Global credit card and payment services major American Express has asked some more of its employees in India to leave this month, as part
of its global restructuring announced late last year.
"Only 1-2 per cent of our present workforce in India is impacted," an Amex spokesperson said, without giving specific numbers.
According to industry sources, Amex has a workforce of over 6,000 people in India.
The company spokesperson separately said in an emailed statement, "The restructuring is part of the overall worldwide re-engineering efforts we announced in late 2008.
"As shared earlier, India is not the main focus of the restructuring. Many of the employees whose jobs were impacted were notified in 2008. In other cases, the notifications are taking place in early 2009."
In late October 2008, Amex announced that it would cut 7,000 jobs globally, representing about 10 per cent of its worldwide workforce, as part of a plan to save 1.8 billion dollars of costs in 2009.
This was followed by about a hundred job cuts in India.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Obama Signals Tough Restrictions on Banks in Rescue Package
President Barack Obama signaled that he would toughen restrictions on and oversight of banks as part of a fresh plan to aid the battered industry.
Obama blasted the banks yesterday over reports that they’ve spent money renovating offices after receiving billions of dollars from the government and vowed they would be held accountable for any aid they receive in the future.
The tough talk seemed designed to build support for a rescue plan that aides say Obama will roll out soon by reassuring lawmakers and voters that the administration will keep close tabs on money it hands out. Pressure for a plan is building after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell for the third straight week, in part because of concerns about the health of the banks.
“They’re going to have to take some early action,” said Michael Bleier, a partner at law firm Reed Smith in Pittsburgh and a former Federal Reserve lawyer. “Banks and the financial services industry have to have balance sheets that are strong.”
The administration’s economic team, which will meet with Obama today, has been working on a program to bolster the banks and get them lending again. People familiar with their thinking have said the plan is likely to include fresh capital injections into the banks and steps to clear bad assets off bank balance sheets.
Satyam doesn't need govt help to pay salaries
The government on Saturday said that Satyam does not need its support to pay salaries to the company's employees, whose number has become a matter of controversy after the CID claimed that the IT major has inflated its headcount.
"They don't need (the) government's help. They will manage the issue (of payment of salary)," Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta said while talking to reporters.
The Andhra Pradesh government's investigating agency CID, which is investigating the Satyam fraud case, said before a local court that the company had inflated the number of employees by at least 12,000. The company had claimed that it had over 52,000 employees.
Gupta had earlier said the company had receivables of about Rs 1,700 crore.
Satyam needs about Rs 500 crore per month to meet the cost of establishment, including salaries to employees.
Following the disclosures of the accounting fraud by the disgraced founder chairman of the IT company B Ramalinga Raju, the government superseded the Satyam Board and appointed its own nominees.
The newly-constituted board has appointed two global auditing firms, KPMG and Deloitte, to re-state the accounts of the company, even as Satyam's auditors Price Waterhouse told the new board not to rely on its audit reports.
Replying to questions on the appointment of a new CEO and CFO, Gupta said, "This (appointment of CEO and CFO) is being looked into by the board. They are studying the applications they have received. The new board will take a view soon."
According to Tarun Das, a member of the newly-appointed Satyam Board, the company has received 40 applications for top management positions in the company.
RBI collects information on banks' exposure in Satyam
The Reserve Bank of India has collected data on banks' exposure in scam-tainted IT firm Satyam Computer and an investigation in the matter
is on, a top RBI official said.
"We have collected data on direct and indirect exposure of banks to Satyam. The investigation in the matter is on," RBI Deputy Governor Shyamala Gopinath told reporters here on the sidelines a conference organised by the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research on Money and Finance.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had asked banks to furnish information to the central bank on their fund and non-fund based exposures to Satyam and associate companies.
A communique to this effect had been sent to banks recently, Gopinath said.
Replying to a question on banks not cutting their interest rates on the ground that their cost of funds are still high, Gopinath said, "It is up to (the) banks to decide how to go about it. Banks are responding by cutting PLR and deposit rates."
The Indian financial markets are facing excessive pressure due to the substitution effect, subsequent to the drying up of alternative credit avenues during the current financial turmoil.
"The slowdown in the real sector is affecting the financial sector, which, in fact, has second order impact on the real sector," Gopinath said.
During a boom time, any asset is liquid and marketable, while when the market breaks down, the asset becomes illiquid, she said.
"There is a need to have government bonds in a portfolio of liquid assets," Gopinath said.
The Indian growth process is driven by domestic factors and the country has a comfortable foreign exchange reserve, Gopinath said.
The reversal of capital flows due to the de-leveraging of global markets has put pressure on India, she said, but expressed confidence in the Indian banking sector, saying ratios of Indian banks are better than their peers.
"Indian banks' average capital adequacy ratio is 13% as on March 31 as against the regulatory requirement of 9%," Gopinath said adding that their foreign units have suffered some mark-to-market losses due to the widening credit spread, the Deputy Governor Gopinath said.
Commenting on over the counter derivatives (OTC), Gopinath said, "there is a need for a central counter-party for OTC derivatives when volumes are high. The gap between prudential needs and accounting standards needed to be bridged and regulations in leveraging, transparency and liquidity must be ensured."
Financial sector entities need to be seen and regulated as risk repositories in the system-any notion of their risks being dissipated into or outside the system is inherently flawed.
There is, therefore, a need for limits, prudential safeguards and adequate capital to support the risks.
is on, a top RBI official said.
"We have collected data on direct and indirect exposure of banks to Satyam. The investigation in the matter is on," RBI Deputy Governor Shyamala Gopinath told reporters here on the sidelines a conference organised by the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research on Money and Finance.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had asked banks to furnish information to the central bank on their fund and non-fund based exposures to Satyam and associate companies.
