>>> Asian. Update

Asian Market Update: Asian markets subdued on US market holiday; Germany's Merkel in China on trade talks

***Notable Economic Data*** - (AU) AUSTRALIA JUN AIG PERFORMANCE OF CONSTRUCTION INDEX: 51.8 V 46.7 PRIOR (1st expansion after 5 contractions, highest since Nov 2013) - (JP) JAPAN JUN OFFICIAL RESERVE ASSETS: $1.28T V $1.28T PRIOR - (NZ) NEW ZEALAND JUN QV HOUSE PRICES Y/Y: 8.0% V 8.2% PRIOR - (AU) AUSTRALIA JUN ANZ JOB ADS M/M: +4.3% V -5.7% PRIOR

***Index Snapshot (as of 02:30 GMT)*** Market Snapshot (as of 03:30 GMT): - Nikkei225 flat, S&P/ASX flat, Kospi -0.4%, Shanghai Composite -0.1%, Hang Seng -0.3%, Sept S&P500 -0.1% at 1,975

***Commodities/Fixed Income/Currencies*** - Aug gold -0.2% at $1,317, Aug crude oil -0.1% at $104.02/brl, Sept Copper -0.7% at $3.26/lb - (KR) South Korea sells KRW1.95T in 3-yr govt bonds at avg yield of 2.595; Bid-to-cover: 4.2513x - (CN) PBoC gauges demand for 7-day and 14-day reverse repos, 14-day and 28-day repos as well as 91-day bill sales - (CN) PBoC sets yuan mid-point at 6.1658 v 6.1642 prior setting (weakest Yuan setting since Jun 4th) - (JP) BOJ offers to buy ¥300B in 1-3yr JGB, ¥200B in 3-5yr JGB, ¥100B in 10-25yr JGB and ¥30B in JGB with maturity over 25-yr

***Market Focal Points/Key Themes*** - Trading on the Asian bourses was slower than usual following a US market holiday. Japan retailers were one of the more heavily traded sectors after the main retailers posted quarterly results last week. Aeon declined 4.5% by the mid-day break due to weak Q1 results. Familymart was the top performer rising 4% after it was announced Itochu increased its stake in the company.

- At the quarterly Branch Managers meeting BOJ Gov Kuroda reiterated the view that the domestic economy is recovering moderately as a trend and will maintain easing as long as necessary to achieve its 2 percent inflation target. He also added that the y/y rise in the core inflation is likely to be around 1.25% for some time.

- China property developers traded higher for the second consecutive days. China Vanke rallied over 7% over two trading days, after releasing Jun sales results last week. Some other property developers in China also traded higher, such as Poly Real Estate higher by 3%, China Merchants Property Development higher by 3%.

- German Chancellor Merkel is on a three-day visit to China with trade issues on top of the agenda. Topics of discussion will focus around new energy vehicles, energy, environment, high-tech sectors. German businesses have recently raised issues regarding intellectual property rights. Also Japan PM Abe has started his eight-day Oceania tour beginning with New Zealand with both sides remaining committed to a comprehensive TPP agreement.

- In terms of economic data, preliminary May figures for Japan's leading and coincident indexes are due out later today. The leading index is expected to come in at 105.9, down from the final April reading of 106.5 in April, while the coincident is expected at 111.0, easing from last month's posting of 111.1.

***Equities*** US markets: - EXPE: To acquire Wotif Group for approx A$700M in cash - GM: Reports June China vehicle sales 258K units, +9.1% y/y

Notable movers by sector: - Consumer Discretionary: FamilyMart 8028.JP +4.3% (Itochu raises stake); Aeon 8267.JP -4.2% (Q1 results); Wotif.com Holdings WTF.AU +24.2% (acquisition deal with Expedia) - Consumer staples: Arcs 9948.JP -1.6% (Q1 results) - Materials: Shanghai ANOKY Textile Chem 300067.CN +9.6% (H1 guidance); Legacy Iron Ore LCY.AU -14.3% (announces new shares issuance) - Energy: Cooper Energy COE.AU +4.0% (sees record earnings for FY14) - Healthcare: Askul 2678.JP +1.1% (FY13/14 results) - Telecom: Newsat NWT.AU +3.6% (secures contract)

FT : Burberry faces revolt over £20m pay deal for chief executive

Burberry faces revolt over £20m pay deal for chief executive

Burberry is facing a shareholder revolt over a £20m pay deal for its controversial chief executive Christopher Bailey.
The Investment Management Association, which has taken over responsibility for the Association of British Insurers’ investment affairs, has issued an “amber top” alert on Burberry’s pay policies, ahead of the retailer’s annual meeting on Friday. This is the association’s second-most serious level of censure on corporate governance matters.

