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2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/14108 | Who Does the Fed Serve?
Column by George F. Smith, posted on April 07, 2008 in The Fed
Exclusive to STR
In testimony last week, Ben Bernanke told Ron Paul that the government created the Federal Reserve in 1913 to stop the "periodic financial crises" that erupted in the 19th Century and again in 1907. Bernanke, evidently, was counting on Paul holding the accepted view of the Fed's origins, the one untainted by Wall Street-government conspiracy -- not the view meticulously presented in the works of Kolko, Rothbard, and Griffin, among others.
Perhaps he was also hoping none of us saw the CNBC Squawk Box interview with author/investor Jim Rogers a few weeks earlier. Rogers , now living in Singapore , has done better-than-well under the Fed's reign of the markets. Given his success, one might expect him to say nice things about the Fed. Here's some of what he had to say:
Let's talk first about your reaction to yesterday's HUGE move in the market. We had the Federal Reserve adding about $230 billion in liquidity, a 400 point move on the Dow . . . What do you think?
CNBC : Why isn't it good, Jim? What's not good about 400 points on the DOW ?
Remember, that this is what the Federal Reserve did in the 1970s. They just printed money. We had huge recession. We had huge inflation. And then we had to bring in Paul Volcker and say, 'Solve the problem.' He had to take interest rates to over 20 percent to solve the problem. That's what's going to happen again . . . .
CNBC : What would be the first two things you would do if you were in Mr. Bernanke's seat tomorrow morning?
CNBC : How would this help the 300 million Americans that you say aren't being helped out by the Fed's activities yesterday?
CNBC : But Jim, absent of getting rid of the Federal Reserve, let's talk about real solutions here. . . .
The Fed itself was pushed as a 'real solution,' but apparently any talk of getting rid of it shouldn't be taken seriously.
Big Bankers Wanted the Fed
We did have banking crises before the Fed, and various concerned parties were pushing for a central bank as a way of dealing with them. They wanted to deal with them by making sure others paid and they profited. There was also widespread concern about Wall Street's concentration of power. A congressional investigation called the Pujo Committee conducted hearings on the 'Money Trust,' as it was called, for eight tedious months in 1912 and concluded that the banking system needed reforming because five banking firms were too big. Together, the firms 'held 341 directorships in 112 corporations with an aggregate capitalization of over $22 billion,' Kolko writes [Triumph, p. 220]. According to Griffin , 'the public was given the impression that Congress was really prying off the lid of scandal and corruption, but the reality was more like a fireside chat between old friends.' [Creature, p. 444] No one was curious about why the biggest advocate of banking reform was the Money Trust itself.
Thus, banking reform arrived as the big banker-designed Federal Reserve System.
But it's doubtful even the bankers saw the Fed's full potential. Shortly after its creation, it found itself in the war finance business. Then it roughly doubled the money supply so the U.S. could intervene in a European war that had already killed five million people. The government raised taxes as well but not enough to trigger a revolt. Inflation of the currency covered most of the expenses, and as Keynes wrote after the temporary peace, 'not one man in a million' could figure out the slick theft government had pulled off. Actually, it's likely that few of them even tried.
Obstacles to Entering the War
Before American entrance into the war, the Allies were about to default on the massive loans Morgan had made them with the help of his cherished Fed. Only an Allied victory could prevent default, but that meant sending American boys overseas to join the carnage. The warmongers faced two obstacles:
2. Paying for it.
Propaganda and government oppression of dissenters took care of the first; the Fed, aided by the income tax, overcame the second.
One of Morgan's partners expressed their goal starkly in the fall of 1914:
In America [at present] there are 50,000 people who understand the necessity of the United States entering the war on [ England 's] side. But there are 100,000,000 Americans who have not even thought of it. Our task is to see that those figures are reversed. [The Illusion of Victory: America in World War I, Thomas Fleming, p. 47; quoted from H.C. Peterson's Propaganda for War: The Campaign Against American Neutrality]
The Morgans attempted to reverse the figures by purchasing editorial control of 25 of the country's most influential newspapers. Griffin quotes from the Congressional Record:
The policy of the papers was bought, to be paid for by the month; an editor was furnished for each paper to properly supervise and edit information regarding the questions of preparedness, militarism, financial policies, and other things of national and international nature considered vital to the interests of the purchasers. [Creature, p. 244]
Morgan's enormous advertising expenditures supplemented their direct editorial control.
Funding the war had at least two aspects. There was the Allied debt to Morgan that had to be covered, along with direct American expenditures. Building and mobilizing an American Expeditionary Force requires money that for political reasons can only be partially provided through overt channels of appropriation. Conscripting kids and rushing them through boot camp, then packing them sardine-style into ships for the voyage overseas, then trucking them to rat-infested trenches, then hauling them out when they're dead, maimed, diseased, or finished killing -- all of that and much more requires funding that only a central bank, with its surreptitious form of theft, can provide without political repercussions.
War's Silent Partner
The war was a lucrative racket for those pulling the strings of government. On April 14, 1917 , eight days after its declaration of war on the Axis powers, Congress passed the War Loan Act, extending $1 billion in credit to the Allies. Of that amount, $200 million went to the British the next day, who immediately turned it over to Morgan in payment of debt. Three months later the British were in debt to Morgan for $400 million, but when Morgan tried to collect it from Treasury Secretary McAdoo, he initially refused to pay. At that point, the Fed stepped in. Morgan's appointee at the New York Fed, Benjamin Strong, who ran the Federal Reserve autocratically until his death in 1928, simply created money and slipped it to McAdoo, who paid Morgan piecemeal for the duration of the war. [Creature, p. 258]
The Fed, in other words, bailed out Morgan during World War I, which in turn kept the war going -- i.e., drove casualties and prices even higher. But Morgan was only one of the beneficiaries. At the recommendation of Cleveland Dodge, president of Rockefeller's National City Bank, the little-known Bernard Baruch became chairman of the dictatorial War Industries Board. Baruch and his Wall Street cronies who made up the board and its committees spent taxpayer money on war materials at a rate of $10 billion a year, fixing prices on a cost-plus basis. The costs, as it turned out under subsequent investigation, were grossly padded.
. . . the total wartime expenditure of the United States government from April 6, 1917 , to October 31, 1919 , when the last contingent of troops returned from Europe , was $35,413,000,000. Net corporation profits from the period January 1, 1916 , to July, 1921, when wartime industrial activity was finally liquidated, were $38,000,000,000, or approximately the amount of the wartime expenditures. More than two-thirds of these corporation profits were taken by precisely those enterprises which the Pujo Committee had found to be under control of the 'Money Trust.' [Creature, p. 259; quote from America's Sixty Families, Ferdinand Lundberg]
Thus, Wilson's intervention into the European war broke the stalemate, ended the possibility of a negotiated peace, and prolonged the killing until Germany surrendered unconditionally. (And even after the armistice, the British kept blockading German ports so that German citizens would continue to starve -- and never forget.)
A few rich men became much richer, while millions of others went through hell. And bankrolling much of it by debasing the currency was the Fed, the institution now under consideration for receiving even more power over our lives.
Getting rid of the Fed may not be a 'real solution,' as the CNBC wits proclaim, but it is the only solution if we're serious about ending inflation and its unforgivable consequences.
George F. Smith Columns on STR: 71 George F. Smith is the author of The Flight of The Barbarous Relic, a novel about a renegade Fed chairman. Visit his website. Login to post comments
Let the House of Cards Tumble!
Emerald City Goes Bust
Taxation Is Extortion
License To Steal | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/14132 | Forint falls on mortgage relief plan
July 03, 2014 - 12:04:58 am BUDAPEST: The Hungarian forint fell to a three-month low point yesterday when investors showed alarm at a radical government plan to ease household debt and a warning from Brussels over rising public debt.
The forint has been falling since details emerged last week about the new debt relief package, dropping to 312 forints to the euro yesterday, the lowest rate since late March.
The government’s new plan is meant to help Hungarians, still struggling to repay foreign-currency loans which many took before the 2008 financial crisis, but then faced huge payments when the forint plunged.
Analysts say investors fear that the latest measures could destabilise the Hungarian banking sector, which will foot most of the bill, estimated at several billion euros. The first part of the package will be put to a parliamentary vote on Friday and is expected to be approved.
It would allow the conversion of foreign-currency loans into forints at below-market rates, and force banks to compensate borrowers for certain practices, including unilateral increases in interest due. Banks, if challenged by individual debtors, will also have to prove in court that their contracts were fair. About a million Hungarians took out foreign-currency mortgages — mostly in Swiss francs — before the financial crisis, only to see the forint fall sharply after that, leaving hundreds of thousands with soaring monthly instalments.
Hungarian households now owe about ¤10bn ($13.5bn) to the banks. The new proposal is just the latest in a series of measures introduced in recent years to solve the problem, to no avail. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has meanwhile insisted that the banks—mainly foreign ones—must do more.
The forint’s fall also comes after the European Commission on Tuesday issued a statement threatening to restart an “excessive deficit procedure” against Hungary unless it takes urgent steps to cut its budget deficit and its debt level, which is the highest in central Europe. AFP | 金融 |
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Citi’s Web-banking Platform Ranked #1 Online Corporate and Commercial Banking Platform By Greenwich Associates
NEW YORK, NY - Oct. 20 – Citi today announced that its institutional web-banking platform has been ranked first in Greenwich Associates’ Online Services Benchmarking study. For the third consecutive year, Citi was ranked first in the Global category, U.S. Middle Market category (companies with $10 million to $500 million in annual sales), and shared the top spot in the U.S. Large Corporate category. Citi’s platform incorporates industry-leading capabilities such as transaction initiation and reporting, treasury and liquidity analytics, as well as trade services.
Conducted by Greenwich Associates, an independent research and consulting firm, the annual study evaluates online banking applications provided by leading banks. Consultants spent more than 20 hours analyzing each provider’s platform and ranked them based on more than 40 individual performance criteria including usability/ease of use, product features/functionality, integration/organization and information access. Criteria were then weighted for scoring purposes. Citi’s platform was highly ranked in the areas of usability, global availability of the platform, payments/receivables, information reporting, active investments and trade services. Citi’s Global Transaction Services offers integrated cash management, trade, and securities and fund services to multinational corporations, financial institutions and public sector organizations around the world. With a network spanning more than 140 countries, Citi’s Global Transaction Services supports over 65,000 clients. As of the 3rd quarter of 08, it held $273 billion in liability balances under administration and $11.9 trillion in assets under custody and trust.
"We are committed to providing our clients with the best platforms and capabilities in the industry to gain greater efficiency, flexibility and control over their banking transactions," said Francesco Vanni d’Archirafi, Global Head of Treasury and Trade Solutions with Citi’s Global Transaction Services. "These independent rankings further validate Citi’s commitment to excellence to develop the best solutions possible for both our corporate and financial institution clients."
"Corporate and commercial clients have increasingly high expectations for the Internet and electronic platforms provided by banks," says Greenwich consultant Marc Harrison. "Platforms such as Citi’s are raising the bar in terms of ease of use and providing a consolidated view of the cash and liquidity positions of the bank’s clients."
About Greenwich Associates
Greenwich Associates is the leading international research-based consulting firm in institutional financial services. Greenwich's studies provide benefits to the buyers and sellers of financial services in the form of benchmark information on best practices and market intelligence on overall trends. Based in Greenwich, Connecticut, with additional offices in London, Toronto, and Tokyo, the firm offers over 100 research-based consulting programs to more than 250 global financial-services companies.
About Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Citi’s major brand names include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney, Banamex, and Nikko. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com. ARCHIVES
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2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/14660 | Oh crap! Our blogger gets pooped on by a bird
LinkedIn Google+ Stories about the U.S. Treasury Secretary aren't usually amusing, but this one has a comment that's good for a laugh.The Wall Street Journal notes that Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew “has been holding a series of meetings with economists, academics, regional bankers and businesses in an effort to sound out different groups on the economy and Washington policies.” Mr. Lew will be in Cleveland next week, where he will speak at the City Club and stop at high-end blender maker Vitamix Corp.Of the series of meetings, one anonymous Treasury official tells The Journal, “It's really important to him to get out of Washington on a frequent basis to hear from a diversity of voices.”Here is what passes for a “diverse” group for the secretary:Council on Foreign Relations president Richard Haass Leon D. Black, chairman and CEO of Apollo Management Mark T. Gallogly, co-founder and managing principal of Centerbridge Partners Stephen C. Freidheim, chief investment officer of Cyrus Capital Partners L.P. Ralph L. Schlosstein, president and CEO of Evercore Partners Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, president and CEO of Macy's Daniel S. Glaser, president and CEO of Marsh & McLennan Cos. John Alfred Paulson, manager of Paulson & Co. Indra K. Nooyi, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Frank P. Brosens, co-founder of Taconic Capital Advisors Stephen A. Schwarzman, chairman and CEO of Blackstone Group Robert Greifeld, president and CEO of Nasdaq OMX GroupHe also met with heads of regional banks on Tuesday, including Beth Mooney, chairman and CEO of Cleveland-based KeyCorp.Guests at the City Club forum next week should come prepared to ask Mr. Lew some hard questions. I doubt he got many this week.This and that
Aging gracefully: The chief economist of real estate website Trulia breaks down some numbers on the country's housing stock and concludes that if you like an old house, Cleveland is a good place to be.For instance, homes from the 1920s “are easiest to find in New York (12.3% of on-market homes there were built in the 1920s), Los Angeles (9.7%), and several Ohio markets including Toledo, Akron, Dayton and Cleveland.”If that's a little too old for you, fear not.“Homes built in the 1940s account for the highest share of today's for-sale listings in Detroit (19.6%), Los Angeles (10.2%) and Cleveland (9.1%),” according to the story on Forbes.com.Getting on his horse: The New York Times runs a long profile of jockey Kevin Krigger, who is trying to become the first African-American since 1902 to win the Kentucky Derby.Mr. Krigger has local ties.In 2001, the story notes, the then 17-year-old Mr. Krigger landed at ThistleDown Racino, where he eventually won 50 races.Mr. Krigger has a good shot this weekend. He's riding Goldencents, the Derby favorite and the horse that recently won the Santa Anita Derby.If Goldencents wins tomorrow in Kentucky, Mr. Krigger would be the first black jockey to win the Kentucky Derby since Jimmy Winkfield won two straight, in 1901 and 1902. Short of the goal: Cleveland soccer fans, we can do better than this.The Washington Post's soccer blog provides these ticket sales figures for the U.S. men's national team's next four matches: May 29 friendly vs. Belgium in Cleveland: 14,750 June 2 friendly vs. Germany in Washington: 33,000 June 11 World Cup qualifier vs. Panama in Seattle: 31,000 June 18 World Cup qualifier vs. Honduras in Sandy, Utah: 20,000 (sold out)I know it's a friendly rather than a qualifier, but these are pretty low numbers. But as they say — plenty of good seats available.The omen: My day got off to a bad start — I took a (very) heavy load of bird poop on the head and back when I got out of my car.When I shared that information, a family member forwarded me this optimistic link about “18 omens of good fortune,” one of which is “When bird droppings land on your head.”From the story:Many people believe this to be a major sign of wealth coming from heaven. Hence, although it is really yucky and a major inconvenience, when something like this happens to you, take comfort in the fact that this is described as good luck being just around the corner! In fact, most things associated with birds tend to spell good fortune, such as when birds fly to your home and start making nests in and around your house. While bats bring abundance, birds bring good news and opportunities. The next time a flock of ravens, pigeons or magpies come to your home, feed them with bird seeds. Birds are also said to be powerful protectors and guardians. Even crows are said to be messengers of the Gods. So welcome birds with open arms.I'm not feeling very welcoming to birds right now, but I'm very open to signs of wealth coming my way.You also can follow me on Twitter for more news about business and Northeast Ohio. | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/14795 | by Robert J. Samuelson
| Great Depression
[An updated version of this article can be found at Great Depression in the 2nd edition.]
The Great Depression of the thirties remains the most important economic event in American history. It caused enormous hardship for tens of millions of people and the failure of a large fraction of the nation's banks, businesses, and farms. It transformed national politics by vastly expanding government, which was increasingly expected to stabilize the economy and to prevent suffering. Democrats became the majority party. In 1929 the Republicans controlled the White House and Congress. By 1933, the Democrats had the presidency and, with huge margins, Congress (310-117 in the House, and 60-35 in the Senate). President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal gave birth to the American version of the welfare state. Social Security, unemployment insurance, and federal family assistance all began in the thirties.
It is hard for those who did not live through it to grasp the full force of the worldwide depression. Between 1930 and 1939 U.S. unemployment averaged 18.2 percent. The economy's output of goods and services (gross national product) declined 30 percent between 1929 and 1933 and recovered to the 1929 level only in 1939. Prices of almost everything (farm products, raw materials, industrial goods, stocks) fell dramatically. Farm prices, for instance, dropped 51 percent from 1929 to 1933. World trade shriveled: between 1929 and 1933 it shrank 65 percent in dollar value and 25 percent in unit volume. Most nations suffered. In 1932 Britain's unemployment was 17.6 percent. Germany's depression hastened the rise of Hitler and, thereby, contributed to World War II.
The depression is best understood as the final chapter of the breakdown of the worldwide economic order. The breakdown started with World War I and ended in the thirties with the collapse of the gold standard. As the depression deepened, governments tried to protect their reserves of gold by keeping interest rates high and credit tight for too long. This had a devastating impact on credit, spending, and prices, and an ordinary business slump became a calamity. What ultimately ended the depression was World War II. Military spending and mobilization reduced the U.S. unemployment rate to 1.9 percent by 1943.
With hindsight it seems amazing that governments did not act sooner and more forcefully to end the depression. The fact that they did not attests to how different people's expectations and world politics were in the thirties. The depression can be understood only in the context of the times. Consider four huge differences between then and now:
1. The gold standard. Most money was paper, as it is now, but governments were obligated, if requested, to redeem that paper for gold. This "convertibility" put an upper limit on the amount of paper currency governments could print, and thus prevented inflation. There was no tradition (as there is today) of continuous, modest inflation. Most countries went off the gold standard during World War I, and restoring it was a major postwar aim. Britain, for instance, returned to gold in 1925. Other countries backed their paper money not with gold, but with other currencies—mainly U.S. dollars and British pounds—that were convertible into gold. As a result flexibility of governments was limited. A loss of gold (or convertible currencies) often forced governments to raise interest rates. The higher interest rates discouraged conversion of interest-bearing deposits into gold and bolstered confidence that inflation would not break the commitment to gold.
2. Economic policy. Apart from the gold standard, economic policy barely existed. There was little belief that governments could, or should, prevent business slumps. These were seen as natural, therapeutic, and self-correcting. The lower wages and interest rates caused by slumps would spur recovery. The 1920-21 downturn (when industrial production fell 25 percent) had preceded the prosperous twenties. "People will work harder, live a more moral life," Andrew Mellon, Treasury secretary under President Herbert Hoover, said after the depression started. "Enterprising people will pick up the wrecks from less competent people," he claimed. One exception to the hands-off attitude was the Federal Reserve, created in 1913. It was charged with the responsibility for providing emergency funds to banks so that surprise withdrawals would not trigger bank runs and a financial panic.
3. Production patterns. Farming and raw materials were much more important parts of the economy than they are today. This meant that lower commodity prices could cripple domestic prosperity and world trade, because price declines destroyed the purchasing power of farmers and other primary producers (including entire nations). In 1929 farming accounted for 23 percent of U.S. employment (versus 2.5 percent today). Two-fifths of world trade was in farm products, another fifth in other raw materials. Poor countries (including countries in Latin America, Asia, and Central Europe) exported food and raw materials and imported manufactured goods from industrial nations.
4. The impact of World War I. Wartime inflation, when the gold standard had been suspended, raised prices and inspired fears that gold stocks were inadequate to provide backing for enlarged money supplies at the new, higher price level. This was one reason that convertible currencies, such as the dollar and pound, were used as gold substitutes. The war weakened Britain, left Germany with massive reparations payments, and split the Austro-Hungarian Empire into many countries. These countries, plus Germany, depended on foreign loans (in convertible currencies) to pay for their imports. The arrangement was unstable because any withdrawal of short-term loans would force the borrowing countries to retrench, which could cripple world trade.
To view the Great Depression as the last gasp of the gold standard—as economic historians Barry Eichengreen and Peter Temin suggest—bridges the gap between two popular explanations. The best-known, advanced by economists Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz in A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960, blames the Federal Reserve for permitting two-fifths of the nation's banks to fail between 1929 and 1933 (or 10,797 of the 25,568 banks in 1929). Since deposits were not insured then, the bank failures wiped out savings and shrank the money supply. From 1929 to 1933 the money supply dropped by one-third, choking off credit and making it impossible for many individuals and businesses to spend or invest. Friedman and Schwartz argue that it was this drop in the money supply that strangled the economy. They consider the depression mainly an American affair that spread abroad.
In contrast, economist Charles Kindleberger, in The World in Depression, 1929-1939, sees the depression as a global event caused by a lack of world economic leadership. According to Kindleberger, Britain provided leadership before World War I. It fostered global trade by keeping its markets open, promoted expansion by making overseas investments, and prevented financial crises with emergency loans. After World War II the United States played this role. But between the wars no country did, and the depression fed on itself, Kindleberger argues. No country did enough to halt banking crises, and the entire industrial world adopted protectionist measures in attempts to curtail imports. In 1930, for example, President Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley tariff, raising tariffs on dutiable items by 52 percent. The protectionism put an extra brake on world trade just when countries should have been promoting it.
With the passage of time, both the Friedman-Schwartz and Kindleberger views seem correct. Inept monetary policy explains the depression's severity, as Friedman and Schwartz argue. But because the gold standard caused many governments to make similar errors, the effects were worldwide, as Kindleberger contends.
The start of the depression is usually dated to the spectacular stock market crash of 1929. The Dow Jones industrial average hit its peak of 381 on September 3, up from 300 at the start of the year. After sporadic declines, the roof fell in on October 24 (Black Thursday). Stock prices dropped 15 to 20 percent before being supported by buying from a pool of bankers. Although the market closed with only a small loss (down 6 to 299), trading was nearly 12.9 million shares, about triple the normal volume. The selling panic resumed the next week. On Monday the Dow fell 38 points to 260, then the biggest one-day drop ever. The next day (Black Tuesday), it slid another 30 points. By November 13, the Dow was at 198.
There had been warnings. Many commentators complained before the crash that the market was driven by speculation. A lot of stock was bought on credit. Between the end of 1927 and October 1929, loans to brokers rose 92 percent. At the start of October, loans equaled nearly a fifth of the value of all stocks. But by itself the stock market crash did not cause the depression. By year's end the Dow Jones industrial average had actually rebounded to 248 (down 17 percent from the beginning of 1929). It continued rising in early 1930.
The depression is often blamed on the passivity of President Hoover and the Federal Reserve. This view is simplistic. True, Hoover's commitment to a balanced budget—the orthodoxy of the day—precluded big new spending programs. And his decision in 1932 to combat a budget deficit by raising taxes sharply is widely viewed as a major blunder. But it is not true that Hoover and the Federal Reserve stood idly by and did nothing as the depression worsened. After the crash Hoover instituted a tax cut equal to 4 percent of federal revenues. He urged state and local governments to raise their spending on public works projects. Hoover also created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which provided loans to shaky banks, utilities, and railroads. In 1931 he suspended collection of foreign-debt payments to the United States, which he thought were impeding recovery of the international economy.
Nor was the Federal Reserve entirely passive. During the crash the Fed lent liberally to banks so they could sustain securities lending. Interest rates were allowed to drop rapidly. The discount rate (the rate at which the Federal Reserve lends to commercial banks) fell from 6 percent in October 1929 to 2.5 percent in June 1930. The money supply (cash in circulation plus checking and time deposits at banks) declined only slightly in the next year. Tighter Federal Reserve policy in 1928 and early 1929—intended to check stock market speculation—may have helped trigger the economic downturn. But the Federal Reserve was not stingy in early 1930 and was not driving the economy into depression at that time. It was not until 1931 and later that the Federal Reserve failed to act as the "lender of last resort" and allowed so many banks to fail.
The truth is that, until the summer or early fall of 1930, almost everyone expected the economy to recover, just as it had in 1921. Unfortunately, almost everyone underestimated the forces pulling the economy down. One was the drop in trade that resulted from collapsing commodity prices. Kindleberger has argued that the price collapse was worsened by the stock market crash. The connection lay in a drying up of credit. Many loans used to buy stock had come from foreigners and big corporations, and they demanded repayment when stock prices plummeted. New York banks assumed some of the loans, but they cut loans to the importers of raw materials. Demand for these products (rubber, cocoa, coffee) dropped, and prices fell. Strapped for funds, countries that exported commodities reduced their imports of manufactured goods from industrial nations. The drop in trade was deepened by Smoot-Hawley, which provoked massive retaliation by other nations.
What made matters worse was a big drop in U.S. consumer spending—far more than can be explained by the stock market crash. The drop may have been a backlash to the rise of installment lending (for cars, furniture, and appliances) in the twenties. The prevailing practice allowed lenders to repossess an item if the borrower missed just one payment. People may have stopped making new purchases to reduce the risk of losing things they already had bought on credit. Whatever happened, the slump soon fed on itself. Weak spending depressed prices, which meant that many farmers, businesses, and nations couldn't repay their debts. Rising bad debts prompted banks to restrict new loans and sell financial assets, usually bonds. Scarce credit led to less borrowing, less spending, lower prices, and more bankruptcies. Trade and investment spiraled downward. Confidence crumbled, and as it did, bank runs—people clamoring to convert deposits into cash—ensued.
Why could no one stop this spiral? In the United States there were waves of bank failures in 1931 and 1932. Friedman and Schwartz maintain that the Federal Reserve could have prevented them by lending directly to weak banks and by aggressive "open market" operations (that is, by buying U.S. Treasury securities and thereby injecting new funds into banks and the economy). This action would have halted the depression, they argue. They blame the Federal Reserve's timidity on the 1928 death of Benjamin Strong, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Strong had dominated the Federal Reserve System, which consists of twelve regional banks and a board of governors in Washington. He firmly believed that the Federal Reserve had to prevent banking panics and sustain economic growth. When he died, power in the Federal Reserve passed to officials in Washington, whose ideas were murkier. Had Strong lived, Friedman and Schwartz contend, he would have averted the banking collapse.
Maybe—and maybe not. In fact, the Federal Reserve faced conflicting demands to end the depression and to protect the gold standard. The first required easier credit, the second tighter credit. The gold standard handcuffed governments around the world. The mere hint that a country might abandon gold prompted speculators and international depositors to change local money into gold or a convertible currency. Deposit withdrawals spread panic and squeezed lending. It was a global process that ultimately forced all governments off gold. In May 1931 there was a run against Creditanstalt, a large Austrian bank. The panic then shifted to Germany and, in late summer, to Britain, which left gold in September.
The United States was trapped by the same forces. After Britain went off gold, for instance, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates sharply to stem gold outflows. The discount rate went from 1.5 to 3.5 percent, which, considering the condition of the economy, was a huge increase. The best evidence that the gold standard fostered the depression is that once countries abandoned it, their economies usually began growing again. This happened in Germany, Britain, and, after Roosevelt left gold in March and April 1933, the United States.
Although self-defeating, the defense of gold was a product of law as well as custom. The Federal Reserve had to ensure that every dollar of paper money was backed by at least forty cents of gold. Once Congress ended the obligation to exchange gold for currency, the Fed was largely liberated from worrying about gold. This may have been the most important part of the New Deal's economic program. The economy did improve. Between 1933 and 1937, the unemployment rate dropped from 25 to 14 percent before a new recession pushed it back up to 19 percent in 1938. The 1937-38 recession is widely blamed on the Federal Reserve's mistaken decision to raise bank reserve requirements in August 1936 and early 1937. (Reserves are funds that banks keep as vault cash or as deposits at the Federal Reserve.)
Many economists now believe that the New Deal, apart from its gold policy, probably had little impact on economic activity. At the heart of the early New Deal were the National Recovery Administration (NRA) and the Agriculture Adjustment Act (AAA). Created in Roosevelt's first hundred days, they sought to promote recovery by propping up prices. The idea was to improve incomes and halt bankruptcies. The AAA tried to eliminate agricultural surpluses (pigs were slaughtered, crops destroyed) and paid farmers not to plant. The NRA allowed companies in the same industry to set wages, prices, and working hours in an effort to check "destructive competition." This approach rested on a remarkable contradiction: the way to get recovery, which requires more production, is to have less production. There never has been much evidence that it worked, and the Supreme Court found the NRA unconstitutional in 1935.
The New Deal did relieve suffering. Perhaps 10 million to 12 million Americans worked at some time on public works or in relief jobs (through the Public Works Administration, the Works Project Administration, and the Civilian Conservation Corps). People had their bank deposits protected with the advent of deposit insurance. The Securities and Exchange Commission regulated the stock market. Roosevelt maintained faith in democracy.
But there was a cost. The New Deal also caused suffering. Sharecroppers were often thrown out of work, for example, when the AAA paid landowners not to grow. The New Deal also fostered class consciousness. Roosevelt increasingly blamed the depression on the wealthy—"economic royalists," as he called them. The loss of business confidence in government policies may have deterred new investment, offsetting any economic stimulus of higher public spending. But by 1933 the economy had been so ravaged that only a partial recovery may have been possible until the huge wartime boom.
The depression left an enormous legacy. The New Deal accustomed people to look to government, rather than to private charity, for help. After World War II, governments everywhere strove to prevent a repetition of the Great Depression. Economic policies became more active and, as a practical matter, more inflationary. With the gold standard gone, governments had more freedom to stimulate their economies with an expansion of money and credit. The political inclination was to act sooner, rather than later, to halt a slump. Likewise, the protectionism of the thirties prompted postwar efforts to reduce tariffs and other trade barriers. Finally, the wild swings of exchange rates that occurred after countries went off gold spurred the creation of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates in 1944. This system (named after a resort in New Hampshire where the agreement was finalized) stipulated that currencies were to maintain fixed exchange rates with the dollar. The system broke down in the early seventies.
It is commonly said that another depression will never occur. This is probably true, as long as "another depression" means a crude repetition of the thirties. However, crises can come in unfamiliar forms. The basic lesson from the Great Depression is that governments cannot permit massive collapses of banks or spending. The deeper lesson is that there are times when the world changes so much and events move so rapidly that even the well-informed do not know how to respond. This is the story of the depression. Now it seems preventable. Then, it was baffling. World War I made restoration of the prewar economic system difficult, maybe impossible. But that is what world leaders attempted because it was all they knew and it had worked. Only its collapse convinced them to try something different. Old ideas were overtaken and overwhelmed. It has happened before—and could again.
Robert J. Samuelson is a journalist who writes a column on economic affairs for Newsweek, the Washington Post, and other newspapers.
Allen, Frederick Lewis. Since Yesterday: The 1930s in America. 1939.
Eichengreen, Barry. Golden Fetters: The Gold Standard and the Great Depression. 1992.
Friedman, Milton, and Anna Jacobson Schwartz. A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. 1963.
Kindleberger, Charles P. The World in Depression, 1929-1939. Revised and enlarged edition. 1986.
Lewis, W. Arthur. Economic Survey, 1929-1939. 1949.
Saint-Etienne, Christian. The Great Depression, 1929-1938, Lessons for the 1980s. 1984.
Temin, Peter. Lessons from the Great Depression. 1989.
Wigmore, Barrie A. The Crash and Its Aftermath, A History of Securities Markets in the United States, 1929-1933. 1985.
Amity Shlaes on the Great Depression. Podcast. EconTalk, June 04, 2007.
The Great Depression, by Arnold Kling. EconLog, June 01, 2007. | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/15044 | IMF Center Home
Briefings for Visitors
EconEd Online
Visit the IMF Center
720 19th Street, N.W.
More Info and Directions
The IMF Center welcomes you Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
We feature exhibits, a mini-theatre with videos on the IMF, a bookstore and a gift shop.
The Center hosts the Economic Forum series with panel discussions on current events, educational outreach programs and group briefings.
"If ignorance paid dividends, most Americans could make a fortune out of what they don't know about economics."
Luther H. Hodges, US Secretary of Commerce
Economics is central to our lives, affecting how we work and play, spend and save, and relate to others in our national and global society. As part of our mission to promote the health of the global economy, the International Monetary Fund supports economics education. We have developed many educational activities and resources to help students understand the history of money, macroeconomics and the importance of international monetary cooperation, and the value of global trade. We invite you to explore these resources.
Online Exhibitions & Facts
Additional Educational Resources
Where in the World & What in the World is Money?
(5-6 grade)
What is moneythose little round coins and paper bills printed by the government with someone's face on one side, right? What if money isn't a coin or a banknote or even a credit card? Throughout history and around the globe, many different objects have served as money. Play this game to find out just what money has been.
Trading Around the World
Experience the challenges and excitement of international trade in this interactive game. See if you can get the best price for the goods you sell and the biggest bargains for the goods you buy. Watch how the global economy is doing: the prices you'll be able to get and the deals you can make depend on how healthy the global economy is.
Inside Money video
(9-12 grade)
An animated video (running time: 11:53, media player format) that explains how a government and the IMF work cooperatively to solve a country's economic problems. The action takes place on a TV news magazine show with scenes from the country and interviews with policy-makers in an informative and entertaining format.
Monetary Mania
(High School)
An online game show that tests your knowledge about money and macroeconomics.
Why do we need the IMF?
Before people can buy or sell anything across national borders, they must be able to change their money to the other currency. The IMF works to help member countries ensure that they always have enough foreign exchange to continue to do business with the rest of the world. In this interactive, explore an imaginary scenario to see what would happen if the IMF did not exist to resolve a currency crisis.
What does the IMF do?
Collecting and sharing accurate, objective economic information about member countries is one of the IMF's most important jobs, and can prevent nasty surprises in international trade and monetary exchange. In this interactive, become an IMF economist and conduct an annual "checkup" of the economy of one of the IMF's member countries.
How can the IMF help in crisis?
Getting a member country's economy back on track. When a country imports more than it exports, it has a "trade deficit," which can hurt both that country and others that it trades with. The IMF helps member countries cope with foreign exchange shortages caused by balance of payments problems. In this interactive, see how the IMF can help a member country recover from a severe trade deficit.
All About Money Curriculum
Adrian, our mascot, takes you through our lesson plan preparations for a school visit to the IMF Center to learn about money, international trade, and cooperation. The entire package can be downloaded for use in the classroom.
Money Matters Curriculum
A combination of classroom experiences and/or a field trip visit to the exhibit to promote students' understanding of the history of the international monetary system, globalization, international economic cooperation, and the work of the IMF.
Thinking Globally: Effective Lessons for Teaching about the Interdependent World Economy
Classroom-tested lessons on globalization, comparative advantage, economic growth, exchange rates, and other international topics. The eight lessons are available on a single CD-ROM free of charge to educators (or use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to download PDFs of the lessons below).
These lessons are also available in: French, Spanish, Russian (9,708KB pdf file), Arabic (6,379KB pdf file), and Bahasa (727KB pdf file).
Lessons #1 and 2 focus on the IMF and its role in the global economy.
Lesson# 1: Ten Basic Questions about Globalization focuses on the history, impact and future implications of living in a globalized economic system. (87KB pdf file)
Lesson# 2: What is the IMF and What Does it Do? Introduces the IMF and its role in fostering global economic stability through monetary and financial cooperation. (84KB pdf file)
Lessons #3-8, on trade, international organizations, currencies and foreign exchange, are previously-released lesson plans produced by NCEE.
Lesson# 3: Why People Trade Students participate in a trading simulation and use this experience to discover the benefits of free trade. (128KB pdf file)
Lesson# 4: Comparative Advantage and Trade in a Global Economy Students observe or participate in a role-play situation in which one person is better at both of two activities. (143KB pdf file)
Lesson# 5: "Hey, Hey! Ho, Ho! Why Do We Need the WTO?" Several activities are used to introduce students to six international institutions that play important economic roles, especially in the areas of international trade, finance and development. (773KB pdf file)
Lesson# 6: Why are Some Nations Wealthy? Students work in groups to examine data from several nations regarding size, natural resources and population. (86KB pdf file)
Lesson# 7: Foreign Currencies and Foreign Exchange Students participate in a simulated foreign exchange market. Provides an opportunity for students to use supply and demand analysis to explain how flexible exchange rates are established in currency markets. (177KB pdf file)
Lesson# 8: Exchange Rates: Money around the World Students participate in two auctions to demonstrate the determination of flexible exchange rates and the need for foreign currency to purchase goods from other countries. (150KB pdf file)
Money Matters: The Importance of Global Cooperation
(High school & college)
An online exhibit about the history of money and development and importance of the IMF.
Bretton Woods 60th Anniversary Exhibition
(College)
The "Bretton Woods Conference," as it has come to be known, was officially called the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference. Bretton Woods, New Hampshire refers to the Mount Washington Hotel where the Conference was held on July 1-22, 1944. Preliminary drafting for the Conference had been undertaken at a meeting in Atlantic City in June of the same year.
What is the IMF?
(Use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files)
An overview of the IMF. | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/15222 | Congressional panel to question MF Global employee
Jacqueline Palank
Published: Mar 23, 2012 1:09 p.m. ET
JacquelinePalank
A former MF Global Holdings Ltd. MFGLQ
employee is expected to appear before a U.S. House subcommittee next week to answer questions about the transfers of millions of dollars before the failed broker-dealer's bankruptcy filing. The Oversight and Investigations subcommittee of the House's Financial Services Committee recently voted to subpoena Edith O'Brien, MF Global's assistant treasurer. The subpoena directs O'Brien to appear at a hearing Wednesday at which the committee aims to focus on the final week of MF Global's operations. The firm collapsed into bankruptcy at the end of October, and hundreds of millions of dollars--up to $1.6 billion--of client money was later found to have gone missing. "After reviewing thousands of documents and interviewing former MF Global executives and regulators as part of our investigation, the subcommittee has concluded that Ms. O'Brien has unique, personal knowledge regarding how and why customer funds went missing," Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R., Texas), the subcommittee's chairman, said in a statement. The subcommittee previously asked O'Brien to testify voluntarily, but she declined. The Wall Street Journal reported that O'Brien is expected to refuse to answer questions at Wednesday's hearing, citing her constitutional right against self-incrimination. AMR Corp. AAMRQ
is expected to begin the process of rejecting its collective-bargaining agreements in order to negotiate fresh deals that will help the American Airlines parent slash its annual labor costs by $1.25 billion. AMR has been negotiating the terms of new agreements with the three unions representing its pilots, flight attendants and ground workers. Its bankruptcy attorney, Harvey Miller of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, told a Manhattan bankruptcy judge Thursday that the airline is still hoping to reach a consensus with the unions but warned that if those talks don't pave the way for "profound change," AMR would seek to reject the agreements. The Bankruptcy Code allows a company to reject its collective-bargaining agreements, giving it a clean slate to negotiate the changes it deems necessary to its survival. Before a court will sign off on the move, however, a company must hit a number of benchmarks, including showing that it tried to negotiate consensual changes with its unions. AMR's unions--the Allied Pilots Association, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants and the Transport Workers Union of America--oppose a rejection of their bargaining agreements, which would wrest away their ability to determine their members' working conditions. The president of the APA, for instance, said the union would "use all available legal means to strongly resist" the deep concessions it says are required under AMR's proposals. Among AMR's sought changes are a trimming of its 88,000-strong workforce by nearly 15% and freezing or terminating its pension plans. The sale of AES Eastern Energy LP's two coal-fired power plants to its bondholders could move forward if a Wilmington, Del., bankruptcy judge signs off on the deal Wednesday. AES Eastern Energy canceled an auction slated for Monday after no qualified rival bids emerged to challenge the bondholders, who are offering to forgive $240 million of the $600 million they are owed, to put up $5 million in cash and to take responsibility for certain AES Eastern debts. The bondholders also agreed to cover bonuses for AES Eastern's existing employees, a request that is also on Wednesday's agenda. The Ithaca, N.Y., company is requesting court permission to pay a total of $882,000 in bonuses to employees under short- and long-term incentive plans. According to AES Eastern, the success of its pending sale hinges upon rewarding the employees who are now devoting "extraordinary time and effort" toward closing the deal. "Failure to make the payments required under the employee incentive programs will distract management and the affected employees from their efforts to consummate the sale," the company said in court papers. (This item appears in the Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review newsletter.) --Joseph Checkler contributed to this article. | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/15265 | more Topics Home › Articles SEC Proposes New Regulatory Framework For Crowdfunding Sunday, November 17, 2013 - 14:17 Published Version Digital Version Kelley Drye & Warren LLP Jane E. Jablons
Thomas H. Ferguson
Jeanne R. Solomon
Matthew J. Kane
Jane E. Jablons
On October 23, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed long-awaited rules that would implement Title III of the Jumpstart our Business Act (JOBS Act), known as “crowdfunding.” Congress envisioned that allowing crowdfunding would provide small businesses and startups with an alternative source of capital by allowing them to raise small amounts of money from a large number of investors over the Internet. To date, the sale of securities through crowdfunding has been illegal in the United States, so that companies that wish to engage in crowdfunding have been relegated to in-kind and other non-equity crowdfunding such as providing cash investors with products or subscriptions. The SEC’s proposed rules, which are open for public comment for 90 days from their release and which could still change significantly at adoption, will when adopted support and advance the JOBS Act framework.
The proposed rules create an opportunity for eligible companies to raise up to $1 million on a 12-month rolling basis from a large pool of individual investors over the Internet. Investors will not need to meet any sophistication or wealth thresholds, although they will be limited in the amount of money they will be permitted to invest in any 12-month period. Crowdfunded offerings will need to be conducted through a registered broker or a registered funding portal (a new type of entity envisioned by the JOBS Act). Crowdfunding also will be restricted to online-only platforms, such as Internet sites, smartphone apps or other electronic mediums. To engage in a crowdfunded offering, an issuer will need to make substantial disclosure in its offering materials about its business, key personnel and financial condition, including furnishing complete financial statements that will need to be certified by an officer, reviewed by independent accountants or audited depending on the issuer’s target offering amount. After successfully completing a crowdfunded offering, the issuer will be required to file annual reports with the SEC until it becomes a public company, no longer has any shareholders who purchased securities through the crowdfunding exemption, or dissolves or liquidates.
This article highlights significant requirements in the crowdfunding regulatory framework, as currently contemplated by the proposed rules. It does not provide a complete description of each step and requirement to engage in crowdfunding.
Fundamentals Of The Crowdfunding Exemption
Eligible Issuers
The JOBS Act created a new issuer transactional exemption from registration for crowdfunding, codified as Section 4(a)(6) of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”). The exemption is designed for use by startups and small businesses. The following types of entities are specifically ineligible to engage in crowdfunding:
non-U.S. issuers;
public reporting companies;
registered investment companies;
private equity funds and hedge funds; and
blank check companies and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).
Offering Cap
Eligible issuers will be able to offer and sell securities (including debt securities, subject to applicable requirements of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939) under Section 4(a)(6) of the Securities Act just as they sell securities under other applicable registration exemptions. They will, however, be restricted from raising more than $1 million in the aggregate from crowdfunded offerings on a 12-month rolling basis. Issuers will be free to raise funds through other transaction exemptions, e.g., Regulation D, without those funds counting toward the $1 million crowdfunding cap. Similarly, capital raised through donations or other contributions will not count against the $1 million cap.
Issuers will be able to launch individual crowdfunded offerings for any amount, up to the $1 million cap, but they will need to disclose in advance the target offering amount, the offering deadline and whether they will accept funds beyond the target number (and, if so, how much). If the target offering amount is not met by the offering deadline, all committed investments received to that point will need to be returned to investors. The proposed rules also allow an issuer to conduct a minimum-maximum (or min-max) offering, where the minimum would serve as the target offering amount. All crowdfunded offerings must be open for at least 21 days.
Non-crowdfunded offerings would be permitted to occur simultaneously with, or immediately preceding or following, a crowdfunded transaction without being integrated with the crowdfunded offering, so long as each offering complies with applicable exemption requirements. Even a private offering under Rule 506(b), which does not permit general solicitation or general advertising, could occur simultaneously with a crowdfunded offering so long as the issuer can show that the purchasers in the Rule 506(b) offering were not directly solicited by any of the publicity materials related to the crowdfunded offering and did not first discover the issuer through the crowdfunding solicitation.
Investor Limitations
There are no income, net worth or sophistication requirements for investors to participate in crowdfunding. There are, however, strict limits on the amount of money an investor may invest via crowdfunding, which are as follows:
Investor Status:
Investment Limit (per 12 months):
If both annual income and net worth are less than $100,000
Limit of $2,000 or 5% of annual income or net worth, whichever is greatest
If either annual income or net worth are greater than $100,000
Limit of 10% of annual income or net worth, whichever is greater, up to a maximum of $100,000
Furthermore, in all cases, an investor’s annual income and net worth may be calculated jointly with such investor’s spouse’s income and net worth.
The SEC has acknowledged that monitoring and independently verifying these investor limits may be difficult. Under the proposed rules, an issuer would be entitled to rely on the efforts of its intermediary to determine whether a sale to an investor would exceed that investor’s maximum investment limit, so long as the issuer does not have actual knowledge that the investor has exceeded or would exceed his or her limit as a result of taking part in the issuer’s crowdfunded offering. To satisfy their oversight responsibility, however, intermediaries would be entitled to rely on investor representations as to compliance with the investor limitation requirements.
Restrictions on Resale
The customary six-month holding period of Rule 144 of the Securities Act will not apply to securities purchased through the crowdfunding exemption. Rather, investors will also be restricted from reselling securities purchased through a crowdfunded offering for one year from the date of purchase. The only exemptions to this one-year holding period are for transfers:
to the securities issuer;
to accredited investors;
as part of an offering registered with the SEC;
to a family member, or in connection with certain events (including the investor’s death or divorce); and
to a trust controlled by the investor or a trust created for the benefit of an investor’s family member(s).
Crowdfunded offerings may be conducted only over the Internet or through other similar electronic means (e.g., websites, smartphone apps, etc.). In addition, all crowdfunded offerings must be conducted through an intermediary that is either a registered broker or a new type of registered entity called a “funding portal” (which portal would be exempt from being registered as a broker or dealer), either of which must be a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., or “FINRA.” A funding portal is an entity specifically designed to conduct crowdfunded offerings, and unlike brokers may not:
offer investment advice or recommendations;
solicit investors, sales or offers to buy the securities sold on its portal;
compensate employees, agents or others for such solicitation; or
hold, manage, possess or otherwise handle investor funds or securities.
To allay concerns that the restriction on offering investment advice would prohibit a funding portal from accepting or rejecting any offer an issuer seeks to list on the portal’s platform, the SEC has proposed a non- exclusive safe harbor for funding portals that engage in certain limiting activities, including limited permissible offerings based on publicly posted and consistently applied objective criteria (e.g., funding portals that focus their platform on issuers in certain industries or geographic locations or by the type of security being offered).
An issuer would be restricted to using only one intermediary for its offerings at any one time. Intermediaries would also have substantial disclosure and oversight requirements when conducting crowdfunded offerings on behalf of issuers, independent of issuer requirements, as discussed further below.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
An issuer would be barred from conducting a crowdfunded offering if it has failed to file annual reports for a previous crowdfunded offering during the two years immediately preceding the filing of a new offering statement. Once any delinquent reports have been filed, the issuer will be permitted to launch a new crowdfunded offering.
Crowdfunding Investors Not Counted Toward Record Holder Count
Under the proposed rules, investors purchasing securities through a crowdfunded offering would not count toward an issuer’s record holder list for the purpose of determining whether the issuer is required to register as a public company. Currently, Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires an issuer with total assets of $10 million and a class of securities held by either 2,000 persons or 500 persons who are not accredited investors to register with the SEC.
Issuer Initial Disclosure
Issuers engaging in crowdfunding would be required to provide substantial disclosure to investors, potential investors and the SEC at the time of the offering’s launch, through an offering statement on a new SEC Form C, which would be filed with the SEC on EDGAR. In brief, the initial offering statements would include information related to:
Issuer Information: Issuer’s name, legal status, form of organization, physical address and website.
Offering Information: The price of the securities being offered, the target offering amount, the deadline to reach the target offering amount, whether investments in excess of the target amount will be accepted, and, if so, the maximum amount the issuer will accept as well as how shares in oversubscribed offerings will be allocated.
Directors and Officers: Director and officer information, including name, principal occupation and employment, and business experience for the past three years.
20 Percent Beneficial Owners: Names and ownership levels of the beneficial owners of more than 20 percent of the issuer’s outstanding voting securities.
Business Plan: A description of the issuer’s business and its anticipated business plan, although there would be no required format for the business plan and no information that is specifically required to be contained in the plan.
Financial Condition: A narrative discussion of the issuer’s financial condition that, among other points, addresses the issuer’s historical results of operations, its liquidity and capital resources, and whether the offering proceeds are necessary for the business’s viability.
Financial Statements: Based on the sum of the target offering amount plus the total amount of capital raised through crowdfunding in the 12 months prior to the offering, the issuer must provide two years of GAAP-compliant financial statements as follows:
Aggregate Target Offering Amounts in Current and Previous Completed Offerings in the Trailing 12-Month Period
Disclosure Requirement
$100,000 or less
Financial statement certified by the principal executive officer, and an income tax return for the most recently completed year
More than $100,000, up to $500,000
Financial statement reviewed by an independent public accountant
More than $500,000, up to $1,000,000
Use of Proceeds: A sufficiently detailed description of the intended use of the offering proceeds (including the amount of proceeds that will be used to compensate the intermediary), and, if the issuer does not have a specific use of proceeds (or a range of possible uses of proceeds), then a description of each proper use and factors impacting the selection of each particular use.
Description of Investors’ Rights: Issuers must include the following statements to make clear to investors their rights relative to their investment commitments:
investors may cancel an investment commitment until 48 hours prior to the stated offering deadline;
the intermediary will notify investors when the target offering amount has been met;
if an issuer reaches the target offering amount prior to the deadline, then the issuer will be permitted to close the offering early, so long as it notifies investors of the new closing date at least five business days in advance thereof and investors retain the ability to cancel their investment commitment up to 48 hours prior to the new closing date;
if an investor does not cancel his or her investment commitment before the 48-hour deadline, the funds will be released to the issuer at closing and the investor will receive the purchased securities; and
if the issuer does not raise the full target offering amount by the stated deadline, then all funds committed to that point will be returned to investors and no securities will be sold.
Capital Structure: A description of the issuer’s ownership and capital structure, including the differences in the rights of the securities being offering from the existing classes of securities, risks of capital dilution, risks associated with minority ownership, description of transfer restrictions of the securities, and the ownership level of existing 20 percent beneficial owners.
Related Party Transactions: Disclosure of related party transactions that occurred within the 12 months prior to the crowdfunded offering that were in excess of 5 percent of the aggregate amount of capital raised by the issuer through crowdfunding in the previous 12 months.
Additional Disclosure: The issuer would also be required to disclose the following information:
the amount of compensation paid to the intermediary;
its current number of employees;
the material terms of any indebtedness;
all of its exempt offerings conducted within the past three years; and
material risk factors that make an investor’s investment risky or speculative.
Issuer Ongoing Disclosure
Progress Reports: An issuer must provide notice to the SEC, its intermediary, and investors within five business days of reaching 50 percent and then 100 percent of the target offering amount. If the issuer accepts investments beyond the originally stated target offering amount, it must file another notice within five business days after the offering deadline so as to disclose the total amount of securities sold. To satisfy the notice requirements with regard to the SEC, an issuer must file a Form C-U on EDGAR; and to satisfy the notice requirement with regard to investors, an issuer may refer investors to the intermediary’s platform through a post on the issuer’s own website (among other options).
Annual Reports: An issuer that has successfully sold securities under the crowdfunding exemption must file an annual report with the SEC on EDGAR and post the report to its website. The annual report must disclose information similar to the issuer’s initial offering statement, including disclosure about its financing condition and the applicable financial statement requirement. This reporting requirement would continue until:
the issuer becomes a reporting company;
the issuer no longer has any shareholders who purchased securities through the crowdfunding exemption; or
the issuer liquidates or dissolves.
Intermediary Disclosure
Intermediaries also would have significant disclosure obligations to investors and potential investors who use their portals. Below are some of the key intermediary disclosure obligations.
Compensation: An intermediary must disclose to an investor, at the time the investor opens an account with the intermediary, how the intermediary is compensated for its services.
Educational Materials: Upon the opening of a new account by a potential investor, an intermediary must provide the investor with plain-language educational materials as well as keep current and post those educational materials on its website.
Material Changes: Intermediaries must provide notice to committed investors as to any material changes to the term of an issuer’s offering that occur during the offering period. In the event of a material change, an investor must reconfirm his or her investment commitment within five business days, and if the investor fails to do so, that investor’s investment commitment will be cancelled and the committed funds returned.
General Requirements For Intermediaries
The following is a description of certain key requirements applicable to brokers and funding portals to conduct crowdfunded offerings as an intermediary:
Registration: Both brokers and funding portals would be required to register with the SEC to serve as crowdfunding intermediaries. The registration process for brokers would remain unchanged (they would complete the Form BD “Uniform Application for Broker-Dealer Registration”). Funding portals would be required to complete a new Form Funding Portal, which would be similar to the Form BD, but less extensive.
Financial Interests: Neither the intermediary nor its directors and officers may own any securities of issuers that conduct offerings using its portal, and the intermediary may not accept securities as compensation for its services.
Antifraud Measures: Intermediaries would be required to have a reasonable basis for believing that issuers have established an accurate method for the recordkeeping of securities and are in compliance with the requirements of Section 4(a)(6) of the Securities Act, although intermediaries would be allowed to rely on issuer representations, absent actual knowledge or other information that indicates that the representations are untrue. Intermediaries also would be required to conduct background checks and security enforcement regulatory history checks on issuers and their directors, officers and 20 percent beneficial holders.
Maintaining Funds: Brokers that act as intermediaries must keep all investor funds segregated in a separate bank account. Funding portals, which are prohibited from handling investor funds, must arrange for investors to send funds directly to a bank to be held in escrow.
Crowdfunding represents a substantial departure in style and substance from the existing exemptions to securities registration. The JOBS Act reimagined investor protection, foregoing traditional measures and relying on open communication and the “wisdom of the crowd” in an effort to spur investment in startups and small businesses.
Congress may have envisioned crowdfunding as a streamlined and readily accessible way for small companies to access new sources of capital, but the emerging regulatory framework makes clear that there will be substantial hurdles for companies that want to raise capital through crowdfunding. Cost is likely to be the largest such hurdle for small issuers. The crowdfunding rules are complex, and proper compliance will cost issuers both time and money. In addition, for offerings over $500,000, the cost of providing reviewed or audited financial statements, as applicable, and filing annual reports may be prohibitive. The fee structure for intermediaries is still unknown, and the proposed rules’ due diligence obligations for intermediaries will likely further increase their costs, which will likely flow down to issuers. Moreover, the restriction against compensating intermediaries with issuer securities will make paying an intermediary’s fees all the more challenging.
The value of crowdfunding to investors is also uncertain. Investing always carries substantial risks, but crowdfunded offerings present several specific risks to investors. As SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar noted in his remarks at the SEC’s October 23 meeting, not only do 70 percent of initial venture capital investments lose money, but small business investments are at relatively high risk for fraud, self-dealing and overreaching by controlling shareholders. Furthermore, under the crowdfunding exemption, issuers will be permitted to deliver less information and disclosure to investors than they would be required to provide under certain other private offering exemptions. Exit options may also be further limited for investors in crowdfunded offerings. Crowdfunding investors are subject to a one-year holding period, rather than the six-month holding period for non-affiliates under Rule 144 of the Securities Act, which governs restricted securities sold under other offering exemptions.
