TheChek News Flow

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France’s Phone Company Orange to Test German Market Entry: WiWo 2014-07-05 12:10:47.732 GMT

By Sheenagh Matthews July 5 (Bloomberg) -- A unit called Orange Horizons is developing business ideas for countries where French company doesn’t have own mobile infrastructure, WirtschaftsWoche reports, citing unidentified people from Orange. WiWo also says: * Orange plans to offer Germans holidaying in France a SIM card without surcharges * NOTE: Richard says Orange ready to participate in French consolidation: NSN N88H2R6S9728<GO>

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

To contact the reporter on this story: Sheenagh Matthews in Frankfurt at +49-69-92041-217 or smatthews6@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Thiel at +44-20-7673-2814 or sthiel1@bloomberg.net Zoe Schneeweiss

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Richard Says Orange Ready to Participate in French Consolidation 2014-07-05 09:59:15.28 GMT

By Francois de Beaupuy and Caroline Connan July 5 (Bloomberg) -- Orange CEO Stephane Richard sees need for consolidation in French telecoms * Orange CEO Richard makes comments in Bloomberg TV interview * Richard says Orange doesn’t want lead role in French merger * Richard sees no more room for price cuts in French mobile market * Richard says Orange eyeing consolidation in Spain, Romania, Poland and Belgium.

Link to Company News:{EN FP <Equity> CN <GO>} Link to Company News:{ILD FP <Equity> CN <GO>} Link to Company News:{NUM FP <Equity> CN <GO>} Link to Company News:{ORA FP <Equity> CN <GO>}

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

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Vidya Root at +33-1-5365-5018 or vroot@bloomberg.net

Clay Paky in final talks with Osram

Clay Paky, a private Italian lighting company, is in the final stage of discussions with German LED lamp manufacturer Osram, three sources with knowledge of the situation said.

The group receives advice from KPMG, as previously reported by this news service. Information memoranda were dispatched in March.

Founded in 1976, the group is wholly held by Italian entrepreneur Pasquale Quadri. In 2013 the group generated turnover of EUR 70m with no debt.

Clay Paky's valuation should be around EUR 170m on the basis of the value of the company's products, know-how, and market position.

Clay Paky provides lighting for entertainment industries, primarily for television production, concerts and theatres.

Clay Paky and KPMG declined to comment.

Spy agencies fear export of jihadi terror In the Syrian city of Raqqa, the nominal “capital” of the caliphate proclaimed last weekend by the militant Islamist group Isis, a picture recently surfaced of a young French jihadi sitting behind a sturdy desk, like a clerk of terror. Tacked to the wall behind him was a doodle of the Eiffel Tower, its top snapped off by a bomb blast – a perverse reminder of a far away home in lieu of the usual family snapshot.

The image illustrates the fear gripping European, Russian and US intelligence agencies. The prospect of their own citizens returning from Syria to conduct terror attacks against them is universally shared. In recent days, these concerns appear to have become all the more acute. US counter-terrorism authorities have now requested airports in Europe and the Middle East significantly to heighten their scrutiny of passengers. The ostensible cause, according to security officials, is evidence that al-Qaeda’s most virulent offshoot, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has begun to share its bomb-making knowledge with Syrian groups. Such a combination could prove lethal. AQAP has long been the repository of al-Qaeda’s bombmaking knowhow. The plots of Ibrahim al-Assiri, the 32 year old AQAP chemist behind the 2009 underpants bomb plot and 2010 printer cartridge bomb plot, have until now been held in check by near constant US drone attacks in the terror group’s Yemen heartlands. For AQAP to spread its influence to Syria, where more than 3,000 European fighters are waging war in a complex milieux of jihadi groups whose activities western intelligence agencies are only able to partially monitor, would be a disaster. Foreign fighters in Syria have already proved willing to blow themselves up in the name of Islam. “They are obedient and they are willing,” says Peter Neumann, director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College London. “They are like child soldiers. They do what they are told to.”

