A glass half full in London

Here is what's noteworthy for me in the G20 communiqué:

• An additional commitment of $500 billion to increase the IMF's lending capacity, although only half of this is an immediate commitment, while the other half is promised as part of a future "expanded and more flexible New Arrangements to Borrow"
• A new SDR allocation of $250 billion
• An endorsement of the Financial Safety Forum's (FSF) principles on pay and compensation, which aim to align compensation more closely with risk
• The expansion and renaming of the FSF as a new Financial Stability Board (FSB), with a broader mandate 
• An agreement that "the heads and senior leadership of the international financial institutions should be appointed through an open, transparent, and merit-based selection process"

The last of these may mean that the era of the World Bank and the IMF being run by Americans and Europeans, respectively, is over.  And good riddance too.

On the whole the summit must be counted as a victory for the Europeans, who got what they wanted: a focus on new regulations and avoidance of any hint of real coordination (or targets) on fiscal stimulus.  

Comments

[dave]

The last would be because...
We need to cut the African and Asian nations in on the corruption? The UN is a useless and corrupt body, and everybody has a vote there. By all means, let's do the same with the World Bank and the IMF. The best thing the next President of the United States can do is pull us out of each of these bodies. If we fund it, it is ours. If it's not ours, we should not fund. If this is more than idle chatter it is time to close the doors.

[Julián G. Benítez]

This is a great chance for the IMF and the World Bank to show more responsability and amend what they did in the past to the poor nations and developing countries.

I hope that the BRIC countries, do something to change my point of view now that the have more voice inside each organism.

Anyway, I am not too optimistic...

[raivo pommer-estonia.-www.google.ee.]

raivo pommer-eesti-www.google.ee
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US-TELEKOM

Der Angeklagte wurde von einem Schulfreund, der als Telekommanager in den USA tätig war, zwei Jahre lang mit Insiderinformationen versorgt. Durch die illegalen Börsengeschäfte wurde ein Gewinn von 2,455 Millionen Euro erzielt.

Der 47 Jahre alte Ex-Manager kam hingegen mit einer Bewährungsstrafe davon. Er wurde von den Richtern der Wirtschaftsstrafkammer zu einer fünfzehnmonatigen Freiheitsstrafe auf Bewährung verurteilt. Laut Urteil gab der inzwischen von der Telekom entlassene Manager seinem Schulfreund zwischen November 2004 und August 2006 fünf Mal Firmeninterna weiter.
Insiderhandel Ein Insider ist jemand, der eine wichtige Information über ein börsennotiertes Unternehmen besitzt, bevor diese öffentlich bekannt geworden ist und sich positiv oder negativ auf den Aktienkurs auswirken kann.

Beispiele sind Übernahmeangebote, ein Forschungserfolg des Unternehmens, unerwartete Verluste oder Ähnliches. Insiderhandel betreibt, wer solche Insiderinformationen dann für eigene Börsengeschäfte verwendet, um daraus Geld zu schlagen. Das ist in Deutschland und den meisten anderen EU-Ländern eine Straftat.

So informierte der damals in New York sitzende und für die Abteilung Investor Relations tätige 47-Jährige seinen Bekannten unter anderem vorab über den Einstieg der Blackstone Group bei der Telekom und anstehende Gewinnwarnungen - entweder mit dem Diensthandy oder aus einer öffentlichen New Yorker Telefonzelle. Mit hoch riskanten Optionsscheinen erzielte der Bonner Unternehmer daraufhin bei insgesamt 34 Geschäften die Millionengewinne.

Im Prozess hatte der Ex-Manager ausgepackt und gestanden, selber von den Deals in einer Höhe von gut 70 000 Euro profitiert zu haben. Wie viel Geld der Bekannte an der Börse einsetzte, will der ehemalige Telekommitarbeiter nicht gewusst haben.

Das Gericht und der Staatsanwalt hielten dem 47-Jährigen zugute, dass er wesentlich zur Aufklärung des Falls beigetragen habe. Da der Telekommanager seinen Anteil stets bei Treffen mit seinem Schulfreund in Deutschland in bar erhielt, sei ihm eine Gewinnbeteiligung ohne Geständnis vermutlich schwer nachzuweisen gewesen.

Nach Meinung der Richter flog der Insiderhandel einzig aufgrund "der Gier" des Unternehmers auf, der laut Urteil versuchte, "mit illegalen Mitteln Millionär zu werden".

[raivo pommer-eesti-www.google.ee]

raivo pommer-www.google.ee
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In New York hat der Hedgefonds-Manager Ezra Merkin Ärger mit der Justiz - weil er das Geld seiner Kunden allen Warnungen zum Trotz bei Madoff investierte.

