Aviva's CEO resigns

 

The "Spring of shareholders" in the City made a victim. Andrew Moss, head of the British insurer Aviva, resigned Tuesday after suffering a historic setback against his compensation during the general assembly of the firm last week. He might himself have abandoned a planned increase of 4.6% of annual salary of 960,000 pounds (1.2 million), shareholders with 54% disavowed his remuneration package. Taking note of this humiliation, he chose to retire to try to appease the revolt. Aviva's action was immediately flown more than 5% at the London Stock Exchange.

The fat cats ("fat cats"), as they are called here, hug the walls in the European capital of finance. For months, wages at six or seven zeros and their bonuses are exponential in the hot seat. Shareholder activism, biased against remuneration unrelated to performance in crisis, the disapproval of public opinion and government voluntarism in this area combine to send the message to the bosses Taking arrived.

In the same day on Tuesday, the Chief of the bookmaker William Hill, Ralph Topping, has narrowly escaped facing a turbulent AG which voted 49.8% against the salary increase of 8.3% and a bonus of 1.2 million pounds. A small carrier angrily denounced "the feast of the last chance for CEOs who try to take as much as possible while there is still time."  

Last week, Sly Bailey, the leader of the newspaper group Trinity Mirror, has also resigned rather than having to face this Thursday the shareholder revolt over his salary of 1.7 million pounds, while the action of the company lost 90% of its value since she took control.

Bill

Friday, it was the turn of the leaders of energy giant Centrica to face the challenge of a package of 4.3 million pounds intended for his boss, Sam Laidlaw. This agitation is not the fact of radical activist shareholders. Large institutional investors now lead the protest. 32% of those of Barclays Bank have opposed or abstained on the 17 million pounds of CEO Bob Diamond and 2.1 billion of bonuses distributed in the house, three times the amount of dividends paid.

"The shareholders have lost patience exasperated, says Sarah Wilson, leader of the association of small shareholders Manifest. This is not a political movement but the requirement for better business performance. The occupation movement of the London Stock Exchange has legitimized the need for state regulation since the boards were not able to regulate itself. "

A bill will be presented precisely this Wednesday's Speech from the Throne. One of its most controversial provisions, however, may be abandoned: it planned to require the approval of compensation plans for a three-fourths majority of shareholders. But the law should make the vote binding general meetings so far merely advisory.

Meanwhile, the "Spring of the shareholders' only budding. The association of retired FairPensions has launched a campaign for all retirees, widows Scottish kind, make their voices heard against excessive compensation. English executive salaries jumped 49% in one year.

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One of the smartest ways in which you can search for low priced insurance covers for your vehicle is through online aggregator sites or independent sites for car insurance. In other words, the Internet is the best avenue for cheap price car insurance quotes.

The inventor of the smart card disappears

 

Cards, Vitale, SIM for mobile phones, biometric passports, Navigo … The smart card, created by Roland Moreno, resulted in a multitude of high-tech objects indispensable in our daily lives. Amateur science fiction, self-taught, this French born in Cairo in 1945 and died Sunday in Paris had the idea to invent a portable device to store information. He had filed the first patent of the smart card in 1974 and it took him eight years to convince bankers, RATP and other industrial utility of his invention.

A small fortune

But his perseverance has won the chip has become a social phenomenon on a global scale. And Roland Moreno has made a small fortune. "Before the patent of the smart card does not fall into the public domain in 1998, it brought me close to 150 million euros. Since I saw through the excess cash, "he explained in 2007 the newspaper La Croix.

The inventor has sold ten years ago its shares in Gemplus, a French manufacturer of smart cards. But he remained at the head of his company Innovatron, which continues to collect fees on contactless cards as Vélib 'or Navigo. A method based on radio transmission of data qu'Innovatron was developed in 1994 with the RATP.

Passionate about new technologies, Roland Moreno worked in parallel, to launch a poker site online. He was also busy writing the second volume of the ambient theory brothel, a book which is against the "tyranny of the original in the field of art."

