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BIIA HEADLINE NEWS
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ADDITIONAL INDUSTRY NEWS ITEMS ARE AVAILABLE ON MEMBER SERVICES ICON [MEMBER NEWS]: http://www.biia.com/memberNewsPW.php
BIIA's JUNE 2008 NEWSLETTER IS NOW POSTED ON: http://www.biia.com/memberNewsPW.php
CRIF Acquires Teres Solutions
CRIF, Bologna, Italy based worldwide leader in credit services, and Teres Solutions, Inc.(Austin, Texas), one of the top three providers of direct and indirect lending software to credit unions and financial institutions, today announced that CRIF has acquired Teres Solutions. As part of the agreement, Teres Solutions will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of CRIF. Further terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Teres Solutions Technology to Be Sold Worldwide; Move Will Expand Services Available to Credit Unions and Financial Institutions in the U.S.
To read the full story click on: http://www.biia.com/press.php
'RATING BUGS': MOODY'S BEGINS DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS
Moody's acts on the 'computer bug' case: It is starting disciplinary actions against certain staff members. It also stated that the head of its global structured finance business will depart from the company.
An external investigation by the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell revealed that members of a key rating committee breached internal codes of conduct concerning CPDOs. The law firm was hired by Moody's after the Financial Times revealed the computer error in May.
CEO Raymond McDaniel stated that he was deeply disappointed by the conduct that occurred in this incident. Moody's stressed it would overhaul its processes more broadly.
Source: Breakingviews.com and Financial Times
TransUnion INTRODUCES PERSONAL LOAN SCORE FOR HONG KONG MARKET
TransUnion announced on June 25th the launch of Personal Loan Score, the industry's first credit scoring tool designed to help businesses reduce delinquency of unsecured loans for the Hong Kong market.
To read the full press release access: http://www.biia.com/press.php
AUSTRALIAN CREDIT REFORM WILL BENEFIT ECONOMY
Much needed reform of the Australian credit reporting system could boost the Australian economy by $1.7bn*, help lower interest rates, and lower default rates, according to a report by Access Economics, commissioned by Veda Advantage and released today.
http://www.vedaadvantage.com/latest_news/access-economics-report.aspx
FACEBOOK OPTS FOR GROWTH
In May, facebook drew 123 million unique users, compared to 114.6 million at News Corp.'s MySpace, according to Comscore. This is a 162% increase over the same time last year for Facebook and a 5% increase for MySpace.
To read the full story "Facebook's taking a page from YouTube" contact http://www.breakingviews.com.
ICTEAS ACQUIRES AXIOM TECHNOLOGIES PLT.
ICRA Techno Analytics Limited (ICTEAS) has acquired Axiom Technologies Private Limited (Axiom), a Kolkata-based software services company. Axiom specializes in customization and implementation of popular Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages, and has a highly experienced team that has been working on ERP implementation for the past 10 years or so. Axiom’s list of customers includes a number of large Indian enterprises.
ICTEAS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICRA Limited (A BIIA MEMBER), one of the leading Rating Agencies in India (a Moody's Affilate), and has a wholly-owned subsidiary ICRA Techno Analytics, Inc., in New Jersey, USA.
http://www.icra.in/recentrel/ICTEAS-20080619.pdf
UNITED BUSINESS MEDIA AND INFORMA MERGER TALKS BROKEN OFF
A private equity consortium (Providence Equity Partners Ltd. and Carlyle Group) is said to have approached Informa PLC's board with a cash proposal, after merger discussions between Informa PLC and United Business Media PLC. had been broken off.
Informa's current capitalization is approximately Pound Sterling 1.9 billion.
Informa, which owns Datamonitor, had 2007 revenues of 1,129 million Pounds Sterling. Revenue breakdown: 15% originated from the UK, from Continental Europe 29%, from North America 37% and from ROW 19%.
