ECJ - Kanal 5 Ltd and TV 4 AB v (STIM) upa

My ruminations over an interesting ECJ ruling of 11 December 2008, which might open new perspectives in the area of exploitative abuses:

In Kanal 5 Ltd, TV 4 AB v (STIM) upa, C-52/07, the ECJ had to determine whether (i) the royalties charged by the swedish collecting society to broadcast companies were excessively high, hence abusive under Article 82 (a) EC ; and (ii) whether the different fee formula applicable on the one hand, to a public broadcast company and, on the other hand, to two commercial broadcast companies, was discriminatory, hence abusive under Article 82 (c) EC.

Whilst, on the first question, the Court recalled its much chastised Hoffman La Roche case-law on excessive pricing, it nonetheless whispered that, with a view to establish that a price is unreasonable under Article 82(a) EC, the purpose of the royalty could be taken into account: here, the financing of music creation, through the protection of an adequate remuneration for composers (§§30-31). With a bit of speculation, the Court seems to draw - implicitly - a link between the price of a service on the market and the ex ante incentives of service providers to innovate. This reasoning could apply, by parity of reasoning, to many other sectors (i.e. pharmaceuticals, etc.). This is further confirmed by the fact that the Court explictly indicates that a balance must be struck between the interests of the broadcasters and the incentives of composers to produce novel musical work.

But that is not all. On the second question, the Court suggests that the mere proof of different conditions for similar transactions is insufficient to trigger the application of Article 82(c). One must prove the existence of a competitive disadvantage and, to do this, establish first that the dominant firm's customers are rivals on a same relevant market (§§45-46). As Damien and I wrote in a previous paper, most price discrimination decisions to date have failed to properly analyse the downstream market. Let's hope this judgment will induce agencies and courts to investigate properly the effects of the alleged discrimination on the downstream market.

In sum, a welcome ruling, albeit too short (because an Article 234 EC ruling).

Nicolas

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[von raivo pommer-www.google.ee]

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REZESSION IN MICROSOFT

Der weltgrößte Softwarekonzern Microsoft hat durch die Krise am PC-Markt einen herben Gewinneinbruch erlitten. Der Überschuss brach im abgelaufenen Quartal um fast ein Drittel auf knapp 3,0 Milliarden Dollar (2,3 Mrd Euro) ein. Der Umsatz fiel um sechs Prozent auf 13,6 Milliarden Dollar, wie der US-Konzern am Donnerstag nach Börsenschluss am Sitz in Redmond (Bundesstaat Washington) mitteilte. Das ist der erste Rückgang der Quartalserlöse im Jahresvergleich seit der Windows-Konzern Anfang 1986 an die Börse ging.

Microsoft rechnet überdies nicht mit einer schnellen Besserung am Markt. "Wir erwarten, dass die Schwäche mindestens bis ins nächste Quartal anhält", sagte Finanzchef Chris Liddell. Mit seinen Zahlen enttäuschte der Softwareriese die Erwartungen der Analysten.

Der PC-Absatz war im ersten Quartal laut den Marktforschern von Gartner um 6,5 Prozent geschrumpft. Werden weniger Computer verkauft, kann Microsoft damit zum Beispiel auch sein Betriebssystem Windows seltener absetzen. Außerdem sind immer mehr der verkauften Computer Mini-Notebooks, von denen zahlreiche nicht mit Windows, sondern mit dem freien Betriebssystem Linux laufen.

[von raivo pommer-www.google.ee.]

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SLOW- MOTION

Federal regulators on Friday will privately begin telling the 19 largest US financial institutions how well they performed in stress
tests to assess their soundness.

Regulators trying to stabilize the financial system also will release the test methodology they used, which could provide clues about which banks may be in trouble - but also could could unwittingly roil the industry.

The results of the stress tests won't be publicly released until May 4.

The slow-motion rollout is intended to blunt market reaction to the news of which banks are healthy, which ones could fail if the recession worsens and which need more money to survive.

News reports, including a confidential outline of the tests first reported by The Associated Press this week, have led analysts to start handicapping which banks could fail. The speculation will intensify with Friday's release of the test methodology.

``I'm worried about the overreaction - people selling every bank short and pulling out all their deposits and hiding their money in the mattress,'' said Scott Talbott, a lobbyist with the Financial Services Roundtable, which represents the biggest financial firms.

Regulators are striving to release enough information about the stress tests to inspire confidence. But they don't want to give analysts so much detail that they can run their own tests on the banks before the official release of results.

[raivo pommer-www.google.ee.]

raivo pommer-www.google.ee
raimo1@hot.ee

SLOW- MOTION

Federal regulators on Friday will privately begin telling the 19 largest US financial institutions how well they performed in stress
tests to assess their soundness.

Regulators trying to stabilize the financial system also will release the test methodology they used, which could provide clues about which banks may be in trouble - but also could could unwittingly roil the industry.

The results of the stress tests won't be publicly released until May 4.

The slow-motion rollout is intended to blunt market reaction to the news of which banks are healthy, which ones could fail if the recession worsens and which need more money to survive.

News reports, including a confidential outline of the tests first reported by The Associated Press this week, have led analysts to start handicapping which banks could fail. The speculation will intensify with Friday's release of the test methodology.

``I'm worried about the overreaction - people selling every bank short and pulling out all their deposits and hiding their money in the mattress,'' said Scott Talbott, a lobbyist with the Financial Services Roundtable, which represents the biggest financial firms.

Regulators are striving to release enough information about the stress tests to inspire confidence. But they don't want to give analysts so much detail that they can run their own tests on the banks before the official release of results.

[raivo pommer -eesti.]

raivo pommer-www.google.ee
raimo1@hot.ee

Central bank of Canada

Quantitative easing may not be a phrase on everyone's lips, but they are les mots du jour in the corridors of the Bank of Canada.