Mr Bailey, the luxury brand’s longstanding creative director, was elevated to the role of chief executive in October, when Angela Ahrendts quit to join Apple. The move raised concerns among some investors over the breadth of his role at the helm of one of Britain’s biggest retailers. He continues to hold the roles of chief executive and chief creative officer.
Investors are meanwhile unhappy about share awards granted before Mr Bailey became chief executive.
In 2010, he was awarded 350,000 shares, and a further 1m in July 2013 – together worth about £20m at Burberry’s current share price. These will vest between 2015 and 2018, regardless of performance.
The warning comes as shareholder step up their opposition to what they regard as excessive rewards. Last week, a bonus for Mike Ashley, the billionaire founder of Sports Direct, was approved despite a sizeable shareholder revolt.
The past few months have also seen several other high-profile pay revolts at FTSE 100 companies, including Barclays, AstraZeneca, HSBC and Pearson, which owns the Financial Times.
Depending on performance, Mr Bailey’s package in his new role could be up to £10m.
Under the terms of his contract, Mr Bailey receives £1.1m annually, and can obtain 200 per cent of salary in a performance-related bonus. He also receives a pension contribution of 30 per cent of his salary, and a £440,000 cash allowance. Burberry will not break out the components of this, but it does not include allowances for clothing or a car.
On becoming chief executive, Mr Bailey also received a one-off award of 500,000 shares, worth about £7.3m, and vesting in 2017, 2018 and 2019, depending on performance targets.
People close to the situation stressed that Mr Bailey’s remuneration was on a par with creative heads at other global luxury fashion groups, and that Burberry’s pay also reflected the performance of the company.
Ms Ahrendts, who with Mr Bailey is credited with elevating Burberry to a global luxury brand and propelling it into the blue-chip FTSE 100 index, was also one of Britain’s best paid executives. She took home £16.9m in 2012 – more than any other chief executive on the FTSE 100.

>>> what to look at this Week End

US Market was closed on friday after a strong close on thu.
* Dubai Shares Climb as Aabar Revives Confidence; Abu Dhabi Rises
* Israel Shares little changed


Macro :
- Lagarde Signals IMF to Cut Growth Forecast Even as U.S. Economy Rebounds
- China’s Central Bank Wades Into Fiscal Waters as Li Seeks to Spur Growth
- Alibaba-Backed Kuaidi Challenges Uber in China With Audi, BMW Luxury Cars

Keep an eye on :
- AF FP : Air France-KLM to put cargo division, including Martinair, up for sale
- AIR1 GY : Air Berlin, Etihad Deal to Get European Approval: Focus
- AIR FP : Airbus Sees ‘Good Commercial Dynamic’ at Farnborough: Lahoud
- AIR FP : Strategy chief: not decided yet if Airbus will formally launch A330neo at the Farnborough Air Show this month, but confident about the number of orders we will get at the show - press - The A330neo is an update version of the A330, which is now a 20 year old design - Farnborough to take place from 14th to 20th.
- BES PL : ESFG Proposes Vitor Bento to Be Banco Espirito Santo CEO
- BLNX LN : Blinkx the subject of bid speculation
- CU FP : Caisse des Depots Hasn’t Been Asked to Join Club Med Bid: CEO
- EDF FP : France, EDF Discuss Pace of Electricity-Price Increase: Parisien
- EDF FP : EDF in Talks With China Over U.K. Nuclear Site Sale: S. Times
- ENL IM : Enel Hires BNP and Deutsche Bank for Slovakia Asset Sale: Sole
- Formula One : Ecclestone Preps Bid for Formula 1 as CVC Looks to Sell: Express
- GBL BB : Groupe Bruxelles Lambert Adj. NAV EU102.52/Shr on July 4
- GOW SM : Gowex to File for Insolvency as CEO Resigns on Fake Accounts
- III LN : 3i Said to Plan $1.4 Billion Sale of Finnish Company Eltel
- MS IM : Telefonica May Buy 10% of Mediaset Italian Pay-TV Unit: Radiocor
- ORA FP : France’s Phone Company Orange to Test German Market Entry: WiWo
- ORA FP : Richard Says Orange Ready to Participate in French Consolidation
- LHA GY : Lufthansa Plans Venture With Air China to Expand in Asia: FAZ
- MC FP : Apple hires exec from luxury watch maker Tag Heuer ahead of expect launch of iWatch later this year - tech blogs - Has hired Patrick Pruniaux, VP for sales at Tag Heuer, a unit of LVMH. His exact role at Apple has not been announced.
- MS IM : Mediaset Espana Considers Share Buyback Alternatives: Filing
- MTC LN : Destination Maternity working on fresh bid for Mothercare; shareholders Allianz and Fidelity support board’s rejection of offer 
- NOVN VX :3,900 Novartis Staff in Switzerland Hit by Restructuring: SamS
- PTC PL : Portugal Telecom to Have 8 Percent Less Shares in Oi: Folha Link
- SAN FP : Sanofi Says Currency Hurt 2Q Business EPS by 8-10 Pct Points
- SGO FP : Saint-Gobain CEO Says French Housing Figures Are Worrying
- SHP LN : AbbVie May Still Raise Bid for Shire, Investor Tells Telegraph
- SHP LN : AbbVie head of research to visit UK next week to push case for Shire takeover bid
- SIE GY : Siemens interested in pursuing deals to take advantage of bullish prospects in naturall gas sector.
- TEF SM : Telefonica to pay EUR 295m for Mediaset's 22% stake in DTS
- TIT IM : Telecom Italia chairman dismisses claims that Italian govt plans to ban company from selling Tim Brasil, TIT Lost 4% on this news Friday - finish the day -1,47%
- UCG IM : Unicredit’s HVB Wants EU500m From DAB Bank Sale: Handelsblatt
- YAR NO : +ve article in the BArron's
- VIV FP : Spotify Is Preparing Share Sale for 2015, Valued at $10b: Focus
- VOW3 GY : Volkswagen Has Permit for 2 More China Production Sites: Reuters