United Business Media 2007 revenues were 891 million Pounds Sterling; 23.4% originated from the UK; 45.6% from North America; 16.1% from Europe and 15% from Asia and ROW.
Source: Company Press Releases and Annual Reports
Chuck Richard, Vice President & Lead Analyst of Outsell Inc. had commented in a recent Outsell Insight:
"In a very radical shift in style, UBM broke a three year trend of making small acquisitions (52 since 2005 averaging $15 million each) and confirmed it is looking at a mega-deal for larger player Informa. We see more benefit to users from continuing the old strategy, and are skeptical of the outcome of this type of mega-merger."
http://www.outsellinc.com
THE EU AND RATING AGENCIES
Last Monday, Charlie McCreevy, the EU internal market commissioner sounded more like an elected official on the campaign trail, rather than a rational public official in charge of EU's internal market.
He stated "The IOSCO Code of Conduct to which the rating agencies signed up has been shown to be a toothless wonder. The fact is that despite the checks on compliance with IOSCO code, no supervisor appears to have got as much as a sniff of the rot at the heart of the structured finance rating process before it all blew up."
McCreevy said he would not wait for the rating agencies to clean up their act. The steps which rating agencies had to-date undertaken were insufficient and that a European regulatory solution was now necessary to deal with some of the core issues.
Dwight Cass of Breakingviews.com commented: "McCreevy's regulations aren't the answer. They risk giving investors more confidence than warranted, something that could backfire when the next credit crisis strikes."
Mr. Cass felt it would be better for regulators to get out of the ratings business altogether. The rating agencies would have to prove their mettle in the market for ideas and credibility.
Mr. Cass's suggestions have merits, but that would mean that regulators would have to vacate their positions. Something they may not be willing to do.
Earlier this month France proposed the creation of a European Credit Rating Registry. The response from the EU commission was therefore predictable.
Commissioner McCreevy's speech is available on: http://europa.eu/press_room/index_en.htm
VALUE OF INFORMATION: LinkedIn IS VALUED AT US$ 1 BN OR 10 TIMES REVENUE
Breakingviews.com comments: "LinkedIn gets social networking's first fair valuation. The 'Facebook' for professionals raised cash from Bain and others at a valuation of $1bn or 10 revenue. This looks almost dowdy by social networking's lofty expectations (Facebook was valued at 15 times revenue or US$15 bn). LinkedIn has better growth and wealthier users than its bigger brethren."
"The Web 2.0 brigade is maturing."
Source: http://www.breakingviews.com
EUROPEAN DIRECTIVE ON CROSS-BORDER EXCHANGE OF CONSUMER DATA
The European Union is working on a new directive concerning credit bureaus in an integrated European market. The overall objective is to harmonize data standards and data protection so that lenders who lend cross-border will have reliable information and consumers borrowing cross-border must be able to prove their credit worthiness.
There are a number of interesting aspects in the new directive:
- The lender has an obligation to assess the credit worthiness of a consumer, on the basis of sufficient information, prior to concluding a credit transaction. The information would come from a relevant (credit bureau) database. Member States must assure that creditors from other States have access to credit bureau data with their State.
- The directive will include harmonization of national data protection provisions, which lays down common rules that credit bureaus must observe when collecting, holding or transmitting personal data. There will be an obligation to collect data only for specified, legitimate purposes and to hold only data that is relevant, accurate and up-to date. Citizens have a right to access, correct, know the origin of data and a right of recourse.
- No transfer of data to countries not meeting EU adequacy standards for privacy protection
The latter has implications for lenders and credit bureaus who are located in non-EU States. They either have to follow the regulatory track of the EU or will not be able to participate in the EU data exchange.
Source: Discussion topic at the recent ACCIS (Association of European Consumer Credit Bureaus) annual meeting in Florence, Italy
'BUGS' CONTINUE TO PLAGUE RATING AGENCIES
S&P informed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it has found an error in computer models, which underpins rating models of complex debt products. It stated however that the 'bug' did not affect the ratings of the affected debt.
