Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.
EU finance ministers haggle over bank rules - Yahoo Finance
BRUSSELS (AP) -- European Union finance ministers are to meet in in Brussels Tuesday to hammer out an agreement over how high banks should build their defenses against future financial shocks, with the U.K. running the risk of being isolated over who should set the height.
The EU's 27 members agree on the need to increase capital reserves of banks, following an international agreement called Basel III, which was negotiated by the world's largest economies to avoid another financial meltdown such as the one brought on by the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008.
But the U.K. wants national regulators to be able to set requirements significantly higher than those of the EU — a position opposed by almost all other EU members, who fear investors might then prefer UK banks and flee from those in other countries.
On his way into the meeting Tuesday morning, George Osborne, the British chancellor of the exchequer, was non-committal about the possibility of reaching an agreement.
"This is a time of considerable uncertainty in the eurozone economies," he said, referring to the 17 countries — the U.K. not among them — that use the euro currency. "And that uncertainty is undermining the entire European recovery. And I think we're reaching a point where we've got to make a decision to see the eurozone stand behind their currency. A very important part of that, of course, is strengthening the entire European banking system. And that is what we intend to do today."
Once enacted, Basel III would require lenders to increase their highest-quality capital — such as equity and cash reserves — gradually from 2 percent of the risky assets they hold to 7 percent by 2019. An additional 2.5 percent would have to be built up during good times. All members of the G-20 have agreed to implement Basel III; if the European Union succeeds, it would become the first entity to institute the new requirements.
The U.K. is arguing that, because national taxpayers have to bail out banks when they fail, national authorities should be able to set more stringent requirements to guard against such failures. A compromise proposal offered by the Danes, who hold the rotating presidency of the European Union, would allow national authorities some leeway to increase requirements beyond those called for in the Basel III agreement. That proposal has broad support — except, so far, from the U.K.
The finance ministers can approve the compromise proposal without British support, through what is known as qualified majority voting, in which member countries have different numbers of votes according to their populations. However, there is a tradition in the EU that changes that would affect an industry in a particular country — such as the banking sector in the U.K. — are not forced into effect over the objections of that country, and consensus is sought.
"I think there should be a unanimous decision on such an important issue," Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg said on his way into the meeting.
Is it time for a shared payroll strategy between finance and HR? - HRmagazine.co.uk
What is different about this big bang is that it involves sharing HR services between not just those two councils, but with a third for part of it, neighbouring Kingston upon Thames borough council, which will include the payroll chunk.
It is the culmination of two years of work on a masterplan for HR shared services across Sutton and Merton, which Shoesmith reckons will save each borough £250,000 every year. A governing board comprised of Shoesmith, finance representatives from all three councils and representatives from HR, payroll, appraisal and recruitment, have together drawn up their shared vision, agreed on a payroll provider - which also has a seat on the governing board - and bashed out who is responsible for what.
From 1 April, payroll will be run from one platform across the three councils, governed by both HR and finance across the trio. Could this shared solution provide a way out of the perennial confusion as to who owns payroll, and a path through the myriad accountability, reporting and legal burdens payroll presents?
The oncoming auto-enrolment legislation is a microcosm of the challenge contained in this collaborative approach. A survey of 103 payroll, HR and accounting professionals, conducted this February by the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP), found 27% of employers would be asking payroll, HR and finance to collaborate on overseeing changes to payroll necessary to comply with auto-enrolment, which goes live this October. A little over 23% of companies said they would put auto-enrolment solely at the feet of its HRD and just 9% would hand it entirely over to finance. Bluefin, the employee benefits advisor, has suggested departments as far away from HR as IT, or even legal, should play a part in rolling out the new pensions responsibilities.
Payroll is a financial function, but pertains to employee salaries and links to employee benefits. Politically and practically, how can HR and finance be organised to share payroll?