To its credit, the central bank is not rushing headlong into "printing money," which is layman's shorthand for QE, but is wisely keeping the policy sheathed while waiting for monetary seeds already planted to germinate.

Since not every Canadian keeps a keen eye on monetary policy, it's worth explaining that QE involves the central bank creating electronic funds in its accounts to purchase financial assets, either government or private securities, which has the effect of pushing prices up and yields down.

The increase in central bank reserves assures financial institutions that large payments will be settled and encourages them to increase the supply of credit to households and businesses. A related step, credit easing, involves purchases by the central bank of private sector debt.

While there's nothing unorthodox about these measures, they represent a radical departure from the long-standing approach of adjusting interest-rates to influence borrowing and lending, and thereby control inflation.

In its monetary policy report this week, the central bank acknowledged that the overnight rate has reached the limit of its effectiveness, having been cut by 425 basis points since December 2007.

[raivo pommer -www.google.ee]

raivo pommer-www.google.ee
raimo1@hot.ee

FIAT SERBIEN-OSTBILLIGARBEITER

Der italienische Autobauer Fiat kämpft bei der neuen Produktion seines Modells Punto in Serbien laut einem Zeitungsbericht mit massiven Qualitätsproblemen.

Von den zum Start der Montagelinie in der Stadt Kragujevac fertiggestellten ersten 305 Fahrzeugen seien nur 54 als fehlerlos zum Verkauf freigegeben worden, berichtete die serbische Tageszeitung «Politika» am Samstag. Fiat lässt bei seinem langjährigen serbischen Kooperationspartner Zastava das Punto-Vorgängermodell für den Verkauf in Osteuropa montieren.

Mal sei die Motorhaube knapp unter, mal knapp über den Kotflügeln ausgekommen, beschrieb das Blatt einige Qualitätsmängel. Ein anderes Mal habe ein Auto das Montageband ohne die vordere Stoßstange verlassen. Probleme gebe es auch bei der Lackierung, die per Hand erfolge. Die einen machten die mangelnde Qualifikationen der Arbeitskräfte, andere Fehler an den aus Italien gelieferten Montageteilen für die Probleme verantwortlich.

[raivo pommer-www.google.ee]

raivo pommer-www.google.ee
raimo1@hot.ee

US-BANKEN

The United States pledged robust support Saturday for an overhaul of governing power within the International Monetary Fund so key emerging-market nations get more say in how the lender operates.

In a speech to the IMF's steering committee, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also called on the fund to be prepared to offer loans to recapitalize banks or to aid developing countries in rolling over corporate debt.

Geithner's proposals, delivered in a strongly worded address at the IMF's semiannual meeting, are likely to provoke some controversy among the other industralized countries who, with the United States, have long dominated the global lender.

He said, however, it was necessary to retool the IMF to reflect a shift in global economic reality.

"This is essential to strengthening the IMF's legitimacy, ensuring that it remains at the center of the international monetary system and reflects the realities of the 21st century," Geithner said.

Washington's commitment to reform carries special weight because it is the biggest single shareholder within the IMF.

[raivo pommer-www.google.ee]

The biggest German bank, Deutsche Bank, posted on Tuesday strong first quarter results, the latest major bank in Europe and North
America to offer hope for an eventual end to the financial crisis.

Deutsche Bank reported a net profit of 1.2 billion euros ($1.56 billion), far surpassing market expectations.

In the first quarter of 2008, Deutsche Bank had posted a net loss of 141 million euros, and analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a net profit of 764 million euros this time around.

Bank chairman Josef Ackermann said: "This was a key quarter for Deutsche Bank. Once again we demonstrated our strength, as we have consistently throughout this crisis. "But in this quarter, we also proved our earnings power."

Deutsche Bank is the latest global bank to report solid first quarter results, along with peers such as Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse, giving a glimmer of hope that the financial crisis could be past the worst.

[raivo pommer-www.google.ee.]

raivo pommer-www.google.ee
raimo1@hot.ee

BaYErn LB bank

Es geht um die Zukunft einer Bank und ihrer vielen Beteiligungen, die sie in den vergangenen Jahren für viel Geld gesammelt hat. Und darum, dass vieles von dem nun auf der Kippe steht.

In Brüssel hieß es zuletzt, auf die BayernLB kämen "kräftige Auflagen" zu. Beteiligungen im Ausland sollen wegfallen, das Kapitalmarktgeschäft wird eingedampft, möglich ist auch, dass sich die BayernLB von ganzen Einheiten trennen muss.

Die Bank, die 2008 Verluste von über fünf Milliarden Euro einfuhr, muss in den nächsten vier Jahren 5600 der knapp 20.000 Stellen im Konzern kappen. Nur wo - das ist die Frage.

Noch hofft Kemmer, dass er die Stellen mit feinchirurgischen Schnitten möglichst schmerzlos los wird. Käme es hart auf hart, müsste er sich von ganzen Töchtern trennen. Von der Kärntner Osteuropa-Bank Hypo Alpe Adria (HGAA) etwa, die in 2008 einen Verlust von über 500 Millionen Euro einfuhr und wie die Mutter gestützt werden muss.

[raivo pommer-www.google.ee.]

BANK ADB

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) board has agreed to triple its capital base to $165 billion to cope with the financial crisis, the bank
said on Thursday. This would ensure "much-needed resources to respond to the global economic crisis and to the longer-term development needs of the Asia and the Pacific region," the bank said in a statement.

An "overwhelming majority" of the ADB's 67 countries approved the multilateral institution's fifth general capital increase in its 42-year history on yesterday, the statement said.

"This substantial increase is a resounding vote of confidence from our shareholders for what we can achieve as a premier development partner in the region," ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda was quoted as saying.