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The Competition Commission (Competition Commission) Switzerland announced Friday the opening of an investigation of several international banks suspected of having entered into agreements to influence interbank reference rate and marketing of certain products.

The Competition Commission said in a statement that an institution is denounced by stating that several banks have influenced the benchmark Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate) and Tibor (Tokyo Interbank Offered Rate ) for certain currencies.

Libor is used worldwide as a benchmark to set rates on transactions whose total amount is estimated at 350,000 billion. 

The slightest change in these rates calculated daily based on data from a selected group of banks may have a significant impact on rates charged by banks.

"For these behaviors, traders could obtain a distortion of the reference rate in their favor," said the policeman of the competition in a statement.

The Competition Commission is also suspected that brokers will be concerted on the differences between the buying and selling (spreads) of derivatives products, allowing them to sell financial products to ; disadvantageous terms for their clients. 

Investigations of the Competition Commission with respect to 12 major European institutions, U.S. and Japanese: UBS and Credit Suisse, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, Mizuho Financial Group, Rabobank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Societe Generale and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

INVESTIGATIONS IN EUROPE AND THE United States

U.S. authorities, European and British also seeking banks have underestimated the interbank rates to reduce borrowing costs and try to ease market tensions during the financial crisis.

At the time, Libor rates had increased, but some had found that this increase was insufficient to reflect the actual prices in the interbank market. 

"We are in contact with the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission," said Reuters on Friday Olivier Schaller, Deputy Director of the Competition Commission. "Our focus for now on the problems appeared on the Swiss market. We're just beginning our investigation. "

" We take these surveys very seriously and cooperate fully with the authorities, "said a spokesman for UBS and Credit Suisse

. RBS have refused ; s to comment while no one was immediately available in other institutions for a position

……. .. Suspicions had already emerged in 2011 when a European asset manager sued a dozen international banks, accusing them of understanding to manipulate Libor …… Charles Schwab Corp.

… has also instituted proceedings against eleven major banks for the same reasons. 

In July, UBS announced it had granted immunity in a case of suspected manipulations to Libor in exchange for his cooperation with certain authorities.

Carrefour Friday categorically denied press reports suggesting the replacement of its CEO Lars Olofsson, but according to a source familiar with the matter, George Plassat, Vivarte boss, has been recently approached and declined the proposal.

Georges Plassat, CEO of owner signs Andre Minelli or Kookai, was approached by the shareholders of Carrefour and declined the offer this month, said the source told Reuters.

"It has been proposed and he said 'no'.It was during November, "said the source.

"There is still no candidate to succeed Lars Olofsson."

Le Figaro wrote in its Friday edition that George Plassat was approached to lead Carrefour.

"It is courted for months by the main shareholders of Carrefour," the newspaper said.

"He refused the post of CEO before the summer because it was hard to find a successor to lead Vivarte (…) More and more interested in a challenge to his position, George Plassat has not closed yet the door to negotiations. On the contrary, "continued the newspaper.

The major shareholders of Carrefour are the fund Colony Capital and Groupe Arnault, the family holding company LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange started the week up Monday, the speakers are partly reassured about the evolution of the European debt crisis even if they prefer not to push the market too high before an auction to be held in Italy later of the day.

The Nikkei gained 89.23 points (1.05%) to 8,603.70 and the Topix has taken 6.72 points (0.92%) to 735.85.

Italy must award five-year bonds, a first test for the new Chairman Mario Monti.

The market has not reacted much to the publication before the opening of Japan's GDP for the quarter July to September.

Ryanair said Monday it has increased by 10% its profit forecast for 2011-2012, the high fuel costs to be offset by higher revenue per passenger per kilometer.

The first airline to European low-cost, which reported a quarterly taxable income above expectations, said not having seen virtually no impact of the decline in consumer confidence.

The Irish company added, however, she anticipated a decline in traffic in the coming months due to his decision to nail to the ground some aircraft in response to the high cost of kerosene.

Of the three months to September, the taxable income stood at 404 million euros against an average forecast of six analysts polled by Reuters de393 million.

Lufthansa and International Airline Group (IAG) both announced last week the results strongly affected by rising fuel costs.

Interest rates Italian debt to 10 years have passed the psychological threshold of 6% to 6.06%. Concerns focus on capacity from Rome to take charge of its massive debt of 1,900 billion euros. Asian stock markets closed sharply down Monday, August 8, 2011. The Tokyo Stock Exchange lost 2.9%, Shanghai 3.79%, Sydney 2.9%, 3.82% Seoul, Hong Kong 2.11%. The Bombay Stock Exchange, she fell to its lowest since 2010 (-3%).

The cost of financing the huge debt of Italy also rose Friday on the issue of 7.935 billion euros of bonds and long term, despite the Europe Agreement in an attempt to stem the debt crisis , announced the Bank of Italy.

Put into a corner by its European partners, the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has also pledged to adopt by November 15 a plan of action to boost growth and reduce debt. But investors, who doubt the credibility of a government weakened and divided, are still not reassured by Italy with a huge debt reached about 1,900 billion euros (about 120% of GDP).

