ATHENS (Dow Jones)–Greece has no intention of restructuring its debt, nor is it seeking to discount the value of that debt by negotiating a ‘haircut’ on the outstanding bonds held by its creditors, the country’s finance minister said Monday.
“There is no need for a debt restructuring, there is no need for a haircut on Greece’s debt,” Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said at …
TAKING CONTROL: A government think-tank says there would be benefit in New Zealand and Australia setting up a regional financial hub.
Teva is buying an interesting pipeline and elegant portfolio of products, said Clal Finance Ltd. analyst Jonathan Kreizman in response to the acquisition of biopharmaceutical company Cephalon Inc. (Nasdaq: CEPH) for $6.8 billion by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA). He says that the acquisition will save Teva $500 million a year in expenses, from the third year after the closing, and that Teva will see a payoff from the acquisition within a year.
Cephalon develops brand drugs for the treatment of cancer, respiratory illnesses, neurological disorders, and pain. Its biggest drugs are Provigil for improving wakefulness in people with sleep apnea and narcolepsy; Fentora, an opioid pain reliever for cancer pain; Gabitril for the treatment of epilepsy; and Treanda, for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Kriezman added, We believe that the pipeline is the main motive for the deal, and it is very interesting, including an eye cancer drug on the verge of a Phase III clinical trial, an asthma treatment, and a treatment for bone marrow cancer. Cephalon will have five drugs undergoing Phase III trials in 2012.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes-online.com – on May 2, 2011
Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2011
MEXICO CITY Feb 11 (Reuters) – Mexicos Finance Minister
Ernesto Cordero said that boosting dollar reserves is among the
options being considered to brace against any future capital
exodus, according to a media report.
Mexicos central bank has sold $600 million in dollar put
options every month since February 2010 in a program meant to
amass foreign currency to brace for any future economic shocks
and traders have speculated authorities might increase the
amount of dollar options.
Its one of the possibilities were exploring right now,
Bloomberg News reported Cordero as saying.
Policymakers in Mexico have so far refrained from drastic
steps to control the appreciating peso MXN= and have said
that a credit line from the International Monetary Fund means
they do not have to keep bloated reserves of foreign currency.
(Reporting by Patrick Rucker; Editing by James Dalgleish)
CRYSTAL LAKE The Community High School District 155 Finance Committee agreed Friday to recommend lowering the tax levy approved by the school board in December, which would mean a slight decrease in tax bills for homeowners.
The school board is expected to vote on the revised levy at its meeting Tuesday night.
The levy approved for fiscal year 2012 would have meant a 3.3 percent increase in property tax bills, with the owner of a $300,000 home paying about $60 more a…
Click here for complete article
The executive vice president for finance and administration of The Children’s Place Retail Stores Inc. is leaving the company, and her position is being eliminated, the Secaucus-based apparel company said Friday.
Susan Riley, who played a key role in leading The Children’s Place after the ouster of former Chief Executive Officer Ezra Dabah in 2007, is departing as the company restructures its executive team. The Children’s Place plans to hire a chief financial officer and eliminate Riley’s position, in which she performed the duties of chief financial officer in addition to other administrative functions. The new CFO will report directly to CEO Jane Elfers.
John Taylor, vice president-finance, will assume the position of interim principal financial officer. Bernard McCracken, vice president-controller, will be interim principal accounting officer.
This was a strategic organizational decision to tighten the reporting structure by bringing in a CFO and eliminating the role of EVP, a company spokeswoman said. Riley has been with the company for five years, and this was a natural moment for her to move on and explore other endeavors, the spokeswoman said.
Riley could not be reached for comment. The Children’s Place said she was not doing interviews. Elfers, in a statement, said Riley has been very supportive during my transition to The Children’s Place and has helped to position the company for long-term success.
Riley, 52, had been CFO of Klinger Advanced Aesthetics, the company that operates the Georgette Klinger salons, as well as CFO of Abercrombie Fitch, when she was hired by Dabah as CFO of The Children’s Place in 2006.
E-mail: verdon@northjersey.com
4 days ago
WASHINGTON — Cheered on by civil liberties advocates and consumer groups, a US lawmaker introduced legislation Friday to help safeguard Internet users’ privacy and rein in dissemination of personal financial data.