Nicht nur der Milliardenbetrüger Bernard Madoff selbst muss sich vor Gericht verantworten: Im Skandal um das dubiose Schneeballsystem des 70-Jährigen hat die New Yorker Generalstaatsanwaltschaft nun den Hedge-Fonds-Manager Ezra Merkin angeklagt - weil dieser ohne Wissen seiner Kunden 2,4 Milliarden Dollar (1,8 Milliarden Euro) bei Madoff angelegt haben soll. Merkin habe zwar nichts von Madoffs gewaltigem Anlagebetrug gewusst, aber absichtlich alle Warnungen in Zusammenhang mit dessen riskanten Investitionen ignoriert, um riesige Honorare von seinen Kunden einzustreichen, sagte Generalstaatsanwalt Andrew Cuomo am Montag.

Der Klageschrift zufolge kassierten der frühere Chairman der General Motors-Finanzsparte GMAC und drei seiner Fonds - Ascot, Gabriel und Ariel - insgesamt 470 Millionen Dollar von Kunden ein, die nun zurückgezahlt werden sollen. Merkins Anwalt Andrew Levander nannte die Klage "überhastet und schlecht durchdacht" und kündigte Gegenschritte an.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

raivo pommer-www.google.ee
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OeNB Bank in WIEN

Durch die Brisanz der Affäre rund um die Immobilienfirma Meinl European Land (MEL, heute Atrium Real Estate) ist auch der Wirtschaftsprüfer Philip Göth wieder ins Zentrum des öffentlichen Interesses gerückt.

Göth sitzt im Aufsichtsgremium der Oesterreichischen Nationalbank (OeNB) – dem Generalrat – und hat Ende 2006 per Gutachten den börsegehandelten MEL-Papieren bescheinigt, "zur teilweisen Veranlagung von Mündelgeld" geeignet zu sein. Mittlerweile haben Anleger viel Geld mit dem verloren, was Göth als "MEL-Aktie" bezeichnete, obwohl es sich dabei um Zertifikate gehandelt hat. Konsumentenschützer werfen Meinl vor, zu Unrecht mit der Mündelsicherheit geworben zu haben.

Es könne nicht sein, dass Göth weiterhin als Generalrat der OeNB tätig sei, poltert SPÖ-Finanzsprecher Jan Krainer. Neben dem MEL-Gutachten stößt sich Krainer auch an Göths Rolle als Aufsichtsrat der Bank Medici – jenes Wiener Institutes, das Fonds des mutmaßlichen US-Milliardenbetrügers Bernard Madoff vertrieben hat.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

raivo pommer-www.google.ee
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WALL-STREET

Für das Opel-Mutterunternehmen General Motors (GM) wird eine Flucht in die Insolvenz immer wahrscheinlicher. Das berichetet die US-Zeitung «Wall Street Journal« am Freitag.

Demnach halten die Mitglieder der von Präsident Barack Obama einberufenen Auto-Kommission eine Insolvenz-Lösung zunehmend für den besseren Weg. Diese Ansicht habe sich in der Task-Force «glasklar» durchgesetzt. Allerdings lasse man dem maroden Autobauer weiterhin die Möglichkeit einer Sanierung außerhalb der Gerichte offen.

Zugleich erhöhe die Regierung den Druck auf die Gläubiger von GM, weitere Zugeständnisse zu machen. Nach bisherigen Vorstellungen von GM sollten 90 Prozent der Unternehmensanteile an die Gläubiger gehen. Dies werde mittlerweile als zu großzügig angesehen. Die neuen Vorstellungen sollten in der kommenden Woche präsentiert werden. Sie dürften auf massiven Widerstand der Gläubiger treffen, urteilte das Blatt.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

raivo pommer-www.google.ee
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PEUGEOT CRISE

The board of PSA, Europe's No. 2 automaker after Volkswagen, cited "the extraordinary difficulties currently faced by the automotive industry" as its reason for replacing Streiff with Philippe Varin, currently the boss of steelmaker Corus. But Streiff, 54, had alienated other top PSA managers and infuriated the French government by vowing to shrink the group's payroll-even after receiving a nearly $4 billion government bailout that was supposed to protect jobs.

Although rumors had circulated for weeks that Streiff's job was in danger, the announcement clearly caught him off guard. Through an outside spokesman, he issued a statement calling the board's decision "incomprehensible," adding, "The policies we defined and put in place over the past two years have left PSA well-armed against the current crisis." Investors didn't seem happy, either: PSA shares sank more than 9 percent on the news of Streiff's departure.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

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OIL IRAQ

With security in Iraq improving, international oil companies are quickly moving in, often with little or no fanfare. Hanter Gasser, Royal Dutch Shell's (RDS) top executive for Iraq, recently spent a week in Basra, site of the country's biggest fields, checking on a joint venture Shell is starting with the Iraqis to find commercial uses for the gas that is flared off during oil production. Gasser says Iraq burns off enough gas to power two countries the size of Jordan.

