Sundial of world news

The management of Bank of Americaâ may be the need to worry. The revelations promised by the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, on "a major U.S. bank" could affect their property. The site manager specializing in information leakage had declared in October 2009, the magazine Computer World, he had "5 gigabytes of data from Bank of America, the hard drive of one of its leaders." Although it seems unlikely that these documents be released two years later, the speculation went well underway yesterday. And U.S. investors have deemed credible. Result: the title of suspected U.S. bank backed off over 3% Tuesday to close on Wall Street.

According to the founder of Wikileaks, the revelations would be worthy of those who led Enron.In an interview with Forbes magazine, Julian Assange said that "the shock wave will be the same. Violations of the law, unethical practices will be disclosed but also the functioning of the internal structures of decisions and the ethos of bankers … and it has an incredible value. "

Former hacker intends to denounce the "unethical practices" through the dissemination of thousands of incriminating documents. "We must be careful not to stick a label offenders to people before being quite sure, however, said the founder of the site.

In the name of transparency, Wikileaks intends to denounce the facts and encourage their shift. His publications on the war in Iraq or those on American diplomacy has already had repercussions worldwide. Remains whether the developer of embarrassing truths may also upset the world of finance.

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Between Christine Lagarde and Baroin, many in recent weeks, trying to play the theme of a "Trading Places". Some imagined that Bercy hitherto divided between an economic hub and a center budget would be merged back into one entity, forcing one of the two to give place to another. Finally, it has not happened. Christine Lagarde Minister remains the Economy, Finance and Industry and Baroin retains the post of Minister of Budget and Public Accounts. The latter – which is depicted as prime minister until recent days – inherits the passage of a nice consolation prize by being named spokesman for the government.

The cohabitation between the two ministers will therefore continue until the end of the quinquennium. For better or for worse.For one, the other who have hitherto shown little of great complicity, will have to come together on one of their shared jurisdiction, taxation. They will be responsible for carrying out one of the last quinquennium of economic reforms, politically delicate: the abolition of the tax shield and changing the tax on capital. Two faces for reform? This is one of the many oddities of the administrative division of Bercy in two: Christine Lagarde is responsible for tax policy and Baroin as boss of the Treasury, is responsible for collecting the tax. Both will also have to find the right partition to manage the French public finances at a time when the debt crisis threatens the entire euro area.For if Baroin is responsible for the purse strings is Christine Lagarde, who defended France in international fora, in particular the Eurogroup …

The choice of the latter to maintain its position has just imposed on the head of state for these international issues. In upholding it, Nicolas Sarkozy made the choice of security in a time when France takes over the presidency of a G20 very divided on the issue of exchange. After a slow start, Christine Lagarde – former corporate lawyer in a U.S. firm – has emerged in these summits as a skilled negotiator able to find compromises in the most delicate moments. More comfortable in English than in French, she has forged in three and a half years, ties with foreign counterparts who respect it.The renewal yesterday of a woman who until 2005 lived in the United States and made a career in private, it will include in his way, his name in the Pantheon of Bercy. When she leaves the department in May 2012, it will go down in history as the Minister of Economy who had the greatest longevity in that post under the Fifth Republic to Valery Giscard d'Estaing and Pierre Beregovoy. Performance significantly, whereas during the last fifty years finance ministers remained on average eighteen months in office. At a time when many criticize the lack of real change in this new government, then the status quo is rather to emphasize …

Besson, Lefebvre, Lellouche and Tron join Bercy

Alongside Christine Lagarde, Eric Besson is appointed Minister of Industry, Energy st in the Digital Economy.The Minister of Economy will also be assisted by two Secretaries of State, Pierre Lellouche and Frédéric Lefebvre, respectively engaged in foreign trade for the former, while the second will deal with the Trade, Crafts, SMEs, tourism and services, the Professions and Consumer Affairs.

Baroin him, retains the Department of Budget, Public Accounts and State Reform, and sees its expanded portfolio for the Civil Service. It also caps the cap critic of the government, and leaves as president of the UMP, which amounts to Jean-Francois Cope. Georges Tron, which remains Secretary of State for Public Service, it is now attached.The job joins the portfolio of the new Minister of Labour and Health, Xavier Bertrand.

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No G20 has been so well prepared. But no G20 will, either, been so confrontational, so it comes at a key moment for the credibility of this forum of the twenty largest economies in the world. Revived by the Fed's decision to inject $ 600 billion of liquidity to support the U.S. economy, the war of tossed the exchange program Oiled Korean presidency, openly opposing the U.S., Europe and emerging countries payday loans.