The top leaders of the euro area was completed last night. It provides for a discount of 50% of Greece's debt and strengthening of the EFSF to 1,000 billion euros. The details. The European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel in Brussels.

The top of the eurozone, which ended in the night between Wednesday and Thursday led to a series of measures to resolve the crisis, including the deletion of 50% of the Greek debt to private creditors and the strengthening of the Fund stability in the euro area.Here are the details of decisions taken by all European leaders.

A discount of Greek debt to 50%

Banks and private equity funds that hold Greek debt have agreed to voluntarily relinquish 50% of their claims on the national debt by 2020: specifically, from January 2012, they will exchange their debt obligations Greek against others whose value will be halved. This represents a deletion of 100 billion euros of Greek debt, currently at 350 billion euros. Fund stability in the euro area (EFSF) will bring to these private creditors 30 billion euros in guarantees on these new claims.The plan of 109 billion euros in public aid (EU and International Monetary Fund) for Greece decided on July 21 is replaced by another, amounting to 100 billion euros, until 2014, who s will accompany closely monitored by the creditors of the implementation of reforms required in the country. Athens will have to find 15 billion to reduce its debt through privatization.

Recapitalized banks to the tune of 106 billion euros

Hard equity banks (equity capital and retained earnings) will reach 9% "30 June 2012." To achieve this, "banks will have to appeal primarily to sources of private capital." Until this objective, "the banks should be subject to some constraints on the distribution of dividends and payment of premiums."The European Banking (ABB) was evaluated Wednesday at 106 billion recapitalization needs, which will involve 70 schools. Greek banks are the most concerned (30 billion) before the Spanish banks (26.16 billion) and Italy (14.77 billion).

The EFSF increased up to 1000 billion

The EFSF, currently has a capacity of loan of 440 billion euros, will reach a strike force of about 1,000 billion. Two mechanisms should complement each other for this purpose. The first will be to ensure some of the potential losses of private investors when they buy government bonds on the primary market. The other is to create one or more special funds (special purpose vehicles) to attract outside investors private or public, as emerging markets.The text mentions, without elaborating, "an even closer cooperation with the International Monetary Fund."

The ECB may continue to buy back debt

The governments of the euro area may have to count on the role of the ECB firefighter to support fragile states such as Italy and Spain. Its future president, Mario Draghi, has promised to continue to do so if necessary.

Golden Rules of generalized

The golden rules of a balanced budget will be generalized. Among the measures to strengthen fiscal discipline common EU monetary figure "the adoption by each Member State of rules on passing a balanced budget the Stability and Growth in the legislation, preferably at the constitutional level or equivalent end of 2012, "the statement said.

Highs in the euro area generalized

Highs in the euro area will be held twice a year.They will be chaired, at least initially, by the President of the EU, the Belgian Herman Van Rompuy. A change in the EU treaty is considered.

Traders are on alert Monday morning after the warning of the Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi, who warned that Tokyo might intervene in the foreign exchange market to try, once again, to halt the rise of the yen that threatens the recovery of the Japanese archipelago.

Japanese export growth has certainly slowed less than expected in September, showed figures released Monday by the Ministry of Finance, but economists warn that the combination of a strong yen and the persistence of the crisis debt in Europe pose high risks to external demand.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ), which meets Thursday, is likely to cut its economic forecasts because of slowing global growth while keeping intact its monetary policy.

The status quo in Japanese monetary policy, however, may not be sufficient to contain the rise of the yen, the latter continued to figure as a safe haven in times of uncertainty.

"The dollar / yen fell sharply, to a range between 75 and 76 yen in a very short period of time. This is completely speculative and does not reflect at all the fundamentals.This is unfortunate, "said Jun Azumi reporters.

"If this path becomes excessive, we will take tough decisions."

The strong yen will have a major impact on the Japanese export sector, he added, especially for the automotive industry.

Jun Azumi's remarks came after the dollar hit a record low Friday at 75.78 yen on EBS platform.

Since September 2010, the government intervened on two occasions, once alone and once together with the G7, in an attempt to weaken the yen, but the effect of these interventions did not last.

Japanese exports rose 2.4% in September from the previous year, against 1.0% expected, supported by higher sales of automobiles and automotive equipment.In August, they had increased by 2.8%.

Imports on the other hand increased by 12.1% last month, instead of the 12.6% forecast.

Japan posted a trade surplus of 300.4 billion yen (2.8 billion euros), a deficit in August, against a forecast surplus of 198.8 billion yen.

The trade deficit of France in August fell to 4.967 billion euros from 6.363 billion euros (revised) in July, the implementation of major aerospace contracts, causing a sharp rise in exports, according to data CVS / CJO published Friday by Customs.

Five economists polled by Reuters on average expected a deficit of 6.2 billion euros, with estimates ranging from -5.7 to -7.0 billion.

The deficit for July was announced in early September to 6.460 billion euros.

"Deficit reduction is entirely due to the transport sector," reads the statement.

The accumulated balance in the trade balance since 1 January amounted to -48.560 billion euros, against -33.184 billion in the first eight months of last year.