U.S.: GDP disappoints consumption reassures

 

From our correspondent in the United States flexes growth in the United States. After a fourth quarter where expansion had reached 3% annual rate, that as the economy slows to 2, 2%. This is slightly less than expected.

A decline in business investment of 2.1% is largely responsible for this disappointing performance moderately. However consumption, traditional locomotive of the U.S. economy, climbed 2, 9%, against 2, only 1% at the end of last year. This is encouraging. And especially since U.S. households saw their moral improvement in April to its highest level since February 2011. Households are optimistic about economic recovery, although they are less confident when it comes to their personal financial situation?

The acceleration of consumption can not only offset the decline in investment, but it also helps to overcome the slowdown in inventory rebuilding. From January to March, rising stocks is liable only for 0, 5% growth yoy.

During the previous period, the increase in inventories was represented more than half of the increase in gross domestic product (GDP). From this perspective, growth in the first quarter seems healthier than October to December, although it is more modest bad credit personal loan lenders.

Decline in military spending

A third unexpected factor slowed the U.S. economy: the decline in military spending. It explains the drop in 5, 6% annual rate of all federal spending, while states and communities continue their part to save money.

"The key factor explaining the worse than expected performance of the economy, the decline is much sharper than expected public expenditure … But that does not reflect at all the health of the economy. It is certainly disappointing that business investment has declined, but this may be temporary, "said Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody's Analytics.

Figures released by the Commerce Department does not seem to alter the waiting position of the Federal Reserve, which plans to leave interest rates to the floor until the end of 2014 .. In reviewing a slight increase to almost 3% growth forecast for the current year, it implicitly rejected for the moment to launch a third round of quantitative easing, ie net purchases of Treasury securities in order to drive down long rates.

PSA suffers from lower car sales

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The mutual health destination of animals

Why purchase a mutual health destination of animals?

Contrary to their owners, pets are not covered by Social Security.

But veterinary costs can reach high amounts. It may therefore be useful to subscribe to a mutual health a pet to take care of these costs.

Insurance intended for pets allows indeed a cost of sickness, accident risk, and even risk death.

What animals are affected by a mutual health?

If dogs and cats are often the main beneficiaries of mutual health destination of animals, the New Pets (NAC) are not far behind. The latter include some mammals (ferrets, rats …), reptiles or birds.

A mutual health destination for New Pets is especially recommended that they should mostly be treated by specialists. The vet bills are higher.

How to buy mutual health destination of animals?

As with any individual wishing to purchase health insurance, it is first necessary to make an inventory of needs.

We must then make a comparison of different pet insurance. It can be done easily online to get an idea of ​​prices before committing.

Namely: to buy a mutual health destination of an animal, various documents relating to it are often necessary (vaccination certificate, certificate of ownership, …)

The operation of the mutual health destination of animals

The mutual destination of animals functions as a conventional health insurance.

Following each visit, the pet owner receives a care sheet. Transmitted to the mutual, this sheet triggers the reimbursement of expenses incurred. The amount reimbursed depends on course conditions health insurance contract.

Note: Some pet health insurance even offer third-party payment so as not to advance the costs.

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Retirees continue Greece

 

Two Greek citizens seeking nothing less than the cancellation of the debt exchange transaction completed on March 12, which allowed Greece to considerably lighten his burden. A wealthy widow of 76 years and a retired undertook to continue the Greek state court, aggrieved by the restructuring of sovereign debt to their country, they held bonds. The widow puts its losses at around 200,000 euros and 4000 euros retired, or about half of their initial investment. "This is the first time that Greek investors take legal action against the state by asking the court to declare illegal and unconstitutional the decree implementing the debt exchange," said a source at Reuters court.

March 12, Greece is indeed managed to finalize the largest debt restructuring in history. 85% of private creditors – mainly banks, insurance companies and funds – have agreed to exchange their obligations under Greek law against new longer maturity bonds, and a value less than half. A massive turnout, which allowed Greece to force reluctant investors to participate in turn in the exchange, that is to say to make losses. With this agreement, Greece has reduced its debt by 107 billion euros, a total of 350 billion euros installment payday loans. A prerequisite to payment of a new international aid, totaling 130 billion euros, of which Greece was badly needed to meet its deadlines. This debt forgiveness can also expect the country to achieve a ratio of debt to GDP from 120.5% in 2020.