FT : Goldman muscles in on Europe’s private banks

Goldman muscles in on Europe’s private banks

Goldman Sachs is expanding its European wealth management business to offer loans to rich clients in a move that is taking it further into the domain of centuries-old private banks in Europe.
The US investment bank this month quietly launched a European lending unit for its private wealth management clients in another push beyond its volatile trading business into more traditional areas of banking.

The move highlights how Goldman, seen as the last remaining true-bred global investment bank, has become increasingly willing to use its balance sheet for other businesses ever since it converted into a bank holding company and built up customer deposits after the financial crisis.
The new European lending business has a goal of building up a $5bn loan book within the next three years. It is part of London-based Goldman Sachs International Bank and caters to Goldman’s roughly 1,700 wealthiest clients across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
It will comprise mostly secured loans for a wide variety of purposes including liquidity facilities, portfolio diversification, tax payments or luxury purchases such as yachts.
“Wealthy clients want leverage and they are good quality borrowers. The loan-to-value ratios are very conservative,” said Christopher French, Goldman’s head of private wealth management in the region.
But he added that the move for now was aimed mainly at existing clients rather than “a proposition to gain new clients”.
Goldman established a lending business for rich clients in the US in the wake of the financial crisis. But in Europe, it has so far only given a limited amount of margin loans – lending against securities – to its wealthy customers.
The bank also aims to hand out mortgages for prime properties in London and elsewhere, but it is only expecting regulatory approval to do so within the next 12 months.
Lending to the super-rich has become a growth market for large wealth managers including UBS and Credit Suisse. It is perceived as low-risk, provides a steady income stream and helps to retain clients.
Goldman does not plan to grow its balance sheet as the expansion of the loan book contrasts with a sharp reduction in capital usage in some of its trading areas, particularly in fixed income.
Its investment banking rival Morgan Stanley has already embraced the universal banking model in recent years by curbing its trading business while expanding its wealth management, retail and lending businesses.
But Goldman’s move into more bank lending does not involve plans for a big retail presence, and it does not have plans for a network of branches.
Last month, it promoted Stephen Scherr, a 21-year Goldman veteran, to a new position of chief strategy officer with a mandate to increase the size of its commercial bank and wealth management division.
With a minimum account size of $10m and an average account balance of $40m, Goldman’s wealth management division is catering for a far richer clientele than most of its competitors.
Its London unit operates from a simple open-plan office at Goldman’s European headquarters on Fleet Street, in a sharp contrast to the art-studded and plush Mayfair houses of most of its private banking rivals.
Goldman’s assets managed for wealthy clients in Europe rose 15 per cent in the past year to $30bn at the end of March.

