TOP
STORIES:
Hollande Tiptoes Toward Raid on Pensions With EU Pressure -
(www.bloomberg.com) President Francois
Hollande is preparing to take on a French sacred cow: pensions.
Facing European Union pressure to reach budget targets, the Socialist president
is risking the wrath of his core supporters to shrink the pension system, which
had a deficit of 14 billion euros ($19 billion) in 2011. While leaving the
issue of fixing the retirement age to talks between representatives of
employees and employers, Hollande may propose separating pension increases from
inflation, government officials said. He’s venturing upon a pension overhaul --
which few of his predecessors have managed without drawing millions into the
streets -- as his government says it’s unlikely to meet this year’s
budget-deficit target. Hollande is preparing “public opinion, rating agencies
and markets for a drift in the deficit while at the same time conveying a sense
that the country is taking steps to address its structural shortcomings,” Gilles Moec,
co-chief European economist at Deutsche Bank in London. “France is walking a
tightrope.”
JPMorgan Said to Fire Traders, Realign Pay Amid Slump - (www.bloomberg.com) JPMorgan Chase & Co.,
grappling with Wall Street’s worst year for stock-trading since 2008, cut pay
at the equities unit about 4 percent and pushed out about three dozen
employees, people with knowledge of the moves said. About two dozen U.S.
traders and sales staff were fired, and some senior employees left voluntarily
as the unit aligned pay more closely with revenue, said the people, asking to
not be identified because the measures aren’t public. The bank also dismissed
equity analysts last week, three people said, with one saying about a dozen
were affected. Industrywide equities- trading revenue fell 5 percent last year,
the third straight annual drop, according to analytics firm Coalition Ltd. JPMorgan has pared
equities jobs each year since 2008, former and current executives said.
Equities-trading chief Tim Throsby has
been reviewing the unit since around March, these people said. Assisted by Marc
Badrichani and Jason Sippel,
they found that pay for equities traders and sales staff was too high compared
with revenue, the people said.
Cisco
Won't Spend Money In The US Until The Tax Code Is Changed - (www.businessinsider.com) Cisco has $46 billion
in cash, but CEO John Chambers says he
is no longer willing to use it to acquire U.S. companies. That's because 80
percent of that cash is stored in overseas accounts and if Cisco spends it in
the U.S., the company will have to fork over 35 percent in taxes. For years, he
has been trying to get the U.S. to change that tax rule. He's said before that
this prevents him from hiring more U.S. workers. But now he's said he's also stopped shopping
for acquisition targets in the U.S., too. That's a blow, as Cisco has
historically been a company that acquires like crazy. Cisco is not the only
company hording cash overseas to avoid taxes. U.S. companies have about $1.7
trillion offshore. For instance, Microsoft's keeps about 87
percent of its $66.6 billion stored outside the U.S.; Oracle, 80 percent of its
$31.6 billion; and Apple about 68 percent of its $121.3 billion, reports CNBC's Jon Fortt.
Saving banks and baby boomers at expense of future buyers - (www.ochousingnews.com) While 2012 marked a turning point for housing in terms of prices and new construction, the scars left by the Great Recession and housing crisis are still apparent today. One of the most glaring impacts is homeownership rates across the country, which have fallen significantly as a result of the housing crisis. According to the Census Bureau, the homeownership rate stood at 69.2 percent at the end of 2004. By the third quarter of 2012, it had fallen to 65.6 percent. The home ownership rate will still fall further. The backlog of foreclosures, particularly in the judicial foreclosure states will see to that. The picture is even more grim for younger households who make up most of the important class of first-time homebuyers. Census data reveal that the biggest declines in homeownership were among households headed by those under 35 years of age, with rates plunging from their highest level of 43.6 percent in mid-2004 to 36.3 percent as of the third quarter 2012. Households aged 35 to 44 experienced a decline in homeownership from 70.1 percent at the beginning of 2005 to 61.8 percent as of the third quarter 2012.
Backdated Mortgage Assignment Comes Back To Haunt Foreclosure Lender - (www.massrealestatelawblog.com) Alleged Backdated Mortgage Assignment Proves Fatal: Melissa Juárez purchased a home in Dorchester, Massachusetts on August 5, 2005, financing it with reputed sub-prime lender New Century Mortgage. The mortgage was packaged and bundled into a real estate mortgage investment conduit (“REMIC”), a special type of trust that receives favorable tax treatment, ultimately being held by U.S. Bank, as trustee. Juárez could not afford the payments on the mortgage and defaulted. Foreclosure proceedings began in the summer of 2008, culminating in the sale of her home at an auction in October 22,2008. She claims, however, that lender did not hold the note and the mortgage at the time they began the foreclosure proceedings against her, and that the foreclosure was therefore illegal under Massachusetts mortgage law. The problem in the case centered around the mortgage assignment into U.S. Bank, as trustee — the same problem the same bank faced in the landmark U.S. Bank v. Ibanez case. The “Corporate Assignment of Mortgage,” appears to have been back-dated. It was dated October 16, 2008 and recorded in the corresponding registry of deeds on October 29, 2008, after the foreclosure had been completed. However, at the top of the document, it stated: “Date of Assignment: June 13, 2007,” in an obvious attempt to date it back prior to the foreclosure.
No comments:
Post a Comment