Companies wishing to fundraise by issuing equity or debt securities through Internet solicitations may ultimately find that the costs of the new rules exceed the benefits, and that the existing regulatory framework for private placements is easier to use than the new crowdfunding rules. Many companies wish to raise funds through crowdfunding and have been eagerly anticipating the U.S. legalizing crowdfunding and the SEC issuing its rules implementing the JOBS Act mandate. While the JOBS Act’s intent appeared to be to encourage a robust market for businesses and funders and to keep the U.S. capital market competitive while protecting investors against fraud, it is too soon to tell whether the JOBS Act-mandated rules will gain traction in the marketplace.
Jane E. Jablons is a Partner in the firm’s New York office and chair of the Mergers and Acquisitions practice group. She focuses her practice on corporate finance, with concentrations in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and emerging growth companies. Thomas H. Ferguson is a Partner in the Chicago office. He focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt financings, commercial lending, and general corporate counseling. Jeanne R. Solomon is a Senior Associate in the firm’s New York office. She focuses her practice on corporate and securities law. Matthew J. Kane is an Associate in the firm’s New York office. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt offerings, commercial lending and securities law compliance for public and private companies. Please email the authors at jjablons@kelleydrye.com, tferguson@kelleydrye.com, jsolomon@kelleydrye.com or mkane@kelleydrye.com with questions about this article.
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New Regulatory Filing Requirements For Advisers To Private Investment Funds
Treasury Issues Proposed Regulations Under Section 382 That Would Ease Compliance Requirements For Tracking Small Shareholder Ownership
IRS Proposes Regulations Under Section 892 Regarding Taxation Of Foreign Government Entities
SEC Proposes Changes To Money Market Funds
SEC Lifts Ban On General Solicitation For Certain Private Offerings, Disqualifies "Bad Actors" From Participating In Regulation D Private Offerings And Proposes Rules To Assist In Monitoring Market Practices | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/15337 | http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/Oil-majors-poised-to-report-and-defend-big-profits-1573535.php
Major oil companies expected to report, defend big profits
Rising gas prices leave consumers disgruntled.
By Brett Clanton / brett.clanton@chron.com
HOUSTON — Big Oil is expected to report another round of big profits this week after sharply higher crude prices during the second quarter helped boost their bottom lines, but few Americans are likely to celebrate the achievement.
With the economy still in neutral and pump prices still high, the news for many will be about as welcome as a flat tire — and some critics already are preparing to pounce.
But major oil producers will have the chance to discuss and, if necessary, defend the results when they release quarterly financial reports in coming days.
First up is BP on Tuesday, followed by ConocoPhillips on Wednesday, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday and Chevron Corp. on Friday.
The reports arrive as the world's largest oil companies continue to see business conditions improve around the world following the global economic downturn and after nearly all the firms also posted gains in the first three months of the year.
Analysts said companies likely received the biggest boost in the April-June period from higher oil prices, which averaged $102.34 a barrel, up from $78.05 a barrel in the second quarter of 2010.
Oil prices have surged amid political unrest in the Middle East, a weak U.S. dollar and rising global energy demand with the economic recovery, a trend that also has helped lift refining profits.
“I think it's fair to say the numbers are going to be very healthy,” said Allen Brooks, managing director of Parks Paton Hoepfl & Brown, a Houston investment bank.
Wall Street analysts forecast that second-quarter profits could jump 30 percent to 60 percent at the largest publicly traded oil companies.
The gains come at a time when many Americans still are struggling to get back on their feet after the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and as gasoline prices remain high.
During the second quarter, pump prices nationwide averaged $3.81 a gallon, a dollar higher than the average in the second quarter of 2010, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. On Friday, the U.S. average stood at $3.70 a gallon, AAA said.
Critics say higher oil company earnings suggest the companies are benefiting from consumers' pain.
“We expect Big Oil to be rolling in huge second-quarter profits with money that came out of families' wallets from higher gasoline prices,” said Daniel Weiss, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American Progress in Washington.
The nonprofit group plans to release a fact sheet today showing the five biggest oil companies in the U.S. posted profits of more than $900 billion from 2001 to 2010 and continue to plow huge amounts into stock buybacks that benefit stockholders rather than into their operations.
The oil and gas industry is readying its defense. The American Petroleum Institute, the industry's top lobbying group, has scheduled a conference call with journalists today to discuss “the vital role the oil and natural gas industry's capital spending plays in the U.S. economy by creating jobs, funding retirement accounts and generating revenues for our governments.”
Industry officials have tried to explain that, while major oil companies may benefit from high oil prices, they don't cause them. Rather, prices reflect a confluence of political and economic trends at any given time. And profits from sales of fuels are a small part of earnings, they say.
But the explanations have done little to convince consumers or placate lawmakers in Washington, who almost annually accuse the industry of profiteering while U.S. drivers get squeezed.
One bit of solace for them: analysts believe higher second-quarter earnings probably won't do much to drive oil company stock prices higher. | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/15346 | http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Facebook-earnings-up-but-stock-slides-4237724.php
Facebook earnings up, but stock slides
EARNINGS Major strides in transition to mobile - but shares slide on increase in expenses
Published 10:37 pm, Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the jump in mobile users: "Today, there's no argument, Facebook is a mobile company."
Facebook Wednesday tried to give investors the message they wanted to hear - that the social networking company is moving quickly to capture revenue from a user base that is rapidly moving away from desktops and onto smartphones and tablets.
Yet the company's stock price dropped in after-hours trading as investors apparently focused on the Menlo Park company's 82 percent increase in expenses and 79 percent drop in net income compared with the same quarter last year.
Facebook's fourth-quarter earnings generally beat Wall Street estimates, with net income of $64 million on revenue of $1.585 billion. That compared with $302 million in net income for the fourth quarter of 2011. Revenue increased by 40 percent from $1.13 billion.
For the full year, net income was $53 million on revenue of $5.09 billion That compared with $1 billion in net income on revenue of $3.7 billion in 2011, although this year, Facebook had to account for one-time costs such as those related to going public.
Mobile users soar
About 84 percent of fourth-quarter revenue came from advertising. During a conference call with analysts, Facebook executives continually stressed the company's efforts in addressing the biggest trend during the entire year - the number of Facebook's 1.06 billion monthly active users who jumped on the social network from mobile devices increased by 57 percent to 680 million.
The proportion of advertising revenue from mobile devices went from zero percent at the start of 2012 to 23 percent by the fourth quarter, Facebook reported. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg credited the still-experimental rollout of sponsored messages that appear within the news feeds on mobile devices. "Today, there's no argument, Facebook is a mobile company," Zuckerberg said during a conference call with financial analysts. "The next thing we're going to do is get really good at building new mobile-first experiences."
Facebook stock, which has reached higher ground since the start of the year after wallowing for months after the company's IPO, closed at $31.24 per share, up 1.46 percent, on the Nasdaq exchange. Stock slumps on news
But the earnings report's release after the market closed triggered a price drop, with the stock sliding by about 4 percent to below $30 per share.
Estimize, a New York stock analysis firm, said a survey of 87 buy- and sell-side financial analysts, hedge fund managers and asset management firms had estimated Facebook revenues at $1.535 billion, short of its actual performance.
"They really stepped on the gas this quarter on the monetization side," said Estimize Chief Executive Officer Leigh Drogen. "A lot of the analysts on Estimize were looking to see if they'd mortgage some of their future to hit some really big numbers this quarter, and that has yet to be seen."
Company executives said the trends they are seeing in ad revenues, which account for 84 percent of Facebook's overall revenues, were encouraging, but that there was room to grow. The company is still experimenting, for example, to find the right mix of sponsored ads displayed on the mobile news feed. Zuckerberg said users are reacting well to the introduction to those ads.
And the company is still refining products that better target ads to individual members. 'Confident' in ad trend
There are other trends, such as the near doubling of the number of local business pages during the year as advertisers use a program to directly buy promoted posts, said Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg.
"As we look ahead toward 2013, we are very confident in the direction of our ad business," Sandberg said.
Photos remained a mainstay of Facebook, with more than 600 million uploaded on New Year's Day alone, Zuckerberg said. Usage of the company's Instagram app continued to grow, but Zuckerberg said he did not have any new numbers to offer.
But Facebook's costs are rising, too, as the company hires more employees, adds to its data-handling infrastructure and rolls out new products, such as Graph Search, which was introduced this month.
Zuckerberg said the company not "moving to optimize profits this year," but instead trying to look to the future and invest in "things we feel are right for our business to invest in aggressively."
'More disciplined'
Brian Blau, a research director for research firm Gartner, said Facebook had "fairly decent results this quarter," indicating that the company is "managing the business in a different way than before the IPO, when they were more like a startup. I think they're getting a bit more disciplined these days."
But he said one area of concern was the $256 million the company earned in the fourth quarter from payments through apps such as social games, revenue that was essentially flat compared with the same quarter last year.
"That's an indication of the overall transition from desktop to mobile," he said.
Benny Evangelista is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: bevangelista@sfchronicle.com | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/15461 | Some local gov’ts use alternative revenue bonds to finance projects
Published: Sunday, March 3, 2013 5:30 a.m.�CDT • Updated: Sunday, March 3, 2013 8:46 a.m.�CDT
Caption(Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com)Deputy City Manager Finance Director Roscoe Stelford oversees the bond issuance process for businesses taking out Alternate Revenue bonds. Woodstock has taken out Alternate Revenue bonds for many of its major capital projects including: The Aquatic Center at Emricson Park, Stage Left Cafe at the Opera House (pictured) and the Woodstock Public LibraryBy CHELSEA McDOUGALL - cmcdougall@shawmedia.comLakewood officials say that without a controversial bond issuance, the RedTail subdivision wouldn’t be what it is today: beautiful upscale homes nestled on a sprawling 18-hole golf course anchored by a small strip mall.
Rewind to the early 1990s, when the golf course’s developers went belly up and disappeared. Village officials used their bonding authority to rescue the development by issuing alternate revenue bonds, which are backed by identified revenue the project could bring in. Property taxes are used as a backup if revenues don’t cover the bond payments, an added security that results in lower interest rates.At the time, Lakewood officials assumed that the golf course’s membership would repay the debt the village incurred.They were wrong.RedTail wasn’t self-supporting for a number of years. During the life of the bond from 1992 through 2010, Lakewood residents footed the bill – whether they golfed or not – for 11 of those years through an increase on their property-tax bills.“No one liked paying the golf course tax. It was an unpopular tax,” said Village President Erin Smith, who was not on the board when the bonds were issued.For the next two days, the Northwest Herald will explore this funding mechanism, also known as double-barreled bonds, used by many Illinois governments.Alternate revenue bonds are not commonly used by local governments: The Northwest Herald found, through an analysis of annual financial reports submitted by local governments to the Illinois Comptroller, or through Freedom of Information requests or interviews, that about a dozen of the more than 100 McHenry County taxing bodies examined for this story self-reported using this type of funding mechanism at least once since 2000.McHenry County College is contemplating issuing alternate revenue bonds if a $42 million expansion proposal is given the green light.Bond experts cited billions of dollars of bonds sold in the state and repaid without going to the taxpayers, and called Lakewood’s “golf tax” an anomaly. The majority of alternate revenue bonds issued are doing exactly what they’re supposed to, bond experts argue.“I can say in 15 years of doing this, I don’t think I’ve ever known one client to ever do that,” said Sean McCarthy, first vice president of Stifel, Nicolaus and Co., an oft-used bond underwriter based in St. Louis.Others find them to be too risky and prefer a pay-as-you-go method of financing.“We’ve taken a very conservative approach over the years,” Huntley Village Manager Dave Johnson said. “Our concern is that if the projection analysis doesn’t work out the way you think, you put that burden on your taxpayers. That never been the village’s approach to making infrastructure improvements.”
The lion’s share of double-barreled bonds are used for infrastructure improvements such as water and sewer systems, or road repairs. A defined revenue most often is user fees or motor-fuel taxes, but can be sales taxes, impact fees and more.Marengo has taken out more than $4.6 million in double-barreled bonds since 2001, according to the financial reports on the Comptroller’s website.Marengo City Administrator Gary Boden said that money has been used for infrastructure improvements, such as water or sewer projects, and the municipality hasn’t had to raise property taxes when it issued alternate revenue bonds. It has sought those, he said, because there was a reliable revenue source, and it keeps interest rates down, thus saving money for taxpayers.In McHenry County, the bonds also have been used for nonessential capital improvements. In Woodstock, the municipality has used alternate revenue bonds for its new police station, a water park, a library, and the iconic opera house, and has not increased taxes to pay for any of it.Since 2000, it has issued at least $38 million in alternate revenue bonds, according to the financial reports on the Comptroller’s website. The municipality always has made annual payments on the bonds, sometimes retiring millions in just one year.“It’s about financial management and making sure you can pay for it,” Roscoe Stelford, Woodstock’s finance director, said about the city’s use of alternate revenue bonds. “If the revenues don’t materialize or something happens like the housing market collapses, [you have to be able to] adjust so that you can compensate for those lost revenues.”In Huntley, the village’s park district has used these bonds to renovate the former Huntley High School into a REC Center and to tear down and rebuild a new clubhouse and restaurant at Pinecrest Golf Course.For some projects, Woodstock officials have dedicated impact fees, but after the housing market collapsed, the city has had to use other resources to repay the loans. That’s a common thread for many issuances.“Although [governments] say it’s an alternate revenue bond, a lot of times it’s diverting money from other core functions of government,” said Brian Costin of the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative, nonprofit think tank.In Lakewood, residents didn’t always pay for the bonds: From 1998 to 2005, the course was self-support and residents didn’t pay an extra tax. During the repayment of Lakewood’s RedTail Golf Course, residents floated $3.6 million, but for a number of years, the golf course covered $3.2 million on its own. The bond was repaid in 2010.
It’s an embarrassment many village officials would rather get beyond.“It’s paid off, and the golf course is making money,” Lakewood Village Trustee Gene Furey said. “We’d rather put that behind us.”Still, the “golf tax” changed how Lakewood officials look at financing. The current board wouldn’t consider alternate revenue bonds for projects that are not critical, Smith said.“Hindsight is always 20/20,” she said. “ ... Given the collapse of our global economy, we understand that even things once believed to be a very predictable revenue stream [can fail]. Everyone is a little more cautious. Things failed that none of us thought would fail.”And she insists that the RedTail purchase wasn’t a mistake.“... There were many indirect benefits to purchasing RedTail,” Smith said. “There is a short-term benefit in terms of impact fees, and the ongoing benefit is the additional [equalized assessed valuation] that resulted from new construction – that helps fund infrastructure.”• Projects Editor Kate Schott contributed to this article.• Tomorrow: McHenry County’s local lawmakers have introduced a bill in Springfield that aims for tighter controls over alternate revenue bondsNote to readers: This is the first in a two-day series that examines alternate revenue bonds.
Local governments that have taken out alternate revenue bondsAt least a dozen local governments have issued alternate revenue bonds, or made payments on them, since 2000.• Cary Park District• Cary School District 26• Crystal Lake Park District• Hebron• Huntley Park District• Johnsburg• Johnsburg School District 12• Lake in the Hills• Lake in the Hills Sanitary District• Lakewood• Marengo• Marengo Park District• WoodstockSources: Information was taken from annual financial reports submitted by local governments to the Illinois Comptroller’s Office. Find those at www.ioc.state.il.us/ and click on the “Local Government Division,” and then “view annual submitted annual financial reports.”Other local governments that told the Northwest Herald they have used alternate revenue bonds may not be listed, as there were no amounts listed in the annual financial reports submitted to the state.Amounts from school districts were received from Freedom of Information requests, as they are not required to file annual financial reports with the Illinois Comptroller. | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/15553 | All appraisers
Brent Lewis
New York, NY Specialties
SEE ALL APPRAISALS BY THIS EXPERT
Toured In
blewis@wright20.com
http://wright20.com
Brent Lewis is an art and design specialist based in New York City and the director of the New York gallery for the Chicago-based auction house, Wright. He has spent over a decade in the auction business, working with both East and West Coast firms as a specialist and auctioneer.
Prior to joining Wright, Mr. Lewis was a Vice President and Auctioneer at Christie's, New York and formerly the Head of Design at artnet. Previously he was also the Gallery Director of Moss, New York. Working directly with curators and collectors, he has placed works in important private and museum collections. Mr. Lewis often speaks and writes on the subjects of art and design and has appeared in such publications as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Observer, Creative Review, and the Maine Antiques Digest among others. He is a contributor to artnet, MODERN, Cultured and Whitewall magazines and has recently published articles on Frank Gehry, Robert Wilson, Gaetano Pesce, Thomas Stearns, Albert Paley and Michele De Lucchi. Mr. Lewis holds a BA degree in Theatre Arts and lives with his wife Jacqueline, an Art Historian and Curator of the UBS Art Collection, and their son Elliot.
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2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/15624 | Downside of low U.S. mortgage rates? Less selling
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABERAssociated Press
Ryan Carson (right), wife Jenny Roraback-Carson and daughter Clara, 3, at their home in Seattle. The Carsons are one of many would-be home sellers across the country who have mortgage rates so low, it doesn't make financial sense to sell. Ted S. Warren/ap
WASHINGTON - Would-be home sellers across the country are grappling with a once-in-a-lifetime problem: They have mortgage rates so absurdly low it would hurt them financially to sell.
Doing so would mean giving up an irresistible rate in exchange for a new mortgage carrying a rate up to a percentage point higher. Their monthly payments would be larger even for a house of the same price. That's discouraging some people from selling, thereby limiting the supply of available homes and contributing to slower home sales.
It's a significant shift from the way the U.S. housing market has worked for the past 30 years. For most of that time, whenever a homeowner decided to trade up to a better home, mortgage rates usually were lower than the last time they had bought. That helped make a new purchase seem more attractive.
But that is changing. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage fell below 4 percent in late 2011 and reached a record low level of 3.3 percent in November 2012. It didn't top 4 percent again until mid-2013. Homeowners took advantage of the lower rates and a refinancing boom ensued.
More than one-third of homes with a mortgage now have rates below 4 percent, real estate data provider CoreLogic estimates. Yet mortgage rates now average 4.2 percent. That is still low by historical standards but up about three-quarters of a point from a year and a half ago. And should mortgage rates rise later this year and next, as many economists expect, even more homeowners will be affected.
As a result, many homeowners with low rates are staying put. Others are moving and buying new homes, but keeping their old ones and renting them. Both choices mean that fewer homes are listed for sale, which drives up prices. Higher prices and limited selection have put the brakes on a housing recovery that began in 2012.
And slower home sales, in turn, drag down economic growth. Fewer sales mean lower commissions for real estate agents. Sales of furniture, appliances and garden supplies also take a hit.
Mark Fleming, chief economist at CoreLogic, estimates that as many as 3.6 million homeowners are unlikely to sell this year because they would have to give up a lower rate.
"They got the deal of the century," says Glenn Kelman, CEO of real estate brokerage Redfin. "I don't think in 100 years anyone will be lending money at 3.5 percent. How do you walk away from a deal like that?"
Not going anywhere
You'd think Ryan Carson, an attorney in Seattle, would be ready to sell. He and his wife have one young child and they are expecting twins. They are going to hire a live-in nanny, which means there will be five people living in their four-bedroom house.
"I could probably use the extra space, honestly," he said. And he would make money off the sale, since his home's market value is above what he paid.
But Carson, 39, has a 30-year, 3.85 percent mortgage rate, so he isn't going anywhere. He refinanced into the lower rate last summer, reducing his monthly payment to $2,200 from $2,600.
"I have no interest right now in selling," he said. He and his wife plan to remodel instead.
A shortage of homes for sale has plagued the housing market since late 2012. The number of available homes last year was the equivalent of just 4.9 months' worth of sales, according to the National Association of Realtors. That's far below the typical figure of 6 months. Inventory has recovered somewhat this year, partly because the spring buying season is underway, but it was still equal to just 5.6 months of supply in May.
Meanwhile, sales of existing homes have fallen 5 percent in the past year. Yet prices rose 8.8 percent nationwide during the same period, according to CoreLogic, partly because of the limited supply.
What economists call "rate lock-in" is one of several reasons so few houses are for sale. Another factor is that almost 40 percent of homeowners still don't have enough equity to enable them to sell. Some are "underwater," with a mortgage higher than the home's value. Others may have so little equity that they can't afford to pay off the sales costs and put a down payment on their next property.
"We are in a uniquely difficult period for matching buyers and sellers," says Stan Humphries, chief economist at real estate data provider Zillow.
Home prices are expected to keep rising in the coming months, though at a slower pace than the double-digit gains that occurred earlier this year. Higher prices should lower the number of underwater homes and enable more people to sell.
But as the number of underwater homes falls, several studies suggest the impact could be offset by higher mortgage rates, which would increase the number of homeowners facing interest rate "lock-in." Most economists expect mortgage rates to rise later this year as the Federal Reserve ends its bond-purchase program, which is intended to keep borrowing rates low.
"Mortgage rate lock-in is going to be a major challenge for the housing market going forward," Humphries said. "It is going to be a constant tug of war between buyers on one side ... and mortgage rate lock-in on the other side."
Rent instead
Humphries forecasts that rates will reach 5 percent by the first three months of next year. That would mean those buying or refinancing now, at the current rates of about 4.1 percent, might never want to sell either.
A 2011 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York concluded that for every $1,000 increase in a homeowner's annual mortgage payment, the likelihood that homeowner would sell fell as much as 16 percent.
Paul Bernard, a recruiter in New York City, says the issue has begun to interfere with some of his clients' willingness to move for a new job. In one recent case, an employee at a large technology firm decided to postpone a job-related move to San Francisco partly because it would have forced him to take out a mortgage at a half-percentage point higher than his current one.
"The job market in some cases is less mobile than it used to be," he said.
Low rates have combined with rising rents nationwide to make renting out a home, rather than selling, more attractive. A rental index compiled by Zillow has risen 19 percent in the past year.
Santiago Garcia, 30, and his wife both work from home and recently felt their 2-bedroom condominium was getting cramped. The couple was also thinking of starting a family. So in February they bought a new home in Oxford, Mass., about 45 minutes from Boston.
But the mortgage rate on their condo is just 2.95 percent, so they decided to keep it and rent it out. The mortgage is so low because its rate is adjustable after 10 years.
Their monthly mortgage payment is only $540. But they are renting it out for $1,200 a month.
"The cash flow was so much, it was an easy decision," Garcia said. | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/15653 | Winner pays all
Reverse auctions were all the rage before the recession, but then — nothing. What happened?
By Michael Fielding
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Although it's proven viable for the private sector, the reverse auction remains a small piece of the government-purchasing pie.
You'd think a procurement method that lets potential vendors keep lowering their offer would be a no-brainer for any organization locked into the lowest-price paradigm. Same with a method that doesn't penalize buyers for not awarding a bid. Or one that doesn't cost the buyer a penny to conduct.
But it's not. Of 326 public entity responses to a recent survey by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing Inc. (NIGP), only 12 indicated they use reverse auctions. That's down slightly from 2003, when the institute reported that 17 out of 276 respondents used the method.
Periscope Holdings Inc. manages the commodity and services code, the standard that state and local governments use to identify their specifications, for the institute. At the behest of public customers, the firm developed software only to find that reverse auctions had fallen out of favor.
Part of the reason is that governments have been burned. “Every time the economy has gone down, we've seen several players jump into the government market from the private sector,” says CEO Brian Utley. “But they don't understand that it works differently. Government procurement is run by law.”
Despite its lack of popularity in recent years, the reverse auction method is still attracting all sorts of attention, most notably during the American Public Works Association's annual Congress in Columbus, Ohio, last year. Curious department heads and financial managers packed a room for a session about reverse auctions. As a result, we decided to examine the method more closely for our annual “money issue.”
Is your operation a good fit for reverse auctions?
Does your state allow this type of competitive procurement method?
Do your specifications allow for flexibility in suppliers' bids (e.g., variations on your stated specifications)? Do you have at least three bidders interested in participating?
Is your budget for the equipment/service at least $75,000?
Does your board require you to award a contract to the supplier who bid the lowest price, or can you award contracts to suppliers who bid higher? Can you limit the number of line items to fewer than 20? If so, are you willing to run a lump sum auction first and then have the bidders fill in the line items afterward?
Has your potential reverse auction service provider been in business for at least five years?
MYTH 1: REVERSE AUCTIONS WORK BETTER FOR EQUIPMENT AND COMMODITIES THAN SERVICE AND CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS.
In 2006, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell signed the Local Government Unit Electronic Bidding Act into law, allowing municipalities, school districts, councils of government, authorities, and others to incorporate electronic bidding and reverse auctions into their competitive bidding processes.
Before then, most local governments were restricted by the competitive bidding language in their municipal codes. The law amended the state's procurement code to allow local governments to use electronic bidding and reverse auctions for their own purchases.
The Delaware County Regional Water Quality Control Authority in Chester, Pa., immediately tried it out. That November, a reverse auction facilitated by eDynaQuote, which has since been acquired by Procurex, cut the cost on orders for liquid caustic soda and liquid chlorine by $87,500.
“We could never have saved this much with the old paper process,” says the county's Procurement Coordinator Sue Hart. The agency has used the method every year since then. The winning bids shift among the same handful of suppliers, but each year the final price has been lower than the previous year. “It's easy. We just sit back and watch the results come in.”
As a general rule, the buyer has achieved true market value if the two lowest bids differ by no more than 2%.
In 2009 the City of Norton, Ohio, used a facilitator called BidBridge to find a contractor to replace 12,000 feet of water main. After an hour, 10 companies had submitted 283 bids, dropping the final price to $423,786 — a 40% savings over the engineer's estimate.
It wasn't the city's first experience with reverse auctions. Two smaller water main projects yielded good results; the first came in 17% below the engineer's estimate, and the second was almost double that. So Administrator Rick Ryland decided that it would likely produce significant savings for the larger project.
And in February, the 10,500-resident city of Dallas, Ga., shaved almost half — 44% — off its original budget of $500,000 on a two-year waste collection contract for 2,700 residential waste pickups and a handful of commercial pickups, also using BidBridge.MYTH 2: A REVERSE AUCTION WON'T EXPAND MY POOL OF POTENTIAL VENDORS.
Facilitators such as eDynaQuote and Bid-Bridge organize the event by alerting their customer's current supplier list, combing through their own database, and seeking new suppliers based on the parameters set by the public works department, such as a preference for locally based suppliers.
The companies review bid documents for specifications that could potentially restrict competition, adding — for example — language that opens the field to minority- or veteran-owned businesses.
Although the client has to put some work in as well, you're only as limited as you choose to be.
After the city's previous waste hauler went bankrupt last year, Dallas, Ga., City Manager Kendall Smith negotiated a month-to-month contract with Raleigh, N.C.-based Waste Industries USA Inc. before deciding to send out requests for proposals (RFP) and qualifications in hopes of finding a long-term replacement.
None of the respondents met all the city's requirements. So Smith, who'd spent 18 years as the city's public works director, did some research.
He lowered the previous requirement of proof of a previous contract of at least five years for governments of more than 3,000 customers to attract larger local contractors that had plenty of successful commercial and residential work but little government experience. After learning that some of the largest nearby cities didn't require such large policies, he reduced the requirement for a $10 million umbrella insurance policy to $3 million. He also added a restriction that vendors would not be allowed to raise the fuel cost.
That expanded the field to 13.
It's simpler to maintain a customer account than win a new one, so incumbents often get more aggressive with their pricing to keep existing business. And that's what happened.
In the last half hour of the auction, Waste Industries dropped its original quote of $389,786 by about $50,000 as competitors outbid each other. The company won the award with a final bid of $280,850. Of that, it paid BidBridge a small percentage.
And that's who keeps reverse auction facilitators in business: the winning bidder. The fee is 2% to 5% of the final bid.
“Reverse auctions do drive pricing down, but compared to the traditional bid process, you have the opportunity to come back with another number,” says Jim Auten, vice president of marketing & sales for Waste Industries. It was the first experience with a reverse auction for the company, which also operates in South Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee, and Virginia. “It was certainly more exciting than the traditional bid process. I felt like I was in Vegas.”
That said, contractors generally oppose reverse auctions, arguing that material quality and contractor experience aren't taken into consideration during the bidding process. In Ohio, House Democrats slipped a provision into the state budget last year banning reverse auctions for the purchase of supplies or services in road, building, and sewer projects. The Associated General Contractors of America did not return calls from PUBLIC WORKS for comment.MYTH #3: A REVERSE AUCTION'S NOT WORTH MY TIME BECAUSE IT WON'T BEAT THE STATE CONTRACT PRICE.
For the most part, though not always, this is true.
Like public works departments, facilitators also have certain requirements. The value of the transaction must be at least $75,000. Potential bidders must be confident they can beat the state contract price.
“We have to be really sure that it's a good fit for reverse auction,” says Bid-Bridge Vice President of Operations Cindy Sisloff, who says the eight-year-old firm has had more repeat business over the last several years from public clients and logged a 91% award ratio so far this year.MYTH #4: MY GOVERNING BODY WON'T ALLOW IT.
A reverse auction is nearly identical to a traditional bid process except that potential suppliers are allowed to submit more than one bid. Potential vendors don't know who their competitors are, nor can they see individual competitors' bids. During the auction, they're alerted only when their bid is no longer the lowest, at which point they can choose to submit another — or not.
The auction is monitored by the buyer and facilitator in a controlled environment, usually in a government office. Because it's conducted online, potential vendors participate from anywhere they'd like: the office, the library, and even, in some cases, the local coffeehouse. The final bid tabulation is released immediately to all participants.
Though sometimes not required, Bid-Bridge's Sisloff suggests public clients issue an RFP without asking for the price. In this way, the RFP acts as a prequalification and price becomes the final component.
The method has stood up in court during two legal challenges in 2005.
The Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled that the Department of Housing and Urban Development didn't violate federal procurement law by disclosing bids during an auction for inspection services. Because the Web site didn't display the names of vendors to other vendors, the court considered the process legal. So far, there have been no such challenges at the state level.
Although some limit it to cities of certain sizes and others to certain powers or require enabling legislation, nearly all states provide for some type of home rule. Only three — Alabama, Nevada, and New Hampshire — do not; and 12 — Delaware, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming — don't provide for county home rule.
But even with the power to write its own procurement code, a governing body may need some convincing that reverse auctions are both fair and legal.
Johnson County, Kan., had a bid in hand when Purchasing Manager John Mahin decided to give it a try. “Normally you wouldn't have a bid in hand, so you'd assume that your low bid from the auction was really the low bid,” he says. It turned out to be a good way to gauge the true market value of the original quote.
The legal department wouldn't let Mahin move ahead until the county's purchasing procedure was amended. The procedure had defined competitive methods one of two ways: For products or services budgeted at $50,000 or higher, formal public bids must be conducted; for those valued at less than $50,000, informal competition such as written quotes was allowed.
To allow for the third methodology, the language was revised by the Purchasing Division with assistance from the legal department. The county manager then approved the revision.
“There was a lot of activity from the three higher bidders who got to within a small percentage of the opening bid, but not at the point where the higher bidders surpassed the low bid,” Mahin says. “The low bidder never had to move.”
Mahin decided not to award anyone from the auction and stuck with the original offer. This is allowed in the reverse auction process with no penalty to the buyer. Thus, local governments that have a best-value clause in their procurement guidelines can use the process to get the lowest price and the best value.
In addition, the auction data is highly valuable. “You can receive excellent reporting and tabulation, and in a successful auction event you can document the fact that you received good competition and best pricing,” Mahin says. Facilitators provide such documentation at no additional cost.
What about collusion? There are unconfirmed stories of bidders working with each other on the day of the auction, with one agreeing to relinquish the job to the other in return for doing the same the next time around.
BidBridge's Sisloff isn't naïve enough to claim that bid tampering never occurs in the industry, but she stands by her company's process. “I'm sure some of these vendors know what their competitors' prices are,” she says. “They all bid against each other all the time.”
But that doesn't faze Dallas, Ga.'s Smith. “I don't see any reason not to do it again,” he says.
And in Kansas, Mahin isn't disappointed that the reverse auction hasn't worked for him yet, mainly because he understands the benefit to his agency's bottom line.
“We had planned to use it for capital equipment purchases and had focused on our public works department as good potential users,” he says. “It's a good idea. We're just looking for the right fit.”Web Extra
For a closer look at how a reverse auction works, click here.
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American Public Works Association (APWA)
Flint lead crisis fallout Congresswoman Dina Titus
Public Work and Infrastructure Caucus Announced by Titus and Costello Winning over co-workers and the public: Don’t charge in like a rhino Six paths to a public works career Winning over co-workers and the public American Public Works Association Rebrands Annual Conference Join the Discussion
Michael Fielding | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/15703 | U.S. Advises Wall Street Not To Participate In Russian Bond Sale
The U.S. government has advised top Wall Street firms not to participate in a Russian bond sale to avoid counteracting U.S. sanctions on Moscow, media sources report.
The U.S. departments of State and Treasury warned banks ahead of a planned $3 billion bond issue, Russia's first since sanctions were imposed over its annexation of Crimea in 2014. Russia invited prominent U.S. investment banks Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley, among others, to underwrite the issue, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Russia also invited European and Chinese banks to participate.
Current sanctions against Russian individuals and firms don’t explicitly prohibit banks from pursuing the new underwriting business.
But U.S. officials are quoted as saying any help for Russian financing runs counter to U.S. policy, as the money raised by Moscow could go to sanctioned entities.
Russian officials denounced what they called U.S. "intimidation" on February 25. Presidential aide Andrei Belousov said he didn't expect it to complicate Russia's financing plans or make them more costly.
Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said Russia has ample choices among the banks that responded to Russia's inquiries. Based on reporting by The Wall Street Journal, AFP, and TASS | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/15729 | Opinion | Commentary Economic freedom in North America
Since 2002, the Fraser Institute of British Columbia has published nine editions of its report on The Economic Freedom of North America. This now widely-known report assesses a composite variable called �economic freedom� in each of the 50 U.S. states and 10 Canadian provinces. The data used to compile the index for states and provinces covers three main areas: the size of government and its spending in relation to the gross domestic product (value of goods and services); tax rates and revenue; and labor market freedom. The index also includes three additional factors � the same for all states within each country: legal system and property rights, sound money and freedom to trade internationally. Using the world-adjusted subnational government index for overall economic freedom, Vermont falls into 55th place among the 60 states and provinces. It is followed by New York and three Canadian provinces. The �economic freedom winners� are Alberta and Saskatchewan, followed by Delaware, Texas and Nevada.What keeps Vermont from sinking all the way to the bottom is its relatively high scores for a free credit market (competitive banking sector) and, perhaps surprisingly to some, its relatively low sales tax revenue (since 2003, a 6 percent rate, with exemptions for food and most clothing).At the subnational level � where differences in national policies are not taken into account � Vermont ranks 53rd. New Hampshire, where many Vermonters shop without paying a sales tax, ranked 11th in this index. Beneath Vermont came New York and five provinces. At the very bottom came Quebec, the province with the most aggressive and inclusive single-payer health-care system. This certainly makes one wonder about Gov. Peter Shumlin�s frequent assurances that installing single-payer health care here will produce an economic boom.Big government advocates will challenge the report�s methodology and findings. They tend to regard �economic freedom� not so much as the source of a society�s wealth, but as an annoying nuisance requiring constant reduction in scope. The report also omits noneconomic features of a society, such as quality of life, clean environment, public safety, community values and the like. Add these into the rankings, they say, and Vermont will shoot up, which is probably true.They will also excitedly point out that the American coauthor, Dr. Dean Stansel, is a free market economist, and the report was supported by the libertarian Charles Koch Foundation and the Searle Freedom Trust. That might account for the criteria used, but the actual data come from public sources.The summary observations of the report are worth reading in full, especially for policymakers and citizens in 55th ranking Vermont:�The results of the experiments of the 20th century should now be clear: free economies produce the greatest prosperity in human history for their citizens. Even poverty in these economically free nations would have been considered luxury in unfree economies. This lesson was reinforced by the collapse of centrally planned states and, following this, the consistent refusal of their citizens to return to central planning, regardless of the hardships on the road to freedom.�Among developing nations, those that adopted the centrally planned model have only produced lives of misery for their citizens. Those that adopted the economics of competitive markets have begun to share with their citizens the prosperity of advanced market economies.�Restrictions on freedom prevent people from making mutually beneficial transactions. Such free transactions are replaced by government action. This is marked by coercion in collecting taxes and lack of choice in accepting services: Instead of gains for both parties arising from each transaction, citizens must pay whatever bill is demanded in taxes and accept whatever service is offered in return.�In some ways, it is surprising the debate still rages, because the evidence and theory favoring economic freedom match intuition: It makes sense that the drive and ingenuity of individuals will produce better outcomes through the mechanism of mutually beneficial exchange than the designs of a small coterie of government planners, who can hardly have knowledge of everyone�s values and who, being human, are likely to consider first their own well-being and that of the constituencies they must please when making decisions for all of us.�Let us hope that during the next few years Vermont policymakers and citizens will come to appreciate that economic freedom leads to prosperity, which is something very much worth having.John McClaughry is vice president of the Ethan Allen Institute (www.ethanallen.org). | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/15768 | Midway Now Facing February Bankruptcy
Struggling publisher Midway may now have another month before it faces bankruptcy, as some of its investors have agreed to postpone a payback deadline until February 19.
After majority shareholder Sumner Redstone sold 87% of the Mortal Kombat publisher for $100K, investors were able to demand repayment due to the change in control.
All together, Midway faces $240 million in debt, though it is primarily concerned with $150 million of that, which is owned in $75 million increments to two groups of holders. As of December, the company did not believe it could immediately pay the $150 million. Midway originally had until 2025 to repay one group, and 2026 for the other.
Previously, the investors had until mid-January to decide if they wanted their money back. Now, Midway has convinced one group to hold off until February 19, and is attempting to persuade the other group of holders to give it just a little more time.
Midway's remaining $90 million debt is owed to Redstone's theater business National Amusements. Oddly, that debt was not mentioned in Midway's update, perhaps implying that National Amusements may not demand immediate repayment. Chatty
X-Nice
No, "looks better" is mostly subjective. That is why. fffortune
So it has an updated engine, yet doesn't look much better than Most Wanted?
What's the update then? That it runs like... Visit Chatty to Join The Conversation | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/15902 | Royal Bank Of Scotland Group
Fred Goodwin sued as investors launch £4bn case against RBS
A GROUP representing 100 institutional shareholders and 12,000 private investors in the Royal Bank of Scotland have launched a £4bn claim against the directors who presided over the collapse of the bank, including Fred Goodwin, the disgraced chief executive. Fred Goodwin, the former boss of RBS, faces legal action for the first time in a £4bn claim launched the by the RBS Action Group. Photo: Reuters By Louise Armitstead, Chief Business Correspondent
10:49AM BST 03 Apr 2013
Follow The RBoS Action Group claims the former directors were personally responsible for tapping investors for £12bn in its rights issue in 2008, just months before the implosion of the bank. The other named defendants in claim are Sir Tom McKillop, former chairman, Johnny Cameron, the previous boss of RBS’s investment banking arm, and Guy Whittaker, who was the bank’s finance director. The bank itself is the fifth defendent. In a short statement, the group said that “directors sought to mislead shareholders by misrepresenting the underlying strength of the bank and omitting critical information from the 2008 Rights Issue prospectus.” The group, which is being represented by lawyers at Bird & Bird, want to bring Fred Goodwin to court for the first time. The former boss has never been officially sanctioned by regulators for his role in the collapse of the bank, despite being stripped of his knighthood last year. However Mr Goodwin has been widely vilified ever since RBS had to be rescued by a £45.5bn taxpayer-funded bail-out. A spokesman for the Action Group said: “Today represents a giant step forward for the many thousands of ordinary people who lost money as the result of inexcusable actions taken by banks and their directors in the financial crisis. Now, for the first time, some of these directors will have to answer for their actions in a British Court”. The claim follows the launch last of a separate class action proceedings on behalf of several institutional investors, including pension funds and ING. A class action claim brought by investors in America was last year thrown out by a New York judge. Related Articles
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Simon Hart, Banking Litigation Partner at City law firm RPC, said: “This is one of the largest shareholder actions we have seen brought against the UK banks. These type of actions are by their nature relatively rare but have been borne directly out of the unprecedented upheavals in the banking industry in 2008.” But Ismail Erturk, Senior Lecturer in Banking at Manchester Business School, said: “This is an opportunistic move by a coalition of shareholders that belatedly tries to shift the blame for the RBS failure to everyone but themselves. I do not think anyone but lawyers will benefit from this and shareholders should have done their jobs to a higher standard before RBS had collapsed." Royal Bank Of Scotland Group
Banks and Finance »
Louise Armitstead » | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/16086 | Thursday, December 9, 2010 - 00:00 IST
Ambit Capital Hits Road To Raise $150M Shariah Compliant Fund Ambit along with its new investor QInvest to jointly market the fund, which will invest in public equities.
BY Shrija Agrawal Ambit Capital, the institutional equities and asset management vertical of Mumbai-based domestic investment bank Ambit Holdings Pvt. Ltd, has hit the fund raising mode for its $150-million Shariah-compliant fund. Ambit Capital CEO (Equities) Andrew Holland, who is spearheading the venture, is currently doing soft marketing of the fund to institutional investors and family offices in the Middle-East.
The Shariah-compliant fund will be jointly marketed by Ambit’s new investor, Qatar-based QInvest Llc. In February this year, QInvest paid Rs 250 crore to purchase a 25.01% stake in the operating company Ambit Corporate Finance. Qinvest is also coming on board as a sponsor or providing seed capital money to the fund. QInvest claims to the largest investment bank of Qatar, with an authorised capital of $1 billion and paid up capital of $750 million. Ambit is looking to leverage the global presence of QInvest to ramp up its foreign institutional sales and jointly market the new product offering in the world of Islamic Finance.
According to Holland, the fundraising strategy is coming along very well and “better than they imagined”. He added that there is a lot of awareness that has built about the macro drivers of emerging markets particularly like those of India and that there is no need to sell the India story now. Holland is of the view that this LP base in Middle East is a significant pool of capital and asserted that “inflows into India will be in a steady manner.”
Structured as an open-ended fund, this Shariah-compliant fund will only invest into public equities, with a focus on large cap stock and will look at sectors like IT, pharmaceuticals. Being schemes adhering to Shariah laws, the money generated will not be invested in any instruments that carry interest rates, like banks. Shariah-compliant funds are investment vehicles which are fully compliant with the principles of Islam. The funds are prohibited from making investments in industries related to gambling or alcohol.
Shariah compliant funds are gaining momentum in India. Apart from Ambit, early this year, Reliance Capital Asset Management's Malaysian arm announced the launch of its first Shariah-compliant products, including an India Fund. Islamic finance is being considered as a serious niche business for corporates.
Worldwide Shariah-compliant assets, including deposits at Islamic finance institutions, have been pegged at $950 billion by Moody’s but could grow to $1.6 trillion by 2012. Recently, Navis Capital, a firm specializing in making private equity investments in growth-oriented buyouts in South and Southeast Asia, closed its sixth fund at $1.2 billion, which also includes Shariah compliant investors.
“It opens the door to new type of investors. It’s got a fund raising and deal flow benefit,” Rodney Muse, co-managing partner of Navis Capital told VCCircle in an earlier interview.
Also, Abu Dhabi Investment House launched the Indian Entertainment City Fund, a $400-million Shariah compliant fund to invest into a mixed use real estate project in India in 2008. Shariah-compliant funds are increasingly being seen as a channel to tap the Gulf investors who are attracted by the Indian stock market. These companies also target local Muslims with deep pockets who don’t want to invest in stock markets due to lack of information on the subject or the perception that it is unlawful to invest in stock market. According to an LP, with an on-the-ground presence in India who did not wish to be quoted said , “there are a lot LPs in the Middle East, and some GPs want to target these funds”.
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2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/16367 | HomeMediaPress ReleasesTerry Goddard Applauds Surrender of Financial Fugitive Terry Goddard Applauds Surrender of Financial Fugitive
(Phoenix, Ariz. --July 2, 2008) Attorney General Terry Goddard applauded the surrender today of Samuel Israel, a fugitive convicted in a massive securities fraud which the Arizona Attorney General's Office helped uncover in 2005.
Israel, 48, turned himself into federal authorities in Massachusetts this morning. He had disappeared almost a month ago when he was to report to a federal prison to begin serving a 20-year sentence. Israel had sought to create the belief that he had taken his own life with the message "suicide is painless" written in the dust of his car's windshield.
Israel was convicted of directing a $400 million fraud of the Connecticut-based Bayou Hedge Fund, which he managed as CEO. The fund collapsed shortly after the Arizona Attorney General's Office made a $100 million seizure from a Wachovia Bank account after an investigation indicated the money might be involved in a complex financial fraud.
The seizure still ranks as the largest forfeiture case in Arizona history. The money was placed in the Arizona Treasury, where it earned $6.5 million in interest before the entire amount was returned to victims in 2006.
"I'm proud of the heads-up role my office played in this fraud and glad to see the man most responsible finally behind bars," Goddard said. "Our attorneys and investigators acted quickly after they identified a sophisticated fraud scheme, and because of their alert work, we were able to make a record seizure and return $106 million to victims in this case."
According to court documents, the Bayou Hedge Fund had been losing money since its inception in 1995. Israel attempted to cover up the losses by creating a phony auditing company which reported impressive profits despite actual losses. At his sentencing in federal court in April for securities fraud, he was ordered to forfeit $300 million in addition to receiving the prison term. | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/16419 | |Locations & Hours|Contact Us|Career
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Home > About Us > Our History
Print This Page Text Size FNB History
Bank ancestry traced to 1874 predecessor...
The First National Bank of Dennison traces its beginning back to 1874 to a private bank in Uhrichsville, Ohio known as the Farmers and Merchants Bank, which was established by George Johnston.
The assets of that bank were transferred in 1893 to Thomas A. Latto and Isaac E. Demuth. Maurice Moody joined the firm in 1895. The bank became known as the Union Bank of Moody, Latto and Demuth.
In 1897, the trio established a private bank in Dennison, known as the Merchants and Mechanics Bank. In 1903, following the death of Mr. Demuth, the remaining partners incorporated under the National Banking Act to form the Dennison National Bank.
Moody and Latto associated themselves with the leading men of the community. They were able to raise capital and surplus for the bank of $72,000.
Maurice and Edwin D. Moody, who had been active in management of the old bank, were elected president and cashier, respectively, of the Dennison National Bank. Sixty stockholders, representing the principal financial interests of the Twin City area, elected sixteen members board of directors.
By the fall of 1907, total resources of the bank grew to nearly half a million dollars. The Dennison National Bank had the distinction of being the only depository of the Pan Handle Railroad between Steubenville and Newark, thereby enjoying the large patronage from the business and farming interests of Tuscarawas and Harrison counties.
In 1933, the business of the bank was taken over by The First National Bank of Dennison. The bank was located at 308 Grant St., Dennison. The bank was and is owned by the stockholders who elect the officers, including the president, who are responsible for the operation of the bank.
In 1973 the bank moved to its newly built facility at the corner of Grant and N. 1st St. in Dennison. The Bank assets had grown to over $7 million at that time.
The First National Bank of Dennison formed a holding company, FNB Inc., in 1989 which became the parent company of the Bank. The holding company was formed to prevent an unfriendly buy-out of the company and to allow the company to repurchase its own stock.
In 1985 the Bank expanded its presence in Tuscarawas County by constructing its office in Dover. The branch office is located at 824 Boulevard.
The Bank continued to grow with the addition of three offices: the Bank One office in Gnadenhutten, 130 Walnut St., was purchased in 1991. The deposit accounts were purchased along with the real estate.
An office formerly housing a branch office of National City Bank at 706 S. Broadway, New Philadelphia, was purchased by First National in 1996.
First National then purchased a former Huntington National Bank branch office, 2046 East High Ave., New Philadelphia, which opened in May 2002.
Due to growth and the need for more operating space, the Dennison office expanded once again in 1998, adding an additional 6450 square feet to the north side of the existing building. The office was completely remodeled to create the current modern structure with over 14000 square feet.
From the modest beginning in 1874, to the five offices, modern facilities and assets exceeding $165 million, the First National Bank of Dennison is a full-service bank offering depository services as well as loans, safe deposit boxes, and night depository. The Bank has always prided itself on providing prompt and courteous customer service.
First National Bank was the first in the County, and one of the first in the state, to provide check imaging, and now has a completely integrated and networked computer system.
The Bank went online in 2000 offering services to its customers through internet banking. Internet banking offers billpay, cash management, and e-statements.
FNB, Inc. also established a finance company, TuscValley Financial, Inc., which opened in June 2002. The office is located in New Philadelphia at 111 Front Avenue SE.
By continuing to increase facilities and services, the First National Bank of Dennison is looking forward to an even greater growth and expansion in the future as we serve the residents and businesses of Tuscarawas County and surrounding areas.
Dover Office Groundbreaking 1984
The history of The First National Bank of Dennison was prepared by Robert F. Michels.
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2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/16452 | Wolfchase Nissan, Honda Owner Files Loan on PropertiesThe owners of the Wolfchase Nissan and Wolfchase Honda dealerships at 2956 N. Germantown Road and 2982 N. Germantown Road, respectively, have filed a $10.6 million loan on the properties. Highway 64 LLC and MBR Enterprises LLC filed the deed of trust and assignment of rents and leases Oct. 17 through Wells Fargo Bank NA. The Wolfchase Nissan dealership at 2956 N. Germantown Road includes a 37,274-square-foot facility that was built in 2006 and sits on 4.1 acres along the east side of Germantown Road north of U.S. 64. The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2012 appraisal is $4.2 million. Directly north of that property is the Wolfchase Honda dealership at 2982 N. Germantown Road, which includes a 51,945-square-foot facility that was built in 2002 and sits on 11.8 acres. Its 2012 appraisal is $6.9 million. Joseph H. Schaeffer III signed the trust deed as president of Highway 64 LLC. Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports – Daily News staff
FedEx Sees Online Shoppers Powering Holiday Record FedEx expects to ship a record number of packages during the holidays, thanks to shoppers’ growing fondness for buying online. The company expects to handle 280 million shipments between Thanksgiving and Christmas, up 13 percent from the same stretch last year. The forecast, released Monday, comes against a background of lackluster growth in the global economy. FedEx has warned the economy is stalling and expects conditions to get worse next year. It’s making big cuts in the businesses that have been the hardest hit, including its Express unit that moves top-priority shipments by air. But the number of shipments FedEx handles at the holidays has climbed steadily along with the growth of Internet purchases. The volume of packages it handles on its busiest day, which varies according to Christmas shipping deadlines, has nearly doubled since 2005. On FedEx’s busiest day this year, projected to be Dec. 10, it forecasts 19 million packages will move through its network, up 10 percent from 2011. That’s in line with the increase FedEx has seen in years with normal growth rates, noted Deutsche Bank analyst Justin Yagerman. FedEx’s holiday shipment growth has ranged from 4.3 percent to 18.3 percent since 2006. Holiday shipments will be driven by sales of personal electronics, apparel, luxury goods and items from large Internet retailers. FedEx moves the bulk of its cheaper, lighter-weight shipments from online and catalog retailers through its SmartPost service, a partnership with the U.S. Postal Service. FedEx SmartPost has been a huge driver of growth for the company since it was formed. Average daily package volume grew 18 percent in the fiscal first quarter ended in August, more than three times the growth rate of FedEx’s overall ground shipments in the U.S. The ground segment, which moves mostly non-priority shipments by truck, has held up despite slower growth as consumers and businesses opt for slower methods of shipping to save money. – The Associated Press Electrolux Shows Third Quarter Improvement Electrolux, the Swedish parent company of Electrolux North America Cooking Products, reported better sales and earnings in the third quarter of 2012 than a year ago. The worldwide company’s operating margin, the measurement of the proportion of the company’s revenue left after paying variable costs of production, was above 6 percent for all of its divisions except Europe. The improvement included North America where the company is building a new Memphis plant in the Frank Pidgeon Industrial Park. Earlier this month, sign crews put the Electrolux logo on the plant that will make stoves and ranges. It symbolizes that construction of the plant is past the halfway point of completion. Electrolux President and CEO Keith McLoughlin characterized market demand for Electrolux products in North America as “slightly positive.” “We expect this trend to continue to improve, supported by gradual recovery in the housing market,” he added. He called the company’s performance in Europe soft. “The market situation in Europe is likely to get worse before it gets better and we are minimizing the negative effect by launching new products and eliminating costs,” McLoughlin said in a written statement that also attributed the problems in Europe to “weak consumer confidence.” – Bill Dries Angel Investment Group Announces Investment Option Angel Investment Advisory Group and Brookstone Capital Management have launched an investment strategy called SMARToption. The new strategy is sub-advised by a money management firm and is intended to grow wealth while protecting capital. SMARToption does not rely on market timing, asset allocation or buy-and-hold strategies, and it seeks to maximize returns and minimize losses in all three types of market conditions (bull, bear and flat market cycles). Angel Investment Advisory Group is a local Memphis full-service financial firm that offers a wide range of financial products to individuals and business owners. It has been in Memphis for more than 20 years. – Andy Meek The Orvis Co. to Open in Laurelwood The Orvis Co. has leased a 6,000-square-foot space in Laurelwood Shopping Center and is expected to open in early February. The 156-year-old, Manchester, Vt.-based retailer supplies fly-fishing gear, exclusive lines of clothing and accessories for men and women, home accents, gifts, pet products and sporting goods. Orvis’ new store is located between The Grove Grill and Booksellers of Laurelwood, next door to J. Jill and South House Jewelry. The 10-year lease brings the Laurelwood Shopping Center’s retail space to 100 percent occupancy. Construction will begin soon to completely renovate the space, which was previously occupied by Sachi and Cotton Tails before those retailers expanded to a larger store within the shopping center a few years ago. Orvis represents a growing trend of upscale retailers entering Memphis outdoor lifestyle shopping centers in recent times. Vancouver, British Columbia-based Lululemon Athletica Inc. opened in Regalia shopping center in August and Philadelphia-based Free People opened at The Shops of Saddle Creek in Germantown in September. – Sarah Baker SunTrust Earnings Rise Sharply SunTrust Banks Inc. on Monday posted sharply higher third-quarter earnings, largely due to the regional bank’s sale of shares it owns in The Coca-Cola Co. But SunTrust reported higher expenses amid persistently low interest rates, and its shares slipped in morning trading Monday. SunTrust reported net income available to common shareholders of nearly $1.07 billion, or $1.98 per share, for the July to September period. That was up from $211 million, or 39 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago. That result beat analyst expectations for profit of $1.86 per share, on average, according to FactSet. Citi analyst Josh Levin said in a note to clients that there are “many moving parts” to the company’s third-quarter results, and his assessment is that the results “may fall somewhat short of investor expectations.” Levin also said it was unclear how analysts factored SunTrust’s one-time items into their financial forecasts, so it was unclear whether the company earnings of $1.98 per-share exceeded expectations. Levin had expected $2.05 per share. The latest quarter’s earnings were boosted $753 million, or $1.40 per share, by the positive net impact of several one-time items resulting from SunTrust’s Sept. 6 announcement of moves to strengthen its financial position and reduce risks. The Atlanta-based bank accelerated its plans to sell Coca-Cola shares, resulting in a pre-tax gain $1.9 billion. In addition to selling shares of the beverage maker, SunTrust also donated shares of Coca-Cola valued at $38 million to the SunTrust Foundation. That donation was among the factors that increased the company’s non-interest expenses. – The Associated Press | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/16455 | HomePublicationsThe RegionRemembering Frederick Deming
RSS Remembering Frederick Deming
Frederick Deming, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis died August 2003.
Frederick L. Deming, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
from April 1957 through January 1965, died in late August, just shy
of his 91st birthday.
