PPCC: Pisitófilos Creditófagos. Invierno 2024

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://www.eleconomista.es/transportes-turismo/noticias/12645801/01/24/los-hoteles-espanoles-superan-los-105-euros-de-ingreso-por-habitacion-con-una-ocupacion-del-73.html

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://www.eleconomista.es/mercados-cotizaciones/noticias/12646568/01/24/la-fed-se-prepara-para-enterrar-la-gran-duda-de-los-mercados-unos-recortes-freneticos-desde-marzo.html

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://www.eleconomista.es/vivienda-inmobiliario/noticias/12645616/01/24/ha-llegado-china-a-su-momento-lehman-la-liquidacion-de-evergrande-sella-el-fin-de-una-era-en-el-inmobiliario.html

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://www.eleconomista.es/economia/noticias/12646555/01/24/espana-cerro-2023-con-solo-el-46-de-los-next-generation-ejecutados-.html

https://www.pressreader.com/spain/el-economista/20240123/page/43/textview

De Cos avisa de la incertidumbre por las tensiones en el mar Rojo

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://www.eleconomista.es/energia/noticias/12646124/01/24/marruecos-y-nigeria-recuperan-el-sueno-de-la-gran-interconexion-gasista-con-europa.html

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://www.eleconomista.es/legal/noticias/12645701/01/24/hacienda-exigira-informar-de-todos-los-pagos-con-tarjeta-para-evitar-el-fraude-fiscal.html

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://www.eleconomista.es/actualidad/noticias/12647013/01/24/volaria-al-espacio-manana-mismo-si-espana-me-financiara-una-mision.html

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

IBM To Managers: Move Near an Office or Leave Company
Posted by msmash on Monday January 29, 2024 @03:44PM from the tough-luck dept.

IBM delivered a companywide ultimatum to managers who are still working remotely: move near an office or leave the company. From a report:

All US managers must immediately report to an office or client location at least three days a week "regardless of current work location status," according to a memo sent on Jan. 16 viewed by Bloomberg. Badge-in data will be used to "assess individual presence" and shared with managers and human resources, Senior Vice President John Granger wrote in the note. Those working remotely, other than employees with exceptions such as medical issues or military service, who don't live close enough to commute to a facility must relocate near an IBM office by the start of August, according to the memo. Managers who don't agree to relocate and are unable to secure a role that's approved to be remote must "separate from IBM," Granger wrote.

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://www.elcorreo.com/bizkaia/bilbao-ciudad-espanola-300000-habitantes-locales-comerciales-20240129010625-nt.html

https://www.elcorreo.com/bizkaia/reto-volver-situacion-pandemia-20240129010613-nt.html

Saludos.

[Derby]

https://www.ft.com/content/70ab51be-82c4-4f48-ae9a-96bba06eb4ae

China Evergrande liquidation to test Hong Kong’s legal reach

International investors’ hopes of recovery from indebted developer depend on mainland Chinese co-operation

When Hong Kong judge Linda Chan ordered China Evergrande into liquidation on Monday, she opened a critical new phase in the slow-motion collapse of the world’s most indebted property developer — and set up a high-profile test of the reach of the former British colony’s courts.

How the winding up of the company’s Hong Kong entity proceeds, and how much international investors can recover of the tens of billions of dollars they invested in Evergrande, will depend mainly on the attitude of authorities and courts across the border in mainland China.

Almost all of the company’s homebuilding activity takes place in the Chinese mainland, where most of its more than $300bn in liabilities are also owed and a property slowdown has become one of the government’s most pressing challenges.

Just over two years on from Evergrande’s default, the liquidation ruling comes at a time of renewed international scrutiny of legal and political norms within mainland China, where foreign investment has slumped post-Covid pandemic. Beijing’s priorities, including the completion of unfinished residential projects, could clash with those of creditors within and outside of the country.

“It definitely won’t be straightforward to get money out of mainland China,” said Nigel Trayers, a restructuring and insolvency specialist at Grant Thornton in Hong Kong. “It’s fairly clear that the priority is delivering properties that have been sold.”

The Hong Kong court’s appointment of Eddie Middleton and Tiffany Wong, from the restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal, as Evergrande’s liquidators should at least provide new information about the developer. Throughout the Chinese property crisis sparked by Evergrande’s default in late 2021, investors have struggled to get any detailed understanding of developers’ woes.

“When you have Hong Kong liquidators in, under Hong Kong law you can require the board to give you the books and records,” said one specialist in restructurings. “You can take over the Evergrande Group’s operations.”