Finance directors, for their part, like the idea of sharing payroll. It sings to their interest in streamlining and making cost savings, but it can be a battle for hearts and minds. Narin Ganesh, group FD at relocations company Crown Worldwide since November 2009, says that while his predecessor outsourced payroll, he recently tried - and failed - to make a case to his board for bringing it back in-house, as part of a project to re-define the relationship between finance, payroll and HR. "We do retain a payroll administrator function in the business, which sits as part of the finance function now, but was part of HR before. HR didn't want it, so it ended up with me," Ganesh says.
"The in-house payroll administrator is intended as the interface between company and outsourced provider - but in practice, we actually have pockets of payroll work going on in HR anyway."
Despite having identified that the outsourcing arrangement was dysfunctional, because it lacked clear objectives from the outset, the company decided not to have in-house collaboration between HR and finance. It instead chose to draw clearer lines between HR and finance, keeping payroll off the HR mandate. "The outsourcing provider was not being held up to the right level of scrutiny and work ended up being done in-house to cover for its deficiencies," Ganesh says. "I set about re-defining the relationship with the outsourcer - even having to withhold payment in one case - but its performance improved dramatically and we now draw on more services. At the same time, we are re-defining the scope of work that needs to be done in-house and removing payroll from HR as far as possible; the latter is over-burdened with stuff that isn't adding value."
He admits demarcation between HR and finance is "blurred" and that he spends a lot of time working out the issues between them. "The functions should collaborate - payroll straddles both teams, so collaboration in my view is pure commonsense."
The lack of a shared payroll strategy raises the risk of compliance issues. Payroll ends up delivering compliance with employment law by virtue of its role - and as payroll is still, more often than not, reporting into finance, compliance risk lies with staff who are not trained in those laws. Auto-enrolment is an opportunity for companies to address that compliance risk on a more systematic basis, and to take a shared HR-finance approach.
"HRDs and FDs can be ambivalent about payroll, because it is often seen as not adding any real value to an organisation. Many see it as just a function that needs to be undertaken," says Paul Rains, director of Transact HR, a performance measurement company. "Though traditionally payroll reports into finance more than HR, some savvy HRDs with control over payroll have harnessed the analytical skills of payroll professionals to provide them with management information about the workforce, which assists in strategic planning and the resolution of operational issues. A uniform approach to auto- enrolment makes good commercial sense and needs to be planned jointly by HR and finance to be effective."
Payroll outsourcing is common, but there are many employers that want to control the process and are looking to in-house shared services for that. Defence multinational Thales implemented a shared finance and HR service platform in 2009, incorporating an in-house payroll shared service, for its entire UK business. Management and governance of the process is the responsibility of HR, but the over-arching strategy is set collaboratively by finance and HR for their respective teams.
The driver was governance controls across the group; HR 'owns' payroll production and reconciliation, finance runs the general ledger, budget control and does costing projections. A payroll service delivery manager curates the payroll piece with a team of 10 payroll and finance specialists looking after 8,000 paychecks.
The result? "Excellent payroll controls, with effective segregation of duty, minimal payroll error rate, credible 'one version of the truth' HR information," says Joe Ales, director for HR shared services at Thales UK.
How did the company deliver that? Sort out the politics first, draw the battle lines, agree terms, and draw up the plan with all parties involved.
"Strategically, it was decided payroll would be directed by its main functional customer, HR. But the business recognises payroll is a critical operation within finance as well, so we invested time in defining clear 'lines of sight', as well as the segregation of duty and where responsibilities for activity actually sit," Ales explains. "While the governance and direction of payroll is managed through HR, finance is a key stakeholder in the process; there are clear 'hands-offs' in the payroll production, payment and reconciliation between both functions."
Sutton and Merton's Shoesmith concurs. He appointed Sutton the 'lead' borough of the trio for HR shared services, with its director of resources heading the governance board. The roadmap for delivery was written by HR at Sutton and Merton (which under his leadership had already merged into one team). A shared HR and payroll platform is in place.
The governance board appointed an outsource payroll bureau for the shared service, but a shared payroll client team has been formed out of Sutton as the lead borough.
This was particularly prescient, given the introduction of auto-enrolment this October. Jes Turner, programme manager at payroll provider ADP, doesn't see how payroll can do auto-enrolment at present, and says that company HR departments should be responsible - though HR sees auto- enrolment as a payroll job. "HR passes the information, but payroll determines the contributions. This argument is falling between the cracks for some employers," says Turner.