“These two bills send a clear message — privacy over profit,” Democratic Representative Jackie Speier said as she unveiled the Do Not Track Me Online Act and the Financial Information Privacy Act of 2011.
“Consumers have a right to determine what if any of their information is shared with big corporations and the federal government must have the authority and tools to enforce reasonable protections,” she said.
The first bill would direct the US Federal Trade Commission to develop a mechanism for consumers to be able to opt out of having their online activity tracked, stored, or shared and require companies to abide by that decision.
The American Civil Liberties Union hailed the legislation, with legislative counsel Christopher Calabrese saying: “Signing on to the Internet shouldn’t mean signing away your privacy.”
“It’s crucial that Americans have as much control over their online privacy as possible and this bill is a welcome and important first step toward that goal,” Calabrese said in a statement.
The second bill aimed to give consumers more control over whether and how financial institutions share or sell personal, non-public information.
It would enable people to opt out of such sharing between a parent company and an affiliate, and require that consumers explicitly opt-in to allow a firm to share such information with an unaffiliated third party.
Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.
More »
The following are the days top
business stories:
1. US Stocks Rise After Mubaraks Resignation, Gain in Consumer Confidence
2. China Says Panel Will Begin Scrutinizing Acquisitions by Foreign Companies
3. Barclays Said to Reduce Bonuses at Its Investment Banking Division by 15%
4. US Mortgage Overhaul Plan May Pit Wall Street Against Real Estate Groups
5. Dollar Advances as Egyptian Turmoil, European Debt Stoke Demand for Safety
6. Bundesbanks Weber Says Lack of `Acceptance for Views Led to Resignation
7. Saudi Arabian Shares Climb as Mubarak Resignation Eases Egyptian Tensions
8. Pandora Media Seeks to Raise $100 Million in IPO of Internet-Radio Company
9. Toyota Said to Cut Board by Half in Biggest Management Shake Up in 8 Years
10.Canadian Currency Strengthens as Trade Surplus Buoys Interest-Rate Outlook
11.Asian Currencies Fall as Global Funds Reduce Holdings on Growth Concerns
12.Most Read on Bloomberg: Insider-Trading Arrest, Dollar, Sexless Couples
1. US Stocks Rise After Mubaraks Resignation, Gain in Consumer Confidence
US stocks rose for a second week, sending benchmark
indexes to 32-month highs, as takeovers, a rebound in retail
sales and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak´s resignation
bolstered investors´ optimism. American Express Co. advanced
6.7 percent to lead gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Walt Disney Co. surged 6.6 percent as the world´s biggest
theme-park operator posted higher-than-estimated quarterly
profit. Standard amp; Poor´s 500 Index consumer companies reliant
on Americans´ discretionary spending climbed 3.5 percent as
confidence rose. NYSE Euronext soared 17 percent after saying
it was in talks to be purchased by Germany´s Deutsche Boerse
AG. The Samp;P 500 rose 1.4 percent to 1,329.15. The Dow added
181.11 points, or 1.5 percent, to 12,273.26. Both have advanced
to the highest levels since June 2008. While the economy is
doing well and CEOs are becoming more optimistic, the highlight
of the week for us was the geopolitical events in Egypt, which
couldn´t have worked out much better, said Philip Orlando, New
York-based chief equity market strategist at Federated
Investors Inc., which manages $358.2 billion. Mamp;A continues to
be a positive for the market.
2. China Says Panel Will Begin Scrutinizing Acquisitions by Foreign Companies
China plans to create a ministerial panel to review
takeovers of local companies by foreign investors. The panel
will be led by the National Development and Reform Commission
and the Ministry of Commerce and will be overseen by the State
Council, according to a statement published today on the
council´s website. Coming under scrutiny will be acquisitions
involving military industrial companies and others relating to
national defense, the statement said. It also will look at
takeovers involving producers of agricultural goods, energy and
natural resources, as well as companies in some parts of the
infrastructure and transportation-services industries. Now
foreign-funded Mamp;A in China would be subject to review by a
state-level investment-review authority and can be blocked on
the ground of endangering national security, which may not be
received favorably by international investors, said Hubert
Tse, a Shanghai-based partner at law firm Boss amp; Young.
