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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.

The French car market resumed its decline in November after a slight rebound in the previous month, the disappearance of the delayed effects of scrappage scheme imposed in particular on sales of small cars.

The new car registrations fell 7.6% last month to 179,160 units, show statistics released Thursday by the Committee of French Automobile Manufacturers (CCFA).

They were up 2.8% in October, thanks to commercial offers to individuals.

The figures quoted in November as raw data to comparable number of working days, in November 2011 that counted as 20 business days in November 2010.The decrease primarily relates to small cars. "

Of the first eleven months of the year, the French car market was down 0.3% from the same period in 2010.

And this decline 4.7% only for French manufacturers, whose share of the passenger car market stood at 56.9% over January to November, down 2.6 points compared to last year.

EARLY 2012 will be difficult

Details of sales by manufacturer confirms the continuing difficulties of PSA Peugeot Citroen, whose new car sales to individuals dropped by 15.4%, a decline twice as large as that of the market.

While specialists are more likely to charge rates higher than the social security system, the government proposed a reform that displeased both patients and physicians mutual. At Compiegne, for example, 8 ophtalmos charge consultation between 45 and 50 euros.

In the Oise, it is better not to be myopic, but to have a good mutual. Of the forty liberal ophthalmologists present in the department, only five do not require any extra billing their patients. Thus, at Compiegne or Beauvais, all of these specialists is "Sector 2": they have the right to request additional compensation. And they are doing so! At Compiegne, for example, eight ophtalmos charge consultation between 45 and 50 euros.Not to mention the 4 million French people who do not have each other.

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cities where it is not possible to be cared for and costs Safely

Of course, all specialties are not affected. Outside of Paris, the vast majority of general practitioners, nephrologists, radiologists, cardiologists, pulmonologists and pediatricians are still an area that is to say they respect the social security rates. But in other specialties, the situation is getting worse. According to the latest figures released by Medicare, 56% of dermatologists who have opened an office in 2010 settled in Sector 2, 54% of gastroenterologists, 63% of ophtalmos, 82% of gynecologists, 84% of ENT, or 87% of surgeons.

The European Commission estimates that the pooling of borrowing countries in the euro area could quickly alleviate the current crisis. The counterpart would be a strengthening of fiscal discipline. The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso (here at a press conference in Brussels April 13, 2011)

The European Commission Wednesday will propose the creation of eurobonds, a system seen by its promoters as a means of achieving sustainable solutions to the debt crisis, but that divides Europeans and has as its corollary a strengthening of fiscal discipline. In a "Green Paper" seen by AFP, the European Commission considers that this pooling of borrowing countries in the euro area could "rapidly reduce" the current crisis.

The debt swap proposed by Greece to its private creditors can reduce more than one third the country's budget deficit next year to reduce it to 5.4% of GDP if it goes smoothly, show Friday the proposed final budget submitted to parliament.

The text states that the exchange, a key component of the plan to reduce government debt developed by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), would be to exchange 200 billion of existing bonds against 70 billion euros of new shares and 30 billion euros of cash payments to creditors who will accept it.

It is therefore equivalent to the creditors to agree a 50% loss on their receivables.

Without trade, the deficit would reach 6.7% of gross domestic product next year against 9.0% this year.

"After a history of steady growth, the evolution of public debt will now be reversed," he told MEPs Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, in the budget.

"Now the path is a reduction of public debt to alleviate the burden on the shoulders of the Greeks."

The draft budget for 2012 will be initially discussed in committee next week, the plenary vote is scheduled on December 7.

He assured that the draft prepared by the Tax Commission in Brussels would be considered by the Heads of State and Government of the EU "at the beginning of this year," and promised that France "will fight" in order to so that it is put into service by the end of next year.

The Head of State expressed satisfaction that now "a number of countries have joined the battle of France", quoting indiscriminately the European Commission, Germany, Spain, Argentina, African Union, Ethiopia, South Africa and Secretary General of the UN, which he said Brazil "who said his interest in the process."

Bratislava voted in favor of strengthening the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) in a second vote. This is the last country to have approved. Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radicova and President of movement Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) Richard Sulik in negotiations for el parliamentary vote of expanding the EFSF on 10 october 2011.

