Forex Comments from G20 finance chiefs meeting in Mexico

Forex Comments from G20 finance chiefs meeting in Mexico MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Following are comments from policymakers attending the meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers in Mexico City on Saturday. U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY TIMOTHY GEITHNER 'I think it's important to give Europe's leaders credit for what they have accomplished ... and put in place in terms of the architecture of a credible response in the last four months.' 'They have had a big impact in reducing the downside risks to growth ... though it's important not to rest on that progress.' 'I hope that we're going to see, and I expect we will see, continued efforts by the Europeans ... to put in place a stronger, more credible firewall.' CANADIAN FINANCE MINISTER JIM FLAHERTY 'I do want to encourage Germany to take that leadership role very seriously and come up with an overall euro zone plan.' 'I think that what I'd like to see in the communique is language that indicates that the real question is, when will we see the euro zone plan. And that discussions about other countries through the IMF supporting the euro zone plan should await the answer to the first question.' 'I don't think we're ever going to be able from the outside to impose a deadline on the euro zone. That's up to them.' GERMAN FINANCE MINISTER WOLFGANG SCHAEUBLE 'It does not make any economic sense to follow the calls for proposals which would be mutualizing the interest risk in the euro zone, nor in pumping money into rescue funds, nor in starting up the ECB printing press.' 'I am worried the overriding problems ... have not been tackled sufficiently. We have to be more daring when it comes to these large and fundamental challenges.' 'You know that Greece is a special and unique case...The main difficulty is a serious lack of competitiveness.' JAPANESE FINANCE MINISTER JUN AZUMI 'I'd like to see how Europe will make concrete efforts and then discuss how we can contribute.' 'I said that I expect debate on strengthening of the IMF lending capacity will progress on condition that the problem of Europe's debt crisis is put to an end by the G20 meeting in Washington in April.' 'The present firewall involves strengthening of EFSF and increase of upper cap on ESM. But I said (at G20) that they should be further strengthened.' 'The economy is somewhat picking up in the world as a whole, including Japan, and (we) want to put an end to the Europe crisis in the early spring and to accelerate the global economic growth.' BRAZILIAN FINANCE MINISTER GUIDO MANTEGA 'Emerging countries will only help under two conditions; first that they strengthen their firewall and second for the IMF (quota) reform be implemented.' 'I see most countries sharing a similar opinion that the Europeans have to strengthen their firewall.' JAY COLLINS, SENIOR CITIGROUP EXECUTIVE 'The lack of a firewall decision coming out of Europe takes a toll, speed matters.' 'Speed and urgency is critical.' BANK OF JAPAN GOVERNOR MASAAKI SHIRAKAWA 'Heightening geographical risks and some bright movements in advanced economies after the New Year are factors behind the underlying crude oil price hikes. Of course, monetary easing has been continuing but I don't see it as a major factor for driving up crude oil prices. Generally speaking, we'll closely watch effects and side-effects of monetary easing.' MARK CARNEY, BANK OF CANADA GOVERNOR AND CHAIRMAN OF THE FINANCIAL STABILITY BOARD 'We are cursed with living in extraordinary times. There are two critical challenges that are really facing policymakers at the moment. Restoring growth and stability in Europe. There's been quite appropriately tremendous attention paid to that. But at the same time, just doing that will not be enough.' 'We need to rebuild strong, sustainable, balanced growth in the global economy.' 'One of the issues in these G20 meetings has been that the issue of the moment has often, not surprisingly, crowded out this fundamental medium-term issue.' 'For emerging markets, the weak growth prospects and large accommodative monetary policies in the G3 (major advanced economies) tends to push capital flow towards them, exacerbating concerns about sudden stops and potentially causing a reaction in terms of capital controls.' 'Some emerging markets are reluctant to abandon exchange rate strategies which have served them so well in the past, and so there's a vicious circle here.' BANK OF ITALY GOVERNOR IGNAZIO VISCO 'During the G20 meeting we will discuss the outlook for the global economy and we will probably talk about the developments on the oil markets. Tensions are growing.' 'We have to be vigilant regarding oil.' 'At the moment we don't see the need for a new LTRO by the ECB, but we will have to see the whole effects of the second one (on February 29) before taking a decision.' 'Italy has made remarkable progress on the budget side, now it has to work on growth, even Europe should insist on growth.' OECD SECRETARY-GENERAL ANGEL GURRIA 'The Greek bailout was not a deal, it was an ordeal ... the problem was it came too late.' 'I don't know if Greece's debt target of 120 percent of GDP will be enough -- that will depend on whether Greece delivers on its policies.' 'We have run out of monetary policy room ... we have run out of fiscal room in most countries, some have a little fiscal room now.' 'The ECB's LTRO (long term refinancing operation) is no substitute for a European firewall.' 'It's already six months to a year late... We need a massive European firewall now.' (Compiled by Kieran Murray)

