Monday, February 13, 2012
Hypo Venture Capital Zurich Headlines: North Korea Diplomat to Visit US for Nuclear Talks
http://kaivaughnhypoventurecapital.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/hypo-venture-capital-zurich-headlines_4576.html
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday that Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea’s first vice minister and former chief nuclear envoy, will visit New York this week to meet with senior U.S. officials. Clinton said Kim will meet with an interagency team of U.S. officials for discussions on the next steps necessary to resume denuclearization negotiations through the six party talks, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia. The secretary said that although Washington is open to talks with North Korea, there is no appetite for lengthy negotiations that would only lead to the starting point again. Clinton also said that Washington would not give the North anything new for actions they have already agreed to take. She added that the U.S. position remains that North Korea must comply with its commitments under the 2005 Joint Statement of the Six Party Talks, relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, and the terms of the Armistice Agreement.
Hypo Venture Capital Zurich Headlines: Swiss banks believed to house Greek taxes
http://kaivaughnhypoventurecapital.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/hypo-venture-capital-zurich-headlines_5088.html
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou believes many of the billions that have been withheld from the Greek taxman are lying in Switzerland. This, however, is largely the fault of Athens, according to Swiss-Greek economist Spyridon Arvanitis. Ultimately, the only people who know how much untaxed Greek money is in Switzerland are the banks. “I’ve heard every amount possible – even up to the sum of the Greek debt,” Arvanitis, from the Swiss Economic Institute (KOF) at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ), told swissinfo.ch. “There are rich Greeks, but talk of €200 billion (SFr230 billion) is getting carried away.” At any rate, Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos has told his Swiss counterpart Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf that Greece now wants to act and agree a withholding tax with Switzerland, similar to the one currently being negotiated with Germany and Britain. Arvanitis believes an exchange of information wouldn’t cause problems for Switzerland “as long as it’s not a fishing expedition but a concrete list of ten, 15 names of people suspected of keeping untaxed money here”. Fishing involves investigators trawling through masses of data in the hope of netting someone who might be committing a crime. He says Switzerland shouldn’t offer any more than it has already done to other European countries. “That would be enough to establish a bit of order. Concrete cases of tax fraud or evasion could also be submitted. And in cases where a firm suspicion exists, it’s already possible to make a request for legal assistance,” he said.
GOOD SIGN
Arvanitis said he wasn’t surprised by Papandreou’s comments in the Financial Times Deutschland on Wednesday that 14,000 people in Greece together owed the state around €36 billion in taxes. “That’s always been known in the EU. It’s also been known that nothing’s been done about it. Nevertheless I see Papandreou’s comments as a good sign for Greece – if the prime minister addresses this problem in an interview, in front of the world, obviously he can’t now turn away from it.” He added that owing to the meshing of politics and the economy it was understandable why until now there hadn’t been any talk of the large tax evaders. “But the €36 billion has been known about for at least 18 months and as yet no one’s tried to round it up,” he said. “Without political protection and corruption it wouldn’t be possible for individuals to owe millions in taxes. The €36 billion is owed on income that has been declared. And the real figure is thought to be 25 per cent more. One can only speculate on what else has been hidden away.”
LITTLE CONFIDENCE
Papandreou also told the Financial Times Deutschland he had little confidence in the Greek government’s ability to collect taxes. “We have the impression that the administrative apparatus hasn’t shown itself to be very effective [at collecting taxes],” he was quoted as saying. “Greece doesn’t have an administrative apparatus like in a Nordic country, which is well organised and to which instructions are simply issued and then reliably implemented.” Arvanitis said people he knew in Greece believed even a state of emergency was necessary. One must patronise the tax departments a bit, he said. “That is obviously not ideal from a constitutional point of view, but every constitution allows for emergency laws in emergency situations. And if a country is basically on the verge of bankruptcy, that’s an emergency situation.” He is not thrilled by Papandreou’s view that collecting taxes would probably be outsourced to private companies. “If you’ve got problems with corruption, without further ado select 20, 30, 40 good judges – those exist in Greece too – who can work on the tax cases from morning to night and reach a final decision, without recourse possibilities lasting for years. And the next day the bailiff demands the money from the tax evader. Done.” This, he said, would send a good signal to the financial markets, European governments and the Greek people.
“AGAINST ALL LOGIC”
In order to fill the empty Greek coffers, the government also wants to raise VAT. Arvanitis isn’t convinced. “Slapping on another two per cent would be fatal for the economy. And it’s not even guaranteed that you’d be able to collect the money because the attitude towards paying taxes there is poor,” he said. Bans are also no solution, in his opinion. “You can’t suddenly limit capital transactions. That goes against all logic, including what else is going on in the European Union,” he said. “Besides, in the 1970s and 1980s Greece had in part rigorous capital controls and the money still leaked out.”