Iraqi police officers protecting oil installations north of Basra.
Shell is one of about 30 oil companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, and BP, that are pursuing licensing agreements with Baghdad. Iraq intends to boost production in seven fields holding an estimated 44 billion barrels of reserves, more than a third of its total. Those agreements are supposed to be awarded in a few months. "We have high interest in Iraq, and we are waiting to see the terms," Gasser says. Iraqi oil production, at a low 2.5 million barrels a day, is just where it was before the war. If Iraq produced anywhere near its targeted 6 million barrels a day, it could change the industry's dynamics and curb talk of a looming shortage.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

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NOKIA INDIA

Gearing up to meet the challenges of next generation mobile services - 3G, the world's largest handset maker, Nokia, today announced a
slew of new services like music online and location based services to be made available on its new phones, to be launched shortly.

"We are moving away from just devices to devices plus services plus solutions. With the 3G mobile services set to make advent by the middle of next year, we feel that revenue from non-voice services is bound to increase significantly," Nokia India Ltd Vice-President and General Manager D Shivakumar told reporters here.

Asked whether Nokia is planning to acquire some of the content providers to enhance services, Shivakumar said "there is no plan for any acquisition but it will be done through a collaboration with the innovators."

He, however, said that there would be significant investment in ramping up the facilities but declined to give details.

In fact, Nokia called upon Indian mobile and web application developers to create innovative consumer applications exclusively for the upcoming handset N97.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

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PENNSYLVANIA KRISE

Ein aufgelassenes Bergwerk in Pennsylvania birgt die Fotosammlung von Bill Gates und andere Kostbarkeiten. Und floriert in Zeiten der Krise.

Der Westen Pennsylvanias erinnert oft an süddeutsche Landschaften: Wiesen, Felder, Flüsschen, kleine Dörfer, Eichen- und Ahornwälder. Auf kleinen Nebenstraßen, den "Blue Highways", kann man stundenlang fahren, ohne dass die Idylle der Kirchtürme, der roten Scheunen und der Getreidesilos gestört wird. Eine dieser Landstraßen führt quer durch Butler County, eine gute Autostunde nördlich von Pittsburgh. Und hier ist plötzlich alles ganz anders: Der Wald endet abrupt, ein paar Einfamilienhäuser säumen die Straße, dahinter ein riesiger Parkplatz und eine Rampe, die direkt in einen Berg hinein führt.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

raivo pommer-www.google.ee
[email protected]

UK-list of the worlds

Just five UK companies have made it on to a list of the world's most ethical corporations, published by an American research institute today.

Marks & Spencer, the retailer, HSBC, the London-listed banking giant, Vodafone, the telecoms group and AstraZeneca, the drugs maker and the emerging markets bank Standard Chartered are included in a list of 99 "good corporate citizens", compiled by the Ethisphere Institute.

The Anglo-Dutch consumer goods group Unilever and Thomson Reuters, the newly merged Anglo-American media group also make the institute's cut this year.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

General Motors Corp. is recalling 1.5 million vehicles because of potential engine
fires.

GM says there have been no reports of any fires or injuries. Some of the recalled vehicles are no longer in production. The recall includes the 1998-1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue, the 1997-2003 Pontiac Grand Prix, 1997-2003 Buick Regal, and the 1998-2003 Chevrolet Lumina, Monte Carlo and Impala.

The recall involves vehicles with a 3.8-liter V6 engine. The government says drops of oil could fall into the exhaust system and cause a fire in the engine.

GM spokesman Kerry Christopher says it was a precautionary measure for consumers.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing if Bank of America Corp violated federal securities law by failing to disclose to
shareholders Merrill Lynch's plan to pay $3.62 billion in bonuses before they voted for the merger of the banks, the Financial Times said.

Mary Schapiro, chairman of the SEC, wrote in a letter to a Democratic congressman that the regulator was "carefully reviewing the Bank of America disclosure" and had not yet expressed a view on whether the bonus plan should have been revealed, the paper said.

Last week, Congressman Dennis Kucinich said in a letter to the SEC that there were "significant questions" surrounding Bank of America's failure to disclose bonus details before shareholders voted on the bank's acquisition of Merrill.

"Where the SEC believes that there has been an omission of material facts necessary in order to make the statements not misleading, we will carry out our enforcement responsibilities with vigor and vigilance," the paper quoted Schapiro's letter.

The SEC did not immediately reply to a Reuters e-mail seeking comment that was sent outside of normal business hours.

In a statement last week, Bank of America had said "we believe we made the appropriate and legal disclosures in the materials available to shareholders" before the meeting.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

The Obama administration is expected to name Fannie Mae Chief Executive Herb Allison to head the U.S. government's $700 billion
financial rescue program, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The announcement is expected "in coming days," the source said, adding that Michael Williams, Fannie Mae's chief operating officer, is expected to be named as Allison's successor.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on its website that U.S. President Barack Obama could announce his intention to nominate Allison as assistant secretary for the office of financial stability as early as this week.

Allison's name has been on the short list from the beginning as the government looked for someone to run the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Several factors complicated his selection, including the need to replace him at Fannie, the paper reported, citing sources.

Allison, a veteran banker and former president of Merrill Lynch, led the TIAA-Cref pension fund before being appointed Fannie Mae CEO in September.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

The head of Italian car group Sergio Marchionne could become the new head of struggling US giant Chrysler under a tie-up between the
companies, an industry magazine reported on Tuesday.