Deming, originally from Calumet in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, spent
most of his youth in St. Louis, where he received his bachelor's,
master's and doctorate from Washington University. Deming began his
Federal Reserve career at the St. Louis bank as assistant manager
in the Research Department and left as first vice president in 1957
when he accepted the presidency of the Minneapolis Fed. In an October 1992 interview, Deming said of his era as Minneapolis
Fed president, "This was the golden age of Federal Reserve policy.
Monetary policy worked, and it pretty well handled what it was supposed
to handle. ... There was criticism of policy, but not an awful lot
of criticisms about the mechanics of policy. You didn't have every
professor of economics in the United States trying to tell the central
bank how to run its business. ... You didn't have a shadow Federal
Reserve Open Market Committee. It was a lot more peaceful."
Deming left Minneapolis in 1965 to become Undersecretary of the Treasury
for Monetary Affairs for four years and then spent a few years with
Lazard Freres, a global investment firm, before returning to Minneapolis
as president of National City Bancorporation, a post he held until
his retirement in 1982.
At the time of his death, Deming resided in Sanibel, Fla.
See the complete October 1992 interview
in which Deming muses about the Federal Reserve System and Ninth Federal
Reserve District of his tenure. Top | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/16479 | Comments News and analysis
October 02, 2011 Charity Watchdog’s New Standards Focus on Nonprofit Governance and Openness
By Caroline Preston The watchdog group Charity Navigator revamped its ratings system last month as part of a plan to move beyond evaluating charities based solely on their financial performance.
The Web site now places equal weight on a charity’s governance and openness about its operations as it does on financial information when it awards ratings of one to four stars.
Ken Berger, Charity Navigator’s president, said the new system would give donors a clearer picture of how charities are managed and nudge nonprofits to improve their governance practices.
“Our basic belief is that any charity that a giver should be considering should have certain basic best practices, governance procedures, and openness in sharing information,” he said. “Organizations that have those procedures, those practices, and that are open are less likely to get into ethical problems.”
For three years, Charity Navigator has been exploring how to improve its ratings system. Critics say the watchdog group’s emphasis on what share of a charity’s money goes to administration has been misguided.
Mr. Berger said last month’s change was a first step. With help from chief financial officers and other experts, the watchdog group is now examining whether it ought to adjust the way it assesses charities’ financial performance. The organization is also exploring how to evaluate what steps charities are taking to measure whether their programs are effective.
Charity Navigator expects to announce further plans for changing its methodology sometime in 2012.
‘A Welcome Addition’
Nonprofit leaders and officials of other watchdog groups called Charity Navigator’s move a step forward but said they still had concerns. “It’s a welcome addition,” said Jeff Whisenant, executive vice president of Lutheran World Relief, an international aid group. “Charity Navigator hasn’t really done any favors for the nonprofit sector by directing such focus to administrative costs.”
H. Art Taylor, president of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, which also assesses nonprofit groups’ governance practices, said Charity Navigator’s reliance on nonprofits’ tax filings and Web sites means that its ratings won’t capture some important information about nonprofits’ policies that BBB gleans from its back-and-forth with charities.
Mr. Taylor also said he wondered if it was really possible for a charity to be fairly assessed using a simple star system.
Holden Karnofsky, co-executive director of GiveWell, which seeks to assess the impact of a nonprofit’s programs, also applauded Charity Navigator for taking a critical look at how it evaluates nonprofits. But he said the ratings system still ignores the key question about a nonprofit: how good is it in carrying out its mission.
“The problem we had before is still the problem we have today, which is, you can’t look at this and learn very much about whether a charity is succeeding in helping people,” said Mr. Karnofsky.
To perform well on Charity Navigator’s new system, a nonprofit must share certain information on its Web site and in its tax filings.
A charity can no longer receive four stars, the top score, if it doesn’t have a board of at least five people, if its money has been diverted for purposes that don’t relate to the charity’s mission, and if the group lacks an independent audit of its financial information.
Other factors include whether the group has a whistle-blower policy, lists its chief executive’s salary in its tax filings, and keeps minutes of its board meetings.
Mr. Berger said he initially thought that adding a transparency component wouldn’t be “that big of a deal.” But 2,700 groups, about half the nonprofits rated by Charity Navigator, received different ratings under the new system.
Shifting Ratings
About 30 percent of groups got higher marks. Lutheran World Relief, for example, earned four stars instead of three because it met Charity Navigator’s standards on transparency.
It didn’t do as well under the old system because it didn’t record steady income growth, a common problem for international aid charities that receive much of their money after natural disasters.
The American Red Cross and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International also did better under the new system because they met all of Charity Navigator’s accountability standards.
Other groups saw their ratings drop. For example, the William J. Clinton Foundation, Dress for Success, and Operation Blessing International lost their four-star ratings largely because they did not have at least five independent board members with voting rights.
Diverse Circumstances
Another group that went from four stars to three was Volunteers of America. The group was downgraded because, according to Charity Navigator’s Web site, it didn’t have an independent audit of its financial information, make its donor privacy policy readily available on its Web site, or provide a copy of its federal informational tax return to its board in advance of filing it with the Internal Revenue Service.
That is not entirely true, said Jatrice Martel Gaiter, the group’s executive vice president for external affairs. The organization does have a privacy policy on its Web site, she said.
In other ways, though, Ms. Martel Gaiter said her nonprofit appears to be an example of how Charity Navigator’s one-size-fits all rating system doesn’t take into account different charities’ individual circumstances. Because the faith-based social-service organization is registered as a church, it isn’t required to file a Form 990 with the IRS. But it does voluntarily fill out a 990 and share its financial information with its board.
As for the audited financial statements, Volunteers of America is a national group with 36 affiliates. The national group and the affiliates all have independently audited financial statements, but it has no audit of those aggregated financials, she said.
Asked by The Chronicle about the organization’s audit, Mr. Berger said the group did seem to meet Charity Navigator’s criteria on that count and would probably receive more points. Ms. Martel Gaiter, who said she was pleased that Charity Navigator seems open to receiving feedback, said she would be giving Mr. Berger a phone call.
“We are going to do everything we can to become a four-star charity,” she said. “Every nonprofit needs to go back and look at their ratings with a fine-tooth comb and make sure their intent is being conveyed.” The Results of Charity Navigator’s Standards Changes
• 30% of the 5,500 nonprofits rated by the watchdog won higher ratings
• 19% of charities performed worse under the new system
• 22% of groups now have the top rating, four stars, a 20% drop as compared with the old system
• 47% of groups are now rated three stars, compared with 33% before
Charity Navigator’s New Standards
What’s different: A charity’s governance and transparency practices are now considered along with its financial information in determining its rating.
How the rating system works: An organization loses points from a perfect score of 70 for governance and transparency if its money has been diverted for purposes other than its mission, if its financial information is not audited by an independent accountant, or if the group doesn’t have at least five independent board members.
Points may also be docked if the charity doesn’t share information on its process for determining the chief executive’s compensation; does not list its tax filings, board members, or certain other information on its Web site; or lacks whistle-blower and conflict-of-interest policies, among other factors.
What’s the same: Charity Navigator’s process for determining a group’s financial health is still based on how it spends money and whether its revenue is growing. Return to Top Read more on these topics:
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2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/16526 | 3 Buy-Rated Dividend Stocks
These 3 dividend stocks are rated a Buy by TheStreet Ratings Group
Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model. TheStreet Ratings' stock model projects a stock's total return potential over a 12-month period including both price appreciation and dividends. Our Buy, Hold or Sell ratings designate how we expect these stocks to perform against a general benchmark of the equities market and interest rates. While plenty of high-yield opportunities exist, investors must always consider the safety of their dividend and the total return potential of their investment. It is not uncommon for a struggling company to suspend high-yielding dividends and subsequently result in precipitous share price declines. TheStreet Ratings' stock rating model views dividends favorably, but not so much that other factors are disregarded. Our model gauges the relationship between risk and reward in several ways, including: the pricing drawdown as compared to potential profit volatility, i.e. how much one is willing to risk in order to earn profits?; the level of acceptable volatility for highly performing stocks; the current valuation as compared to projected earnings growth; and the financial strength of the underlying company as compared to its stock's valuation as compared to its stock's performance. These and many more derived observations are then combined, ranked, weighted, and scenario-tested to create a more complete analysis. The result is a systematic and disciplined method of selecting stocks. As always, stock ratings should not be treated as gospel — rather, use them as a starting point for your own research. The following pages contain our analysis of 3 stocks with substantial yields, that ultimately, we have rated "Buy." Blackstone Group Dividend Yield: 8.50% Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) shares currently have a dividend yield of 8.50%. The Blackstone Group L.P., together with its subsidiaries, provides alternative asset management and financial advisory services worldwide. It operates in five segments: Private Equity, Real Estate, Hedge Fund Solutions, Credit Businesses, and Financial Advisory. The company has a P/E ratio of 48.24. Currently there are 9 analysts that rate Blackstone Group a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and 2 rate it a hold. The average volume for Blackstone Group has been 5,468,000 shares per day over the past 30 days. Blackstone Group has a market cap of $11.0 billion and is part of the financial services industry. Shares are up 24.3% year to date as of the close of trading on Monday. TheStreet Ratings rates Blackstone Group as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, solid stock price performance and notable return on equity. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows low profit margins. Highlights from the ratings report include: The revenue growth came in higher than the industry average of 11.3%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 33.0%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share. BLACKSTONE GROUP LP reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, BLACKSTONE GROUP LP turned its bottom line around by earning $0.40 versus -$0.33 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($2.21 versus $0.40). The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Capital Markets industry. The net income increased by 569.3% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from -$22.68 million to $106.41 million. Powered by its strong earnings growth of 575.00% and other important driving factors, this stock has surged by 25.58% over the past year, outperforming the rise in the S&P 500 Index during the same period. Looking ahead, the stock's sharp rise over the last year has already helped drive it to a level which is relatively expensive compared to the rest of its industry. We feel, however, that other strengths this company displays justify these higher price levels. Current return on equity exceeded its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a clear sign of strength within the company. When compared to other companies in the Capital Markets industry and the overall market, BLACKSTONE GROUP LP's return on equity is below that of both the industry average and the S&P 500. You can view the full Blackstone Group Ratings Report. New From TheStreet: Jim Cramer's Protégé, Dave Peltier, only buys dividend stocks that have the potential for a 3% to 4% yield and 10% growth. Get his best picks for less than $50/year. Prev
Listen to What the Private Equity Managers Are Saying
Blackstone is a prime example.
Qualcomm's Upbeat Quarter Heightens Anticipation of Acquisitions
NXP Semiconductor has been eyed as a prospective target for an expansion minded chip maker.
How Encana Surprised Investors With Strong Operating Earnings
The Canadian oil and gas company credits aggressive cost-cutting for its positive results and said asset sales will allow it to boost capital spending by $200 million this year. | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/16542 | Nordic Private Equity is Going Global
Advokaten Carl Nisser, Consultant to SJ Berwin, London
Over the last several years Nordic private equity funds, including venture capital funds, have accelerated their search for investors beyond the Nordic markets. At the same time, Nordic LPs are increasing their investments in funds outside the Nordic countries. These two trends have significant impacts on Nordic market conditions and the legal issues which arise in a more international environment.
For background purposes it is worthwhile to note that the share of GDP in Sweden that is invested in VC and buy-out funds was 0.38 per cent and 0.31 per cent in Finland in 2003. The UK allocation in the period exceeded 0.8 per cent. Only these three countries exceed the 0.29 percent European average amount of GDP invested in VC and buy-out funds. The total amount raised by private equity and VC funds in 2003 in Europe was 27 billion Euros of which 55 per cent was raised in the UK and 8 per cent in Sweden.
The introduction of more attractive fiscal rules for Swedish AB's used as holding companies, has had the effect that ABs have started to replace KBs, a Swedish form of limited partnership as vehicles for funds. The trend for Swedish GPs is however to raise funds abroad rather than in Sweden where often less than 50 per cent of investors' capital has originated. For this and other reasons, private equity funds initiated by Swedes and intended for investing in Swedish companies are increasingly domiciling in Guernsey or Jersey, whilst the management company is set up in Sweden.
Historically this has also been driven by adverse tax implications for foreign investment into Nordic structures. This enables international investors (including the US which remains the single largest pool of international private equity investment) to participate in more familiar structures. The Luxemburg SICAR has recently become an alternative to a Channel Island Fund. So far (by 1 March 2005) five SICARs have been registered and another 15 are in the pipeline to be registered. A Delaware partnership is sometimes used as one of the vehicles in an international fund structure as some US investors prefer to use such a partnership, but it does bring with it other US issues.
Some pension funds in the Nordic countries are increasing the allocation of their funds that can be invested in private equity. This trend has been led by the Danish ATP Private Equity Partners which can invest up to ten per cent of its total funds--i.e. four billion Euros over several years in private equity funds. The Swedish AP funds can invest up to five per cent of their assets in private equity which means that, for instance, the Third AP Fund can invest in excess of 900 million Euros in private equity. There are five AP Funds that can invest similar amounts. Only one of the funds, the Sixth AP Fund, cannot make investments outside Sweden.
The trends for GPs managed by Swedes to raise funds abroad and for large Swedish funds to invest abroad are clear. A third trend that needs to be observed is the transparency issue which is an issue that does not seem to create any major problems for Nordic GPs, probably because they are used to an open environment with respect to communications.
Other issues are of interest as well. Swedish insurance companies will increasingly, due to forthcoming legislation, be allowed to invest in private equity. It is interesting to follow the debate in Norway about possibly allowing the huge Petroleum Fund to invest in private equity.
The trend concerning Nordic GPs is clear. They have become more international in their search for funds and in doing so have tended to raise larger funds. Segulah III is a good example of how successfully a Swedish fund can raise funds in Sweden and abroad. | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/16720 | Cuomo, Bloomberg urge debt deal
By Jimmy Vielkind, Capitol bureau on July 12, 2011 at 3:18 PM
Both Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are urging political leaders in Washington to work out a deal to raise the debt ceiling, something that has been hamstrung by partisan back-and-forth between President Barack Obama and House Republicans. Cuomo, after signing a law to stiffen penalties against drivers who send text messages behind the wheel, was asked whether he — like Democrats in Washington — feel the government should raise taxes to bridge the deficit as it raises the debt ceiling.
“They have a much different situation than the state. From the state’s perspective, if you raise taxes, you put yourself at a competitive disadvantage,” Cuomo said. “You can do things with more flexibility, in my opinion, on the federal side because you don’t have to worry about the competition that you have to worry about on the state side.”
“I think it is a good time for the President and the Congress to be working out a deal and a deal can be worked out quickly that provides confidence to the market. I think the stability is most important,” Cuomo continued. “I tend to agree with the president’s position in these negotiations, but I think what’s most important is that the negotiations are actually successful.”
A video of his Q&A is below, courtesy of the intrepid Azi Paybarah of the New York Observer. But first, here’s a statement from Bloomberg.
“Before turning to today’s announcement, let me just address another very big issue for New York City, and that’s the debate that’s going on in Washington over the debt ceiling. The leadership in both parties agrees that we have to raise the debt limit before August 2nd. If America, for the first time in its history, defaults on its obligations, it would have a catastrophic effect on our financial system – and on our credibility around the world. It would also take a serious toll on our economy, and that at a time when the nation is still trying to recover from the deep recession. New York City’s economy is on the mend from the financial crisis of 2008, but defaulting on our debt, I think would be a huge setback. Now, I understand that both parties in Washington have different plans for how to reduce our debt – and I hope they can come to an agreement soon – but that debate should not be tied to the debt ceiling. America’s good name and credit are just too important to be held hostage to Washington gridlock, and I hope that in the end cooler heads will prevail and an agreement will be reached quickly.”
Categories: Andrew Cuomo, Mike Bloomberg Jimmy Vielkind Comments are closed. | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/16731 | The Morning Ledger: New Ideas on Auditor Rotation
PCAOB confab: what you need to know. CFOJ’s Emily Chasan is covering all the action from D.C., where Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker threw his weight behind the controversial concept. Volcker said that a simple auditor rotation requirement may not be efficient, but the idea could be refined. A couple of new proposals aim to do just that. Former SEC Chairman Richard Breeden suggested a “comply or explain” model where companies would have to rotate every 10 years or explain why they didn’t. And Ex-Comptroller General Charles Bowsher thinks “if rotation is limited to the very large companies, the cost issue really is moot.”
Meanwhile, Procter & Gamble says it’s been doing just fine with its auditor – 122 years with Deloitte – and it sees no need for rotation.
There’s another full day dedicated to the topic today, starting at 8:45 a.m. Here’s a link to the lineup. Watch the webcast here.
THE DAY AHEAD:
Lululemon is expected to notch another quarter of stronger sales. It doesn’t rely on discounts, though – CFO John Currie tells the Journal that 95% of its workout gear sells for full price.
The Senate Banking Committee considers the Volcker Rule and its impact overseas. And CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler tries to convince the House Appropriations subcommittee to give his agency more money.
P&G Explains Why It’s Had the Same Auditor for a Century
CFO Moves: Urban Outfitters, McClatchy, Virent
CFO insight and analysis written and compiled by Deloitte
Understanding Disclosure Controls over Non-GAAP Measures
As part of its current focus on non-GAAP measures, the SEC has questioned whether companies and audit committees have implemented appropriate controls regarding the disclosure of such measures. Deloitte’s “Heads Up” newsletter discusses the types of controls that could be established and provides high-level examples of control issues and related responses for consideration in connection with non-GAAP measures. In addition, the newsletter outlines a sample approach for consideration and offers details about how the SEC distinguishes “disclosure controls and procedures” from “internal control over financial reporting.”
Financial accounting and reporting | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/16758 | VAT’s Next?
G. Tracy Mehan, III
A European-style value-added tax, or VAT, seems to be heading nowhere fast, notwithstanding Delphic pronouncements by Obama administration officials, including the President himself, which seem to keep it open as a real possibility.
The U.S. Senate voted, overwhelmingly (85-13), for a resolution offered by John McCain (R-AZ) which stated that “It is the sense of the Senate that the Value Added Tax is a massive tax increase that will cripple families on fixed income and only further push back America’s economic recovery.”
The VAT is a national sales tax imposed at various stages from production to final consumer purchase.
VAT’s next? Higher taxes on income and productivity? Or massive cuts in spending and entitlement benefits? Both? Neither? Maybe it will be a fiscal meltdown of Grecian, that is to say hellish, proportions.
The full range of responses to our crisis, with or without VAT, can be seen in recent proposals, such as those offered by Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), a conservative, and Steven Pearlstein, of the Washington Post.
In his “Roadmap for America’s Future,” discussed in TAS by Philip Klein and elsewhere, Ryan does not propose VAT or any other kinds of new taxes. On the contrary, he aims to balance the federal budget by 2063 and reduce Medicare’s share of the economy from a projected 14.3 percent in 2080 to 4 percent. He would use vouchers to empower individuals over Medicare bureaucracy and drive down spending.
As an orthodox and optimistic supply-sider, Ryan would simplify the tax code and replace corporate income taxes with an 8 percent business consumption tax.
As Klein notes, Ryan’s proposal is intended to change the tax code in a direction that would promote more economic growth, by creating an optional, flatter tax system with just two individual rates (10 percent and 25 percent) and without any deductions other than a tax credit for health insurance. He gets rid of double taxation on interest, capital gains, and dividends.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has certified that Ryan’s plan will do what he says it will.
Steven Pearlstein, a left-of-center business columnist for the Washington Post, proposed a nine-bullet plan to address the current fiscal and entitlement crisis which featured “a new broad-based value-added tax of 6 percent, with rebates to low-income households.” He also argues for holding spending on Medicare and Medicaid to GDP growth plus 1 percentage point a year, less than the GDP plus 2.5 percent which has been the norm.
Pearlstein also wants to raise the eligibility age of Social Security and Medicare by one month for each two-month increase in the average life expectancy while reducing the cost-of-living increases for wealthy seniors and raising premiums. He would limit discretionary spending (including defense) to the rate of inflation except in wartime, natural disasters, and recessions. He wants to reduce the corporate tax rate from 35 to 25 percent, limit its applicability only to profits in the U.S. and “close enough loopholes to increase corporate tax revenues by 5 percent.”
For individual income taxes, Pearlstein proposes to increase the standard deduction and personal exemptions so that no tax is paid by a family of four with income under $50,000. Beyond that, wages, salaries and short-term capital gains taxes would be set at three rates: 17 percent for income from $50,000 to $150,000; 27 percent for income between $150,000 and $250,000; and 37 percent for income over $250,000. However, he would tax interest, dividends and long-term capital gains at 20 percent, up from the current 15 percent.
Back to the VAT, Bruce Bartlett, a former Jack Kemp staffer and supply-sider, has argued that taxes are going up and a VAT is better than, say, raising marginal income tax rates or the capital gains tax. However, he remains an outlier on the right side of the political spectrum.
Former Federal Reserve Chairman, Paul Volcker, is another. He has raised the possibility of both VAT and energy taxes as part of any solution to the nation’s fiscal imbalances.
George F. Will, conceding that a VAT would address the problem that “Americans consume too much and save too little,” nevertheless put a hex on liberal advocates of the VAT. The conservative response should be: “Taxing consumption has merits, so we will consider it-after the 16th amendment is repealed.”
“A VAT will be rationalized as a necessary to restore fiscal equilibrium,” said Will. “But without ending the income tax, a VAT would be just a gargantuan instrument for further subjugating Americans to government.”
Will cautions that a VAT would most likely be piled high on top of ever-rising income taxes as born out by the European experience.
The Wall Street Journal has observed that “the VAT has rarely replaced the income tax, or even resulted in a lower income-tax rate.” The top individual income tax rate remains “very high” in Europe, despite the VAT, averaging about 46 percent among nations on the continent.
The centrist economics columnist, Robert J. Samuelson, points out that “Europe’s widespread VATs aren’t models of simplicity.” There are many preferential rates and exemptions. The Irish tax food at three different rates. Just imagine the bumper crop of VAT lobbyists seeking various carve-outs and breaks for an infinite number of clients which would accompany any such tax in the U.S.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, the fiscal situation continues to deteriorate, promising a financial suffering across generations. Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, has opined that “we are about to embark on the most massive transfer of wealth from the younger taxpayers to older ones in American history.”
“It will be not just unprecedented but unfair: Our children will have to pay for the decisions we make today.” Or, I might add, fail to make.
This past week the Treasury Department reported that the U.S. posted an $82.69 billion deficit in April, nearly four times the $20.91 billion shortfall last year. This was more than double the $40 billion deficit forecasted by a posse of Wall Street journalists surveyed by Reuters.
David M. Walker, former U.S. Comptroller General and presently president and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, penned an op-ed in USA Today, entitled, “We’re not yet Greece, but are we still America?”
“Over the past 40 years, the U.S. government spending has grown by almost 300% net of inflation, and our revenues haven’t kept place,” wrote Walker. “The result is that our current deficits, when adjusted for inflation, are the highest percentage of our economy since World War II.”
“In this respect, we sure look a lot like Greece, or at least we will in the near future,” warns the former Comptroller General, hoping that he is not a modern-day Cassandra from Greek mythology but a modern-day Paul Revere. Sure, our economy is bigger and the U.S. dollar is still 60 percent of the world’s reserve currency. Still, already total U.S. federal, state and local public debt exceeds levels in Spain and are comparable to Ireland and Great Britain.
“We will reach Portugal’s levels within two years and Greece’s levels within 10 years on our present course,” notes Walker.
As I say, VAT’s next?
Ryan and de Rugy want America to go cold turkey, make the cuts, reforms and adjustments without tax increases. “We need to reform entitlement spending, put both military and domestic spending on the chopping block, and start selling off federal assets,” argues de Rugy. “Better to do it now than during a fire sale later.”
Democrats do not want to cut spending (excepting defense), reform entitlements or impose a VAT for that matter. They seem to have an infinite number of ideas for more, not less, federal spending and debt. They have shown limitless ingenuity for raising a myriad of taxes, fees and other revenue-enhancers in their recent health care legislation, no matter the economic illogic of the levies. They would love to impose new tariffs, using carbon reduction as an excuse.
Republicans are for cutting discretionary spending (excepting defense) but are still mum on reforming the Great Beast of entitlements, having already supported the gigantic senior drug benefit, the largest expansion of entitlements in a generation, when they were in power.
Congressman Ryan’s plan for reforming entitlements and reducing marginal tax rates is praised by policy wonks, even President Obama in a feint at bipartisan bonhomie. Although Ryan has recruited a dozen co-sponsors on his proposal, few other sitting Republicans have spoken up in favor of it.
GOP congressional Members generally oppose a VAT, income and corporate taxes, user fees, gas taxes, carbon taxes, revenue-neutral or otherwise, and reductions in farm and ethanol subsidies or corporate tax breaks. Where they will come down on entitlement reform is something of a mystery.
We are witnessing what must be the greatest game of chicken ever played in the history of the world, fiscally speaking that is.
By G. Tracy Mehan, III
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PrairieHawk
I would like to see an article explaining the proposed “cap-and-trade” carbon taxes. I don’t understand what is being discussed other than to observe that it appears the Government has found a way of taxing the air we breathe. | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/16801 | Can UBS Bounce Back from the Rogue-Trader Scandal?
Helena Bachmann / Geneva Monday, Sept. 19, 2011
EPA / STRSuspected rogue trader Kweku Adoboli leaving the City of London magistrates court, in London, Britain, 16 September 2011
When UBS announced last week that it has lost billions thanks to the antics of a rogue trader, the Swiss bank probably thought things couldn't get much worse. But on Sunday, there was more bad news: the beleaguered bank's losses, first estimated at $2 billion, are actually closer to $2.3 billion.
While Kweku Adoboli, the London-based investment banker responsible for UBS's pain, remains in custody until a hearing on Sept. 22, UBS explained in a statement on Sunday that it had only realized just how much it had lost because "the true magnitude of the risk exposure was distorted [by] fictitious trades." The bank added that no client funds were involved. To add insult to injury, the bank had recently announced that it would cut 3,500 jobs to save $2 billion; now these losses will wipe out any potential savings. (Read "UBS CEO Won't Resign Amid Trading Scandal.") The rogue-trader scandal is just the latest in a string of misfortunes that have struck Switzerland's largest bank in the past few years. During the global financial crisis, UBS lost tens of billions due to its exposure to the toxic subprime market in the U.S. In 2009, the bank, one of the world's largest wealth managers, paid the U.S. government a $780 million fine to avoid criminal charges for helping rich Americans hide $20 billion from the IRS in undisclosed offshore accounts. "For a bank that has made mistakes in the past, this [new scandal] is absolutely unacceptable," Fulvio Pelli, president of the Radical Party, a member of Switzerland's seven-party coalition government, told the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation last week. Given UBS's spotty past, experts say that restoring credibility to the once reputable financial powerhouse will take a major overhaul. First and foremost, "UBS would need a long period without any scandals and embezzlements," says Teodoro Cocca, adjunct professor at the Swiss Finance Institute and asset-management expert at the University of Linz, Austria. "It needs to prove to investors and clients that it can deliver stable earnings over an entire business cycle." Cocca also advocates separating UBS's investment activities from its private banking. "The investment sector is clearly a risk factor not a return factor for the entire group," he says. "Time has come to question this entire business model." Stephane Garelli, professor at the Institute of Management Development in Lausanne, says that, in its present form, UBS no longer meets its clients' requirements. "Most people want a bank to be a safe place for their savings," he says. "Very few people care about exotic financial instruments like exchange-traded funds." While this latest scandal once again puts UBS in an unfavorable light, Garelli points out that no global bank is immune to similar abuses. "It raises the question of whether it's possible at all to have an effective risk-control system in a large universal bank Swiss or not," he says. "What happened at UBS could happen tomorrow in another bank." (Read "London Police Charge UBS Trader With Fraud.") Looking ahead, Garelli predicts that governments will increasingly advocate splitting large banks according to the risk level of their activities. "The picture that emerges is one of a profound rethinking of the legislation controlling large universal banks, including international coordination," he says. "The fundamental idea is to insulate traditional core business from more risky operations." Others have had the same idea. Just days before the UBS trading scandal erupted, Britain's Independent Commission on Banking recommended that banks separate their conventional banking services from their riskier investment operations. In Switzerland, legislators are already debating a set of new banking regulations that would force UBS, as well as Switzerland's second-largest bank, Credit Suisse, to have the minimum reserve capital of at least 19% more than required by international regulations, in order to cover any future losses.
In the meantime, UBS's chief executive Oswald Grueber told Sonntag newspaper on Sunday that he would not heed calls for his resignation because "when someone decides to act with criminal energy, you can't do anything about it. This will always exist in our job." For all the regulations and protective measures already in place and yet to be implemented, Cocca agrees that there is no foolproof way to prevent misuses in the banking sector. "We can't do much against it. If you are a big global player you have to accept this kind of risks," he says. "If you want to reduce that risk substantially, you have to quit the business."
How UBS decides to deal with this latest scandal whether it will scale back its risky ventures or try another tactic may be revealed on Nov. 17, when it announces future strategy to its investors. For now, though, the massive loss of money and reputation is, literally, breaking the bank.
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2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/17420 | United Economic Development Fund, Inc Initiates Empowerment Plan
ALTADENA, Calif., Nov. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- United Economic Development Fund, Inc (UEDF) is a 501©3 nonprofit organization structured under the laws of the State of California. UEDF's home base is located in the City of Altadena, and will expand operations to cities across the United States. UEDF's three year empowerment plan has a primary mission to foster economic growth through a revenue-sharing system.UEDF will form alliances with individuals and businesses in an effort to formulate policies for leaders who will strengthen communities and create pathways to financial freedom. Funds will stabilize a financial resource base intended to create humanitarian programs, provide scholarships and educational training for youths, generate micro loans to existing entrepreneurs, and develop a networking environment capable of spurring business enterprises at the grass roots levels. These programs are currently in the pipeline for production. As the organization continues to expand, it is essential to continuously recruit, train and empower leaders from diverse backgrounds.
CIO, CTO & Developer Resources In view of the range and complexity of this agenda, it is necessary to build the operation in three phases. Phase I will concentrate efforts on recruiting leaders who will advocate the organization's mission, philosophy and goals. Phase II will create monetary funds through its revenue sharing program to include forming a credit union, implementing a debit card system, and disbursing loans to business enterprises. Phase III is the central phase of UEDF's framework. This stage determines the litmus test of how effective the infrastructure and internal operations of the organization have met its goals.No organization works without the genuine interest of its constituents. It is UEDF's intent to be the catalyst for change, and make a difference. The organization is committed to renewing growth in a slow-moving economy. A core membership base of individuals from the public, private and non-profit sectors will make up the fabric of its alliances. Let's make a difference and move forward with change.SOURCE United Economic Development Fund, Inc Published November 9, 2012 Reads 385 Copyright © 2012 SYS-CON Media, Inc. — All Rights Reserved. | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/17455 | Fannie, Freddie Weigh Mortgage Write-Downs By Chris Arnold
A pre-foreclosure sign is seen in front of a home in Miami. Supporters of a plan to reduce the principals owed by many homeowners facing foreclosure say it would prevent larger losses and keep people in their homes.
Edward DeMarco, the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, says principal reductions would save Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac an estimated $1.7 billion. Chris Arnold
Hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure might get help by having the amount they owe reduced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This is a hot topic in Washington, D.C., with many Democrats pushing for these so-called "principal reductions" to try to help the housing market. On Tuesday, a top federal regulator came a step closer to allowing the move. NPR and ProPublica reported three weeks ago that Fannie and Freddie had each just completed a new analysis and found that principal reductions would save the government-owned enterprises money. Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which controls Fannie and Freddie, has released the official figures from the agency's report. "In this analysis, principal reduction is better for the enterprises. ... It reduces ... [their] losses by $1.7 billion," DeMarco said. This is a big change. Fannie and Freddie are now owned by the government and control most of the home loans in the country. DeMarco has steadfastly resisted cutting the amount that borrowers owe, but now the Treasury Department has tripled an incentive through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the bank bailout fund. Speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Tuesday, DeMarco said if Fannie and Freddie do these write-downs, billions of dollars from the Treasury Department would be steered toward them. "The expected incentive payments ... would be $3.8 billion," he said. A Tax-Dollar Shell Game? Critics say this incentive amounts to a "shell game." By giving Fannie and Freddie taxpayer money from another source, the Treasury Department has made the write-downs look good on Fannie and Freddie's books, but the write-downs would still result in taxpayer expense. Proponents counter that it would help the housing market and taxpayers eventually. "Two-thirds of taxpayers are homeowners, and protecting housing markets and stabilizing communities all accrues to their benefit, too, so it's just where you draw the line on your analysis," says housing economist Andrew Jakabovics of the nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners. For years, Jakabovics has been an advocate of principal write-downs. DeMarco is not announcing any final decision yet, but reading the tea leaves in the speech, Jakobavics says he came away thinking "this $1.7 billion net positive to do it seems to mean that they're leaning into it." Whether or not they are "leaning into it kicking and screaming" is irrelevant, he says. The kicking and screaming refers to the fact that there has been pressure from the White House and Democrats in Congress for Fannie and Freddie to get more aggressive with foreclosure prevention. Many in that camp think principal write-downs should play a role. Jakabovics says this approach wouldn't be a silver bullet to fix housing. Some economists say it might reach several hundred thousand borrowers, and overall, Jakabovics says it would help. "I think this is a meaningful tool to be able to have in the arsenal," he says. Strategic Defaults Still, DeMarco did raise concerns about just writing off $20,000 or $50,000 of what a borrower owes. Even if that would save money compared to a foreclosure, DeMarco asked if forgiving debt for some delinquent homeowners might encourage others to stop paying their mortgages to try and get the same deal. "The far larger group of underwater borrowers, who today have remained faithful to paying their mortgage obligations, are the much greater contingent risk to housing markets and to taxpayers," he said. In other words, you don't want to encourage those homeowners to start defaulting on purpose. Jakabovics counters that if the FHFA were worried about that, it could get around the issue completely. For example, by only offering write-downs to people who have already defaulted, there would be no incentive created for anyone else to default. Jakabovics says the program could be designed in several other ways to reduce or eliminate the risk of strategic default. Out On The 'Hairy Edge' Some experts just don't like the unfair, free-lunch aspect of principal write-downs. For them, forgiving principal outright seems to cross a bright line and raise all manner of fairness and moral hazard concerns. Anthony Sanders, a professor of real estate finance at George Mason University, says this would be a "major shift in economic policy" and that there would be unintended consequences. "Do we really want to go out on the hairy edge, based on a few anecdotal assumptions that this might work?" Sanders asks. "I would argue no." For Sanders, the risks outweigh the benefits. For its part, the private sector has already embraced principal write-downs. Banks have started reducing principal to avoid foreclosure in nearly 1 out of 5 of the problem bank-owned loans they modify. DeMarco says he expects to decide whether Fannie and Freddie will do principal write-downs in the next few weeks.Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread. © 2016 WCBE 90.5 FM | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/17507 | People The Freelance Finance Chief
As demand for executives and controllers grows more slowly over the next few years, CFOs may need to consider going “part-time.”
Marielle Segarra November 14, 2013 | CFO.com | US - Comments: 14 share
Amy Clayman never planned to become a part-time finance chief. For more than 14 years, she held full-time finance jobs, including four years she spent as treasurer and corporate controller at JBA International, an ERP software and consulting firm.
Amy Clayman, principal at Financial Fluency; freelance CFO
But after having her second child, she couldn’t keep up with the hours and raise her children at the same time. Being her own boss gave her more flexibility. “I came to the realization that I couldn’t really be on a plane all the time or working those crazy hours that the public accounting and corporate finance worlds demand from you,” Clayman says. “So I started thinking about trying to pursue other career paths that would still keep me engaged in higher-level thinking but not put me in a situation where I had to work 50-plus hours a week.”
CFOs on the Move: Week Ending July 22 CFOs on the Move: Week Ending July 15 CFOs on the Move: Week Ending July 8 Clayman had colleagues and friends in public accounting, and one referred her to an $8 million tech company that was hoping to double in revenue over the next five years. “They didn’t really have a plan, they didn’t do any formal budgeting, and they didn’t have the typical level of financial planning and forecasting,” she says. “It was a very comfortable situation for me because I’d done that for a $200 million business, so to implement that for a smaller business wasn’t that hard,” she says.
Clayman’s freelance business expanded from that first connection. The CEO of that company introduced her to an executive in one of his roundtable groups, leading to another part-time gig. Now she holds the CFO role at seven or eight business-to-consumer service companies, and she says she wouldn’t want to go back to working for one business.
Clayman’s path — going from full-time financial executive at one company to a freelance CFO at many firms — may be growing more popular, Clayman says. “I feel it in the marketplace,” she says. “When I started this 10 years ago, there would have only been [a handful of] people you could choose to do this work. You had to really look to find them. Now they’re more apparent.”
Indeed, current and aspiring CFOs may need to consider freelance work as competition for the top finance spots gets fierce. Employment among top executives is expected to grow only 5 percent from 2010 to 2020, compared to 14 percent for all occupations, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS estimates that the job market will grow 9 percent for financial managers (such as controllers) over that period. From 2000 to 2010, the BLS projected that employment would grow 15 percent among top executives, 19 percent among financial managers and 15 percent for all occupations.
What exactly does a part-time CFO do? Are there any benefits to being a freelance finance chief? CFO spoke with several part-time CFOs, who share their insights below.
A Valuable Skillset
To start, the term “part-time CFO” is a misnomer; most part-time finance chiefs work at least 40 hours a week. A part-time CFO is distinguished by working for a number of different companies at once.
At most companies, part-time CFOs are not glorified accountants or controllers; rather, they bring sophistication to firms that are “too early-stage to afford a CFO on a full-time basis,” says Lori Reiner, partner at EisnerAmper. They are particularly well-suited to growth companies that want to raise funds or go public, Reiner says. “Without the professionalism that a part time CFO would bring to the [fundraising] process, a smaller, emerging company would never get financing,” Reiner says. A part-time CFO can play a similar role at a company that has financing but needs someone to report to the board of directors periodically, Reiner says.
Tom Coffey, partner at B2B CFO; freelance finance chief
Many companies looking for financing already have a controller, but “often that person isn’t qualified to take on the responsibilities of a CFO,” says Tom Coffey, a part-time finance chief who has provided C-level services to companies with $5 million to $100 million in revenue for eight years. “[Controllers] do the accounting and they’re preparing the financial statements and the debits and the credits, but they’re not working on strategic initiatives.”
Coffey says he find many of his clients through accounting firms, attorneys, and investment bankers he has worked with before. Investment bankers, for instance, have brought him into companies they are preparing to sell. “They recognize that the finance person within the company is not the person they want sitting at the table trying to describe the link between the company’s strategic objectives and the operational aspects and the financials, because they can’t do it,” he says. “Sometimes they need a higher level person in there to help stabilize the financials and make sure the data is consistent and ready for due diligence.”
Sometimes part-time finance chiefs take on higher-level responsibilities later on. At Clayman’s longest standing client, she spends most of her time on analytics, including model building and return-on-investment analysis. “Because it’s my first client and I’m still with them 13 years later, the relationship continues to evolve and change,” she says. “In the beginning, I was shepherding the budgeting and planning. But because the company has grown more successful, we actually have strong internal finance folks, so my involvement is on much a higher level.”
Freedom to Be Candid
Along with providing flexibility, part-time work allows CFOs to be more honest with their coworkers (and the CEO) than they typically could. “I can tell somebody something they don’t want to hear and if they get really mad at me, it’s OK,” Clayman says. “I have a little bit more independence, because I’m not beholden to one client. That helps me tell people the things they don’t want to hear, like ‘you’re spending too much money.’”
Coffey agrees. “You can be very candid with these people and tell them what they need to do to accomplish their goals without being afraid of losing your paycheck, because they might be one of seven or eight clients you’re working with right then.” Indeed, Coffey’s role gives him the freedom to fire clients if necessary. “You help them and you guide them and you tell them all the things that they should be doing and they agree and then they don’t execute. After a while you just tell them, ‘I’ve helped you as much as I can help you, and I think maybe you’re better off working with someone else.’”
More Fun, Less Stress
Coffey has spent more than 30 years in finance, including as a partner at KPMG and the finance chief of a $3 billion turnaround company. In 2005, he left his job as a vice president of finance at Unisys after a management change. “I interviewed for other public company CFO positions. And I think I was just a little exhausted. After I went through the interviews and met with some of the CEOs, I just didn’t want to go through it again. So I decided that I would consult part time.”
An investment banker friend of his was helping to sell a company and he brought Coffey on as a consultant. Coffey developed a website and became a partner at B2B CFO, a firm that provides part-time CFO services to companies. Now, he says, his part-time CFO role is an on-ramp to retirement. His wife often teases him, saying he’s not really retired because he works too hard. But Coffey assures that he still takes time off to travel to Florida and play golf. “It’s what you make of it. I mean, I’m very engaged in business still. I get energized by it. But trust me, I take a couple of days off.”
Coffey doesn’t make as much money as he did when he was a public-company CFO and received stock options and bonuses, but he has had some lucrative years as a freelance finance chief. “If we have a successful exit I get a success fee for helping them close the transaction,” Coffey says. “Some years if I have a couple of transaction closings in addition to my hourly fees I do very well. But it depends on the size of the company.”
When Coffey was CFO of a $3 billion dollar public company, he faced an SEC investigation, shareholder lawsuits, refinancings and other problems. “For all that stress and agony, and the fact that I probably aged a decade in two-and-a-half years, they pay you very well,” he says. But being a part-time CFO is worth the trade-off, because Coffey takes on only the clients he thinks he can help.
Coffey particularly likes working with entrepreneurial businesses, because they have fewer internal politics and external pressures. “They don’t worry about quarterly earnings,” he says. “They worry more about creating profit over a longer period.” And the early-stage firms appreciate a part-time CFO more than mature companies. “They’re very appreciative of the skill sets that someone with a CFO background can bring to help them establish some infrastructure and methodology, so they can become better at planning and budgeting.”
Gene Godick, another freelance finance chief who previously held full-time CFO positions, says being part-time allows him to work with companies that excite him. “You can do all the things that are, you know, the sexier part of being a CFO without having to be there for the day-to-day drama,” he says.
Godick has a lot of creative freedom, since he runs his own company. After he left his job as CEO at Tafford Uniforms, a nursing uniform online retailer, he spoke with a venture capitalist in Philadelphia who suggested that he start a part-time CFO business. He launched a CFO services firm, G-Squared Partners, last year, and he just hired his first employee. “I’ve found that this is a way to provide value for a company where they need expertise, but they either don’t need it every day or can’t afford it every day.” Godick has eight or nine clients that each earn up to $100 million in revenue, mostly in the tech industry. Most are in the process of raising money.
Clayman runs a bookkeeping service with four employees. “What ended up happening is I started uncovering this need: I was constantly asked for bookkeepers. That’s not the work I like to do … but I just sort of fell into the role of providing bookkeeping services.” The company, Financial Fluency, does bookkeeping work for about 25 firms.
Having to HustleBeing a part-time CFO has its downsides. For one, you have to drum up your own business. “The biggest challenge in being a consultant is finding your clients,” Coffey says. “Networking and finding new clients absorbs a lot of time.”
Even if your pipeline stays full, there’s always the looming fear it could run dry, Clayman says. “I’ve been doing this for 13 years and I’ve never had a moment where I haven’t been very busy,” she says. “But just because I haven’t had that moment doesn’t mean I don’t have anxiety over it. There’s always that uncertainty about losing a big client. How am I going to make up that income?
To address this fear, Clayman says she’s always networking. Apart from that, “the only thing that can do to assure that I maintain my clients is that I do good work,” she says. Being a part-time CFO also means you have to do your own billing, health insurance, and accounting, says Godick. “The person’s books who are in the worst shape are mine,” he says.
A Lifestyle Change
Despite the drawbacks, all three freelance CFOs said they wouldn’t want to go back. The first company Amy Clayman did freelance work for, which now pulls in about $32 million in revenue and projects $38 million next year, recently asked her to become its full-time CFO. “I just wasn’t ready to make that kind of commitment,” she says. “I think I would enjoy it, but I really like what I do now. And I’ve built a little business that would be hard for me to give up.”
Coffey wouldn’t want a full-time position at this point either, he says. “I’m 61. My wife wanted me to retire about three years ago. But I enjoy what I do. Honestly, most of the time I don’t consider it work.”
Godick says for him to take a full-time finance chief role, the client would have to be preparing to go public and he would want the title of CFO and chief operating officer. Until then, “I like what I’m doing,” he says.
“If I thought about the profile of a half a dozen part time CFO’s that I know, they all landed there for somewhat different reasons,” says EisnerAmper’s Reiner. “And I would say that most of them made the decision to not seek full-time employment again.”
While there may have been a few part-time CFOs that started off seeking full-time employment, especially around 2008, they quickly decided that it wasn’t going to happen, Reiner says. “But they also quickly realized that this is a great profession, being a part-time CFO, because they feel very valuable to the company that they’re working with. That value can be transported to the next company [they do work for] because they’re extremely knowledgeable, whether selling a company or raising money or putting together a business plan.”
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14 responses “The Freelance Finance Chief” Jonathan Meyers said
11/15/13 13:46pm As someone intending to transition from banker to part-time CFO, I am interested in the fee schedules successful such part-time CFOs propose. Is it hourly, monthly retainers or annual contract? Also, how does one determine what is a “fair” charge?
Any insights would be most appreciated.
Bill Getch said
11/19/13 07:32am Jonathan,
There are lots of “1-armed Johnnie’s” who label themselves as CFOs but are really doing accounting manager and controller-level work at cut rates ($45 – 90 per hour). For true CFO work that includes pricing strategy, cash flow management, capital formation, Board reporting, etc. such as our TechCXO CFOs — who have public accounting and public company CFO experience — the range is closer to $190-$250 per hour. There are some fluctuations depending on markets. If you go to TechCXO.com/independence there are more details.
Joellen Sommer said
11/25/13 17:21pm As with many professions, many outside of their own have different definitions of a CFO… And different levels of services provided… And different qualifications. … An ex-banker might be be able to raise funds but a CFO, but a CFO worth their salt will have a CPA, public accounting experience, preferably Big 4, and be able to provide the proper financial and operational discipline, system and process and strategic guidance to prepare for and steer growth. http://Www.yourowncfo.com
Dan Evans said
12/03/13 14:11pm All great CFO’s are high level thinkers who make all the moving parts of the finance function (and people) work together to accomplish the long term vision of the company. Not all of them are CPA’s.
Dave Ramsdell said
11/27/13 17:17pm To weigh in on this discussion, rates vary by market. In the Austin TX market, a qualified P/T CFO goes from $150-$175/hr if you are doing work for young tech companies. In the Boston, MA market, similar qualifications command upwards of $250/hr. I am told Silicon Valley rates are similar to Boston. These rates vary depending on qualifications, size of client, issues to be addressed, industry. In this business, breadth of experience is very important as well. It is good to be able to raise capital, but you should also be able to do a lot of other things ranging from budgeting to contract negotiation, understanding IP issues, and taking out the trash at night. As far as a Big 4 CPA, I do not have one and have been doing this successfully for about 15 years. I do however have a very presentable MBA and excellent experience that only time will give you. And, yes, we always live in fear that the pipeline will dry up – my advice if you want to do this – 1) treat it as a business, not a job 2) expect to work 50 hrs/wk of which 30 is billable 3) do some biz development every single day and 4) keep up on CPE’s even if you are not a CPA.
Bill Starr said
12/04/13 14:36pm Fantastic article! Our experience with compensation varies by market and is commensurate with experience, availability, and utilisation, the range for “True” part-time CFO work can range from $1,000 to $2,500 per day.
If you are interested in pursuing a “Freestyle” career, The CFO Center is currently seeking high-caliber part-time CFOs to work with a portfolio of mid-tier private, public, charitable, and not-for-profit businesses across multiple industries in the Boston area. If you are a qualified professional accountant (CPA, CA, CMA), and have been a frontline CFO, we want to hear from you. bill.starr@cfocenterllc.com (http://www.cfocenterllc.com)
Ian Smith said
12/22/13 21:36pm Hi Amy,
A good article, I am currently considering this move myself, but in the UK, any help would be appreciated for the UK market?
01/06/14 10:09am Hi Ian, you may want to talk with someone in our UK office
Check out http://www.thefdcentre.co.uk or drop me a note and I will connect you. Very best,
The CFO Center – Boston
Bill.starr@cfocenterllc.com
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Matt Finick said
01/06/14 09:58am Great article. I have been doing contract-CFO work in both SF and now NY at rates from $150-200/hour. There seems to be a lot of startups that neglect to staff FT hires in the finance area early on, so there are now multiple firms targeting this area. I just relocated to NY and have found VCs are a great lead-gen target for PT gigs. I agree that you need to focus on BD at least one day a week.
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Manfred Laxy said
03/20/14 01:58am Like to email you a copy of the LTF letter, please email me you email address. Thank you
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2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/17528 | Law and Enforcement CPAs Foster Selfless Service
Illinois Sep 28th 2012 0 By Deanna C. White
On Friday, September 21, Della Kirkman, CPA, headed out in the morning sunshine for another day at work as owner of Perkins and Kirkman CPAs in New Haven, Indiana – just as she would on any given Friday.
But that Friday was anything but a typical day at the office.
Instead, Kirkman, accompanied by her two daughters, traveled to the Dare to Dream Youth Ranch in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The ranch is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to rescue and rehabilitate abused and neglected horses and then train them to work with children. Interacting and caring for the horses generates both physical and emotional growth in the children.
The Kirkman family groomed and fed the horses, filled their haysacks, painted the paddock fence, and generally "spruced up" the property in preparation for an upcoming Dare to Dream charity event – all thanks to the Indiana CPA Society's (INCPAS) tenth annual CPA Day of Service.
"I think we all felt really good about being able to help the horses, to do something really positive for an innocent creature that's been abused," Kirkman said. "The Day of Service gave me the opportunity to give back to the community and incorporate my children as well. It was a chance to model the spirit of volunteerism for them."
Kirkman was just one of thousands of volunteers from CPA societies across the country who put down their iPads to do everything from tacking drywall for Habitat for Humanity, tutoring children at the Boys and Girls Club, and escorting WWII veterans to the World War II Memorial at the National Mall.
CPA societies in Illinois, Virginia, Indiana, and, for the first time, North Carolina, provided the impetus for firms and individuals nationwide to take part in this year's annual CPA Day of Service. Individual CPAs and firms chose their own service opportunity for an organization of their choice, while the state societies promoted the event through registration sites, T-shirts, buttons, and help with publicity.
Jamie Walker, CPA, of the Walker Consulting Group in Glen Allen, Virginia, and past chair of the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants (VSCPA) was one of the key players in initiating Virginia's CPA Day of Service in 2009.
"Often, CPAs are pigeonholed as the treasurer of an organization," said Walker. "But they have so much depth and breadth about them; they have so much more to offer. It is very important as individuals and citizens to give back and for the CPA community to step out of what they would normally do."
This year, for example, 2,242 North Carolina CPAs and volunteers served at a variety of indoor and outdoor service projects. They helped Project Night Night assemble donation bags for homeless children in the greater Charlotte area, educated students who are about to transition to American schools on financial literacy, and planted community gardens to feed the homeless.
North Carolina Association of CPAs (NCACPA) Member Connections Committee Chair Kate Hinson, CPA, CGMA, said the idea to jump on the society's first Day of Service bandwagon started with one member. One big idea.
"As this member shared his thoughts, people got excited. They caught the vision. We did not want to lose the momentum that was growing throughout the state, so we decided 2012 was our year," Hinson said. "The state of North Carolina has been so good to those of us serving in the CPA profession here, so we were excited to give back to the people in our towns and communities in some small way."
Sarah Bruce, CPA, and staff accountant with Hutchins Allen & Company in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and ten fellow volunteers from the NCACPA's Albemarle/Outer Banks chapter, joined forces with the Surfrider Foundation – an international organization dedicated to the protection of the oceans, waters, and beaches – to conduct a beach sweep on North Carolina's Outer Banks.
Bruce said the volunteers, including two daughters of a fellow CPA, spent the picture-perfect day plucking everything from cigarette butts, plastic food wrappers, six-pack rings, discarded building materials, and the occasional random shoe, off a mile-long stretch of beach and the surrounding streets.
"Our beautiful coast brings people to live here and tourists who come here year after year," Bruce said. "This was the perfect opportunity to beautify our community. It was definitely important to me to do something local. We are on the edge of the state here on the Outer Banks, and there is a very big push in this area to keep things local."
Bruce said she also appreciated the camaraderie the event generated among fellow volunteers.
"For me, it was just a great chance to join together with folks who are part of my profession and do something bigger than ourselves for a day," Bruce said. "I always wish I would do more. I always say I'm going to take an hour a day to do something selfless, but we all get busy and we all make excuses because life gets in the way. The Day of Service was a nice way to remind me to stop and say this is important. I need to do this."
For more information on projects conducted at this year's CPA Day of Service events visit:
http://www.icpas.org/CPADayofService.htm
http://www.vscpa.com
http://www.ncacpa.org/Service.aspx
http://incpas.org/Member/volunteers/CPADayOfService.aspx
CPA Societies Sponsor Selfless Service
North Carolina CPAs Prepare for CPA Day of Service
TagsIllinois | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/17529 | Practice Excellence IFRS - No promulgation without representation please
ISRF Finance Aug 11th 2008 0 By Darla Sycamore Advertisement
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines promulgation as
1: to make (as a doctrine) known by open declaration: or2 a: to make known or public the terms of (a proposed law) b: to put (a law) into action or force
The FASB refers to the promulgation of accounting standards in its Mission Statement (sometimes the process of issuing accounting standards is also referred to as pronouncing). A similar process occurs in Canada where the pronouncements of the Accounting Standards Board are the generally accepted source of GAAP for private enterprises.
In both countries securities regulators substantially outsource to these organizations. Effectively there is a promulgation of law in the land by these accounting bodies.
So what happens then if a country decides to accept IFRS as their accounting standards? Over 100 countries currently require or permit the use of, or have a policy of convergence with, IFRS. It's complicated. Deloitte has provided a good analysis of the status of IFRS in different countries. Some countries, like Canada for instance, have decided to make a full commitment by adopting IFRS as their standards at least for "publicly accountable" (includes publicly listed) entities.Trending
In Canada there is quite a bit of legislation that refers to the Handbook (produced by the Canadian Accounting Standards Board) as the source of GAAP. The strategy will be to incorporate IFRS in the Canadian Handbook to satisfy the legal requirements. There has been support of this initiative by U.S. legislators and securities regulators in the spirit of international cooperation. Some commentators have decried this "outsourcing" of Canadian law. Of course in theory at least a national jurisdiction has the authority to promulgate whatever laws it wishes. But what about the goal of international conformity - will it then go out of the window? Quite a conundrum.
There is a lot of effort going on to converge U.S. GAAP with IFRS. Many projects are in process to this end. This goal is a laudable one in any event. Why then make the commitment to adopt IFRS? It's a good question. There are shades of déjà vu as a foreign body, based in London no less, promulgates law to be applied in a sovereign jurisdiction and a very important and influential one at that. It would be a very important gesture to globalization and international cooperation if the USA signed on to the adoption of IFRS along with many countries and a growing list. There is an opportunity that should not be missed in my opinion. We are still waiting for an announcement from the SEC on whether and when IFRS will be required or permitted for U.S. companies. Indeed a detailed timetable has been expected for some time. The SEC has held four roundtable discussions on IFRS, the latest of which was August 4, 2008. Concerns were raised about the lack of maturity of IFRS compared with U.S. GAAP and the lack of specific guidance in IFRS when compared to U.S. GAAP. These concerns have led some commentators to believe that the SEC is having second thoughts. It's an important decision and many of the technical issues will be resolved in the convergence process. Conrad Hewitt, the chief accountant at the SEC stated in a recent interview that there would be a proposal concerning IFRS some time before September 21 but acknowledged there could be a delay. We must recognize that the SEC has recently appointed three commissioners who need time to study the various alternatives and their pros and cons. What we do know is that an overwhelming number of countries are adopting or conforming to IFRS and it will be very difficult for the U.S. to hold out as a lone single standard setter. We live in interesting times for financial reporting.
