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BNP Paribas Cash Management University 2016

In early June,the ninth annual BNP Paribas Cash Management University was held in Paris.The delegates were polled about what keeps them awake at night:
1.the current political situation,53%;
2.a new sovereign debt crisis,17%;
3.the ECB's struggle to lift Europe out of deflation,14%;and
4.China's slowing economic growth,10%.*
Alain Papiasse,Group Chief Deputy Chief Operating Officer at BNP,said that the global economic outlook had clouded since the previous CMU last year,with the IMF making several downgrades.Only the US was doing better,and there are fears even about its growth cycle.Europe's modest GDP growth had improved a bit,but not sufficiently to dispel fears it was becoming a second Japan with anaemic growth and near-zero inflation for over 25 years.*
Negative interest rates threaten to become more than a temporary phenomenon,creating a dilemma for companies carrying excessive cash of whether to buy back shares or increase dividends.Digitisation would change the world dramatically over the next five years,and the ways BNP Paribas works with its clients.It also affects corporate treasurers' current areas of concern:
1.reporting and regulating compliance;
2.how to invest prudently in a low interest environment;and
3.cyber security's increasing importance.*
There were 260 delegates from 20 countries at the CMU.BNP Paribas is a French multinational that was ranked as the world's third largest bank by assets in 2012.*
BNP Paribas (Paris:BNP)

Pfizer,Cellectis Ink Cancer Immunotherapy Pact

Pfizer,the world's largest pharmaceutical company,has signed a deal with French biotech firm Cellectis to develop and commercialise CAR-T immunotherapies in the field of oncology directed at several targets.Cellectis' CAR-T technology utilises engineered T-cells from a single donor for use in multiple patients,rather than engineering a patient's own T-cells to target tumour cells.*
Cellectis' CAR-Ts are off-the-shelf products which can be industrialised and standardised.They may be shipped in advance and would be accessible to cancer centers all over the world without the need for a local CAR-T processing facility,which is an enormous advantage.*
Cellectis plans to open a US site for this collaboration with New York-based Pfizer.Cellectis CEO Andre Chulika,PhD,said we look forward to working closely with the team at Pfizer on researching and developing novel CAR-T therapies that could potentially change the way cancer is treated.
Mikael Dolsten,MD,PhD,Pfizer President of R&D,added that combining the innovation and scientific expertise of Cellectis with Pfizer's deep oncology and immunology experience creates a world-class partnership designed to deliver a new generation of CAR-T immunotherapies for cancer patients with urgent medical needs.*
Cellectis will receive an upfront payment of 80 million dollars plus R&D costs.It will also receive development,regulatory and commercial milestone payments of 185 million per Pfizer product,as well as tiered roylaties on net sales.Pfizer will also purchase about 10% of Cellectis capital through newly issued shares of Cellectis,pending shareholder approval.*
Pfizer(PFE),Cellectis(ALCLS:EN Paris)

Asia This Day:the New Australian Government-plus Syria

The first new government in six years is taking power in Australia as long time opposition leader Tony Abbott takes the reins of the prime ministership from Kevin Rudd.Mr.Abbott said the strong US relationship has been key in Australia's foreign policy,and would remain that way.Domestically,he wants to be an infrastructure prime minister,with a bulldozer on every street and cranes in the sky.*
Alex Malley,CEO of CPA Australia,said we're reasonably comfortable with the incoming government.We lost an opportunity to balance our economy more and restructuring when mining was at its peak.We've been in Asia for 60 years,but Australia is only in its infancy in understanding the Asian Century.We need government to work with small and medium business.We need to stay relevant at a cost,efficiency and cultural level.*
The awarding of the 2020 Summer Olympics to Tokyo is expected to add a trillion dollars to the Japanese economy over seven years.*
China's August exports were up 7.2%,beating the 5.5% estimate.*
Following Sebastian Vettel's victory at the Italian Grand Prix Sunday,Formula One racing moves back to Asia for the Singapore Grand Prix,a nighttime race,in two weeks' time.*
President Barack Obama faces a hectic week of lobbying for military action against Syria as Congress returns today from its August recess.Military action is not immanent,since France now says it will not participate until the UN weapons inspectors present their report,and Congress is still largely undecided about the president's plan.*
Both the full House and Senate will receive classified briefings from the president's national security team early this week,and the president will address the nation Tuesday at 9pm Eastern.After that,complex legislative maneuvering will determine just when the votes on the president's plan will take place.In sum,it is uncertain at this point when,or even if,there will be military action,or who,apart from France,will participate in it,and in what way,although the White House remains fully committed to this course.

