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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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In Europe 23rd March 2012

An impending euro catastrophe? Fear the ones you hear nothing about

Another week left behind us and another wave of alarms about euro zone banks being de facto rescued by the European Central Bank’s long-term liquidity operations or expecting European Financial Stability Fund capital injections. Sí, Spain and its financial sector were back in the headlines, somehow accompanied by Portugal and Italy in a variety of doom-and-gloom combinations, with what some in Madrid see as self-fulfilling forecasts. At The Corner we say shooting the…

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Spanish economy 23rd March 2012

Spanish savings banks’ puzzle must be completed

By Carlos Díaz Guell, in Madrid | The second stage of Spain’s financial reform is going through a foggy tunnel in which stable entities have been left in a state of perplexity and confusion. The entities that aspire to be absorbed are too weak even to attract deals, the governor of the Bank of Spain is about to end his mandate and does not have the government’s trust, and the road…

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In Europe 22nd March 2012

Portuguese prime minister Passos Coelho is running out of time

By Fernando Barciela | News that Portugal’s major cities grounded to a halt Thursday pointed at an initial victory for labour unions, which began today a 24-hour strike against austerity measures agreed by the government in return for an international bailout. Demonstrations and rallies were also planned in 38 cities and towns across the country, including Lisbon. Six months have been enough for prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho to become the most unpopular…

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World economy 22nd March 2012

Impact of euro crisis in the US economy

By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | A lengthy series of the risk premium spread (over capital or liquidity) between US Treasuries and BAA corporate bonds tells us several things: 1) that each time there has been recession (gray areas) this premium has picked up markedly; 2) the time it reached the highest point was in the last recession, up to 6%; 3) the 60-year average of this spread is 1.8%; 4) the current figure…

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World economy 22nd March 2012

Tax havens are alive and well

By Carlos Cruzado, in Madrid | Although the concept has many nuances and definitions, when we hear about tax havens we all know what that means: areas that offer very favourable fiscal treatment for citizens and businesses in order to attract foreign money, which usually also implies a lack of control about the nature of such funds. While it is true that the existence of tax havens is a longstanding problem,…

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Ibex 21st March 2012

Group Telefónica would offload more than 50pc of its workforce with Atento sale

MADRID | Telefónica will attempt for the second time since last May the sale of its call centre services Atento. According to El Confidencial, the company has hired Morgan Stanley and HSBC to organise the operation, which last year failed to get enough demand in a partial IPO. The Spanish multinational now aims to do this through an investor auction open to corporations in the industrial sector and private equity firms. Financial…

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Companies 21st March 2012

Inditex plans to increase dividend by 12.5pc to €1.8 per share

For Spain’s Inditex, weathering the crisis isn’t near enough: the company seems ready for a full combat. Inditex board will submit a proposal to the annual general meeting of shareholders in July for payment of a dividend of €1.80 per share, an increase year on year of 12.5pc. This dividend will consist of a €0.9 per share interim dividend payable on 2 May 2012 and a €0.90 per share final…

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Markets 21st March 2012

Behind deposit outflows in Spain: don’t believe the hype about distrust

By Carlos Díaz Guell, in Madrid | The volume of deposits of households and non-financial corporations suffered outflows of €120 billion in 2011 in Spain and Italy, adding even more pressure on both countries’ banks. The data come from the last quarterly report of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which analyses European banks’ response to higher capital requirements that the European Banking Authority (EBA) set in October last year…

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Markets 20th March 2012

The US debt is a time bomb

By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | Here is a consistent interpretation on the Marginal Revolution blog, by Tyler Cowen of Bernanke in 2008. It is consistent with economic and political circumstances. “How is that for self-recommending? Here in a short paragraph is my current take on where Ben Bernanke would differ from Scott. As the shadow banking system was imploding in 2008, due to a downward revaluation of collateral, nominal gdp stabilization…

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Markets 20th March 2012

Still no growth in the horizon for Greece: the story so far

By Begoña Castiella, in Athens | How could one of the poorest, smallest countries in the euro zone endanger the common currency? How could 300 members of the Greek parliament from five political parties and with allegedly little economic knowledge paralyse during two years reforms and budget adjustments that were urgently necessary to reduce the nation’s public debt? And despite two bailouts and a bond restructuring that has cut down in more…