Automotive News, citing sources close to the discussions, reported on its website that Chrysler could change its management structure after the completion of its alliance with Fiat.

The magazine said the new management structure would divide the roles of chief executive officer and chairman between two executives. The chairman post would be held by an American, the source said.

Fiat declined to comment on the report when contacted by AFP, while Chrysler told the magazine that it had no management changes to announce.

Under a preliminary accord signed between the two car groups in January, Fiat is to initially take a 35-percent stake in Chrysler which could rise to as much as 55 percent.

Marchionne is credited with having turned around formerly loss-making Fiat.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

China's economy is showing signs of a nascent recovery, but even officials who want to boost public confidence warn a rebound faces
risks from the global crisis and is not yet certain.

Imports of oil, iron ore and other raw materials rose in March, reflecting the impact of Beijing's multibillion-dollar stimulus spending on industry. Home and auto sales are up, suggesting consumers might be more willing to spend.

A rebound for China, the world's third-largest economy, could help other countries by boosting demand for their exports, though analysts say China alone cannot propel the global economy out of its worst slump since the 1930s.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday that there were initial signs that the prolonged US recession may be easing but
warned of the need for financial stability for full recovery.

He said he saw "tentative signs that the sharp decline in economic activity may be slowing," citing data on home sales, homebuilding and consumer spending, including sales of new motor vehicles.

While a leveling out of economic activity was the first step toward recovery, he said, "To be sure, we will not have a sustainable recovery without a stabilization of our financial system and credit markets.

"We are making progress on that front as well, and the Federal Reserve is committed to working to restore financial stability as a necessary step toward full economic recovery," he said in a speech at the Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

Micro cars can give motorists top-notch fuel efficiency at a competitive price, but the insurance industry says they do not fare well
in collisions with larger vehicles.

In crash tests released on Tuesday, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that drivers of 2009 versions of the Smart ``fortwo,'' Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris could face significant leg and head injuries in severe front-end crashes with larger, mid-size vehicles.

``There are good reasons people buy mini cars. They're more affordable, and they use less gas. But the safety trade-offs are clear from our new tests,'' said Adrian Lund, the institute's president.

Automakers who manufacture the small cars said the tests simulated a high-speed crash that rarely happens on the road. They also said the tests rehashed past insurance industry arguments against tougher fuel efficiency requirements. The institute has raised questions about whether stricter gas mileage rules, which are being developed by the government, might lead to smaller, lighter vehicles that could be less safe.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

A union leader says automaker Ford Argentina is laying off 330 employees due to plummeting demand and production.

Ricardo Pignanelli is head of Argentina's automotive mechanics' and workers' union. He said Monday that Ford told the workers they will lose their jobs May 1.

A Ford Argentina representative who was not authorized to speak on the matter said nobody was available to comment.

The Association of Automobile Manufacturers says Argentine auto exports fell 45 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2008. Production during the quarter fell 43 percent.

Demand for Argentine-made cars has dried up in Brazil, the sector's leading export market.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

NetSuite Inc has developed programs targeted at large corporations, a person familiar with the strategy said, in an effort to move the
software maker beyond the small-to mid-sized business market.

The person, who requested anonymity since the products have not been announced, said NetSuite wants to sell the software to divisions of large corporations that use software from SAP AG and Oracle Corp.

To date, the company has focused on products for small- to medium-sized companies (SMBs). But NetSuite is eager to get a slice of the enterprise market as corporations account for the bulk of sales of business application software, which researcher Gartner estimates at about $89 billion a year.

The new programs, dubbed "SuiteCloud Connect", allow corporate divisions to run their businesses on a high-end version of NetSuite's Web-based software, then easily roll up financial data into their parent companies' SAP and Oracle systems, the person said.

Shares of NetSuite rose 2.54 percent to close at $12.10 on the New York Stock Exchange. A spokeswoman for NetSuite, which is majority-owned by Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison, declined to comment.

SAP and Oracle sell traditional software, which companies buy and run in their own data centers. The bulk of the world's biggest corporations either use SAP or Oracle.

That approach can be more expensive than buying a subscription to NetSuite's hosted, Web-based software, said Rebecca Wettemann, an analyst with Nucleus Research, who had not been briefed by the company on the new product line.

Analysts said they expect the new product will be well received by corporate technology managers looking at NetSuite's software-as-a-service offering as a low-cost alternative to installing an SAP or Oracle system.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

NetSuite Inc has developed programs targeted at large corporations, a person familiar with the strategy said, in an effort to move the
software maker beyond the small-to mid-sized business market.

The person, who requested anonymity since the products have not been announced, said NetSuite wants to sell the software to divisions of large corporations that use software from SAP AG and Oracle Corp.

To date, the company has focused on products for small- to medium-sized companies (SMBs). But NetSuite is eager to get a slice of the enterprise market as corporations account for the bulk of sales of business application software, which researcher Gartner estimates at about $89 billion a year.