3. Barclays Said to Reduce Bonuses at Its Investment Banking Division by 15%
Barclays Plc, Britain´s third- largest bank, reduced
bonuses for employees of its investment- banking unit, Barclays
Capital, by about 15 percent on average, according to three
people with knowledge of the matter. Investment bankers,
traders and analysts at the London- based company were informed
of their 2010 awards yesterday, said the people, who declined
to be identified because the information hasn´t been made
public. The firm allocated 2.7 billion pounds ($4.32 billion)
for the payouts last year. Compensation for managing directors
will be paid 50 percent in cash and 50 percent in stock that
vests over three years, one of the people said. At the end of
the third quarter, Barclays allocated 2.2 billion pounds ($3.5
billion) for bonuses. Earlier this week, Chancellor of the
Exchequer George Osborne announced an agreement with Britain´s
biggest banks, including Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group Plc,
HSBC Holdings Plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, that
they would pay lower bonuses and boost lending. RBS, the UK´s
biggest taxpayer-owned lender, cut the amount it set aside for
bonuses at its investment banking unit by 27 percent to less
than 950 million pounds, the Edinburgh- based lender said on
Feb. 9.
4. US Mortgage Overhaul Plan May Pit Wall Street Against Real Estate Groups
The Obama administration´s proposal for reducing the
government´s role in housing finance may pit Wall Street
against real estate groups as it restructures the $11 trillion
mortgage market. The report released yesterday by Treasury
Secretary Timothy F. Geithner offers three options for
attracting private capital back into housing finance while
shrinking the role played by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the
government-sponsored enterprises that have been sustained by
US aid since September 2008. The debate over the options may
create new sets of winners and losers, according to
stakeholders on both sides of the issue. Banking-industry
groups praised the proposals for laying out steps that could
increase their share of a market long dominated by the two
GSEs. At the same time, community banks, real estate agents,
builders and consumer groups that have benefited from the
government support rallied to fight changes that would shift
power to big banks. The basic thrust of it is that we´ve got
to reduce the federal government´s role in the mortgage
market, said Bert Ely, a banking consultant based in
Alexandria, Virginia. The challenge is how far can you go in
that direction, how fast can you go, and what should be the
residual government role?
5. Dollar Advances as Egyptian Turmoil, European Debt Stoke Demand for Safety
The dollar rose against most of its major counterparts as
turmoil in Egypt and concern that Europe´s debt crisis may
worsen fueled investor appetite for safety of US assets. The
greenback gained for a third week against the euro amid
speculation Portugal´s funding costs are becoming unsustainable
and as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down yesterday
and handed power to the military. Job data in the US helped
boost appetite for the currency. US retail sales increased
for a seventh month in January, a report next week may show.
The dollar´s rally was built on safe-haven flows amid unrest
in Egypt and renewed concern about Europe´s sovereign debt
crisis, said Joe Manimbo, a market analyst in Washington at
Travelex Global Business Payments, a currency-exchange network.
The other factor that really supported the dollar was positive
US data. The dollar appreciated 0.2 percent to $1.3554 per
euro in New York, from $1.3581 on Feb. 4. It touched $1.3497,
the strongest level since Jan. 21. The US currency advanced
1.5 percent, the most in five weeks, to 83.43 yen, from 82.18.
The euro rose 1.3 percent to 113.06 yen, from 111.62 yen.
6. Bundesbanks Weber Says Lack of `Acceptance for Views Led to Resignation
Bundesbank President Axel Weber said a lack of acceptance
among euro-area leaders for his views on monetary policy caused
him to give up on becoming the next chief of the European
Central Bank, Der Spiegel reported. Weber, who resigned
yesterday, said his decision not to aim to replace Jean-Claude
Trichet as ECB president started forming last May, fueled by
misgivings from several governments over his opposition to
the ECB´s program of buying government bonds. The president is
in an exceptional position, Weber said in an interview with
the German magazine published today. But if he represents a
minority opinion on important matters, then the credibility of
his office suffers. Bundesbank spokesman Benedikt Fehr
confirmed Weber´s remarks by telephone. The loss of the
front-runner for the ECB´s top job leaves European leaders
balancing whether to reward policy experience or protect
national interest in picking Europe´s main monetary official.