This is the start of "collective action clauses", by which Greece has forced investors reluctant to join the exchange, which is currently being challenged by some of its creditors. 110 of them, a German national, had already announced, following the restructuring, they had hired a law firm to seek redress. This is not so much the outbreak of collective action clauses is disputed, the fact that these clauses have been introduced retroactively. Some creditors believe that the rules were changed along the way, illegally. The judicial process may however take several years. Argentina, who also conducted a decade ago to a partial restructuring of its debt is still within the scope of prosecution.

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Antibes requires Veolia to reduce his water bill

 

Antibes successfully negotiating the deal with Veolia century. The threat of a passage in municipal ownership of the management of drinking water was right ambitions of profits of Lyonnaise des Eaux (Suez Environnement) and Veolia Environment … These two private companies have had to review their specifications for take water from the town of Antibes (Alpes Maritimes).

At the cost of trading which saw an average rate of water drop by 43.3%, although Veolia will keep the water management of Antibes, which inherited the General Water Company holds the concession for 1880!

"The Antibes benefit of the least expensive water from France", says Mayor John Leonetti (Radical valoisien), who chaired the council Thursday validating these new provisions. With a rate of 2 euros per cubic meter, against 3.44 euros earlier, the seaside resort offers a rate far less than that usually practiced in France: 3.39 euros per cubic meter, according to the Department of Observation and Statistics .

Now it is no longer through a concession, but a public service delegation (PSD) of ten long years that Veolia will manage the drinking water of Antibes. In over a hundred years, only one amendment had been signed. It was 1992, just months before the vote of the Sapin law allowing for greater transparency in the DSP … The lobby of the water had played its full role might not see the privilege of certain concessions secular fall in the purse of a competitor

. Tiered pricing

Today, fashion is more to return to the authority, as in Paris in 2010, when the city fell last year by 8% the price of water "for the first time in 25 years", welcomed then its mayor Bertrand Delanoë (PS) business card. Marseille, Lyon, Lille or Bordeaux could take over the management of their water, as did medium-sized cities such as Saint-Malo, Castres, or Vierzon.

At Antibes, lower water tariffs, negotiated through two independent studies of a total of 80,000 euros, is accompanied by a progressive pricing. Households consuming less than 120 cubic meters per year will receive a 78% lower rate than previously practiced. All cubic meter consumed beyond will cost more, with a reduction of 34% anyway. A system designed "not to encourage waste. Including that of the common, thanks to the Water Act passed by the majority, now pay their bills just like any run, "said Jean Leonetti. On the other hand, the neediest families, "the order of a hundred," benefit from "water ticket" exempting them from payment.

The consequence for Veolia? Its profit margin will drop to "15% to less than 3%" of the contract, according to the mayor. The price to pay to keep his wallet in a town of 75,000 inhabitants. Not necessarily enough to reassure shareholders of Veolia Environnement, whose debt stands at nearly 15 billion euros, whose shares closed Thursday down 0.84%.

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Zara gives a future city youth

 

A modern fairy tale with young "misfits" in the lead roles. Four years ago, Jean-Jacques Salaün, the general manager of Zara France, has launched a new and daring to help disaffected youths from tough neighborhoods. "I told myself after the events of 2005 in the suburbs that we had to do something for these kids abandoned," he says. The French boss of the brand's ready-to-wear convinced his Spanish CEO to leave in recruiting Permanent, full-time and minimum wage, a dozen young per semester that will train and promote vendors as two stores. "I'm young that nobody wants, while others take only young people that everyone wants," says he: women forced into marriage, deprived of political refugees, young people out with their families or society – some have been in trouble with the law. The tenth "promotion" began training this week.