Signals U.S. did not call for strategic oil release: G20 sources

Signals U.S. did not call for strategic oil release: G20 sources U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (C) and Chairman of Grupo Financiero Banorte Guillermo Ortiz (L) arrive to a meeting of Group of Twenty (G20) leading economies' finance ministers and central bankers in Mexico City February 25, 2012. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo MEXICO CITY, Reuters (Feb 25) - The United States did not openly call for a release of countries' strategic oil reserves during Group of 20 meetings this weekend, Group of 20 sources said on Saturday. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday the United States is considering a release from its strategic oil reserves as rising tensions between Iran and the West over its disputed nuclear program fueled a rise in oil prices. At meeting of G20 economies on Saturday, two people familiar with the discussion said finance officials had discussed the risk to the world economy from oil prices, which rose above $125 a barrel on Friday, but the United States did not push for a release of strategic reserves. Countries hold oil reserves as a buffer against sudden drops in supply. A draft communique for the G20 meeting, which is still under discussion, said high oil prices were a risk to the global economy, the sources said, although the outlook was cautiously optimistic. 'The communique says that there are some positive signs in the global economy, coming especially from the U.S. economy, but they are tentative,' one G20 official said. (Reporting by Francesca Landini and Dave Graham; Writing by Krista Hughes)

Signals Big stocks on the move

Signals

Large cap stocks are showing good action. Besides AAPL, GOOG was another big mover yesterday. AMZN may be setting up for breakout.

Oil BRICS call for open selection of next World Bank chief

Oil BRICS call for open selection of next World Bank chief MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A meeting of BRICS major emerging countries discussed the selection process of the next head of the World Bank and emphasized it should be open to all countries, rejecting the tradition that the job automatically goes to an American, a senior BRIC official said on Saturday. The official, speaking after a meeting of the BRICS - Russia, South Africa, Brazil, India and China - said the United States had not circulated the name of its proposed candidate for the World Bank. Asked whether emerging economies could field their own candidate for the post, the official said: 'That is certainly a discussion we will have.' (Reporting By Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Forex Germany wants Greece to give up budget control

Forex Germany wants Greece to give up budget control RELATED QUOTES Symbol Price Change TRI 27.82 -0.10 Related Content A Greek national flag flies at the archaeological site of the Acropolis Hill in Athens November 3, 2011. REUTERS/John Kolesidis A Greek national flag flies at the archaeological site of the Acropolis Hill in Athens November 3, 2011. REUTERS/John Kolesidis By Noah Barkin BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany is pushing for Greece to relinquish control over its budget policy to European institutions as part of discussions over a second rescue package, a European source told Reuters on Friday. 'There are internal discussions within the Euro group and proposals, one of which comes from Germany, on how to constructively treat country aid programs that are continuously off track, whether this can simply be ignored or whether we say that's enough,' the source said. The source added that under the proposals European institutions already operating in Greece should be given 'certain decision-making powers' over fiscal policy. 'This could be carried out even more stringently through external expertise,' the source said. The Financial Times said it had obtained a copy of the proposal showing Germany wants a new euro zone 'budget commissioner' to have the power to veto budget decisions taken by the Greek government if they are not in line with targets set by international lenders. 'Given the disappointing compliance so far, Greece has to accept shifting budgetary sovereignty to the European level for a certain period of time,' the document said. Under the German plan, Athens would only be allowed to carry out normal state spending after servicing its debt, the FT said. 'If a future (bail-out) tranche is not disbursed, Greece cannot threaten its lenders with a default, but will instead have to accept further cuts in primary expenditures as the only possible consequence of any non-disbursement,' the FT quoted the document as saying. The German demands for greater control over Greek budget policy come amid intense talks to finalize a second 130 billion-euro rescue package for Greece, which has repeatedly failed to meet the fiscal targets set out for it by its international lenders. CHAOTIC DEFAULT THREAT Greece needs to strike a deal with creditors in the next couple of days to unlock its next aid package in order to avoid a chaotic default. 'No country has put forward such a proposal at the Eurogroup,' a Greek finance ministry official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the government would not formally comment on reports based on unnamed sources. The German demands are likely to prompt a strong reaction in Athens ahead of elections expected to take place in April. 'One of the ideas being discussed is to set up a clearly defined priorities on reducing deficits through legally binding guidelines,' the European source said. He added that in Greece the problem is that a lot of the budget-making process is done in a decentralized manner. 'Clearly defined, legally binding guidelines on that could lead to more coherence and make it easier to take decisions - and that would contribute to give a whole new dynamic to efforts to implement the program,' the source said. 'It is clear that talks on how to help Greece get back on the right track are continuing,' the source said. 'We're all striving to achieve a lasting stabilization of Greece,' he said. 'That's the focus of what all of us in Europe are working on right now.' (Reporting By Noah Barking; Additional reporting by George Georgiopoulos in Athens and; Adrian Croft in London; writing by Erik Kirschbaum; editing by Andrew Roche)