The new programs, dubbed "SuiteCloud Connect", allow corporate divisions to run their businesses on a high-end version of NetSuite's Web-based software, then easily roll up financial data into their parent companies' SAP and Oracle systems, the person said.

Shares of NetSuite rose 2.54 percent to close at $12.10 on the New York Stock Exchange. A spokeswoman for NetSuite, which is majority-owned by Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison, declined to comment.

SAP and Oracle sell traditional software, which companies buy and run in their own data centers. The bulk of the world's biggest corporations either use SAP or Oracle.

That approach can be more expensive than buying a subscription to NetSuite's hosted, Web-based software, said Rebecca Wettemann, an analyst with Nucleus Research, who had not been briefed by the company on the new product line.

Analysts said they expect the new product will be well received by corporate technology managers looking at NetSuite's software-as-a-service offering as a low-cost alternative to installing an SAP or Oracle system.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

A small group of investors took Bernard Madoff to bankruptcy court on Monday, saying the disgraced financier bilked them out of nearly
$64 million.

A Manhattan judge cleared the way for the newly filed Chapter 7 petition last week by granting a request from the same investors to lift a temporary order barring bankruptcy for Madoff. They had argued that a bankruptcy case was needed to protect their rights amid an ongoing scramble to seize his assets.

Madoff, 70, pleaded guilty last month to federal charges his secretive investment advisory service actually was a multibillion Ponzi scheme in which he paid longtime clients with money from new ones. He is jailed, awaiting a June sentencing for charges that carry a sentence of up to 150 years in prison.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

President Barack Obama on Monday eased the way for US telecommunications firms to do business with Cuba and relaxed some other
restrictions on the communist-ruled island, opening a crack in a decades-old US embargo.

As part of a major policy shift from the Bush administration's more hardline approach to Havana, Obama lifted limits on family travel and money transfers by Cuban Americans in the United States to Cuba.

The decisions unveiled by the White House do not eliminate Washington's trade embargo against Cuba set up 47 years ago, but it does hold out the prospect for improving ties between the two longtime foes.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

Goldman Sachs Group Inc posted first-quarter earnings of $1.66 billion, a higher-than-expected profit helped by strong trading revenue,
and said it planned to raise $5 billion of common shares.

The New York-based bank reported net income applicable to common shareholders for the quarter ended March 27 of $3.39 a share. For the quarter ended February 29, 2008, the company posted net income for common shareholders of $1.47 billion, or $3.23 a share.

Analysts had on average expected earnings of $1.49 a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Goldman said it planned to use proceeds of its share offering plus additional funds to repay the $10 billion of capital it received from the US government under the Troubled Assets Relief Program.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

The Ethisphere Institute on Monday named 99 companies it says are the world's most ethical, its third annual listing designed to
global-cos.jpg

The 99 companies, which include Honeywell International Inc, Nike Inc, Patagonia, BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Johnson Controls Inc and HSBC Holdings PLC, come from 35 different industries.

"The mission of our group is to improve corporate behavior," said Alex Brigham, executive director of the Ethisphere Institute, an international think-tank based in New York dedicated to the advancement of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption and sustainability.

The companies are chosen against their peers within their industry, as each industry operates under different circumstances, Brigham said.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

American Airlines will add the first of 76 new Boeing jets to its fleet this week in a move that the carrier hopes will cut
fuel and maintenance costs.

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft will replace about one-fourth of American's current aging fleet of McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series jets, which have been the subject of several maintenance problems in the past year.

American took delivery of the first two planes late last month, held a media open house Monday, and planned to put them into service carrying passengers Tuesday in Chicago.

The planes are the newest generation of Boeing's workhorse 737 series. American already has 77 Boeing 737-800s it bought nearly a decade ago. They list for $72.5 million to $81 million. American officials said they paid less than sticker price, but wouldn't say how much.

``This is a strategic investment for our future,'' said pilot Jim Kaiser as he stood in the aisle of a jet that still had that new-plane smell of leather, plastic and carpeting.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

Cyprus' Finance minister said on Monday that the government would inject another euro1 billion ($1.33 billion) into the banking
system to bolster liquidity in the economy.

Charilaos Stavrakis said the infusion in the Greek Cypriot south of the island would come in the form of eight-month bonds to be issued next week at an interest rate of 1.5 per cent.

He said the bonds could in turn be used by the island's commercial and cooperative banks as collateral to clinch European Central bank loans at 1.25 per cent.

"This is a practical decision, exceptionally significant, that will be implemented immediately," Stavrakis told reporters after a meeting with bank chiefs.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

Islamic banks hit by the real estate downturn face a crisis that could include layoffs or more rescue measures if liquidity does not
improve, with some players aiming simply to survive instead of grow, leading bankers said on Monday.

Sohail Zubairi, chief executive of Dar al-Sharia consultancy, said sparse liquidity continued to dog lenders and that worse could be in store if conditions do not improve by the third quarter.