Soon selected, prospective vendors are sent 15 days in a hotel in the Paris region where they are supervised 24 hours 24. "They are given drama lessons, speaking, sales, kitchen …, detailing the patron of Zara France. They are taught the basic rules of group living. Personalities come every day to talk about their passion and their profession. "Raymond Domenech, the former coach of the France team football, is a faithful

. "They just trusted …"

"It is not easy, there are tensions, but the fact of failure to trust them is one key to the success of the operation," added Jean-Jacques Salaün, Michel supported daily by Paras, the Steward FW. "It was so beautiful – we were fed, housed, paid, we got celebrities – we thought there was a trap, remembers Konte, a young of the first class that will become part of the Zara Montparnasse in Paris. And no, there was no wolf guaranteed high risk personal loans. They just trusted, given a job and they made me an example for all of my small city. "

Once their training is completed, youth are sent for a week in stores where they are supervised by a tutor, one week before returning for a final training in sales techniques. "After a month this plan, I challenge you to tell me what are the youth who attended this training," says Jean-Jacques Salaün. "They are like other sellers, confirms El Idrissi, store manager of the Boulevard Haussmann in Paris, which hosted five young people in four years. It is just more attention to them without making them privileged. "

150 000 euros per year

An operation that works! In four years and nine promotions, 133 youth were recruited from Zara, 50% are still working. The operation has a cost, not insignificant: 150 000 euros per year. "It's great, but it's not rocket science for a big company," says Jean-Jacques Salaün, who never wanted to mention this in the media before being asked by Le Figaro. "And it's useful. I regret never having managed to convince other major groups to do the same. "

Especially since this operation has not only served troubled youth … It has helped reduce the number of part-time (common in the trade) for all employees by extending the CDI system on two stores in 600 vendors . And this is just the beginning for Jean-Jacques Salaün account duplicate this system to other brands (Zara Home, Massimo Duti …) group Inditex which owns Zara.

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The submarine curious for billionaires

 

Yesterday, James Cameron, Titanic director has given the private submersibles under the spotlight the feat by successfully exploring, alone in a small sphere, a site 10 kilometers under the sea off the Philippines.

Certainly, it is far from the submarine Phoenix, luxurious project of U. S. Submarines: $ 78 million and 65 meters long. It can cross the Atlantic in one go and has, height of chic, its own miniature submarine. Maybe he interested Richard Branson, the Virgin boss adventurous. It prepares to dive in the Puerto Rico Trench with its own submarine by 8600 meters of water in search of possible treasures.  

Competition is low: according to the manufacturer SEAMagine, only a dozen billionaires possess a submersible, but more often would welcome megayachts small submersibles one million dollars.

French side, the builder DCNS is on deck: its Nautile, the source of scientific submersibles, may well also realize the dreams of billionaires. Who can do more

.

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Air France launches 18 new routes to Toulouse and Nice

 

After Marseille last October, Air France is launching 18 new routes in Europe and the Mediterranean from Nice and Toulouse. Air France-based aircraft to 10 8 to Toulouse and Nice with the aim of winning 600,000 and 250,000 passengers in Toulouse to Nice. The French company decided a year ago to be placed in the low-cost launching an offensive in the regions, particularly to counter easyJet, its rival, which has also recently opened two new bases … Toulouse and Nice.

But for easyJet, the development of the company is simpler to implement, "one is born low cost, it does not become so" amused himself last October François Bacchetta, its chief executive. Indeed, Air France, move to low-cost model implies big changes: we must be more responsive, increase the productivity of aircraft, reorganizing the work of hostesses, stewards and pilots, who will now fly more on fewer days, and reduce costs.

Orly soon affected by the reorganization?

However, in Toulouse – where ten new destinations in Europe (Athens, Berlin, Hamburg, Malaga, Malta, Naples, Prague, Seville, Venice and Vienna) and four (Casablanca, Istanbul, Marrakech and Tunis) are proposed – of Such changes are not appreciated by the employees of Air France. The CGT denounced a "deterioration of working conditions related to a much lower recruitment to the increase of activity planned." According to a senior manager quoted by the Journal du Dimanche, the new organization could receive Orly Airport: "This is an assumption on which the board working group on the short and medium haul."

The company, which reported in 2011 some 800 million euros in losses, hired in January a plan of savings over three years (2015 Transform), to € 2 billion savings and reduced debt 6 to 4,000,000,000 euros.

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