Having said all that, it seems totally unreasonable to provide the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) with carte blanche and legislators in other jurisdictions would certainly agree with that thought. There have been rumblings from many EU countries about this issue recently. It's like drafting rules for the United Nations!
In response to issues raised by several countries, including many in the EU that have already adopted IFRS, the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation is undertaking a review of governance processes of the Foundation and the IASB board. This includes oversight and appropriate representation. Clearly not every country can have a seat at the table at all times but the process has to ensure that there is input by all and such input is carefully considered. The IASB recognizes the importance of U.S. GAAP and currently there is a U.S. member, Jim Leisenring, on the IASB Board. He is a regular on roundtable discussions in the USA and Canada.
On July 21 the IASC Foundation published proposals to change its Constitution and is seeking comments by September 20 2008. The proposals deal with having an international monitoring group to enhance the credibility of the IASC Foundation. The proposals also deal with the size of the IASB board and the geographical composition. An expansion of the current 14 member IASB board to 16 members is proposed, adding an explicit geographic requirement of 4 IASB board members from North America (Canada and Mexico would seem to be included here), 4 from Europe, 4 from the Asia/Oceana region, and 4 others from any region. The IASC Foundation stated that, "The Trustees will publish a further discussion document inviting respondents to suggest (governance) topics for consideration by the Trustees. It is expected that consultations will be held during the course of 2009, with changes taking effect from 1 January 2010."
The governance game is afoot and seems to be on a kind of fast track. Will this help smooth the adoption of IFRS in the USA? It remains to be seen.
About the authorDarla Sycamore is a professional accountant based in Toronto. She is a Trustee of the Canadian Financial Executives Research Foundation. The views expressed in this article are entirely her own. She writes a blog under the nickname of The IFRS Exorcist that deals with IFRS implementation matters. Sycamore also consults on IFRS matters.
IFRS in the USA: Be Prepared!
TagsISRF | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/17551 | Young CPA Network
Back Elizabeth Pittelkow: No Ordinary Accountant What draws a young accountant and senior assurance associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to take a position at a small supply-chain technology and services company with 75 employees? The same thing that draws the person to teach accounting and business ethics nationwide, serve as an area governor for Toastmasters, and even swing dance on a weekly basis: a natural drive and sense of curiosity.
The Edge sat down with Elizabeth Pittelkow, CPA.CITP, CGMA, a 2013 graduate of the AICPA Leadership Academy, to learn a bit more about what makes this unique young woman tick.
Wearing a Variety of Hats
A senior accounting manager with ArrowStream, Inc., Elizabeth was drawn to the small company through a desire to help it grow, and she is appreciative that the company allows her to spread her wings. In her current role, she oversees Accounts Receivable, manages the financial policies for the company, and performs month-end reporting and controls testing. She also manages shareholder relations and her interest in the risk management side of finance has her managing insurance for the company.
Another one of Elizabeth’s interests is in marketing, so she helps ArrowStream with marketing and public relations by reviewing press releases, writing blogs, and editing. As if that is not enough, she is also co-founder of the company’s Business Continuity Committee, organizes company philanthropic endeavors, and serves as the president of the company’s Toastmasters chapter.
“When I left PwC, I thought I would end up at another big company, she said. “However, I landed at a small private company because I loved the mix of meaningful projects and skilled people collaborating on them.”
A graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Elizabeth continued the family tradition of finance, albeit the first female in her family to do so. She ended up falling in love with accounting after her first class, and graduated with both accounting and finance degrees. She now enjoys serving as a business career mentor for several students at the University of Illinois to help guide them in their academic journeys and show them potential career paths.
“IT, economics, business valuations, forensics, and more; there are so many avenues available to accountants that I did not know as a student,” she said. “We are not boxed in as accountants if we do not want to be.” The Ethical Choice
Elizabeth refuses to be boxed in. Her natural curiosity and drive inspire her to volunteer in a variety of venues that have opened up further opportunities. For example, her involvement in the Illinois CPA Society’s Ethics Committee led to her teaching ethics classes at the state and national levels. “The research is fascinating as to why fraud happens and why seemingly ethical people make unethical decisions.” said Elizabeth, who taught a class with an accountant who was arrested and served jail time for fraud. “Frequently, fraud is committed to protect people. An error temporarily fixed to protect the shareholders can quickly and unintentionally turn into fraud. In most cases, there are many people involved in cases of fraud. The issue is that no one steps up to say, ‘Hey, I do not feel comfortable with these actions!’” AICPA Leadership Academy
Naturally, Elizabeth’s drive navigated her interest toward attending the AICPA Leadership Academy.
“I wanted to build my leadership skills and to connect with people from around the country of similar ages and career situations,” said Elizabeth who, as with everything Elizabeth does, spent time researching and analyzing before applying to the Leadership Academy. “I watched the great informational video on the AICPA website, and then I started looking on LinkedIn for people who had attended the Leadership Academy in the past. They looked so impressive and are my accounting heroes! I wanted to live similar experiences and grow my career in similar ways.” The Leadership Academy had a lasting impression on Elizabeth, especially the positive psychology PERMA model taught there, which helps humans flourish in their overall well being, to reframe negative thoughts, be more positive, and think about how to manage “drains” that zap energy and happiness. She hopes to teach this PERMA model at her own company in the near future.
Elizabeth’s varied interests lead her in a variety of directions daily and keep her challenging herself.
“During the Leadership Academy, we were asked to identify activities that make us happy,” she said. When asked to sum up her favorite activities, she admits it was hard to choose between her interest in business ethics, Toastmasters, and her love of swing dancing. “Reflecting on my friends and experiences from the Leadership Academy now makes me really happy, too!”
Have your interests given you additional career opportunities? Email your comments to youngcpanetwork@aicpa.org.
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2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/17709 | Goldman Loan to Ex-Trader Cader Is Backed by 15,000 Wines
By Miles Weiss - Jun 11, 2013
Talk about liquid assets. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) accepted almost 15,000 bottles of fine wine as loan collateral from a former high-ranking executive, according to a regulatory filing last month. Andrew Cader, a former senior director at Goldman Sachs’s specialist-trading unit, pledged a secured interest in the wines, which are primarily from the Burgundy and Bordeaux regions of France, the filing showed. Goldman Sachs’s move stands out because private banks that lend money to wealthy clients against assets such as artwork and real estate have been less willing to extend loans backed by fine wines, said four specialty lenders and attorneys. While investment-grade wines have outperformed the stock market over the past decade, the asset class has been prone to fraud, prompting billionaire William Koch to file a series of lawsuits to deter counterfeiting. “There are a lot of very highly valued wines here,” said David Parker, the head of Benchmark Wine Group in Napa, California, adding that the collection cited in the filing had an estimated market value in the low-seven-digit dollar range. “The Bordeaux are all first growth and other classified-growth and the Burgundies are all grand cru and top premier cru.” First Growth The designation first growth is the top ranking in a classification for wines from Bordeaux, based on the chateau that produced the wine. Grand cru and premier cru are used to designate the top Burgundies, a system based on the vineyard in which the grapes were grown. Cader declined to comment through Seth Lapidow, an attorney at Blank Rome LLP, a New York law firm that represents him. “While we do not comment on individual loans due to client confidentiality, we take great care to apply high standards of risk management and appropriately value any form of collateral on all loans,” said Andrea Raphael, a spokeswoman for New York-based Goldman Sachs. With the U.S. government clamping down on proprietary trading at investment banks, firms have been building up private banking operations to help replace lost revenue. The ultra-rich clients of these banks, who hold collectibles such as art and wine, have sought to borrow against the assets after they have appreciated in value and interest rates have been stuck near record lows for more than four years. Wine Index The Liv-ex 100 Fine Wine Index, an industry benchmark that reflects the price movement on 100 of the most sought-after wines that have an established secondary market, has increased at an average annual rate of 11 percent during the past decade through April, outpacing the 7.9 percent total return for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. The downside of the asset class has been the risk of being cheated. Koch, the founder of Oxbow Corp., a closely held commodities marketing and mining company in Palm Beach, Florida, estimated that hundreds of millions of dollars in counterfeit wine are sloshing around in the vintage market. Koch has filed seven lawsuits in relation to wine, according to Brad Goldstein, a spokesman for Oxbow. He won a fraud lawsuit two months ago in which he claimed a consigner sold him 24 counterfeit bottles of wine from France’s Bordeaux region, including many purported grand crus that cost him tens of thousands of dollars. “I’d be reluctant to lend on wines predating 1982 because the provenance is hard to prove,” said Stephen Burton, the founder of Bordeaux Cellars Ltd., a London-based firm that finances wine acquisitions. DeLeon Tequila Cader was the co-head of Spear, Leeds & Kellogg LP when Goldman Sachs acquired the closely held firm, ranked as the largest specialist on the New York Stock Exchange, for $6.2 billion in November 2000, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. He received Goldman Sachs stock through the buyout and raised at least $85 million by selling 1.1 million shares between January and October 2002, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. After leaving Goldman Sachs, Cader bought stocks through an investment vehicle called ACNYC LLC. He joined a group of former Spear Leeds executives who bought the Tampa Bay Rays major league baseball team, and he also invested in Quench LLC, a Venice, California, company that supplies DeLeon Tequila, a premium brand that sells for as much as $825 a bottle, according to records filed with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Lichtenstein Lawsuit Goldman Sachs’s banking unit filed a notice in August 2010 with the New York Department of State disclosing that it had entered into a credit agreement with Cader backed by his securities account at the firm as well as his interests in 15 Goldman Sachs investment funds. He added collateral several times, most recently in May, when Goldman Sachs amended the notice to say the loan was also now secured by 14,985 bottles of wine, including a bottle of Burgundy produced by Domaine de la Romanee Conti in 1929. Cader’s private philanthropic foundation held wine with a book value of $1.93 million as of Nov. 30, 2011, according to the most-recent available tax filings with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Cader was sued in April by hedge-fund manager Warren Lichtenstein, the chairman of New York-based Steel Partners LLC, who claimed Cader helped wrongly inflate child support payments for the mother of Lichtenstein’s 5-year-old daughter. Lichtenstein and Annabelle Bond were engaged to be married but broke up amicably in 2007, and she now dates Cader, the lawsuit says. Bond and the daughter she had with Lichtenstein are now living in Cader’s home in Hong Kong, according to the lawsuit. To contact the reporter on this story: Miles Weiss in Washington at mweiss@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net ®2016 BLOOMBERG L.P. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/17770 | Cypress Energy Partners Announces Initial Quarterly Cash Distribution
TULSA, Okla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cypress Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: CELP) announced today that the board of directors of its general partner declared a prorated cash distribution for the first quarter of 2014. The initial cash distribution is $0.301389 per limited partner unit. This amount reflects a proration of the target minimum quarterly cash distribution of $0.3875 ($1.55 on an annualized basis representing a 7.75% yield on the $20 initial public offering price) for the period from the closing of the Partnership’s initial public offering on January 21, 2014 through March 31, 2014. The distribution will be payable on May 15, 2014 to all unitholders of record on May 6, 2014.
This press release includes “forward-looking statements.” All statements other than statements of historical facts included or incorporated herein may constitute forward-looking statements. Actual results could vary significantly from those expressed or implied in such statements and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. While CELP believes its expectations as reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, CELP can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that affect operations, financial performance, and other factors as discussed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other factors that could impact any forward-looking statements are those risks described in CELP’s annual report on Form 10-K and other public filings. You are urged to carefully review and consider the cautionary statements and other disclosures made in those filings, specifically those under the heading “Risk Factors.” CELP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by law. For more information please visit www.cypressenergy.com.
About Cypress Energy Partners, L.P.
Cypress Energy Partners, L.P. is a growth-oriented master limited partnership that provides saltwater disposal and other water and environmental services to U.S. onshore oil and natural gas producers and trucking companies in North Dakota and west Texas. Cypress also provides independent pipeline inspection and integrity services to producers and pipeline companies throughout the U.S. and Canada. In both of these business segments, Cypress works closely with its customers to help them comply with increasingly complex and strict environmental and safety rules and regulations and reduce their operating costs. Cypress was founded by Cypress Energy Holdings, LLC, an entity controlled by the family of Charles C. Stephenson, Jr. and by Peter C. Boylan III, the Chairman and CEO of Cypress. Cypress is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
This release is a qualified notice under Treasury Regulation Section 1.1446-4(b). Brokers and nominees should treat 100% of Cypress Energy Partner LP’s distributions to foreign investors as being attributable to income that is effectively connected with a United States trade or business. Therefore, distributions to foreign investors are subject to federal income tax withholding at the highest applicable effective tax rate.
Cypress Energy Partners, L.P.Les Austin, 918-748-3907Chief Financial Officerles@cypressenergy.com | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/17853 | A Times story illustrates a peril that is a virtue to some
The New York Times gave this piece as big a play as you’ll see a non-news story get yesterday, going with a four-line, two-column headline atop page one. That’s newspaper for This Story Is Important.
The Times reports on how states are letting the insurance industry set up so-called captive companies whose sole purpose is to insure the parent insurance company. Why is this a potential problem?
This has given rise to concern that a shadow insurance industry is emerging, with less regulation and more potential debt than policyholders know, raising the possibility that some companies will find themselves without enough money to pay future claims. Critics say this is much like the shadow banking system that contributed to the financial crisis.
To carry the analogy forward, the Times is saying basically that insurers are going regulator-shopping just like banks did in the years leading up to the Crash. The banks pitted the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency against, say, the Office of Thrift Supervision, making the regulators, whose budgets depended on having banks to regulate, try to get their “business.” That led the regulators to compete on who would be the most impotent and to defend banks from bothersome consumers and state regulators who actually wanted to regulate them.
That’s known as regulatory arbitrage, and it’s a key reason why we ended up with the biggest financial crisis in eighty years. It’s nuts that we ever allowed it, and the Dodd-Frank financial reform law changed the rules to prevent it, at least on the federal level.
Another way to think of all this arbitrage is as a race to the bottom. It’s what we mean when we talk about how free-trade fundamentalists are really engaging in labor and environmental arbitrage—pitting the U.S. with its relatively high wages and strong safeguards against third-world countries that have neither. Or when a $90-billion corporation like Amazon blackmails states like Texas and South Carolina that want it to collect sales taxes like everyone else in the state does. Or when a governor famous for his budget cutting gives a Japanese firm $102 million so it won’t move out of the state. Or when companies transfer sales overseas to take advantage of lowball corporate-income shelters. Or when David Stern sends a warning shot to NBA fans and taxpayers by sending the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City after voters decline to foot the bill for a new arena. Or when Texas Governor Rick Perry tries to take advantage of California cracking down on egregious municipal corruption to poach businesses.
But of course, not everybody thinks the idea of a race to the bottom—an obvious downside to the benefits of free trade and federalism—is a bad thing. Some people actually think the race itself is not only good, but the point.
You might have guessed the Wall Street Journal editorial page would be one of these somebodies, and you’d be correct. Here it is last month arguing that states shouldn’t try to tax the sales of Amazon and other Web retailers:
One virtue of the U.S. federal system is that it allows states to compete on tax policies.
In other words, it’s a virtue to allow big companies like Amazon (and it’s almost always big companies) to pit one state or city against another to give it an unfair advantage.
(And wait a minute. Isn’t this the same WSJ editorial page that argued strenuously, over and over, for a federal-only system when states were clamoring to regulate predatory lending? I thought so. So, let’s see: it’s for federalism when it favors big business, and Big Government centralization when it favors, um, big business. Got it.)
Here’s the Washington Post’s George Will last month making it even more explicit:
Federalism — which serves the ability of businesses to move to greener pastures — puts state and local politicians under pressure, but that is where they should be, lest they treat businesses as hostages that can be abused.
In this case, the “abuse” would be having Internet merchants like Amazon collect taxes like mom and pop in Peoria do. And the flipside, of course, is that businesses—again, the big ones, who have the money to buy influence—treat cities and states as hostages that can be abused.
Presumably, Will’s and the Journal’s logic extends to states racing the Caymans to the bottom for insurance-industry scraps. Neither likes taxes or regulation, especially on business.
The Times reports that these captive-insurance deals let insurance companies hide details that would normally be public, like where they’ve invested their reserves. Liberal Vermont and its former governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean, ironically enough, led the federalist charge here, according to the NYT, beginning in 2002. And now the race to the bottom is on for real with dozens of states horning in on the action. Not only has the competition between states reduced regulation and public information while allowing insurers to raid their reserves meant to cushion against catastrophe, but it also means Vermont, which now depends on the business for 2 percent of its budget, is going to see its cottage industry go away:
Other states took note of Vermont’s success. Hawaii charged lower taxes than Vermont on the revenue that captives took in on premiums, leading Vermont to reconsider its rates. Delaware gave its insurance commissioner the power to exempt a captive from provisions of state insurance law; the number of captives in the state doubled last year.
New Jersey, the latest entrant, offered to cap its tax on such subsidiaries at $200,000 a year. Michigan decided not to tax them at all, but charged a modest fee. Nevada passed a law allowing captives to be formed with as little as $200,000 in capital. Insurance companies and their executives will be left with higher profits (at least in the short-term) and fatter bonuses. What taxpayers will be left with: Chump change in tax revenue and a weakened insurance system more vulnerable to collapse.
In which case, of course, taxpayers will be on the hook to bail out the insurance companies.
Meantime, Governor Perry has seen the downside of the race to the bottom after the state’s comptroller (a Republican like Perry) tried to collect hundreds of millions of dollars from, yes, Amazon. The company bolted Texas, citing, incredibly, the state’s “unfavorable regulatory climate.”
“We don’t want to be onerous on tax policy where businesses and I would say I’m having a hard time getting my hands around this one,” Perry continued. “The good news is that the legislature is in town for our biannual session. Hopefully someone will be able to craft some legislation — and actually do it — before Amazon walks out the door. Texas should be a bastion for businesses not one where they’re sitting there going ‘we’d rather go over to go to Oklahoma where we could get a better deal.’”
“Texas doesn’t need to make itself less competitive with its tax decisions.”
And so on and so forth.
Next time you wonder why we get ourselves in these positions, remember that there are powerful folks who think this is a good thing.
Tags: Banks, Insurance, Regulation, Regulatory Arbitrage, The New York Times Trending stories | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/17863 | Spanish Bank’s Ex-Leader Defends His Record There Raphael Minder|The New York Times
Friday, 27 Jul 2012 | 1:27 AM ETThe New York Times
The former chairman of Bankia, the institution at the center of Spain’s banking woes, countered harsh questioning by a parliamentary panel on Thursday with an emotional defense of his legacy at the bank, saying he left it in better financial shape than critics are now contending. Samuel Aranda | Getty Images
plaza reial barcelona spain
Rodrigo Rato said every big decision he made during his two years at Bankia had been under the guidance of the Spanish government and Spain’s central bank, the Bank of Spain. And he said he had been pressured from on high to proceed with a public stock offering for Bankia last July, even as a deteriorating economy and financial market made that move unadvisable.
“Both the government and the Bank of Spain shared with me their preoccupations about what not listing would mean in terms of trust in the country,” he said. Mr. Rato, 63, previously one of Spain’s most powerful financial figures, as a former finance minister who rose to become managing director of the International Monetary Fund, also rejected any suggestion that he and fellow Bankia directors had ignored or hidden the lending problems that resulted in bank’s seizure by the government in early May, two days after he resigned. His testimony might have been a preview of the position Mr. Rato will take when he eventually testifies before a national court judge, who has ordered him and nearly three dozen former Bankia directors to respond to criminal fraud accusations over their stewardship of the bank. No date has yet been scheduled for that court appearance. The court case has been brought by a small political party, Union, Progress and Democracy, that opposes the Popular Party of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, with whom Mr. Rato has long been affiliated. The U.P.D. party wants to hold Mr. Rato and others responsible for accounting irregularities that resulted in Bankia’s restating its 2011 financial results after being seized in May. Suddenly, a reported profit of €309 million became a loss of almost €3 billion, the largest in Spanish banking history. “The perfect crime is that which appears to be an accident, which is how you have described the fall of Bankia,” Irene Lozano, a U.P.D. lawmaker, told Mr. Rato at the hearing Thursday. The supervisory board that is now running Bankia on behalf of the government has said it needs €19 billion in new capital to prop up the bank, which has been badly damaged by a portfolio of property loans that have become increasingly troubled since the collapse of Spain’s real estate bubble.
But Mr. Rato said Bankia could have been salvaged by a €6 billion infusion from the government, which he said he requested but was not given, shortly before he resigned. That contention could raise new questions about the true depth of Spain’s banking crisis. Prime Minister Rajoy is yet to announce how much of a €100 billion European rescue package his country will actually need and how the money will be distributed among troubled banks. Mr. Rato was one of six former politicians or bankers to appear this week in front of the Parliament’s economic committee, which is trying to shed light on how Spain plunged into a banking crisis. His hearing was the most eagerly anticipated, not only because of the size of Bankia’s demise but also because of his political relations.
Mr. Rato was finance minister in a previous conservative administration in which Mr. Rajoy was also a member. At the start of the hearing, Mr. Rato provided a detailed and chronological account of his two years at the helm of the bank, underlining the extent to which Bankia’s decisions were regularly approved by auditors, financial consultants, markets regulators as well as inspectors from the central bank. Mr. Rato emphasized the auditing independence of Deloitte, saying that “we have never put any pressure on the auditor.” Beside working for Bankia, he noted, Deloitte has the largest list of Spanish banking clients. “We’re not talking about the signature of someone who doesn’t have experience,” he said. Mr. Rato repeatedly argued Thursday that the restating of accounts since he left Bankia reflected a new, stricter interpretation of how potentially troubled loans should be booked and at what stage they should be considered to be in default. “We are talking about bringing forward possible future deteriorations, and not about holes or losses,” he said. But several lawmakers expressed frustration with Mr. Rato’s explanations. “If you have done things well, you have to explain during an appearance in Parliament who has done it badly,” said Ana Oramas, who represents a regional party from the Canary Islands. SHOW COMMENTS | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/18071 | Ares Management plots Hayfin Capital Management buy
Alec Macfarlane and Dan Dunkley
04 August 2014,
Newspaper: Issue 911
Ares Management has emerged as a potential buyer of private debt specialist Hayfin Capital Management in a deal that would more than double the size of the US alternative investment giant’s direct lending business in Europe. The Los Angeles-based firm is considering an acquisition of Hayfin as it seeks to expand its direct lending business on the continent, according to people familiar with the situation.
Hayfin is expected to be auctioned in the coming months after its majority shareholder transatlantic private equity firm TowerBrook Capital Partners decided to sell the business.
Investment bank UBS, a long-standing adviser to Hayfin, will advise on the sale.
One of the people said that it is difficult to gauge how much Hayfin might fetch at auction. Two people said TowerBrook could opt to hold on to the business if offers do not match its expectations.
According to its most recent set of accounts, Hayfin generated a profit of £7.8 million for the year ended December 2012.
Hayfin was created five years ago by TowerBrook, Omers Private Equity, Public Sector Pension Investment Board of Canada and Australia’s Future Fund. The consortium hired Tim Flynn, a former partner and co-head of European leveraged finance at investment bank Goldman Sachs, to lead the operation.
The firm has grown considerably since inception, with additional offices in Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, Luxembourg, Frankfurt and New York. It has over €5.3 billion of assets under management across a range of lending and collateralised loan obligation funds.
TowerBrook puts lender Hayfin up for sale
An acquisition by Ares would see the firm expand its European business, which was set up in 2007 and has since become a go-to shop for debt to finance mid-market buyouts on the continent, according to advisers.
Based in London’s iconic Gherkin building, Ares’ European team has offices in Paris, Stockholm and Frankfurt, and about $5.5 billion of assets under management in direct lending products.
Ares began life as the capital markets arm of Apollo Global Management before spinning out from the private equity giant in 1997. Among its founders are Tony Ressler and John Kissick, two former traders at junk-bond pioneer Drexel Burnham Lambert, who also co-founded Apollo alongside Leon Black, Marc Rowan and Joshua Harris.
Ares began issuing leveraged loans and high-yield bonds and has since grown into an alternatives investment powerhouse, with $74 billion in assets under management across tradable credit, direct lending, private equity and real estate.
The firm’s initial public offering in May this year valued 53-year-old Ressler’s roughly 30% stake in Ares at about $1.2 billion.
The sale of Hayfin is likely to attract considerable interest from other potential suitors as the emergence of an institutional lending market continues to gather pace in Europe.
Around £3 billion was deployed by private debt funds in the first quarter of the year, according to professional services firm Deloitte. This is double the value of transactions recorded during the same period last year.
Private equity and venture capital,
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Infra funds smash targets as investors hunt for post-Brexit yield Keep up with FN | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/18165 | Get ready for Fed tapering in 2014
Yale Bock
Covestor
The Covestor Long Term GARP portfolio gained 4.3% in November, better than the 3.8% advance of the S&P 500. December is typically a good month for the market, although tax considerations are going to play a part in how each investor approaches the month.
Just as important is how next year might play out. In my opinion, the Federal Reserve will taper and how much interest rates move based on economic data is going to be a factor to consider. Earnings are always crucial as well, so there is much to consider heading into 2014.
Portfolio Holdings
Liberty Interactive (LINTA) is the owner of QVC, Bodybuilding.com, Provide Commerce, Buyseasons.com, Backcountry.com, and large passive minority positions in other large, well known internet based business like the Home Shopping Network.
Liberty announced on October 10, 2013, it is recapitalizing the Liberty Interactive tracking stock into two new tracking stocks.
One will be for the internet based businesses, and the other will be centered around QVC and the position in the Home Shopping Network. Owners of Liberty Interactive will receive one share of the digital tracking stock for every 10 shares of the QVC tracking stock they own.
In addition, Liberty Ventures announced it will create a new tracking stock to represent its 57% voting position (22% ownership) of TripAdvisor. Liberty Ventures also has a 18% ownership position in Expedia.com and 29% ownership of Interval Leisure Group (IILG). It also owns a variety of small percentage ownership positions in publicly traded companies like Time Warner and Time Warner Cable. Here is a link to the list of assets owned by Liberty Interactive and Liberty Ventures:
Iconix Brands (ICON) is the owner of a broad range of well known brands like OP, Mossimo, Joe Boxer, Peanuts, and Sharper Image.
Quest Diagnostics (DGX) is the largest health care diagnostic testing company in the United States.
Intuit (INTU) recently sold one of their divisions for about $1 billion and will use the proceeds to buy back their stock.
Starbucks (SBUX) is the largest coffee and tea company in the world.
Liberty Media (LMCA) has a holding company structure that includes Starz Media, the Atlanta Braves, 50% ownership of Sirius Satellite (SIRI), almost 20% ownership of Live Nation (LYV), 16% ownership of Barnes & Noble, and a few other non controlling positions of small public and private companies.
VCA Antech (WOOF) is the second largest owner of animal hospitals in the United States also owns the laboratories for diagnostic testing of animals.
IAC Interactive (IACI) is the owner of Ask.com, Match.com, Meetic, Service Magic, Vimeo, CollegeHumor.com, and the Daily Beast, among other web sites.
Moneygram International (MGI) is the second largest money transfer and bill payment company behind Western Union.
British Petroleum (BP) is one of the five largest integrated oil companies in the world. BP has many projects in the pipeline all over the globe but the legal issues over the Macondo oil spill keep perceptions about the company’s prospects muted.
Unilever (UL) is a massive food company based in the UK that gets over half of it’s nearly $50 billion of sales in the emerging markets of Asia and Africa. The company pays a dividend of 3.7% and has the goal of doubling its sales by 2020.
If you would like to open a mirroring account at Covestor.com for the YH&C Long Term GARP portfolio, please click here.
Disclaimer: The investments discussed are held in client accounts as of November 30, 2013. These investments may or may not be currently held in client accounts. The reader should not assume that any investments identified were or will be profitable or that any investment recommendations or investment decisions we make in the future will be profitable. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
The post Get ready for Fed tapering in 2014 appeared first on Smarter InvestingCovestor Ltd. is a registered investment advisor. Covestor licenses investment strategies from its Model Managers to establish investment models. The commentary here is provided as general and impersonal information and should not be construed as recommendations or advice. Information from Model Managers and third-party sources deemed to be reliable but not guaranteed. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Transaction histories for Covestor models available upon request. Additional important disclosures available at http://site.covestor.com/help/disclosures. Fox Business | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/18234 | Submerging Markets? Not These
Valentina Pasquali
Makati City, the Philippines: Nothing pedestrian about 7% GDP growth
(Photo: Mike Gonzalez)
IT'S BEEN AN UGLY 2013 for investors in emerging markets. How ugly? Despite early predictions of potential double-digit gains, the benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets Index is down nearly 7% on the year—a performance that would be even worse if not for a minor rally that commenced in September.
Indeed, ever since the US Federal Reserve began talking seriously in June about tapering, a veil of pessimism has settled over emerging markets. Scores of articles have appeared
predicting the demise of double-digit growth in those markets
and the rise of convergence between developed markets and developing ones. More recently, the International Monetary Fund lowered its global economic forecast,
citing markedly slower growth rates in the non-developed world
The death knell is getting louder. It is also premature. Emerging market economies may have slowed down, but they haven’t stalled out. The trick for investors (including corporations keen to tap new markets) is separating the good bets from the risky ones—a task made more difficult by a financial media that does not always discriminate. “We are going from a situation of emerging markets to one of diverging markets,” says Alexander Kliment, a director in the Emerging Markets Strategy practice of the Eurasia Group. “Now that the era of abundance is over, emerging markets need to pursue a fresh round of reforms. The countries that are better positioned to do it are those whose leaders have large political capital.”
Case in point: Mexico, where President Enrique Peña Nieto is pursuing the most ambitious reform agenda in the entire emerging market sphere. Nieto is
reshaping everything from telecommunications to taxes to energy policy
Similarly, Philippines President Benigno Aquino III has implemented a host of political and economic reforms. Those changes were recently
credited by Barclays for the country’s strong economic performance
, which should see the island nation's GDP growth top 7% in 2013. And in Malaysia, Prime Minister Najib Razak has made great efforts to liberalize the economy since coming to power in 2009. According to observers, the prime minister will continue to do so despite recently
running into unexpected political troubles
Experts also share a generally optimistic outlook on China. In Beijing, the current leadership is working hard at liberalizing the country’s financial system.
The free-market reforms in those countries contrast sharply with what’s going on some other developing nations. In Argentina, the populist policies of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner—including nationalizing certain flagship companies (energy giant YPF, for one)—have foreign investors running for the door. And the jury is still out on a long list of countries where political paralysis ahead of upcoming general elections is impeding meaningful political progress. Voters in Brazil, Colombia, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey all head to the polls in 2014. The question is whether, postelections, the winners will be
free of electoral concerns and able to refocus their energies on an effective reform agenda
But whatever the outcome, the real draw of emerging markets—
above-average GDP growth and unleashed consumerism
—has not changed. “I think these countries’ growth potential is defined by deep fundamentals that are not going to go away,” says Andrew Karolyi, director of the Emerging Markets Institute at Cornell University. “[Those include] relatively low GDP per capita, very large populations, tremendous educational aspirations for their people.”
With growth in the developed world expected to pick up again next year, albeit slowly, export-dependent emerging markets will also have a chance at a comeback. That’s particularly true if those nations are able to mitigate some of the fundamental risks that international companies face when doing business in a developing country, including operational inefficiencies, restrictions on foreign participation in the economy and a murky rule of law. “The more these countries do to alleviate these concerns,” says Professor Karolyi, “the more their dependence on external finance will be met and the more likely they will realize their future growth potential.”
Tags Emerging Markets | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/18339 | U.S.EditionsAustralia EditionChina EditionIndia EditionItaly EditionJapan EditionSingapore EditionUnited KingdomUnited States Jul 24, 6:42 AM EDT SubscribeEverything You Need To Know, Right Now. Everything You Need To Know, Right Now.The IBT Pulse Newsletter keeps you connected to the biggest stories unfolding in the global economy. Please enter a valid email Search Search BusinessTechnologyWorldNationalMedia & CultureMillennial MoneyEntertainmentSports Subscribe World Iran's Weak Economy Hit With New Round Of Sanctions From U.S., U.N., And EU By Maya Shwayder @MayaErgas On 12/21/12 AT 3:51 PM Man counts stacks of Iranian rials using a money-counting machine at a currency exchange shop in Kerbala Photo: REUTERS The U.S. assets of four companies and one individual believed to be connected with the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, or WMD, in Iran will be frozen as a result of Treasury Department action announced Friday.Three of the companies -- the Chemical Industries and Development of Materials Group, Marine Industries Organization, and SAD Import Export Co. -- have ties either to Iran's Defense Industries Organization or the country’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. The former was previously sanctioned by the U.S. in March 2007 for its involvement in the Iranian nuclear program; the latter was previously sanctioned by the U.S. in October of the same year for its WMD proliferation-related activities.The fourth company, Doostan International Co., supports Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization, or AIO, the Treasury Department said. The AIO has been identified as a WMD proliferator by the U.S. For the same reason, it also was blacklisted by the European Union in 2007 and by Japan in 2009. It is reportedly controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.The sanctioned individual is Mustafa Esbati, the director of the Marine Industries Organization, which secures weapons for the Iranian Navy and Revolutionary Guard.The United Nations Security Council also froze the assets of the SAD Import Export Co. on Thursday. It is believed to be an arms supplier to Syrian President Bashar Assad's military. It is known to have previously shipped materials for rockets and missiles to Syria in 2010. The U.N. also sanctioned the cargo airline Yas Air.The EU also announced Friday it is expanding its sanctions on Iran beyond the package passed in October, when it banned selling naval equipment and technology, as well as graphite and metals, to the Islamic Republic. The new sanctions will further restrict dealings with Iran's banks, natural-gas importers, and shippers, according to Agence France-Presse via Ahram Online.Iran's nuclear program has fallen by the wayside in the minds of many in the West since the end of November, when Israel, which had previously been pushing the issue, became embroiled in the bombings on its terrority launched from the Gaza Strip.Iran's economy has been hurting under the sanctions and will likely feel further pain with the new round: EU and U.S. sanctions have already cut Iran's oil exports by more than one-half this year, costing it more than $5 billion a month, Reuters reported.
Related Stories IAEA-Iran Nuclear Talks: Both Sides Report Progress By Sreeja VN Progress has been achieved in talks between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran, a senior U.N. official has said. Obama Likely To Approve Gold Sanctions on Iran As Currency Wars Escalate By Roger Baettig Gold is hovering unchanged ahead of the U.S. FOMC policy statement that takes place at 1730 GMT and Ben Bernanke’s news conference is at 1915 GMT. Investors believe that the Fed will reveal more bond purchases and a continued loose monetary stance which will favour gold and silver’s appeal as hedges against inflation. Join the Discussion Most Read | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/18360 | NewsBusinessBusiness News RBS doubles profit in first quarter
RBS operating profit hit £1.5 billion, up from £747 million the year before Alex Lawson
RBS has set aside £400 million to cover potential loses Getty Images Royal Bank of Scotland has more than doubled its profit in the first quarter as the state-backed bank posted a rare quarterly profit.The bank benefited from improved cost control and a reduction in impairment costs as it reported an attributable profit of £1.2 billion, only the sixth time it has reported a quarterly profit since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008.RBS reported operating profit was £1.5 billion, up from £747 million the year before. Pre-tax profit was £1.6 billion, compared with £826 million in the same period the previous year.The bank posted an £8.2 billion pound pre-tax loss in 2013 due to restructuring costs and misconduct charges, taking the total it has lost since the bailout to £46 billion.The update beat analysts’ forecasts. The part-nationalised bank is 81 per cent-owned by the government and was rescued by government in 2008.Chief executive Ross McEwan said: “Today’s results show that in steady state, RBS will be a bank that does a great job for customers while delivering good returns for our shareholders.“But we still have a lot of work to do and plenty of issues from the past to reckon with. Everyone at RBS is focused squarely on doing everything we can to earn the trust of our customers and in the process change the banking sector for the benefit of the UK.” Reuse content | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/18691 | Home » opinion » Chongqing's fast-growing economy China Business Weekly
Chongqing's fast-growing economy
Suwatchai Songwanich Chief Executive Officer, Bangkok Bank (China) May 19, 2014 12:00 am Last week, I wrote about the many physical attractions of Chongqing and its fascinating history. This megacity of 32 million people in China's dynamic southwest is an understandable magnet for tourists, but it is also one of China's economic powerhouses, with GDP growth last year of 12.3 per cent, one of the highest rates in the country and 4.6 per cent above the national average.
Total foreign direct investment in the municipality reached an impressive US$10 billion, generated from more than 5,000 foreign investors.
Chongqing is an important base for factories producing locally-oriented consumer goods such as processed food, chemicals, textiles, machinery and electronics.
It is also China's third-largest center for motor-vehicle production, the largest producer of motorcycles, one of the largest iron and steel centers, and one of the top-three aluminum producers. Natural resources are abundant, with large deposits of coal, natural gas, manganese and other minerals. Around 10,000 large manufacturing factories with high production capacity are based there, offering great business opportunities, while the local government promotes favourable economic policies for the electronics and information technology sectors. These policies have been successful - for example, Chongqing is renowned as the world's largest assembler of notebook computers. In addition to its massive and growing industrial base, Chongqing province also covers a vast rural area. The unique landscape and sub-tropical climate provide favourable agricultural conditions which can provide employment for the local farmers and affordable food for the workers, both important factors in reducing wealth discrepancies. Of the estimated 32 million residents of Chongqing municipality, more than 20 million are farmers and the government's development strategy includes protecting good agricultural land and encouraging efficiencies and scale of production.
Adding to its attractiveness for business, Chongqing has joined with its regional neighbours Chengdu (the principal capital of Sichuan province) and Xi'an (the capital of Shaanxi province) to form a city cluster for the economic development of western China. This has huge potential, with some likening it to the development of Shanghai in the 1990s, but on a much grander scale: the Yangtze River Delta, where Shanghai Pudong sits, covers 210,000 square kilometres and has a population of 90 million; the "West Triangle Area" where Chongqing is located, covers 6.8 million square kilometres with a population of 400 million.
Probably the single most important factor in the recent rapid growth of Chongqing has been the development of extensive transport networks. These include a non-stop container service to Shanghai on the Three Gorges Dam (previously the gorges were only accessible by small vessels), the building of the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe international railway (a high-speed train service to Shanghai), and the development of new road and air networks.
With such buoyant growth opportunities and accessibility, it's easy to see why Thai companies would be interested in doing business in Chongqing, and why Bangkok Bank (China) recently opened a branch there, its fifth overall. Thailand and China have long enjoyed a special relationship, described last year by China’s foreign minister as "a treasure that ought to be nurtured by both countries", and Chongqing is certain to become an increasingly significant part of this.
For more columns in this series please see www.bangkokbank.com | 金融 |
2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/18708 | Submit TipsSend FeedbackTerms of ServicePrivacy PolicyHousing Poised to Recover But Still Needs US Help By
Albert Bozzo NEWSLETTERS Receive the latest business updates in your inboxPrivacy policy | More NewslettersGetty ImagesWith mortgage rates at the lowest levels of the year and loan activity showing a modest improvement, the housing market may be primed for a long-awaited recovery. But the market will need further help from government rescue measures, which remain unlikely until a new president takes office.Though Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's recent plan to buy mortgage-backed securities has sparked an enormous decline in mortgage rates, neither he nor Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson have yet to follow through on other measures to lower mortgage rates further and stimulate lending. Paulson and the Congress appear deadlocked over use of the $700 billion TARP fund, which is creating enormous uncertainty about how the unspent money will be used.“The TARP isn't working the way it was supposed to do,” says former ten-term Republican Congressman Bill Frenzel, now at the Brookings Institution. “Congress needs to help rather than belabor the Treasury Secretary with that."Meanwhile, analysts and economists say there may be no better time than now to help the housing market—which some say may be in recovery mode by mid year.“Until we think in a comprehensive way we can’t think of solutions making a difference," the new chairman of Congress’ TARP oversight committee, Elizabeth Warren, told the House Financial Services Committee this week.Mortgages—Rates Down, Looking UpRecent government moves have made some difference. For the first time this year, rates on 30-year mortgages are pushing 5 percent, having bounced around 6 percent, despite repeated and significant interest rate cuts by the Fed.Now that he mortgage market is showing signs of life, it may be able to feed into other parts of the housing sector.“We've made a lot of progress,” says Melissa Cohn, CEO of The Manhattan Mortgage Company in New York City. “Volume has definitely picked up.” That assessment was seconded by Mark Savitt, president of the National Association Of Mortgage Brokers and a broker in the panhandle of West Virginia.“I think rates are on the way down,” he says. “Even if they stay where they are now, its still a very positive range.”Indeed, at slightly over 5 percent in some cases, 30-year fixed mortgages are near historic lows and at levels noot seen since brief periods during he spring of 2003.Mortgage application volume increased in two of the past three weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, or MBA. That includes a 100-plus percent jump in the week following the Fed’s announcement that it would purchase up to $600 billion in mortgage-backed securities and other debt. Even with the most recent weekly decline, activity was up two percent from a year ago on an unadjusted basis.“Five and a half percent and zero points,” says Savitt. "That's wonderful—especially if you marry that with low home prices and sellers willing to make concessions.”Housing—Mixed To MiserableEven before the recent decline in mortgage rates, the National Association of Realtors’ housing affordability index was at a high for the year.Signs of improvement in other areas are evident, if not bold or definitive.Though sales of existing homes are down sharply from their 2005 peak of 7-million plus, the annualized sales rate this year has steadied somewhat, ranging between 4.85-5.14 million units a month, according to the NAR. October’s reading of 4.98 million was just 1.6 percent less than a year ago. Inventory has dropped to a 10.2-month supply, versus a high of 11.2 in April.Prices, however, have continued to decline sharply. At $183,3000 in October, the media price is 11.3 percent lower than a year ago, partly because of what the NAR calls "a large number of distress sales at discounted prices.”The foreclosures situation leaves little, if any, room for positive interpretation.Though they fell 11.3 in November, foreclosures were still up 28 percent from a year ago, according to Realty Track, which warned “there are several indications, however, that this lower activity is simply a temporary lull before another foreclosure storm hits in the coming months.”What's NeededAgainst that backdrop, its possible to think of the housing market as a four-legged stool—prices and sales, construction, foreclosures and rates—which require separate action plans.“There’s lots of proposals,” says economist Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic Policy And Research. “With rapidly falling house prices and people losing their homes, it’s not clear the same policy would deal with both.”Though there’s little government can do to directly prop up prices, analysts and industry professionals say measures that lower borrowing rates and stem foreclosures will help home sales and thus prices.“You can only stabilize prices by stemming the foreclosure rate,” says Cohn.“What's going to get us out of this mess is the first-time home buyers or those who don't have a home to sell coming into the market,” adds Savitt. “That, in turn, will free up sellers to go out and purchase their next homes.”Thus far, the mortgage market is the only one benefiting from government measures—actual or possible.Paulson’s point man on the TARP, Interim Assistant Secretary Neel Kashkari, told a Congressional panel this week that Treasury was looking "very seriously" at a plan to issue 30-year fixed rate mortgages at 4.5 percent.That proposal has been warmly embraced in many quarters of the real estate business, since first floated three weeks ago.“To really have a meaningful impact, rates have to go below 5 percent,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR, who says home prices are at “equilibrium values" but pessimism can push them down further.”Yun estimates a drop from 6 percent to 4.50 percent will result in 750,000 additional home purchases, helping to solve the inventory problem. On a $200,000 house, bought with a 10-percent down payment, the difference in monthly payments is $912 vs. $1079.That’s a powerful incentive and it has not gone unnoticed by consumers.“People are still waiting for 4 1/2 percent,” says Cohn, who wants the Treasury to act now. “I can't tell you how many people have mentioned it.”Implementation of such a Treasury plan as well as a possible Fed measure to buy long-term securities to push down short-term rates will have a powerful effect, say analysts. “Mortgage applications have gone up, so we know were eating up some inventories,” says money manager Scott Rothbort, who’s also a professor at Seton Hall University's Stillman School of Business. “Now we have to create the demand.”Even still, questions and concerns remain. For one, it’s unclear what the two mortgage-market based measures would cost, but some say the money could conceivably come out of the TARP program.The mortgage bankers group prefers the Fed measure because it would affect rates in a less "overt fashion", says VP and chief lobbyist Francis Creighton. Though the mechanics of the Treasury plan are not known, the MBA has a number of concerns, including its potential to negatively affect loans servicers or encourage people to buy a bigger house and borrow more than they originally intended, says Creighton.Foreclosures-The Final FrontierOn the foreclosures front, Rep. Maxine Waters (D.-Calif.) introduced legislation this week based on a plan by FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, who’s had some success in the area with the failed thrift IndyMac.The Systematic Foreclosure Prevention and Mortgage Modification Act of 2008, to be paid for with TARP money, would commit $24.4 billion to modify half of the 4.4 million non-GSE loans expected to become problems in 2009. Based on a 33-percent re-default rate, 1.5 million homeowners would be spared foreclosure. Currently, here are some 55 million mortgages._____________________________________Calculators and Advice from Bankrate.com:Compare Mortgage Rates NationwideStruggling to Save Your Home? Get Help Here_____________________________________Under the plan, the government would pay companies that service the mortgages $1,000 for each modification and share up to 50 percent of any loss if a modified loan re-defaults.“I think she feels this is a very significant step,” says Michael Levin, Waters' press officer. “It would go a long way to stopping and preventing foreclosures.”Washington's previous foreclosure effort—the Hope for Homeowners program signed ino last summer—has largely been a failure, despite its $300 billion price tag.conomists and industry players say stemming foreclosures is a key factor, especially if the government plans to spend billions subsidizing the cost of bringing new homeowners into the market. New buyers might be spared a significant drop in property prices and inventories would decrease as more owners stayed in their homes, which would feed back into prices.Such optimism may be supported by conventional market behavior, but skeptics say Washington policymaking is less predictable.Rep. Water's foreclosure legislation is unlikely to go to a vote before the new Congress convenes in January, while the Treasury and Fed measures aren't even on the official agenda yet.For more stories from CNBC, go to cnbc.com.Published at 3:46 PM EST on Dec 15, 2008
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2016-30/0362/en_head.json.gz/18806 | Development Co-operation Directorate (DCD-DAC)Peer reviews of DAC membersSpain (2011), DAC Peer Review: Main Findings and Recommendations
Peer reviews of DAC members
Spain (2011), DAC Peer Review: Main Findings and Recommendations
www.oecd.org/dac/peerreviews/spain
See also Spain's Aid-at-a-Glance
Spain: Full report (pdf, 1 MB)
Overall framework for development co-operation
Narrowing the scope of Spanish co-operation Key findings:
The IIIrd Master Plan – Spain’s development policy for 2009 to 2012 – has allowed Spain to promote development co-operation to the level of a key foreign policy pillar. However, the breadth of Spain’s programme – the high number of partner countries, themes and cross-cutting issues – is overly ambitious, causing Spain’s aid to be spread too thinly.
To increase its development impact, Spain should ensure its IVth Master Plan (2013-2016):
Focuses on fewer countries, themes, and cross-cutting issues, and clearly prioritises among them. Develops clear criteria for selecting partner countries, with particular regard to the aim of reducing poverty.
Spain has a well-established institutional structure with the necessary autonomy to implement its policy on development co-operation. The key institution for Spanish co-operation is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation (MAEC), with its State Secretariat for International Co-operation and its Directorate General for Development Policy Planning and Evaluation (DGPOLDE). The share of ODA the ministry manages has been growing rapidly, from 19% of Spain’s total ODA in 2004 to 50% in 2009. AECID, the Spanish Agency for International Development Co-operation, overseen by the State Secretariat for International Co-operation, implements a significant and growing part of the ministry’s aid programmes. Spain has also created a new funding structure – the Fund for the Promotion of Development (FONPRODE) – to protect development co-operation from being co-opted by other interests. However, this fund covers only co-operation implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation (paras 3-6, 84).
Although Spain intends to focus its co-operation, and has reduced the number of partner countries from 56 to 50 over the past review period, its programme remains dispersed. To concentrate its bilateral co-operation further, Spain needs to set clear criteria for retaining partner countries. Considering that 65% of its gross bilateral ODA is spent in middle income countries, Spain needs to ensure it focuses consistently on the poorest populations in those countries. Spain should also be clear on how it intends to prioritise among its 10 principles, 12 sectors, and 4 areas of special attention in allocating financial and human resources. (paras 8-12).
Developing a policy for working with civil society
Spain has made progress in interacting with multilateral partners and the private sector more strategically. However, it lacks a similar framework for working with NGOs, thus missing an opportunity to capitalise on the potential and resources they offer.
To use the full potential of the government’s relationship with Spanish NGOs, Spain should:
Lay out a clear policy outlining what it wants to achieve with, and through, development NGOs.
Further refine its funding instruments to ensure that ODA to and through NGOs is allocated strategically and ensures results.
The Spanish government has opened its policy consultations to a wide range of stakeholders, giving many of them a voice in influencing the design of the IIIrd Master Plan. It has also become more strategic in working with multilateral agencies, including through Strategic Partnership Frameworks (see Section 3), and with the private sector through a Strategy for Economic Growth and Promotion of the Business Sector that describes the private sector’s development role (i) as partners in the policy dialogue on development; (ii) as contractors in implementing development co-operation projects; and (iii) as key players in advancing development beyond ODA (paras 18-20, 24-25).
Although the Ministry has strengthened its relationship with Spanish civil society, and a significant portion of its co-operation is channelled through NGOs, Spain still needs an explicit policy framework for collaboration with civil society, as structured and predictable as the recent strategy for the private sector. In developing this framework, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation could build on the dialogue it has established with Spanish NGOs in recent years, including policy consultations. The government should define to what extent, and for what purpose, it wants to work with Spanish, international and partner country NGOs. These roles might include: (i) strengthening civil society in partner countries; (ii) implementing projects or programmes; (iii) commenting on government policies, and iv) strengthening civil society’s watchdog function (paras. 21-23; 107-110).
Improving accountability: preparing for tougher economic times
While Spain still benefits from high public support for development co-operation, continued high levels of support cannot be presumed. Spain’s development education and communication strategies are not clear, up to date, and actionable enough to sustain support and AECID does not have adequate capacity to promote guidance for development communication efforts.
To maintain strong public support for aid and development, the government should:
Create an up-to-date actionable plan for development education and communication.
Increase the agency’s specialist capacity in development communication.
So far, Spain’s development co-operation has been able to rely on strong public support and a commitment to global solidarity with the poor. However, there is a risk of losing public backing in the current economic crisis. A 2010 survey by Fundación Carolina indicates that although public support for development co-operation is still high, it fell from 84% in 2005 to 67% in 2010, while opponents of development co-operation are gaining ground (18%, up from 6% in 2005).
Without public support, Spain’s target of giving 0.7% of its gross national income as ODA will be difficult to achieve. Spain’s increase of the ODA share spent on development education (from 1.2% in 2008 to 1.8% in 2009) was a step in the right direction. Autonomous communities and local entities together finance and carry out nearly four-fifths of this work, and therefore play a crucial role. Civil society is also an important pillar of the broad-based public support for development co-operation. But to promote and facilitate its communication efforts, and those of other development players, Spanish co-operation needs up-to-date, actionable strategies or plans for development education and communication. Raising awareness and fostering a culture of global solidarity are priorities in the current Master Plan. However, the ministry’s 2007 strategy on development education is too broad and outdated, and provides little guidance to staff. Its latest communication plan also dates from 2007. The agency would benefit from having more staff specialised in development communication and education (paras 28-29).
Promoting development beyond aid
Over the last four years, Spain’s efforts to live up to its strong legal commitment to policy coherence for development have focused largely on setting up new institutions. However, Spain has insufficient capacity for analysis and monitoring of policy coherence issues. Information is not used effectively and systematically between the existing bodies and towards development stakeholders in a way that would allow monitoring, analysis and accountability to inform and influence policy decisions.
To monitor policy coherence development efforts in a way that informs and influences policy, Spain should:
Strengthen its capacity to analyse policies for coherence, and ensure that information about policy coherence analysis and decisions flows freely and effectively between existing bodies.
Spain is one of a handful of donors that have written their commitment to policy coherence for development into their legal framework. Spain’s IIIrd Master Plan commits all of Spain’s public policies to contribute to the eradication of poverty and sustainable human development. To do so, Spain has created several new bodies to ensure that all Spanish policies are coherent with its development mission: i) The Delegated Committee on International Development: to arbitrate among policies at cabinet level, and ii) a network of focal points for policy coherence: this cross-ministry network, which is currently being set up, will be facilitated by an inter-ministerial committee and led by a dedicated policy coherence unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation (paras 34, 38).
However, monitoring policies for coherence with development objectives is made difficult by the fact that the relationship between the new instruments is unclear, and information flows are not used effectively and systematically at all levels. For example, more information about decisions should trickle down from the Delegated Committee to co-ordinating and monitoring bodies. Spain could also draw on non-government actors like NGOs who make their own reporting and analyses on policy coherence. Once it is operational, the network of focal points should also provide information. Spain should then ensure there is sufficient capacity to analyse and monitor the development impact of policies and consolidate available information to influence policy decisions. (paras 3-39, 41-44).
Aid volume and allocation
Concentrating official development assistance
During much of the period under review, Spain continued to increase its ODA significantly, though the global economic crisis led to cuts in volume reported in 2009 and 2010. However, Spain spreads its financial resources for development co-operation too thinly among its partner countries, compromising impact on the ground.
Recommendation: Using the pause in ODA growth and becoming more selective in how it allocates its aid could help Spain to improve the quality and effectiveness of its cooperation. To this end, Spain should:
Narrow the geographic focus of its development aid to allow greater concentration of resources on fewer partner countries.
Spain made significant efforts to reach the international target of giving 0.7% of its gross national income (GNI) as ODA. It doubled its aid as a percentage of GNI from 0.23% in 2003 to 0.46% in 2009. The global economic crisis led Spain to cut ODA in 2009 and 2010 - cuts as severe as those made to the overall public administration. The ODA/GNI share fell to 0.43% in 2010, short of the target of a 0.56%Spain set for itself in its Master Plan, as well as of the 0.51% target expected of it within the EU. Even so, with ODA at USD 5.95 billion in 2010, Spain ranks 7th among DAC donors in terms of volume, one place higher than in the 2007 review (paras. 51-53).
To use this pause in ODA growth constructively, and to improve the quality of its co-operation, Spain has defined nine ambitious spending targets for geographical, sector, and thematic allocations. These include allocating more of its bilateral ODA to least developed and other low income countries, and concentrating 85% of its geographically distributable ODA in 37 priority partner countries. However, Spain’s aid remains fragmented, and Spain is among the DAC members which least concentrate their aid. Spain should exercise flexibility in meeting its spending targets, in order to respond to partner country needs, and overall, make new efforts to reduce the number of its partner countries (paras. 54-55, 59, 62-63).
Conducting a strategic dialogue with decentralised actors Key findings: Almost one-fifth of Spanish ODA is delivered by sub-national development actors. However, information about this part of Spain’s co-operation is not always available to other parts of the Spanish co-operation system. This may render Spanish aid less transparent, less cohesive, and hamper partner governments’ ability to plan and co-ordinate aid.