As always, the devil is in the detail. Sutton was running a small in-house payroll client and outsourced payroll processing out of finance; Merton had an in-house payroll team sitting in HR. Each team had different suppliers, contracts and cultures.
With contracts too expensive to terminate, Shoesmith was pragmatic. "To embed a shared service approach on a single platform with one way of running payroll, we had to align contracts we were tied into with some mini contract extensions that run until we can switch to a new provider," says Shoesmith.
"We have had to agree on key protocols between HR and finance and each borough, so we know the outsourced provider can run our plan in a simple way, and we have agreed we will do things the way of the system - rather than what often happens, which is that people invest in a system, then later try to tailor it to the way they work."
A common chorus comes out of FDs and HRDs that have enacted payroll shared services: it's a partnership with particularly acute need for clearly defined leadership. "I would recommend anyone thinking of doing this to manage design and implementation using effective project-management and change-management disciplines, to clearly define the business case, scope and who owns what aspects of the payroll process," says Ales.
But it is Shoesmith who sums up the risk and the reward: "You need a common language between finance and HR. Thus far, we have ironed out most problems," he says. "But the proof of the pudding is in the eating and it boils down to personalities - the ability to problem-solve, compromise and find solutions." That should be something with which HRDs can assist their financial opposite numbers.
Facts and figures
- 20% of employee salaries are processed by outsourced payroll services
- 30% of total HR costs come from payroll and personnel costs
- 'Visible, measurable' payroll costs around €200 per employee
- Switzerland has the lowest uptake of payroll outsourcing (1% of businesses), while Denmark and Belgium have the highest uptake at over 80% of businesses in both countries
Auto-enrolment in a minute
From 1 October 2012, legislation will start to roll out, meaning that, depending on the size of the organisation, by 2017 every employee aged between 22 and state pensionable age, earning above the income tax personal allowance threshold, must be automatically enrolled by the employer into a qualifying pension scheme, to which both employer and employee contribute (the employee can later opt out if they wish).
Employers are required to either make a 3% contribution towards a defined contribution scheme, the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), or to offer membership of a defined-benefit scheme that meets certain criteria.
Preparedness is patchy. In March, a Northgate Arinso study of 100 senior decision-makers responsible for auto-enrolment found seven in 10 worried about the additional workload and new processes required to comply. Nearly half don't understand what the new legislation requires of them. Worse, the cost of amending payroll systems in a business with 7,500 staff is thought to be as much as £300,000.
Forex Income Map Review And Bonus For Piet Swart's New Program Revealed - Beaumont Enterprise
Forex Income Map review plus bonus for Piet Swart's new educational product is revealed on ForexIncomeMap.org. It is clarified if it is a scam or does it work.
Houston, TX (PRWEB) May 25, 2012
Piet Swart, a full time Forex trader, is releasing his training program Forex Income Map on May 30th and his training is already receiving raving reviews. After only a months time his Facebook fan page has close to 2,000 raving fans and the comments on his blog are even more after he gave away his PipKey Indicator.
A Forex Income Map review shows that this is one of the few training programs that actually has physical materials that are mailed to your door. Piet Swart's is not a fly by night type of operation. He will mail you 4 training DVDs, a printed manual plus there will be a private membership area on the Internet as well as live webinars and video training. Of course there will be question and answers with full time customer support at one's service if they invest in Piet's program.
One can go here to see if the free tools and trainings are available.
From http://ForexIncomeMap.org , a reviewer states, "Only 5% of Forex traders actually make money but with Piet's simple but proven system, he is on path to help increase those numbers. He normally charges $500 per hour to advise traders, so this program is definitely a big savings! This program should normally sell for $2499 but the Forex Income Map price will be much lower than that. With Piet's easy to learn system and great track record, there is no reason why any serious Forex trader should not get it. He's even offering a money back guarantee."
