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Articles by The Corner

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The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.
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Markets 19th April 2012

Skandia: Spanish bonds’ weakness containable, banks fully funded until 2015

LONDON | The latest Spanish financial turbulences are unlikely to start a new downturn for risk assets appetite, Skandia Investment said in a market commentary on Thursday. The investment management company believes that the recent weakness in Spanish bonds, although may become a new phase of the euro zone debt crisis, should not affect equities and other risk assets. Rupert Watson, head of asset allocation at Skandia Investment Group, remarked that…

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In Europe 19th April 2012

European Commissioner Viviane Reding: “We’ll fight for our social welfare state”

She is the most experienced member of the European Commission and it shows. In her third term at the European institution, Viviane Reding does not shy away from discussing almost any subject, not even the poor economic situation of Spain, which she addressed in detail during an exclusive interview with Cinco Días. Reding is travelling on Thursday to Madrid, to meet with several members The official thesis in Brussels finds…

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Interviews 19th April 2012

Something Canadian that Spain may like: public-private partnerships

By Rose Marie Losier, director general at the Canada-Spain Chamber of Commerce | Public infrastructure in Canada has been aging in recent years and the country has seen the need to replace them. In this context, governments at both federal and provincial level, have found in models of public-private partnership (PPP) an interesting formula that allows them to leverage funding and innovation with support from the public sector. What are PPPs? The public-private…

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World economy 18th April 2012

Emerging markets, opportunity or trouble?

By CBRE’s Eduardo Fernández-Cuesta, in Madrid | In a time of extraordinary global economic and political uncertainty, multinational corporations have focused their growth plans in the opportunities offered by emerging markets. Indeed, they are countries attractive for growth and increasingly popular. Turkey, for example, grew by over 8% last year, becoming one of the fastest growing economies worldwide along with Brazil and Mexico, which has based its spectacular development in recent years…

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Spanish economy 18th April 2012

Pharmaceutical co-payment: Spanish pensioners charged 10%

By Tania Suárez, in Madrid | One more twist in the reform plans introduced by the Spanish government: time is up for the public health system… again. The vice-president Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría said in March that “the matter of the [sanitary] co-payment is not on the table of the Cabinet; it is as simple and crystal clear as that.” In Spain, the pensioners did not have to pay for…

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Spanish economy 18th April 2012

Spain’s cooperation sector shows a country with international ambitions

By Olivier Longué, director general at Acción Contra el Hambre | Spain remains a country that invests in solidarity, even in times of economic distress. Its citizens have given ample evidence of this in recent years, both here in Spain as during the crises that took place outside our borders (Horn of Africa or Haiti). The Spanish people do not seem readily willing to sacrifice the possibility of a better world despite the…

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Markets 18th April 2012

UK-based institutional investors favour executive pay linked to performance

LONDON | A study by The Share Centre revealed that there is a clear rejection among institutional investors with companies with director-level remuneration that often bears no relevance to the business model or the strategy of the organisation. The Accountability in Business report, which provides an inside-look at corporate governance amongst specialists and fund managers, highlighted this week a widespread belief that executive pay has become disproportionate to performance. Over 95% of…

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Spanish economy 17th April 2012

Deutsche Bank: Spain will grow next year, never mind deficit targets

MADRID | Deutsche Bank analysts said that Spain will grow again from 2013, even though the country will not meet the current deficit targets. Spain will this year miss the 5.3% set by Brussels and will not be until 2014, a year later than planned, when the imbalance will be reduced to 3% of GDP. In a note published Tuesday and reported by El Economista, the bank’s experts explained that Spain…

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In Europe 17th April 2012

UK emerging SMEs to receive EU funds

LONDON | The UK’s Coalition government launched Tuesday a new joint enterprise capital fund that will invest at least £40 million in high-growth potential small and medium sized companies in the country. The fund is called Notion Capital and is the eleventh and largest finance support programme for SMEs in the European Union. According to the official press release, a total of £62.9m has already been committed to it from the…