NY Post : Why the 17,000 Dow is bound to crash

As the Dow Jones industrial average broke through the 17,000 barrier to an all-time high on Thursday, many market participants believe this bull (market) may be about to be gored.
Many market skeptics point to one or more reasons for their bearish outlook, citing both macro- and microeconomic concerns.
Here are the the top three reasons this high can’t last.
1. American shoppers are tapped out with this bull market.
They’re not spending enough at the malls to sustain the long run-up in stock prices, analysts say.
That’s a clear signal, these analysts warn, that a full-blown bear market is coming soon.
As the S&P 500 and Dow Jones danced last week with new highs, American consumers — who account for more than two-thirds of US economic activity — are dangerously ”bearish.”
More proof: The widely watched Consumer Confidence Index, at 85.2, is a long way from its historic highs. At the top of the dot-com bubble in 2000, the index soared to 144.7. “The US middle class and low-income workers are broke,” Chadwick Financial Advisors CEO Mike Chadwick said. “They are leveraged up to the hilt.”
2. Corporations have spent the last six quarters performing every conceivable accounting maneuver to grow the bottom line.
From layoffs to outsourcing, stock buybacks and debt offerings, these Fortune 500 firms have reached the limit in their ability to show quarter-over-quarter growth. Those financial acrobatics are propelling stocks to record highs — but this ax can only chop so much, analysts warn.
“Corporations have driven earnings by cutting costs to the bone — and that includes earnings that have been stagnant for years,” Chadwick said.
And after rounds of corporate firings and layoffs with mass outsourcing — and already taking full advantage of low-interest rate conducive to cheap refinancing — these firms have little room to maneuver to keep the faux growth coming, he added.
“This has been the toughest time I have ever seen in the last 20 years,” Chadwick said.
3. So why all the corporate contortions on the financials?
“What is not up is sales…and that is the concern today,” said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Capital IQ.
“Corporations are squeezing more out of workers, outsourcing jobs, whatever they can do — everything except generating additional sales.” Silverblatt said sales at S&P 500 companies are weak. “We need more sales,” he said.
Per Silverblatt, aggregate sales per share in the S&P 500 are in their own bear territory: $2.49 billion in the first quarter of 2014, versus $2.65 billion per share in the first quarter of 2008, as the Great Recession raged.

NY Post : Missed deadline could make American Apparel bankrupt

American Apparel is threatening to blow up like a firecracker before the weekend is over.
The cash-strapped retailer has let a July 4 deadline come and go on the repayment of $10 million in debt, and lender Lion Capital could force the company into bankruptcy unless it gets assurances about its plans by Monday morning, The Post has learned.
Among other guarantees, Lion wants to know whether American Apparel’s entire capital structure will be refinanced by a new investor, New York hedge fund Standard General LP, and what role ousted founder Dov Charney will play in the company, insiders said.
The crisis has already begun to jeopardize American Apparel’s ability to finance its operations, including its access to credit insurance for crucial trade purchases such as the yarn it needs to make fabric, according to one source.
American Apparel officials didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The company’s board made a surprise move to fire Charney on June 18, citing misconduct that his lawyers have denied. The ouster triggered a provision in the debt owed to Lion requiring that Charney remain in control of the company.
As first reported by The Post, Lion denied a waiver on the default last week, a move that could, in turn, trigger a default on the retailer’s $50 million credit line with Capital One.
British-based Lion, headed by shrewd, polo-playing financier Lyndon Lea, has since been locked in tense negotiations with American Apparel’s bankers. The retailer, which had insisted it could pay off the loan, is now subject to penalties and other concessions after missing the Friday deadline, sources said.
Now, insiders say Lion is looking for guarantees from Standard General, which inked a surprise deal with Charney on June 25 to back his bid for a majority stake in the company.
Lion would “like to hear what [Standard General] plans to avert this catastrophe,” according to a source close to the situation.
As of early Saturday afternoon, Standard General had not contacted Lion, the source said.
Modal Trigger
Dov Charney speaks during a May Day rally in downtown Los Angeles in 2009.
Photo: Reuters
Officials at Lion and Standard General couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Last weekend, American Apparel’s board responded to Charney’s Standard General deal by adopting an anti-takeover “poison pill” provision. But early this week, Charney and Standard General revealed they had assembled a 43-percent stake in the company, within striking distance of a majority that could override the poison pill.
In a July 2 letter to its investors, Standard General said it had “opened a constructive dialogue” with American Apparel’s board to find an “amicable and expeditious resolution” to the crisis.
Armed with voting control over the 43-percent stake it has amassed with Charney, Standard General is looking to revamp the company’s image, which has long been dogged by a series of sex-harassment suits filed against Charney.
As part of the deal, Charney has agreed to leave the retailer’s board, and Standard General’s plans include adding women to the board for the first time, sources told The Post.
“This transaction is not about the founder, nor is it an endorsement of him,” Standard General wrote to its investors. “He will serve no role if he is deemed unfit.”
Nevertheless, sources said pressure from Lion could complicate negotiations. While the firm hasn’t made its demands clear, it has a long track record of giving support to the company under Charney’s direction.
According to one source briefed on the discussions, Lion believes it is likely that it “won’t hear anything convincing [from Standard General] so it will accelerate” its demands for repayment.
“The way I see it, this company is headed for bankruptcy,” the source said. “It has gotten there because of an ill-timed move by the board.”
The default provision on Lion’s loan also entitles the firm to two board seats, but Lion has hesitated over whether to take them, citing concerns about board liability in the crisis, according to a source.

