Le numéro un mondial de l’assurance crédit a cessé d’assurer les exportations vers la Grèce en raison de la montée des risques d’impayés si la République hellénique quittait la zone euro. Les contrats déjà conclus seront respectés, mais aucun autre ne sera signé, a précisé un porte-parole de la filiale du groupe allemand Allianz, précisant que l’activité reprendrait si la situation s’améliorait.

La Cour des comptes a certifié les comptes 2011 de l’Etat français avec sept réserves et appelé les autorités à une «vigilance accrue» sur quatre domaines cette année. Sont visées pour 2012, les dépenses de personnel, les dépenses fiscales, les dépenses d’intervention (les transferts sociaux) et le financement des opérateurs de l’Etat. «Sur ces quatre catégories de dépenses, l’exercice 2011 traduit tout au plus une stabilisation des dépenses qui rend encore lointains et incertains les objectifs de réduction nette affichés par la loi de programmation à l’horizon 2013», écrit la Cour des comptes.

La nouvelle phase de baisse d’activité enclenchée en juin 2011 pour les établissements de crédit spécialisés dans le crédit a la consommation s’est poursuivie en avril : la production de nouveaux financements s’est contractée de 5,7% par rapport à avril 2011 et de 9,9% en moyenne sur les trois derniers mois. A l’exception des financements de biens d’équipement du foyer, tous les secteurs sont orientés à la baisse, selon les données de l’Association française des sociétés financières.

Alors que les marchés actions reculent (-1,10% pour le Dow Jones et –1,16% pour le Nasdaq en fin d’après-midi), le rendement des emprunts d’Etat américains à dix ans s’est replié jusqu’à un niveau historique de 1,64%. Wall Street doit par ailleurs digérer une statistique décevante: l’indice des promesses de vente de la National Association of Realtors a reculé de 5,5% à 95,5 en avril, après un bond de 3,8% en mars (révisé de 4,1%).

Aucun des huit pays qui sont sur la liste d’attente pour entrer dans la zone euro ne remplit pour le moment les critères requis, a fait savoir la Banque centrale européenne dans son dernier rapport sur la convergence. Presque tous les Etats membres de l’Union européenne qui ne font pas partie de la zone euro souhaitaient adopter la monnaie unique avant la crise de la dette, mais seule la Lettonie est en mesure d’y parvenir d’ici deux ans.

Les recettes fiscales de l’Espagne pourraient se révéler cette année plus faibles que prévu, et les dépenses publiques plus fortes qu’anticipé, a prévenu le gouverneur de la Banque d’Espagne. Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez, qui a annoncé mardi qu’il démissionnerait le mois prochain, recommande au gouvernement espagnol de proposer une hausse de la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée (TVA) dans l'éventualité où le pays peinerait à atteindre son objectif de déficit pour 2012.

La Commission européenne pourrait proposer de lever la suspension du versement d’une aide de près d’un demi-milliard d’euros accordée à la Hongrie, écrit le quotidien Nepszabadsag, citant une source gouvernementale hongroise. Les ministres des Finances de l’Union européenne (Ecofin) ont gelé en mars 495 milliards d’euros d’aide provenant du Fonds de cohésion européen que la Hongrie devait recevoir en 2013, faute de discipline budgétaire suffisante.

La Chine a certes besoin d’investissements pour stimuler sa croissance économique mais Pékin ne devrait pas engager un deuxième plan massif de relance budgétaire, estiment des économistes influents, selon des propos rapportés mercredi par la presse officielle chinoise. Au début de la semaine, un responsable de la Commission nationale pour le développement et la réforme (NDRC) avait déjà jugé peu probable un plan de relance budgétaire de même ampleur que celui mis en œuvre durant la crise de 2007-2009.

La croissance annuelle de M3 a ralenti en avril dans la zone euro, à 2,5%, après 3,1% en mars. Selon les chiffres publiés par la Banque centrale européenne, la masse monétaire M3 a crû de 2,7% en moyenne mobile sur la période février-avril, après une hausse de même ampleur (+2,8% en première estimation) en janvier-mars. La BCE a établi un taux de référence de 4,5% pour cette moyenne mobile, au-delà duquel elle perçoit des dangers pour la stabilité des prix à moyen terme.