Hypo Venture Capital Headlines: Global Manufacturing Displays Resilience to Europe's Debt Crisis: Economy
http://kaivaughnhypoventurecapital.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/hypo-venture-capital-headlines-global_10.html
New York City, New York (PressExposure) January 30, 2012 -- Manufacturing from the U.K. to India showed improvement in December, suggesting production is weathering strains from Europe's sovereign debt crisis.
Purchasing manager indexes for the U.K., Switzerland, China, India and Australia rose in December, while German unemployment fell more than economists forecast as exports of cars and machinery boomed, reports today showed. U.S. manufacturing growth (NAPMPMI)accelerated more than economists forecast to the fastest pace in six months.
The factory production data indicate some resilience in the industry as European leaders work to flesh out their plan to end the debt turmoil that's threatening to drag the region back into recession. TheInternational Monetary Fund may cut its 2012 global growth forecast this month after lowering it to 4 percent in September, when it predicted "severe" repercussions if Europe fails to contain its crisis.
"Everyone's taking comfort from stronger exports to the Far East, but we're going to see a much weaker first quarter in China," said Chris Scicluna, head of economic research at Daiwa Capital Markets Europe in London. "It's a mixed picture. The general trend in the U.S. is one of healing, but it's hardly a picture of dynamism, and we're looking at contraction in Europe."
Asian Rebound
A manufacturing purchasing managers' index for India released by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics today rose to the highest level in six months in December. In China, manufacturing rebounded last month from a contraction in November, while Australian factory production (AIGPMI) expanded for the first time since June, driven by gains in basic metals, transport and publishing.
Manufacturing in Singapore rose 6.5 percent from a year earlier in the fourth quarter, after climbing a revised 13.4 percent in the previous three months, the Trade Ministry said today.
In Europe, a gauge of Swiss manufacturing rose to 50.7 in December from 44.8 in November when adjusted for seasonal swings, Credit Suisse Group AG in Zurich said in an e-mailed statement today. That's the first reading above 50, which divides contraction from expansion, since August. A U.K. index (PMITMUK) rose to 49.6 from a revised 47.7 and a measure of new export orders increased for the first time in five months, led by demand from customers inGermany, Eastern Europe and China.
The U.K. reading offers "glimmers of hope," David Tinsley, an economist at BNP Paribas SA in London, said in an e- mailed statement. "As we enter 2012, hopes that the manufacturing recession will be fairly shallow continue to have credence."
Stocks Rise
European stocks rose today, with the Stoxx 600 Index (SXXP) gaining 1.3 percent as of 3:13 p.m. in London. In Germany, where data today showed unemployment fell twice as much as economists forecast last month, the DAX Index advanced 1.6 percent, for its longest winning streak since Nov. 30.
General Electric Co. (GE) is targeting more than 10 percent earnings growth at its industrial and finance businesses next year, in part by driving up margins in manufacturing businesses from health-care devices to jet engines and energy equipment. Chief Executive Officer Jeffery Immelt said Dec. 13 GE is prepared for a "tough Europe" though the company will manage strains in part by reducing its footprint there.
U.S. Improvement
The U.S. Institute for Supply Management's factory index (NAPMPMI) climbed to a six-month high of 53.9 in December from 52.7 the previous month. The median of 74 estimates in a Bloomberg survey was for an increase to 53.5.
Not all regions are showing expansion. Norwegian manufacturing shrank at the fastest pace in two years in December as orders and production stalled, Oslo-based Fokus Bank said today in a statement.
Markit Economics said yesterday that its euro-area (PMITMEZ) purchasing managers' survey for December was at 46.9 in December, up from 46.4 in November. Germany, France and Italy, the region's three biggest economies, were among the countries that reported contractions.
In Germany, the number of people out of work fell a seasonally adjusted 22,000 to 2.89 million, the Nuremberg-based Federal Labor Agency said. Economists forecast a decline of 10,000, the median of 20 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey showed. The adjusted jobless rate dropped to 6.8 percent.
"We're not growing, but we're not in a tailspin either," said Alan Clarke, an economist at Scotia Capital in London, referring to the manufacturing reports. "I don't think we're going to be breaking any speed records this year. It's going to be pretty weak in the first half, but I think we'll be on an upward sloping trajectory in the second half of the year."
Hypo Venture Capital Headlines: Raise Venture Capital from Venture Capital Investors & Angel Investors
http://kaivaughnhypoventurecapital.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/hypo-venture-capital-headlines-raise.html
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