"Anything is possible in this scenario," he told the Reuters Islamic Banking and Finance Summit in Dubai. Dar al-Sharia was set up in July 2008 by Dubai Islamic Bank to provide financial and legal expertise for the Islamic finance industry.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

China's economy is showing some signs of improvement, but data on Monday showing a big fall in Japanese wholesale prices suggested
the world's second-largest economy is sliding back toward deflation.

In India, another huge emerging market, the effects of the global downturn slowed economic growth to just below 7 percent in the 2008/09 fiscal year that ended in March, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.

Shrinking demand at home and abroad has cut India's factory output and exports sharply since October. But a jump in China's industrial output last month, along with a record rise in new lending, gave credence to the idea that the bottom of the worst global crisis since the Great Depression may not be far away.

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Shares of General Motors Corp plunged 17 per cent on Monday after a report that the US Treasury is directing the automaker to lay the
groundwork for a bankruptcy filing by June 1.

GM, which is operating under $13.4 billion of emergency government loans, has until June 1 to win sweeping concessions from bondholders and the United Auto Workers union. The Obama administration has warned that the alternative would be bankruptcy.

A newspaper said the government's goal was to prepare for a fast "surgical" bankruptcy, quoting people who had been briefed on the GM plans.

Sources familiar with the situation told Reuters that GM was in "intense" and "earnest" preparations for a possible bankruptcy filing.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

Shares of General Motors Corp plunged 17 per cent on Monday after a report that the US Treasury is directing the automaker to lay the
groundwork for a bankruptcy filing by June 1.

GM, which is operating under $13.4 billion of emergency government loans, has until June 1 to win sweeping concessions from bondholders and the United Auto Workers union. The Obama administration has warned that the alternative would be bankruptcy.

A newspaper said the government's goal was to prepare for a fast "surgical" bankruptcy, quoting people who had been briefed on the GM plans.

Sources familiar with the situation told Reuters that GM was in "intense" and "earnest" preparations for a possible bankruptcy filing.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

raivo pommer-www.google.ee
[email protected]

: US banking giant Goldman Sachs said Monday it had raised 5.5 bn dollars from investors, including from Asia and Europe, for a fund to
acquire private-equity assets.

GS Vintage Fund V is the latest fund raised by the Alternative Investments & Manager Selection Group of Goldman Sachs Asset

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Bailed out US banks including Citibank, headed by Indian American chief executive Vikram Pandit, are facing a probe over increase in
rates and fees, a media report said Monday.

The Congressional Oversight Panel, the body named by the Congress to oversee the federal bailout under the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP), is working on a report examining instances of potentially inappropriate lending by banks that got government capital, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"The people who are subsidising the activities of the banks through their tax dollars are the same people who are furnishing the high profits through consumer lending," Elizabeth Warren, chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel told the Journal in an interview.

[raivo pommer-eesti.]

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[email protected]

More than three months into a medical leave from Apple Inc, Chief Executive Steve Jobs remains closely involved in key aspects of
Steve Jobs

running the company, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook runs the day-to-day operations, but Jobs has continued to work on the company's most important strategies and products from home, the newspaper said in a story on its website.

He regularly reviews products and product plans, and was particularly involved in the user interface of the new iPhone operating system that Apple unveiled last month, the Journal said.

Jobs, an Apple co-founder who is considered the company's creative leader, is also involved in the development of future projects, the paper said, citing people with knowledge of the company's strategy.

Jobs, 54, who was treated in 2004 for a rare form of pancreatic cancer, took a medical leave in early January, saying he would return in June and would remain involved in "major strategic decisions while I am out".

But he has made no public appearances or statements since then, and it has been unclear just how involved he continued to be, the Journal said.

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The controversy surrounding American International Group Inc's bonuses to employees could make the process of winding down the insurer's
financial products unit more costly for taxpayers, the Wall Street Journal cited the unit head Gerry Pasciucco as saying.

Pasciucco told the paper that the controversy "hurt morale" and "stunned people such that our wind-down has slowed down."

"Taxpayers probably have been damaged," Pasciucco told the Journal, adding that 20 of the unit's 370 employees quit amid the controversy.

AIG, which has received an estimated $180 billion of U.S. government bailouts since September, prompted a nationwide outrage last month for paying $165 million of bonuses tied to the money-losing financial products unit that was the cause of its near collapse last year.

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Switzerland is considering further measures against the OECD in the row over how much the country is doing to reform its policy on tax
havens, media reports said on Sunday.

The Neue Zuercher Zeitung (NZZ) quoted Swiss officials as saying they might block progress in cooperation with China, India and other emerging countries in protest against being placed on the OECD's "grey list".

On Wednesday Switzerland blocked a payment of 136,000 euros (180,000 dollars) to the OECD, a 30-member organisation of major industrialised countries.

Officials were now considering delaying their membership subscription of 10 million Swiss francs (8.65 million dollars) or blocking the 2011 reelection of OECD secretary general Angel Gurria, the paper reported.

The federal finance ministry could not be reached for comment.

But Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin told Sonntag, another Sunday paper, that it was not up to the OECD to act as a "restaurant guide" on the issue.