FT : France hits out at dollar dominance in international transactions

France hits out at dollar dominance in international transactions

France’s political and business establishment has hit out against the hegemony of the dollar in international transactions after US authorities fined BNP Paribas $9bn for helping countries avoid sanctions.
Michel Sapin, the French finance minister, called for a “rebalancing” of the currencies used for global payments, saying the BNP Paribas case should “make us realise the necessity of using a variety of currencies”.
He said, in an interview with the Financial Times on the sidelines of a weekend economics conference: “We [Europeans] are selling to ourselves in dollars, for instance when we sell planes. Is that necessary? I don’t think so. I think a rebalancing is possible and necessary, not just regarding the euro but also for the big currencies of the emerging countries, which account for more and more of global trade.”
Christophe de Margerie, the chief executive of Total, France’s biggest company by market capitalisation, said he saw no reason for oil purchases to be made in dollars, even if the benchmark price in dollars was likely to remain.

“The price of a barrel of oil is quoted in dollars,” he said. “A refinery can take that price and using the euro-dollar exchange rate on any given day, agree to make the payment in euros.”
One chief executive of a CAC 40 industrial group said he supported Mr Sapin’s push.
“Companies like ours are in a bind because we sell a lot in dollars but we do not always want to deal with all the US rules and regulations,” he said.
The uproar over the BNP fine at the usually sedate Cercle des Economistes conference in Aix-en-Provence highlighted what has become yet another friction point in transatlantic relations.
French officials lobbied heavily on behalf of the country’s largest bank and argued that BNP broke no European rules, prompting a debate about whether it had been the victim of US judicial over-reach.
Mr Sapin said he would raise the need for a weightier alternative to the dollar with fellow eurozone finance ministers when they meet in Brussels on Monday, although he declined to go into detail about what practical steps might emerge.
More than half of cross-border loans and deposits are transacted in dollars and in the last global survey of the $5tn a day foreign exchange market, the dollar was on one side of 87 per cent of all trades. Despite efforts to diversify, many central banks say that they still see no real alternative to the safety and liquidity of the US Treasury market, and hold more than 60 per cent of their reserves in dollars.
A senior French official cast doubt on the government’s ability to stimulate the further use of the euro in international trade: “In the end it is hard to know what they can really do. The market really decides these things.”
Mr Sapin on Sunday reiterated comments made last week that the French government was willing to sell some of the €100bn of corporate shareholdings, taking more of an “active management” over its stakes.
He declined to comment on the scale or pace of the sales but said the money would be used “for reducing the debt, for helping to finance our economy, the energy transition and housing”.
When asked about the possible return to politics of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Mr Sapin said: “That’s his business, that’s his choice and that of his friends. What is clear to me though is that Nicolas Sarkozy has really not changed.”
His comments followed Mr Sarkozy’s detention last week for questioning by an anti-corruption court, which prompted the former UMP leader to make a formal televised riposte.

FT : From here to Maternity on raising M&A stakes

From here to Maternity on raising M&A stakes

Destination Maternity may be advance party for bigger things
Destination Maternity's £266m offer for Mothercare, the struggling babywear merchant, looks like a rounding error in a footnote to the league tables of deals during the past six months. For merger and acquisition activity is booming, say the statisticians. The value of deals in first half of 2014 has risen 70 per cent to $1.8 trillion compared with last year, says Thomson Reuters. In the UK alone, the value of offers is up 90 per cent to $77bn. Nonetheless, Nasdaq-listed Destination Maternity’s approach last month is telling. It is small enough to make bankers weep at the prospect of fees teensier than the tinies that Mothercare aims to serve. But its boldness is interesting for three reasons, each suggesting a market peaking.
The first is that the deal is cross-border. Small-cap cross-border deals are more often a feature of late-stage M&A when the big groups have surveyed the horizon and done – or failed to do – the deals they believe will transform their businesses, and advisers are casting their nets more widely.

