VIDEO: Market fears over Greek deficit

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3 October 2011 Last updated at 13:54 GMT Help

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Dexia shares in new Greece slump

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 09:16 GMT Continue reading the main story Shares in the Franco-Belgian bank Dexia have fallen for the second day running as fears over its exposure to Greece debt continue.

They fell 37% at the open of Tuesday trading after losing 10% on Monday following an alert from the Moody's ratings agency.

Dexia is holding an emergency board meeting amid serious concerns.

The governments of France and Belgium, which are joint shareholders in Dexia, moved to guarantee its debts.

A joint statement from the countries' finance ministers said: "In the framework of Dexia's restructuring, the governments of France and Belgium, in coordination with our central banks, will take all necessary steps to ensure the protection of depositors and creditors."

The two ministers, who are at the wider European finance ministers' meeting in Luxembourg, have been discussing ways to support the bank.

Dexia's shares are worth only just over one euro, so almost any movement will result in a large percentage change.

Market concerns

Greece-linked concerns are also hitting financial markets again after eurozone finance ministers delayed a decision on giving Greece its next instalment of bailout cash.

It came after Greece said it would not meet this year's deficit cutting target.

A meeting set for 13 October, when finance ministers had been expected to sign off the next Greek loan, has now been cancelled, says BBC Europe correspondent Chris Morris.

The UK's FTSE 100 index was down 1.5% at the start of trading. France's Cac was 3.3% lower, while Germany's Dax had lost 3.2%.

Greece announced on Sunday that its 2011 deficit was projected to be 8.5% of gross domestic product, down from 10.5% in 2010, but short of the 7.6% target set by the EU and IMF.

Eurozone banks have been hit by cash outflows since the summer amid fears that Greece, and possibly other governments, may ultimately default on their debts, and even leave the eurozone, leaving their lenders sitting on big losses.

Dexia's exposure to Greek government debt totals 3.4bn euros ($4.5bn; ￡2.9bn). Its total exposure to Greece - including to private-sector Greek borrowers - is 4.8bn euros.

It has already written off 21% of its Greek debts, but market prices now suggest the eventually loss to lenders could be in excess of 50% of the amount owed by Greece.

The bank is already partly-owned by the two governments, after it received a 6bn euros joint bailout at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.

There were reports last week that the bank could be split up, and speculation of a possible nationalisation of the bank.

Another option under consideration is the sale of Credit Local, a unit of the bank responsible for lending to French local governments.

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Samsung pays Microsoft royalties

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29 September 2011 Last updated at 14:19 GMT Samsung said it would work with Microsoft on future smart phone technologies Samsung is to start paying Microsoft royalties for every sale of its smartphone and tablet computers that run the rival Google Android platform.

Microsoft has long accused Android of violating its patents.

Google said its US rival Microsoft was "resorting to legal measures to extort profit from others' achievements and hinder the pace of innovation".

Meanwhile, Samsung has received support from T-Mobile in its continuing legal fight with Apple.

IP wars

Google said Microsoft was resorting to "the same tactic we've seen time and again".

It added: "We remain focused on building new technology and supporting Android partners."

Per Roman of technology investment bank GP Bullhound said he was not surprised by the Samsung-Microsoft announcement.

"Many people have long said that Android contains some Microsoft technology," he said.

"Ultimately we are in the area of IP [intellectual property] wars. There is now an intense battle among the technology giants regarding their IP portfolios."

Court side

Samsung has also received help from T-Mobile in its continuing legal battle with Apple.

Samsung and Apple are facing each other in courts around the world as they wrangle over patents used in smartphones and tablets.

Apple has applied for an injunction that would stop Samsung selling many of its products in the US. A hearing on the injunction is scheduled for 13 October.

Now T-Mobile has filed papers with the court saying any ban would bring "unnecessarily harm" to it and its customers because it would not be able to find alternative products before the busy holiday season.

T-Mobile's backing for Samsung follows support from Verizon which earlier this week said legal rows over who owns which patent should not hamper the flow of future devices.

'Dramatic growth'

Microsoft and Samsung also said they would cross license their patent portfolios.

South Korea's Samsung has further agreed to co-operate in the development and marketing of Windows Phone, Microsoft's own smart phone operating system.

Andy Lees, president of Microsoft's Windows Phone division, said: "Microsoft and Samsung see the opportunity for dramatic growth in Windows Phone and we're investing to make that a reality."

Samsung's executive vice president of global product strategy, Hong Won-Pyo, added that the two firms would "continue to bring the latest innovations to the mobile industry".

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Shares up on eurozone bank plan

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5 October 2011 Last updated at 21:02 GMT German support is considered crucial for any European bank rescue proposal European stock markets ignored fresh warnings about Italy's ability to repay its debts by staging a strong rally.

Reports that European leaders are considering co-ordinated action to bolster banks sent European markets up 3%-5%, while Wall Street also rallied.

On Tuesday, Moody's cut Italy's credit rating by three notches and warned about the country's growth rate.

But investors focused on signs that the debt-laden banking system may soon be recapitalised by European authorities.

German support

In an interview in the Financial Times, Olli Rehn, European commissioner for economic affairs, said: "There is an increasingly shared view that we need a concerted, co-ordinated approach.