To increase transparency and cohesion, especially at country level, Spain should:
Ensure that all Spanish development actors, including sub-national ones, share information on their activities in the framework of cooperation at country level, and that partner country government at central and local levels are fully informed. Of all the DAC members, Spain has the highest share of ODA coming from sub-national actors – 19% of its total net bilateral ODA is financed by Spain’s 17 autonomous communities and local entities. Although this share has decreased from 26% in 2005, it remains significant. This decentralised co-operation – most of which is channelled through NGOs – is an asset in supporting partner countries at local level; it also serves to maintain public support for development co-operation. The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation has strengthened the dialogue between the national and sub-national entities on development co-operation, and parliament adopted a new legal framework in 2010 that lays the foundations for closer links in designing development policy. However, partner countries and the Spanish co-operation offices need to be informed of these efforts, so they can improve planning and implementation. This will ensure that Spain’s co-operation is transparent, cohesive and has the greatest possible impact (paras 26-27, 57-58).
Ensuring that Spain’s multilateral contributions are strategic
Spain’s new approach to working with multilateral agencies is selective and concentrates allocations in fewer organisations. However, this work could be more strategic and better informed.
To strengthen its strategic involvement with multilateral agencies and ensure it maximises the impact of Spanish multilateral aid, Spain should:
Use systematically the lessons from performance assessments and feedback from its field offices to guide its support to multilateral agencies.
Spain’s core contributions to multilateral organisations have almost doubled since 2005, and in 2009 Spain was the 7th largest DAC contributor to multilateral agencies’ core budgets. Both the IInd and IIIrd Master Plans outline Spain’s resolve to “engage in active, selective, and effective multilateralism”. Having backed up its rapidly growing multilateral contributions with a strategy in 2009, Spain is concluding Strategic Partnership Frameworks with eight multilateral agencies, through which it channels 51% of its ODA – both core and non-core contributions. According to its current Master Plan, Spain intends to concentrate its multilateral ODA even further, eventually spending 80% of multilateral contributions on only 10 international organisations by 2012. By 2009 it had reached 76%. Spain’s efforts for more strategic allocations and selective partnerships with multilateral organisations are welcome and should be pursued. (paras. 20, 64-68). Spain does not yet systematically use its multilateral assessments and lessons to define its own policies and help multilateral agencies improve their work. Spain should ensure that its representatives on the boards of multilateral agencies receive and use the feedback and insights into the strengths and weaknesses of multilateral agencies provided by Spanish field offices. This information can be a constructive source to influence decision making at executive board levels in these organisations in order to improve their effectiveness, efficiency and impact (para. 19-20).
Organisation and management
Creating clear links between Spanish co-ordinating bodies
Spain has improved consultation with Spanish development actors at headquarters and in the field. However, its five co-ordinating bodies at headquarters are not well inter-connected or working in a way that will effectively inform technical, policy and strategic decision-making across government.
To use the full potential of all Spanish development actors and ensure co-ordination, Spain should:
Review how its co-ordinating bodies add value to development co-operation, and ensure that they work in a complementary way so that the outcomes of discussions inform technical, policy and strategic decision-making across government.
Spanish development co-operation has a particularly complex institutional structure. Not only is aid allocated by 14 ministries within the general state administration, but sub-national development actors also play a significant role, adding further complexity to the picture. This multitude of actors and delivery channels requires close co-ordination and synergy to reduce dispersion of efforts and resources, and increase cohesion and impact (para. 85).
Spain’s new Country Partnership Framework agreements help to improve policy co-ordination among Spanish actors in the field. At headquarters Spain has five bodies that co-ordinate, consult and advise on development co-operation. Two co-ordinate ministries (the Delegated Committee on International Development, and the Inter-ministerial Committee for Development Co-operation), two co-ordinate national and decentralised actors (the Sector Conference on Development, and the Inter-territorial Commission for Development Co-operation), and one is an advisory body comprising public and private sector entities and NGOs (the Development Co-operation Council). It is not clear how these bodies should work together to strengthen the strategic planning and delivery of Spanish co-operation. It is critical that the communication among these bodies is transparent and that the outcomes of their discussions are used effectively to inform technical, policy and strategic decision making across government. (paras. 86-88).
Taking the step from evaluation to learning
Spanish development co-operation aims to re-orient its planning, monitoring and evaluation according to the goal of “managing for development results”. However, this effort has so far been hindered by mixed quality indicators against which the impact of Spain’s official development assistance can be monitored, as well as mechanisms to ensure it learns from its evaluations.
To demonstrate results and promote a learning culture:
DGPOLDE and AECID should roll out their tools for managing for development results in all country offices, and train staff to define targets and indicators that make it possible to monitor the impact of development assistance interventions.
Spanish co-operation should use the information on results that it gains from its evaluations to influence policy, programming and institutional learning, and to inform the public.
The current Master Plan puts managing for development results at the forefront of efforts. It lays out how Spain aims to do this in three areas: planning, monitoring, and evaluation. Spain has begun to roll out this new approach by developing training and guidance. In orienting its evaluation systems towards measuring results, its commitment to building an evaluation and learning culture will be an advantage. Spain has an evaluation policy and a dedicated, independent division for evaluation within the Directorate General.. Evaluation now plays an important role in the new strategic frameworks with partner countries and multilateral agencies. The development agency has seen the number of evaluations increase four-fold between 2007 and 2009, mostly owed to a requirement for NGOs funded by AECID, and above a certain threshold, to evaluate their projects (paras 130-131).
However, Spain could become more strategic about what it evaluates, and how it learns from the results of evaluations. This requires using the outcomes of evaluations to influence policy, programming and institutional learning, and to inform the public. It also entails having the right indicators to measure results in the first place. Although field offices now have to define the results they want to reach from the outset in their new programming framework, a recent internal AECID self-evaluation found that little had been achieved so far in laying the foundations for monitoring and evaluating whether these results were indeed being achieved. Instead, monitoring still tended to give more weight to how money was spent, as the agency lacked the right indicators to measure results and impact. Spain will need to define from the outset how strategic evaluations can inform future programming, plan them accordingly and help field offices define the right indicators, while continuing to conduct operational evaluations for learning and accountability purposes (paras. 96-97).
Defining a human resource policy that emphasises staff mobility and performance
Spain’s human resource policy does not allow for sufficient staff mobility between headquarters and the field, nor does it have a performance management system. These two areas are crucial for sustaining institutional competence and capitalising on available human resources effectively.
In an economic context where “doing more with less” will become the norm, Spain needs clear criteria and policies to support decisions on how to deploy resources most effectively and efficiently. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation and AECID should:
Develop a human resource policy and a medium-term plan for staff mobility and rotation.
Introduce an individual performance management system linked to organisational objectives and results.
Spanish co-operation has significantly strengthened its human resource base since the last peer review. AECID’s large-scale recruitment of a professional cadre of 93 programme managers and 120 project managers has made it possible to engage closely in the field with partner countries. However, the ministry and AECID continue to suffer from insufficient staff mobility between the field and headquarters. This is a missed opportunity to capitalise on staff knowledge both at headquarters and in the field, and to enhance Spain’s ability to attract and retain high quality development experts. As Spain expects a high turnover of staff in key positions in field offices in the coming years, it needs a medium-term plan for staff mobility and rotation to facilitate those changes and safeguard institutional competence. Within the ministry, managers should be guided by (i) the aim of making it easier for staff to move within the organisation; and (ii) managing and developing careers. These aspects should also be reinforced in AECID’s next management contract (2011-2014). Furthermore, AECID should consider giving greater employment continuity and responsibility to locally-recruited partner country nationals working on substantive issues (paras 83, 102-103).
A second pillar of Spain’s human resource policies should be the introduction of a performance management system. Although the Basic Statute of Public Employees (2007) makes performance assessment compulsory for every administration in Spain, there is currently no such system for public servants in the Ministry according to the OECD’s 2011 publication Governance at a Glance nor is there one in its development agency. The Spanish administration should accelerate its efforts to implement such a system, which is needed to enable managers to engage with staff on their career development, including mobility, and encourage individual ownership and personal accountability, thereby supporting a business environment that focuses on results, outcomes and impact (para. 103).
Improving the impact of development co-operation
Using aid effectiveness tools at country level
Spain has made progress in designing strategies and planning frameworks that will help to make its aid more effective. Putting these new tools into practice at all levels is necessary to translate intentions into actions.
To make Spain’s co-operation more effective, Spain should:
Ensure that field offices and all Ministries that spend ODA understand and use the new planning methodology and tools.
Spain has made remarkable progress in making its aid more effective, going far beyond the recommendations of the 2007 peer review. Not only has it made the international aid effectiveness agenda a beacon of its development policy, but it has also thoroughly re-thought and re-designed its programming process to put these principles into practice. Spain’s policy changes since 2009 and an Aid Effectiveness Action Plan endorsed in January 2011 have paved the way for significant progress in its operations. Its new planning methodology, based on country partnership frameworks and oriented towards results (see section on evaluation to learning), bodes well for greater ownership of programmes by partner countries. It has made programme and sector based approaches the main co-operation modality in many country offices. While the right tools are in place, it is important that they are used by all the ministries that spend ODA (not only the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation) and rolled out to field offices with the necessary authority to make decisions. (paras 111-114).
Untying aid
While Spain is making progress in untying its aid overall, it is among the poorest DAC performers when it comes to untying its co-operation with least developed countries (LDCs) and non-LDC highly-indebted poor countries (required by the DAC Recommendation of 2001/8).
To get better value for money from its official development assistance:
Spain should follow its schedule for untying the remainder of its tied aid at all levels of its administration.
Spain has made good progress in untying its aid – overall, it untied 75% of its aid to developing countries in 2009, getting close to the DAC average of 79%. However, it needs to make sure it follows its schedule to fully untie the remaining portion of ODA. Spain untied only 77% of its aid to LDCs and non-LDC highly-indebted poor countries in 2009, compared to the DAC average of 94%. Spain’s schedule foresees that efforts by AECID, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, of Trade, Industry and Tourism, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance will untie all ODA by 2015. Untying Spanish aid fully will not only require an effort from the central administration, but also from autonomous communities and municipalities, which continue to tie a large number of small aid amounts to services provided by Spanish entities (paras 124-125).
Sharing knowledge on capacity development in middle-income countries
Despite having no dedicated strategy, Spain has gained valuable experience in developing capacity in middle-income countries, which receive a large part of its ODA. Capacity development can help consolidate development gains – a subject of interest to an increasing number of donors.
To build on Spain’s engagement in middle-income countries, Spain should:
Make capacity building a goal in its country partnership frameworks, and collect and share Spanish lessons and experience with capacity development, especially in middle-income countries.
Despite having no strategy to guide it, Spain engages in developing local capacity. Spain’s support to developing capacity in partner countries focuses mostly on technical assistance, but this is delivered in ways that allow Spain to build not only individual but also institutional capacity. With its significant engagement in middle-income countries, where Spain directs 65% of its gross bilateral ODA, it has gained expertise in building capacity in contexts where inequality persists. Spain should make capacity building an explicit goal in its country partnership frameworks and sector strategies. We encourage Spain to collect the knowledge accumulated in its field offices, share it with other donors, and use the lessons it draws in future planning. In this effort, it should also capitalise on the knowledge of its field offices on triangular co-operation (Box 1; paras.118 120).
Triangular co-operation: Spain's potential to become a bridge-builder
Spain has gained a reputation as a bridge-builder between middle-income countries and least developed countries in Latin America. Spain’s current Master Plan makes a strong commitment to triangular co-operation as a tool that Spain aims to use in priority partner countries where it wants to consolidate development gains. One of the aims is to provide capacity building and to change the nature of its co-operation as partner countries “graduate” from developing country status. Spain has worked with Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Mexico to provide assistance in third countries such as Haiti or Paraguay. One of the challenges Spain continues to point out is how to monitor and evaluate triangular co-operation jointly.
Towards better humanitarian donorship
Consolidating good progress in humanitarian programming
Spain has made solid, and sometimes ground-breaking, progress as it reinvents and refines its significant humanitarian assistance programme. Further efficiency gains could be made in the area of partnerships; and cross-government co-ordination mechanisms, accountability, and learning could be strengthened.
To consolidate its considerable progress in humanitarian programming, Spain should:
Reduce the administrative burden on NGO partners, and introduce common funding and performance monitoring criteria for all NGO and multilateral partners
Seek appropriate international training and/or accreditation for all actors within the Spanish response system.
Spain now has a bold, strategic and flexible humanitarian programme, guided by a comprehensive humanitarian strategy, under the Spanish development co-operation Master Plan. AECID has also adopted innovative approaches to supporting recovery – focusing on strengthening partner responses and front-loading development assistance - however, it is too soon to see results. Disaster risk reduction is not yet an overarching priority, but AECID’s Humanitarian Office is supporting some useful programming in this area (paras 135-139).
Spain is clearly committed to working in a strategic and open manner with partners, providing flexible, and often multi-annual, funding that is focused on delivering results; and promoting mutual accountability. Partners consider Spain an active and responsive donor who values their inputs. However, some areas for improvement remain, particularly in the areas of predictability, beneficiary participation and NGO administrative burden (paras 141-142).
Spain was the 6th largest humanitarian donor of all DAC members in 2009 (up from 9th place in 2007), and it has used its new status as a major player to encourage better donor co-ordination and support triangular co-operation. AECID has developed clear criteria for carving up its humanitarian budget, with a focus on vulnerability and responding in priority sectors. However, this highly developed set of response criteria requires adequate evidence from partners – evidence that is proving hard to obtain (paras 145-146).
AECID has clearly made enormous progress towards good humanitarian donorship, and is now working to build capacity in the autonomous regions (responsible for 8.9% of humanitarian aid in 2009), but this remains a strategic challenge in Spain’s decentralised environment. Spain is encouraged to seek further training and international accreditation for all Spanish response actors, including civil protection (paras 149-150).
Spain recognises the need to move towards a formal learning culture, and to shift its monitoring focus towards analysing programmatic impact. This is complicated, however, as Spain has a very hands-on humanitarian business model, requiring staff skilled in analysis and field decision making – skills that only a handful of AECID staff currently possess (paras 151-153).
Good practice: Spain is a leader in rapid response
The 2007 peer review recommended that Spain review the effectiveness of its rapid response interventions, and AECID has subsequently taken giant steps in this area, emerging with a flexible portfolio of innovative and effective rapid response tools. These range from joint Spanish/World Food Programme logistics depots to pre-positioned funds with NGO partners, wide flexibility to reallocate budgets (including development funds), direct delivery of in-kind aid, surge deployment, and support from Spanish civil protection, military and police. Co-ordination takes place in rapidly called and regularly repeated emergency meetings involving all partners, including NGOs, aimed at developing one coherent Spanish response strategy (paras 147-148).
Developing a systematic approach to risk
Spain must take care to manage its exposure to risk if it is to retain the necessary flexibility to continue with its unique, innovative, and effective hands-on delivery model.
To reduce overall exposure to negative outcomes in complex humanitarian environments, Spain should:
Develop a systematic approach to the assessment, communication and management of programmatic risk.
Political and public support for humanitarian programming is currently high in Spain, as the peer review team found in discussions with parliament and presidential advisors. However, lessons from many other donors warn that a change in political orientation often brings additional scrutiny of the humanitarian effort – it takes just one media scandal to reverse public opinion and anger lawmakers. Spain would be wise to build a systematic approach to assessing, communicating and managing programmatic risk into its humanitarian strategy to protect its enviable and flexible humanitarian space (para. 140).
Peer reviews in development co-operation Spain (2007), DAC Peer Review: Main Findings and Recommendations OECD.org | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/1987 | The following article was posted on November 13th, 2013, in the New Times - Volume 28, Issue 16 [ Submit a Story ] The following articles were printed from New Times [newtimesslo.com] - Volume 28, Issue 16
Foreclosure fallout: More homes are being swallowed up by property management companies than private buyers
By KATHY JOHNSTON
SILVER LININGAlthough the foreclosure frenzy saw thousands of locals slide from homeowner to renter, affordable-housing developers picked up lower-cost land to build rentals, such as
the Las Lomas apartments in Atascadero.PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER
"Going once, going twice … .” You could hear those words thousands of times in San Luis Obispo in the last five years, intoned on the courthouse steps or behind the county government center. But with the next utterance in the sequence, what’s gone for hundreds of local families is the American Dream of owning a home.
In SLO County and across the United States, cash-strapped homeowners hit by the economic recession and rising mortgage charges had little choice but to default on their loans. County records show that more than 11,000 notices of default have been issued since 2008, with nearly 6,000 properties sold by the banks.
The flood of foreclosures and accompanying auctions is starting to ebb now, as the economy slowly strengthens and new rules require banks to try harder to keep people in their homes. But as the flood recedes, in the aftermath is a worsening economic divide, with a few winners, plenty of losers, and a shortage of available housing for the rest of us.
Lynn Cooper, owner of Pacific Oak Foreclosure Services in SLO, has posted hundreds of notices of default on the front doors of homes around the county. He can’t help thinking of the homeowners who were forced to walk away from their investment—and their dream.
“It’s sad. You see kids’ shoes on the front porch when you walk up to post the notice. There are a lot of sad stories. That goes with the territory,” he told New Times.
Some victims of the foreclosure frenzy were first-time homebuyers. Others were longtime homeowners who cashed in on their home’s equity with a line of credit, then found themselves owing more than it was worth. Others just wanted to buy a home while they could.
Take, for example, the story of one local family who bought a spacious home in Los Osos at the height of the real estate boom a few years back. “Tony and Tina Thomas” (they requested their real names not be used for this story) made a $100,000 down payment—the proceeds from selling their first house—and with both of them working and teaser low-interest charges on a variable-rate loan, they were able to afford their mortgage payment.
Along with their three teenage sons, the Thomases settled into a comfortable life, becoming involved with their kids’ schools and sports teams, volunteering for various local nonprofits, and taking pride in their home.
But then, as happened with millions of homeowners around the country, their mortgage payment went up along with interest rates, and the value of their house declined—by about $200,000, in their case. Tony’s contract work all but dried up due to the recession, and Tina’s salary couldn’t cover their house payment and their other expenses. Tony devoted countless hours every week to concerted efforts to working something out with their lender, Countrywide, but got nowhere.
In the end, disheartened and embittered, their savings exhausted, the Thomases stopped making their payments, packed up their possessions, and moved into a large tent in the Southern California backyard of Tony’s mother. (The spare rooms in the house were already occupied by Tony’s brother and his family, who had also fallen on hard times.)
Eventually, Tony landed some more contract work and Tina found a job—working for a national investment company that specializes in buying up foreclosed homes around the United States and turning them into rentals.
“It just seems hopeless to me to work a normal job and expect to buy a house like our parents did. So many people are just struggling, and the wealth is siphoning up. The whole thing stinks,” Tony said in a phone interview from a two-bedroom apartment the family recently rented in the Los Angeles area. He and Tina had just finished a volunteer stint barbecuing burgers for their youngest son’s sports team and the visiting athletes from Arroyo Grande.
“It’s hard to be renting. They can throw you out. They can raise the rent. There’s less pride of ownership. But it’s all right,” he said.
His voice tinged with sadness, he added, “We really miss our friends up there.”
Investors are snapping up foreclosed homes in SLO County, according to Don Vaughn, owner of All American Foreclosure Service. Although some out-of-town investment groups are getting in on the action, Vaughn said most of the purchasers are local investors who are “flipping” the property—that is, reselling it on the retail real estate market for more than they paid for it. That’s what happened to the Thomases’ house.
At 11 a.m. on a recent sunny morning, Vaughn stood in the breezeway behind the County Government Center, a clipboard in his hand. Surrounded by a small circle of cash buyers armed with smartphones or electronic tablets, he read out, “I’m authorized by the beneficiary to open up the bidding at $300,000.”
These well-dressed investors aren’t carrying briefcases or grocery sacks stuffed with bills; instead, in a pocket or purse they have a cashier’s check for up to a million dollars, made out to themselves. If they buy the house, they sign over the check.
“There’s a lot of homework involved. It’s a risky business,” Vaughn said in an interview after the auction.
Not only does a purchaser need to have cash, he or she can’t get inside to inspect the property beforehand—and sometimes gets burned.
THEY CALL HIM FLIPPERCash-laden investors from near and far have been buying up foreclosed local homes and “flipping” them for a profit. Here, auctioneer Don Vaughn (center right) takes their bids.PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER
The investors didn’t want to talk to a reporter (“Investors don’t like to be known. Why advertise it? That’s part of the game,” Vaughn explained), but Vaughn pointed to one man walking past.
“He bought his first house at an auction I did in 1992, a big white house in Arroyo Grande. The owner was so angry about the foreclosure that he had poured concrete down the toilets. He’d clipped the electrical wires behind the drywall, then put the drywall back up so it was impossible to fix.
“The investor probably lost 100 grand on that one. He’s made up for it, I know he has. Buy low, sell high, that’s their business.”
Another longtime “flipper” has been teaching his son the ropes, Vaughn said.
Even once they hit the multiple listing service of the retail real estate market, many of the flipped houses in SLO County weren’t bought by people who wanted to live in them. Although it’s difficult to track exactly what’s happening to the local housing stock, one indication of owner-occupied homes is the number of homeowner’s exemptions filed with the county assessor’s office; people whose homes are their primary residence get a break on their property tax.
The number of claims for homeowner’s exemptions has fallen each year since 2008, decreasing by more than 1,650 in the last five years, according to Kirk Kidwell, the assistant county assessor, who compiled the figures at New Times’ request. That means at least 1,650 houses in the county are no longer occupied by homeowners—and that has an effect on the community.
Still, SLO County has fared better than some areas, according to Dana Lilley, a county supervising planner who specializes in housing.
“We were spared some of the worst consequences, mainly because our housing supply didn’t increase as fast here, compared to some cities with a lot of housing built during the bubble and a bigger crash,” Lilley said.
Now, he said, housing prices locally are on the rise: “I log on to Zillow and see my house go up every day.”
Rents, too, are going up, according to Jerry Rioux, executive director of the SLO County Housing Trust Fund. The local “fair market rent,” an official calculation used by the federal government, has increased seven percent in the last year, Rioux said.
“Our county has a severe shortage of rental housing, and as a result local rents are extremely high when compared to local incomes,” he wrote in a letter of support for an affordable housing development. More than 60 percent of local renters pay in excess of 30 percent of their gross income for rent and utilities. More than 35 percent have “a severe housing cost burden,” paying more than half their income for rent and utilities.
All the former homeowners who lost their homes are now renters, leading to an increased demand for rentals—which creates a potential for rent increases, Rioux said.
Not only are prices going up, there’s also a shortage of local homes available to purchase or to rent these days, in the aftermath of all the foreclosures. In San Luis Obispo, for instance, there are just 75 houses and 28 condos available to buy in the entire city, according to real estate agent Steve Delmartini.
“Today in San Luis, the least expensive house is $429,000, for a 1,380-square-foot 4-bedroom on Oceanaire, built in 1961. You can’t go buy a house for $350,000 anymore in SLO—there just aren’t any. We have very poor housing stock in SLO; our housing stock is just getting old,” Delmartini said.
Investors may be holding on to houses until prices rise higher, or fixing them up for resale.
“We just don’t know how many houses are being held off the market,” county planner Lilley pointed out.
But there is a “silver lining” to the foreclosure crisis, according to Rioux: “Affordable housing is easier to develop when the economy is bad. When we had the crash, a lot of affordable developers were able to pick up land and get financing, and are now starting to build.”
Atascadero apartment developer Mike Zappas got a good deal on five acres in south Atascadero, once owned by bankrupt developer R.W. Hertel. The site, overlooking Paloma Creek Park, was already graded, with utilities installed.
He and a partner designed and built Hidden Oaks Village apartments in Atascadero 12 years ago, and he knows there’s been a need for more affordable rentals in the town, especially for young families. But for years, “it didn’t pencil,” and many out-of-town developers focused on building condos, “making money, and hitting the road,” he noted.
Demand is high for apartments at Las Lomas Village, Zappas said. “The first 40 units are all full. They pretty much moved in as soon as the units were finished.” The apartments are one-, two-, and three-bedroom units, and all are considered affordable for people with moderate, low, or very low incomes. The complex will eventually have 100 apartments.
His renters include people in the local workforce, employees at Atascadero State Hospital, young families, retirees, a Cal Poly professor who’s new to California—and families who lost their homes to foreclosure.
“I get a lot of satisfaction from providing rental housing, especially three-bedroom apartments for young families. I know a lot of people in the community, and people thank us. They’re really happy. We live in the community, and we want to make a difference,” Zappas said.
Another affordable-housing developer, the nonprofit People’s Self-Help Housing, benefitted when the housing bubble burst.
“The downturn in property values did help us secure some lots. We were able to seize the opportunity in Oceano, Atascadero, San Miguel, and Los Alamos,” said the organization’s chief financial officer and executive vice president, John Fowler.
For the first time in years, People’s Self-Help Housing is now involved in “sweat equity” home building at these locations, where families with low incomes—plus jobs and good credit—provide 2,000 hours of labor to build their own single-family home.
“We’re very happy about that,” Fowler said. “We’re trying to do all we can to create opportunities for people to get into housing that’s affordable for them.”
The group has also been able to build some multi-family housing for people on low or very low incomes, where rents will be restricted to 30 to 40 percent of the annual median income in the county.
“The economic gap is certainly growing, and that’s certainly troubling,” Fowler noted. “We have a lot of people in the workforce who can’t afford housing.”
Not everyone in the workforce wants to live in multi-family, high-density housing, though. At a recent meeting of the Workforce Housing Coalition of SLO County (an informal group described as a “YIMBY” organization to lobby in favor of affordable workforce housing: “Yes, In My Back Yard”), speakers from the Economic Vitality Corporation presented the results of their survey of SLO’s workforce.
“Everybody knows housing is a huge problem here. We have a hard time recruiting and retaining employees because of the cost of housing,” said Lenny Grant, co-chair of the EVC’s Building Design and Construction cluster.
Survey results from 467 local employees show that—if affordability were not a factor—97 percent want to live in single-family detached homes, preferably with three bedrooms and a two-car garage.
With all seven cities and the county required to update the housing element of their general plans before next summer, state officials are expecting each place to provide a certain percentage of housing for a growing population.
“We need to incentivize 1,300- or 1,400-square foot houses for developers, with a second unit above the garage,” Grant said.
“Homebuilders can’t just go with 5,000 square feet. The county is expecting solutions,” he added.
For Fowler of People’s Self-Help Housing, building affordable housing now is key, especially as the economic gap widens between rich and poor.
“We’ve got a lot of projects in the pipeline. For now, we’re optimistic,” Fowler said. “The bubble is forming. But we know a downturn will come again.”
Contributing writer Kathy Johnston can be reached at kjohnston@newtimesslo.com. | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/2003 | Survey indicates business confidence at five-year high
Gov. Chris Christie told the state's business leaders he would not let partisan issues get in the way of Hurricane Sandy rebuilding efforts. (Tim Larsen / Governor's Office)
An indicator of businesses' outlook on the state economy reached positive territory for the first time in five years, but companies still balk at the cost of doing business here, which is holding back hiring, according to a survey released by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association at its annual public policy forum today in the Iselin section of Woodbridge.
According to the NJBIA 2013 Business Outlook survey, 17 percent of the 1,470 respondents hired additional workers in 2012, while 22 percent laid off employees this year. However, NJBIA President Philip Kirschner called that an improvement from 2011's numbers which were 15 percent and 27 percent, respectively."Current hiring activity, while still in negative territory, has improved steadily from hitting a 26-year low in 2009 to now being at the highest level of the past five years," Kirschner said. "Like the improving employment picture, business is picking up, business confidence is rising and businesses believe New Jersey is on the right track."Gov. Chris Christie, who once championed the aggressive "New Jersey Comeback" that focused on key business and economic accomplishments of his administration, today struck a more somber note in his keynote address."I could talk about how we're growing business in New Jersey, but it's not appropriate to talk about that today," Christie said. "Everybody on the ground knows the enormous effect the storm has had on our state. Now the question is, how do we move forward?"Whatever form the rebuilding efforts take, Christie said maintaining bipartisanship is "what will define success or failure for the state and the administration.""What New Jersey put a cap on during the storm is what we have tried to do over the last three years, which is recognizing the needs of this state are too great to let partisan issues get in the way," he said. "If you want your businesses and your government to succeed, then you need to stand up now … so you can look back on a state that is not only building toward a huge success, but has put itself forward as a shining example of what our country needs to overcome the problems in America."Responding to the slight uptick in hiring captured in the survey results, Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver (D-East Orange) said "our hope is we can work with the business community on initiatives that can further tick up that modest growth," and she noted the Assembly will devote its Dec. 17 voting session to a series of bills designed to promote economic growth.While the state's business groups have stood firm against the Legislature's attempt to raise the minimum wage, a charge Oliver has led, she said she makes "no apologies for my vigilant aggression in terms of putting on the table the issue of minimum wage.""There's not a person in this room that could survive off of the minimum wage — to have a residence, maybe support a child and put food on the table," Oliver told the state's business community at the forum today. "I absolutely have sensitivity to small businesses … but at the end of the day, I'm firmly committed to $7.25 (an hour) wage earners in this state having the opportunity to expand their lives."Continued cost increases
While businesses are most opposed to attaching future increases to the minimum wage to inflation, Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney (D-West Deptford) said "for states that have their minimum wage tied to the CPI, nine out of 10 have better economies than us."Still, 72 percent of survey respondents said New Jersey is equivalent or better than other states in promoting economic development, and 57 percent said the same about the state's ability to attract new business — a strong improvement from 21 percent in 2010.But while 41 percent of the businesses polled believe New Jersey ranks at or above other states in controlling health care costs, Michael Munoz, senior vice president of AmeriHealth, said those costs will continue to rise regardless of health care reform and the creation of a state-run health care exchange."We're very busy as we look to 2016 at the reforms, and while we're still investing in implementing the new law, that will be coming back to payers, providers and employers over time," Munoz said during a panel of business leaders on the future of the state economy. "There's a lot of similarity between Hurricane Sandy and health care reform with all of the uncertainty surrounding both … and we've positioned ourselves to act on assumptions. But we already know there are a lot of hidden costs to insurers relating to this law … and I don't see the cost of health care getting better as the reforms are put in place."Though the business impact of Hurricane Sandy was not measured in the survey results, as the NJBIA polled its members in September, Kirschner said "despite all of the rebuilding and the construction that we have to do, businesses are encouraged as we move down the road in 2013.""December and January will be rough months in light of the damage from the storm … but we've seen a much improved business climate in New Jersey, and I don't think that has changed since Sandy hit," Kirschner said. "I think the improvement in the outlook survey will help the state to recover and rebuild."Assembly Minority Leader Jon M. Bramnick (R-Westfield) echoed that thought from a business standpoint during the legislative panel, noting "you could have all the grants in the world, but if you don't feel better about what's happening in New Jersey, you're not going to rebuild." | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/2046 | From front lines to high finance
June 29, 2013 Updated Aug. 21, 2013 12:28 p.m.
Walter Mischler, center, is chairman of Mischler Financial Group. At left is Doyle Holmes, president and COO. At right is Michael Holmes, an executive with the firm. The Newport Beach company is an investment bank started and run by injured military veterans. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Walter Mischler is chairman of Mischler Financial Group. The Newport Beach company is an investment bank started and run by injured military veterans. It was the first in the industry to be designated a service-disabled veteran-owned small business. Mischler, a West Point graduate, was injured in Vietnam. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Walter Mischler, chairman of Mischler Financial Group, looks out over Newport Harbor from the company's Newport Beach offices. Mischler Financial Group is an investment bank started and run by injured military veterans. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Walter Mischler, chairman of Mischler Financial Group, goes over the day's activities with equities trader Ryan Moran, seated. At right is Doyle Holmes, president and COO. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
By RICHARD CLOUGH / ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Facebook
Walter Mischler never thought heading to the front line of the Vietnam War would lead him to a career in finance.
The one-time infantry officer is now the owner and chairman of Mischler Financial Group, a rapidly growing boutique investment bank in Newport Beach that handles deals for some of the biggest names in the financial services industry. The firm has added Wall Street heavyweights to its ranks and opened outposts across the country.
But Mischler says it never would have been possible if not for his time in battle – and the injuries he sustained in the service.
Mischler Financial Group was the first broker-dealer in the country to be classified as a service-disabled veteran business enterprise, a minority designation that has helped the company secure contracts with a series of clients throughout the years.
"I was able to take advantage of the opportunity, and it's blossomed very nicely," said Mischler, 66. "I doubt very seriously if I would have ever owned my own broker-dealer not having the disabled veteran label to put on it."
Like mainstream firms, Mischler Financial Group provides capital-markets underwriting and asset management services for pension plans, corporations, endowments and other institutional clients.
But the military influence is unmistakable.
Ten of the firm's 50 employees are veterans, including both Mischler and chief executive Dean Chamberlain, a former paratrooper who sustained shoulder injuries jumping out of airplanes.
The firm also is heavily involved with military-focused charities such as the Fisher House Foundation, which provides housing to families of injured veterans. Last month, Mischler Financial Group donated 10 percent of its profits to the nonprofit Wounded Warrior Project, where Mischler's daughter and son-in-law work.
And then there's the gift given to office visitors: a dog tag-shaped bottle opener.
Federal and state lawmakers have created designations such as the service-disabled veteran business enterprise classification amid expanded government efforts to aid returning military veterans and help them reintegrate into civilian life. Douglas Dare, veterans business development officer for the Small Business Administration's Orange County office, noted a number of veteran job training programs and other initiatives to assist veteran entrepreneurs.
At the federal level, President George W. Bush in 2004 sought to strengthen federal contracting opportunities for veteran-owned firms with an executive order directing as much as $5 billion to be set aside for such businesses.
Many private and public institutions also have corporate responsibility goals to do business with minority enterprises. According to a guide published by the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the public pension system aims to spend at least 3 percent of its contracting and procurement dollars on disabled veteran-owned businesses.
Dare noted that studies show many consumers like to patronize veteran-owned businesses. "It's becoming a designation that's sought out," he said.
Infantry officer to salesman
Mischler, the son of a longtime Army officer and self-described "Army brat" growing up, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1969 and served in the U.S. Army for another five years. After a stint in Germany, he spent about a year and a half in Vietnam.
Mischler hurt his legs and back while on active duty in Vietnam. He doesn't like to talk about the details. Lingering effects of his injuries led the military to transfer Mischler to a non-combat role, but he wasn't interested in a desk job.
"I think I would have gone nuts if I had done that," he said. "I really enjoyed the infantry, would have stayed in the Army, but because I had to get reassigned to a non-combat arm, I got out."
In 1974, he took a sales job with Procter & Gamble in San Diego. Mischler bounced among a few companies, but the Indiana native said he "fell in love with Southern California" and wasn't interested in leaving.
Mischler had long considered becoming a stockbroker, but it wasn't until he was selling tax shelter investments in the early 1980s that he worked his way into the financial services industry. A chance encounter with an old classmate led to a job as an account executive with broker-dealer Liberty Capital Markets Inc. Mischler felt at home and had no ambitions to start his own outfit, but he didn't know there was legislation on the way in California that would open up new opportunities for him.
In 1989, state officials established the Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program with the goal of awarding 3 percent of state contract dollars to companies run by injured veterans.
The legislation was embraced by CalPERS, which was looking to do business with veteran-owned firms but couldn't find any in the investment world. Mischler didn't advertise his service-disabled status. But after a colleague mentioned his name to CalPERS officials, Mischler met with the state treasurer, who urged Mischler to start his own firm. In 1994, Mischler Financial Group launched with six employees and a big-name client in CalPERS.
"CalPERS probably gave us the first big shot," he said. "They pretty much opened the door."
Still, the firm's leaders said they wanted to succeed on their own merits.
"We really did not lean on the disabled veteran status that much," said Doyle Holmes, the co-founder of Liberty Capital Markets who became president and chief operating officer of Mischler Financial Group. "Most of our accounts in the early days were accounts that we had had for years before."
Change of command
The firm remained small and limited in its capabilities until bringing on a new CEO in 2011 with the explicit goal of expanding the business.
"We didn't really have ambitions to be a big, big firm," Holmes said, "until we got Dean."
Dean Chamberlain was an ideal candidate to grow the firm. The former head of fixed income for the Americas for Nomura Securities International, Chamberlain had a strong track record in the securities industry – and he just so happened to be a service-disabled military veteran.
After graduating from West Point in 1985, the artillery officer was training for the special forces when he injured his shoulder during a parachute jump.
"I was told that if I kept doing what I was doing, I was going to need a fake shoulder within about four or five years," he said.
Chamberlain opted instead to get his Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University and start a career in finance. He worked for major companies such as Banc of America Securities LLC and Nomura, but eventually he decided he wanted to start his own firm.
Chamberlain had known Mischler for years by that point, and as the two talked about Chamberlain's new firm, they decided instead to join forces.
"We just thought it was a good idea if I came in to help grow their business and ... add some robust Wall Street capability to it," said Chamberlain, who is 52.
In the two years since Chamberlain took the helm, the firm has more than doubled its employee count to 50 and now has offices in Chicago; Detroit; Boston; Stamford, Conn.; and Red Bank, N.J. Chamberlain works primarily out of the firm's Stamford office, but he comes to Newport Beach about every other month.
Though the firm doesn't train unqualified workers, executives say they will have a preference for qualified job candidates who are military veterans; currently, 10 of Mischler Financial Group's employees have served, including veterans of Vietnam and Iraq.
The firm, which won't discuss its revenues or income, also has expanded its services to capital-markets underwriting. That means when large corporations want to raise capital by selling bonds, Mischler Financial Group is brought in to distribute those bonds to its clients. In the past year, the firm has helped underwrite multibillion-dollar offerings from major names such as GE Capital Corp., Fannie Mae and Bank of America Corp.
"They do their job very well," said Hans Walsh, chief compliance officer with Bernzott Capital Advisors, a Camarillo-based money manager that has used Mischler Financial Group to execute trades for several years. "If they weren't good at what they did, regardless of their designation, we wouldn't use them."
Contact the writer: 714-796-7922 or rclough@ocregister.com Most Popular | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/2054 | CFTC, SEC bring charges on two Ponzi schemes, off-exchange forex scheme
Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed complaints on two separate Ponzi schemes, operating in Missouri and Georgia. The CFTC filed a federal civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division, charging Grahame Rhodes of St. Louis, Missouri, with fraud in connection with operating a decade-long, multi-million dollar commodity pool Ponzi scheme. The SEC also announced charges against a private fund manager and his Atlanta-based investment advisory firm for defrauding investors in a purported "fund-of-funds" and then trying to hide trading losses by creating new private funds to make money to pay back the original fund investors.
According to the CFTC complaint, Rhodes operated a Ponzi scheme that specifically targeted his family and friends and fraudulently obtained at least $2.1 million from at least 12 individuals to trade commodity futures in a pooled investment account. Rhodes was never registered with the CFTC in anyway. Rhodes allegedly solicited prospective pool participants by pretending to be a successful, but cautious, trader who earned annual rates ranging between 20 and 50 percent trading E-mini S&P futures contracts. In reality, he consistently lost money and made fraudulent representations about his firm and his activities to keep the scheme alive.
The SEC is seeking an emergency court order to freeze t......................To view our full article Click here | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/2111 | Capital InvestmentZ
> Predrax
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IronFire Eric Jackson
Comcast Ventures. Y Combinator. MSCI. Ram Research. Islamic Finance. Global Real estate. Lerer Ventures : Thrillist. Gust New York Angel. National Venture Capital Association. Colony Capital Management. NVCA. Venture capital. In addition to angel investing and other seed funding options, venture capital is attractive for new companies with limited operating history that are too small to raise capital in the public markets and have not reached the point where they are able to secure a bank loan or complete a debt offering. In exchange for the high risk that venture capitalists assume by investing in smaller and less mature companies, venture capitalists usually get significant control over company decisions, in addition to a significant portion of the company's ownership (and consequently value). Venture capital is also associated with job creation (accounting for 2% of US GDP),[2] the knowledge economy, and used as a proxy measure of innovation within an economic sector or geography. Every year, there are nearly 2 million businesses created in the USA, and 600–800 get venture capital funding. History[edit] Origins of modern private equity[edit] J.H. Early venture capital and the growth of Silicon Valley[edit]
Private equity - Wiki. A private equity investment will generally be made by a private equity firm, a venture capital firm or an angel investor. Each of these categories of investor has its own set of goals, preferences and investment strategies; however, all provide working capital to a target company to nurture expansion, new-product development, or restructuring of the company’s operations, management, or ownership.[2] Bloomberg Businessweek has called private equity a rebranding of leveraged buyout firms after the 1980s. Among the most common investment strategies in private equity are: leveraged buyouts, venture capital, growth capital, distressed investments and mezzanine capital. In a typical leveraged buyout transaction, a private equity firm buys majority control of an existing or mature firm. Private equity is also often grouped into a broader category called private capital, generally used to describe capital supporting any long-term, illiquid investment strategy. Strategies[edit] Notes:
List of private equity firms. The following are several lists of notable private equity firms based on criteria laid out in each list. Largest private equity firms[edit] The following is a ranking of the largest private equity firms published in 2013. The ranking was compiled by Private Equity International.[1] The list includes very few venture capital firms, which tend to be smaller than their leveraged buyout counterparts; for a list of those see List of venture capital firms. List of investment banking private equity groups[edit] The following is a list of notable private equity firms and merchant banking and other private equity groups that currently reside within investment banking firms or have previously completed a spinout from an investment banking firm: [defunct]
Private equity secondary market - Wiki. In finance, the private equity secondary market (also often called private equity secondaries or secondaries) refers to the buying and selling of pre-existing investor commitments to private equity and other alternative investment funds. Sellers of private equity investments sell not only the investments in the fund but also their remaining unfunded commitments to the funds. By its nature, the private equity asset class is illiquid, intended to be a long-term investment for buy-and-hold investors. For the vast majority of private equity investments, there is no listed public market; however, there is a robust and maturing secondary market available for sellers of private equity assets. Driven by strong demand for private equity exposure, a significant amount of capital has been committed to dedicated secondary market funds from investors looking to increase and diversify their private equity exposure. Secondary market participants[edit] Types of secondary transactions[edit] History[edit]
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2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/2121 | Two new board members at UCB
Dean Simpson, former state legislator and owner of Dean’s Country Market in Perham and New York Mills, and Jeremy Kovash, executive director for the Lakes Country Service Cooperative, have joined United Community Bank’s Board of Directors.
Simpson is also an active 20-year member of the Lions Club in New York Mills and the Rotary in Perham, having served each organization as president. He has served as president of the New York Mills Civic and Commerce Association and board member for the Perham Area Chamber of Commerce.Simpson was first elected to the New York Mills City Council in 1973 and became mayor in 1977, a position he held until 2002, when he was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives where he served three terms.Kovash currently serves as a director for Minnesota Rural Education Association, Minnesota Association of School Administrators and the Perham Hospital Board. He previously served on the board of directors for the United Way of Otter Tail County and the Minnesota Humanities Center.Prior to his current position, Kovash was a teacher of psychology, political science and history in Perham.“I am very pleased to be involved with the board at UCB,” said Simpson. “We are fortunate to have a community-owned family bank that is community minded and growth orientated. Strong bank, strong community.”“Being asked to serve on the board is an honor,” said Kovash. “I appreciate the values of the bank and their continued commitment to our communities. These values are evident as the bank looks toward engaging young people in financial literacy. I look forward to working with the outstanding staff at United Community Bank and learning more for my own growth at the same time.”This announcement is another step in the process of structuring UCB’s long-term strategic focus.“We are excited about both the business acumen and experience that Dean and Jeremy bring to the table and look forward to their insights going forward,” said Chalie Cavanagh, bank president.The addition of Simpson and Kovash brings the total number of UCB board members to six. The other members are Jack Cavanagh, Charlie Cavanagh, Bob Cavanagh and Don Swenson.
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2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/2421 | Sign up with
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Why Marc Andreessen Is All Wrong About Bitcoin... By Alex Daley
of Casey Research
Thursday, February 6, 2014 4:53 PM EDT
And Failure to Understand That Could Cost Investors Billions
It never ceases to amaze me how hard it can be for the media to separate hype from real-world potential in technology.
On one hand, you have amazing breakthrough technologies like the CRISPR immune system, which go virtually unnoticed by the mainstream press, even as they create miracles every day.
On the other, there's the sycophantism of reprinting the hyperbole common among investors with a specific bias to push in their own favor, which goes unchallenged and unchecked. Hedge fund managers, venture capitalists, and other commentators with a monetary interest in their ideas—paid not by readers but by their ability to sell an idea for more than they bought it—speak out with few questions posed as to why they say what they say.
Like with Bitcoin.
Last week famed technology pundit and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen penned an op-ed in the New York Times in which he espoused the world-changing potential of Bitcoin—from freeing us from enslavement by banks to enabling social change globally to saving cute puppies from slaughter (OK, I made that one up). But he tells the story of a technology virtually unbounded in its potential for social and economic change.
That article, while articulate (as Andreessen always is), came just ahead of a meeting held by NY securities regulators to discuss how to deal with Bitcoin. This meeting was scheduled on the heels of news that the FBI had arrested a few noted Bitcoin entrepreneurs in connection with a conspiracy to sell bitcoins to the now-shuttered Silk Road illegal drugs/guns marketplace, thereby enabling that criminal enterprise.
The timing of these items is, of course, not coincidental.
Andreessen painted a very rosy picture for the potential of Bitcoin: one in which transactions on the Internet are not gated by banks and credit card processors—where the customary 2-3% fees these institutions charge disappear—and currencies can be freely exchanged absent from regulations. For him, as an active investor in Bitcoin-related startups (he's ponied up some $50 million), he touts this perceived benefit as the main competitive differentiator. So he's hardly an objective observer; it's in his personal interest to paint exactly such a landscape.
However, the reality is that most of the scenarios he posits in the letter will not work with Bitcoin or with any alternative currency, as they fly in the face of the very political and financial might that make a nation-state possible to begin with. Bitcoin threatens the hegemony of modern power. Its tolerance at any scale, let alone wholesale acceptance, would require the involvement and acquiescence of the very banks and governments most threatened by its existence. What are the chances?
The precedent, in fact, was clearly set when China cracked down on Bitcoin last December. Its central bank didn't outlaw or prohibit individuals from owning bitcoins, but new guidelines specify that it isn't to be considered a currency. The rules prohibit financial institutions in China from trading, underwriting, or offering insurance in bitcoins or any other digital currency. And China's top Internet retailer, Alibaba, prohibited the use of bitcoins on its shopping platforms as of January 19.
Moreover, on a strictly commercial basis, the technology will reintroduce huge problems to the payment infrastructure Andreessen means for it to compete with. These have already been solved. In essence, he advocates moving us back in time to the digital equivalent of the Pinkertons and train robberies.
To be clear, Bitcoin is an excellent technology, with many very good use cases. But for the average end user—be it an individual wanting to pay for goods or a merchant wanting to accept payments—the new reality of those risks will be more than they can swallow.
Breaking Down the Bitcoin Hype
Let me demonstrate with a bit of a point-by-point rebuttal of what Mr. Andreessen proposes is possible in his letter:
"The practical consequence of solving this problem is that Bitcoin gives us, for the first time, a way for one Internet user to transfer a unique piece of digital property to another Internet user, such that the transfer is guaranteed to be safe and secure, everyone knows that the transfer has taken place, and nobody can challenge the legitimacy of the transfer. The consequences of this breakthrough are hard to overstate.
What kinds of digital property might be transferred in this way? Think about digital signatures, digital contracts, digital keys (to physical locks, or to online lockers), digital ownership of physical assets such as cars and houses, digital stocks and bonds … and digital money."
Let me start with a firm agreement with Mr. Andreessen. This is precisely the importance of Bitcoin, its open-source demonstration of an algorithm for establishing trust in an untrusted network—an algorithm which has stood up to extreme scrutiny from mathematicians, computer scientists, and hackers of all stripes over the years since its release.
It's one of the reasons I'm an active proponent of the technology and its further development. However, the fallacy lies in how it's currently applied—as a tool to transfer cash—and its failings in the above.
"That last part is enormously important. Bitcoin is the first Internet-wide payment system where transactions either happen with no fees or very low fees (down to fractions of pennies). Existing payment systems charge fees of about 2 to 3 percent—and that's in the developed world. In lots of other places, there either are no modern payment systems or the rates are significantly higher. We'll come back to that."
It is technically true that there is little to no cost to transfer bitcoins between parties. However, it is not true that it's the first way to do so with no or low fees.
To begin with, there is the Automated Clearing House (ACH) electronic funds transfer system between banks. Any developer can create its own ACH-based payment system—vacation rental startup HomeAway, for instance, made waves in sharing how it did exactly that—and utilize the system for free. A handful of startup platform providers have emerged too, charging only nominal fixed fees (usually between $0.10 and $0.25 per transaction) to make the process very simple for developers.
Then there's the debit card infrastructure in the US, and many similar systems globally. Accepting debit cards requires a payment processor in the middle, but typically fees for accepting debit cards run in the pennies; rarely are they ever based on transaction size.
Nor does it cost anything to authorize a credit card transaction in most cases. The moving of those bits across the Internet is free.
The charges these facilitators provide is ultimately for the transfer of funds between parties. This is a subtle but hugely important difference. Moving money is far more complicated than moving bits. It requires the credit card processor to verify availability, process transfers, and most important provide service when things go wrong.
With Bitcoin, if you send your digital money to a disreputable vendor, there is no recourse to get a refund. There is no "chargeback" system. The funds, once gone, are permanently gone. It requires active participation from the receiver to reverse a transaction—and that's not always an option. This service is in high demand by consumers and is one of the reasons that they push vendors to accept credit cards: that customer-of-my-customer demand is what allows credit card companies to demand fees.
Also, with Bitcoin the sender and receiver each take on exchange-rate risk in the process, in exchange for the ability to effectuate the transaction without a middleman. It's a costly trade-off, though, as the floating exchange rate between Bitcoin and various currencies adds risk for both parties of mispricing goods unless they transfer in and out in real time.
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There is one thing you did not understand about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, which is that they are protocols which can be used to build other things on and much more flexible than the current systems. Bitcoin is like the Internet without the Web, still in it's infancy. It will take at least a couple of years for it to reach that next step.
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For over a quarter of a century, professional investor and best-selling author Doug Casey and his team at Casey ...
For over a quarter of a century, professional investor and best-selling author Doug Casey and his team at Casey Research have been helping self-directed investors to earn superior returns through innovative research designed to take advantage of market dislocations.
Doug Casey is a highly respected author, publisher and professional investor who graduated from Georgetown University in 1968.
Doug's book Crisis Investing spent multiple weeks as #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and became the best-selling financial book of 1980 on profiting from periods of economic turmoil: Doug's next books were Strategic Investing and The International Man.
Doug has been a featured guest on radio and TV shows, including David Letterman, Merv Griffin, Charlie Rose, Phil Donahue, Regis Philbin, Maury Povich, NBC News and CNN; and has been the topic of numerous features in periodicals such as Time, Forbes, People, and the Washington Post.
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2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/2439 | Investing in China: the pros and cons China was an explosive stock market performer a few years ago but then ran out of steam. Is now a perfect time to return?
It was an explosive stock market performer a few years ago but then ran out of steam. A perfect time to return? Photo: EPA By Emma Wall
10:15AM GMT 18 Mar 2013
Following a turbulent couple of years, the Eastern superpower is on the rise again. Can you afford not to have some of your investments there? Why is China important? China is the world's most populous nation, with more than 1.35 billion inhabitants. It also has the fastest-growing economy and the world's second largest, having overtaken Japan in 2011. Economists believe the Chinese economy will continue to grow by between 7pc and 9pc a year for the medium term. Last year, by contrast, the British economy had no growth. Ten years ago China's main contribution to the global economy was manufacturing, making it reliant on exports for growth. But thanks to the migration of rural inhabitants to towns and cities, increased consumerism and a growing middle class, the economy is increasingly driven by the spending of its own citizens. Related Articles
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Anthony Bolton sidesteps questions on his future
China now outpaces other emerging economies in consumption per capita by a considerable margin. But the Chinese consumer still supports many markets across the world. The country is credited with reviving the European luxury goods market, the Australian mining sector and global car manufacturers – more than a million cars were imported last year, compared with 42,000 in 2000. Two thirds were from luxury motoring brands. Unlike Western nations, the Chinese national purse is in the black, with large foreign exchange reserves. China has also been a key buyer of gold, its investment and jewellery demand reaching 255.2 tons last year, up by 10pc on the previous year's levels. How has the stock market performed? It has been a difficult couple of years for the Chinese stock market. Despite an increasingly domesticated consumer sector, many industries are still intrinsically linked to Europe – meaning that the eurozone crisis had an adverse effect on investors in China. The Chinese government announced a stimulus package of £370bn in 2008, which was subsequently deemed to be overzealous, and had an adverse reaction on the stock market. However, after several years of volatility the market is on the rise again, gaining steadily since June last year. What's changing now? In November China unveiled its new leadership, headed by Xi Jinping who was formally announced as president this Thursday. A new government is elected only once a decade, and although the political party doesn't officially change, some are predicting that this parliament may prove to be significantly more radical than the last. China's middle classes are becoming more informed about the true nature of their government through the internet. On top of this, many business executives are being educated in the West, meaning a generation is less tolerant of corruption and repression. While this may take a while to play out, it will have an impact on the investment prospects for China. Changes to labour laws in 2008 mean Chinese workers have seen significant annual pay increases. This has meant some US companies have repatriated their factories due to escalating costs. The impact appears moderate, with Chinese trade figures released last week revealing that Chinese exports surged 22pc in February, while imports fell 15pc. The trade surplus between the US and China is the highest it has been for four years – meaning despite China's plans to move towards a more domestically focused economy, it is exporting more to the US than it has done in the last four years. What are the big investment risks? One very large threat on the horizon is China's demographics. The West is already feeling the effects of its post-war baby boom reaching retirement. The pattern will be repeated in China, where the same demographic pattern lags Europe and the US but will be amplified by China's one-child policy, introduced in 1978. What began as a boost, as households had fewer dependants, is now a drag as that generation reaches working age. Not only are fewer people contributing to the public purse through taxes, but an ageing population has fewer children to support it and those retired spend far less than those in working age, damaging the economy. Some economists have suggested the policy will be relaxed and those rich enough to pay the fine simply do so. However, even if a two-child policy is introduced now, it will take 20 years to have a positive effect on the economy. There are other dangers. Many of the largest companies are state-owned enterprises, meaning that even though it is possible for foreign investors to own a stake, shareholders may find themselves relegated to second priority behind the government. Corporate governance is also a problem in China – company accounts are often incomplete or incorrect. Fidelity China fund manager Anthony Bolton fell foul of fraud in 2011, investing cash into the wrong companies. The manager has altered his approach so as not to fall victim again. How can you invest in China? Demand from investors peaked in 2010 following Chinese funds producing a return of 55pc in 2009, but since then it has been a rocky ride. China was the worst performing of all investment sectors in 2011, down 22pc, but there has since been a return to form. China funds have been among the best performers in the past six months following the election and improvement in investor confidence. Financial advisers warn against investors putting too much money to China – or any other single country fund, regardless of the size of that country's economy. "Most people shouldn't take the risk of getting specific exposure to China for more than a small proportion of their investment portfolios," said Patrick Connolly of AWD Chase de Vere financial planners. "For those willing to invest directly into China, we recommend Invesco Perpetual Hong Kong & China fund." A more sensible way to invest is through broad-based emerging market funds, which invest in other countries as well. Good options include JPM Emerging Markets and Schroder Global Emerging Markets, which both currently have 19pc of money invested in China. For investors looking for a low fee option, Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index fund costs 0.55pc a year, compared with 1.73pc for the Schroder fund. Advisers say, however, that trackers are generally better suited to developed markets, such as Europe and the US, where wider availability of information makes it harder for an active manager to beat the market. In emerging markets, funds run by managers may find it easier to find shares with unnoticed potential. • Want to know more? Watch out for the updates in our weekly newsletter: Sign up for free Investing
China business »
Emma Wall » | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/2542 | Resource Center Current & Past Issues eNewsletters This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, click the "Reprints" link at the top of any article. Citigroup Moving into Iraq
Bank hopes to tap into the nation's $1 trillion in post-war infrastructure spending.
