The sustainable palm oil seems increasingly preferred to curb deforestation, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). But the efforts of the major European manufacturers and retail chains involved are still too slow, said Tuesday the NGO. In a study of 132 European companies, WWF estimates that nearly a distributor of two and a manufacturer in five does not meet the charter of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an association created in 2004 bringing together producers, industry and NGOs worldwide.Indonesia and Malaysia produce between them about 80% of world production of palm oil product with multiple uses (cosmetics, food, bio-fuels).

"Dear Silvio, a new opportunity to escape with Ryanair." It is this formula that the low-cost airline has launched an advertising campaign on its website to promote its flights to 9.99 euros from Rome.

The airline has grounded all its aircraft Saturday and canceled 447 flights, which affected nearly 70,000 passengers, and brought the conflict to a climax.

The unions are demanding salary increases and improved working conditions. They also challenge the strategy of the company to focus its international activities in the Asia-Pacific region. The company management wants it, remove a thousand jobs.

The immobilization of the fleet has forced Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Melbourne before the court, which ordered the company to resume flights and unions to end the strike.The judges have left them 21 days to resolve the conflict.

Qantas announced that flights would resume on Monday afternoon part.

"We are delighted that after 24 hours of chaos, common sense prevails again in the sectors of air transport and tourism in Australia", welcomed Bill Shorten, Deputy Treasury Secretary.

"I think Qantas has taken an extreme decision Saturday," she commented on Julia Gillard, head of government. "Without really inform the government and the passengers, she had pinned her to the ground. She did as she had other alternatives," she added.

The strike took place at the wrong time for the Australian government, which hosted this weekend the 21st Commonwealth summit in Perth.Seventeen heads of state and government would leave Australia with Qantas. However, they have done with other companies, assured the Prime Minister.

What is a happy retirement? For a large majority of French people (seven out of ten) is to be financially secure before health, reveals a study by HSBC on the future of pensions published Wednesday. The survey found that 42% of French people associate retirement with financial difficulties, against 38% in the UK and 35% in the United States. 70% think that their standard of living in retirement will be worse than their parents, against only 37% of Americans and 22% of Britons. "Overall, in all developed countries, where growth is low, assets are worried about their retirement, said Jean-Pierre Wiedmer, Chairman of HSBC Insurance.But the extreme pessimism of the French! "

How to explain it? "There is a structural reason, argues Jean-Pierre Wiedmer: French are world champions of pessimism, according to a BVA poll published earlier this year. And one reason more cyclical: the public debate on pension reform in 2010 has alerted the French that the future of the PAYG was not insured. In fact, the ratio between active and inactive will worsen in the coming years. Today, France has 2.1 active Inactive for 60 years and over. In 2060, the ratio will be 1.5 or 1.4 for an idle asset, according to INSEE. This is because the number of seniors in the labor market does not increase enough to offset the increase in life.

Especially as senior on the labor market does not mean senior employment.The crisis and the deterioration of the labor market have indeed violently hit the elderly: the number of registered employment center for over 50 grew by 60% since 2007. The employment rate of older workers in France (41%) is thus one of the lowest in Europe. And the French questioned by HSBC do not envisage improvement: only 8% believe that the pension reform of 2010, which pushes two years the legal age of retirement, will solve the problem of unemployment of more than 55.

Increase the contrast level of pensions

That's why 57% of the French think that the amount of pensions paid by the system of national solidarity (general system of pension insurance and supplementary pensions Agirc-Arrco) will decrease in coming years.Yet in 2030, pensions paid by the general will average above 2% to 2.5% they would have been without the pension reform of 2010, according to a study of NACHA. Indeed, the decline in the age of retirement will allow some policyholders to increase their pension rights, with more qualifying period and new wages, generally high end of their career and therefore probably included in Top 25 annual salaries used to calculate the pension.

