," says Eric Rocheblave, lawyer office.

Thus the employees of Adixen in Annecy, could pay back all of their Christmas bonus for interim company, who did not have touched before fast cash now. Or that Renault executives have, by sacrificing RTT make ends months of Workers' group, one time forced to short.

Few dispute

But if an agreement is simple enough to offer its RTT, why, then, legislate? The bill appears to meet two objectives. First draw the attention of public opinion on a new form of solidarity. Then make sure to prevent abuses that could result.

Thus the proposed text, which focuses only on the donations bound for parents whose child is "gravely ill," says that the agreement required the employee donor such as his employer. "To the extent that these initiatives are based on agreements, litigation is rare. For now, it is even nonexistent, "Eric Rocheblave nuance. Already signed by 136 MPs, Paul Salen, interviewed Thursday morning in Les Echos, has high hopes to push through the text before the next presidential election.

"YOUR OPINION – Do you agree with the initiative of offering their employees days off? Would you be willing to do the same for a colleague? Share your thoughts and experience in the comments below or by email at temoin@lefigaro.fr.

Buoyed by the announcement of a burst of mergers and acquisitions, Wall Street on Monday confirmed the rebound that started in last weekend. It even erases all its losses last week. All indices end in green: the Dow ends up sharply from 1.87% to 11,479.65 points. The index had opened up 0.48% to 11,323.44 points and continued to grow during the session. The Nasdaq index also closed with a gain of 1.87% to 2554.79 points.

Markets reacted to a volley of announcements of mergers and acquisitions. First, Google (-1.16% to 557.23 dollars) has announced the acquisition of the mobile phone manufacturer Motorola Mobility (55.78% to 38.12 dollars) to $ 12.5 billion in cash. Time Warner (-0.81% to 64.98 dollars), meanwhile, reached an agreement to buy the cable operator Insight Communications to Carlyle for $ 3 billion.Finally, Cargill will acquire the French specialist in animal feed Provimi to 1.5 billion euros.

As in Europe, investors are upbeat on the eve of an important meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the reform of the governance of the euro area. They should discuss ways to implement to prevent contagion problems of sovereign debt to the rest of the region.

But Germany has already warned investors: this meeting will lead to "nothing spectacular". "It will be a working meeting on the governance of the euro area in line with European decisions taken in late July," said the spokesman of the Ministry of Finance. The latter also confirmed the skepticism German, joined by France, in respect of Eurobonds.These ads have already resulted in demoralizing the European investors.

In Asia, the announcement of a contraction much weaker than expected Japanese GDP has also reassured the markets.

Morale builders stable

The statistics published on Monday in the U.S. are, however, bleak. Manufacturing activity in the New York area declined for the third consecutive month at -7.7, 3.9 points lower than in July.

In real estate, the NAHB index released on Monday shows that the morale of the manufacturers was unchanged in August, close to its lowest historical levels.

Note that the currency market, the euro strengthened against the greenback at 1.444 dollar. Oil markets, oil prices closed up in New York payday loan. A barrel of "light sweet crude" for September delivery was trading at 87.88 dollars, up 2.50 dollar.Prices had fallen during the European trading, erasing their gains made in Asian trade in a market nervous and still haunted by persistent concerns about global growth and the debt crisis in the eurozone. A barrel of Brent North Sea crude for September delivery was trading at 107.56 dollars on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in London, down 47 cents from Friday's close.

Google swallows Motorola Mobility

On the corporate side, Bank of America (7.93% to 7.76 dollars) has announced the sale of its activities in the international credit cards in Britain, Ireland or Canada.

The food distributor Sysco (-3.93% to 28.11 dollars) announced earnings per share (EPS), diluted to 57 cents under its fourth quarter, diluted EPS of $ 1.96 for all of its financial year, while its quarterly sales reached $ 10.4 billion.

Estee Lauder fell 6.64% to 94.15 dollars. Despite the publication of a net income group share record of $ 700.8 million, up 46.5%, the cosmetics group announced its annual results would be below Wall Street expectations.

Lowe (0.82% to 19.58 dollars) has already reported sales below expectations in the second quarter of its fiscal year and lowered its annual targets for the second time in three months, consumers pushing their development projects until later because of sluggish growth.

Boeing (1.54% to 62.70 dollars) announced it had completed with Air Lease Corp. an order valued at $ 2.5 billion on 14 737-800 aircraft and five 777-300ER.

Pfizer (2.69% to 18.34 dollars) announced Monday it had won before a U.S. court case against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries of Israel, preventing the global generics to produce a copy of Viagra before 2019 .