By Stefania Bianchi, Bloomberg June 27, 2013
Citigroup Inc., the U.S. lender scaling back in some emerging markets, said it’s seeking to benefit from an estimated $1 trillion of infrastructure spending in Iraq as the country rebuilds roads and bridges after the war.
The third-largest U.S. lender by assets, Citigroup received approval this week to open a representative office in Baghdad and will consider more such offices and branches in the country, Mayank Malik, chief executive officer for Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and the Palestinian territories, said in a phone interview.
Iraq is the New York-based bank’s first country opening for six years and comes as Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat seeks to sell or scale back consumer operations in nations such as Turkey, Pakistan, and Uruguay, reversing an expansion strategy into faster-growing economies by former CEO Vikram Pandit.
“Iraq is a giant that’s waking up, and the opportunities are immense,” Malik said from Amman, Jordan. “The most significant opportunities are twofold—oil revenue generation and infrastructure creation. We estimate this to be a $1 trillion initiative over time.”
Iraq, holder of the world’s fifth-largest proven oil deposits, is boosting budget spending by 18 percent this year, to $118 billion. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that the economy will grow 9 percent this year, the fastest pace after Libya of 18 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
Corbat, who replaced Pandit in October, announced last year that the lender would sell or scale back consumer operations in five nations, including Turkey and Pakistan, as part of a cost-cutting plan that will eliminate 11,000 jobs. In March, Corbat told attendees at a New York conference that he might exit businesses in 21 more countries, which he didn’t identify.
Business in Iraq will come from international companies looking to rebuild roads, telecommunication networks, electricity, and water infrastructure amid continuing violence in the country, Malik said.
Iraq’s stock exchange drew investors in February when mobile operator Asiacell Communications PJSC listed after a $1.3 billion share sale, in the Middle East’s biggest initial public offering since 2008. The country’s two other mobile operators, Zain Iraq and Korek Telecom, plan to sell shares in IPOs to comply with their license requirements.
“The economic story of Iraq hasn’t changed,” Malik said. “Iraq is the only country that has economic stability and political instability.”
StanChart Entry
Foreign banks were barred from the country until after the U.S.-led invasion that ousted the regime of Saddam Hussein. Today, 15 international banks operate there, competing with seven state banks, 23 private lenders, and nine banks operating under Islamic rules, according to the central bank’s website.
Banks in the country are set for growth in earnings and assets as a surge in lending in OPEC’s second-biggest producer outpaces the region. Iraq’s rising oil exports and a drop in the prime lending rate to 6 percent, from 17 percent in 2008, are feeding the expansion.
The five largest privately owned banks boosted their combined net income by 207 percent from 2010 to 2012 and more than doubled earnings per share, according to Singapore-based Sansar Capital Management LLC, which runs a fund with $30 million invested in Iraqi equities. The country has one ATM for every 100,000 residents, compared with a regional average that’s 32 times higher, according to Sansar’s report.
Standard Chartered Plc has said it will open branches this year in Baghdad and the city of Erbil, followed by a third office next year in the oil hub of Basra.
As Citigroup and Standard Chartered enter the country, HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank, said June 25 that it may sell its 70 percent stake in Iraq’s Dar Es Salaam Investment Bank following a strategic review. HSBC will explore options for a sale and won’t subscribe to shares of the investment bank as part of its proposed capital increase, it said. HSBC bought the stake in 2005.
Iraq has seen an upsurge in violence since the U.S. withdrew its last combat troops at the end of 2011, reflecting tensions between Sunni Muslims and the country’s Shiite-led government. Terrorists killed more than 1,000 civilians and security forces in the country in May, surpassing the 712 killed in April, which was the deadliest month since June 2008, the United Nations mission to Iraq said in June.
“The political backdrop may cause some delay or distraction, but the economic fundamentals of Iraq haven’t changed,” Citigroup’s Malik said.
Taming Financial Risks in a Volatile World 6 Tips for Safer Business Travel ECB May Add Stimulus Amid Brexit Brexit Could Cut $40B from North American Company Profits Companies Turn to Consultants for Help on Brexit Previous
New Tools Help Finance Hire—and Get Hired
Wrangling Over Overseas Swaps Continues
Citigroup Inc. 379
HSBC Holdings Plc 141
investment bank 104
electricity 36
Standard Chartered Plc 25
Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries 20
Vikram Pandit 15
banking 13
oil exports 10
Michael Corbat 5
Saddam Hussein 4
IPOs 3
mobile operator 3
state banks 2
telecommunication networks 2 | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/2543 | Resource Center Current & Past Issues eNewsletters This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, click the "Reprints" link at the top of any article. Wider Window for FX Benchmarks?
Global regulators ponder options for preventing manipulation of WM/Reuters benchmark rates.
By Jim Brunsden and Ben Moshinsky, Bloomberg July 16, 2014
Global regulators published details of their plans to overhaul foreign-exchange (FX) benchmarks in response to allegations that traders colluded to manipulate rates in the $5.3 trillion-a-day currency market.
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) proposed changing how the most popular rates, from WM/Reuters, are calculated by extending the length of the one-minute windows on which the benchmark is based, and requiring firms to install systems to address potential conflicts of interest with clients. The Basel, Switzerland-based FSB set an Aug. 12 deadline for comments on the plan.
There are “clear benefits to having a wider window,” the FSB said in its report. “More data points would be available to help fix the rate, and it would be harder to manipulate.”
At least a dozen regulators on three continents are investigating whether traders in the world’s largest financial market colluded with counterparts at other firms to manipulate benchmarks such as WM/Reuters rates, which are used by money managers and pension funds to determine what they pay for foreign currency. More than 25 traders have been fired or suspended across the industry.
The FSB, led by Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, is also analyzing whether there’s a need for “alternative benchmark calculations” prepared over longer time periods of as much as 24 hours, according to a statement posted on the group’s website today.
ACI International, an association representing people working in foreign exchange, said regulators should focus on people who abuse the system rather than changing the rate-setting process.
“It is the manner in which it is used by certain market participants that must be scrutinized,” Marshall Bailey, president of the Paris-based association, said in an e-mail. “It comes down to the behavior of individual market participants, and the ability of their supervisors to enforce high standards through effective oversight and governance.”
The FSB consists of regulators and central bankers from around the world who seek to harmonize global financial rules. The board, which reports to the Group of 20 nations, set up a task force last year to try to repair or replace tarnished benchmarks in the wake of attempts to manipulate the London interbank offered rate, or Libor. It said in February that it would extend this work into currency-market benchmarks.
Benchmark Manipulation
“There will always be a temptation to manipulate financial benchmarks, as there is with the results of sporting events,” Michael Wainwright, a partner at law firm Dentons in London, said by e-mail. “The challenge for those who construct and administer a benchmark is to minimize the temptation by making the benchmark inherently resistant to manipulation.”
The proposals are among 15 recommendations put forward by the group to transform rate setting and bolster safeguards against manipulation. The plans were prepared by an expert group at the FSB led by Paul Fisher, deputy head of the Prudential Regulation Authority at the Bank of England, and Guy Debelle, assistant governor at the Reserve Bank of Australia.
The group stopped short of proposing guidelines for central banks that publish reference rates, saying “it is the responsibility of each to set internal procedures.”
WM/Reuters rates are published hourly for 160 currencies and half-hourly for the 21 most-traded. The benchmarks are based on trades in a minute-long period starting 30 seconds before the beginning of each half-hour. The most widely used is the so-called 4 p.m. London fix.
There is a “concentration of trading by dealers during the calculation window, although trading volumes start to rise shortly ahead of the fixing time,” the FSB said.
“At a minimum, this creates optics of dealers ‘trading ahead’ of the fix even if the dealer is managing the risk in relation to their client orders,” it said. “Worse, it can also create an opportunity and an incentive for those dealers to manipulate the market to make it more likely that the market price at the fix generates a rate which results in a profit from their fix trading.”
Traders used chat rooms to share information about their clients’ positions with counterparts at other banks in the minutes before 4 p.m., and agreed to push trades through together during the fix to maximize their impact on the benchmark, Bloomberg News reported last year.
The Bank of England said in February that it’s reviewing allegations that its officials condoned sharing client information going into the fix as it could reduce volatility.
Sensitive Time
The FSB is seeking views on whether the fix should start or end exactly on the hour, rather than be centered around it, and whether the time should be moved from its 4 p.m. spot.
“Market-making dealers should generally be aware of which times of day are most likely to be disrupted by news releases, and clients should be advised not to use fix rates at those times or when important data is due,” the FSB said.
Further recommendations for the setting of WM/Reuters rates are being prepared by the International Organization of Securities Commissions, a global association of market regulators, the FSB said.
Bloomberg LP competes with Thomson Reuters in providing news and information, as well as currency-trading systems and pricing data. Bloomberg LP also distributes the WM/Reuters rates on Bloomberg terminals.
The FSB is also “interested in seeking feedback from market participants on the development of a global/central utility for order-matching to facilitate fixing orders from any market participants,” the FSB said.
Such a facility would need to be “well governed and capitalized, with the risks understood,” ACI’s Bailey said. “The unintended consequences of further concentration of FX flows may not be what the regulators and supervisors want.”
Bond Fee Disclosures Would End 38-Year Debate
Interest Rates to Stay Low
Bank of England 124
Thomson Reuters 53
foreign exchange 43
Group of 20 countries 42
Financial Stability Board 30
Mark Carney 27
International Organization of Securities Commissions 22
Reserve Bank of Australia 19
manipulation 10
currency-trading systems 5
WM/Reuters 2 | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/2991 | Jobless Aid Applications Fall to Five-Year LowThe number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits fell by 4,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 323,000, a five-year low. Layoffs have returned to pre-recession levels, a trend that could lead to more hiring. The Labor Department said Thursday that the less volatile four-week average dropped 6,250 to 336,750. That’s the fewest since November 2007, one month before the Great Recession began. Applications are a proxy for layoffs. Weekly applications have fallen about 9 percent since November and are now at a level consistent with a healthy economy. The last time weekly applications were lower was in January 2008, when they were 321,000. Economists were largely encouraged by the decline. “This is a very positive trend and we should embrace it,” Jennifer Lee, an economist at BMO Capital Markets, said in an email to clients. The job market has also improved over the past six months. Net job gains have averaged 208,000 a month from November through April. That’s up from only 138,000 a month in the previous six months. Much of the job growth has come from fewer layoffs – not increased hiring. Layoffs fell in January to the lowest level on records dating back 12 years, though they have risen moderately since then. Overall hiring remains far below pre-recession levels and unemployment remains high at 7.5 percent.
Sculpture Returns to Civil Rights Museum Five months after it was moved out of the National Civil Rights Museum, the 7,000-pound bronze sculpture that was once in the museum’s lobby is back in the museum as it is undergoing a major renovation. The reinstallation of “Movement to Overcome” began Thursday, May 9, with sculptor Michael Pavlovsky along to watch the process of moving the work he created in 1991. The entrance is among the areas of the museum that will change in the first major renovation of the facility since its opening in 1991. The $27 million renovation will update technology in the museum and incorporate long-time exhibits with new areas that will add to the story of the civil rights movement. The sculpture was moved to an undisclosed location in the city in December as the renovation work began. The museum has remained open with visitors limited to the museum annex across Mulberry Street and some exhibits from the main museum building incorporated. Visitors have also had access to the balcony where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot during the renovation. The museum was built on the site of the old Lorraine Motel where King was staying when he was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Retailers Report Modest Gains for April Americans spent briskly during the early spring months in the latest sign that they’re encouraged by the economic recovery. Falling gas prices, a rallying stock market and gains in the job market all fueled Americans’ shopping habits even as cold weather tempered their desire to buy spring fashions. Revenue at stores open at least a year – an industry measure of a store’s health because it excludes results from stores recently opened and closed – rose 4.7 percent in April compared with the same month a year ago, according to a preliminary tally of 12 retailers by the International Council of Shopping Centers trade group. That continues a trend that Americans started in early spring. In March, revenue rose 2.2 percent. And for the combined months of March and April, the figure rose 3.5 percent. While big chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp and Macy’s Inc. don’t report monthly revenue, the stores that do offer economists a snapshot of consumer spending habits. In total, the retailers that report monthly data represent about 6 percent of the $2.4 trillion in U.S. retail industry sales. Among the big winners for April were Ross Stores Inc. and TJX Cos., which operates TJ Maxx and Marshalls stores. Both companies benefited from Americans’ desire to buy brand-name fashions at discounted prices. County Pension Fund Hits High Mark The value of the pension fund that pays benefits to Shelby County retirees in March hit a five-year high. The portfolio of the county’s retirement defined benefit plan stood at $1.01 billion in March. The last time the value was higher than that was in May 2008. Also, the fund for each of the first three months of 2013 has surpassed the monthly values for each of the first three months in 2012. The recent highs in the stock market – plus record-low interest rates – explain the fund’s recent performance. In a low interest rate environment, stocks tend to look more attractive to investors, and they push the market higher. Bank of Bartlett Continues Profitable Streak Bank of Bartlett in the first three months of 2013 enjoyed its seventh straight profitable quarter. The bank’s pre-tax net income in the first quarter was $618,204. For the quarter ended March 31, the bank saw a 39 percent drop in interest expense to $333,690, and a 9 percent decrease in non-interest expense of $3.3 million. Mortgage-related revenue for the quarter grew to $748,041, an 86 percent increase over the same quarter in 2012. Bank of Bartlett President Harold Byrd said the bank’s positive earnings reflect the long-term strategic plan the bank put in place several years ago. Pair of Health Groups Team Up for Happy Hour Healthy Habits is partnering with Get Fresh Memphis to host a “healthy happy hour” at 732 E. Brookhaven Circle later this month. The event, which will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. May 22, is called Fit and Fresh and will invite current Healthy Habits and Get Fresh Memphis clients, media and other health-conscious Memphians to enjoy samples of popular Get Fresh Memphis menu items, sip on complimentary wine and tour the Healthy Habits personal training studio. Attendees will be eligible for special offers from both companies the night of the event. Healthy Habits provides customized fitness and weight-loss programs in a private environment with certified personal trainers. Get Fresh Memphis offers nutritious vegetarian and vegan meals for people on the go. Council OKs Apartments, Golf Driving Range Memphis City Council members approved Tuesday, May 7, a golf driving range on Summer Avenue north of Sycamore View Road, a 240-unit apartment complex on 19.3 acres at Lenow and Dexter roads and a 69-unit apartment complex on the northern side of Shelby Farms Park to the west of Germantown Parkway. The council also approved a women’s resource center by Neighborhood Christian Center at 3028 Carnes Avenue. Passing on the first of three readings were ordinance proposals to set the city property tax rate and the operating budget that amounted to fill-in-the-blank resolutions at this point. The council’s budget committee continued to hold hearings on the budget earlier Tuesday. Also approved on the first of three readings was an ordinance by council member Kemp Conrad to eliminate pension “double dipping.” The proposal specifically bans city employees who retire and get a city government pension from being rehired by city government and then getting paid for their work as well as continuing to receive their pension payments. Conrad’s proposal would also require that retired city employees who go to work for any other local government entity would have their pension payment from the city reduced by whatever amount they made when working for the other government entity. The council also reconsidered its rejection last month of $99,312 for sewer repairs at the Cedar Creek Sewer Extension in an area of Shelby County that is in the Memphis annexation reserve area. City Council attorney Allan Wade advised the council that there could be legal complications if it didn’t approve the item. With the reconsideration the council approved the sewer extension. Outside Group Sends Warning to the Fed The Federal Advisory Council, a group of bankers that includes First Horizon National Corp. chairman and CEO Bryan Jordan and which advises the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, is concerned about several specific areas of the economy. According to the Bloomberg news service, which obtained some of the group’s recent meeting minutes, the council has warned of a bubble being inflated by farmland prices as well as its concern over growth in student loan debt. Jordan is the top executive at the Memphis-based parent company of First Tennessee Bank. The council, made up of 12 bankers, meets quarterly to advise the central bank. In the council’s Feb. 3 meeting, according to Bloomberg, the council said that a run-up in student loan debt has parallels to the housing crisis. MAAR Reports April Home Sales for Metro Area The local residential real estate market continues to show signs of improvement, according to recent sales figures. Memphis-area home sales for April rose 18.3 percent compared to April 2012, with 1,386 total sales recorded by the Memphis Area Association of Realtors. Sales increased 19 percent from March and the average sales price rose 5.8 percent to $135,104 from last April. MAAR also reported a 20.6 percent increase in year-to-year sales volume, with sales through April hitting $612.3 million, up from $507.6 million through April 2012. Sales volume in April totaled $187.3 million, up 25 percent from $149.7 million in April 2012. Dunavant Logistics Group Opens Southwestern Office Memphis-based Dunavant Logistics Group said it has hired Jim Lange to run a new Phoenix office as director of business development. Lange will be responsible for expanding all of the company’s shipping and supply chain management activities throughout the Southwest, California and Pacific Northwest. He will focus on the growing international demand for agricultural commodities. Lange said expanding consumer markets in Asia and the Middle East have led to a boom in demand for U.S. agricultural exports. ServiceMaster Clean Expands to N.Y., Atlanta The ServiceMaster Clean division of Memphis-based ServiceMaster Co. has expanded into Atlanta and Syracuse, N.Y., with new franchise agreements announced this week. The Atlanta territory becomes a third for the existing franchise group ServiceMaster Facilities Maintenance. And the Syracuse territory is a new ServiceMaster Janitorial territory. Commission Votes Down Grant Funding The Shelby County Commission voted down Monday, May 6, a $368,372 federal-through-state grant to the county Community Services division. The grant from the Tennessee Department of Human Services was specifically for emergency assistance with rent and mortgage payments as well as uniform and food vouchers, gas cards and bus passes for those at or below the poverty level locally. The body also voted down accepting a $225,000 federal grant to be used for a bus transit and workplace study that is part of the county’s “Greenprint” initiative. In other action, the commission approved a new five-year lease for Butcher Shop of Cordova LLC on county-owned property by Agricenter International at 107 Germantown Parkway. The initial term rent is $18,812.50 a month or $225,750 a year. The commission also approved a 240-unit apartment complex by Regency Homebuilders LLC at Lenow and Dexter roads as well as a gravel pit by Memphis Stone and Gravel Co. at 10750 Pleasant Ridge Road. And the commission delayed for two weeks approval of $1.3 million in federal funding from the FBI and a $3.2 million contract for a new Sheriff’s Department firing range. Commissioners wanted to hear more about who might use the range and had questions Monday about whether the Memphis Police Department would be among those using the range. BankTennessee Teams With Raymond James BankTennessee now has a relationship with Raymond James Financial Services Inc. that will allow the bank to now offer investment and wealth management services to its customers. The bank is working with David Lofton to help investors navigate myriad investment options available to them. His recommendations run the gamut from financial planning to comprehensive portfolio management. Lofton joined Raymond James in 2004 after seven years with Morgan Keegan. He’s a graduate of the University of Memphis. Founded in 1934, BankTennessee is based in Collierville and has full-service retail banking offices in Collierville, East Memphis, Downtown Memphis, Germantown, Ripley, and Lebanon in Middle Tennessee. The Daily News Claims 11 Green Eyeshade Awards The Daily News and The Memphis News claimed 11 Green Eyeshade Journalism Awards in the annual regional competition whose 2012 winners were announced Wednesday, May 8. Sports commentary and sports reporting in The Memphis News by Don Wade claimed two first place awards in the 63rd annual Green Eyeshade Awards for the 11-state Southeastern region of the Society of Professional Journalists that includes Tennessee. Wade’s commentary and reporting portfolios covered the local sports scene from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Memphis Redbirds to University of Memphis athletics. Graphic designer and illustrator Emily Morrow earned top honors for a portfolio of cover illustrations for The Memphis News including a cover story on the state of green initiatives in Memphis and a chess game illustration for a cover story on the schools merger. A portfolio of 2012 editorials from The Memphis News finished second in the editorial writing category among non-daily newspapers in the region. Sarah Baker’s portfolio of features including an Oct. 18 story on a group of women with real estate and banking backgrounds who formed a singing group placed second in the region for feature reporting at small daily newspapers. The Memphis News placed second in public affairs reporting that included a wide range of articles from reporter Bill Dries on topics from the Occupy Memphis movement to high air fares at Memphis International Airport to coverage of the local schools merger. Dries also placed second in politics reporting in the region for his stories for the weekly on the 2012 elections in Memphis and Shelby County. Reporter Andy Meek’s coverage of Robert J. Pera, the new owner of the Memphis Grizzlies basketball team, placed third in technology reporting. The Nov. 12 cover story in The Memphis News chronicled Pera’s career as founder of Ubiquiti Networks Inc. Baker’s June 4 story in The Daily News on homebuyers and Realtors using online tools for home searches placed third among all dailies in the region for technology reporting. And portfolios of sports and feature photographs from photographer Lance Murphey placed third for the region in the feature photography and sports photography categories among all newspapers. Jan-Pro Memphis Office Honored With Award The Memphis office of Jan-Pro, an internationally ranked leader in the commercial cleaning industry, has been honored with the company’s 2013 Founders Award. In Memphis, the Jan-Pro office is locally owned and operated by Trudi and Ed Pierami. They’ve led local operations to steady growth along with mentoring franchisees in their office and in the organization as a whole, and Jan-Pro International president and CEO Rich Kissane said they are the epitome of the ideal owners. The Jan-Pro Founders Award is given annually to the office that best exemplifies strong leadership, dedication to customer service and top performance. UTHSC College of Nursing Honors Outstanding Grads More than 200 alumni, students and friends of the College of Nursing at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center gathered on Friday to honor two alums. Patricia Cunningham, an associate professor and UTHSC faculty member since 1992 received the outstanding alumna award, while Susan Jacob, who recently retired as interim dean of the college after more than nine years at UTHSC and a nursing career that spans more than four decades, received the most supportive alumna award. Arts Commission Reinstates Arts Build Communities The Tennessee Arts Commission has reinstated its popular Arts Build Communities grant program. Through the program, the commission seeks to build communities by nurturing artists, arts organizations and arts supporters. Awards range from $500 to $2,000 and may be used for a variety of arts projects. Any projects that use ABC funds must be open to the general public. Applications are available at http://www.tn.gov/arts beginning May 31. They must be submitted online by July 1. Prior to submitting an application, organizations should discuss the project proposal with a Tennessee Arts Commission representative. Medtronic Launches Two Implanted Heart Devices Medtronic has put two new implantable heart devices on the market after receiving approval from federal regulators. The Food and Drug Administration approved the sale of the Viva heart resynchronization devices and Evera implantable cardioverter defibrillators. Cardiac resynchronization therapy devices are used to treat heart failure and implantable defibrillators are used to treat rapid heartbeats. The devices have longer battery life and can last up to 11 years, and they also contain new technology to reduce unnecessary shocks to patients, the company said. The Viva products can reduce the rate of hospitalizations for heart failure in the first year after they are implanted, and Medtronic said the devices are able to continuously adapt to the patient’s needs and preserve normal heart rhythms. Saint Francis Earns Tenet Circle of Excellence Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis said it has received Tenet’s 2013 Circle of Excellence Award. The 519-bed Memphis hospital is one of nine Tenet Healthcare Corp.-owned hospitals recognized for superior quality care, service excellence and operational performance. Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare operates 49 hospitals and 124 outpatient centers in the U.S. “I am proud to recognize them with this prestigious award as it recognizes Saint Francis as a preferred hospital for patients to receive care, for physicians to practice medicine and for employees to work,” Britt Reynolds, Tenet’s president of hospital operations said in a statement. Moore Tech Sets Enrollment Record William R. Moore College of Technology has begun its spring trimester with the highest enrollment in the history of the Memphis college. Seventy-eight students are registered for day classes and 168 for night programs, for a total of 246 students. That’s a 14 percent increase over the recent winter trimester and a 31 percent increase over the spring trimester last year. The 74-year-old nonprofit and private vocational college is at 1200 Poplar Ave. Survey: US Service Firms Grew More Slowly in April A survey of U.S. service firms says the sector expanded at a slower pace in April than March, as companies reported less business activity and couldn’t raise prices. The Institute for Supply Management said Friday that its index of non-manufacturing activity fell to 53.1 in April from 54.4 in March. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion. The report measures growth in industries that cover 90 percent of the work force, including retail, construction, health care and financial services. The decline in the index suggests some service companies may be starting to see less consumer demand, in part because of higher Social Security taxes. April’s weakness was largely because of a steep drop in a measure of prices. That index dropped from 55.9 in March to 51.2 last month. Nearly 70 percent of firms surveyed said they did not change their prices last month, while 10 percent lowered them. A measure of business activity also declined. Still, a gauge of new orders was mostly unchanged and businesses stepped up restocking, a sign that they expect consumer spending to pick up. Growth in the service industry depends largely on consumers, whose spending drives roughly 70 percent of economic activity. Americans boosted their spending from January through March at the fastest pace in more than two years, despite the increase in Social Security taxes that kicked in on Jan. 1. But other indicators suggest the tax increase is starting to catch up with consumers. Retail spending fell in March by the most in nine months. | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/3012 | USCANADALog In Aterian buys Johnstown Wire
Middle-market private equity firm Aterian Investment Partners has acquired Johnstown Wire Technologies. No financial terms were disclosed. BB&T Capital Markets served as advisor on the transaction. Based in Johnstown, Penn., Johnstown Wire is a producer of carbon and alloy wire in North America.
NEW YORK, May 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Aterian Investment Partners (“Aterian”), a leading private equity firm, announces that one of its affiliates has acquired Johnstown Wire Technologies, Inc. (“Johnstown Wire,” or the “Company”).
Johnstown Wire is the largest independent producer of high-quality, value-added carbon and alloy wire in North America. The Company focuses on customized specialty wire products consisting of cold heading quality, plated, and premium direct-drawn products where metallurgical quality is the differentiating factor. Headquartered in Johnstown, PA, the Company’s products are sold into a variety of end markets, including transportation, construction, utilities, and select consumer durables. Since 1911, and formed from Bethlehem Steel, JWT has been a pioneer in the industry, producing steel wire and maintaining leading market positions with a broad customer base.
Christopher H. Thomas, Partner of Aterian, said, “For more than 100 years, Johnstown Wire has been a leader with unmatched depth and breadth of its product portfolio and excellence in quality and customer service. We look forward to working with management and supporting the Company in its growth and strategic initiatives while delivering value to its customers.”
Walt Robertson, President of Johnstown Wire, said, “This transaction is a significant step in the Company’s history. Aterian is a firm with a demonstrated track record of expanding product development and capabilities, investing in operations, and growing businesses alongside management. Aterian’s support will allow Johnstown to continue to drive results through execution of its strategic plan and its relentless focus on product excellence and customer service.”
BB&T Capital Markets advised on the transaction.
About Aterian Investment Partners
Aterian Investment Partners is an operationally-focused middle market private equity firm. The firm focuses on complex, underperforming and unique situations generating $25 million to $500 million of revenue. After making an investment, Aterian, in partnership with management, seeks to focus on the critical growth, operational and liquidity initiatives of a business in an effort to drive value creation for all stakeholders.
For more information, please visit http://www.aterianpartners.com.
About Johnstown Wire Technologies
Johnstown Wire Technologies, Inc., headquartered in Johnstown, PA and formed from the assets of Bethlehem Steel Corp. in 1992, is one of the largest producers of value added carbon and alloy wire in North America. Johnstown focuses on segments where metallurgical quality is a differentiating factor. The company operates from a single 638,000 square foot facility in Johnstown, PA and employs 260 people.
JWT produces a wide variety of steel wire products made from carbon and alloy wire rod and hot rolled bar. The company’s manufacturing processes include acid cleaning and coating, wire drawing, plating, and annealing. For more information, please visit http://www.johnstownwire.com.
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2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/3137 | P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 While you prepare for wealth, prepare for balance
SHARE: By Michelle Singletary Published: Tuesday, May 7, 2013, 12:01 a.m. advertisement | your ad here
With so many families still trying to recover from the Great Recession, the wealthy aren't feeling much love from the American public. The average net worth of households in the upper 7 percent of the wealth distribution chain increased 28 percent during the first two years of the nation's economic recovery compared with a 4 percent drop for households in the lower 93 percent, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the Census Bureau.In real numbers, 8 million households saw their mean wealth grow from 2009 to 2011 to almost $3.2 million. Compare that to the estimated $133,817 mean wealth of 111 million households.So large is the wealth gap that it's hard to identify with people who seem to be so well off that they don't worry about outliving their money or how to pay for their kids' education.Like most people, I have trouble grasping why families with substantial net worth have so many problems. Yes, money can't buy happiness. But surely it isn't as problematic or stressful as living paycheck to paycheck.And yet we shouldn't be so envious of those who are prosperous. Many of their families aren't thriving."Few wealthy families devote the same intensity, energy and commitment to their human assets -- their family members -- as they devote to their financial assets," said Ellen Miley Perry, founder and managing partner of Wealthbridge Partners, a firm that advises wealthy families.Perry's seen a lot that money couldn't fix over her two-decade career. And now she's taken the lessons learned and put them in "A Wealth of Possibilities: Navigating Family, Money, and Legacy" (Egremont Press, $20), which I've chosen for this month's Color of Money Book Club.Before you scoff at a book aimed at the affluent, let me assure you much of the advice applies to the rising rich too. You might not own a private jet or a summer home in the Hamptons, but there's a lot in this book if you're making more than enough to overindulge your children and turn them into entitled terrors. "First-generation wealth-creators are often inclined to make the lives of their children easier through their financial resources," Perry said. That's not always a good thing.There's a line from the movie "The Descendants" delivered by Matt King (played by George Clooney), an attorney who is the sole trustee over his family's land in Hawaii that is worth millions. Many of the relatives need King to sell the property because they've squandered their money. King, on the other hand, has lived below his means and at one point says, "I don't want my daughters growing up entitled and spoiled." You have to manage your wealth so that you "give your children enough money to do something but not enough to do nothing," he says in the movie. Or perhaps you work so hard to earn a six-figure salary that you don't have enough time for your children or family. Think about these questions, Perry asks:•How do you keep your feet firmly on the ground in the midst of great abundance?What is the meaning of work in the context of our financial means?What is the fundamental purpose of our monetary wealth?If you are striving for success, you need to address these questions as much as those who already are wealthy. As we all labor to build a stronger financial life for ourselves, these questions should be front and center so we don't lose our way or our connection to our children. Much of her advice is about communication. Have regular family meetings, she advises. Develop a family mission statement. Talk about your family values. All the talk should lead to balance. Don't allow the machinery -- meetings, travel, projects -- that allows you to make money take too much of your attention away from your family. "But it's easier to pass down money than it is to pass down values, unless you have a plan and attend to it with the same thought as you do the wealth management," Perry writes.There's another major issue she sees in wealthy families time and again."Parents, who have themselves accomplished much and now expect more from their children than is healthy or natural," Perry writes.Guilty.I've done that, pushed too hard. Perry does a good job of showing me that in many respects, the rich are just like us. Despite their fortunes, their families can be as complicated as ours.Washington Post Writers GroupOnline chatMichelle Singletary will host a live online discussion about "A Wealth of Possibilities" at 9 a.m. Pacific on May 30 at washingtonpost.com/discussions. Perry will join her to answer your questions. Every month, Singletary randomly select readers to receive a copy of the featured book, which is donated by the publisher. For a chance to win a copy of this month's book club selection, send an email to colorofmoney@washpost.com with your name and address.
Story tags » • Personal Finance | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/3162 | Home→Collections→Accounting ScandalsIN THE NEWSAccounting ScandalsFIND MORE STORIES ABOUT:White HouseInvestorsCourt OrderEnronHalliburton| MoreFEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT ACCOUNTING SCANDALS - PAGE 2NEWSMutual Fund Leader Calling On Industry To Clean Up ActBy Christine Dunn Bloomberg News, June 29, 2002Vanguard Group founder John Bogle is on a mission: to use the $7 trillion mutual fund industry's powers of persuasion to regain investor confidence undermined by recent accounting scandals. Along with money managers Bill Miller of Legg Mason Value Trust and Christopher Davis of Davis Selected Advisers, Bogle wants better disclosure by companies and investors to approve stock option plans, among other things. "We would like to get all fund companies to focus on these issues" and lean on companies to do them, Bogle said in an interview.Advertisement
BUSINESSAudit Board To Publish RulesBy Robert Schmidt Bloomberg News, September 16, 2004The U.S. board overseeing the auditing industry and the main trade group for accountants Wednesday settled a 16-month copyright dispute, clearing the way for the regulator to publish a complete set of auditing rules. The agreement allows the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board free use of auditing standards written by the trade group. The board is setting its own audit rules, although it has temporarily adopted most of the standards written by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.BUSINESSU.s. Turnaround Hinges On War, OilBy Rafael Gerena-Morales Staff Writer, February 5, 2003The specter of war with Iraq and volatile oil prices have created uncertainty that will slow the nation's economic recovery this year as businesses delay major investments, an economist on Tuesday told a group of 500 local business leaders. These forces, along with the investor backlash stemming from recent accounting scandals, will combine to keep this year's economy to a 2.3 percent growth rate, said Gerald D. Cohen, a senior economist at Merrill Lynch in New York. That would be down from growth rate of 2.4 percent last year.NEWSLeo C. O'neill, 64, Helped Expand S&pBy Floyd Norris The New York Times, April 29, 2004Leo C. O'Neill, who guided Standard & Poor's as it expanded from an American bond rating firm into an international concern whose opinion could be critical to the terms on which companies and governments could borrow money, died on Tuesday at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan. He was 64 and lived in New York. The cause was complications of cancer, a spokesman for Standard & Poor's said. The death came less than a month after his illness forced him to step down as chief executive of S&P, which is a division of the McGraw-Hill Cos. Mr. O'Neill joined S&P in 1968 as an equity analyst but soon switched to bond analysis and by 1984 had become the top bond rating official in the company, with the title of executive managing director.BUSINESSYes, Even Warren Buffett Got A $60,000 Pay CutBy Helen Stock Bloomberg News, March 23, 2003Billionaire investor Warren Buffett took a $60,000 pay cut last year. The world's second-richest man isn't suffering, though: his stake in Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is worth $33 billion. The Berkshire chairman saw his 2002 pay fall 17 percent to $296,000. Buffett got an annual salary of $100,000, the same one he has received for 22 years, plus $196,000 in directors' fees for serving on the boards of companies in which Berkshire has investments. That's $60,400 less than in 2001, according to a filing.BUSINESS'02 Was Year Big Names FellBy Kathy M. Kristof Business Correspondent, January 1, 2003The year 2002 may well go down in history as the year of the fallen giants. A weak economy and widespread accounting irregularities fueled what by one measure has been the biggest year ever for corporate bankruptcies, with the value of 2002 filings soaring to a record $368 billion as of Dec. 25, BankruptcyData.com reported Monday. The number of public companies filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection was actually higher in 2001 -- 257 vs. 186 so far this year. But when measured by assets, the 2002 filings -- bloated by big names such as WorldCom Inc., Global Crossing Ltd., Conseco Inc., Adelphia Communications Inc. and UAL Corp.BUSINESSPension Funds Fault Proxy ProposalsBy Amy Strahan Butler Bloomberg News, October 6, 2003Ten U.S. pension funds, with more than $643 billion in total assets, said a regulatory plan for expanding shareholder access to company proxies still presents "nearly insurmountable barriers" to investors. The funds, including the California Public Employees Retirement System and New York's state pension fund, said the plan now before the Securities and Exchange Commission won't do much to open company ballots to dissident shareholders. The SEC is scheduled to vote this week on a proposal that would let shareholders put the names of some director candidates on company proxies if the dissidents can show that a company has ignored other shareholder initiatives.BUSINESSIpos Start Moving In The Right DirectionBy Kate Kelly The Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2002The market for initial public offerings may not be out of the woods yet, but it seems to have at least found a compass. Judging from their first day of trading, the 17 companies that undertook IPOs in the first quarter weren't the runaway successes of yesteryear. But in the days and weeks following their debuts, most of the quarter's new issues have managed to at least stay in the black, trading at or above their offer price. "I would characterize this quarter as being encouraging," says Mark Hantho, co-head of North American equity capital markets for Morgan Stanley.NEWSCoca-cola To Report Its Stock OptionsBy Alex Pham National Correspondent, July 15, 2002As corporate accounting scandals continue to roil the stock market, Coca-Cola Co. on Sunday said it will count employee stock options as normal business expenses, a move executives hope will boost investor confidence in the world's largest soft drink company. In recent weeks, stock options, once considered a valuable tool to link the interests of corporate executives to those of shareholders, has been blamed as a potential culprit in the accounting debacles plaguing corporate America. Critics, including President Bush, have been looking for ways to rein in the practice of providing top corporate managers with huge grants of stock options -- which give the right to buy company shares at a set price in the future.BUSINESSBusiness Loans Drawing More Review, Banks SayBy Amelia Gruber Medill News Service, August 31, 2002The recent spate of corporate accounting scandals has made Fort Lauderdale-based BankAtlantic start looking more carefully at the commercial loan applications it receives. "We clearly are spending extra time reviewing financial statements and we're asking more questions than we ever had before," said Alan Levan, the bank's chief executive officer. "Previously, we placed great reliance on accounting signoffs. Today we review the statements with extra due diligence." BankAtlantic is not alone in exercising increased caution.Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | NextIndex by Keyword|Index by Date|Privacy Policy|Terms of ServicePlease note the green-lined linked article text has been applied commercially without any involvement from our newsroom editors, reporters or any other editorial staff. | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/3364 | Brussels, 4 February 2014
Romania: Statement at the Conclusion of the IMF and EC Staff Visit Teams from the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission visited Bucharest during January 21-February 4 to conduct discussions on the combined first and second reviews under the IMF Stand-By Agreement (SBA) and on the status of Romania’s precautionary balance of payments programme with the European Union. Staff level agreement has been reached. The programme remains broadly on track. Most end-December performance criteria were met and structural benchmarks have either been met or are nearing completion. In 2013, real GDP growth picked up to an estimated 2.8 percent, on the back of continued strong exports, while domestic demand remained subdued. Economic activity was driven mostly by robust industrial output and an abundant harvest. In 2014, real GDP is projected to advance by 2.2 percent with domestic demand firming on the basis of a supportive policy framework, better absorption of EU funds, and an improvement in confidence. Historically low inflation is projected to decline further in the first half of 2014 before returning to the upper part of the central bank’s target band in the second half of 2014. The current account deficit is expected to remain between 1 and 1.5 percent of GDP, contributing to Romania’s strong external position, which has helped the country weather recent pressures on emerging markets.
The authorities approved a budget consistent with a deficit target of 2.2 percent of GDP for 2014. A subsequent delay in the implementation of excise taxes on fuel products will be compensated with freezes on the expenditure side. The authorities intend to continue fiscal adjustment in 2015, in order to reach Romania's medium-term budgetary objective of a structural deficit of 1 percent of GDP, while also accommodating expected further increases in co-financing of projects supported by the EU.
Monetary policy continues to be accommodative, which has translated into a considerable reduction in lending rates. Combined with the government loan guarantee programmes, this should enable lending activity in lei to start a modest recovery. Notwithstanding pressures on asset quality, the banking sector continues to maintain reassuring capital, liquidity and provisioning buffers. Progress on reducing state-owned enterprise arrears has stalled. However, corrective actions are being launched, including budgetary transfers and restructuring measures. An action plan to sustainably lower arrears over the medium term will be defined. Building on the success of the Romgaz IPO, progress toward completion of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of three other state-owned enterprises remains broadly on schedule. Regulatory reforms in energy and transport sectors are set to continue, as well as deregulation of the gas and electricity prices, in line with the earlier agreed roadmaps. | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/3598 | European Union Fines Banks Billions For Rigging Interest Rates By Bill Chappell
Dec 4, 2013 ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia announces fines against eight large banks, in a scandal over rigging interest rates.
Georges Gobet
Originally published on December 4, 2013 10:45 am European regulators have fined eight large banks a total of more than $2 billion over an illegal cartel scheme to fix interest rates. The fine, the largest ever issued in such a case by the European Union, comes after a two-year investigation into banks' collusion. And the inquiry isn't yet complete. Two American banks — JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup — are included in the list of financial institutions fined as part of a settlement deal. Several banks that cooperated with investigators saw their fines reduced or eliminated. "Barclays received full immunity for revealing the existence of the cartel and thereby avoided a fine of around 690 million euros [$938 million] for its participation in the infringement," according to a news release from the EU. Similarly, UBS also received immunity from what would have been a fine of around 2.5 billion euros — about $3.4 billion — in return for its cooperation. For NPR's Newscast unit, Teri Schultz reports from Brussels: "EU regulators found traders at some of the world's largest banks joined forces to manipulate borrowing rates, the euro interbank offered rate, or Euribor, and London interbank offered rate, or Libor. A record fine of about $2.3 billion dollars will be shared among eight institutions including Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland. "EU competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia says if the public could hear the conversations between traders found to be manipulating benchmark interest rates they would be 'appalled.' " 'They discussed confidential, commercial and sensitive information that they are not allowed to share with other market players according to the antitrust rules,' Almunia says. "Almunia says today's fines are not the 'end of the story,' as regulators continue their investigations." The two remaining banks are Société Générale and RP Martin. The collusion centered on interest rate derivatives denominated in two currencies: the euro and the Japanese yen. The overall fine of more than 1.71 billion euros reflects a reduction of 10 percent that was given to the institutions for agreeing to settle the case. The New York Times has this explanation of how Libor and Euribor rates are set: "Banks submit the rates at which they would be prepared to lend money to each other, on an unsecured basis, in various currencies and varying maturities. Those rates are averaged, after the highest and lowest ones are eliminated, and that becomes that day's rate."Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread. © 2016 MTPR | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/3787 | Arizona could hit full economic recovery in three years
State & U.S. forecasts from W. P. Carey School/JPMorgan Chase Event
TEMPE – We’re finally on the path to full economic recovery, and Arizona may get there in about three years. That’s the main message from experts who spoke at the 49th Annual Economic Forecast Luncheon co-sponsored by Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business and JPMorgan Chase.
About 1,000 people attended the event at the Phoenix Convention Center, where economists painted a generally brighter picture for 2013. “As of September, Arizona ranked fifth among states for job growth, and the Phoenix area was fourth among large metropolitan areas,” said Research Professor Lee McPheters, director of the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center at the W. P. Carey School of Business. “Arizona is expected to add 60,000 jobs in 2013, led by professional and business services, retail, hospitality and health care. We should finally dip below 8-percent unemployment in 2013 – down to 7.6 percent.”
McPheters added, as long as the national economy doesn’t drag us down, Arizona may see 2.5-percent growth in its employment rate next year. The state had 2-percent growth this year. Despite the jump, Arizona has gained back less than a third of the jobs it lost during the recession. McPheters believes it will take another three years to return to pre-recession employment levels.
In 2013, McPheters expects improved 5-percent growth in personal income, up from just 4 percent this year. He projects retail sales will go up 6 percent, from 5 percent this year. He expects Arizona’s population to rise 1.5 percent, and he believes single-family housing permits will shoot up a whopping 50 percent, with the local housing market now on the mend.
Both McPheters and Beth Ann Bovino, deputy chief economist at Standard & Poor’s, hinged their forecasts on whether the national economy can really pull forward; otherwise, Arizona will go down, too. The biggest question out there is whether Congress can avoid the “fiscal cliff” – where automatic spending cuts would kick in, just as various tax cuts expire. Bovino says that could plunge the United States back into recession and push national unemployment back above 9 percent by the end of the year.
“If we can avoid the fiscal cliff, then it looks like the economy could finally be in a self-sustaining recovery,” said Bovino. “We expect this year’s gross domestic product (GDP) to hit 2.1 percent, stronger than previously projected. For 2013, we’re looking at about 2.3 percent. Reports also show a stronger jobs market and signs that households are willing to buy big items, such as cars and homes.”
Bovino adds the U.S. unemployment rate was at 7.9 percent in October, and she sees signs more people are joining the workforce and getting jobs. However, she says the labor participation rate is still near a 30-year low, meaning more people will still be coming back to the workforce to look for jobs, keeping the unemployment rate low for a quite a while. Despite this, Bovino expects the national unemployment rate to drop to 7.6 percent next year.
She also has a good outlook for the national housing market, with housing starts already up 45 percent this September over last September. Bovino referenced a report that 1.3 million homes rose above water – with the value going higher than what was owed – in the first half of this year alone. She expects residential construction to go up almost 19 percent in 2013.
In the financial sector, Anthony Chan, chief economist for private wealth management at JPMorgan Chase & Co., says corporations remain flush with cash. They’re waiting for some clarity on where the market will go as a result of the fiscal-cliff situation and other factors.
“U.S. corporations are reluctant to go through global mergers and acquisitions or make big investments until they have a clearer picture,” said Chan. “Corporations are keeping high cash balances, in order to deal with the uncertainty. They’re making near-record profits in some cases, and many values on the stock market look good. However, everyone’s waiting to see what will happen.”
He said high-yield investments, such as bonds, and gold remain relatively attractive. The U.S. dollar keeps falling against currencies from emerging markets, as monetary agencies work through different strategies of dealing with the rough economy.
In the local housing market, Elliott D. Pollack, chief executive officer of Scottsdale-based economic and real estate consulting firm Elliott D. Pollack and Company, also drew some conclusions.
“Even though about 40 percent of Arizona homeowners are underwater on their mortgages, we’re starting to see a recovery,” said Pollack. “The single-family-home and apartment markets look great. Industrial real estate has improved quite a bit. Only office and retail have quite a way to go.”
Pollack adds new residential foreclosure notices are down almost 70 percent from the peak in 2008. Phoenix-area home prices are up more than 35 percent over last year. New-home sales are also doing well, with 67 percent of the local subdivisions active today projected to be sold out in less than a year. Builders are going to have to work to meet the demand, with less land and labor available.
Pollack sees a strong rental presence, with about 22 percent of local single-family homes being used as rentals right now. That’s up from less than 12 percent just a decade ago. Landlords appear to be buying up many single-family homes, and more people are moving to the area.
“In the absence of a fiscal cliff, things should continue to improve over the next several years,” said Pollack. “By 2015, things should be normalized. As I like to say, we’re only one decent population-flow year away from the issue being resolved.”
More details and analysis from the event, including the presentation slides, are available from knowWPCarey, the business school’s online resource and newsletter, at knowwpcarey.com. Highlight your Business Specials & Events on The HUB! Click here to see discount coupons and more ... | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/3947 | S. V. Date
The 10 Biggest Tax Breaks (And How Much They Cost)
By S. V. Date
May 29, 2013 The 10 biggest breaks, deductions and credits in the U.S. income tax code are costing the Treasury $900 billion this year, with more than half of that total benefiting the wealthiest 20 percent of taxpayers. Benghazi Review Leader Offered To Testify On Capitol Hill
May 10, 2013 When the House held its much-anticipated hearing on Benghazi Wednesday, one major figure not at the witness table was Thomas Pickering, the former ambassador and co-chair of the Accountability Review Board that reported on last September's attacks. Why wasn't he there? That's somewhat in dispute. California Republican Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, put the blame squarely on the shoulders of Pickering and report co-author Adm. Mike Mullen. The Democrats' Final Four On Gay Marriage
Apr 5, 2013 In the U.S. Senate, it's down to the Final Four versus the Dynamic Duo. Only four Democratic senators remain who do not support same-sex marriage. Across the aisle, there are now two Republicans who have announced their support. The new alignments mean that a majority — 53 senators — now support a concept that 85 senators voted to ban in 1996 with the Defense of Marriage Act. Voter Cast Off Charlie Crist Tops Florida Governor's Race Poll
Mar 20, 2013 Democrats who haven't controlled the governor's mansion in Tallahassee in 14 years could have a good opportunity to win it back next November. In Florida, An Email Trail On Redistricting Raises Questions
Feb 5, 2013 Florida voters in 2010 approved constitutional amendments by nearly 2-to-1 margins that forbade state legislators from coordinating with political parties or favoring incumbents when drawing new congressional districts. So what did lawmakers in Tallahassee do? The Republican leaders in charge of drawing new maps coordinated with Republican Party consultants to protect Republican incumbents. Rubio's New York Admirer Isn't Exactly Welcome
Jan 30, 2013 Anyone else noticing the love New York Senator Charles Schumer is showing for Marco Rubio? He's been calling Rubio courageous for pushing an immigration overhaul that many in his party's base despise. Wednesday morning he likened Rubio's appearance on conservative talk shows to "Daniel in the lion's den." © 2016 WUKY | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/4004 | Alaska Business Monthly / October 2010 / TransCanada Named One of Canada's Top 100 Employers Edit ModuleShow Tags
TransCanada Named One of Canada's Top 100 Employers Published: October 15, 2010
CALGARY, Alberta - October 15, 2010 - TransCanada Corporation (TSX, NYSE: TRP) (TransCanada) today was named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers. It is the first time TransCanada has been awarded this prestigious distinction which considers the employment practices and workplace environment of thousands of companies across the country. "TransCanada is pleased to be named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers. This demonstrates that we have been successful in creating the programs and culture that attract and retain top talent," said Sarah Raiss, TransCanada, executive vice-president, Corporate Services. "Our employees know that everything they do at TransCanada contributes to the company's success across North America." As part of an annual survey conducted by Mediacorp Canada Inc., more than 12,500 companies were invited to apply for the Top Employers distinction this year. Only 100 companies are named to the list. The application process covers eight key areas including physical workplace, benefits, communications, community involvement and performance management. In addition, TransCanada's employees participated in an independently administered survey that provided additional input for the judging panel. Employees were asked nine questions about different factors that measure employee engagement. TransCanada scored significantly higher on all measures of employee engagement than the average of other Canadian companies. Survey results showed: - 94 per cent believe in TransCanada's goals and objectives compared to the Canadian average of only 59 per cent- 94 per cent are proud to tell others they work for TransCanada whereas the Canadian average is 28 points lower at 66 per cent TransCanada has an exceptional North American team of more than 4,200 committed and motivated employees who bring skill, experience, energy and knowledge to the work that they do. The company-wide culture that guides TransCanada is built on the values of integrity, collaboration, responsibility and innovation. Earlier this year, the company was named one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers of 2010 and one of Alberta's Top 50 Employers. In 2009 and 2010, TransCanada was selected by Mediacorp as one of the Best Employers for New Canadians. With more than 50 years' experience, TransCanada is a leader in the responsible development and reliable operation of North American energy infrastructure including natural gas and oil pipelines, power generation and gas storage facilities. TransCanada's network of wholly owned natural gas pipelines extends more than 60,000 kilometres (37,000 miles), tapping into virtually all major gas supply basins in North America. TransCanada is one of the continent's largest providers of gas storage and related services with approximately 380 billion cubic feet of storage capacity. A growing independent power producer, TransCanada owns, or has interests in, over 10,800 megawatts of power generation in Canada and the United States. TransCanada is developing one of North America's largest oil delivery systems. TransCanada's common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol TRP. For more information visit: www.transcanada.com.TRANSCANADA FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATIONThis news release may contain certain information that is forward looking and is subject to important risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "expect", "believe", "may", "should", "estimate", "project", "outlook", "forecast" or other similar words are used to identify such forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements in this document are intended to provide TransCanada securityholders and potential investors with information regarding TransCanada and its subsidiaries, including management's assessment of TransCanada's and its subsidiaries' future financial and operations plans and outlook. Forward-looking statements in this document may include, among others, statements regarding the anticipated business prospects, projects and financial performance of TransCanada and its subsidiaries, expectations or projections about the future, and strategies and goals for growth and expansion. All forward-looking statements reflect TransCanada's beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the statements were made. Actual results or events may differ from those predicted in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among others, the ability of TransCanada to successfully implement its strategic initiatives and whether such strategic initiatives will yield the expected benefits, the operating performance of TransCanada's pipeline and energy assets, the availability and price of energy commodities, capacity payments, regulatory processes and decisions, changes in environmental and other laws and regulations, competitive factors in the pipeline and energy sectors, construction and completion of capital projects, labour, equipment and material costs, access to capital markets, interest and currency exchange rates, technological developments and economic conditions in North America. By its nature, forward looking information is subject to various risks and uncertainties, which could cause TransCanada's actual results and experience to differ materially from the anticipated results or expectations expressed. Additional information on these and other factors is available in the reports filed by TransCanada with Canadian securities regulators and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on this forward looking information, which is given as of the date it is expressed in this news release or otherwise, and to not use future-oriented information or financial outlooks for anything other than their intended purpose. TransCanada undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Edit Module | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/4085 | Bonds Go Back to Being Boring
With the Federal Reserve forced to wait until spring before attempting to scale back its bond-buying program, and no more self-inflicted government shutdowns scheduled until early next year, bonds should be less volatile. Now it's time to look for returns in bonds that carry a bit more credit risk.
Michael Aneiro
The Federal Reserve said nothing really new or surprising in its penultimate policy statement of 2013, and investors shouldn't expect any bond-market fireworks for the rest of the year, either. The Fed missed a chance to start scaling back its $85 billion monthly bond purchases at its September meeting, when everybody expected it to do so. Since then, a 16-day government shutdown and a debt-ceiling standoff further weighed on the... | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/4137 | Bloomberg Anywhere Remote LoginDownload SoftwareService Center MENU Homepage Markets Stocks Currencies Commodities Rates + Bonds Economics Magazine Benchmark Watchlist Economic Calendar Tech Silicon Valley Global Tech Venture Capital Hacking Digital Media Bloomberg West Pursuits Cars & Bikes Style & Grooming Spend Watches & Gadgets Food & Drinks Travel Real Estate Art & Design Politics With All Due Respect Delegate Tracker Culture Caucus Podcast Masters In Politics Podcast What The Voters Are Streaming Editors' Picks Opinion View Gadfly Businessweek Subscribe Cover Stories Opening Remarks Etc Features 85th Anniversary Issue Behind The Cover More Industries Science + Energy Graphics Game Plan Small Business Personal Finance Inspire GO Board Directors Forum Sponsored Content Sign In Subscribe Actavis to Buy Forest Laboratories for $25 Billion David Wainer, David Welch and Drew Armstrong February 18, 2014 — 4:17 PM EST Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp Share on LinkedInShare on RedditShare on Google+E-mailShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp Signage is displayed on the exterior of a Forest Laboratories Inc. facility in Hauppauge, New York, on Feb. 18, 2014. Photographer: Craig Warga/Bloomberg Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp Share on LinkedInShare on RedditShare on Google+E-mailShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp Actavis Plc, the world’s second-largest generic-drug maker by market value, agreed to buy Forest Laboratories Inc. for about $25 billion in a deal that will transform it into a developer of brand-name drugs.
The deal is a win for billionaire investor Carl Icahn, Forest’s second-largest holder who gained seats on the company’s board in 2012 and 2013, and pushed for a sale. Forest investors will get cash and stock valued at $89.48 a share, based on the Feb. 14 closing price, the companies said today in a statement.
The deal is Actavis’s biggest ever. It was the most active buyer of drug companies over the past three years, making $14.4 billion of purchases, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The acquisition will change Actavis’s mix of sales, provide the combined drugmaker with more than $1 billion in cost savings, and bring Forest’s brand-name products to more markets. “Forest presented an extraordinarily unique opportunity to create a new kind of company,” said Paul Bisaro, Actavis’s chief executive officer. He will run the combined drugmaker.
Actavis, based in Dublin and run from Parsippany, New Jersey, rose 5 percent to $201.47 at the close in New York. Forest, based in New York, climbed 28 percent to $91.04.