Second, Destination Maternity is mimicking bigger US companies that have been acquisitively eyeing UK companies in part to cash in on the UK's more favourable tax treatment. But it is not a big company looking for bolt-ons. Its market value is even less than Mothercare’s, and it says it wants a strategic partnership. Destination’s investors must hope management’s nose for an opportunity is as impressive as its ambition.
Third, even though Mothercare’s performance is inducive to investor tantrums, the group still felt confident enough to rebuff an approach that included hard cash. That suggests some underlying belief that the markets, equity and babywear, are moving in its favour.
Equity strategists argue the pick up in M&A activity in Europe has only just begun. Economies are more buoyant, business confidence is rising, credit is generally available and borrowing costs are low. It just needs earnings to gain more oomph for deals to fly, says Morgan Stanley. It advises investors to switch out of small-caps, which have performed well, into large-caps that are on the verge of strategic and transformational deals. However, the conditions for M&A are surely beneficial for all businesses, regardless of size. Destination Maternity may be just the advance party. That is all the more reason for small companies to start practising defence tactics.
Mar City boxes clever
Few companies use a routine trading update to launch an assault on an entire industry, writes Andy Sharman. But last week, Mar City announced its intention to “change the way that new homes are constructed and bring housebuilding into the 21st century”.
The Aim-quoted developer has come up with what it believes is the future: prêt-à-porter steel-braced boxes kitted out in factories that can be dropped into place in hours. In this, Mar City is doing what small companies do best – taking risks that larger organisations can’t or won’t; disrupting and forcing change on industries stuck in the mud.
Pop-up, prefabricated housing is not new. Off-site construction is used for hotels, classrooms, offices, shops, even prisons and army billets. But established housebuilders are wary of modular construction.
However, times are changing. Bricks and brickies are in short supply and building costs are rising. Modular construction looks increasingly competitive. Builders are under pressure to build new homes fast. And Mar City’s hot-rolled steel containers can be put up in a fraction of the time taken by traditional building. It has erected and sold several “pods” on a site in Barnet, North London, and put up two semi-detached homes in Walsall in three days, to prove the point.
“We’re trying to bring housebuilding up to date with the help of technology,” says Tony Ryan, Mar City’s chief executive who has a crusading glint in his eye. “And we will.”
He may be happy for the light to dawn on the rest of the industry over the next decade. His investors will be working to shorter timescales, hoping Mar City’s rivals will see it as a short-cut to innovation, and buy it.

Half of Brevan Howard’s Geneva Staff to Move to Jersey: Le Matin

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Half of Brevan Howard’s Geneva Staff to Move to Jersey: Le Matin 2014-07-06 16:24:19.999 GMT

By Zoe Schneeweiss July 6 (Bloomberg) -- Brevan Howard Capital Management moving almost half of its ~60 Geneva-based traders to Jersey, where it has headquarters, Le Matin Dimanche reports, citing unidentified people close to the company. * Reason for move is European Alternative Investment Fund Manager directive, which comes into force in Switzerland in 2015: Matin

For Related News and Information: First Word scrolling panel: FIRST<GO> First Word newswire: NH BFW<GO>

To contact the reporter on this story: Zoe Schneeweiss in Zurich at +41-44-2244146 or zschneeweiss@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at +44-20-7673-2841 or cstirling1@bloomberg.net Heather Langan

>>> Siemens interested in pursuing deals

Siemens interested in pursuing deals

Siemens (OTCMKTS:SIEGY), the Muenchen, Germany-based, technology company with activities in energy, healthcare, industry and infrastructure sectors, is interested in pursuing deals, reported The Calgary Herald on 4 July.

CEO Joe Kaeser said in the report that he's willing to seek out acquisitions to take advantage of the bullish prospects in the natural gas sector in the U.S. He said that the company needs to increase its own offering as additional facilities pop up in the US shale oil and gas industry, the item said.

Kaeser added that supplying equipment for the gas and oil industry would allow Siemens to get more lengthy service contracts, the article noted.

Siemens' market cap is USD 112.41bn.


Source Calgary Herald