Le Trésor italien a adjugé pour 5,73 milliards d’euros de titres à 5 et à 10 ans pour une fourchette annoncée de 4,5 à 6,25 milliards, à des taux de rendement nettement plus élevés que lors de l’opération précédente. L’adjudication fait ressortir un rendement de 5,66% pour la nouvelle ligne à 5 ans échéance juin 2017, au plus haut depuis décembre, contre 4,86% lors de la précédente opération de ce type fin avril. Le rendement sur les titres à 10 ans s’est établi à 6,03%, au plus haut depuis janvier, contre 5,84% fin avril. Le ratio de couverture pour les titres à 5 ans a été de 1,35 et celui pour les titres à dix ans est ressorti à 1,4, l’opération ayant bénéficié d’une solide demande domestique. L’adjudication de ces deux lignes porte à 18,5 milliards d’euros les montants levés cette semaine par le Trésor italien.

A survey in first quarter undertaken by RBC Dexia and Accenture of 33 Spanish asset management firms representing 65% of total assets in the sector has found that professionals are expecting profound changes in their industry, as concentration continues, managers increasingly specialise and a growing focus on efficiency and performance. They also predict that success will depend on technological progress and that the trend to outsource will continue.The survey finds that the three major asset management firms alone account for 45% of total assets and that the average size of a fund in Spain is only EUR57m, which compares with EUR262m in the United Kingdom and EUR300m in Switzerland. In the past three years, the number of funds in Spain has contracted by about 20%, to 2,500.

The Qatar sovereign fund, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), has applied for a qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) license, to invest directly in the Chinese onshore market, Asian Investor reports. The initiative by the fund comes in the wake of moves by other sovereign funds from the Middle East, all of which have QFII licenses, such as the Kuwait Investment Authority, which has received a USD300m license. According to a board member, the Qatari fund may invest up to USD30bn this year.

Le 7 juin 1936, le gouvernement du Front populaire instaure la semaine de quarante heures et l'octroi de quinze jours de congés payés pour les salariés ayant travaillé durant six mois dans la même entreprise. Dans le bâtiment et les travaux publics (BTP), les salariés changeant fréquemment d'employeur et risquant de ne pas bénéficier de ce repos, le gouvernement, à la demande de la profession, décide de créer un système spécifique de caisses (ainsi que dans les secteurs d'activités du transport, du spectacle et de la manutention portuaire), destiné à assurer la gestion et le paiement des congés payés des salariés du BTP. En 1947, ce dispositif est complété par un régime d'indemnisation du chômage pour cause d'intempéries. Au fil du temps, d'autres missions ont été confiées au réseau.

Klaus-Peter Flosbach, spokesman for the CDU/CSU alliance in the German parliament, on Tuesday announced that the parties of the government coalition are planning to give the market regulator the power to stop high-frequency trading at any time, without waiting for any potential European regulations on the subject. An initial draft of the bill will be presented in late June, and the first bill may be released this autumn, thus before the German legislative elections in September 2013, Die Welt reports.Flosbach says it is regrettable that so far, firms which practice high-frequency trading are not required to apply for a license, and that the regulator has no resources at its disposal to interrupt trading at any time. In addition, there is not yet a limit on the proportion of orders passed to orders processed.Deutsche Börse, however, in February introduced a maximal fine of EUR20,000 for operators who put many more orders into the system than they subsequently execute.

Berenberg Bank entrusted its affiliate Universal-Investment with the launch of the German-registered bond fund Berenbarg-1590-Sicherheit-Universal, a fund of quality bonds (therefore referred to as “safe”) rated investment grade, from European issuers (government bonds, Pfandbriefe and corporate bonds, as well as money market instruments). The portfolio will focus on short to moderate maturities, and Universal is planning to conduct an “active, dynamic” management of duration. The fund is available in a distribution share class (A) and a capitalisation share class (T).CharacteristicsName: Berenberg-1590-Sicherheit-UniversalISIN codes:DE000A1JUV45 (A shares)DE000A1JUV52 (T shares)Front-end fee: 5%Management commission: 0.65%Depository bank: State Street Bank GmbH

Russell Investments has awarded a USD329m mandate to Strategic Fixed Income, a US fixed income and currencies specialist, Citywire Global reports. The firm becomes the fifth manager of the multi-strategy funds Global Bond and Global Bond (Euro Hedged), based in Dublin, and the Australian fund International Bond at Russell, with a total of USD4.1bn in assets.