Signals Etisalat eyes mobile remittances in Gulf

Signals Etisalat eyes mobile remittances in Gulf Companies: AFN RELATED QUOTES Symbol Price Change AFN 0.00 0.00 Related Content A man walks past a sign at the headquarters of telecommunications company Etisalat in Dubai October 25, 2011. REUTERS/Jumana El HelouehView Photo A man walks past a sign at the headquarters of telecommunications company Etisalat in Dubai October 25, 2011. REUTERS/Jumana El Heloueh By Matt Smith DUBAI (Reuters) - UAE telecoms operator Etisalat (ABD:ETISALAT), which saw $1.8 billion moved over its network last year via money transfers, has sought regulatory approval to expand its financial services offerings in the Gulf region, home to millions of expatriates. Mobile money services allow customers to pay bills or make remittances using SMS text messages, often at a cheaper cost than through banks or money transfer firms. 'Remittances are a huge business opportunity,' George Held, director of products and services at Etisalat, told Reuters. 'The cost base for telecoms operators is much different than for banks and exchange houses. We do not need bricks and mortar branches, so our costs are lower and we can pass on this saving and offer better exchange rates and transaction fees.' The former monopoly was expected to focus on its home market and Saudi Arabia. Both countries have large expat populations and inbound annual remittances were worth about $36 billion combined in 2010, Held said. About 89 percent of the UAE's 8.3 million population are expatriates, while in Saudi Arabia just over a fifth of the 27 million population are foreigners. Etisalat's Egypt unit could also profit from an estimated $8 billion of inbound remittances from Egyptians working abroad. Etisalat has tied up with Western Union and MoneyGram International to allow money sent by mobile customers in the Middle East to be collected anywhere in the world. Aside from remittances, the operator hopes to offer salary payments, peer-to-peer domestic funds transfers and utility and shop payments. 'Remittances will be an extremely important part of our mobile money services. But it is not enough alone to drive service adoption, so we will offer a mix of services to make it very hard for customers not to get involved,' said Held. Etisalat already offers some of these services in six countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tanzania and plans to expand this to the 17 countries in which it operates in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. 'We want to introduce mobile money in the rest of our markets as soon as possible. It is not a technical issue, but ticking all the boxes from a regulatory, compliance and customer education point of view,' Held said. LESS MONEY, MORE LOYALTY Mobile money has taken off in parts of Africa, where a minority of people hold bank accounts and the banking infrastructure in rural areas remains limited. About 8 percent of Tanzania's gross domestic product is thought to go through mobile banking. Text-based financial services will not help stem a decline in global SMS revenues - seen dropping up to 40 percent over the next three years as users opt for alternative text services such as BlackBerry Messenger or WhatsApp - but it can improve customer loyalty. 'When people have a mobile wallet ... we believe they will stay with us for a long time,' Held said. 'When was the last time you changed your bank account?' Etisalat will face challenges in convincing customers in the Gulf region, who have easy access to banking and exchange houses, to switch. 'In this region, people are used to going to the bank for transactions - they like to get a receipt. It is not a game-changer for telecom operators' revenues,' said a regional telecoms analyst. Pedro Oliveira, partner at consultant Oliver Wyman, said telecoms operators face a tough task competing with conventional exchange houses. 'Low income workers in the Gulf count every penny. So, it is not convenience that matters, but cost,' he said. 'For expats with prepaid contracts wanting to send money home, they would have to buy prepaid cards to top up their phone balance and then send a text.'