Even Forex Income Map reviews from Piet's site are postive. An example comment, "This tool is marvelous. Just watching the Piet's webinar two days before, I have won 6 trades of each 0.5 trade size (multiple pairs) without a single loss, worth $736. Yesterday night the two winning trades were unbelievable as without this tool I wouldn't have predicted the swing, " state Don R. from New Zealand.
For those who wish to learn more about the program and to get a complete review should visit: http://forexincomemap.org/forex-income-map-review-piet-swarts-program-work
For those who wish to buy Forex Income Map and get access to the training should go to the official site here.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebforex-income-map-review/piet-swart-bonus/prweb9540402.htm
Climate talks stall with nations 'wasting time' - BBC News
The latest round of UN climate talks has made little progress, observers say.
The meeting in Bonn, Germany saw angry exchanges between rich nations, fast-industrialising ones and those prone to climate impacts.
Campaigners spoke of a "coalition of the unwilling" including the US, China, India and several Gulf states.
Developing countries are also concerned about the lack of firm pledges on finance beyond the end of this year.
This was the first negotiating meeting since last December's ministerial summit in Durban, South Africa.
The key outcome there was an agreement to begin talks leading to a new global deal involving all nations.
The "Durban Platform", as it is known, will see the agreement tied up by 2015 and coming into force by 2020.
Opening the Bonn session, UN climate convention (UNFCCC) executive secretary Christiana Figueres told negotiators that progress depended on ambition - "ambition to support developing countries, ambition to mobilise finance and... ambition to decisively and tangibly reduce emissions according to what science demands".
By the end, several observers including Tove Maria Ryding of Greenpeace International concluded that ambition had been largely absent.
"It's absurd to watch governments sit and point fingers and fight like little kids while the scientists explain about the terrifying impacts of climate change," she said.
Complex world“Start Quote
End Quote Connie Hedegaard EU Climate CommissionerSome of the world's largest emitters have wasted too much energy in trying to move backwards rather than in securing progress”
While UN climate talks used to be characterised as a simple "rich versus poor" battle, the politics have become much more tangled in recent years.
At the Durban meeting, dozens of the world's poorest and most climate-vulnerable nations teamed up with the EU to press for a new global deal with legal character - which eventually found form in the Durban Platform.
The main opponents of the move included developing countries such as India and China, as well as rich ones such as the US.
This split within the developing world bloc led to a spat in Bonn that more than one experienced observer described as "unprecedented".
China's delegate Su Wei asked veteran Surinamese diplomat Robert van Lierop to step down as interim chair of the working group on the Durban Platform (ADP), alleging a possible conflict of interest.
Conventionally, chairs of all sessions are supposed to behave impartially - and questioning their capacity to do so is highly undiplomatic.
Mr Wei was backed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kuwait. But Barbadian Selwin Hart described the move as "unprecedented and alarming... we have crossed a very unfortunate line".
Continue reading the main storyThe Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis), with which Mr van Lierop is associated, is adamant that the ADP must work on curbing emissions before 2015; and Mr Wei's intervention was interpreted in some quarters as a slap to Aosis.
China and the oil-producing states fear the breaching of the "firewall" between the traditional developed and developing worlds.
They fear this will help developed countries make the case that fast-industrialising nations such as China should face emissions cuts before too long.
In turn, China points to the repeated failure of rich countries to cut their emissions as far as mainstream science indicates they should - particularly those such as the US, Japan, Russia and Canada that have opted not to take further emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol.
"Both sides are right," said Alden Meyer from the Union of Concerned Scientists.
"The US and Japan and Russia aren't taking their responsibilities seriously; yet the developed countries are right in that you can't rebuild the firewall and pretend that the future for China is the same as the future for Bangladesh," he told BBC News.
The agenda for ADP negotiations was finally adopted. But there was little progress on another key issue - agreeing the terms under which the EU, and possibly other developed nations, will put their emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol.
Funding hiatusThree years ago, developed countries pledged that by 2020 they would be providing $100bn per year for poor nations, to help them "green" their economies and prepare for impacts of climate change.
For the period 2009-12, they are provided $10bn per year in "fast-start finance".