The picture, however, is complex. The threat to Europe and the US is far from immediate or certain. According to security officials on both sides of the Atlantic no concrete plot controlled and guided by a Syria-based group has yet been uncovered, with or without input from AQAP. AQAP’s engagement in Syria has also been specific. The group has been in contact with Jabhat al-Nusra, the official al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, American intelligence suggests. The two groups have been in contact for months, most notably in discussing how al-Qaeda should deal with the challenge to its authority posed by Isis. Compared with Isis, Jabhat al-Nusra has so far played a quieter, more focused and moderate game in waging jihad in Syria. But with Isis’s declaration last week of a caliphate – and with it a direct challenge to the authority of al-Qaeda’s chief Ayman al-Zawahiri – the stakes have been raised. Both groups, in struggling for leadership of the global jihadi movement, may now look to lay stake to their claims by staging spectacular terror attacks on their traditional foes. I am very afraid the next step might be a terror attack in Europe – America is too far - Jean Pierre Filiu, Sciences Po Isis has already indicated it may look to do so – particularly if the US intervenes in the Iraqi conflict further. In a Twitter campaign last week, Isis’s accounts kicked off a threatening campaign under the hashtag “#CalamitywillbefallUS”, featuring images of 9/11 and dead American soldiers. “I am very afraid the next step might be a terror attack in Europe – America is too far,” says Jean Pierre Filiu, professor of Middle East studies at Sciences Po in Paris. “As Caliph, [Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, Isis’s leader] can proclaim offensive jihad. Militarily, he is now overstretched so to try to gain momentum he needs terror to strike global targets.” It is a concern echoed by one senior Israeli intelligence officer: “It’s a dynamic that is a definite danger to European and US security,” he says. “Either Isis or Nusra may want to do a huge terror attack. Someone needs to be the new bin Laden.” Map :{http://www.ft.com/ig/sites/2014/isis-map/}

Dubai World in talks to extend term of $10.5bn loan

The Atlantis Hotel was one of the assets sold by Dubai World's investment arm Dubai World is in talks with creditors to extend a $10.5bn debt maturity due in 2018, sparking divided reactions among lenders over whether to take such a deal when the emirate’s economy has recovered so strongly. The government conglomerate was at the heart of Dubai’s debt crisis in 2009, agreeing a restructuring of $25bn of loans in 2010. Last week, it proposed an early repayment on the $4.1bn maturity due in September 2015 if creditors agreed to extend the 2018 maturity to 2022, people aware of the matter say.

Despite the Dubai stock market’s steep correction over the past few weeks, the underlying economy has rebounded on strong trade and tourism flows thanks to the emirate’s haven status. Some lenders, taking a tough line as negotiations start, are calling for repayment rather than an extension to the landmark restructuring that laid the foundations for Dubai’s recovery. “Dubai keeps saying how well it is doing, but they don’t seem willing to repay,” said a banker at one leading creditor. Dubai World declined to comment. Banks such as HSBC, Standard Chartered and Lloyds are major lenders among the more than 100 creditors to Dubai World. Blackstone and Clifford Chance are representing the conglomerate in the talks. Other lenders are welcoming the early tabling of what they described as a “reasonable” proposal. Dubai’s head-in-the-sand approach in 2009 sparked a debt crisis that required $20bn in bailout loans from its richer neighbour Abu Dhabi to prevent a default. “It’s refreshing to see Dubai come to the table early like this,” said a banker at another creditor. State owned enterprises have been repaying debts when they can, but the emirate has also borrowed more and is still sitting on a $130bn debt pile. An official close to Dubai World said the company would continue to negotiate with lenders over details of the proposal. Dubai World said it had sufficient cash to repay the $4.1bn due in September 2015 after selling assets held by its investment arm, Istithmar. Investment Corporation of Dubai, the state holding company, has bought some Istithmar assets, such as the Atlantis hotel on the emirate’s Palm island. The government is reluctant to consider selling shares in Dubai World’s prized assets, such as fast-growing ports operator, DP World. “This is about optimising where we are, not restructuring,” said the official. “If the banks go for it, great, if they don’t, we can wait.”

New Wall Street Trading Reality Eludes Obama

President Obama's View of How Good Wall Street Traders Have It Is in Need of an Update

Whether it is the best of times or the worst of times on Wall Street depends on where you sit: From a trading desk, the view is markedly different from that of the Oval Office.

In an interview this week, President Barack Obama said that, "Right now, if you are in one of the big banks, the profit center is the trading desk, and you can generate a huge amount of bonuses by making some big bets."

That is in marked contrast to the numbers being reported by big banks. In the first quarter, most of the biggest banks saw trading revenue decline year over year. More broadly, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency this week reported that total U.S. bank tradinfor a first quarter since 2008.

—g revenue declined 18% from a year earlier and was at its lowest ebb

Meanwhile, J.P. Morgan JPM +0.14% Chase and Citigroup C +0.48% already have warned that trading revenue in the second quarter will be down from the prior year.

All this reflects both a more subdued trading environment, marked by low volatility and an unexpected downward turn in long-term bond yields, as well as structural changes on Wall Street. The latter is in large part due to regulatory changes such as the Dodd-Frank Act and the "Volcker rule" prohibiting proprietary trading.

Consider that in 2013, J.P. Morgan generated a return on equity in its corporate and investment bank of 15%, versus 23% for its consumer-and-community-banking business. And over the past two years, both revenue and net income from the consumer-and-community-banking business have outpaced that of J.P. Morgan's corporate and investment bank. A similar picture emerges at Bank of America. BAC +1.14%

While more needs to be done to make big banks and the financial system safer, traders aren't partying like it's 2006.