Transocean (2.97% to 57.26 dollars), listed in New York, wants to buy the Norwegian group Aker Drilling, for a total of 1.1 billion Swiss francs (1 billion), according to a statement Monday.Several large shareholders, representing 65% of the capital, have agreed to the deal, said the Swiss.

The American specialist craft materials Grainger (2.01% to 138.57 dollars) on Monday announced the acquisition of the Dutch distributor of fasteners Fabory Group for $ 344 million (242 million).

Three days after the loss of the AAA assigned by Standard & Poor's, Americans woke up in shock Monday in what they perceive as a true national humiliation, while the two parties were the blame.

All weekend, politicians and economists have debated the television studios of the legitimacy of the downgrade of U.S. debt. The subject continued to occupy most of the news on Monday, forcing Barack Obama to step up. In a short statement, Bush blasted credit rating agencies. "The United States still deserve the AAA," Has he said, wanting to be evidence that investors had continued to buy Treasury debt on Monday. Quoting Warren Buffett, the famous investor, as he believes "the United States deserve a quadruple A!."

A political weapon

However, Barack Obama acknowledged that the issue of deficits had become critical and assured that he would make proposals to address them in the coming weeks. He reiterated his commitment to reforming the U.S. tax system, which will require higher taxes for the wealthy, and agreed to amend, at the margin, its reform of social security (Medcare) considered too expensive by many of economists. He also called in turn Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, and José Luis Zapatero, Spanish Prime Minister, to discuss the need for coordinated action to avoid a slowdown in the global economy.

Yet Barack Obama, who Monday sought a message of optimism by saying that economic problems "can be solved," has not convinced Wall Street that ended the session by falling 5.55%.U.S. President knows that the degradation of S & P is a political weapon for his opponents. "This degradation is that of the Tea Party, because a minority of people went against the will of the majority of Republicans," has dealt Democratic Senator John Kerry.

Republican side, it was blamed on Barack Obama. "I recognize that there are shortcomings, but they come in large part to the failure of the president to lead the country. The Republicans control only a third of the government, "said Senator John McCain.

The former director of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, offered his own reading, Sunday on NBC. "It's not a question of assessment of rating agencies. There is zero chance that the United States fall into default (…). What S & P has done is hit a nerve.He faces the pride of America, "he said.

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The American and European leaders were under pressure Sunday to try to agree on a concerted response to the debt crisis in the eurozone and the degradation of the note of the United States. Front line, they seek to avoid further financial market plunge Monday, worried about the slowdown in global growth and spread of the debt crisis in the eurozone. Since Friday, so they stepped up contacts.

• Maintenance of imminent G7 finance ministers. Finance ministers of the G7, which includes the U.S., Germany, Japan, France, Canada, Italy and Britain, have stepped up telephone contacts this weekend in order to develop a common strategy to offer.After heavy turbulence in global financial markets, which lost 2,500 billion during the past week, they must reassure investors about the ability and determination of their countries to reduce deficits and public debts. A telephone conference of finance ministers and central bankers to be held Monday, according to Japanese news agency Kyodo. Interviews are tentatively scheduled before the opening of Asian markets (in the night from Sunday to Monday in Europe).

• A G20 focused on the debt. More broadly, the G20, which groups the world's major economies, contacted by telephone Sunday morning to discuss the consequences of the debt crisis on both sides of the Atlantic. Nothing had filtered from the meeting at noon.Only South Korea said that its confidence in the U.S. Treasury had not changed despite the decision of Standard & Poor's. "There will be no change in the policy of foreign exchange reserves of South Korea," said Vice Minister of Finance.

• The ECB will speak Sunday. Among the tracks in the study is a possible intervention by the European Central Bank, which could buy government bonds in Italy and Spain. This intervention is strongly demanded by the markets payday loans. The European Central Bank Thursday reactivated its share repurchase program of sovereign debt in order to calm soaring interest rates in some countries of the euro area, but has so far bought only small amounts of debt and Irish Portuguese, while speculation is focused on Italy and Spain.If the decision to intervene is taken, the ECB and national central banks will begin to redeem the bond markets open Monday. A meeting of governors will be held Sunday to 18 hours.

• Nicolas Sarkozy met with David Cameron on Saturday. The President, who chairs the G7 and G20 met Saturday evening on the phone for thirty minutes of the financial situation with British Prime Minister. The two men "agreed on the importance of working together to monitor the situation closely and keep in touch in the coming days," said a London spokesman for Downing Street, without giving further details. The discussion between the two leaders has focused on his view "the euro area and the lowering of the rating American."