Syria:French President Stands By Obama

French President Francois Hollande is intent on punishing the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad for his use of chemical weapons against his own people,in defiance of the international community.He is prepared to do this with France's significant miltary assets,which are ranked as sixth in the Global Firepower top ten-just behind the UK and just ahead of Germany.These include the Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter;the Dassault Rafale fighter;and the Dassault-Breguet Super Etendard.
France has an aircraft carrier,the Charles de Gaulle,which can launch a number of fighter aircraft into battle with their bombs and air to ground missiles.Aircraft are also stationed on the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean,and these may be scrambled for any action against Syria.As well,France possesses the Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missile.
Mr.Hollande does not have to get the French Parliament's approval to task the armed forces.He will not send them against Damascus alone,however.He wants to have allies participating in military action,so he is waiting for Washington to get itself organised.
Besides France's air power,its navy has 180 ships,including 22 frigates;9 corvettes;10 submarines;and 4 amphibious asault ships.Total active frontline personnel in the French military number 362,485,plus 419,000 active reserve.The army is not expected to be used against Syria,but it has 571 tanks;6728 armoured fighting vehicles;and 251 self-propelled guns.

Birthday People August 16-17,2013

August 16-Pop singer Madonna is 55.August 17-Soccer player Thierry Henry,35.Born in France,he started with Team Monaco and plays for the New York Red Bulls today.Happy weekend.Only you can prevent wildfires.

Early Edition :Portfolios Affecting Health

That haggard look is returning to faces as citizens and their leaders once again try to deal with their eroding wealth.You could definitely see it on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's face as she emerged from a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy a few weeks ago.Investors whose portfolios had more than recovered from their lows of March 2009 are finding themselves in the red again.It is an ordeal that can be described as Dantesque,a scene from a personal financial Inferno.The effects on the general health cannot be good.
To counteract the stress,music is very significant;so is exercise.And they cost little if anything.That in itself is a relaxing thought.Even little bits of recreation improve our health prospects.The longer we feel self-pity,the worse it will be for us.Remembering that we've been through all this before-we recovered then,and we can do it again-will help to lift us out of this red danger as well.
Many of our ancestors had to deal with financial issues such as the Great Depression.Survival is in our heritage.

The Nature of Progress

America and Europe must reach out to the vast majority of Muslims who seek only peace and a better life,President Obama thinks.We can't get there alone.Progress is slow;it comes in fits and starts.We've just emerged from an era of irresponsibility.It is a revolutionary world that we live in.We must renew this relationship for a new generation in a new century.I am confident we can achieve the promise of a new day,the President concluded.Wearing a gray suit,white shirt and light blue tie,the tall leader took questions from the audience at Rhenus Sports Arena bfore shaking hands with them to the accompaniment of "Stars and Stripes Forever."Not since President John F. Kennedy in the early 1960s has a president been so in touch with foreign crowds.The Europeans couldn't believe they got to greet Mr.Obama,congratulating each other on the singular occasion.

A Drifting Alliance

The European Union buildings of Strasbourg were born of the blood of the first half of the 20th century,President Obama recalled.The Marshall Plan was an unprecedented effort that secured prosperity.Without firing a single shot,the NATO alliance would prevent the iron curtain of communism from descending across Europe.This generation cannot stand still.This is our generation;this is our time,and I am confident we can meet any challenge-as long as we are together.In recent years,we've allowed our alliance to drift.In America,there is a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world.In Europe,there is an anti-Americanism that is casual,but can also be insidious.These attitudes are not wise;they do not represent the truth,the new president instructed.

Who Obama Is:Leading in Strasbourg

President Barack Obama was greeted enthusiastically by European young people at the Rhenus Sports Arena in Strasbourg,France.The president was in the middle of his first overseas trip since his inauguration in January.It's important to hear from you,the President said,not just speak to you.We stand at a crossroads.The same forces that have brought us closer together have also brought us new dangers,such as nuclear weapons.The pollution of cars from Boston or smokestacks in Beijing can reach other countries.The economic crisis is proving the fact of interdependence.There's certainly enough blame to go around,and the U.S. bears its share.The only way forward is by a persistent way to combat fear and want wherever they are found,Mr.Obama told the large assembly.

Shop Talk

A special greeting to Massachusetts,the state that is as difficult to spell as Mississippi.The weekend focus,however, will be on Washington,D.C.,where the G20 leaders will be meeting to discuss the financial crisis.The G20 are the biggest of the developed and developing economies.They will look at what new standards may be applied to the global markets,in order to prevent another crisis of this magnitude,and who should apply them.The International Monetary Fund has been mentioned as a prospective regulator.It was intended to take on such a task,it has been said.France and the U.K. intend to play a prominent role in the deliberations this weekend.They are pushing hard to get the problems addressed in short order.The conference is taking place at the National Building Museum,and is expected to be the first of a series.The world has never been so interconnected,yet the structures to manage the interconnections have not been updated for many decades,if they indeed exist at all.

Shop Talk

People in Cary,North Carolina and Roubaix,France are reading this.It's good to have you and all my readers along on the knowledge journey.I am committed to working through the problems,not pretending they aren't there.In that way,we will be better at the end of the crisis.Being an idealogue would not yield anything but hot air.Have an enriching session.