The average percentage, however, masks significant heterogeneity according to the profile of the insured. If nearly 35% of the insured should receive a higher pension than 6% on average, 18% have a pension lower by about 5%. In fact, an insured who left at age 63 with 3 years premium before the reform would leave always at the same age but with only one year of premium.In addition, almost half of the insured would see their pension amount unchanged with the reform. These are mainly inactive.

Finally, the most interesting in this study HSBC is the paradox between fear and actions. As they anticipate the majority of financial difficulties in retirement and they are concerned about a decline of public pensions, only 30% have set up a financial plan to make additional income in retirement, against 50 % in the rest of the world. And when we ask the French what they will do if the level of public pensions decline, 43% say they are willing to work longer and 27% to take additional paid work.

Chancellor Angela Merkel ended the discussion at a joint press conference with Nicolas Sarkozy, saying that the finance ministers of the euro area were working on two models to strengthen the capacity of the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF).

"The two do not include the European Central Bank because the treaties do not allow it," she said.

Nicolas Sarkozy for his part said that France "is as much" the independence of the ECB as Germany and he returned not to the Heads of State and Government instruct the guarantor of stability of the euro.

France is still defended publicly on the eve of the weekend to grant a banking license in EFSF, which would have the advantage of giving unlimited access to liquidity from the ECB.

It could rely on the support of 14 of the 17 countries in the euro area, Italy, Spain and Belgium being advanced against a Germany that had only the Netherlands and Finland to its sides.

While the looming G20 summit in Cannes in early November, the United States, the major emerging countries and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also grew in the wings for the firewall erected by Europeans to be the strongest possible and involve the institution in Frankfurt.

"The problem is not Greece, but installing an effective firewall to prevent contagion to the rest of the euro area," summarized a source close to the G20, which emphasizes the risks posed by European dithering on the global recovery.

"For this, we must size and speed (…) Only the ECB has the size and speed of action needed," the source said.

FAST ACTION

Another source said that if the French Minister of Economy, Baroin, suggested Friday night flexibility on this issue was first to open the door to possible trade-offs between different aspects of the response to crisis in which STRIPS Europeans.

Because if the Germans are opposed to the transformation of the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) in the bank and to leaving the ECB to become lender of last resort in Europe, the French refused to endorse them on the discount of 60% Berlin demanded that the Greek bonds.

Remains unknown: the position of the European Central Bank after Jean-Claude Trichet has left office, October 31.

The French are hostile to the evolution of double EFSF and the institution of Frankfurt but his successor, the Italian Mario Draghi, the current governor of the Bank of Italy and considered more pragmatic, there is not necessarily opposed.

"It is likely that Italy is on the side of France against the toughest positions defended by Germany and the Netherlands", do you confirm the Italian Treasury.

The arrival of the "pragmatic" Jörg Asmussen to the Board of the ECB to replace the "hawk" Jürgen Stark as the representative of Germany as well as a possible French digitally replacing Jean-Claude Trichet could also influence the position of guardian of the euro.

In the past, the ECB had similarly plot of "red lines", as its absolute refusal to buy government bonds markets or to consider a discount of Greek debt to be forced to abandon with worsening of the crisis.

Meanwhile, two solutions remain on the table to maximize the firepower of the EFSF: Germany and the ECB's call for a partial insurance mechanism sovereign debt of countries in the euro area.

The alternative would be to create a special vehicle powered by such banks as well as foreign sovereign wealth funds and resources which the Fund would be available to intervene in the secondary market.

The order of revocation of three licenses for shale gas from Total and the U.S. Schuepbach in the south of France was published in the Official Gazette Thursday, confirming the government's announcement on 3 October. The three exclusive licenses for oil exploration so-called "Montelimar" (Total) "haves" and "Villeneuve de Berg" (Schuepach), which had been granted in March 2010, are repealed, according to the decree of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry.