A communique to this effect had been sent to banks recently, Gopinath said.
Replying to a question on banks not cutting their interest rates on the ground that their cost of funds are still high, Gopinath said, "It is up to (the) banks to decide how to go about it. Banks are responding by cutting PLR and deposit rates."
The Indian financial markets are facing excessive pressure due to the substitution effect, subsequent to the drying up of alternative credit avenues during the current financial turmoil.
"The slowdown in the real sector is affecting the financial sector, which, in fact, has second order impact on the real sector," Gopinath said.
During a boom time, any asset is liquid and marketable, while when the market breaks down, the asset becomes illiquid, she said.
"There is a need to have government bonds in a portfolio of liquid assets," Gopinath said.
The Indian growth process is driven by domestic factors and the country has a comfortable foreign exchange reserve, Gopinath said.
The reversal of capital flows due to the de-leveraging of global markets has put pressure on India, she said, but expressed confidence in the Indian banking sector, saying ratios of Indian banks are better than their peers.
"Indian banks' average capital adequacy ratio is 13% as on March 31 as against the regulatory requirement of 9%," Gopinath said adding that their foreign units have suffered some mark-to-market losses due to the widening credit spread, the Deputy Governor Gopinath said.
Commenting on over the counter derivatives (OTC), Gopinath said, "there is a need for a central counter-party for OTC derivatives when volumes are high. The gap between prudential needs and accounting standards needed to be bridged and regulations in leveraging, transparency and liquidity must be ensured."
Financial sector entities need to be seen and regulated as risk repositories in the system-any notion of their risks being dissipated into or outside the system is inherently flawed.
There is, therefore, a need for limits, prudential safeguards and adequate capital to support the risks.
ONGC-Mittal signs deal to take 25% stake in Kazakh oilfield
Oil and Natural Gas Corp and its billionaire partner Lakshmi N Mittal on Saturday signed an agreement to take a 25% stake in
Kazakhstan's prospective Satpayev oil field in the Caspian Sea.
ONGC Mittal Energy Ltd, the joint venture of ONGC Videsh Ltd and Mittal Investment Sarl, signed the agreement with Kazakhstan's national oil firm KazMunaiGas (KMG) for the stake, official sources said.
OVL Managing Director R S Butola signed the agreements on behalf of OMEL and for KMG its President Kairgeldi Kabyldin inked the deal.
The agreement is clumination of nearly four years of negotiations during which Kazakhstan went back and forth on giving stake to the Indian company.
Kazakhstan had initially identified the Satpayev and Makhambet blocks in the Caspian Sea for giving a 50% stake in one of them to OVL, the overseas arm of state-owned ONGC. Later it reduced the stake on offer to 25% on condition that the Indian flagship teamed up with steel baron Lakshmi N Mittal for entry.
OVL relented and in June 2007 made an attractive commercial proposal to KazMunaiGas (KMG), but in subsequent negotiations, Kazakhstan's state-run firm did not agree on the percentage of stake OVL would get. It also did not agree on giving operatorship to OVL during the exploratory and appraisal stages.
Kazakhstan today finally decided to sign the agreement. KazMunaiGas will hold the remaining 75% stake in Satpayev.
Gold v/s Silver
Gold prices spurted to an all-time high of Rs 14,110 in early trade on the bullion market on Saturday on hectic stockists buying triggered
by sharp rise in global markets.
Silver also advanced further on persistent industrial demand on the back of higher international advices.
Standard gold (99.5 purity) rallied by Rs 345 per ten grams to open at an all-time peak of Rs 14,110 from yesterday's closing level of Rs 13,765. It earlier touched a high of Rs 14,105 on October ten, 2008.
Pure gold (99.9 purity) also shot up by Rs 350 per ten grams to Rs 14,170 from Rs 13,820 yesterday.
Silver ready (.999 fineness) rose by Rs 425 per kilo to Rs 19,480 from Rs 19,055.
Gold prices rose to a three-month high, climbing past USD 900 an ounce in both New York and London for the first time since October, as global equity markets tumbled, boosting demand for a safe harbor.
Gold futures for February delivery climbed USD 37, or 4.3 per cent, to USD 895.80 an ounce on the Comex Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest gain since December 10. Earlier, the price reached USD 903.80, the highest for a most-active contract since October 10.
Silver futures for March delivery rose 57.5 cents to USD 11.94 an ounce.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Intel cuts processor prices by 48%
Intel, the world's largest chip maker, has cut the price of some processors by as much as 48 per cent as it confronts slumping demand and new lower-cost chips from Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Bloomberg reported.
The price of Celeron 570 processors, designed for laptops, dropped 48 per cent to $70 whereas one of the company's quad-core desktop-computer models, which have four processors on one piece of silicon, dropped 40 per cent to $316, the news agency said.
Intel kept the price of its three most expensive desktop chips unchanged, the report said on Tuesday. Intel was not immediately available for comment.
The US company had said it expects margins to bounce back to "healthy" levels by the second half of 2009, but held back on giving detailed quarterly forecasts when it issued earnings on January 15, citing economic uncertainty.
The price of Celeron 570 processors, designed for laptops, dropped 48 per cent to $70 whereas one of the company's quad-core desktop-computer models, which have four processors on one piece of silicon, dropped 40 per cent to $316, the news agency said.
Intel kept the price of its three most expensive desktop chips unchanged, the report said on Tuesday. Intel was not immediately available for comment.
The US company had said it expects margins to bounce back to "healthy" levels by the second half of 2009, but held back on giving detailed quarterly forecasts when it issued earnings on January 15, citing economic uncertainty.
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