But that agreement comes to an end in December, and no developed nation has yet indicated what happens afterwards.
"No progress was made to deliver the financial support that the world's poorest and most vulnerable need to deal with the growing impacts of climate change," said Celine Charveriat, Oxfam advocacy and campaigns director.
"It is now vital that, at the next UN climate summit in Qatar in November, rich countries commit to an initial $10-15bn... between 2013 and 2015."
EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard complained that the meeting had discussed process rather than substance.
"This week, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has reported that global emissions have reached their highest ever level," she said.
"At the same time, in Bonn, some of the world's largest emitters have wasted too much energy in trying to move backwards rather than in securing progress.
"This is not just irresponsible; it is untenable for a UNFCCC process that wants to remain relevant."
While the coalition between the EU and its developing country allies appears to have held, the climate-vulnerable nations are not happy about the EU's repeated failure to pledge tighter emission cuts.
It appears that Poland is the only EU nation holding things up - and there are indications that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will wield her country's considerable diplomatic muscle at the EU Council meeting next month.
Meanwhile, the UNFCCC process is likely to include an extra meeting this year, probably in Bangkok, though the funds are not yet in place.
Follow Richard on Twitter
Forex: USD/CHF close the week at 0.9600 - FXStreet.com
Ship Finance Restores Double-Digit Dividend Yield After Frontline Agreement - Seekingalpha.com
Ship Finance International Ltd. (SFL) has released its first quarter results and the big news for income investors is the restoration of the quarterly dividend rate to previous levels following a one quarter decrease. The shipping sector has been a train wreck - ship wreck? - since 2008 when an oversupply of new ships purchased by aggressive shipping companies sent charter rates to below breakeven for many companies. Ship Finance is one of the few companies to have made it out through the bad times with the current ability to pay a decent dividend and provide the potential for share appreciation returns to investors.
Ship Finance works as a leasing company in the shipping industry. It buys ships and leases them out on long-term bare boat contracts. The customer companies typically pay a minimum per day lease rate with a profit-sharing clause if the shipper is able to earn above a certain threshold. Ship Finance was spun out of Frontline Ltd (FRO) in 2004 and initially just owned crude oil tankers. Over the years, Ship Finance has expanded away from tankers and the Frontline leased vessels now account for one-third of the fleet. Offshore drilling and support ships are now the largest portion of the fleet accounting for 46% of the assets. Ship Finance also owns container and drybulk ships, accounting for 13% and 8%, respectively, of the fleet.
Historically, Ship Finance has paid out the majority of net income as dividends. In late 2008, the formerly steadily increasing quarterly payout was cut in half to 30 cents per share. The company resumed a path of increasing dividends in the first quarter of 2010 and the payout was up to 39 cents in the 2011 third quarter. Late in 2011, Frontline was in trouble with its loan covenants and was challenged to just stay profitable. Frontline made some moves to reduce its daily operating cost, including adjusting its lease terms, with Ship Finance. The result is a reduced debt load for Frontline and reduced daily lease rates on the tankers owned by Ship Finance. In return, Ship Finance received a $105 million up front payment and 100% profit share up the old lease rates. The new agreement runs through 2015.
Ship Finance reduced the dividend to 30 cents for the 2011 fourth quarter and now has re-raised the quarterly distribution to 39 cents for the 2012 first quarter dividend to be paid in June. The new dividend rate puts the yield at 9.8%, after the 6% share price increase following the announcement of the new dividend rate. A 10% yield is a reasonable return from Ship Finance based on the current soft tanker rates market. With some firming of tanker rates and better forward visibility on Frontline's earnings, Ship Finance's yield should slide to around 8%, which would result in a 20% share price increase. Ship Finance's shares should be viewed as over-priced anytime the yield slips below 8%.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
CCI approves L&T Finance takeover of Fidelity MF business - Economic Times
"...the Commission is of the opinion that the proposed combination is not likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India and therefore, the Commission hereby approves the proposed combination," the competition watchdog said in an order approving the acquisition.