Actavis depends on mergers and acquisitions to sustain earnings growth, since developing drugs through research and development is so costly, said Ori Hershkovitz, a partner at Sphera Funds Management Ltd.
“They have promised the market that they would do a large amount of deals to keep the accretion alive,” said Hershkovitz, who’s based in Tel Aviv and doesn’t own Forest or Actavis shares. “If you can’t do a large amount of R&D, there’s only one way to grow and that’s through M&A.” New BalanceWith a purchase of Forest, Actavis will add the Alzheimer’s drug Namenda and blood-pressure pill Bystolic to its product lineup. The acquisition will add to earnings immediately, Actavis said.
“This is a company that’s trying to create balance between brands and generics,” said Brent Saunders, Forest’s Chief Executive Officer. “We believe, over time, that being able to offer customers a variety of products in both branded and generics will be something that will give us an advantage over many of our competitors,” he said on a conference call discussing the sale.
Icahn StatementAfter investing in Forest in 2009 and waging proxy battles starting in 2011, Icahn said in a statement that he was pleased with Saunders’ leadership.
“To quote Shakespeare, ’All’s well that ends well,’ and we applaud Brent Saunders, who, in less than 6 months at the helm, has helped to bring about in my opinion one of the best pharma mergers in the last decade,” Icahn said.
Saunders, the former CEO of Bausch & Lomb Inc., took over leadership of Forest in September with support from Icahn. Forest said last month it reached an agreement to buy Aptalis Pharma Inc. for $2.9 billion to add treatments for gastrointestinal ailments and cystic fibrosis. He will join the Actavis board.
The deal came together rapidly, Saunders said. “We did not run a full sales process,” he told investors on the conference call. “It was something we did very carefully but very quickly. Our board felt this was in the best interest of our shareholders.”
Investors FavorableThe purchase fits with Actavis’s desire to expand in branded pharmaceuticals and become less focused on generics, said David Maris, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets in New York. Investors probably will look favorably on it given the “deal frenzy environment,” he said.
Still, Maris said he wasn’t convinced the purchase makes strategic sense because Actavis’s financial outlook is already solid and overseeing the integration will be difficult, Maris said.
“We don’t want to be the grown-ups at the party, but we wonder why Actavis would seek to complete such a large deal when near- and intermediate-term earnings are, in our view, already in a good position,” he wrote in a report before the announcement.
Actavis was formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. The company in 2012 acquired Zug, Switzerland-based Actavis and took on the Actavis name. Last year, it purchased Warner Chilcott Plc for $9.2 billion including net debt in a deal that enabled the company to expand in women’s health and urology. That purchase gave the company an Irish corporate domicile that lowered its tax rate to 17 percent from 37 percent.
Greenhill, JPMorganGreenhill & Co. advised Actavis, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. advised Forest. Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Mizuho Bank have committed to providing bridge loans while Actavis prepares financing plans, the companies said.
A block of 5,000 options betting on a 28 percent jump in Forest’s shares that cost $2.55 million to buy last week more than doubled in value to $6 million today after Actavis agreed to buy the drugmaker.
The calls, which expire in January 2016, traded on Feb. 14 for $5.10 each, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Only 11 of the contracts were outstanding on Feb. 13. Forest rallied 30 percent to $92.65 at 9:45 a.m. in New York today.
Forest is an “excellent” takeover candidate for a larger pharmaceutical company and might get a “huge premium” thanks to its pipeline of drugs, Icahn said in August 2012. The company hasn’t been able to fully realize its potential because of a lack of scale and inefficient sales structure, he said in a letter to Forest shareholders at the time. Forest shares have more than doubled since then.
Icahn RecordThe drugmaker added an Icahn representative to its board last year to avoid a third proxy fight in as many years. Icahn’s qualms included the potential for the son of then-CEO Howard Solomon, who had held the job for more than 30 years, to succeed him.
Icahn has a track record of investing in drugmakers and profiting from their turnarounds or sales to larger companies. He invested in ImClone Systems Inc., which was sold to Eli Lilly & Co. in 2008 for $6.3 billion, and Genzyme Corp., sold to Sanofi for $19.4 billion in 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Other Icahn targets include Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc., which was bought by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. for $5.1 billion in 2012, and Biogen Idec Inc., whose stock has almost tripled in the past two years, the data show.
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Carl C Icahn | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/4138 | Charterhouse Said to Hire Banks for Elior Catering Sale
By Francois de Beaupuy and Jacqueline Simmons - Nov 26, 2012
Charterhouse Capital Partners LLP hired banks to sell the main division of the French catering company Elior (ELRNV), people familiar with the matter said. Rothschild, HSBC Holdings Plc and Credit Agricole SA (ACA) will manage the sale of the unit, which may be valued at more than 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion), said two of the people, who asked not to be identified as the process is private. The sale is expected to kick off in the first quarter of 2013 and will probably attract private equity firms, the people said. The Elior business being sold, which provides catering services to companies, schools and hospitals, posted a 10 percent increase in operating profit to 179.8 million euros in the year ended Sept. 30, 2011, according to Elior’s website. Sales there climbed almost 10 percent to 2.81 billion euros. The catering concession unit for airports, highways and cities isn’t for sale now, the people said. The whole of Elior may be valued at slightly less than 4 billion euros, two thirds of which is the catering business that’s being sold, one of the people said. An official at Charterhouse declined to comment on any process. An Elior spokesman declined to comment while the person in charge of the Elior stake at Chequers Capital couldn’t be reached for comment. Representatives of the three banks declined to comment. Elior, which was taken private by Charterhouse and other investors for 2.5 billion euros in 2006, said in March that it got the agreement of more than 95 percent of its creditors to extend the maturity of most of its loans and push back its main maturity to 2017. Founded 1991 Credit Agricole, Morgan Stanley and the bank then known as Merrill Lynch & Co. led lenders in providing about 2 billion euros of leveraged loans to back the buyout six years ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Elior, Europe’s third-largest contracted food-service provider, was founded in 1991 by Francis Markus and Robert Zolade. London-based Charterhouse owns 62 percent of the company that controls Elior, according to its website, while Zolade controls about 25 percent. Chequers Capital funds own 7.8 percent and other investors the rest. Compass Group Plc (CPG), the world’s biggest catering company, said in September that it would expand cost-cutting across Europe and restructure operations in southern Europe to combat worsening conditions in the region. Sodexo (SW), the company’s biggest rival, said Nov. 8 that the economic climate is weighing on profitability, particularly in Europe. Compass and Sodexo respectively trade at about 12 times and 11 times this year’s estimated earnings before interest and taxes, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. To contact the reporters on this story: Francois de Beaupuy in Paris at fdebeaupuy@bloomberg.net; Jacqueline Simmons in Paris at jackiem@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at bkammel@bloomberg.net ®2016 BLOOMBERG L.P. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/4141 | Office of Publications & Special Studies
Issues in Labor Statistics | Summary 11-01 | May 2011
PDF file of this Issue in Labor Statistics | Other Issues in Labor Statistics
How long before the unemployed find jobs or quit looking?
by Randy Ilg
Each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes duration-of-unemployment measures derived from the Current Population Survey (CPS). These measures include the average and median number of weeks that the jobless have been searching for work, as well as the number of unemployed persons by defined categories ranging from less than 5 weeks to 52 weeks or more. Analysts and news reports have frequently associated the mean or median duration measure with the length of time it takes jobseekers to find employment. However, the published data represent the current duration of unemployment and are not measures of completed periods of job search.
This brief report presents estimates of the length of time someone is unemployed before finding a job or before giving up searching for work. These measures were derived from the CPS labor force status flow data, which capture the extent to which the unemployed find jobs, leave the labor force, or stay unemployed from one month to the next.[1]
Recently, researchers at BLS linked unemployment duration for persons jobless in one month with their labor force status in the following month. In this manner, estimates of unemployment duration were created for the unemployed who became employed in the subsequent month, as well as for the unemployed who quit looking for work and left the labor force.
Labor force status in the CPS is determined for one week each month, usually during the survey reference week that contains the 12th; therefore, it is not possible to obtain information on the precise week between survey reference periods that unemployed individuals became employed or left the labor force. For example, if someone had been unemployed for 10 weeks as of the October reference week and reported they were employed in November, their duration of unemployment would be 10 weeks. However, the actual length of any one individual job search could have been as much as an additional 3 weeks�the number of weeks from the October to November survey reference periods.[2] Therefore, estimates of duration in this report are somewhat understated.[3] Data presented in this paper are not seasonally adjusted and, because they can fluctuate from month to month, a 12-month moving average is used in the charts, with the latest data point representing an average for 2010.
By the end of 2010, the median number of weeks jobseekers had been unemployed in the month prior to finding work was a little more than 10 weeks.[4] In contrast, prior to the start of the recent recession in 2007, the median was 5 weeks. Unemployment duration also increased among those who eventually quit looking and left the labor force. Unemployed individuals were jobless for about 20 weeks in 2010 before giving up their job search and leaving the labor force. Whereas in 2007, those who were not successful in their job search had been unemployed for about 8.5 weeks before leaving the labor force.[5] (See chart 1.)
The recent recession has had a profound effect on the length of successful job search. The table shows the distribution of transitions from unemployment to employment by duration of unemployment (in weeks). From 1994 through 2008, roughly half of all unemployed jobseekers found jobs within 5 weeks. In 2007, for example, 49 percent of those who were unemployed in the prior month and employed in the subsequent month had been jobless for less than 5 weeks. During the same year, less than 3 percent of the unemployed who found work had been jobless for more than 52 weeks. In stark contrast, 11 percent of transitions from unemployment to employment exceeded a year in 2010, and only 34 percent lasted less than 5 weeks.
The information on unemployment duration from the flow data also provides evidence that the likelihood of becoming employed decreases the longer one is unemployed. For example, the chance that a person who had been unemployed for less than 5 weeks would become employed in a subsequent month was about 30 percent in 2010. For those unemployed 27 weeks or more, that chance in a subsequent month was only 10 percent. (See charts 2 and 3.)
In summary, the length of time it took for the jobless to be successful in their job search increased sharply during the recent recession and in its aftermath. The median number of weeks unemployed doubled�from 5 to 10 weeks�and a far greater share of successful jobseekers spent in excess of a year in their search for employment. At the same time, the median duration for unemployed persons who were unsuccessful in their job search and left the labor force also rose dramatically. Moreover, once unemployed, the likelihood that one would be successful in one�s job search decreased as the length of time spent searching for work increased.
This Issues paper was written by Randy Ilg, an economist in the Division of Labor Force Statistics, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics. Email: CPSinfo@bls.gov. Telephone: (202) 691-6378.
Information in this summary will be made available to sensory-impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200. Federal Relay Service: 1 (800) 877-8339. This report is in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission. (Appropriate citation is requested.)
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: The author would like to thank Gregory P. Erkens and Thomas D. Evans in the Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics at BLS for their input in developing the various duration series and Matthew K. Daigle at Northwood University for his analytical insight.
[1] The CPS, or household survey, is a monthly sample survey of approximately 60,000 households. Because three-quarters of the sample overlap from month-to-month, it is possible to derive changes in the labor force status of individuals between employment, unemployment, and not in the labor force. For more information on the development and analytical uses of labor force status flows, see Harley J. Frazis, Edwin L. Robison, Thomas D. Evans, and Martha A. Duff, "Estimating gross flows consistent with stocks in the CPS," Monthly Labor Review, September 2005, pp.3-9, and Randy E. Ilg, "Analyzing CPS data using gross flows," Monthly Labor Review, September 2005, pp.10-18.
[2] In this example, the person�s labor force status would have changed to employed during the November reference period which is the fourth week after the October reference period.
[3] Estimates of duration also may be understated because only three-quarters of the sample are accounted for in month-to-month flows; duration estimates for months-in-sample 4 and 8 are not included and have been shown to be slightly higher. In addition, duration measures likely are affected by entry rates into, and exit rates from, unemployment. This analysis implies a steady-state labor market where entry and exit rates are stable.
[4] In this report, the median duration measure is used because it is considered to be a better descriptor of the distribution and is not distorted by outliers and extreme values, as are means. In addition, the mean duration estimate is somewhat biased because the greatest number of weeks of unemployment that could be recorded in the CPS was capped at 2 years through 2010. In the aftermath of the particularly severe recent recession, 9 percent of the unemployed were jobless for 99 weeks or longer in 2010. Data presented in this report encompass the period from February 1994 through December 2010. A major redesign of the CPS to improve the quality of the data derived from the survey was implemented in January 1994. One of the important features of the redesign was the adaptation of a computer-assisted automated instrument which permitted dependent interviewing. Dependent interviewing reduces respondent and interviewer burden, while improving consistency of the data from one month to the next.
[5] As a reminder, medians represent the length of time individuals had been classified as unemployed in the survey reference period prior to becoming employed or leaving the labor force.
[Chart data]
Table 1. Share of the unemployed who found jobs by weeks of duration of unemployment, annual averages, 1994–2010(Percent distribution)
Transitions from unemployed to employed (in thousands)
Less than 5 weeks
5 to 14 weeks
15 to 26 weeks
53 weeks and over
NOTE: Duration is based on the number of weeks unemployed in the month before becoming employed and, therefore, is somewhat understated.SOURCE: Research series from the Current Population Survey. | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/4281 | Europe: Economy
Another Bottom for Stocks Coming: Rogers
Wednesday, 20 May 2009 | 8:32 AM ETCNBC.com
The stock market may hit new lows this year or the next as the current rally has been largely caused by the money printed by central banks and fundamental problems remain unsolved, legendary investor Jim Rogers told CNBC Wednesday.
His views echo those of renowned bear Marc Faber, who told CNBC last week that the rises in share prices did not mean the world was embarking on a path of sustainable economic growth.
"I'm not buying shares if that's what you mean. Not at all," Rogers told "Squawk Box Asia."
"The bottom will probably come later this year, next year, who knows when," he added.
Governments have not solved the essential problems that caused the crisis but instead they "flooded the world with money," according to Rogers. Trying to solve the problem of too much consumption and too much debt with more consumption "defies belief" and will not work, he said.
False bottom
"I mean … you give me 5 or 6 trillion dollars, I'll show you a very good time, there's no question about that," Rogers said.
A long-term advocate of commodities, he reiterated that this will be the first sector to rise when the world gets out of the crisis, as investment in new mines, the oil sector and agriculture has been curtailed during the crisis and this will create a shortage.
"Fundamentals for General Motors are not getting better. Fundamentals for Citibank are not getting better. I can think of very few industries in the world where the fundamentals are getting better. But the fundamentals of commodities are getting better, full stop," he said.
"I think I'm going to make more in agriculture, I think I'm going to make more in some other real assets for awhile, I think I'll make more in silver. But I do own gold," Rogers added. (Click here to read why Rogers thinks currencies are the next crisis).
The price of oil is also likely to remain high despite the fact that the recession is taking its toll on demand, he said.
"You know supplies worldwide are declining at the rate of anywhere from 4 to 6 percent a year, yes, demand is down at the moment but in longer term, unless somebody discovers a lot of oil very quickly, the surprise is going to be how high the price of oil stays, and how high it eventually goes," Rogers added.
Jim Rogers Is Buying Yuan ... Read MoreSlideshow: The World's Biggest Debtor Nations | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/4351 | Filing 2012 income taxes? Five changes to watch for.
Laurent Belsie, Staff writer
If this tax season has a theme, it's hurry up and wait. After all the last-minute maneuvering from Congress in the waning days of 2012, culminating in the dramatic New Year's Day passage of a "fiscal cliff" deal, Americans have had to wait for the Internal Revenue Service to catch up. The IRS delayed the filing of all tax returns until Feb. 1. Some taxpayers will have to wait until late February or early March before they can file their 2012 income taxes because some forms aren't yet ready. Even if you can't file right away, don't put off preparing your returns, tax experts say. Here are new income tax provisions to watch for as you work through that 1040 form: 1. Reinstated tax deductions
That time again: Customers waited for help on their income taxes at an H&R Block office last year in Nashville, Tenn.
Mark Humphrey/AP/File View Caption About video ads
of These deductions aren't new. The surprise is that they're still around. In the fiscal-cliff deal, Congress reinstated several expired tax breaks, if only temporarily.One of the most important among the reinstated tax breaks is the deduction for state and local sales taxes. Tax-payers who take itemized deductions can deduct the sales taxes they pay in lieu of state and local income taxes. That might not mean much in a high-tax state like Connecticut or New Jersey. But it's a highly popular provision for residents of Texas, Florida, and other states that don't have a state income tax.Another reinstated tax break is the deduction for mortgage insurance, typically something homeowners pay if they have made only a small down payment on their house. Two other tax breaks still holding on by their fingernails: the deduction for qualified college tuition and out-of-pocket teacher expenses. All these deductions are scheduled to disappear after 2013.Another important deduction – because it directly reduces the tax owed, not just one's income – is the credit for homeowners who have installed energy-saving materials, such as insulation and energy-efficient doors and windows. The deduction allows a deduction that is a portion of the cost of materials up to a lifetime credit of $500.One provision Congress did make permanent – an inflation-adjusted form of the alternative minimum tax – means that taxpayers will no longer be subjected to the yearly uncertainty of whether Washington would enact a patch to ensure the AMT would not ensnare middle-income taxpayers. "If you look over the history of the last 12 years, the number of people caught by the AMT does creep up each year, just not drastically," says Mark Luscombe, principal analyst at CCH Tax & Accounting based in Riverwoods, Ill.
Trump gets a convention bump. Here's what that means. Who owns Gatorade: Coke or Pepsi? Take our 'parent company' quiz! | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/4355 | Mortgage rule changes not affecting luxury home sales much
Alexandra Posadzki, The Canadian Press
Published Friday, July 12, 2013 9:21AM EDT
TORONTO -- Ottawa's tightened mortgage rules seem to have had less of an impact on high-end real estate than on the overall market, according to experts.
"Most people who are going to buy a $3-million to $5-million house usually have access to the funds," said Elli Davis, a sales representative with Royal LePage in Toronto. "They don't really care if they pay a touch more."
In July 2012, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty made changes to Canada's mortgage rules in a bid to cool down an overheated real estate market.
These changes included reducing the maximum amortization period to 25 years from 30 for insured mortgages as well as limiting government-backed mortgage insurance to homes under $1 million, effectively increasing the down payment required on luxury homes.
Despite the changes, Gurinder Sandhu, executive vice-president of Re/Max for Ontario-Atlantic Canada, said volatile stock markets and low interest rates have made luxury real estate attractive for both Canadian investors and foreigners.
"People like to touch and see (their investment)," said Sandhu. "This is a really large investment for them and it's done well in the past."
Sales of single-family homes over $1 million were up by more than 60 per cent in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto in the first half of the year compared with the last half of 2012, according to a report released by Sotheby's International Realty on Friday.
Year over year, sales of luxury single-family homes were up a more modest 10 per cent in Calgary and down by two per cent in Vancouver and five per cent in Toronto.
"We had a very unbelievable 2010 and 2011 across Canada," said Ross McCredie, chief executive of Sotheby's.
"You had this massive volume, especially in Vancouver and Toronto, and obviously you can't sustain that type of momentum."
Sales of condos over $1 million were up in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary in the past six months but down year over year.
Luxury condo sales dipped by 20 per cent in Vancouver, 37 per cent in Calgary and 19 per cent in Toronto compared with the first half of 2012.
Davis has seen some luxury homes in Toronto that had to be re-priced in order to sell, but she said it's not a reflection of the market.
"A lot of the sellers have much larger expectations," said Davis.
Mortgage group says Canadian housing starts will plunge 25-30 per cent by 2015
Mortgage changes delayed home purchases, cooled down market, study suggests
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2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/4727 | NewsBusinessBusiness CommentJeremy Warner Jeremy Warner: Retailers face up to a slimline future
Friday 28 November 2008 00:00 BST
Outlook First housebuilding, now retailers. After banking, these are the industries in the front line of the deepening economic and financial crisis, though there are plenty of others fast following up the rear. Perhaps oddly, no major housebuilder has yet gone bust, but in retailing they are already dropping like flies. Woolies may be the biggest and most iconic name to have bitten the dust so far, but it is only the outsized tip of the iceberg. Scores of smaller retail chains have been forced to quit the high street over the past year.Unfortunately, the process is far from over. To the contrary, the number of retail insolvencies is expected to climb sharply in the immediate aftermath of Christmas.
The reason it is possible to be precise about the timing is that the post-Christmas period is when retailers are traditionally at their most cash rich, with the tills swelled by seasonal shopping but before the money is depleted by quarterly rent payments, which are usually made in late January or early February, or payments to those that have supplied the Christmas fare. So if bankers are going to pull the plug, this is the time to do it. Never mind other creditors, it is their own interests that bankers look after first. Insolvency is a cynical business.
Woolworth's didn't conform to this pattern because the cash position in the run-up to Christmas had been reversed. Everyone knew the skids were under the company, which meant that suppliers couldn't get credit insurance and therefore demanded cash up front. Bankers were faced with a situation where there was a cash outflow as the season of goodwill drew near, rather than the usual inflow.
With half-year results to announce, John Browett, chief executive of DSG International, the Dixons, PC World and Currys electricals retailer, was forced to spend most of yesterday trying to convince the City and the financial press that he wasn't about to go the same way. As with Woolies, credit insurers are said to be nervous about underwriting suppliers to DSG, while sales in the group's British, Spanish, Italian and central European operations seem to be falling like a stone.
A major electricals retailer in the US, Circuit City, has already suffered the same fate as Woolies in the UK. Worries about the company's solvency have caused credit insurance to dry up, forcing the company to pay cash for supplies and driving the company into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Might not DSG find itself in a similar bind?
Absolutely not, insists Mr Browett. Unlike either Woolies or Circuit City, DSG is relatively ungeared and is in market leading positions in most of the countries it operates in. The dividend has been axed to save cash, but however bad things get in the core British business, the group's wide geographical spread with strong and highly profitable businesses in Scandinavia should enable the company to see out the recession relatively unscathed.
Yet whatever Mr Browett says, it is easy to see why investors are running scared. Woolies was a special case with serious issues around structure and format, but in general the retailers hit hardest by the downturn are those such as DSG selling relatively big ticket items heavily dependent on credit card or consumer credit.
What's more, unlike almost every other area of retailing, which is downsizing fast to cope with the ever shrinking market, capacity in electricals is set to expand with the arrival on these shores of Best Buy from the US determined to eat DSG's lunch. We'll see.
The bottom line is that across the retailing sector as a whole, we are into a period of massive consolidation in which the number of high street outlets is likely to shrink dramatically. Strange to recall that less than two years ago, virtually every retailer worthy of the name had hugely ambitious plans for expansion. Even at the time, it was hard to see how the debt-laden British consumer could possibly accommodate all this extra space, but today the plans of yesteryear look like complete lunacy.
For years, Britons have been living beyond their means on the back of an unsustainable credit boom. Retailing expanded to match. If we have, on average, been spending roughly 10 per cent more per year than we were earning, which if anything is probably an underestimate, then retail space will have to shrink by at least that amount to come back in line with means, and that's before taking account of the hit to demand from rising unemployment. That's quite an adjustment, much of which is still to come. More about: | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/4826 | How to Find a Real Deal at Outlet Malls
These discount shopping centers offer consumers loads of supposed bargains. But is it always money well spent? Here are five guidelines.
By Andrea Browne TaylorSee my bio, plus links to all my recent stories., September 11, 2012
The Great Recession has been tough on shoppers' wallets, but it's meant more business for outlet malls. A long car ride to the exurbs of the big cities, where such malls have sprung up, has become a regular routine for many consumers seeking savings on brand-name merchandise, says Catherine Moellering, executive vice-president of Tobe, a New York–based fashion-trend-forecasting firm. On average, outlet-mall shoppers made the pilgrimage nine times in 2010 and spent $165 per trip, according to Linda Humphers, editor in chief of Value Retail News, a trade publication. That's almost a 20% increase from $137 per trip in 2005, she says.TAKE OUR QUIZ: Outlet Malls: Deal or No Deal?
But are shoppers always getting a good deal? Before gassing up your car, here are five things you should know about shopping at outlet malls:
1. Why You Feel the Urge to Buy
Consider the psychology of outlet malls: Developers know that it's one thing for you to walk into a neighborhood mall, browse, and walk out without purchasing anything. But when you travel an hour or more, the pressure to buy is on. That's why most outlet malls are on the outskirts of tourist-friendly cities and at least 30 miles away from full-price retailers, according to Consumer Reports magazine, which conducted a reader survey last year that found 60% of respondents were satisfied with their outlet experience. When you've driven all that way just to bargain-shop, you can't leave empty-handed, right?
Then there are the price tags merchants use at outlet malls, which prominently display a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) for comparison with the outlet price. It's almost like a car sticker price (and who pays sticker price, except for chumps?). "A lot of the products with price tags that list the MSRP were made strictly for the outlet and have never been for sale in the retail store. Shoppers think they're getting a big deal in comparison to retail prices and they're really not," says Max Levitte, co-founder and CEO of consumer news site Cheapism.com.
2. Call Ahead, Shop Early
Outlet malls operate on a principal of moving merchandise out the door as quickly as possible. First come, first served. So, if you're investing all that gas money to purchase a hot-ticket item, call ahead to find out when a desired store's latest shipment is scheduled to come in, suggests Sarah Lahey, co-author of Frommer's "Born to Shop" travel guide series. Then, shop as early in the day as you can. You’ll get a better selection of items, such as clothes that haven't already been picked over and household goods that haven’t been handled (and potentially damaged) by hundreds of other shoppers. "The Tuesday following a holiday weekend isn't when you'll find the best inventory," Lahey says.
3. Do Your Research
Never assume you're getting the lowest prices possible at outlet malls. If you're prepping for an outlet trip, be sure to check out their Web site a day or two in advance for special offers. In the Washington, D.C. area, for example, visitors to Potomac Mills outlet mall can go to its parent company's Web site, www.simon.com, to print out online-exclusive coupons. Or, stop by the management office at the mall to pick up a coupon book for additional savings on purchases at participating stores. "These are usually given to bus and tour groups, but they are almost always available for the asking," Lahey says.
4. Those Deep Discounts Might Cost You Later
The siren call of outlet malls are great deals on name brands. These discounts average about 38% more than what you'd get at a retail store, Humphers says. However, quality may suffer for the sake of those low prices. Outlets stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue's Off Fifth and Neiman Marcus's Last Call sell leftover merchandise from their full-price stores along with items made for the outlet store, Lahey says.
Here's where things can get tricky: Clothing that's designed specifically for outlet malls in many cases isn't the same quality as similar items sold at retail value, according to a Cheapism.com study conducted last year, which tested the quality of outlet versus retail goods. Some brands even use cheaper fabrics and manufacturing techniques that don’t hold up as well. So, spending $50 on a silk-blend blouse from a high-end outlet store isn't really a deal if you have to replace it a year later. "If you're buying something like a sweater or jacket and the thickness of the material is important to you, then you should consider buying retail," Levitte recommends. (See our story: Cheap Clothing Is a Costly Mistake.)
5. Get the Biggest Bang for Your Buck
Think strategically: If you're looking to stock up on low-priced items for fall or winter, you should visit an outlet mall in early spring, when out-of-season merchandise is likely to be on sale, says Clementine Martin Illanes, a retail strategist with consultancy Kurt Salmon. Shoppers who frequent outlet malls often have this tactic down pat.
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2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/4827 | Credit & Money Management
7 Ways to Check Out a Charity
Make sure you’re donating to a first-rate organization.
By Jane Bennett ClarkSee my bio, plus links to all my recent stories., January 2009
Follow @JaneBClark
Editor's note: This article was updated in December 2009.A 5.7% drop in donations over a recent 12-month period -- the biggest decline in more than 50 years -- means that charities need your money now more than ever. It also means that you need to be sure a charity wrings the most possible good out of your gift.
Here are seven measures of a charity’s ability to deliver on your good intentions:
Efficiency. Expect the charity to devote at least 75% of its budget to programs, with the remaining 25% going to administrative costs and fund-raising. Seven out of ten charities meet or exceed the 75% standard, says Matt Viola, of Charity Navigator, a charity evaluator. Those that allocate more than 25% on overhead are wasting precious resources.
Concrete results. Check the mission statement on the organization’s Web site to see that the group has clear goals and the ability to execute them. For instance, if the group claims to protect land, find out how much land it protected in a given period. Some nonprofits muddle along for years without making a dent in their core mission or achieving long-term results. If you have questions about a charity’s effectiveness, call the staff and invite them to respond. Advertisement
Assets. Charities must file Form 990 with the IRS annually. Look at the line that indicates whether the charity has ended the year with positive or negative assets. (If you can’t find the tax form on the charity’s Web site, call and ask for a copy.) Ending one year in negative territory doesn’t necessarily mean the organization is going under, says Laurie Styron, of the American Institute of Philanthropy, which rates charities. But if the organization comes up short for several years in a row, she says, “that’s an indication it could be winding down. Your contribution could be used to pay legal fees or creditors rather than the programs you are intending to support.”
Capital reserves. Tough as it may be for organizations to maintain reserves when times are tight, “it’s even more critical now because they might need that capital,” says Viola. To keep the lights on while donations are down, a charity should have at least six months’ to a year’s worth of working capital, expressed as “working capital ratio” at Charitynavigator.org.
Auditor’s commentary. Often attached to the charity’s annual report, the statement includes the auditor’s assessment of the charity’s health. Look for the word unqualified, which indicates that the auditor has signed off on the charity’s finances without reservation. Qualified means there is some issue, “and the auditor will specifically state what it is,” says Styron -- perhaps the loss of a major donor or a precipitous drop in contributions.
Executive compensation. A salary of $158,000 represents the average annual pay for executives of medium-size to large charitable organizations, according to a 2009 survey by Charitynavigator.org. The executive of a complex, multi-million-dollar charity might justifiably command that amount or more, says Viola; not so much the CEO of a group that operates on $500,000 or less. “That’s a big part of the budget.”
Complaints. Most states not only require registration for charities that solicit within their borders but also track complaints against them. (Here's a list of the state agencies that regulate charities.) If your state does not require registration, look for information in states that do, such as New York, which provides a searchable database at www.charitiesnys.com. The Better Business Bureau also tracks complaints against charities.
More on Credit & Money Management » | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/5123 | Life insurance acquisition, navigation solutions buyout, ingredients production deal.
NorthPrudential Insurance Co. of America, a subsidiary of Newark-based Prudential Financial Inc., announced Wednesday it has acquired the individual life insurance arm of Connecticut-based The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. for $615 million in cash to broaden its insurance product and distribution capabilities.CentralNavigation solutions provider ALK Technologies Inc., in Princeton, today announced it has been acquired by transportation company Trimble, in Sunnyvale, Calif., to expand their logistics product portfolio. Terms were not disclosed.A subsidiary of nutritional ingredients manufacturer Innophos Holdings Inc., in Cranbury, announced Wednesday it has acquired mineral ingredients producer Triarco Industries Inc., in Wayne, for $46 million in cash and stock to expand its specialty foods business. | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/5138 | Home / Support us / J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan’s support for the National Portrait Gallery and the Fund for New Commissions
The Gallery’s relationship with J.P. Morgan spans more than 14 years. Through J.P. Morgan’s ongoing support of the Fund for New Commissions, the Gallery has commissioned 15 new works for its Collection to date.
Unveiled in July 2015, the portrait of mathematician Sir Andrew Wiles by Rupert Alexander was commissioned for the Gallery’s permanent collection through the J.P. Morgan Fund for New Commissions. Artist Rupert Alexander talks about the process of painting his portrait of Wiles from life under filtered natural light to cast a coloured hue on the sitter.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.6 trillion and operations worldwide. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co. serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands.
Through the company’s support, J.P. Morgan’s clients and employees benefit from unique access to the Gallery’s remarkable exhibitions and the people who make them possible. This, in turn helps to develop new audiences for the Gallery - its exhibitions, Collections and the Fund for New Commissions works. J.P. Morgan and the National Portrait Gallery feel that this collaboration showcases how business and the arts can work effectively together to help achieve their objectives.
“The National Portrait Gallery is delighted to extend the partnership with J. P. Morgan in 2015. The company’s vital ongoing support of the Fund for New Commissions will enable us to continue to commission new portraits of individuals who make a significant contribution to British life and culture. In London, and around the country with our regional partners, visitors come face to face with wonderful portraits of diverse figures including Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood by Juergen Teller, Shami Chakrabarti by Gillian Wearing and David Beckham by Sam Taylor-Johnson”. Pim Baxter, Deputy Director, National Portrait Gallery
“At J.P. Morgan we are delighted to renew our relationship, now in its 15th year, with this esteemed institution. Supporting the arts is very important to us, and our clients. We look forward to collaborating with the National Portrait Gallery and continuing to experience art through this important internationally renowned Gallery”Jose Linares, J.P. Morgan Head of Global Corporate Bank, EMEA
Hear Pim Baxter and Jose Linares talk about the Fund for New Commissions and the partnership between the National Portrait Gallery and J.P. Morgan. | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/5296 | dansk Deutsch español Français italiano Nederlands norsk português suomeksi svenska The Dow Jones Credit Suisse Core Hedge Fund Index Closed Up 0.72% in April
from Credit Suisse AG
NEW YORK, May 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dow Jones Credit Suisse Core Hedge Fund Index closed up 0.72% in April as six of the seven index component strategies reported positive results for the month.
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The Dow Jones Credit Suisse Core Hedge Fund Index provides daily published index values which seek to enable investors to track the impact of market events on the hedge fund industry. March, April and year-to-date 2013 performances are listed below and are available at www.hedgeindex.com.
Dow Jones Credit Suisse Core Hedge Fund Index
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About the Dow Jones Credit Suisse Core Hedge Fund Index
Following the market events of 2008, increased attention has been focused on liquid hedge fund structures, including managed accounts which tend to offer greater liquidity and increased transparency. The Dow Jones Credit Suisse Core Hedge Fund Index is the only hedge fund index to seek to measure the performance of this rapidly growing industry segment by sourcing funds from multiple managed account platforms, an advantage over indices which are built on a single managed account platform that may have a particular sector bias. The Dow Jones Credit Suisse family of hedge fund indexes also includes: The Dow Jones Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Index, an asset-weighted benchmark that measures hedge fund performance and seeks to provide the most accurate representation of the hedge fund universe. The Dow Jones Credit Suisse AllHedge Index, an investable index comprised of all 10 Dow Jones Credit Suisse AllHedge Strategy Indexes weighted according to the sector weights of the Broad Index. The Dow Jones Credit Suisse Blue Chip Hedge Fund Index, an investable index comprised of 60 of the largest funds across the ten style-based sectors in the Broad Index. The Dow Jones Credit Suisse LEA Hedge Fund Index, an asset-weighted, composite index which provides insight in to three specific regions of the emerging markets hedge fund universe (Latin America, EEMEA (Emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Asia).
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S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a subsidiary of The McGraw-Hill Companies is the world's largest, global resource for index-based concepts, data and research. Home to iconic financial market indicators, such as the S&P 500® and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC has over 115 years of experience constructing innovative and transparent solutions that fulfill the needs of institutional and retail investors. More assets are invested in products based upon our indices than any other provider in the world. With over 830,000 indices covering a wide range of assets classes across the globe, S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC defines the way investors measure and trade the markets. To learn more about our company, please visit www.spdji.com.
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Credit Suisse AG is one of the world's leading financial services providers and is part of the Credit Suisse group of companies (referred to here as 'Credit Suisse'). As an integrated bank, Credit Suisse is able to offer clients its expertise in the areas of private banking, investment banking and asset management from a single source. Credit Suisse provides specialist advisory services, comprehensive solutions and innovative products to companies, institutional clients and high net worth private clients worldwide, and also to retail clients in Switzerland. Credit Suisse is headquartered in Zurich and operates in over 50 countries worldwide. The group employs approximately 47,400 people. The registered shares (CSGN) of Credit Suisse's parent company, Credit Suisse Group AG, are listed in Switzerland and, in the form of American Depositary Shares (CS), in New York. Further information about Credit Suisse can be found at www.credit-suisse.com.
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Certain information contained in this document constitutes "Forward-Looking Statements" (including observations about markets and industry and regulatory trends as of the original date of this document), which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "anticipate", "target", "project", "estimate", "intend", "continue" or "believe", or the negatives thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology. Due to various risks and uncertainties beyond our control, actual events, results or performance may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. Credit Suisse has no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this document.
This document was produced by and the opinions expressed are those of Credit Suisse as of the date of writing and are subject to change without obligation to update. It has been prepared solely for information purposes and for the use of the recipient. It does not constitute an offer or an invitation by or on behalf of Credit Suisse to any person to buy or sell any security. Any reference to past performance is not a guide or indicator to future performance. The information and analysis contained in this publication have been compiled or arrived at from sources believed to be reliable but Credit Suisse does not make any representation as to their accuracy or completeness and does not accept liability for any loss arising from the use hereof.
"Dow Jones®" and "The Dow Jones Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Indexes" are service marks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC ("Dow Jones"), and Credit Suisse Group AG, as the case may be, and have been licensed for use by Credit Suisse Index Co., LLC and S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC. S&P is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC ("S&P"). It is not possible to invest directly in an index. S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P and their respective affiliates, parents, subsidiaries, directors, officers, shareholders, employees and agents (collectively "S&P Dow Jones Indices") do not sponsor, endorse, sell, or promote any investment fund or other vehicle that is offered by third parties and that seeks to provide an investment return based on the returns of any index. This document does not constitute an offer of services in jurisdictions where S&P Dow Jones Indices or its affiliates do not have the necessary licenses. S&P Dow Jones Indices receives compensation in connection with licensing its indices to third parties.
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2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/5651 | Tax-Weary U.S. Millionaires Move to Cayman Islands, Hong Kong for Relief Global advisory firm catering to wealthy expats says Texas and Florida are no longer good enough for those who’ve had it with taxes
Facebook billionaire Eduardo Saverin’s move to Singapore and renouncing of U.S. citizenship may mark the point when America came of age as a higher-tax developed nation.
Much ink has been spilled on the trend of wealthier Americans fleeing fiscally dissolute, high-tax states like California and Illinois, and heading for comparative tax havens such as Texas and Florida. The golfer Phil Mickelson made headlines recently when he wondered aloud about leaving his native California over its newly enacted steeper tax rates on the rich.
And when France sought to introduce a new wealth tax, its wealthiest businessman, Bernard Arnault, sought Belgian citizenship while one of its most famous actors, Gerard Depardieu, found a financial haven in Russia.
While in the American popular imagination, tax flight is something that prompts overtaxed Europeans to come to America (think John Lennon), Facebook billionaire Eduardo Saverin’s renouncing of his U.S. citizenship and move to Singapore in 2011 to avoid a $67 million tax bill may mark the point when America came of age as a higher-tax developed nation.
That is because anecdotal evidence, as well as the increasing rate of Americans renouncing their citizenship since the IRS started tracking the phenomenon in 2008, suggests that the wealthiest Americans may no longer be content to move merely to Miami Beach or North Dallas, but are looking to overseas destinations with less onerous tax requirements.
This heightened interest in tax flight is a trend spotted by Nigel Green, CEO of the deVere Group, a global financial advisory firm catering to British expats and wealthy Americans in foreign countries, among others.
The firm, which according to its website has $90 billion in assets under management and 70,000 clients in more than 100 countries, is now making a push into the U.S., with offices in New York and Miami. AdvisorOne asked Green about the conversations occurring between his deVere's advisors and their wealthy U.S. clients.
What destinations are U.S. tax refugees looking at and why (aside from, or in addition to, tax advantages)?
In our experience, the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines are proving to be popular destinations for America’s high-net-worth individuals who are considering moving themselves and their assets out of the U.S. to safeguard their funds. Having said that, anywhere they’ll be taxed less than 30% might seem appealing.
Besides the tax advantages, these individuals might be drawn to a destination because it offers a more attractive quality of life, a greater potential for job promotion, lower crime rates and a safer atmosphere, a lower risk of natural hazards, and better education and health care systems, amongst other factors.
Texas Gov. Perry is flamboyantly holding open the welcome mat to California businesses. Are any international leaders involved in recruiting wealthy Americans?
To my knowledge, international leaders have not been directly involved in recruiting wealthy Americans as Gov. Perry of Texas has been doing—although perhaps they should be and will in the near future—as it might be perceived that this could potentially damage relations with Washington.
Instead it would seem many international governments are trying to attract high-net-worth individuals with attractive tax policies. For example, top individual income-tax rates in Singapore are 20% and in Hong Kong they are 17%, compared with 35% in the United States.
However, I would not be at all surprised if some international leaders do start flamboyantly offering those wealthy Americans, who are looking to reduce their tax liabilities, the welcome mat. Perhaps the precedent has already been set by Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, who recently granted French actor Gérard Depardieu Russian citizenship after a very public row with the French government over taxes on the wealthy.
What has persuaded tax migrants to give up on the U.S. rather than wait for a regime change (or be satisfied with a move to Texas or Florida)?
There’s a growing sense amongst high-net-worth Americans that the tax policy of the U.S. is heading in the wrong direction, and the majority of our clients tell us that they don’t believe a change in administration would radically alter this.
Between January and February of this year there was a 48% month-on-month rise in the number of deVere Group’s U.S. clients with assets of more than $1 million inquiring about permanently relocating outside the U.S., specifically to reduce their tax burden.
What effects do you foresee on the U.S. and their new tax havens of the migration of wealthy Americans?
Various studies over the decades have shown that capital flight hits economies hard as it represents a loss of income for the government. We’ve seen large-scale tax migration can create higher unemployment and destabilize currency and exports, for example.
However, perhaps one of the most significant points would be the loss of all that business experience and creative flair that the country needs for sustained economic growth.
What the U.S. would lose, the lower-tax jurisdictions would surely gain.
Read Have the World’s Wealthy Stashed $21 Trillion in Tax Havens? by Gil Weinreich on AdvisorOne.
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Nigel Green | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/5652 | Online Sales Tax Bill Seen as Rife With Unintended Consequences Bill needs more thought before being sent to the Senate floor, lawmakers and officials say
Lawmakers as well as officials from the retirement planning and securities industries are coming out against an online financial transaction tax bill that they say would hurt retirement savers, small businesses and investors. The bill, the Marketplace Fairness Act (S. 743), introduced April 16 by Sens. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Heidi Heitcamp, D-N.D., says it seeks to “restore states’ sovereign rights to enforce state and local sales and use tax laws,” among other purposes.
“This legislation does not create new or increase existing taxes,” said Heitcamp, in a statement. “It simply would give states the right, if they want, to collect state and local sales and use taxes on Internet purchases that they are already owed,” which she said amounts to about $23 billion annually. This money, Heitcamp said, would help states “balance their budgets without cutting services or increasing taxes.”
President Barack Obama is a champion of the bill. The White House released a statement Monday that said the measure would “level the playing field for local small business retailers that are in competition every day with large out-of-state online companies.”
But Brian Graff, executive director and CEO of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA), says the legislation, in its current form, would allow states to impose the tax on American workers’ 401(k) contributions and other transactions within workers' accounts.
ASPPA estimates that more than 70 million workers could be affected since most transactions within these plans now take place over the Internet.
“A financial transaction tax on 401(k) contributions and accounts could significantly reduce workers savings over time, threatening their retirement security,” Graff said. “A clear exception for such transactions is needed.”
ASPPA said the legislation should first be referred to the Senate Finance Committee before being considered on the Senate floor as it’s rife with “unintended consequences.” Indeed, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. (left), said Monday that the bill was “not ready for debate on the Senate floor”—which is supposed to occur this week—as it “has not been completely thought through” and “is full of unintended consequences that could seriously harm America’s small businesses.”
While supporters of the Marketplace Fairness Act claim the bill would “level the playing field between Main Street businesses and the out-of-state businesses by forcing both to collect sales taxes from customers,” Baucus argued that the reality is that the legislation “is anything but fair to America’s small businesses.”
Instead of helping businesses expand and grow and hire more employees, Baucus said the bill “forces small businesses to hire expensive lawyers and accountants to deal with the burdensome paperwork and added complexity of tax rules and filings across multiple states.”
The acting president and CEO of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Ken Bentsen, argued in a Monday statement that “the impact of the legislation on trade in services has not been adequately explored by Congress.” He said the bill “could lead to unexpected costs being passed on to consumers of financial services,” including sales taxes on services or state-level stock transaction taxes.
“We continue to oppose any kind of financial transaction tax as they are, essentially, a sales tax on investors,” Bentsen said. “Such levies are simply passed onto ordinary retail investors and retirees, reducing the incentive to save, and distorting capital markets.”
Before moving forward, Bentsen said that Congress should first hold hearings on the impact of the legislation “on the national market for trade in services, including financial services.”
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2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/5804 | GrowthWorks limits redemption for unitholders
Venture capital fund lacks cash after eight-year holding period
By: Martin CashPosted: 07/12/2012 1:00 AM
This article was published 11/7/2012 (1475 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. SOME GrowthWorks Canadian Fund unitholders in Manitoba were recently surprised and concerned about their ability to cash in their units after the mandatory eight-year hold period.The labour sponsored venture capital fund -- which entered the Manitoba market after acquiring the ENSIS Growth Fund in 2007 -- doesn't have enough cash on hand to satisfy all of the redemptions that are eligible.
GrowthWorks Capital CEO David Levi
Rather than hold a fire sale and wind down the $300-million-plus fund -- which has a handful of Manitoba holdings left in its portfolio -- Growthworks is seeking approval from the B.C. Securities Commission to dole out about $20 million a year rather than the $30 million a year that's forecast to be up for redemption.(Investments in labour sponsored venture capital funds are RRSP-eligible and receive a 30 per cent tax credit, but investors must leave their money in place for at least eight years.)In addition to being forced to slow redemptions, the GrowthWorks Canadian Fund is quietly exiting the market and is no longer raising new money.David Levi, GrowthWorks' CEO and founder, said, "Because of the changes in Ontario (which is no longer offering the tax credit) and the decline in fundraising, we made the decision not to sell any more shares."In fairness to GrowthWorks, it is standard procedure for there to be a clause in the prospectus that says under certain circumstances a fund can limit redemptions.At its recent annual general meeting, GrowthWorks received 83 per cent approval from unitholders on its redemption management plan."The board has decided there is good value in the portfolio," said Levi. "They don't want to have to sell it off under pressure."The GrowthWorks Canadian Fund was being sold in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario.However, those retail venture capital funds have long since had any impact in the Manitoba market.One local investor/entrepreneur said, "That asset class is basically dead, isn't it?"It's probably true to say that in Manitoba, but it's absolutely not true elsewhere in the country.For instance, last year two funds -- the Golden Opportunities Fund and the SaskWorks Venture Fund -- raised $85 million in Saskatchewan.GrowthWorks' B.C. fund, the Working Opportunity Fund, raised 20 per cent more than the previous year and its Atlantic Canada fund is still in business, although Levi said that market is tough.But not as tough as it is in Manitoba."It's hard to get past the past," Levi said in reference to the ice-cold chill in Manitoba caused by the demise of the Crocus Investment Fund.The Saskatchewan fund, Golden Opportunity, which has a gross asset value of close to $200 million, was brave enough to enter the Manitoba market last year.It barely raised $1 million. Levi said that was the same experience his GrowthWorks Commercialization Fund had in this province."We're hoping to turn the corner in Manitoba, but it is a struggle," Levi said.But he also said it has nothing to do with the quality of investment opportunities in Manitoba."We are actively managing the portfolio and continue to make follow-on investment in companies that need it," Levi said.But not for every company. For instance, GrowthWorks has several million dollars invested in two Manitoba companies that recently completed or are in the process of raising money -- Monteris Medical and LibreStream -- and it looks like GrowthWorks will not be part of those funding rounds.Kerry Thacher, founder and CEO of LibreStream Technologies Inc., is about to start raising another $5 million to $10 million for his video collaboration technology. The company is launching an application that will allow its proprietary technology to be used on iPhones and iPads. GrowthWorks' predecessor ENSIS invested about $4.5 million in LibreStream in 2005.Monteris Medical has raised more than $10 million over the last year and GrowthWorks has not been able to take part in that."Opportunities are clearly there in Manitoba, it's the fundraising that's a problem," Levi said. "It's difficult given the legacy in the province for labour sponsored funds. It is a struggle."martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Read more by Martin Cash. | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/5871 | Your location: Home > Fast Start Finance
At the Conference of the Parties (COP15) held in December 2009 in Copenhagen developed countries pledged to provide new and additional resources, including forestry and investments, approaching USD 30 billion for the period 2010 - 2012 and with balanced allocation between mitigation and adaptation. This collective commitment has come to be known as "Fast-start Finance" (FSF).
Following up on this pledge, the COP in Cancun, in December 2010, took note of this collective commitment by developed country Parties and reaffirmed that funding for adaptation will be prioritized for the most vulnerable developing countries, such as the least developed countries, small island developing States and Africa.
Further, the COP invited developed country Parties to submit information on the resources provided to achieve this goal, including ways in which developing country Parties access these resources by May 2011, 2012 and 2013.
At COP 17 Parties welcomed the fast-start finance provided by developed countries as part of their collective commitment to provide new and additional resources approaching USD 30 billion for the period 2010–2012, and noted the information provided by developed country Parties on the fast-start finance they have provided and urged them to continue to enhance the transparency of their reporting on the fulfillment of their fast-start finance commitments.
Fast-start Finance Module
This module comprises of information submitted in 2011, 2012, and 2013 by developed country Parties in relation to the implementation of their FSF commitments. The module allows users to search information of contributing countries , as well as on recipient countries. It also allows users to search for information on specific projects and programme, recipient countries/regions activities, and channels of resources whenever they are provided in the FSF submissions.
The data presented in this module has been extracted from the FSF submissions and related updates provided by developed country Parties and every effort has been made to ensure accuracy and consistency of the information presented. Users may wish to read the full reports and visit the country websites for more detailed and comprehensive information on the implementation of FSF. | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/5969 | Home Economics and Finance Real Exchange Rates, Devaluation, and Adjustment Buying Options Paperback | $39.00 Short | £26.95 | ISBN: 9780262519014 | 383 pp. | 6.2 x 9.1 in | August 1989 Real Exchange Rates, Devaluation, and Adjustment
Exchange Rate Policy in Developing Countries By Sebastian Edwards Overview
Real Exchange Rates, Devaluation, and Adjustment provides a unified theoretical and empirical investigation of exchange rate policy and performance in scores of developing countries. It develops a theory of equilibrium and disequilibrium real exchange rates, takes up the question of why devaluations are the most controversial policy measures in poorer nations, and discusses what determines their success or failure.
In a lucid fashion, Edwards organizes vast amounts of data on exchange rates - both real and nominal - and discusses their effect on net trade balances, net asset positions, output growth, real wages, and rates of price inflation, analyzed both in time series and through cross country comparisons. Edwards's investigation singles out 39 major devaluation episodes for before and after comparative analyses while simultaneously isolating the separate effects of other important explanatory variables, such as bank credit expansion and changes in the terms of trade.
The first part of the book focuses on theoretical models of devaluation and real exchange rate behavior in less developed countries. Special attention is paid to intertemporal channels in the transmission of disturbances. The second part uses a large cross country data set to analyze the way the real exchange rate has behaved in these nations. The data are also used to test the implications of several theories of real exchange rate determination. The third part analyzes actual devaluation experiences between 1962 and 1982. These chapters examine the events leading to a balance of payments crisis and to a devaluation, exploring the relation between macroeconomic disequilibrium, and the imposition of trade and exchange controls. They also investigate the effect of nominal devaluation on key variables such as the balance of payments, the current account, the real exchange rate, real output real wages, and income distribution.
Sebastian Edwards is Professor of Economics at the University of California at Los Angeles and Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
“It successfully blends theory with empirical investigation. The anatomy of devaluation crises and the analysis of the erosion of devaluations when accompanied by inconsistent credit and fiscal policies provide important lessons country experiences.”
—Marcello Selowsky, Chief Economist, Latin America and Caribbean Region, The World Bank
“This is certainly the leading book for anyone interested in exchange rate issues in developing countries. The coverage from theory to case studies offers ample material for ministers in a bind and for students of the subject. It is well written, well documented, and lively.”
—Rudi Dornbusch, Department of Economics, MIT
“This is an important scholarly contribution to development and international economics. The thorough empirical analysis of numerous countries’ devaluation experiences is outstanding.”
—W. Max Corden, Professor of International Economics, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University
“Edwards’ book is the only unified theoretical and empirical treatment of LDC exchange rate fluctuations, and their consequences, of which I am aware. Indeed, I will order it for my courses on development finance or international economics as soon as it becomes available.”
—Ronald McKinnon, Department of Economics, Stanford University | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/6182 | The future of development
Somaliland moves towards new banking era
Somaliland is poised to pass a banking law to help the flow of remittances and encourage much-needed foreign investment
An employee counts money at a branch of international money transfer company Dahabshiil in Somaliland. Photograph: Mark Tran for the Guardian
Mark Tran in Hargeisa
@marktran
Without formal banks, Somaliland lacks cash machines or credit card facilities, obliging visitors to the country to bring in wads of dollars. But that is about to change as the former British protectorate is poised to pass a banking law that will, for the first time, allow companies to operate as formal banks, offering services taken for granted throughout much of the world. Somaliland paved the way for the new banking regime when it passed a law in April formally establishing a central bank.
It has been a long time coming. Somaliland has existed – albeit without international recognition – since 1991, when it broke away from Somalia and declared itself a republic. For now, Somalilanders rely on remittance companies, notably Dahabshiil – one of Africa's biggest money-transfer companies, for their financial needs.
Dahabshiil is run by the irrepressible Abdirashid Duale, who is busy planning the company's next phase. From its humble beginnings in the north-western town of Burao, the company – founded by Abdirashid's father, Mohamed Said Duale, in 1970 – has become a money-transfer powerhouse, operating in 155 countries, including all Somali-speaking regions – Somaliland, Somalia, Djibouti and parts of Ethiopia.
It already has banking licences in Djibouti and Somalia. The Dahabshiil sign with the logo – fast money transfer you can trust – is plastered all over the capital, Hargeisa. An estimated $1.6bn-2bn is remitted to Somali territories by the diaspora every year and much of it goes through Dahabshiil, which operates around the clock, seven days a week.
All of its main offices in Hargeisa are crowded. Women in hijabs, Somalilanders and foreign businessmen swarm around counters clutching pounds, dollars, Kenyan shillings and other currencies. At one office, Duale showed me a safe containing brick-size wads of $100 bills. At another office, Haider Ali, who works at a business selling fruit juices, had just sent money back home to Bangladesh. "I just sent $30,000; yesterday I sent $22,000," he said. "We sell juices all over east Africa, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya."
Remittances have been the backbone of Dahabshiil's business, but now Duale is positioning the company for the new banking era. The company has been training staff in preparation for its licence to operate as a formal bank, although it already offers basic accounts to customers. "The biggest change will be that we will have full banking services, offering insurance, letters of credit and interbank financial transfers," he said. "As soon as the banking law is passed by parliament, we want to offer full banking services all over Somaliland, including rural areas."
The infrastructure is already being put in place. Next to his cramped head office in bustling downtown Hargeisa, full of small merchants and the occasional seller of qat, a mild narcotic grown in Ethiopia, stands a new bank branch with tellers already in place, ready to spring into action. All it needs is a Dahabshiil Bank sign.
A large eight-storey office building – the country's tallest – is nearing completion on Hargeisa's Freedom Square, where a Soviet MiG warplane perched on a plinth symbolises Somaliland's resistance to Siad Barre, the former Somali dictator. His planes tried to bomb Hargeisa into submission in 1988, turning it into "Africa's Dresden". The MiGs took off from Hargeisa airport – it was as if central London was being bombarded by aircraft taking off from Heathrow.