Weber said it´s not so important what nationality the next
ECB chief has, though he called for Trichet´s successor to be
credible and embody a stability culture.
7. Saudi Arabian Shares Climb as Mubarak Resignation Eases Egyptian Tensions
Saudi Arabia´s benchmark stock index advanced to the
highest in two weeks, led by Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Co., as
Egypt´s President Hosni Mubarak stepped down and OPEC raised
its oil demand forecast. Safco, a unit of Saudi Basic
Industries Corp., soared to the highest in more than two years.
Mobile Telecommunications Co. of Saudi Arabia climbed after
Bahrain Telecommunications Co. submitted an offer to acquire a
stake in the company also known as Zain Saudi Arabia. The
Tadawul All Share Index gained 0.4 percent to 6,635.86, the
highest level since Jan. 26, at the 3:30 pm close in Riyadh.
Yesterday, Egypt´s default risk dropped and the North African
country´s bonds rallied. The de-escalation in Egypt is
improving investor sentiment, said Asim Bukhtiar, an equity
analyst at Riyad Capital in Riyadh. Gains in North American
and European markets are helping Saudi stocks, as well as
signs that OPEC won´t increase oil production in the near term,
which should support prices, he said.
8. Pandora Media Seeks to Raise $100 Million in IPO of Internet-Radio Company
Pandora Media Inc., the biggest Internet-radio company,
plans to raise as much as $100 million in an initial public
offering, aiming to capitalize on its growing audience and
renewed demand for dot-com investments. Morgan Stanley,
JPMorgan Chase amp; Co., William Blair amp; Co. and Stifel Nicolaus
Weisel will handle the IPO, Pandora said yesterday in a filing
with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The Oakland,
California-based company didn´t say how many shares it would
offer or at what price. Founded in 2000 by Tim Westergren under
the name Savage Beast, Pandora´s ad revenue surged over the
past two years as its music application became one of the most
popular on Apple Inc.´s iPhone and Google Inc.´s Android
devices. Sales more than doubled to $55.2 million in the year
ended January 2010 and then jumped to $90.1 million in the
first three quarters of the following year. The service has
more than 80 million users. They are almost a household name
at this point, said Brian Zisk, co-founder of the Future of
Music Coalition, a Washington-based nonprofit that advocates
for artists. The whole concept that you can go out and have an
IPO as an Internet music company is a great thing.
9. Toyota Said to Cut Board by Half in Biggest Management Shake Up in 8 Years
Toyota Motor Corp., the world`s largest automaker, plans to
cut its board to at least 17 members from the current 27 to
improve decision-making after a series of product recalls in
its biggest management reorganization in eight years, two
people familiar with the company`s plan said. Toyota currently
has 27 directors, including the chairman, president, six
executive vice presidents and 15 senior managing directors. The
reduction in the number of board members will include cutting
the number of executive vice presidents, the people said. The
changes are likely to take place as early as April, before the
shareholders´ meeting in June, they said. The move, to be
announced by President Akio Toyoda, will be the first since
Toyota more than halved the number of board members to 27 from
58 eight years ago to help it speed up decision-making, the
people said. Even as a US economic recovery and rising demand
in emerging markets boost demand for Toyota vehicles, the
company said it expects to earn less than a third of the record
1.7 trillion yen ($20.4 billion) it made in the year ended
March 2008. Toyota will announce its 2020 vision in April,
including a medium-term business-reform plan, Toyoda said last
month.