Oil Exiting watchdog sees flaws in SEC's rulewriting

Oil Exiting watchdog sees flaws in SEC's rulewriting WASHINGTON, DC (Reuters) - In his final act before departing the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, the agency's inspector general, David Kotz, criticized how the agency analyzes the economic impact of some of its Dodd-Frank rules. Kotz's criticism, contained in a report, could have ramifications for the SEC, which has lost several court battles over the years because of flaws in how it demonstrates that the benefits of a rule outweigh its costs. 'We found that the extent of quantitative discussion of cost-benefit analyses varied among rulemakings,' Kotz wrote in his report. 'Based on our examination of several Dodd-Frank Act rulemakings, the review found that the SEC sometimes used multiple baselines in its cost-benefit analyses that were ambiguous or internally inconsistent.' Last year, U.S. business groups successfully convinced a federal appeals court to overturn one of the SEC's Dodd-Frank rules that aimed to empower shareholders to more easily nominate directors to corporate boards. In rejecting the rule, the court said the agency failed to properly weigh the economic consequences. Some of the business groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have since raised similar concerns with other rulemakings pending before the SEC. Congress passed the Dodd-Frank act in 2010 to more closely police financial markets and institutions after the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The legislation gives the SEC responsibility to write roughly 100 new rules. Although the SEC is not subject to an express statutory requirement to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of its rules, other laws do require the agency to consider the effects of its rules on capital formation, competition and efficiency. In addition, the SEC must also follow federal rulemaking procedures, such as providing the public with an opportunity to comment on its proposals. This is the second report Kotz has issued looking at the quality of the SEC's cost-benefit analysis. Both reports were issued after certain members of the Senate Banking Committee, including ranking Republican Richard Shelby, voiced concerns about whether regulators were adequately examining the economic impact of Dodd-Frank rules. To determine how well the SEC is faring, Kotz's office retained Albert Kyle, a finance professor at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, to help carry out the review. Friday's report covered a sample of Dodd-Frank rulemakings, including a rule allowing shareholders a non-binding vote on compensation, several asset-backed securities rules and two proposals pertaining to the reporting of security-based swap data. Kotz's report was critical of the agency in a number of areas. In one instance, the report cites a memo in which former General Counsel David Becker gave his opinion that the SEC should do thorough cost-benefit analyses on rules that are not explicitly required by Congress. Rules mandated by Congress, however, generally would not need the same level of cost-benefit research, the memo said. The report suggested that the agency should reconsider these guidelines, or else it risks 'not fulfilling the essential purposes of such analyses.' SEC management, in a written response to the report, disagreed with that point. 'We believe Professor Kyle's opinion fails to appreciate both the practical limitations on the scope of cost-benefit a regulator can conduct, and the distinct roles of Congress and administrative agencies,' they said. 'We think it is entirely sensible ... for the staff to focus its attention and the commission's limited resources on matters that the commission has the authority to decide.' Kotz made other recommendations, including using a single consistent baseline in the cost-benefit analysis process and having economists provide more input. SEC spokesman John Nester declined to comment beyond the SEC comments in the report. (Reporting By Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Gary Hill)

Earn Mexico says G20 to look at smoothing capital flows

Earn Mexico says G20 to look at smoothing capital flows Mexican Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade speaks during an interview with Reuters in Mexico City February 14, 2012. REUTERS/Henry RomeroView Photo Mexican Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade speaks during an interview with Reuters in Mexico City February 14, 2012. REUTERS/Henry Romero MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) - Mexico will include possible steps to blunt the impact of sharp capital flows on the Group of 20's policy agenda after discussions with Latin American neighbors, Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade said on Sunday. Mexico, which holds the G20's rotating presidency this year, hosted a seminar about G20 priorities on the sidelines of meetings of Inter-American Development Bank. The bloc's only Latin American members are Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. Meade said via his Twitter account that suggestions from the region would help to enrich the work of the G20, including a push to ease the impact of capital inflows and outflows and tools to administer flows better. One suggestion Mexico would take on board was to 'develop a better capacity to absorb financial flows in domestic financial systems,' he said. Many delegates at the IADB meeting have expressed concern about a recent move toward protectionism, particularly by Brazil, which last week pushed Mexico to curb auto exports over the next three years to boost its industrial sector, hit by an appreciating currency. Brazil blames loose monetary policy in developed economies for the foreign cash flows that have pushed up the real and unleashed a flood of cheap imports, hurting the competitiveness of Brazilian industries. Officials present at the Montevideo meeting said Uruguay, Paraguay and other countries had pushed for Mexico to make sure the G20 addressed currencies and trade barriers. 'Mexico was asked to raise issues of protectionism, exchange rates and capital flows,' Paraguay Economy Minister Dionisio Borda said. Meade told Reuters the G20 remained committed to combating protectionism and there was no intention to change this. 'In every G20 meeting what we have done is reconfirm the promise to combat protectionism, recognizing that this is a measure which does not contribute to global growth,' he said. In the G20 leaders' November communiqué, the group said multilateral trade was important as a way to avoid protectionism and called for more exchange rate flexibility. Protectionism and capital flows were not specifically mentioned in the communiqué following the G20 finance ministers' meeting in Mexico City in March, but Mexico has said one of its G20 priorities is economic stabilization. (Reporting by Krista Hughes and Guido Nejamkis; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Earn Etisalat eyes mobile remittances in Gulf

