Problems in the air !

Although British Airways asked their employees this summer to work one month for free, to work part-time or to resign freely. The revenues of British Airways still stay down, therefore they have to reduce their costs by dismissing 1,700 employees and introducing a two-year pay freeze for their crew. But the passenger numbers were falling so sharply, that these measurements weren’t good enough to bounce back. The International Air Transport Association (Iata) forecast the losses of the whole industry to € 7,5 billion.

Maarten Callaert

Link: BBC News

Starbucks makes a new start

Starbucks has made a spectacular alteration concerning its policy, a change that seemed to be of importance to the financial position of the company on the stock market. Howard Schultz (founder of Starbucks) decided to reverse the tendency towards expansion, by giving the shops a more cosy setting and improving the efficiency, through which the operating costs declined by around $500 million. The company returned to its roots and simultaneously decided to pay more attention to charity, the social media and the quality of the service; factors that have lead to an increase of the value of shares of nearly 120%. Starbucks has also sent up its margins by successfully launching new projects, and almost halted its decline despite of the hard rivalry.

Tessa De Backer

Source: Starbucks

The new normal

Simon Cox said in an interview that although the world economy is recovering from the latest financial disaster, it will never return to normal. The European Commission published a line grapf about the expected output level for the next years. As you can see, there are three different scenarios: a full recovery, a permanent loss or a widening loss. Many reasons can be given for each of them, so read the full article.

Matthias Dendooven

http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14530093

"Ethical" hacker frightened Belgian banks

Always thought your personal information was safe in the hands of your bank?
The ethical hacker Unu proves the contrary by cracking the computer systems of both Dexia and ING Belgium.
Luckily for them Unu had no bad intentions, by hacking the computer systems he just wanted to point at the lack of safety.
Both banks confirm the occurrence, but emphasize that nothing serious happened.

Toon Boermans

http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=8B2EPCUV&word=hacker

BNP Paribas will repay it's debts earlier

BNP Paribas is willing to pay back it's debt to the French government faster then was agreed. The bank borrowed billions from the French and Belgian government last year. Due to the state support the bank lost it's independence. Because the bank is making profits again and the interest on loans will rise next year, BNP Paribas wants to get rid of its loans and wants to regain it's independence.

Carron Jordy

Man the guillotine, sign the death panels.

Death panels, a horrific term, but it’s the brand new remedy to the ‘moral hazard’ that triggered today’s economic slump. The idea is that regulators and banks will be forced to organize themselves so that it will be easier to execute the ‘bad’ firms in order to keep the economy healthy. This concept should involve lower monetary loss for civilians when future banks get into trouble. These new laws are ought to give people their confidence back in order to revive the whole economy!


Arne De Cloet

Source: www.economist.com/businessfinance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14558456

IMF dusts off Tobin tax

The IMF plans to reintroduce the so-called Tobin tax on the world's biggest banks and hedge funds. The money gained by this levy will be used to support poor countries. Strong opposition is expected from the financial sector, as it already faces high charges because of the credit crisis. But the IMF states that the banks should pay for the damage they have caused in the global economy.

Filip De Geyter

Source: Banking Times