"There is a sense of urgency among ministers and we need to move on," he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also said she favoured a pan-European recapitalisation programme if it proves necessary, and that she stood ready to help German banks absorb losses from a possible write-off of Greece's debts.

Continue reading the main story

There are some European regulators and politicians who regard the downgrade of Italy and the woes of the Franco-Belgian bank Dexia as positive events (oh yes)”

End Quote Robert Peston Business editor, BBC News German support is seen as crucial for any such proposal to succeed.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - which has also been calling for eurozone governments to bolster their banks - put the likely cost of such a programme at 200bn euros ($267bn; ￡173bn).

That would put it within the means of the eurozone's bailout fund - the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) - which is currently being augmented.

In an embarrassing gaffe, the IMF's Europe director, Antonio Borges, suggested in a press conference that the IMF itself may add its own money to the EFSF's.

But he later rushed out a statement retracting his comments, noting that the IMF lacked the legal authority for such a move, nor did the idea have the backing of the IMF's shareholders, which include the US government.

Banks rise

Signs that Europe's leaders were ready to act came on Tuesday when plans were announced to split struggling Franco-Belgian financial group Dexia into its "good" and "bad" banks.

This plan to ring-fence Dexia's toxic debts led to an initial 10% jump in the firm's share prices in early trading, but it ended the day only 1.4% higher.

Continue reading the main story The problems at Dexia have further undermined the credibility of stress tests carried out earlier this year by European regulators to determine the resilience of the EU's banks - tests that Dexia comfortably passed.

Any recapitalisation programme may need to be preceded by a new round of stress tests, according to the BBC's business editor, Robert Peston, and would presumably consider the possibility of a significant write-off of Greek - and possibly other government - debts.

France's three big banks, which are also heavily exposed to Greece, rose sharply on stock markets, with Credit Agricole 9.9% higher at the close of trading.

Italy's biggest banks were up 5%-7%, while in London Barclays rose 7.7% and RBS was 5% higher.

The rally, which began as a late surge on Wall Street on Tuesday night, continued into US trading hours on Wednesday.

By the close of trading in New York, the Dow Jones was up a further 1.2%, with tech and media stocks taking the lead, while the Nasdaq rose 2.3%.

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VIDEO: Eurozone troubles worry Australia

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 01:21 GMT Help

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Fraudsters turn to card snatching

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 23:18 GMT Card snatching when customers have been distracted in shops has been used by fraudsters Con-artists are resorting to basic card snatching, police say, as the payments industry continues to cut losses from more hi-tech crimes.

Fraud losses on UK credit and debit cards in the first half of the year fell by 9% compared with the same period of 2011.

The UK Cards Association said this was the third consecutive half-year fall and that ￡169.8m was lost.

Fraudsters were often relying on distracting shoppers to steal cards.

Police dealing with cases say con-artists have been grabbing cards in shops or at cash machines without the owners noticing, or tricking them into revealing their Pin code.

Online banking

Total losses hit a peak at ￡610m in 2008, but have mainly been falling since.

Online banking dropped by 32% from the first half of 2010 to the first six months of this year to ￡16.9m.

This was the result of computer users being more wise to security and banks' use of fraud detection software, the association said.

Continue reading the main story Shield entry of a Pin number at a cash machine with a free handRegularly update a computer's anti-virus softwareBe wary of unsolicited e-mails and telephone callsThe amount lost through telephone banking rose by 48% over the same period to ￡8.6m.

Often, this involved a caller pretending to be from the police or a bank and telling their victim that card has been subject to a fraudulent transaction.

They then asked the victim to key some details into the handset. They guessed the numbers from the audio tones on the keypad and used those details to access their bank account and withdraw money.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Barnard is head of the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit, which is a specialist police unit sponsored by the industry.

"There has been an increase in old fashioned scams - criminals using distraction techniques and social engineering methods to get hold of people's cards or phone banking details," he said.

"We are urging everyone to be on their guard. Your bank or the police will never cold call you or email you and ask you for your login details, cards or Pins. If anyone does, they are probably a criminal, so hang up the phone or delete the email."

Innocent victims of fraud on their debit or credit cards are protected under rules in the UK banking system, so they should always be refunded any financial losses.

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Wolseley returns to annual profit

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 07:19 GMT Wolseley said weaker economic forecasts would have an impact on its markets Building and heating materials group Wolseley has returned to a full-year profit in 2010-11.

The group suffered when the housing market was hit during the recession, but said it had focused on improving its "customer, product and vendor mix".

Wolseley reported a pre-tax profit of ￡391m in the year to July, compared with a ￡328m loss a year earlier.

It said markets were broadly stable but there had been "no strong rebound in activity after the recession".

Revenues rose 3% to ￡13.6bn.

The group also took a ￡39m charge on its Bathstore and BCG brands in the UK, "reflecting a deterioration in the outlook for retail markets".

It added that in the current environment, it remained cautious about its cost base.

"Recent economic forecasts have weakened, and over time this is likely to have an impact on our markets," said chief executive Ian Meakins.

The company has been selling off units as part of a disposal strategy over the past 18 months.

In July, it sold its French distribution division Brossette and British Build Center business to France's Saint-Gobain for ￡310m.

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