In Portugal, the government and the opposition finally reached an agreement Saturday on the budget for 2011, marked with the seal of the rigor and necessary to restore as quickly as market confidence. Pledging to abstain from voting on Wednesday of this project, the Portuguese opposition ends several weeks of impasse that has raised fears of a financial crisis and political crisis. In late September, the Socialist Prime Minister Jose Socrates had even hinted that he might resign if the budget is rejected.

Negotiations that took place under pressure from investors as the European Union. In late September, the Portuguese rate in the wake of the obligations Irish had indeed reached peaks, exceeding 6.5%. The markets just sanction the government's inability to contain the slippage in public finances, amid sluggish economic growth.Beyond the 7% interest, the finance minister warned in mid-October that Portugal would be forced to resort to using Twenty-seven, in the image of Greece a few months earlier.

To fulfill the commitment made by Jose Socrates of Portugal to reduce the deficit of 7.3% of GDP this year to 4.6% in 2011, the draft budget to impose many sacrifices to Lusitano. Among these measures, a VAT increase of two percentage points to 23% cuts of 5% to 10% in salaries of civil servants, a questioning of tax deductions on health spending, education or housing …

A vote on first reading of the budget is scheduled on Wednesday in Parliament.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the graphic.

It is a major turning point for Microsoft. The giant does not hesitate to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the launch of Windows 7 Phone, its new operating system for smartphones. Thursday, Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, is in Paris and take the opportunity to see the operators. Phone Windows 7 is "strategic. It enjoys support comparable to a big launch at Microsoft, like Windows, the Xbox or Office, "says Nicolas Petit, head of marketing division in France.

The stakes are high. Microsoft needs to catch up with Apple and Google, which have delighted his second place worldwide in three years. In addition, mobile internet tomorrow exceed the fixed Internet, Microsoft's turf.The mobile phone has already attracted 5 billion users worldwide and is growing rapidly for access to the Internet. While the PC has won "only" 1.5 billion users.

Steve Ballmer has taken over the case after the forced departures of Robbie Bach and J. Allard, patrons of the consumer division. According to his promise, "Windows 7 Phone will change the user experience." On its release, Windows 7 Phone will be used in 5 or 6 smartphones "proposed by Samsung, HTC, LG and Dell," says Nicolas Petit. A dozen aircraft will be available in late 2010. South Korea's LG has already shown in early September, its first Windows phone unit 7. Even Nokia, the world of mobile, could adopt this operating system.Moreover, it is the former head of Microsoft's business activity, Stephen Elop, who became the new boss of Nokia.

Unify the social networks

Windows 7 Phone is a real breakthrough. The touch screen is similar to the iPhone, even bigger and the presentation has been unified. Large tactile buttons are used to make calls, choose a contact, surf the Internet to purchase content (games, music, video), email and unify the use of all their social networks. Windows 7 Phone aggregating services like Windows Live, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Viadeo without needing to download the application. All other services are also available as Microsoft Bing, Office, Xbox Live, Messenger, and Zune. "The specification shall be binding on the phone manufacturers.The hardware and software will be the same in all Windows phone, which will help to ensure the same experience for users. This will avoid falling into the Android applications which differ from one mobile to another, " Nicolas Petit said.

The challenge for Microsoft is clear. Then he had a 29% market share worldwide mobile operating systems in 2008, it holds only 5%. Microsoft has suffered a wave of iPhone and Android Phone. Neil Mawston, director of mobile at Strategy Analytics, said that "Windows 7 Phone should help Microsoft improve its market share in 2011. But this is not the iPhone killer. " Experts are divided on the chances of Microsoft back in the race for smartphones. According to Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Gartner, "Microsoft needs to build an economic model to attract individuals.In addition, for manufacturers, the choice of Android is paying off. " Because Microsoft charges the manufacturers ten dollars per operating system while Google Android and Symbian to Nokia are offered. But "then it is Microsoft that will manage all new versions of the operating system, representing major savings for handset manufacturers," explains Nicolas Petit.

Throughout its history, Microsoft has never been the forerunner of the great revolutions, but then he managed to prevail in Internet browsers and games. He is also working to catch up on Google in the search engines with Bing.

A Bercy, they have billions. But difficult to understand what these are actually are. To get an idea, Figaro.fr offers a balance budget. Click and drag the weights that represent the most iconic items of the budget. And compare.

It's a small majority but a majority. In a poll by TNS-Sofres for i-TELE, Europe 1 and Le Monde, 54% of French people are in favor of the abolition of the tax shield. This symbolic measure of the budget – which Baroin present the 2011 version to the Cabinet Wednesday – is seriously challenged, both left and right. As admitted by Gilles Carrez, UMP rapporteur of the budget to the Assembly, "the shield has become emblematic of a certain form of tax injustice."

Opponents also point out that this measure the effectiveness of the shield is supposed to retain or to return to France the wealthy taxpayers who flee abroad considered confiscatory taxes, remains to be demonstrated. No figures attests a turnaround since its inception.