Those operations are, however, far from straightforward. Like many other Chinese property groups that secured overseas funding, Evergrande is a sprawling collection of companies based onshore and offshore, with total assets of nearly Rmb1.7tn ($240bn) as of September last year. It also has individual project-level units across the mainland, where its main corporate entity is known as Hengda.

“You’d imagine a lot of these subsidiaries on the mainland have their own creditors and bank debt, so a lot of them could themselves be insolvent and not really able to deliver any value up the structure where the liquidators sit,” Trayers said.

“Are they [the liquidators] going to get the facts on the projects that have value or equity? They will only get a real insight on what those are if the company co-operates.”

China Evergrande Group, the entity that is subject to the winding-up order, is a Hong Kong-based holding company that is one of the wider group’s “main offshore financing platforms”, according to court documents. Since listing in 2006, it has issued $132bn in equity, adding to more than $20bn in offshore bonds the company raised through various subsidiaries.

On five previous occasions, the world’s most indebted developer had managed to delay a decision on whether it should be wound up, arguing that it needed more time to restructure the international debts on which it originally defaulted.

But this time, Judge Chan had run out of patience. “There is no restructuring proposal,” she wrote in her final comment. “It seems to me that the interests of the creditors will be better protected if the Company is wound up by the court.”

The holding company has some assets in Hong Kong, such as an electric vehicle company and a property services company, that can now be taken over, although they also in turn hold assets in the mainland. The vast majority of the company’s funds are believed to have flowed into real estate projects across the border, where 90 per cent of its assets are based and where liquidations require separate approval from a mainland court. Part of the task for the liquidators in Hong Kong is to establish the scale and nature of such cross-border exposure.

Hong Kong’s legal system, which is based on English common law and has for decades smoothed the flow of capital into the mainland, differs markedly from China’s socialist system of law, part of the country’s political infrastructure where the Communist party has absolute authority.

A 2021 arrangement between Hong Kong and mainland China under which insolvency orders can be mutually recognised is one window of opportunity for creditors. But it requires Hong Kong liquidators to apply for approval to one of three pilot courts in Shanghai, Shenzhen or the south-east city of Xiamen.

“There may be situations where the mainland courts will refuse to recognise Hong Kong winding up orders,” Hong Kong’s Department of Justice said in November in response to a written query from the Financial Times on the arrangement. In 2021 a court in Shenzhen recognised a Hong Kong court-appointed liquidator’s authority in the case of Samson Paper. But industry practitioners said there were few instances of successful applications.

“There have only been a couple of actual cases, and they were nothing like the size or scale or substance [of Evergrande],” Trayers said.

If liquidation orders are granted in the mainland, the process of enforcing them would still require collaboration with other creditors, and equity claims of the kind widely associated with foreign inflows would rank below domestic loans. Enforcement could also be difficult given the fraught political backdrop, which has seen domestic investors in property protest over losses.

In nearby Guangzhou, where Evergrande has relocated its headquarters from Shenzhen and which is not part of any mutual recognition pilot scheme, the company’s building was this month surrounded by police and newly erected fencing.

Hui Ka Yan, Evergrande’s founder and formerly China’s richest man, was placed under “mandatory measures” in September for suspicion of unspecified crimes.

Speaking outside court on Monday, Wong, the liquidator, said she wanted “to see as much of the business as possible retained, restructured or remain operational”.

Shawn Siu, interim chief executive of Hengda, responded to the liquidation order on Monday by emphasising that the subject was listed in Hong Kong and that the domestic subsidiaries remained independent, raising uncertainty over what assets creditors could seize.

Evergrande will continue to build homes, he said. “The Group will still strive to do everything possible to ensure the stability of domestic business and operations.”

[Lem]

Minister quit ‘because he could not afford rising mortgage costs’ on £120,000 salary

George Freeman, who left government role in November, said payments were now £2,000, up by £1,200

An MP who resigned from government last year has said that he quit because he could not afford rising mortgage repayments on his £120,000 ministerial salary.

George Freeman said that an increase from £800 to £2,000pcm in his mortgage payments from this month was one of the reasons why he resigned during the cabinet reshuffle in November.

The MP for Mid Norfolk, whose most recent role was science minister, cited the figures last week in a Substack blog post, “Why did I stand down?”. One of the reasons, he said, was “because my mortgage rises this month from £800pcm to £2,000, which I simply couldn’t afford to pay on a ministerial salary”.

He added: “That’s political economy 2.0. We’re in danger of making politics something only hedge fund donors, young spin doctors and failed trade unionists can afford to do.”

He said five frontbench roles under five prime ministers had also left him “exhausted, bust and depressed”.

Freeman, who has been an MP since 2010, would have been receiving an annual salary of about £118,300 before deductions. He was left with financial overheads after a divorce from his wife, a lawyer from whom he separated in 2014. He is paying maintenance costs for his two children and their educational costs.