10.Canadian Currency Strengthens as Trade Surplus Buoys Interest-Rate Outlook
The Canadian dollar rose against most of its major
counterparts as an unexpected trade surplus in December
encouraged speculation the Bank of Canada will raise borrowing
costs sooner than other central banks. The loonie advanced for
a second week versus the yen in the longest stretch of gains
since November as the Egyptian political turmoil that led
President Hosni Mubarak to resign spurred demand for North
American assets. Canada´s currency erased its weekly drop
versus the greenback before next week´s report on inflation as
the nation posted its first trade surplus in 10 months while
the US trade deficit widened. One of the reasons the Bank of
Canada was cautious on raising rates was the trade deficit, but
that doesn´t appear to be the case anymore with a huge surge in
December, said Blake Jespersen, director of institutional
foreign-exchange sales at Bank of Montreal in Toronto. You
take away that deficit and you look at the Canadian dollar
fairly stable at par and you have the market starting to price
in a hike a little sooner. The Canadian currency advanced 1.5
percent to 84.49 yen yesterday, from 83.24 on Feb. 4. The
loonie was little changed at 98.74 cents against the US
dollar, compared with 98.73 cents. The Canadian dollar has
traded stronger than parity with the greenback since Feb. 1.
11.Asian Currencies Fall as Global Funds Reduce Holdings on Growth Concerns
Asian currencies dropped this week, led by South Korea´s
won, as global funds trimmed holdings of regional shares on
concern economic growth and corporate earnings will be hurt by
interest-rate increases. Overseas investors pulled $3.8 billion
from stock markets in South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand during
the week, exchange data show. China´s central bank raised
interest rates for the third time in four months, joining
India, Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand in having boosted
borrowing costs this year to tame inflation. Vietnam devalued
the dong by about 7 percent yesterday, the most since at least
1993, to help rein in the nation´s trade deficit. What´s been
driving currencies lower in Asia is a bit of a sell-off in
equity markets, reflecting concerns of tightening policy and
rising inflation, said Brian Jackson, a Hong Kong- based
senior strategist at Royal Bank of Canada. People are focusing
on higher interest rates making it difficult for some companies
to borrow and this leads to lower equities and a weaker
currency. The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index, which
tracks the region´s 10 most-traded currencies excluding the
yen, fell 0.3 percent during the week. The won slumped 2.2
percent to 1,128.47 per dollar and the Singapore dollar slid
0.9 percent to S$1.2851, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg. Malaysia´s ringgit slipped 0.9 percent to 3.0575.
-0- Feb/13/2011 00:35 GMT
Egypt’s economy may need a stimulus
package to help create jobs, Finance Minister Samir Radwan said
today, after President Hosni Mubarak bowed to pressure from
hundreds of thousands of protesters and stepped down.
“There is a need for a stimulus package that is very
closely related to employment,” Radwan said in a telephone
interview from Cairo. The government will run the daily affairs
of the country until further instructions from the military
council that Mubarak yesterday left in charge, he said.
More than two weeks of unprecedented protests against
Mubarak’s three-decade rule left about 300 people dead,
according to United Nations estimates. The turmoil hit exports,
tourism and raised borrowing costs for the government.
The unrest may slow economic growth in the fiscal year
through June to about 4 percent, though “it’s still too early
to tell,” Radwan said. Authorities had forecast the economy
would expand as much as 6 percent before the crisis. He declined
to give a forecast for the budget gap, which widened in the last
fiscal year to 8.1 percent of gross domestic product from 6.9
percent in the previous 12 months.
Emergency fiscal measures the government took in the past
two weeks didn’t have an impact on the budget deficit, Radwan
said. “They were done through savings from the budget,” he
said.
Unemployment
About 9 percent of Egyptians were unemployed before the
crisis, according to the state-run statistics agency.
Unemployment among people between the ages of 20 and 25 was 28
percent in the last quarter of 2008, according to a paper Radwan
wrote for the International Labour Organization in April 2009.
Radwan, a former senior economist at the ILO, was named
finance minister on Jan. 31 after Mubarak fired the government
of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif in what proved to be a failed
attempt to placate the protesters.
Among Radwan’s first actions was creating a 5-billion
Egyptian pound ($850-million) fund to compensate people who lost
property during the unrest and to pay benefits for those who
became unemployed as a result of the crisis.
The government also gave permanent contracts to as many as
600,000 people who were listed as temporary workers, Radwan
said. “They basically had no rights,” he said.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Alaa Shahine in Cairo at
asalha@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Claudia Maedler at
cmaedler@bloomberg.net;
Andrew J. Barden in Dubai at
barden@bloomberg.net.