Despite these many challenges, the right does not hold down a measure that takes a lot Nicolas Sarkozy. Invited talk last Wednesday Orange-Le Figaro, the budget minister Baroin insisted on "the need for fiscal stability. The tax shield is an element that responds to a simple principle, namely that taxes should not be confiscatory or deterrence. "

Marginal adjustments

This does not prevent the Government to consider some adjustments at the margin. Including the possibility, as recalled earlier this month the Secretary General of the Elysee, Claude Gueant, the wealthiest taxpayers are asked to invest more in small and medium enterprises.Moreover, recipients of the shield will not escape the tax increases caused by the movement of the plane in certain niches, or the surcharge for the higher bands of income tax announced in the context of pension reform .

In 2009, 18,764 taxpayers have benefited from the tax shield, which has cost the state 679 million euros, figures sharply up from the previous year. This windfall is primarily intended for wealthier beneficiaries as 6% to 62% shared the loot with a check average of 362,126 euros each. According to figures published in the spring, the top ten recipients have even pocketed an average refund of 7.7 million. An amount that may be even higher since in 2008, Liliane Bettencourt, one of the first fortunes in France, had obtained 30 million under the shield.

Tested in 30 countries on five continents, the NV1FGF, treatment of critical ischemia of lower limbs, a disease that can lead to gangrene and amputation, failed to convince its effectiveness at a Phase III clinical trials.

In a statement, the group explains that this study "was designed to show superiority over the twelve months of NV1FGF compared with placebo in the prevention of major amputations or mortality from all causes among patients with critical limb ischemia lower not eligible for revascularization procedure.

Dr. Marc Cluzel, Senior Vice President of Research & Development department of Sanofi-Aventis, has expressed his disappointment with the results of the study.He also said the group would "evaluate all options regarding future development of NV1FGF.

Little impact in the short-term

The product portfolio of Sanofi phase III clinical trials, the last phase before the registration of a product, contains 18 treatments including four vaccines. The NV1FGF was considered by the group as a niche product for a relatively small number of patients.

"Our sales forecasts to 2013 have been revised following the failure of this phase III study on the NV1FGF says Philippe Barquet, director of communications product group. If this study had been inconclusive, the NV1FGF would anyway have been circulated before 2013. "

Still, the stock market is still very sensitive to the successes or failures of advanced phases of clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies.September 20, the title was won 1.14% after testing positive treatment in phase III, today, the title loses 1.50% to about 10 hours, while the CAC 40 lost 1 , 20%.

The U.S. Intel acquired the business "wireless" (Wireless Business Solutions) of the German manufacturer Infineon semiconductors. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter 2011, approximately $ 1.4 billion (nearly 1.1 billion euros), according to a joint statement released Monday.

The wireless division will continue to operate independently within the Intel group, the statement said. She recorded the last fiscal year sales of 917 million euros, representing about 30% of the total turnover of Infineon.

With this sale, the German group wants to focus on its core business: automotive technology, industrial and security.

The transaction should allow Intel to increase the market for smartphones and embedded technologies with the expertise of Infineon payday loans. The acquired technology is also used in laptops, ultra-portable or tablets. "The acquisition of Infineon's wireless business strengthens the second pillar of our strategy computer connectivity to the Internet and allows us to offer a product portfolio covering the full range of wireless solutions," said Paul Otellini The CEO of the California firm.

Rumors of rapprochement between the two groups were revealed Sunday by the Wall Street Journal, which states that Samsung and Broadcom were also interested in the transaction. The U.S. daily said that Infineon hoped to realize $ 2 billion of the transaction.

European banks want to permanently remove the specter of the collapse of the banking system. Alessandro Profumo, UniCredit's boss and one of the most influential leaders in the sector, has relaunched the idea of creating a fund to rescue banks. The idea is simple: banks unite to raise funds that can then be used by an institution in difficulty.

Alessandro Profumo said that using this solution "allows one or more banks in trouble to find a quick solution and avoids any systemic risk." Deutsche Bank and Santander would be convinced by the project.In an interview with the Financial Times, the Director General of the Italian bank in advance that such funds could raise 20 billion euros in a few years no fax cash advance.

Several projects to protect the financial system have already been mentioned. Recently, France, Great Britain and Germany have called for the establishment of a tax credit which funds used to finance the rescue of an institution. However, according to Alessandro Profumo, the creation of a fund from the private sector is able to raise more money.

And initiatives to avoid another crisis are numerous. The Basel Committee develops banking sector reforms to prevent a collapse in the event of another financial crisis.Regulators, who are implementing these measures by 2O12, want to focus on strengthening the capital requirements and capital, and limit debt.