France

Nearly 150 leading economists today rebuked President François Hollande’s plan to appoint a former executive of France’s largest lender to head the country’s central bank by calling on legislators to block the appointment over concerns about conflicts of interest, the New York Times reported today. Hollande said last week that François Villeroy de Galhau, formerly co-chief operating officer at BNP Paribas, would head the Banque de France, succeeding Christian Noyer, who is to step down at the end of October.

European Union efforts to build a financial-transactions tax among 11 nations pressed on in a bid to break a deadlock over what to tax and at what rate, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday. “Important advances were made” at a meeting among participating nations on Saturday in Luxembourg, said French Finance Minister Michel Sapin. He said that France continues to push for a wide base and a low rate for the trading levies. Sapin said that ministers agreed to tax gross trades rather than net transactions, which would include high frequency trading.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and French President Francois Hollande agreed on Thursday that a new bailout for Greece could and should be agreed soon after August 15, Reuters reported. The two men were speaking in Egypt on the sidelines of a ceremony to inaugurate the New Suez Canal, the Greek prime minister's office in Athens said. Hollande, speaking to reporters at the inauguration, said: “The objective is for the negotiations on the program … to be concluded at the end of August. We know it’s difficult but we must make sure that the conditions are met, in a good spirit.

Like several hundred cities across France, Châteauneuf-les-Martigues took out a variable-interest-rate loan in the mid-2000s to restructure debt and reduce interest payments. The loans offered very low interest rates for the first few years, before the rate would start to vary according to the value of the Swiss franc. Contracts that convey currency risk in this way fall under the category of what are known as financial swaps, The Wall Street Journal reported. At their inception, the loans had appeal to both parties.

TP Ferro, the company that runs a high-speed rail link between Spain and France, filed for protection from creditors after failing to reach a debt restructuring agreement, its French co-owner said, Reuters reported. Construction firm Eiffage, which owns an equal share of the business with Spain's ACS, said late on Friday the link would continue to operate as the shareholders sought a quick solution to what it called an "unsustainable and precarious ... business model".

French corporate insolvencies continued to fall in April, data showed on Tuesday in the latest sign of an upturn in the euro zone's second largest economy. Figures published by French trade insurance company Coface showed there were a total of 62,473 corporate failures in the 12 months till end-April, 2.7 percent down on the previous year. That came after the 2.9 percent fall seen for the calendar 2014 year as a whole, the biggest such fall since 2010.

French President François Hollande said on a television interview on Sunday he’d spend at least €4 billion ($4.3 billion) on a new program that will subsidize working youth, The Wall Street Journal reported. During a wide-ranging two-hour interview on French cable channel Canal Plus, Mr. Hollande said his government will start to supplement the wages for those who are working and under 25 years old to incentivize young people to take on short-term jobs and part-time work.

The British bank HSBC said on Thursday that it had been placed under formal criminal investigation by French magistrates examining whether its Swiss private bank assisted wealthy clients to avoid taxes, the International New York Times reported. Investigating magistrates in France have been conducting an inquiry into whether HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) helped individuals avoid their tax-reporting requirements from 2006 to 2007. In November, the Swiss private banking unit was separately placed under formal investigation.

Corporate debt restructurings will become easier in France under proposals being considered by lawmakers to restrict shareholder involvement in the process, Bloomberg News reported. France’s Parliament will begin discussions today on a reform bill to bolster the nation’s growth potential. Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron is proposing to speed up insolvency procedures by making it simpler for companies to negotiate with lenders.

Corporate debt restructurings will become easier in France under proposals being considered by lawmakers to restrict shareholder involvement in the process, Bloomberg News reported. France’s Parliament will begin discussions today on a reform bill to bolster the nation’s growth potential. Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron is proposing to speed up insolvency procedures by making it simpler for companies to negotiate with lenders.