The disclosure follows an inquiry from the SEC, which regulates rating agencies. S&P stated "in the interest of full transparency and openness S&P has disclosed this situation to the SEC."
The disclosure comes on the heel of a similar disclosure last month by Moody's. As the Romans used to say: "Errare humanum est."
Source: Financial Times
EUROPEAN UNION (EU) ATTACKS PROPRIETARY INFORMATION STANDARDS
Competition Commissioner Ms Kroes warned in a speech at the OpenForum Europe that when proprietary technology became a 'de facto' standard through market acceptance, and the owner of that standard would exploit that market power, the EU might have to intervene.
The statement by Commissioner Kroes could be interpreted by 'Silicon Valley' as a stab in their direction. One has to wait and see if the EU will apply the same intervention to proprietary standards coming from Europe and potentially from other parts of the world.
EQUIFAX AND FAIR ISAAC SETTLE SCORE
Fair Isaac has agreed to dismiss Equifax as a defendant in its lawsuit against VantageScore LLC and the three national credit reporting companies.
Both companies agreed to establish a partnership to develop and sell advanced analytics and scoring solutions for businesses and consumers. Under the agreement, the two companies will leverage Equifax's consumer credit data and Fair Isaac's scoring technology, and will jointly market and sell new FICO analytic products.
The companies are also working together to accelerate testing and roll-out of the FICO 08 model for Equifax customers.
"Equifax and Fair Isaac have worked closely for many years, developing industry-leading credit tools. This new agreement further solidifies our working relationship and allows both companies to provide better solutions to their customers," said Richard F. Smith, Chairman and CEO, Equifax.
"Our longstanding partnership with Equifax is entering a new phase – one that will drive rapid development and distribution of advanced analytic solutions," said Mark Greene, CEO, Fair Isaac.
Fair Isaac CEO Mark Green stated in a recent meeting with analysts that he was going to repair the relationship with the credit bureau industry. One down - two to go ....
Source: Equifax Press Release
EUCLID INFOTECH INDIA JOINS BIIA
Euclid Infotech Private Limited, a global company with a strong customer base across the globe has joined BIIA.
Euclid owns TendersInfo, which is the largest and most comprehensive database of International Tenders, Projects, RFP's, Contracts from Multilateral Funding Agencies, Federal, State, County Government, Utilities Sector, Hospitals, Schools, Ports, NGO's, Defense Forces etc.
http://www.TendersInfo.com/
AUSTRALIAN BUSINESSES EXPECT BLEAK SEPTEMBER
To read the results of the latest D&B Australia Business Expectation Survey access http://www.biia.com/press.php
CREDIT RATING REFORM
Credit rating reform may reinforce oligopoly.
US regulators have been agitating for more competition in the credit rating game. But the deal the New York attorney general just hammered out with Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch may actually reinforce their market dominance.
Ready now.
To read the full story click on the RSS Feed from Breakingviews.com
Background: As reported earlier this week by breakingviews.com New York State attorney Andrew Cuomo was reported to be near a settlement with the three major rating agencies.
The new deal anticipates that rating agencies will be paid to evaluate the mortgage bond's pools of collateral separately from their compensation for actually rating a deal.
Critics say Cuomo's approach is a half measure and would not eliminate the problem.
Source: http://www.breakingviews.com
SINOTRUST AND CPCA HELD MEDIA EVENT
At the media event CPCA (China Passenger Car Association) released the newest statistics of the sales volume of passenger cars: Nationwide sales in April 2008 was 552,741 units, a year-on-year growth rate of 7.2%.
To read the full story click on: http://www.sinotrust.cn/corpnews.do?cmd=newsdetail&id=547
D&B ANNOUNCES 2008 INVESTORS DAY
D&B (NYSE: DNB), will host its 2008 Investor Day event on Tuesday, July 15, 2008, at the Time Warner Conference Center in New York City (60 Columbus Circle at 60th Street). The meeting, which is open to investors and analysts, will begin at 7:30 a.m. (ET) with breakfast and product demonstrations. Presentations will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the event will conclude at approximately noon.