Earn Etisalat eyes mobile remittances in Gulf Companies: AFN RELATED QUOTES Symbol Price Change AFN 0.00 0.00 Related Content A man walks past a sign at the headquarters of telecommunications company Etisalat in Dubai October 25, 2011. REUTERS/Jumana El HelouehView Photo A man walks past a sign at the headquarters of telecommunications company Etisalat in Dubai October 25, 2011. REUTERS/Jumana El Heloueh By Matt Smith DUBAI (Reuters) - UAE telecoms operator Etisalat (ABD:ETISALAT), which saw $1.8 billion moved over its network last year via money transfers, has sought regulatory approval to expand its financial services offerings in the Gulf region, home to millions of expatriates. Mobile money services allow customers to pay bills or make remittances using SMS text messages, often at a cheaper cost than through banks or money transfer firms. 'Remittances are a huge business opportunity,' George Held, director of products and services at Etisalat, told Reuters. 'The cost base for telecoms operators is much different than for banks and exchange houses. We do not need bricks and mortar branches, so our costs are lower and we can pass on this saving and offer better exchange rates and transaction fees.' The former monopoly was expected to focus on its home market and Saudi Arabia. Both countries have large expat populations and inbound annual remittances were worth about $36 billion combined in 2010, Held said. About 89 percent of the UAE's 8.3 million population are expatriates, while in Saudi Arabia just over a fifth of the 27 million population are foreigners. Etisalat's Egypt unit could also profit from an estimated $8 billion of inbound remittances from Egyptians working abroad. Etisalat has tied up with Western Union and MoneyGram International to allow money sent by mobile customers in the Middle East to be collected anywhere in the world. Aside from remittances, the operator hopes to offer salary payments, peer-to-peer domestic funds transfers and utility and shop payments. 'Remittances will be an extremely important part of our mobile money services. But it is not enough alone to drive service adoption, so we will offer a mix of services to make it very hard for customers not to get involved,' said Held. Etisalat already offers some of these services in six countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tanzania and plans to expand this to the 17 countries in which it operates in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. 'We want to introduce mobile money in the rest of our markets as soon as possible. It is not a technical issue, but ticking all the boxes from a regulatory, compliance and customer education point of view,' Held said. LESS MONEY, MORE LOYALTY Mobile money has taken off in parts of Africa, where a minority of people hold bank accounts and the banking infrastructure in rural areas remains limited. About 8 percent of Tanzania's gross domestic product is thought to go through mobile banking. Text-based financial services will not help stem a decline in global SMS revenues - seen dropping up to 40 percent over the next three years as users opt for alternative text services such as BlackBerry Messenger or WhatsApp - but it can improve customer loyalty. 'When people have a mobile wallet ... we believe they will stay with us for a long time,' Held said. 'When was the last time you changed your bank account?' Etisalat will face challenges in convincing customers in the Gulf region, who have easy access to banking and exchange houses, to switch. 'In this region, people are used to going to the bank for transactions - they like to get a receipt. It is not a game-changer for telecom operators' revenues,' said a regional telecoms analyst. Pedro Oliveira, partner at consultant Oliver Wyman, said telecoms operators face a tough task competing with conventional exchange houses. 'Low income workers in the Gulf count every penny. So, it is not convenience that matters, but cost,' he said. 'For expats with prepaid contracts wanting to send money home, they would have to buy prepaid cards to top up their phone balance and then send a text.'