Freeman held a number of ministerial posts in successive Conservative governments and benefited from severance payments after departing. This included receiving £7,920 when he quit Boris Johnson’s government in July 2022, before returning to his role as science minister 16 weeks later under Rishi Sunak, according to an analysis by Labour.

Ministers under 65 are entitled to a loss-of-office payment amounting to a quarter of their ministerial salary if they leave their role and are not appointed to a new one within three weeks.

After leaving government, which he described as a “cruel mistress”, Freeman wrote in his blog that he now had the “greatest freedom of all – to speak and write and talk openly about what I’ve learnt”.

On top of his MP’s salary of £86,584, he is now also free to take on lucrative second jobs, subject to the approval of the anti-corruption watchdog, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments. 

Notwithstanding his own overheads, the MP is likely to be in a very different situation from many homeowners across the UK, who are collectively facing a £19bn increase in mortgage costs as millions of fixed-rate deals expire and borrowers are forced to renegotiate their home loans.

Up to 1.5m households are expected to come to the end of cheaper deals in 2024, leading to an average increase in annual housing costs of about £1,800, according to an analysis by the Resolution Foundation thinktank following Liz Truss’s mini-budget in September 2022.

When Freeman’s comments were put to the prime minister’s spokesperson, who was asked if Sunak was paying his ministers enough, he said: “There are ways for which both MPs’ and ministers’ pay are set and there are no plans to change that. It is right that we ensure ministerial pay reflects the wider fiscal situation.”

[el malo]

Minister quit ‘because he could not afford rising mortgage costs’ on £120,000 salary

George Freeman, who left government role in November, said payments were now £2,000, up by £1,200

An MP who resigned from government last year has said that he quit because he could not afford rising mortgage repayments on his £120,000 ministerial salary.

George Freeman said that an increase from £800 to £2,000pcm in his mortgage payments from this month was one of the reasons why he resigned during the cabinet reshuffle in November.

The MP for Mid Norfolk, whose most recent role was science minister, cited the figures last week in a Substack blog post, “Why did I stand down?”. One of the reasons, he said, was “because my mortgage rises this month from £800pcm to £2,000, which I simply couldn’t afford to pay on a ministerial salary”.

He added: “That’s political economy 2.0. We’re in danger of making politics something only hedge fund donors, young spin doctors and failed trade unionists can afford to do.”

He said five frontbench roles under five prime ministers had also left him “exhausted, bust and depressed”.

Freeman, who has been an MP since 2010, would have been receiving an annual salary of about £118,300 before deductions. He was left with financial overheads after a divorce from his wife, a lawyer from whom he separated in 2014. He is paying maintenance costs for his two children and their educational costs.

Freeman held a number of ministerial posts in successive Conservative governments and benefited from severance payments after departing. This included receiving £7,920 when he quit Boris Johnson’s government in July 2022, before returning to his role as science minister 16 weeks later under Rishi Sunak, according to an analysis by Labour.

Ministers under 65 are entitled to a loss-of-office payment amounting to a quarter of their ministerial salary if they leave their role and are not appointed to a new one within three weeks.

After leaving government, which he described as a “cruel mistress”, Freeman wrote in his blog that he now had the “greatest freedom of all – to speak and write and talk openly about what I’ve learnt”.

On top of his MP’s salary of £86,584, he is now also free to take on lucrative second jobs, subject to the approval of the anti-corruption watchdog, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments. 

Notwithstanding his own overheads, the MP is likely to be in a very different situation from many homeowners across the UK, who are collectively facing a £19bn increase in mortgage costs as millions of fixed-rate deals expire and borrowers are forced to renegotiate their home loans.

Up to 1.5m households are expected to come to the end of cheaper deals in 2024, leading to an average increase in annual housing costs of about £1,800, according to an analysis by the Resolution Foundation thinktank following Liz Truss’s mini-budget in September 2022.

When Freeman’s comments were put to the prime minister’s spokesperson, who was asked if Sunak was paying his ministers enough, he said: “There are ways for which both MPs’ and ministers’ pay are set and there are no plans to change that. It is right that we ensure ministerial pay reflects the wider fiscal situation.”

En Madrid pasa igual. Con el sueldo de un Ministro no se pueden pagar una casa adecuada a su nivel. Claro que un MP puede pagarse vivienda, pero ¿qué vivienda? ¿qué queremos, que vivan en un estudio?