Like Abante and its Smart-ISH, launched a year ago (see Newsmanagers of 7 June 2011), Gesconsult has launched a fund of funds on the market with Banco Inversis which will select 10 to 12 products from the best managers, mostly Spanish, entitled Gesconsult Talento, whose benchmark index is currently the Euribor 12 month (the index may be replaced by another one if the portfolio changes greatly).The fund, which will be diversified with the majority of its assets theoretically in equities, was registered by the CNMV on 25 May.CharacteristicsName: Gesconsult Talento FIISIN code: ES0141991002Management commission: 1.35%Performance commission: 9%

The US bank JPMorgan Chase, which is being targeted by regulators due to colossal losses in its brokerage activities, is now the subject of a separate investigation by the Tokyo market authorities into an insider trading case, the new agency Dow Jones reported on 29 May. JPMorgan Chase was one of the two institutions tasked with underwriting an issue of new shares by the Japanese business Nippon Sheet Class in August 2010, in a process which the Tokyo Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) is now investigating. On Tuesday, the SESC asked its parent agency, the Japanese financial services agency (FSA) to impose a fine on an asset management firm, Asuka Asset Management, which it found guilty of insider trading in the issue. Just ahead of the capital increase by Nippon Sheet Glass, Asuka Asset Management got wind of the operation under preparation and short-sold shares in the group at a high price, ahead of the reports, and then bought them back at a cut rate once the news was out. According to Dow Jones, the SESC suspects the broker JP Morgan Chase of being the source of the leak which allowed the asset management firm to pocket JPY60.5m in the fraudulent operation (about EUR600,000 at current exchange rates).

The trustee in charge of recuperating money for victims of the fraud perpetrated by Bernard Madoff has so far made more money for himself and his law firm in the three and a half years since the former fund manager went bankrupt than he has distributed to the victims. According to a report published on the website of the trustee, Irving Picard, the liquidation of the investment fund managed by Madoff, who is serving a 150-year prison sentence, has so far cost over USD554m. This total includes commissions to the director himself (USd5.1m), but mostly consists of the paychecks of the lawyers at work on the case, which total about USD300m, as well as the costs for special consultants (about USD220m) and investment bankers (USD1m). Meanwhile, money which was theoretically regained by Picard and his teams total USD9.1bn, but most of this money is not available at the moment, as it is still subject to appeals or legal actions related to the validity of the distribution system chosen. Overall, only USD329.6m has been paid out so far, while the pyramid scheme orchestrated by Madoff, the largest stock market fraudster to date, cost between USD17.3bn and USd65bn, depending on whether you count only the principal or principal with interest. At USD850 per hour, Picard and his law firm, Baker & Hostetler, are beginning to look more like “full-time princes” than Robin Hoods in the forest, the New York Times claimed on 29 May.

Fearghal Woods, senior vice president of the global fund services unit at Northern Trust, says that net subscriptions to Irish-registered, UCITS-compliant funds represented EUR31.1bn in first quarter. Ireland is the country with the fastest growth in UCITS-compliant retail funds, with 50)% growth in the past 11 years, Investment Europe reports. Meanwhile, Ireland is also the world’s number one in hedge fund services, and has recently topped USD2trn in assets under administration.

Brewin Dolphin has earned pre-tax profits in the half year to 31 March of GBP12.3m, up 3.3% compared with the first half of the previous fiscal year. Assets under management increased 7.1% in the period under review to a total of GBP25.7bn, largely due to an increase of nearly 11% in discretionary funds, to GBP17.3bn.

David Borjani, chairman of the Colombian GrupoSura, has said that he is examining the possibility of acquiring all or part of the Latin American assets which BBVA is putting up for sale, i.e. the pension fund administration units in Chile (EUR30.2bn), Mexico (EUR13.1bn), Colombia (EUR6.75bn) and Peru (EUR5.4bn), Funds People reports. Borjani would prefer to study these cases country be country rather than acquiring all of the assets.

