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By Stephen Green, head of the Asia programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London
The one thing keeping the world's last great Communist party in power is, ironically, the element Karl Marx railed against most: private capital. Hence the Chinese government's apparent willingness finally to put private enterprise on an equal legal footing with state-owned businesses. But private enterprise needs much more than constitutional tinkering.
16/06/2003
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Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH) has made significant strides towards establishing a market economy, but a great deal remains to be done if its economic progress is to become more sustainable, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) declares in a paper issued today.
The bank's latest strategy analyses the economic climate and outlines the EBRD's priorities in the country over the next two years.
16/06/2003
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During the 35th Annual Meeting of Factors Chain International (FCI), held in Berlin, Dirk Driessens, chief executive officer of Fortis Commercial Finance (FCF) was elected Chairman of FCI.
FCI is the world’s largest chain of factoring companies representing 166 members spread over 55 countries. Its handle more than 54% of the world’s cross-border factoring volume and 45% of the total factoring volume worldwide.
Source: BCR
16/06/2003
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Hammonds, formerly Hammond Suddards Edge, The UK-based commercial law firm, publishes quarterly updates of statute and case law relevant to the finance industry.
Abstracts of the May 2003 issue can be viewed on factorscan.com UK in Depth, Articles section.
To download “Insight” as a pdf file or to order a hard copy, go to Hammonds website
Source: Hammonds Insight Finance Law
16/06/2003
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ISIS Factors, the London Scottish Bank owned factoring company, has reported a pre-tax profit of Ј937,913 in their annual accounts for the year ended 31 October 2002. This is a reduction of 7.68% compared to the Ј1,015,944 pre-tax profit reported for the same period in 2001.
The 2001 profit figure exceeded Ј1 million after three years of annual profits below Ј900,000
The Reading-based company has provided factoring facilities to small- and medium-sized UK-based businesses since 1991.
16/06/2003
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A quarter of small firms believe that the quality of service offered by their bank has deteriorated over the past year; despite this fact the vast majority (82 per cent) still use traditional bank funding to finance their business. This suggests that many owners and managers are simply unaware of the many alternative funding options available to them and quite simply choose the easy option.
13/06/2003
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The Department of Finance and the Bureau of Internal Revenue ended years of suspense and imposed value-added tax on banks as provided under Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 12-2003 last March 10.
RA 8424, or the National Internal Revenue Code, which took effect on Jan. 1, 1998, provided for the imposition of VAT on the sale of goods or the sale or exchange of services.
Services refer to the performance of all kinds of services in the Philippines for a fee, remuneration or consideration, including those performed or rendered by financial institutions.
13/06/2003
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The French credit insurance company Euler-Sfac said yesterday that the number of company defaults in France is likely to show a 7 per cent rise for 2003.
In the first five months of the year, the number of business defaulting grew by 12.7 per cent.
French companies are struggling to remain price competitive, owing to the fall of the dollar against the euro and uncertain prospects, says Euler-Sfac.
Source: Le Figaro
13/06/2003
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CapitalSource Inc. announced today that it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of shares of its common stock. A portion of the shares will be issued and sold by CapitalSource, and a portion will be sold by selling shareholders.
Headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, CapitalSource is a specialized commercial finance company offering asset-based, senior cash flow, mortgage and mezzanine financing to small and medium-sized borrowers.
13/06/2003
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Bank of Ireland is extending its invoice discounting service to small businesses with a discount of up to 50% for new customers.
Bank of Ireland is also to pass on the full 50 basis point rate cut by the European Central Bank (ECB) to its small business customers.
Announcing the move, the bank said that the repayments on its Small Business Loan product, which offers small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups a maximum loan of Ђ65,000, will now range from 4.75% to 5.5%.
12/06/2003
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Baycorp said in a statement released after the market closed in New Zealand that it wanted to correct some "misconceptions" about Alliance Factoring.
"In response to reports concerning impending legal action against Alliance Factoring in relation to Telstra debts loaded on to the credit bureau, the company confirms no legal process has been served on Alliance Factoring.
"The company accordingly has no comment to make in relation to this matter at this time.
12/06/2003
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BCR has today added the latest analyses of the Austrian, Australian, Argentine and Baltic factoring markets, from the soon to be published World Factoring Yearbook 2003, to its factorscan.com website. The article is located under each country’s Industry Environment and Analysis 01/02 pages.
12/06/2003
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Intesa sold its Sudameris banking franchise in Chile to Desarrollo last month in return for US$30m in newly issued Desarrollo shares. The deal is also expected to boost Desarrollo's leasing activities by 29%, which is also an SME instrument, said Desarrollo Chairman, Vicente Caruz.
Meanwhile he confirmed Desarrollo is in talks about buying a factoring agency backed by the board's approval of a US$23bn capital increase for expansions. He said previously that the deal's final price tag would likely be between US$2.5m and US$3m.
12/06/2003
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Lithuanian insurance companies will have to increase their authorised capital to at least Ђ1 million by July 2005 and to set up required minimum guarantee funds by April 2007, under new amendments to the country's Law on Insurance.
The minimum guarantee fund requirement will be Ђ2 million for a non-life insurance company, Ђ3 million for a company providing credit and guarantee insurance and Ђ3 million for a life insurance company.
12/06/2003
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Bharat Overseas Bank Ltd has lowered interest rates on credit to agriculture and small-scale sectors (SSIs).
"The revised interest rates to agriculture and SSI sector will be at Prime Lending Rate (PLR) minus one per cent for loans up to Rs 25,000 and at PLR for loans between Rs 25,000 and Rs 2 lakh," says a press release from the bank.
However, for agricultural loans above Rs 2 lakh, interest rates will be at PLR plus two per cent.
For SSIs, the rates will vary between PLR and PLR plus two per cent, depending upon the bank's view of the risk.
12/06/2003
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