An event registration page for investors and analysts is now available on D&B's investor relations Web site at http://investor.dnb.com.
EXPERIAN IN JOINT VENTURE WITH JAPAN'S CCB
Experian has created a joint venture with CCB Inc., a leading consumer credit bureau in Japan. Experian will own 50% of the joint venture. Based in Tokyo, CCB provides credit reporting services to the banking, credit card and consumer financing industries in Japan. Experian has a long association with CCB, having owned a 3.6% stake in the company for many years.
The joint venture, CBEX Solutions Inc., will develop and operate a credit bureau platform to meet the new regulatory requirements in Japan. As at May 2008, gross assets for CBEX Solutions are approximately $14m.
YAHOO'S MAGIC NUMER: $37 per share
A judge, by unsealing documents from a lawsuit, may have revealed one reason. Yahoo issued hordes of stock options to directors in 2005. The exercise price: $36.75. Even ignoring the financial incentive, which might have set a floor in directors' minds. To read the full story contact http://www.breakingviews.com
WHY BIIA?
Business information is an essential ingredient in business decisions. BIIA members serve businesses with accurate, reliable and timely information in a wide range of decision processes starting with strategic analysis, profiling and prospecting of potential customers, demand forecasting, sales assignments, credit information, decision systems, monitoring, and receivable management services. B2B business media provides important industry insights about specific business activities and markets.
BIIA informs a wide constituency of interested parties and its members on global, regional and local developments
BIIA provides industry specific news and commentary from a local perspective (for instance how Western practices are implemented by Asians in Asian markets)
BIIA provides feedback to member companies so that they can assess whether particular developments are seen by the entire industry and not just represent a single opinion.
BIIA provides information on its website http://www.biia.com for users, governments, regulators and academia. BIIA does not replicate the services of its members. It acts as a channel to professional associations and relevant information sources.
BIIA promotes and protects the information industry. It advocates transparency and disclosure in the interest of sound lending, trade credit granting and ultimately economic development.
BIIA provides a platform for networking with industry experts and professionals:
Risk management and digital information conferences are relatively sparse in Asia; hence Asian professionals appreciate the opportunity to network either in conferences such as the recent BIIA Forum 2008 or through BIIA participation in local conferences. For events and BIIA news contact the events page of http://www.biia.com
The Business Information Industry Association Asia Pacific - Middle East (BIIA) is a trade association for the information content industry.
Information content can be defined broadly as suppliers of paid-for (by users or advertisers) proprietary digital information to businesses or about businesses. The principal objective of the BIIA is to provide a platform for members to network and to work on common issues facing the industry in the region.
The BIIA also welcomes members from the information content industry from other parts of the world who have a keen interest in the Asia Pacific and Middle East region. BIIA also accepts associate membership from institutions and individuals with an interest in the information content industry.
BIIA was formed on June 23rd, 2005 in Hong Kong as a result of an initiative by several leading business information content services companies and three information content consultancy firms. Today BIIA has over 30 members.
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Events
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SME FINANCE MASTER CLASS 2008
JULY 14 - 15, 2008; SHERATON CAIRO, EGYPT
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ABM - FIPP B-to-B WORLD CONGRESS
SEPT. 7 - 9, 2008, NEW YORK, NY; ROOSEVELT HOTEL
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SIIA GLOBAL INFORMATION INDUSTRY SUMMIT
9 - 11 September 2008; ROYAL GARDEN HOTEL, LONDON, UK
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FISD GENERAL MEETING
SEPTEMBER 10, 2008; LONDON AT REUTERS CANARY WHARF
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OUTSELL SIGNATURE EVENT 2008
SEPTEMBER 21-23, 2008; RITZ CARLTON HALF MOON BAY, CAL
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