Saker Nusseibeh, who has been serving as interim CEO since the departure of Rupert Clarke (see Newsmanagers of 24 November 2011) in addition to his responsibilities as CIO of Hermes Fund Management, has officially been appointed as CEO of the British asset management firm. He joined Hermes, which manages the pension fund for British Telecom, in 2009, from Fortis Investments; he had previously served as chief investment officer for international equities and head of marketing at SGAM UK. Nusseibeh will combine his new role with that of head of investment.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has decided to fine hedge fund CEO Alberto Micalizzi GBP3 million and ban him from performing any role in regulated financial services for not being fit and proper. This is the FSA’s largest fine for an individual in a non market abuse case.At the relevant time, Micalizzi was the chief executive officer and a director of Dynamic Decisions Capital Management Ltd (DDCM), a hedge fund management company based in London.The FSA has also decided to cancel the permission of DDCM to conduct regulated business. The decision notice for Micalizzi, dated 20 March 2012, states that between 1 October 2008 and 31 December 2008, the master fund managed by DDCM “suffered catastrophic losses of over USD390 million, approximately 85% of its value”. In the FSA’s opinion, in late 2008, to conceal the losses, Micalizzi lied to investors about the true position of the Fund and entered into a number of contracts, on behalf of the fund, for the purchase and resale of a bond. The FSA believes that the bond was not a genuine financial instrument and that Micalizzi was aware of this when he entered into the bond contracts.In the FSA’s view, the bond contracts were deliberately undertaken by Micalizzi to create artificial gains for the fund. And despite the losses suffered by the fund, he continued to seek new investors. “It is the FSA’s view that by providing false and misleading information he deliberately concealed the true value of the fund from one new investor who subsequently invested USD 41.8 million on 1 December 2008,” states the authority.In May 2009 the fund was placed into liquidation. The fund’s liquidator estimated that the fund’s assets on liquidation were worth approximately USD 10 million. To date, no payment has been made to any investor by the liquidator.Micalizzi and DDCM have referred this matter to the Upper Tribunal where they and the FSA will each present their case. The court will then determine the appropriate action for the FSA to take. It may uphold, vary or cancel the FSA’s decision.

The appetite of advisers for passive investment products is expected to increase in the next six months, according to a survey by the research agency Platforum. In second quarter 2012, investors bet 72.5% of their assets on active strategies, compared with 27.5% for passive strategies. In first quarter, the percentage was 70/30. But in the course of second quarter, exposure to passive strategies is expected to reach 36.1%, according to investment advisers. The cause of this taste for passive strategies, say advisers, is costs as a number one factor, followed far behind by performance.

Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) on 29 May announced the appointment of Azhar Hussain as head of the Global High Yield unit. In his new role, Hussain will concentrate his efforts on the development of Royal London’s capacities in the high yield segment. Hussain previously worked at Insight Investment Management, where he was responsible for high yield and leveraged loans.

Tradition (UK) Ltd., an affiliate of the Compagnie Financière Tradition SA, on 30 May announced the launch of traFXpure, a new electronic trading platform aimed at the spot exchange market. The new initiative, in cooperation with the largest global investment banks, aims to provide an innovative trading environment for currency markets, Tradition says in a statement. Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Canada and UBS are a few of the major banks with currency activities that are supporting traFXpure. Others will be announced in the next few weeks.

In the absence of decisive action by European policymakers, investors continued cutting their exposure to riskier asset classes. During the week ending May 23 Emerging Markets Equity, Commodities and Energy Sector Funds and Europe Equity Funds all experienced redemptions in excess of USD1 billion while High Yield Bond Funds posted their biggest outflows in over nine months, according to the most recent statistics from EPFR Global. Overall, EPFR Global-tracked Bond Funds posted net inflows of USD3.5 billion and Equity Funds outflows of USD7.4 billion -- both six week lows -- while Money Market Funds took in a net USD11.5 billion. «Comparisons are already being drawn to last August’s sell-off,» notes EPFR Global Research Director Cameron Brandt. «But, for the moment, redemptions are not of the magnitude we saw then. In addition to the Eurozone’s troubles, investors nine months ago were digesting the US ratings downgrade, stubbornly high oil prices tied to widespread turmoil in the Middle East, serious talk of a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities and the aftermath of Japan’s trial by earthquake and tsunami.»

The alternative asset management firm Armajaro Asset Management (AAM), a specialist in commodities, is planning to diversify into equities in order to double the size of its fund portfolio in the next seven years, the news agency Reuters reports. The head of the firm, Harry Morley, says that this year he is planning to launch a hedge fund dedicated to international finance sector stocks, a long/short fund which will be the asset management firm’s first vehicle dedicated exclusively to equities. The long-term objective for the asset management firm is to increase its assets under management, which currently total USD1.6bn in six funds, to USD10bn in 10 to 15 funds.

The Irish financial services group Davy Stockbrokers (brokerage, wealth management and advising) has acquired the Irish asset management firm Bloxham Asset Management, following a recent enquiry found accounting irregularities at the business, Investment Week reports. The investment team, led by Pramit Ghose, who manages funds for Bloxham AM, will be transferred to Davy Stockholders effective immediately. Assets under management by the team total over EUR700m. In March this year, Davy Stockbrokers acquired the private banking activities of the Bloxham group, which had assets under management of EUR1.2bn.