These three licenses cover an area of ​​9,672 km square in seven departments in the south of France, Ardeche, Drome, Vaucluse, Gard, Hérault, Aveyron and Lozère, where they raised a strong mobilization of opponents. The government announced on October 3 the repeal of the three licenses, which he said are the only ones among the 64 research permits oil and gas in France to cover only those shale gas. These repeals are consequential to the enactment of legislation in July banning the controversial technique of hydraulic fracturing used to extract the shale gas, making France the first country to prohibit.

Total expressed its "surprise" at the announcement of the loss of his license, explicitly pointing out that he had engaged in a report to the Department to comply with the law and not to use fracturing.The group, which was waiting for an explanation, has not yet decided whether to make an appeal. In a letter dated Wednesday to head the European shale gas in total, of which AFP has had a copy, the Department of Energy Department estimates that the French oil giant did not "sufficiently explained" the alternative technologies which he intended to use.

"I see you does not adequately explain the alternative technologies that you plan to use as part of an exploration of the potential of shale gas area, thus the government, contrary to the will of the legislature unable to appreciate the reality of your commitment not to use the technique of hydraulic fracturing, "wrote the director. Questioned by AFP, Total declined to comment immediately.In an opinion dated October 10th that the AFP has consulted the General Council of Industry, Energy and Technology (CGIET) estimates that the total license can not be repealed unless it is established that his report was "insufficient in view of the accuracy requirements of the legislature" on the techniques used.

The Texas Schuepbach, in his report, he had said he intended to continue to use hydraulic fracturing, in Bercy, which had automatically excluded. The remaining 61 exploration licenses have been validated them. After the U.S. has waived Toreador Oil shale east of Paris, only eight are for non-conventional hydrocarbons (coal gas), but their owners have all given up fracturing.

The benchmark Shanghai Stock Exchange has sold nearly 17% since the beginning of the year in part because of fears of monetary tightening and a slowdown in the Chinese economy.

The purchase of shares started Monday is the first undertaken by Central Huijin Investment since the financial crisis of 2008-2009 and are the first step to support the stock market officially recognized by the authorities.

Huijin is a subsidiary of sovereign fund China Investment Corp, rich $ 400 billion, already the largest shareholder of the first four banks.It began on Monday to buy back shares in the past, reported the official news agency Xinhua after the closure of local markets.

"In fact, the government acts to show his confidence because he believes that current valuations are a bit below the reasonable level," said Victor Wang, a Chinese banking analyst for Macquarie Securities.

Agricultural Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China stated later that Huijin had bought 39.1 million and 14.6 million respectively of their shares listed in Shanghai.

HONG KONG ENDS IN NET INCREASE

Huijin intends to continue increasing its investments within a year, said the two groups in the stock exchanges of Hong Kong.

The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong, where stock markets close later than those in Shanghai and Shenzhen, has made significant progress in recent trading following the announcement of investment Huijin.

Beijing authorities had already been used to support Huijin over the banks in September 2008. At the time, the Shanghai Stock Exchange had rebounded 9.5% after the announcement of these purchases, a field it had abandoned over the following weeks.

Last month, Chinese media had reported that the public pension fund received approval to invest 10 billion yuan (1.6 billion dollars) on the local stock market.And in August, official media had reported that Chinese insurers mostly controlled by the state had invested billions in the stock market.

Some analysts believe that the government could also hinder the IPO, as it did in the past in times of stock market slump.

Saab, which has hardly produced a car for six months, is in receivership.A loan of EUR 70 million guaranteed by the Chinese Zhejiang Youngman Automobile Lotus is still not activated.

According to Dagens Nyheter, Youngman would withdraw and abandon its commitment to put money into Saab over the long term.

"But Geely is interested in everything, in terms of production and development," one told the newspaper.

Geely, which acquired another Swedish Volvo cars in 2010, approached the administrator of Saab, is there still told the newspaper.

But Lawrence Ang, executive director of Geely Automobile Holdings, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Geely, denied the information.

"As far as I know, we do not have that kind of project," he said, stressing that Geely was very busy after its acquisition of Volvo cars.

A Saab spokesman declined to comment.