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Global cooperation is needed to tackle the financial meltdown, climate change, nuclear proliferation and other pressing problems,
President Barack Obama said on Saturday.

Fresh from his first trip overseas as president, Obama used his radio and Internet address to ask people in the United States and around the world to focus on areas of common interest.

"These are challenges that no single nation, no matter how powerful, can confront alone," Obama said. "The United States must lead the way. But our best chance to solve these unprecedented problems comes from acting in concert with other nations."

Obama pointed to his London meeting with leaders of the G-20 nations, a gathering that represented 85 percent of the global economy, where he pressed for increased regulation and economic stimulus. He also noted his attendance at the NATO summit in France to discuss strategy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as his speeches against nuclear weapons in the Czech Republic and about faith divisions in Turkey.

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EUROPA FALSCHE WEG

Europa ist bei der Bekämpfung der Weltwirtschaftskrise nach Ansicht des Nobelpreisträgers Paul Krugman auf dem falschen Weg. „Die Vereinigten Staaten haben recht, Europa hat unrecht“, sagte der Wirtschaftswissenschaftler, der in den vergangenen Monaten besonders die deutsche Regierung für ihre abwartende Haltung kritisiert hatte. Die Mitgliedstaaten der Europäischen Union müssten viel aggressiver als bisher versuchen, die Wirtschaft durch Konjunkturprogramme anzukurbeln. Dabei wies er Bedenken zurück, dass die großzügige amerikanische Intervention die Inflation beschleunigen und das höhere Defizit den Haushalt zu stark belasten könnte. „Eine Billion Dollar mehr wird das Problem nicht wesentlich vergrößern“, sinnierte der Hochschullehrer von der Eliteuniversität Princeton am Montagnachmittag auf einer Pressekonferenz in New York.

Krugman wäre nicht der scharfzüngige Kolumnist und Buchautor, wüsste er nicht eine scheinbar simple Antwort auf die drängende Frage, wie eine Neuauflage der Großen Depression zu vermeiden sei. Er forderte staatliches Handeln auf breiter Front, ohne allzu sehr ins Detail zu gehen: aggressive Strategien, um die Kreditklemme auf den Finanzmärkten zu beseitigen, ein weiter Gestaltungsspielraum für die Geldpolitik, umfangreiche Konjunkturprogramme. „All diese Maßnahmen haben in der Vergangenheit gewirkt, und sie werden ohne Frage auch diesmal helfen“, betonte er.

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REZESSION IN MICROSOFT

Der weltgrößte Softwarekonzern Microsoft hat durch die Krise am PC-Markt einen herben Gewinneinbruch erlitten. Der Überschuss brach im abgelaufenen Quartal um fast ein Drittel auf knapp 3,0 Milliarden Dollar (2,3 Mrd Euro) ein. Der Umsatz fiel um sechs Prozent auf 13,6 Milliarden Dollar, wie der US-Konzern am Donnerstag nach Börsenschluss am Sitz in Redmond (Bundesstaat Washington) mitteilte. Das ist der erste Rückgang der Quartalserlöse im Jahresvergleich seit der Windows-Konzern Anfang 1986 an die Börse ging.

Microsoft rechnet überdies nicht mit einer schnellen Besserung am Markt. "Wir erwarten, dass die Schwäche mindestens bis ins nächste Quartal anhält", sagte Finanzchef Chris Liddell. Mit seinen Zahlen enttäuschte der Softwareriese die Erwartungen der Analysten.

Der PC-Absatz war im ersten Quartal laut den Marktforschern von Gartner um 6,5 Prozent geschrumpft. Werden weniger Computer verkauft, kann Microsoft damit zum Beispiel auch sein Betriebssystem Windows seltener absetzen. Außerdem sind immer mehr der verkauften Computer Mini-Notebooks, von denen zahlreiche nicht mit Windows, sondern mit dem freien Betriebssystem Linux laufen.

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BRITISH CHRISE

Equally, it may be true that British GDP will be lower than the government forecasts by the middle of the next decade - credit crunches are much harder to slip away from than the government forecasts. But after the stimulus the economy has received, there should be some growth, broadly corresponding to the shape the Treasury predicts.

The real issue is the evaporation of our economic and political pretensions. The Treasury has been forced to recognise that 5% of Britain's GDP has disappeared forever. Too many industries were dependent upon the crazy world of ever-rising house prices and easy credit; now gone for ever. This means that the path to sustainable public finances is going to be astonishingly painful. We can live with national debt doubling, but it cannot double again.

The numbers are terrifying. Budget deficits, even for Keynesian apostles of deficit finance like me, cannot stay at 12% of GDP, or £175bn, for very long, however justifiable in recession. The problem is that so much economic capacity has permanently disappeared, along with those parts of the economy that used to deliver rich tax revenues; the post-recession economy will only reduce the deficit by a quarter. The rest has got to be found by tax increases or reductions in planned spending.

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US-BANKEN

The United States pledged robust support Saturday for an overhaul of governing power within the International Monetary Fund so key emerging-market nations get more say in how the lender operates.