Esto es lo que yo creo que debería ser una casa adecuada (por tamaño, zona y seguridad) para un Ministro:

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/details/65540458/?search_identifier=8d879ae99dfaed4e64239e11a758dfdcb37cef0e945d587884ef9c6eadb8dae3

Por tan sólo £10,833 al mes. Un sueldo de £120,000 brutos al mes son £6,283 limpios. Siempre pueden casarse dos Ministros e irse a vivir a esa casa. Después de pagar facturas e impuestos, todavía les quedarían casi £1,000 para comer 

A nadie le importa un Ministro. Ahora necesitaríamos una serie de artículos en el que digan que tampoco hay médicos, ni enfermeras, ni cuidadores, ni ninguno de esos que sí que importan.

[Benzino Napaloni]

A nadie le importa un Ministro. Ahora necesitaríamos una serie de artículos en el que digan que tampoco hay médicos, ni enfermeras, ni cuidadores, ni ninguno de esos que sí que importan.

Si ya los tenemos, los hosteleros se quejan de que les faltan camareros en temporada alta, y en Mallorca los hoteles ya están empezando a gestionar directamente el alojamiento de sus empleados.

Y ya se ve la prisa que hay por atajar el problema antes de que se descontrole del todo.

La consigna aquí es resistir al máximo hasta que ocurra algo, incluso a riesgo de que ese algo consista en hundirse del todo en la mierda.

[Benzino Napaloni]

Perdón si está repetido.

Un grupo de economistas urdió la mayor trama de pisos turísticos ilegales de Barcelona

Profesionales y académicos montaron un complejo entramado societario a través del cual adquirían los inmuebles que después acababan ofertados en Airbnb

Aunque hayan hecho un entramado, las obras para dividir las viviendas las hicieron con el más absoluto de los descaros. Se está empezando a reaccionar precisamente por la creciente falta de trabajadores, no lo digo por el invierno demográfico (que también) sino por la expulsión de los que quedan.

Muy tarde para evitar el dolor. Ahora son legión los que se empufaron y que irían directos a la ruina si se les dice sin más que el pisito ya no es un activo financiero. ¿Qué hacemos? ¿Se le echa valor y se les deja caer ocurra lo que ocurra? ¿Se les condona el pufo para que al menos no acaben andando desnudos por la calle? ¿Se sigue estirando el chicle y retrasando lo inevitable? No hay solución sin dolor para una burbuja ya inflada.

Sigan y presten atención al mercado de oficinas, y la persecución al teletrabajo. Ahí tenemos pistas de lo que viene.

[Raf909]

Benzino,

aprecio tus posts, pero tengo la sensación que extrapolas tu experiencia personal al sentir general. Te lo comento desde el cariño, y la admiración por tus posts, no es mi intención trollear o faltar al respeto.

Barcelona está asquerosamente llena, de turistas de vacaciones y de extranjeros trabajando. Ex-pats o llámadlo como queráis. A mi me hacen ir a la oficina un par de dias a la semana, la oficina está en el 22@, y da pavor coger la ronda litoral a la salida del trabajo, siempre está colapsada.

Para comer (somos pocos, normalmente 5 o 6) tenemos que reservar mesa con antelación porque siempre está todo lleno. Y eso que es una zona poco poblada, y que no ha acabado de despegar a nivel de oficinas. Si vas al centro de Barcelona, cualquier día del año a cualquier hora, es un parque de atracciones, al puro estilo Port Aventura.

La zona metropolitana está imposible. Un piso con 40 o 50 años no baja de 200k. El transporte público siempre está a reventar, da igual que sea RENFE, FGC o el autobús.

Sinceramente, no veo que esto vaya a rebentar por ningún lado.

Lo de la falta de empleados, si que lo veo. Hace mucho, pero mucho que la mayoría de los bares y fruterias están regentados por asiáticos (imagino que chinos). La pediatra de mi hijo es de la India, mi médica de cabecera es sudamericana. El Fontanero que fué a casa de mis padres en León para navidad es de Ecuador, la mayoría de la gente que ves en las obras públicas son árabes, los jefecillos  algún sudamericano....

En mi anterior trabajo, de la noche a la mañana hace unos años, antes de la Pandemia, se lleno de "Project Manager" venezolanos. La mayoría no sabían hacer la O con un canuto.

El Invierno demográfico avanza, pero se van poniendo parches, y a nadie parece importarle. La rueda sigue girando, el consumo, más o menos se mantiene. El precio del bicho también.

Quien es la alternativa a todo esto? El PP de Feijo? El PSOE de Pedro Sanchez que lleva unos cuantos años en el poder y no coge el toro por los cuernos? Sumar? Podemos?

Personalemente, el futuro lo veo negro. Muy Negro. No veo propósito de enmienda, y no percibo que el artefacto inmobiliario muera. Si muere será como Franco, en la cama. Cuando empiecen a morir la MN.