Somaliland has gone for such a long time without a formal banking system because it has not really needed one until now, as the money-transfer system was cheap and efficient. But it is unsuitable for commercial transactions. "As the emphasis tips away from remittances to new trading relations, you need things like letters of credit, so there are gaps in the current system," said Mohammed Yusef, chief executive of Petrosoma, an oil exploration company based in Somaliland.
The law can be expected to introduce competition, which Duale says he welcomes. "We already compete in 155 countries," he said. Cac, a Yemeni state-owned bank, Salaam African Bank, based in Djibouti, and Banque de Dépôt de Crédit Djibouti, a subsidiary of Swiss Financial Investments, have all expressed interest in starting operations in Somaliland, which has a population of 3 million, with 1 million people living in the capital.
Somaliland hopes that the new banking law will make it easier for money to flow into a country in desperate need of foreign investment. Money from remittances has been used to build hospitals, schools and other infrastructure. But much more is needed. While money is clearly flowing into construction, judging by Hargeisa's building boom, roads are in dire need of resurfacing. Streets in Hargeisa are marked by potholes and ridges that slow traffic to a crawl.
In a speech at a conference in Hargeisa this month, Duale spoke of the need for the diaspora to invest in infrastructure, which is a priority in the country's 2012-16 national economic plan – capital investment is proposed at $1.19bn, with 82% coming from external sources.
In other moves to encourage foreign investment, Somaliland has set up a UK-linked corporation – the Somaliland Development Corporation – to provide assurance to foreign investors that they are signing contracts with a legitimate entity. Lack of international recognition has deterred foreign companies because they cannot get insurance cover.
"Somalis have shown themselves to be capable of remarkable innovation and enterprise," said Duale. "However, their aptitude for business and trade can only be fully realised if there is the proper infrastructure in place to harness it."
More prosaically, once a proper banking system is in place, cash machines will appear in Hargeisa, so that visitors can use their cards instead of bringing in large amounts of cash.
Somaliland inspired by Scotland and Catalonia independence campaigns
With its relative peace and natural resources, the breakaway state wants recognition of its independence from Somalia
Somaliland independence battle like Scotland or Catalonia, says president – video
Somaliland president, Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud Silanyo, on how his country is appealing to governments for recognition
Somaliland has embraced mobile money – but at what price?
Mobile money platform Zaad is booming in Somaliland, but there is concern its reliance on the dollar is damaging the economy. Gianluca Iazzolino reports
Somaliland clan loyalty hampers women's political prospects
Female activist Suad Abdi hopes to shake up system by standing for parliament, which has one woman among 164 MPs
Somaliland gets wind in its sails for revamping power sector
Inside Somaliland's pirate prison, the jail that no country wants
Somaliland: a photographic diary – in pictures
Berbera port and pastoralism prove livestock's worth in Somaliland | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/7002 | The Rich Don't Pay Enough?
If you listen to America's political hacks, mainstream media talking heads and their socialist allies, you can't help but reach the conclusion that the nation's tax burden is borne by the poor and middleclass while the rich get off scot-free.Stephen Moore, senior economics writer for The Wall Street Journal, and I'm proud to say former GMU economics student, wrote "The U.S. Tax System: Who Really Pays?" in the Manhattan Institute's Issue 2012 (8/12). Let's see whether the rich are paying their "fair" share.According to IRS 2007 data, the richest 1 percent of Americans earned 22 percent of national personal income but paid 40 percent of all personal income taxes. The top 5 percent earned 37 percent and paid 61 percent of personal income tax. The top 10 percent earned 48 percent and paid 71 percent of all personal income taxes. The bottom 50 percent earned 12 percent of personal income but paid just 3 percent of income tax revenues.Some argue that these observations are misleading because there are other federal taxes the bottom 50 percenters pay such as Social Security and excise taxes. Moore presents data from the Tax Policy Center, run by the liberal Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, that takes into account payroll and income taxes paid by different income groups. Because of the earned income tax credit, most of America's poor pay little or nothing. What the Tax Policy Center calls working class pay 3 percent of all federal taxes, middle class 11 percent, upper middle class 19 percent and wealthy 67 percent.
View Cartoon President Obama and the Democratic Party harp about tax fairness. Here's my fairness question to you: What standard of fairness dictates that the top 10 percent of income earners pay 71 percent of the federal income tax burden while 47 percent of Americans pay absolutely nothing? President Obama and his political allies are fully aware of IRS data that shows who pays what. Their tax demagoguery knowingly exploits American ignorance about taxes. A complicit news media is only happy to assist. We might ask ourselves what's to be said about the decency of people who knowingly mislead the public about taxes. Of course, I might be all wrong, and true tax fairness dictates that the top 10 percent pay all federal income taxes.Aside from the fairness issue, 47 percent of taxpayers having no federal income tax liability is dangerous for our nation. These people become natural constituents for big-spending, budget-wrecking, debt-creating politicians. After all, if you have no income tax liability, what do you care about either raising or lowering taxes? That might explain why the so-called Bush tax cuts were not more popular. If you're not paying income taxes, why should you be happy about an income tax cut? Instead, you might view tax cuts as a threat to various handout programs that nearly 50 percent of Americans enjoy. Tax demagoguery is useful for politicians who prey on the politics of envy to get re-elected, but is it good for Americans? We're witnessing the disastrous effects of massive spending in Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal and other European countries where a greater number of people live off of government welfare programs than pay taxes. Government debt in Greece is 160 percent of gross domestic product, 120 percent in Italy, 104 in Ireland and 106 in Portugal. Here's the question for us: Is the U.S. moving toward or away from the troubled EU nations? It turns out that our national debt to GDP ratio in the 1970s was 35 percent; now it's 106 percent of GDP. If you think we're immune from the economic chaos in some of the EU countries, you're whistling Dixie. And when economic chaos comes, whom do you think will be more affected by it: rich people or poor people?
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federal income tax | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/7010 | April 19, 2011 > IRS-Whistleblower Collects
IRS-Whistleblower Collects
By Maryclaire Dale, Associated PressPHILADELPHIA (AP), Apr 08 - An accountant who tipped off the IRS that his employer was skimping on taxes has received $4.5 million in the first IRS whistleblower award.The accountant's tip netted the IRS $20 million in taxes and interest from the errant financial-services firm. The award represents a 22 percent cut of the taxes recovered. The program, designed to encourage tips in large-scale cases, mandates awards of 15 to 30 percent of the amount recouped.``It ought to encourage a lot of other people to squeal,'' Sen. Charles Grassley told The Associated Press. The Iowa Republican helped get the IRS Whistleblower Office authorized in 2006.The IRS mailed the accountant's lawyer a $3.24 million check that arrived in suburban Philadelphia by first-class mail Thursday. The sum represents the award minus a 28 percent tax hit. The lawyer, Eric L. Young of Blue Bell, won't release the name of his client or the firm because his client remains a small-town accountant, and hopes to continue to work in his field.``It's a win-win for both the government and taxpayers. These are dollars that are being returned to the Treasury that otherwise wouldn't be,'' Young said. ``It's very difficult to be a whistleblower,'' said Young, who has represented more than a dozen such tipsters, including one in a $2 billion Pfizer case involving off-label drug marketing. ``Most people would be inclined to turn a blind eye to it. The process can be time-consuming, arduous and stressful, from both a personal and professional standpoint,'' he said.The accountant filed a complaint with the IRS in 2007, just as the IRS Whistleblower Office opened, but heard nothing for two years. Frustrated, he hired Young to help push the issue.``We were able to help him get it back on track,'' Young said.In the accountant's case, the IRS did not deem the issues he raised complex. But the agency said the information he shared pointed out new questions for a routine IRS audit that was already under way.The Whistleblower Office received nearly 1,000 tips involving more than 3,000 taxpayers in fiscal years 2008 and 2009, according to its annual reports to Congress. Hundreds of them alleged tax underpayments of more than $10 million, and dozens more underpayments of $100 million or more. The accountant's case is the first in the program to reach fruition.``Quite frankly, I'm shocked that they finally got around to using it," said Grassley. He has been discouraged by the program's slow start, which some blame on ambivalence about whether tipsters should receive potentially huge windfalls. The IRS may also fear embarrassment, the senator said.``When you got a whistleblower that's saying somebody didn't pay $20 million in taxes, that that's an embarrassment to the full-time employees of the IRS,'' he said. Neither Stephen Whitlock, director of the Whistleblower Office, nor the agency's public affairs office returned messages about the program late Thursday. However, the annual reports note a new policy of waiting to pay awards until the two-year window for taxpayers to appeal their payments has expired. Young's case might therefore be the first in a series of awards that are ripe for payment. The office has about 17 employees, who refer complaints to IRS agents and investigators around the country to pursue. Before 2006, the IRS could choose to reward tipsters, but were under no obligation to pay them a share of the taxes recovered. Many of the tips involved mom-and-pop operations or ex-spouses.The whistleblower program only promises awards for returns of $2 million or more.``This law is not designed to snag the guppies, but to harpoon the whales,'' said Patrick Burns, a spokesman for Taxpayers Against Fraud, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit whose members include many lawyers for whistleblowers.``Whistleblower programs have been incredibly successful in the arena of health care and defense spending, and now they are being tried as a weapon against tax cheats and Wall Street scoundrels,'' Burns said. Home Protective Services | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/7135 | 'Societas Unius Personae (SUP): what’s in it for SMEs?'
Main objectives of the proposal for a Directive on single-member private limited liability companies (SUP) welcomed, but safeguards needed, say experts…
ACCA, the global body for professional accountants, establishes an office in Tanzania
ACCA reaches landmark with opening its 92nd office …
Striking the right balance in corporate governance and shareholder engagement
On 3 February 2015, ACCA, EuropeanIssuers, BUSINESSEUROPE and ecoDa organised in Brussels a joint conference on Shareholder Rights called 'Striking the right balance in corporate governance and shareholder engagement'…
A well-functioning single capital market for all 28 EU Member States is a welcome stepping stone towards reinstating growth and jobs in Europe, says ACCA ACCA welcomes today’s publication by the European Commission of the Green Paper on the Capital Markets Union (CMU)…
ACCA reminds policymakers – modern apprenticeships mean more than just hard hats and hi-vis jackets
Responding to Ed Miliband’s speech today in which he unveiled the Labour Party’s pledge to guarantee an apprenticeship for every school leaver in England who 'gets the grades' by 2020, ACCA has urged policy makers to ensure quantity AND quality are at the fore when it comes to apprenticeships for young Britons…
Late payment costs jobs, but tread carefully or you risk jeopardising access to trade credit, ACCA warns policymakers
A nuanced approach is key to tackling the practice of late payment affecting small businesses, a new global study from ACCA shows…
CCAB welcomes the Council's endorsement of the agreement with the European Parliament on the Anti-Money Laundering package and urges UK Government to lead the way on joined up initiatives The new directive and regulation recognise the need to strengthen regulation in the face of changing technology…
ACCA commits to greater flexibility for students and employers as latest exam results are released
Students and employers will benefit further from greater flexibility in exams offered by ACCA, the organisation has pledged, as the latest results show that more than 8,000 people have taken a step closer to being finance professionals…
ACCA appoints long-serving Alan Hatfield to key strategy and development role
ACCA has today announced the appointment of Alan Hatfield to the role of Executive Director – Strategy and Development…
Societas Unius Personae (SUP): what’s in it for SMEs?
Under the patronage of Marlene Mizzi, MEP… | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/7268 | Wells Fargo: Coca-Cola Accelerates Promotions During Fourth of July
Max Rothman Jul. 17, 2013 at 2:51 pm
More On the Fourth of July, when you were busy grilling burgers, struggling to tolerate family members and watching fireworks, The Coca-Cola Co., Inc. was busy operating an aggressive promotional push. Wells Fargo, a financial services company that provides market research, said that this strategy, if not excessive, could be “quite shrewd.”
Despite the weather not playing along (it was colder this year than in 2012), Coke’s beverage sales increased by 2.4 percent during the holiday, according to a Wells Fargo report.
“Coke was by far the most aggressive during Q2, particularly during the Fourth of July,” one retailer said in the report.
Wells Fargo argued that Coke’s increased promotional activity “could upset the health of the industry profit pool.” But if the activity is brief, the report said that Coke could continue to capitalize on Pepsi’s waning business and increase its market share. The report also said that both scenarios are unfavorable to Pepsi, which could be running out of ways to revitalize its business.
In a survey representing more than 10,000 C-store locations across the country, more than half of Wells Fargo’s respondents indicated that Coke promoted more this year, and 25 percent of respondents indicated that Coke had a more than 10 percent increase in promotions.
“Coke basically put their entire portfolio on promotion,” a retailer said in the report.
Considering negative sales growth and market share losses from Coke’s low- and no-calorie options, Wells Fargo remains concerned about the Diet Coke franchise.
“The company appears focused on using aggressive promotions to offset this weakness, drive volume gains and reinvigorate the franchise,” the report said, “however the scanner data suggests this is not in fact occurring.”
Recent Coke marketing efforts, among others, include a mobile gaming campaign created by global ad agency Wieden+Kennedy, and a joint program with pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen and American Idol.
Other notable information from the report:
As the weather warmed and promotions increased, C-store non-alcoholic beverage sales increased by 3.3 percent in the second quarter, compared to last year. Wells Fargo is encouraged by the growth, but thinks it’s largely due to continued growth from the energy category, not CSDs.
Based on the survey results, Wells Fargo estimates that Pepsi’s volume and average retail price was flat year-to-year in this quarter. Also, the report notes Pepsi’s weak volume. About one-third of survey respondents indicated Pepsi’s negative volume growth in this quarter, compared to just five percent in the same quarter in 2012.
Dr Pepper Snapple’s C-store sales declined by 1 percent this quarter. The report said that while Snapple sales increased, the company’s TEN platform continues to struggle in C-stores.
Wells Fargo estimates that Monster’s C-store volume increased by nine percent in this quarter, followed by a seven percent increase in the first quarter of this year. The report said that the impact of negative media coverage is declining and envisions more upside for growth.
Coca Cola Company
http://www.coca-cola.com
http://www.bevnet.com
The BevNET.com web site reviews non-alcoholic, ready-to-drink beverages and provides comprehensive, up-to-the-minute information about the beverage industry. It has the highest traffic and most content of any web site dedicated to the non-alcoholic b...
Super Sack and Grain Handling Equipment | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/7453 | Alternative Investing
FA Hub
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Age-based Investing
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Housing Slump Offers Opportunity In Apartment-Building Market
Sara Clemence, |Special to CNBC.com
The property in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. was originally valued at $285,000. Clint Gordon, a private investor in multifamily properties, offered the bank $50,000 cash—and within 10 days had closed the deal. A few days after that, he began renting it for $15,000 a year. Barb Getty at one of her investment properties.
"Anybody that’s getting into this business now, you get a whole lot of return if you’re paying cash for properties," he says. "You're just buying them so cheap."
Prices are “incredible” in Indianapolis as well, says Barb Getty, who owns 27 apartment properties in the downtown area. "You can start small like I did—20 percent of 40 thousand bucks isn’t a lot of money.” Just as there have been massive price drops forsingle-family homesover the past three years, there have been big declines for apartment buildings. That suggests that it’s a good time for investors who want to be landlords to start buying. But as with all investments, the story isn’t quite so simple. Where’s the Flood? Investors who thought that a tsunami of dirt-cheap multifamily properties would wash over the U.S. market in the past two years have been largely disappointed. The distress was limited to certain places and property types, says Hessam Nadji, managing director at real estate investment services firm Marcus & Millichap.
"The pain was concentrated where we had gross overbuilding in overall housing: Florida, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Southern California, and to some degree smaller markets like Tucson, Charlotte and Atlanta," says Badji.
Marc Solomon, whose Solomon Organization owns 10,000 garden apartments in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, says that it is difficult to find opportunities that make good business sense in his markets, which still offer slow, steady returns. "There’s a lot of dollars out there chasing these deals," he says. While there were big price cuts in North Carolina's research triangle, competition is driving down yields, says Jim Scofield, senior investment advisor at multifamily real estate broker Apartment REP. Last October, an investment firm “got a steal” on a community in Raleigh called Autumn River, with a capitalization rate of about 7.75 percent. The most recent transaction in the area involved a community called Southern Oaks, which had a 5-percent cap rate. (The cap rate is the full-year income from a property divided by the sale price).
"This is not just a phenomenon in the triangle, but in all the major markets—and especially all the apartment markets," Scofield says. "Manhattan, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Boston." Risk and Return There is less competition in markets where the supply is more fluid, but the risks are also higher. "We landlords are happy," says Getty, adding the only thing preventing her from buying more properties is the ability to manage them on her own. Still, she hasn't been able to increase rents as much as she normally would. Gordon says that his vacancies used to average three to five days. “Now I can have a vacancy of up to 60 days,” he says. Despite all of the qualifiers, there is opportunity to be had in rental apartments because the timing is good, Nadji says. Average cap rates are still around 6.5 percent. “I don’t think you’re going to get fire-sale prices,” he says. “But you can get that kind of return ahead of the job growth and ahead of the economic recovery.” Rental occupancy rates contracted dramatically during the recession, as people doubled up to save money and young adults boomeranged back home. Vacancies nationwide hit a high of 8 percent in the last quarter of 2009, according to real estate research company Reis. But industry insiders argue that rentals will bounce back quickly and dramatically as well. Indeed, in the third quarter of this year, vacancies dropped to 7.2 percent, according to Reis. "Apartment rents are short term they adjust to market conditions very quickly," Hessam says. "We’ve seen a record demand for rental apartments so far this year—the strongest in over 10 years.” Owning vs. Owning Apartment buildings can also be attractive because investing in residential real estate seems similar to owning a home. But rental properties are different—starting from the purchase decision. Homebuyers tend to look for a place they love that fits their needs and budget. But you have to see investment properties through the eyes of your tenant, Getty emphasizes. If your tenants won’t have cars, is it near public transportation?
Randall Gorman, president of La Jolla Capital Group in California, says prospective investors need to take the emotion out of their purchases. "I don’t care if you’re buying a condo, a duplex or a ten-unit building," Gorman says. "Just because you’ve always loved that cottage-style apartment building that you drove by taking your kids to school, doesn’t mean the cash flow fundamentals work at a given price." If considering a property, Gorman advises making sure you can run a cash flow model. Go beyond the cap rates the owner discloses, and figure out property rents by doing research online and in the neighborhood. Calculate your annual revenue, and thoroughly survey costs like maintenance, taxes, utilities and incentives. (Property managers typically charge about 10 percent of a month’s rent.) Add in a couple of months of vacancies—and don’t disregard the higher interest ratesfor commercial properties. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the national average interest rate for apartments in the third quarter was 5.68 percent. For the first week of October, Fannie Mae reported that the average 30-year fixed rate for a primary home was 4.27 percent. If your final net income is $16,000 annually, aiming for a 10-percent cap rate puts the purchase price at $160,000. "Don’t buy on what might happen, but on what is happening,"Scofield says. "Only buy a property if it is cash flowing to meet your investment return requirement on day one." Even once you buy, it’s not a smart idea to treat your investment like a home. "Investors make a huge mistake when they spend a lot of money on bells and whistles in their rental property," Getty says. "For instance, crown molding. A rental needs to compare well to others in the neighborhood, but don’t make it a palace—you won’t get that money back." SHOW COMMENTS | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/7454 | Easing 'Tough Call,' Jobless Rate Won't Top 10%: Bullard
Antonia Oprita Friday, 8 Oct 2010 | 9:21 AM ETCNBC.com
A decision on the next round of buying assets at the Federal Open Market Committee's meeting will be difficult to take as the risk of a double-dip recession has receded, St. Louis Fed president James Bullard told CNBC Friday.
He also said he did not anticipate unemployment rising above 10 percent, despite worse-than-expected non-farm payroll figures released Friday. cnbc.com
James Bullard on Closing Bell
"I think this upcoming FOMC meeting is going to be a tough call… the economy has slowed but it hasn't slowed so much," he said.
"I would say that I will go in the meeting with an open mind… you never want to pre-judge these things," Bullard added.
"The economy has slowed but it hasn't slowed so much that it is an obvious case to do something. It would be a very reasonable decision to say 'hey maybe we should just push it off a meeting or two and see how the data comes in;' that is a very reasonable point of view," he added.
Many analysts have predicted that the Fed will announce new quantitative easing measures — buying assets to boost the money supply — at its November meeting, to counter the threat of a weakening economy. "We have a very easy policy but inflation has been trending down," Bullard said, adding that the Fed faces a decision between keeping the status quo or moving further with monetary easing.
"There has been a disinflation trend in 2010 but the reason that it's a close call is that it flattened out," he said. "It's very reasonable to think that maybe you don't need to do very much. It's possible."
Gross domestic product data for the third quarter, which are due to be released before the FOMC meeting, will be important for the Fed, but a decision on whether to further expand the central bank's balance sheet will not depend on a single number but on a combination of economic data, he added.
"Certainly the jobs number today will be one of the key ones, but it's not just that in and by itself," he added.
Asked whether he thought unemployment would rise past 10 percent, Bullard said: "Well of course it's possible. I'm not really anticipating that, though. It's been unusual in economic history in the US for the unemployment rate to go back up toward its peak or past its previous peak once the economy starts to recover."
He noted that unemployment figures are usually revised and policymakers must keep that uncertainty in mind when taking decisions. The US economy lost 95,000 jobs in September, more than expected, but unemployment remained flat at 9.6 percent.
"I think the private sector number is the key number here," Bullard said after the data was released. "We'll just have to go forward and feed that into our models."
Jobs in the private sector increased by 64,000 in September, slower than August's 93,000 increase. Risks Attached
The dollar strengthened versus the euro after his remark that the Fed's meeting will be tough and US stock index futures fell slightly, but they pared their losses when Bullard voiced his concern about disinflation.
"If you do QE2 (the second round of quantitative easing) in a controlled, disciplined way it's a way to control this disinflation trend," he said.
"You want to balance the risks against further action but I don't think you can say 'Gee, we've done all we can'" about disinflation, Bullard added. "If the situation requires it, you have to act on it."
"Our responsibility is to get monetary policy as correct as we can get it and that's what we're trying to do," he said.
He acknowledged that the markets have attached a "high probability" on the Fed deciding on more asset-buying at its November meeting but said FOMC members need to take into account all possibilities.
Inside the Fed
An economic outlook, with James Bullard, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank CEO/president.
Inside the Fed Friday, 8 Oct 2010 | 6:02 AM ET "There are risks in expanding the balance sheet… you've got to look at both sides here," Bullard said.
A "natural thing" would be for the Fed to wait until December or January to get more clarity on what the data predicts for the recovery for 2011, he added.
One argument in favor of boosting the money supply is that inflation has been falling, pushing up the cost of lending in a period of economic weakness, he said. "This disinflationary trend that we've seen in 2010, with nominal interest rates at zero, real interest rates are rising, you don't want interest rates to rise … you can reflate a little bit." He refused to comment on the effect that quantitative easing has on the dollar, as many market participants said the greenback's weakness is caused by the Fed's easy money policy. "The dollar is the Treasury's policy and we have to let the Treasury Secretary run that policy," Bullard said.
"Debate inside the Fed … always talks about meeting our mandates on maximum sustainable employment and inflation on target," he added.
A "good number" for quantitative easing is buying $100 billion worth of bonds per month, because it is better to go in small steps, according to Bullard. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke keeps a balanced view of both risks and merits of quantitative easing, despite critics accusing him of being too dovish and nicknaming him "Helicopter Ben," Bullard said.
"I think he's right in the middle. Just go read his speeches," he said.
Antonia OpritaWeb Producer, CNBC.com | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/7517 | King, Sherman Reintroduce Supplemental Capital Bill
February 14, 2013 • Reprints Reps. Pete King (R-N.Y.) and Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) Thursday reintroduced a bill that would permit the NCUA to allow healthy and well-managed credit unions to accept supplemental forms of capital.
NASCUS said in a release that state credit union regulators have long recognized credit unions are disadvantaged by a capital structure limited to retained earnings. This legislation would provide the solution to this problem, the group said.
"NASCUS applauds the introduction of this bill and enthusiastically supports its intent and passage by Congress," said NASCUS President/CEO Mary Martha Fortney. "For NASCUS and state regulators, access to supplemental capital for credit unions has always been a matter of safety and soundness."
NAFCU President/CEO Fred Becker said capital reform is one of his organization’s five key points for regulatory relief, making the bill a priority.
“We are pleased that the legislation preserves the not-for-profit structure of credit unions and ensures that ownership remains with the credit union’s members,” he said.
CUNA President/CEO Bill Cheney said the bill would improve safety and soundness by allowing credit unions to develop a capital cushion, reducing risk to the NCUSIF. H.R. 3993, a supplemental capital bill introduced during the 112th Congress, had 45 co-sponsors but never advanced beyond committee. No companion bill was introduced in the Senate. « Prev | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/7697 | Rep Cmte Financial Services
The Dodd-Frank Threat to U.S. Energy Washington, Aug 21 - The following column appeared in the Wall Street Journal on August 17, 2012:
The Dodd-Frank Threat to U.S. Energy Intrusive new disclosure rules by the SEC would give state-owned oil firms a big advantage in world markets.
By Jack Gerard In a fragile recovery with 8.3% unemployment, you'd think Congress and government regulators would be concerned about rules that put American firms at a disadvantage. Well, think again. On Aug. 22, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will vote on regulations to implement Section 1504 of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-reform law. Section 1504 seeks to increase transparency in dealings between private energy companies and foreign governments to protect investors. That's a worthy goal. The SEC has broad discretion in determining what the disclosure requirement under 1504 will be. Yet indications from meetings with SEC officials are that it may favor a draconian approach that would irreparably harm U.S. oil and natural-gas companies. The danger arises if publicly traded energy firms are required to release—for public consumption—commercially sensitive, detailed payment information about every foreign project. This means they would have to reveal extensive data, including the names and locations of their most important personnel and capital assets, in addition to how much they pay for licenses, taxes, royalties and other fees. But the rule would only cover companies listed by the SEC. State-owned multinationals—which constitute the vast majority of energy assets world-wide and own 78% of all oil and natural-gas reserves—will not have to comply. The 16 biggest oil companies in the world do not fall under SEC jurisdiction.
Forcing publicly traded companies to release proprietary information about their foreign operations would put them at a serious competitive disadvantage because state-owned firms could plunder that information and determine their rivals' strategy and resource levels. Information worth billions of dollars would be just a few mouse clicks away. Next Wednesday's SEC vote on this matter will have a profound impact on the ability of American oil and natural-gas firms to compete on the international stage. Thousands of jobs, millions in revenues, and billions of investment dollars hang in the balance.
Yet a structure already exists to provide transparency, one that's endorsed both by the Obama administration and the World Bank. It is called the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), and it was launched in September 2002 by then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair. This initiative creates a workable framework for payment disclosures, and the SEC should incorporate its disclosure standards into its rule-making. Under EITI, energy companies provide information about government payments related to foreign projects. That data is then aggregated and listed on a countrywide basis. Operational details for specific companies aren't publicized, and propriety information is protected. The initiative is already being implemented in the U.S. through the Interior Department. It makes participating governments publicly accountable for how they spend tax dollars. Regulators and average citizens alike are given access to information that can tell them where their money went, how much was spent, and toward what purpose. This information is available on the U.S. Department of the Interior website.
The robust structure of EITI will expose corruption and mismanagement, and also bring more transparency and accountability to these business practices. But it is not so intrusive that it threatens the global competitiveness of U.S. energy companies. If the SEC moves forward with an intrusive interpretation of Section 1504, companies such as the China National Petroleum Company and Russia's Gazprom wouldn't be forced to disclose important data on foreign payments, but their American competitors would. This competitive disadvantage could likely lead to lost contracts for U.S. energy companies while doing nothing to promote transparency. It does not have to be this way. The SEC could take an approach that promotes economic growth, requiring companies to disclose only information directly relevant to protecting investors and—before publicizing it—scrubbing away any details that might hurt firms' competitiveness if revealed.
By using EITI as a basis for its Dodd-Frank rule, the SEC can improve transparency in foreign energy payments without putting American oil and gas companies at undue risk. Our economy is still on the mend. Hamstringing the energy sector with costly and intrusive new disclosure rules will reduce jobs and investment. Mr. Gerard is the president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute. | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/7918 | Argentina and the IMF
Brazil and the IMF
Turkey and the IMF
Horst Köhler
Promoting Sustained Growth and International Financial StabilityAddress by Horst Köhler, Managing Director, IMFApril 17, 2002
Spring Meetings 2002
Sign up to receive free e-mail notices when new series and/or country items are posted on the IMF website. Modify your profile Transcript of a Press Conference by IMF Managing Director Horst Köhler at the National Press Club
View this press conference using Media Player
MR. AUBUCHON: Good afternoon and welcome to the National Press Club. My name is John Aubuchon. I'm senior correspondent for Maryland Public Television, and I'm President of the National Press Club.
If you have questions for our speaker, please write them on the cards provided at your table and pass them up to me. I'll try to ask as many as time permits.
When Horst Köhler spoke here in August of 2000--and that was his first major address in the United States--I introduced him as the chief of the international financial fire brigade. Well, the firefighters have been busy since then, have they not, Mr. Köhler? The most recent blaze on his hands is in Argentina, where Köhler is demanding more and deeper reforms while pledging to work with the government to pull Argentina out of its default crisis. But the current menu includes, I believe, financial difficulties in Turkey, in Sri Lanka, in Indonesia, and many, many more countries.
Mr. Köhler came to his job in March of 2000 with an IMF reform agenda and a promise to open a dialogue with its critics. He has pushed in both of those directions, but the critics are still pushing back. And since last November, the IMF and the Bush administration have been pushing back and forth over an IMF proposal for an international bankruptcy court to protect countries in default from threatened lawsuits by creditors. It was an idea Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill urged Köhler to develop. But then O'Neill backed away from its strong protections. A weaker, less sweeping U.S. alternative is on the agenda for IMF's Washington meeting.
And protesters have the IMF on their agenda, insisting that the debt service the IMF and the World Bank require serves to drive poor nations deeper into poverty. There is a companion to that argument, a Bush administration proposal to change half of the World Bank's loans to the poorest nations to outright grants.
Mr. Köhler has not ignored poverty issues. In fact, quite the contrary. In a Washington speech in January, he observed that the disparities between the world's richest and poorest nations is wider than ever, and he called that a threat not just to peace and stability, but also the world's greatest moral challenge. And he chastised the developing world: "It is inconceivable of the U.S., Japan, and the EU," he said, "to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on maintaining marginal activities for the benefit of a few of their citizens while the devastating manufacturing and agricultural sectors that are central to peace and development in poor countries remain undeveloped."
So we'll see if he brought his "No More Subsidies" protest sign with him today. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Horst Köhler, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.
[Applause.]
MR. KÖHLER : Thank you, John, for this nice introduction.
Speech: "Promoting Sustained Growth and
International Financial Stability" [full text available] So, ladies and gentlemen, I am ready and happy to take your questions. Thank you very much.
MR. AUBUCHON: Thank you very much, Mr. Köhler. Have they reviewed this at the U.S. Treasury Department?
MR. KÖHLER : It's brand new, so--
[Laughter.]
MR. AUBUCHON: Are you any closer to reaching a confluence of views with the U.S. Treasury Department on that issue?
MR. KÖHLER : I think we are in a really good process of work discussion and identifying issues and open questions, a really good working process. There is no quick fix. I think that the questions raised by the U.S. Treasury are more helpful than they are detrimental to this project. And I hope, based on this booklet, but also on our further work process, that we will come together with U.S. Treasury to a good solution.
MR. AUBUCHON: You mentioned a more optimistic outlook for the world economy at the beginning of your speech. Of course, I note that the report is to be issued tomorrow. Nonetheless, the German business newspaper Handelsblatt, quoted by Reuters, is saying that the global economy, according to the IMF, now should grow a 2.9 percent rather than 2.7, that in 2003 you see the global economy growing 4.1 percent, the U.S. economy up 3.4 percent. Are these figures in the ballpark?
MR. KÖHLER : These figures are not correct. I'm, of course, joking, but with a grain of salt. We gave these figures out in order to test where is the leak.
MR. KÖHLER: The numbers are not quite precise, but the general direction is right. We expect really a better number for the global economy -- and I think can I say only this number today --- it's not 2.9, but 2.8 for the global economy. The other numbers for the U.S., for Germany are not changed, but the major message is that there is a recovery, there is even some consideration that the numbers could go up further. My advice is to be optimistic, but also have a bit of guarded optimism because, as I said, and hinted before, there are still some risks around, and therefore we should be prudent.
MR. AUBUCHON: You mentioned that you are conferring, perhaps not hourly, but several times a day with your people on the scene in Argentina, who are attempting to negotiate agreements, reforms there so that the IMF might complete its commitment to assist. The Argentine Minister of Economic Affairs, according to this questioner, has said that state reforms asked for by the IMF means firing 450,000 people which he says is crazy, and he wants an easing of demands.
First of all, is what has just been said accurate? And, second, how do you go about meeting these political pressures from within a country? I mean, any government that had to fire 450,000 people would be out the door.
MR. KÖHLER : Well, I said already in my speech that the Argentine situation is a very, very complex situation. In order to contribute to find out how we can help Argentina, I do think that to begin with, nobody should feel comfortable about what happened in Argentina, and I include myself and the IMF in this feeling. There is no good feeling. But, on the other hand, we need to face reality because there is no institution which can print money. We are still living on the verge of scarcity.
I think there is meanwhile no dispute that the core problems in Argentina are homegrown and therefore the key of finding a way out of the crisis will be an Argentine effort. You also want political unity to find the right way, but the right way certainly will not be a way which makes it easy for the people, and I am saying this again with a lot of concern, but I have no better advice. That means there is a need for correction to adjust to less prosperity, less wealth in this country, and that means it will have also an impact on workers.
There will, I would not exclude it, there will be layoffs, but there is no choice, and I think if the Argentines can pull together, as I think this is needed, and the authorities can agree with us on something which is comprehensive and paves the way out of the crisis, the workers, the poor, the less-rich people will also, after some time, get the benefit of this.
Because when growth comes back, if there is again trust in the institutions, in their parliament, in their judiciary, in their legal framework, I have no doubt that investment will come back to Argentina because, in principle, Argentina is a rich country. It has a lot of natural resources. Why shouldn't it get out of this mess? Why shouldn't it have the potential to go in a development like Canada? I am here absolutely optimistic.
And to the Argentines, the lady from Clarin, I must tell you, I don't think they are less intelligent than Germans or U.S. citizens. So they should pull together, try to swallow some kind of bitter medicine. I have no doubt, at the end, it will pay off for the Argentine people.
MR. AUBUCHON: One specific Argentine issue, perhaps one that is less emotional, but nonetheless complex, regarding Argentina, "Apparently," the questioner says, "an important source of the troubles is or was the unfettered spending by the provincial governments. Has progress been made on this difficult issue?"
MR. KÖHLER : This is, indeed, part of the core problems. It was clear that fiscal profligacy, which is at the heart of the problems in Argentina, was in particular exercised at the provincial level. That is reality, and the Argentines, and the governors of the provinces have to face this reality. And there is no way out, but to bring back fiscal discipline, particularly to the provinces.
There is a deal between the provinces and the Federal Government. What the IMF is saying is that this deal, this pact, has to be implemented. I am not going in details now about the talks, but I think if the provinces can agree on being part of the solution, I am optimistic that we can also agree that at the end the Fund will come up with its support.
MR. AUBUCHON: Before touching on broader policy questions, permit me to visit several specific countries and related. Is Brazil safe from the consequences of the crisis in Argentina?
MR. KÖHLER : It is always a matter of definition of what is "safe," but I think what we should be happy, first, to recognize is that Brazil has nearly totally decoupled from financial contagion from Argentina, and this is due because the Brazilians did a very good job, with sound policies.
And I have a lot of confidence that this good track record and the commitment of the current government, and even more so the experience the Brazilian people have had with more order in the fiscal, in the monetary and with structural reforms at the end bringing growth and jobs, that there will not be a major risk of contagion from Argentina. So I have a lot of trust in the Brazilian economy and also on its policy fundamentals.
MR. AUBUCHON: Two related questions concerning Japan. One asks you to assess the risk that Japan's recession will degenerate into a full-fledged financial crisis. And the next natural follow-on to that, what are the global implications if that would happen, if that were to happen? If Japan fails to tackle its banking and domestic consumption problems, what are the risks to the global financial system?
MR. KÖHLER : Well, I said already that Japan or the status of the Japanese economy is a point of concern, serious concern. On the other hand, we should also avoid, say, exaggerations or even dramatizing things. We should not forget, first, that Japan still, in terms of the balance of assets and liabilities, is a very rich country. They are still a net claimer to international property.
Second, I think what is good, there is a recognition of their problems in their political system, and there is a Prime Minister who clearly wants to organize change. It is obvious that the political system is very difficult to handle change, and certainly we have to recognize and really recognize it without, say, a particular negative tone that change in Japan may take longer than in, for instance, the U.S. or even in Europe. We should have some respect, also, for the culture identities of societies.
But on the other hand, we need to permanently--and very candidly--give them advice as to what to do, and this is what the IMF is doing. We are in the process of having a financial sector assessment program with Japan, where we, together with Japanese authorities, very comprehensively review weaknesses and strengths of their financial sector.
I think this process, plus the already taken positions to better classify nonperforming loans, all of this goes in the right direction. The message of the IMF and of the international community, with all due respect for their specifics, is that, nevertheless, they should do more, they should be more ambitious, they should get more rapidly to decisions.
MR. AUBUCHON: Turkey is now a year out from its larger financial crisis. When do you think the Turkish economy's delayed recovery can resume growth, and is their 3-percent growth rate target possible for this year? And one step further, what's the most urgent action they need to take now?
MR. KÖHLER : The most urgent and the most important action is just to implement what they have agreed on their program in cooperation with the IMF. Because, again, the issue is not so much their weakness or their assets. The issue is confidence that they implement the needed reform program. And it is not so an issue that the quarterly data behind the [inaudible] is getting in or getting out. It is more important is that they implement consistently what they agreed with us.
Based on this, I, in principle, have no doubt that they will recover. There are first indications even for production. We have a fabulous, good track record for the interest rates coming down, the exchange rate getting back to strength.
Now, we are even concerned that it may be too strong sometimes. The doubts are whether the political system has the persistence to implement the needed reforms, and second we have also to be frank. Of course, the debate about the oil price, and the political uncertainty related to the Middle East developments, doesn't make it easier for the Turks to handle their economy and their crisis.
So we should not be arrogant. There was a setback for Turkey with September 11th. The new uncertainties around the Middle East developments is a kind of new risk, but I am very confident that this reform program will be implemented so that the recovery will not be derailed, and I expect still for this year a positive growth rate of 3 percent. It is possible.
I know that there are a lot of concern about unemployment, job losses, but I can say, again, that here it is partly the unavoidable price for a lot of misbehavior in the past. It is a strong point from our side, but really also from my side the Turkish economy is doing better if there is less political interference, and therefore there is a need to recognize also some increase of unemployment, but there should be also the communication to the people. At the end, they have better jobs, more jobs, if they implement this program.
MR. AUBUCHON: You strongly restated your position on selective tariffs, selective subsidies and free trade during your remarks, but I am going to ask you specifically to address the policies of the Bush administration in tariffs, selective tariffs against Japan and Europe in the area of farm products, certain farm products, timber, steel.
MR. KÖHLER : You are not making it easy for me.
MR. KÖHLER : I would like to start, first, with a more principled comment, and this is that we may not like what happens in the U.S. sometimes, but there is no other nation which stands up, regardless of who runs the administration, be it Bush or Clinton, which stands up to free trade and liberalized markets, and this is good, in principle.
My second remark is, of course, and I say it frankly, that I regret the steel decision. I regret it. Of course I would have wished a different decision. But I would like to see the Europeans react in a mature way and think twice before moving into retaliation. If they avoid retaliation, this may give them even more impact on the talks in the WTO, in the World Trade Organization.
My third remark is that the big issue are indeed the subsidies for agriculture, for cotton, for sugar, for citrus fruits and so on. Ladies and gentlemen, I am deeply convinced, if there is leadership, and we need leadership, to tackle these subsidies, we will create a better world. Because whatever we do with poor countries, give them debt relief, even debt cancellation, that will not do the job of bringing them out of poverty. We need to have a concept which helps them to help themselves, and that is trade. It is really devastating, when I travel, to talk to people--be it in Central America or in Mali or in Indonesia--it is really hard to hear how these people complain about double standards in trade. Therefore, I wholeheartedly am an advocate for less subsidies in these particular important areas for poor countries, and that is agriculture, textile, cotton, citrus fruits, and so on. And I am appealing to the rich countries: open your markets. At the end, it will pay off for the American people.
MR. AUBUCHON: Mr. Köhler, we have time for one more question. As a final question, let me ask you to deliver a personal message to the protesters who will be in the streets this weekend. Many are going to be concerned with other issues, but at least a small portion of them are there specifically because they don't like what the IMF and the World Bank have done and are doing.
MR. KÖHLER : Well, my message to the demonstrators is, first, we recognize in the IMF that we have made mistakes. We are in the process of learning. Second, we are absolutely prepared-and I do think this is to our advantage--to listen to the demonstrators, to NGOs, to be involved in this dialogue. Third, at the end, I do think that they should also recognize, the demonstrators, that there is a process of change. We need to have, on the other hand, patience, and on this basis I would also appeal to them to demonstrate, to say clearly what they like, what they dislike, but be prepared with us to discuss, to have a dialogue, but be peaceful. It will have more impact.
MR. AUBUCHON: Thank you very much, Horst Köhler, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/7919 | From the Editor Emerging markets driving the recovery
Finance & Development, December 2010, Vol. 47, No. 4 PDF version
MAJOR emerging markets have exited from the global economic crisis in the driver’s seat. They are gaining in strength and prominence and helping the world recover from the recession that plagued advanced economies along with everyone else.
This issue of F&D looks at the growing role of the emerging markets. Analysis by the IMF’s Ayhan Kose and Eswar Prasad, professor of trade policy at Cornell University, argues that their economic ascendance will enable emerging markets, such as Brazil, China, India, and Russia, to play a more significant part in global economic governance and take on more responsibility for economic and financial stability. And Vivek Arora and Athanasios Vamvakidis measure how China’s economy is increasingly affecting the rest of the world.
Emerging markets are already highly influential in the Group of Twenty (G-20) leading economies and their added weight is being reflected at the International Monetary Fund, where the Executive Board has approved a set of measures to give them more influence in running the 187-member organization.
In addition, this issue of F&D examines a variety of topics as the world struggles to shake off the crisis. Alan Blinder and Mark Zandi look at the positive effects of stimulus in the United States. Without it, they say, the United States would still be in recession. IMF researchers look at how countries can get debt under control. Other articles examine the human costs of unemployment, how inequality can lead over time to financial crisis, and what changes in the way banks do business could mean for the financial system.
Two articles examine Islamic banking, which was put to the test during the global crisis and proved its mettle, while in our section on Faces of the Crisis Revisited, we continue to track how the recession affected several individuals around the world.
Finally, our profile of Princeton economic theorist Avinash Dixit contains some good advice—be prudent in good times. “The lesson that really should be learned, and I’m afraid will never be learned, is that the time for fiscal prudence is when times are good. That’s when governments should be running substantial surpluses, so that when crises or a recession hit, they’re able to spend freely without worrying so much about debt.”
Archive of F&D Issues F&D on Facebook
F&D welcomes comments and brief letters, a selection of which are posted under Letters to the Editor. Letters may be edited. Please send your letters to fanddletters@imf.org
F&D Magazine
About F&D | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/8094 | Is the market about to take off again?
L.A. Little
L.A.Little
L.A. Little, a professional money manager trading his own accounts while managing investment funds for qualified investors, is the author of three books (Trade Like the Little Guy, Trend Qualification and Trading, and Trend Trading Set-Ups) and has written extensively for many popular publications, such as Stocks and Commodities, Active Trader, TheStreet.com, RealMoneyPro.com and Minyanville.com. He writes daily on his website Technical Analysis Today, which offers tools and services that implement the concepts he espouses, and can be reached at tat@tatoday.com.
L.A. Little's
In the short-term, markets avoid central-bank tipping point
Brexit was just the clock striking midnight on latest S&P move
This stock-market money isn’t on the sideline; it’s gone for good
Apple, Microsoft and Google are three strikes for the Nasdaq 100
After three down days to start the New Year, which was likely, you could just feel the buyers itching to spring into action out there. It was palpable. After a year of "up" with basically no "down," why would anyone be thinking anything else? Well, if you read these pages, you would find plenty of reasons to expect down. Every week we are bombarded with reasons, yet most every week the market ignores them. Rather than focus on reasons, a much better approach is to focus on what the people and institutions with money do with the money that they have at their disposal, and after a year like last year, there's a bunch to move around. One of the tried-and-true neoclassical technical setups blends time, volume and price into one view. It is called the retest-and-regenerate sequence, and it is focused on making the market prove that it wants to continue the trend that it is currently pursuing. In this market, that trend has been clearly up, and at this very moment, that is true on all timeframes on all indexes. The retest-and-regenerate sequence setup is pretty simple and has a very high probability of success when it occurs properly. It unfolded on Monday on the NDX 100 and the Russell 2000 last week. Here's what it looked like. The key components of a high-probability bounce off a retest/regenerate sequence are: A prior high is breached and the existing trend is extended (in this case, the bullish trend extends higher). In this chart, that happened on Dec. 20. As price extends higher, time elapses, and, if after six bars, price has yet to come back to touch the prior swing-point high's high ($3524.01), then the high-probability setup is in motion. The first trip back to the retest-and-regenerate zone almost always gets bought — at least for a bounce. The probabilities are even better if volume on the retest is lighter than the breakout bar or the prior swing-point high — whichever was greater Tuesday they got the bounce, but was it just a bounce? That’s the rub. Always is. Will it be just a bounce, or will the prior high be surpassed and another leg higher unfold? That's when you have to look elsewhere for technical clues. If you look at Asia, there are two strong markets that are doing the same retest-and-regenerate sequence simultaneously with us — Japan and Taiwan. In Europe, it is the same for Germany, but France is a very different story. France is in a range trade, at best, and is more likely setting up the conditions for a trip back to lower price. China also is struggling and in the same boat with France, that is, further equity-pricing pressures are likely to come still. Finally, if you glance over at other equity indexes in the U.S., they have yet to do their retest-and-regenerate sequences, and that suggests that even the though the NDX 100 is bouncing, it's unlikely to carry too much to higher highs, if new highs at all — at least not yet. Here's the S&P 500 for example where you can clearly see the test has yet to occur. Even though you have to keep leaning long and there was a bounce trade in the QQQ ETF and in its leverage derivatives as of Monday's retest-and-regenerate setup, it doesn't appear that we are primed to take flight to new highs just yet. It's not the time to load back up and sit tight. Lean long — yes. Load up — no, not yet. That likely comes later. Disclosure: Little is long the QQQ, SPY and short the EWQ. More from MarketWatch
China Unveils ‘World’s Largest Amphibious Aircraft’ Most Popular | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/8133 | Kuwait- Small-size enterprises contribute to nat'l economy development - Behbehani MENAFN - Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)
(MENAFN - Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Chairman of the Swiss-Kuwaiti Group for Small-sized enterprises Dr. Mustafa Behbehani said Sunday small-size enterprises could largely contribute to development of private sector to ultimately boost national economy.The Swiss-Kuwaiti Group is focusing on the development of national economic through the boost of the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in private sector as well as offering funding and advice for SMEs' owners, Behbehani said.He made the remarks at the opening of the First International SMEs Forum.He added that t Swiss-Kuwaiti Group, a non-profit organization, aimed at offering consultations and technical assistance for the youth to implement their SMEs. Honorary Chairman of the Group Fahad Al-Mejel said the developed countries have a vast experience in the establishment of small-size companies, which have a high added value.He said the Group aimed at bringing expertise of the advanced countries to Kuwait, as well as hosting European experts to offer advice.Fahad Al-Juwaihel, a Group member, called for supporting the ambitious youth and encouraging them to start their own businesses. MENA News Headlines | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/8269 | Investing and Analysis
Tags: Special | Dividends | Tax | Increase Special Dividends Surge Fourfold as Tax Increase Looms in US
Monday, 19 Nov 2012 10:49 AM
Companies from Wynn Resorts Ltd. to IDT Corp. are paying special dividends at four times the pace of last year, helping investors stay a step ahead of the taxman with rates poised to jump in 2013.
From the end of September to mid-November, 59 companies in the Russell 3000 stock index declared a one-time cash payment to shareholders, up from about 15 in the year-earlier period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. More than a dozen said they acted because of a pending dividend-tax increase.
Congress is poised to let the rate on dividends, which was lowered to 15 percent during the George W. Bush administration, increase after President Barack Obama won a second term on a pledge to exact more revenue from top earners. Obama highlighted low levies on dividends and capital gains as one reason Mitt Romney, his Republican opponent with an estimated $250 million fortune, paid a lower income-tax rate than average workers.
Editor's Note: How You Lost $85,000 During the Last Decade. See the Numbers.
“It’s a foregone conclusion the rates are going up — it’s just a matter of how high they go,” said Todd Lowenstein, a Los Angeles-based money manager with HighMark Capital Management Inc. “When you know that 15 percent tax rate is going away and you have excess cash buildup, it makes sense to return some of it back to shareholders now.”
If Congress takes no action, the dividend tax will revert to the ordinary income rate, which tops out at 39.6 percent. Companies, which according to data compiled by Bloomberg are sitting on $3 trillion of cash, can afford to give back to shareholders and create some goodwill by showing they’re attuned to possible higher taxes, Lowenstein said.
‘Thanking Us’
It worked for Commerce Bancshares Inc., Charles Kim, chief financial officer of the Kansas City, Missouri-based bank, said in a telephone interview. Happy shareholders called and sent e-mails immediately after the bank declared a $1.50 a share one- time payment on Nov. 2, its first-ever special dividend.
“They weren’t asking for it beforehand, but they certainly were thanking us for it afterward,” Kim said. About half of the bank’s shareholders are retail investors, and “it’s very likely for a good portion of our shareholders their tax rates on dividends will be going up.”
IDT, a Newark, New Jersey provider of prepaid mobile-phone calling cards, went a step further, pulling some of its dividend for next year into this one. The company canceled its 15-cent quarterly payout for the rest of the fiscal year that began in October and instead paid a 60-cent special dividend this month to lock in the lower tax rate.
“Our stockholders are best served by paying this dividend now,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Howard Jonas, who owns a 23 percent stake in the company, said in a statement.
Like Jonas, chairmen were listed among the top-two shareholders in several of the 59 companies paying special dividends before year-end, including Masimo Corp., Progressive Corp. and NewMarket Corp.
With Democrats retaining and expanding their majority in the Senate and picking up House seats in the election, Obama may have more leverage to reach a revenue-boosting budget deal with Republicans, who campaigned against raising tax rates. Both parties are under pressure to negotiate an accord before the so-called fiscal cliff of automatic tax increases and spending cuts kicks in at the start of 2013.
Dividends are regaining popularity after falling out of favor in the 1990s amid rapidly rising stock prices led by Internet-related companies and a trend toward share repurchases as way to return cash to investors.
‘Big Catalyst’
Investors see dividends as a counter to sluggish earnings growth amid a worldwide economic slowdown and to low interest rates that have cut fixed-income returns, said Ron Graziano, a Chicago-based global accounting specialist with Credit Suisse Group AG’s Holt unit.
A special dividend is a good tool for reducing companies’ cash holdings because, similar to a share repurchase, it doesn’t commit the company to a regular payout, Graziano said in a phone interview. The move makes even more sense with the looming increase in the tax rate, he said.
“Record amount of cash on the balance sheet, the demand of yield and return of capital by investors, and the pending tax rules are all three pieces that are coming together as a big catalyst for this increase in special dividends,” he said.
Raising the tax rate will steer companies away from dividends and may ultimately reduce government revenue, Steve Wynn, chief executive officer of Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts, told analysts and investors on an Oct. 24 conference call. Wynn Resorts declared an $8-a-share dividend, including the regular 50-cent quarterly amount, payable on Nov. 20.
Wynn on Dividends
“The dividend policy of companies is very often affected by the tax policies of the government,” Wynn said on the call. “When the taxes on the dividends are too high, then companies don’t distribute, the shareholders don’t get the dividends and Uncle Sam doesn’t get the tax.”
Industries that pay the highest dividend rates, including utilities, telecommunications and health care, will be most affected by a higher tax rate, David Bianco, the New York-based chief U.S. equity strategist for Deutsche Bank AG, said in a Nov. 9 report.
Not all investors are clamoring for dividends. James W. Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management Inc. in Minneapolis, said he would prefer that his companies invest their cash to boost earnings.
“You’d like to think that you’re invested in companies that have better uses of the capital than you do,” he said in a phone interview. “If the best they can come up with is paying out dividends ahead of the tax code, then that says something about their opportunities in the future.”
Thankful Investor
Tom Higgins, a 71-year-old lawyer in Kansas City who holds Commerce Bancshares stock, might disagree. He e-mailed the bank’s chairman, David Kemper, to thank him for the special dividend. The payout will provide him with some cash for the holidays without having to sell shares and will lock in the 15 percent tax rate, Higgins said in a phone interview.
“These companies show great concern for their stockholders when they recognize they have excess capital on their balance sheet and they don’t have anything they’re burning to buy, they return it to the stockholders,” Higgins said. “It’s kind of the way the system is supposed to work.”
InvestingAnalysis
Companies from Wynn Resorts Ltd. to IDT Corp. are paying special dividends at four times the pace of last year, helping investors stay a step ahead of the taxman with rates poised to jump in 2013.From the end of September to mid-November, 59 companies in the Russell 3000...
Special,Dividends,Tax,Increase | 金融 |
2016-30/1376/en_head.json.gz/8338 | Taxes, subsidies bad for ‘green'
By K. William Watson Trade Policy Analyst, Cato Institute Facebook
After lengthy investigations by multiple federal agencies, the United States is going to impose a tax ranging from 45 percent to 70 percent on all imported wind towers from China and Vietnam. Manufacturers in those countries are doing too good a job and it's harming the U.S. wind tower industry.
These duties come on the heels of similar levies (18–250 percent) imposed on Chinese solar panels.
For anyone who wants to see more “green” energy production, these duties are a direct step backwards. Both the wind and solar industries are heavily subsidized by U.S. taxpayers. If the goal of subsidizing green energy is to reduce carbon emissions and protect the environment, then taxing green energy would necessarily serve the opposite goal.
Aside from the general follies of protectionism, this contradiction also exposes the problems inherent in pursuing a policy to promote “green jobs” as a corollary of a broader environmental policy.
Green jobs policy is formed as follows. First you use subsidies to distort incentives and increase investment in wind and solar power. This creates green jobs that the market can't support without those subsidies. Other countries then do the same, but their manufacturers are better than yours. So to protect the new green jobs you created, you impose tariffs to prevent green competition from harming the green investments you artificially incentivized.
The result is domestic industries are ultimately dependent on government intervention rather than consumer choice. It's not a good way to promote jobs or green energy, but it does benefit the specific firms who now get unearned money both from taxpayers through the subsidies and from consumers through higher prices.
A troubling consequence of this paradigm is that the targeted industries develop a culture of rent-seeking. Matthew Mitchell of the Mercatus Center aptly describes this phenomenon in his paper, “The Pathology of Privilege: The Economic Consequences of Government Favoritism.” Firms respond to the availability of government favors by devoting time, money, and effort to acquire privilege. The more they do it, the better they get at it.
Success in the wind and solar industries doesn't depend on a company's ability to deliver high-quality products at a competitive price; it depends on the quality of the company's lawyers and lobbyists. In this way, government intervention has done far more to harm the development and success of domestically produced green energy than has transient Chinese competition. | 金融 |