• Barack Obama called on Europeans Friday night.According to the White House, Bush spoke by phone separately with President Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel about "the latest developments of the crisis in the euro zone" and noted "the importance of [the] implementation "of measures adopted at the summit of the euro area on July 21. The leaders of the eurozone had concerted Friday after finding that the agreement found to cope with the debt crisis had not convinced the markets. If Italy and Spain are at the heart of the turmoil, other countries are also affected such as Belgium.

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Baroin the stage. He keeps repeating the last few days: it will require further cuts in the tax loopholes in 2012. For now, the government planned to cut $ 3 billion. "It is very likely that we will go beyond, as part of the Finance Act," warns the Minister of Economy. Otherwise, the objective of reducing the public deficit (4.6% of GDP in 2012, 3% in 2013) will not be met. The IMF says the same thing Wednesday, in the final version of his report on France, he warned that without additional effort, the deficit "would decline more slowly contemplated" and still reach 3.8% two years.

However, Prime Minister François Fillon reiterated last week even as the French would not have to tighten their belts further.If the IMF is seeking new revenue – or additional savings – is that it considers the government's growth projections too optimistic. He did not table more than 1.9% next year (after 2.1% this year), where the government is preparing its 2012 budget on an assumption of 2.25% (after 2%).

The cost of Greece and Libya

But that's not really what worries Bercy. Growth at 2.25%? "The account will be," says without a doubt a top official of the Ministry of Economy.

However, Bercy identified several elements that could degrade the accounts. First, the second bailout of Greece faxless payday advance. While it will not weigh directly on the deficit of France, as François Fillon stressed. The private sector has agreed to cash a loss equivalent to 21% of the value of the loan granted to Athens.The slate for French banks would exceed 2 billion euros. "We will inevitably income tax on companies and less," admits the Ministry of Economy.

Then "there will be a time when we look at the balance of external operations," Do we loose the ministry. In other words, the commitment of the army in Libya and Afghanistan could be very expensive.

Finally, remember that at Bercy Taiwan frigates affair will cost 460 million euros to France. In early June, after ten years of a bitter legal battle, Thales has indeed been ordered to pay more than $ 800 million in Taiwan, for commissions on the sale of frigates in 1991. The State had brought its guarantee in the contract."Public finances must now endure the heavy consequences of the decision in 1991 to pay commissions, unlike the letter of the contract," Matignon had pointed to the announcement of the court decision. This cost was included in the supplementary budget at the beginning of July. It will, however, offset this expense.

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The health of European banks, crucial to the future of the euro zone, is good, has hammered the EBA. This was based on the highly anticipated results of stress tests to measure the strength of credit even if prolonged recession. The supervisor had demanded a hard capital ratio of 5% the EU average was 7.7%. Of 91 institutions screened in 21 countries, eight failed the exam. The eight former "need 2.5 billion euros to build," said ABB.

Like last year, the figure is much lower in the eyes of the challenges faced by European banks, battered by the markets in recent weeks. These data, however, take into account some 60 billion euros to recapitalize by many actors involved European banks since the beginning of the year.Without this, 20 banks have also failed the tests. Above all, 16 facilities succeed narrowly, with a hard capital ratio below 6% which presents itself as the next steps to achieve.

Despite its efforts to restructure its banking sector, Spain realized, like last year, the worst performance: 5 Iberian institutions are recalibrated, including four savings banks, and seven others remain in a tie. Two Greek banks – tested on six – have also failed. Finally, an Austrian completes the list of poor performers.

France is doing well, What are the opportunity to the new Minister of Economy Baroin to praise "the strength of the universal banking model" in French. For its part, Italy, jostled for a week in the markets because of its huge debt, also managed a shot together.Italian banks had greatly strengthened their capital in recent months.

In Portugal, a weak link in the euro area with Ireland and Greece, no banking group is sticky. The Central Bank of Lisbon recalls, however, that the first two private groups in the country, Banco Commercial Português and Banco Espirito Santo proceed in three months to "increases in capital or asset sales."

European Summit on 21

It will take a few days now to say whether this exercise much more ambitious than the 2010 vintage will have served its purpose: to reassure the markets. Time for analysts to compile the exceptional amount of data disclosed by the banking community. In particular, their exposure to sovereign debt will be viewed under the microscope.Even before the publication of its results, check-up was considered inadequate in the trading rooms because it does not test the scenario of a failure of Greece, although its potential impact is partly taken into account.

A fault is the most likely outcome for investors, as European states do not find agreement. The prospect of a summit looming on Thursday for "the financial stability of the euro area and the future financing of the Greek," should restore confidence. Until then, the terms of a second rescue stumbled on participation with the private creditors, as required by Berlin.

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