In a speech to the IMF's steering committee, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also called on the fund to be prepared to offer loans to recapitalize banks or to aid developing countries in rolling over corporate debt.

Geithner's proposals, delivered in a strongly worded address at the IMF's semiannual meeting, are likely to provoke some controversy among the other industralized countries who, with the United States, have long dominated the global lender.

He said, however, it was necessary to retool the IMF to reflect a shift in global economic reality.

"This is essential to strengthening the IMF's legitimacy, ensuring that it remains at the center of the international monetary system and reflects the realities of the 21st century," Geithner said.

Washington's commitment to reform carries special weight because it is the biggest single shareholder within the IMF.

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WORLDCRISE

Lady Godiva's legendary ride naked through Coventry was perhaps one of the most effective anti-tax demonstrations in history. Her tyrannical husband, Earl Leofric, had imposed an oppressive tax called the Heregeld to pay for the King’s bodyguard.

After pleading with him to repeal the tax, Leofric replied: "You will have to ride naked through Coventry before I will change my ways". So Godiva took him at his word – after ordering the town to close all their windows and doors, she rode through the town with only her long golden hair as her cover. True to his word, Godiva’s husband repealed the hated tax.

2. 1773: Colonial taxes

The Boston Tea party was not a party, but a demonstration against the unfair taxation of colonies. The British Government gave the British East India Company, an English trade company, far more beneficial tax arrangements than its colonial competitors.

Demonstrators in Boston became particularly fed-up with this, and one night a group of protestors sneaked onboard a docked British East India Company ship and unloaded 45 tons of tea (worth an estimated £10,000 - that is about £953,000 today) into the sea. The event ultimately helped spark the American Revolution and the loss of America to the British Empire.

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CHINA GOLD

Die Volksrepublik China hat ihre Goldreserven seit dem Jahr 2003 von 600 auf 1.054 Tonnen aufgestockt. Das teilte der Leiter der Verwaltung der Währungsreserven, Hu Xiaolian, der chinesischen Nachrichtenagentur Xinhua mit.

Peking hatte in den vergangenen Jahren keine präzisen Angaben über seine Goldreserven gemacht. Marktkenner vermuteten allerdings schon länger, dass Peking seine Reserven ausbauen würde. Der Goldpreis legte am Freitag in Reaktion auf die Meldung aus China leicht zu. Kurz nach Eröffnung des New Yorker Handels kostete die Unze dort 908 Dollar. Der HUI-Index (Amex Gold Bugs Index) führender Goldminenwerte verbesserte sich zu Handelsbeginn um 3 Prozent auf 299 Punkte. Ende März hatte der Index noch 342 Punkte erreicht.

Leichte Diversifizierung der riesigen Währungsreserven

Wie Hu Xiaolian sagte, erfolgte der Reservenaufbau überwiegend durch Käufe von in China selbst gefördertem Gold. China gehört seit Jahren zu den wichtigsten Förderländern der Welt. Mit ihren Reserven von 1.054 Tonnen übertrifft die Volksrepublik die Schweiz, die Reserven von 1.040 Tonnen ausweist. Innerhalb der chinesischen Währungsreserven von rund 2.000 Milliarden Dollar spielt Gold aber nach wie vor nur eine bescheidene Rolle: Der Marktwert der Goldreserven beträgt lediglich gut 30 Milliarden Dollar.

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The biggest German bank, Deutsche Bank, posted on Tuesday strong first quarter results, the latest major bank in Europe and North
America to offer hope for an eventual end to the financial crisis.

Deutsche Bank reported a net profit of 1.2 billion euros ($1.56 billion), far surpassing market expectations.

In the first quarter of 2008, Deutsche Bank had posted a net loss of 141 million euros, and analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a net profit of 764 million euros this time around.

Bank chairman Josef Ackermann said: "This was a key quarter for Deutsche Bank. Once again we demonstrated our strength, as we have consistently throughout this crisis. "But in this quarter, we also proved our earnings power."

Deutsche Bank is the latest global bank to report solid first quarter results, along with peers such as Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse, giving a glimmer of hope that the financial crisis could be past the worst.

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Im Jahr 1954 das Flaggschiff der Gesellschaft.

Nur drei Fondsmanager hat es seitdem vor Sweeting gegeben, darunter Sir John Templeton, den Firmengründer. Er hat die Investmententscheidungen des Fonds mehr als 30 Jahre lang selbst gefällt, bevor er 1987 andere ans Ruder lies

Sweeting führt die Geschäfte seit Anfang vergangenen Jahres. Sie hat keine leichte Zeit erwischt. Denn seit einigen Jahren läuft der einst 40 Milliarden schwere Templeton Growth der internationalen Marktentwicklung hinterher. So gab der Fonds in Euro gerechnet allein im ersten Quartal des Jahres 41 Prozent nach, der Vergleichsindex büßte dagegen 37 Prozent ein. Auch auf Fünfjahressicht schneidet der Templeton Growth Fund schlechter ab als der Aktienindex MSCI Welt.

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