In March, L&T Finance had announced that it will take over the mutual fund business of Fidelity of its India operations. But, it did not disclose the financial details.
L&T Finance is a part of engineering conglomerate L&T Group and Fidelity Mutual Fund is part of the US-based Fidelity Worldwide Investment.
The total size of the market for asset management services in the country was about Rs 6,64,791 crore, in terms of average assets under management, during January-March, as per the data from Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).
"There is ample choice available to the customers in the selection of mutual funds. Further, the customers can switch from one mutual fund to another without any significant cost...mutual funds business in India is fragmented with existence of many players and significant entry barrier," CCI said.
Fidelity AMC, incorporated in 2004, manages the 15th largest mutual fund in India with a market share of 1.3 per cent and an average asset under management (AUM) for the quarter ended December 2011 of Rs 8,688.06 crore.
FOREX-Euro off near 2-yr lows, outlook still bleak - Reuters
* Euro gets a respite, still on track for weekly loss
* Traders cite option barriers at $1.2500, stops at $1.2480
* Uncertainty in Greece keeps sentiment bearish
By Anirban Nag
LONDON, May 25 (Reuters) - The euro inched up from two-year lows against the dollar on Friday as bearish investors took a breather from a sharp sell-off this week, but worries about a possible Greek exit from the euro zone and the risk of contagion could make gains fleeting.
The euro traded 0.4 percent higher on the day at $1.2581 , pulling away from $1.25155, the lowest level since July 2010 that was hit the day before. Traders cited a reported option barrier at $1.2500 that could check losses with offers around $1.2600 and stop-loss orders above $1.2620.
Despite the bounce, the common currency has lost more than 5 percent against the dollar so far this month and is on track for its fourth straight week of losses, raising the possibility of a test of the 2010 low of $1.1875.
Macro funds and institutional investors have ramped up euro selling after an inconclusive election in Greece left the country at risk of bankruptcy and a possible exit from the euro zone. Greeks vote again on June 17, with polls showing a close race between parties supporting and opposing terms of the country's international bailout, keeping markets on tenterhooks.
"The euro is a bit higher today, but I will be surprised if it takes stops above $1.2620. The medium-term prospects are not good," said Geoff Kendrick, currency analyst at Nomura.
"We think if Greece does not exit the euro zone, the euro will see a gradual decline to $1.23 in coming months. But if it does, then we see the euro falling to $1.20 by the end of the second quarter and $1.15 by the end the third."
Investors are also concerned about the health of the Spanish banking sector, chances of a deep and damaging slowdown in the euro area and the lack of any aggressive policy measures to address the escalating debt crisis.
Spanish lender Bankia, which was part nationalised this month, was set to ask the government for a bailout of more than 15 billion (US$19 billion) on Friday.
Many strategists expected euro selling to resume next week, although heavy short positioning would slow the momentum.
"We have got a standoff where the market is short and the news is bad and so we have tended to go down in stages," said Kit Juckes, currency strategist at Societe Generale.
"Although it's almost impossible to imagine a set of circumstances where we get good news. The pullbacks in this move down since the break of $1.30 have got really tiny."
DARKENING PICTURE
Investor skittishness was well-reflected in the options market, where euro/dollar one-month implied volatility spiked to 13.13 percent, its highest in more than four months.
With the euro on the backfoot the dollar has been the chief beneficiary, with its index against a basket of major currencies edging up to 82.411, the highest since September 2010.
Against the yen, the dollar was steady at 79.51 yen, supported by Tokyo importers and investors squaring positions ahead of a long weekend in the United States. Sell offers around 80.00 yen were poised to cap any further gains, traders said.
The euro was flat against the Swiss franc at 1.2015 francs, having jumped to 1.20769 francs on Thursday, its highest since mid-March on market talk the Swiss government is going to impose a tax on deposits and chatter that the Swiss central bank initiated a short squeeze in the pair.
Traders said the Swiss National Bank has been buying euros in the past few weeks to protect the floor at $1.20 francs, although some investors were still piling on bets through the options market that the peg will be breached in coming days if the euro zone crisis escalates.
No comments:
Post a Comment