Exports FOB data CVS / CJO came out to 37.420 billion euros in August against 35.265 in July.

Imports rose to 42.387 billion euros from 41.628 billion in July.

In August, France sold its 16 Airbus reported 1.345 million euros against 20 in July to 1.183 million.

Employees of the refinery in the Bouches-du-Rhône LyondellBasell group voted on Thursday the renewal of the social movement and blocking the entire site. They demand the abandonment of the proposed closure of the refinery, which employs 370 workers. Employees of the LyondellBasell refinery in Berre, in a social movement in 2010.

Employees of the Berre refinery owned by LyondellBasell voted on Thursday extended for 24 hours of their strike and blockade of the entire site. Meeting in mid-day general meeting, several hundred of them voted the renewal of the movement, on a site off since Wednesday. A new AG is scheduled Friday at 12pm. The move follows the announcement of LyondellBasell Tuesday the closure of its refinery in the Bouches-du-Rhone.

It employs 370 employees and is located in a petrochemical complex in which 1,250 people work.Wednesday evening, staff representatives were received by the management of LyondellBasell. But it seems to turn a deaf ear to the demand of withdrawal of the proposed closure of the refinery.

Staff representatives also claim an economic viability study of the entire site, with and without a refinery, because they fear that the complex is not only profitable, said the representative of the Inter-CFE / CGC, CFDT, CFTC , CGT and FOR, Patrick Sciurca. They ask, finally setting up "real social measures" if, if, the closure of the refinery were to be confirmed.

Neighboring refineries could be affected by the movement

LyondellBasell announced Tuesday its intention to close the refinery, not having found a buyer for its sale in the spring."Despite the efforts of employees and management, the refinery continues to suffer heavy losses and unable to become profitable," said management. Thursday, employees said, expect "a movement hard and long." "It's better a few days or weeks to strike than to lose everything," commented the coordinator of the CFE-CGC factory Patron Remy. "This movement will perhaps go on but I think we need to think about prospects," he added.

Since the strike began, between 200 and 300 employees remain at the site of Berre l'Etang-to block some being requisitioned to ensure safety, according to Inter, adding that three supermarkets in the region refuel for free. Employees also came Thursday in nearby petrochemical plants, expressing their solidarity but also their concern.

Arkema CGT trade unionists in Fos-sur-Mer explained and have moved to "make news" because they fear that any slowing of the site after the closure of LyondellBasell refinery affects the activity of specific their factory. "Everything is interconnected," they emphasized

Demand clear messages from their leaders, more and more Germans express their defiance against the German chancellor to leave the euro zone of the crisis, according to a survey. "The Chancellor did not demonstrate any leadership capacity in the current situation," according to political analyst Carsten Koschmieder.

The Germans suspect more capacity of Chancellor Angela Merkel to solve the financial crisis in which Europe seems to plunge every day. They have a 55% "somewhat confident" and 20% "no confidence" in the conservative-liberal coalition government out of the euro area the storm, according to a survey by the Institute Infratest Dimap and broadcast Friday by the public channel ARD.

These concerns are explained first by the problems of perception of a clear policy."The Germans yearn for clear positions on the part of leaders and now it is not the case," said Richard Hilmer, director of Infratest Dimap. And Carsten Koschmieder, a political scientist at the Free University of Berlin, to abound in his direction: "These figures are plausible," he said to AFP. "The Chancellor did not demonstrate any leadership capacity in the current situation. Citizens expect a plan and Angela Merkel is silent."

Having delivered Tuesday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy a message on the economic governance of the euro area, but without going into details, Merkel was killed. "That may be good for markets, which startled every statement, but that does not restore public confidence," thought Mr. Hilmer.And in fact, the Franco-German summit did nothing to fear swept the world stock markets, all victims of this week a panic fueled by sluggish growth.

The Germans are more cautious vis-à-vis Nicolas Sarkozy. According to the survey of the institute Infratest Dimap, 63% of respondents said they had "little confidence" and 20% "no confidence" in the French president. Only 15% have "high confidence" and 2% do not know. A sentiment shared by the French, Harris Interactive poll published on 11 August by the daily Le Parisien / Today in France: they would be 46% to have more confidence in the Chancellor and Mr. Sarkozy (33%) to "avoid" a new financial and economic crisis.

The scope of these figures, however, is minimized by Baasner Frank, director of the Franco-German Institute in Ludwigsburg, "the grass is always greener on the neighbors.The French have an idealized vision of Merkel, who they consider serious and stable ". Baasner says, the distrust of the Germans vis-à-vis the Merkel government" is not surprising. "He points to the Liberals ( FDP), junior partner in his coalition, which after the electoral debacle in several local elections speak loudly to try to exist. "Their presence does not help," said he.

Proof of the cacophony in Berlin, the Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Economy, the Liberal Philipp Rösler, Friday proved very reserved in respect of a European tax on financial transactions, yet offered no more later than Tuesday by Chancellor and French President. "It would be easier to form a grand coalition with the Social Democrats", currently in opposition, says Baasner."At least, none of the two parties would fight for his political survival and it would be easier to adopt a strategy for the long term."