The Slovak Parliament approved on Thursday the strengthening of the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) in a second vote, allowing the entry into force of this instrument. Slovakia, which was the last of the 17 member countries of the euro area to vote, had a first vote Tuesday rejected the strengthening of the EFSF.

Bratislava's contribution is 7.7 billion euros in guarantees from the state.Of the total 147 deputies present, 114 voted in favor of the safety net for countries in financial difficulties, including Greece heavily in debt. Thirty voted against, three abstained. The first vote, negative, Tuesday evening, due to the refusal of a small party in the coalition to approve the building of EFSF, caused the collapse of the coalition and the fall of the government of Prime Minister Iveta Radicova who had of this vote a matter of trust for his cabinet.

After the failure of this first vote, the opposition Social Democratic Party (Smer-SD) reached an agreement with three parties in the coalition government, totaling 119 seats out of 150, to approve, in exchange for early elections strengthening the EFSF in a second vote. Thursday, Parliament gave the green light to the early elections March 10, 2012.

Without a unanimous agreement of the 17 member countries of the euro area in its building, the EFSF might be maintained in its old form, with limited capacity for action to help states avoid bankruptcy. Worried, the EU asked Wednesday to Slovakia to promptly approve the strengthening of EFSF, emphasizing its importance "crucial" for the euro area.

The Dexia share has been extremely turbulent Monday afternoon at the resumption of trading on the Stock Exchange after the announcement of the terms of the dismantling of the banking group, which includes a nationalization of the Belgian branch.

At 3:35 p.m., title, suspended since last Thursday, was spent in the green and gained 8.52% to 0.900 euro, in a volume of about 22 million pieces, after resuming its listing to 2:38 p.m. on a loss of 29% and have dropped to more than 36%.

Before the suspension, the share price to 0.845 Euro.

With speculation about his difficulties, Dexia saw its stock drop about 45% since September 28 – session that followed a board in which had been considered the possibilities of strengthening the Group's balance sheet.

This represents a $ 1.3 billion market capitalization that has vanished in a dozen days.

Monday morning, after a board of about noon, the bank approved the nationalization of the Belgian operations, and the principle of a sale of the Luxembourg subsidiary and backing activities financing of local authorities in French Caisse des Depots (CDC).

Ecology-The Greens Europe calls for repeal of the 64 oil and gas exploration permit in France after the removal of three allowed by the government. A manifestation of anti-shale gas in the National Assembly, 10 May 2011.

Pascal Durand, spokesman for the European Greens-Ecology (EELV), on Wednesday asked for the repeal of the 64 oil exploration permits in force in France, ironically on the cancellation "surmédiatisée" permit for three gas shale by Nicolas Sarkozy. The head of state said Tuesday, in a speech in Alès (Gard), there would be "no exploitation of shale gas in hydraulic fracturing" in the south of France, as Government had announced the previous day.

"As it stands, clearly we must stop all" even permits aiming of conventional oil or gas, and not just the gas and oil shale and other unconventional gas, told AFP M . Durand. The repeal of all permits would mean the abandonment of all the research for oil and gas in France, including the coast of Guyana where just made a discovery.

Of the 64 permits currently in force in France, 49 relate to conventional oil and gas, and 15 concern the so-called non-conventional oil: the three that will be canceled in the shale, four for oil shale and the eight coal gas, according to the Department of Energy.Yet according to the Government for 61 permit still valid, "the owners have no plans to search for gas and oil shale or have renounced to be limited to conventional fields." On coal gas, the holders have waived all hydraulic fracturing, which is prohibited by law.

But according to Mr. Durand, the holders of licenses, even those who say the conventional target, may have other purposes. "(…) It is likely that there are fictitious applications," he said. "So there is a real danger, it is not at all reassured about the nature of the current permit. We must allow time to investigate and verify," he argued.

Hypothesis rejected at the Ministry: "We can not do anything quietly, either a conventional drilling or a fortiori of hydraulic fracturing.There are statements of work and there is a prefecture government control anyway so it's not possible to do so in secret. "" All the less the sly as hydraulic fracturing, these are very heavy interventions ", argued an expert from Bercy AFP. Mr. Smith nevertheless praised the cancellation of three licenses," illustrates the need for citizen mobilization "and" fieldwork associations " . But "it is far from won," he said.

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