Ian Fletcher, automotive analyst at IHS, sees no interest in such an alliance.

"Volvo and Saab, in fact, fighting for the same space for years. I think in the end, Volvo would be happy with the release of Saab."

He recalled that Geely does not need additional production capacity in Sweden and he can do without technology from Saab.

"I see simply no reason they could intervene," said the analyst.

Saab has gone from crisis to crisis this year.It closed in April, unable to pay its suppliers to whom he owes more than 150 million euros. In August, it was no longer able to pay salaries.

Saab was bought by Spyker, now Swedish Automotive, General Motors in early 2010, as he was leaving another period of bankruptcy.

The sale of the Spyker sports cars in the Swedish Automobile Vladimir Antonov Russian investor has also failed. These cars must now be sold to a private equity investment.

The CSF was commissioned by the G20 coordinate a global response to the financial crisis.The idea of ​​this overhead capital was advanced last July by the FSB.

Mario Draghi, who chairs the CSF, confirmed that "Sifi" (systemically important Financial Institutions) will be subject to the requirement to raise their capital from 1 to 2.5% from 2016, showering the hopes of some actors who would have preferred this solution to be buried.

The name of his successor will be announced at the G20 summit held on 3 and 4 November in Cannes, also announced the secretary of the CSF Svein Andresen.

Mario Draghi will replace the current president in October the European Central Bank (ECB) Jean-Claude Trichet.

The Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said his government was defending the candidacy of Governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney.

RISK CONTROL GROWTH

If the reform was implemented today, the overhead would be required to 28 banks including, most likely, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Barclays or BNP in France.

The banks say that this, combined in January 2013 the Basel rules on capital III, penalize growth.

The CEO of JPMorgan, Jamie Dimon, found the idea "anti-American."

Faced with these criticisms, the impact study conducted by the FSB argued that the desirability to reduce the danger of a systemic crisis far exceeds the cost in terms of GDP growth.

In the opinion of Mario Draghi, it is clear that banks have a funding problem, it is still unclear whether it comes from a liquidity shortage or lack of confidence in the banking system.

"Risk aversion has increased dramatically in recent months and as it increases, the interbank market is one of the primary sources of funding to dry up," said the next president of the ECB.

Strengthen standards of liquidity and capital should reduce risk aversion, he added.

Although more focused on retail banking and has already cut the wing in the investment bank, Credit Agricole is still suffering from its ambitious expansion before the crisis, including its acquisition of the Greek bank Emporiki.

It is far from being immunized against the explosive cocktail of rising financing costs in dollars and fears about sovereign debt in the euro area.

Analysts contacted by Reuters, Credit Agricole should take steps similar to those of her peers.

"I fail to see how they (Credit Agricole) could do without it, they are likely to move," he told Reuters a source familiar with the group's strategy.

Several analysts based in Paris and with recent access to the management of the bank said in research notes that they expected the sale of toxic assets as well as an optimization plan loans in dollars.

Possible sign of a withdrawal in the bank, Crédit Agricole announced Tuesday that it now runs his consulting business mergers and acquisitions in the Middle East of Paris.

Crédit Agricole, mostly held by regional banks, saw its share price melted nearly half since the beginning of the year (-47.58%), a performance slightly less bad than Socgen ( -51.60%) but well behind that of BNP (-38.07%).

NO EXCEPTION FOR A PRIORI CREDIT AGRICOLE

Societe Generale announced September 12 a series of measures to strengthen its capital base and was followed two days later by the BNP has decided to reduce the size of its balance sheet of about 10% by end 2012 .

"French banks are likely to turn away from the long-term funding in dollars of aircraft or property," said Citigroup analyst Kinner Lakhani.

"I do not see why Crédit Agricole would be an exception," said he.

"There will certainly be something in there that taste," said another analyst based in London.

"They (the bank) need permission from the regional banks is a creature that moves slowly but they need to do something quickly," it adds.

A spokeswoman for Credit Agricole declined to comment on this information.