Millions around the world watched the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony and were thrilled at the spectacle. But did you know that 15,000 volunteers took part, including some of our own colleagues. Volunteers were first used in the London 1948 games and it’s great to see that this tradition is still going strong.
Volunteering is a key component of our Corporate Responsibility strategy for citizenship and we know it provides benefits for the business, individual, as well as good causes for the wider community. We support our staff by giving them all one paid day to work for the charity of their choice and last year our staff clocked up over 20,000 of volunteering time. Next year we hope that it will be even more! Check out our CR report to read more about our activities.
In today’s picture, a baby rhesus monkey cuddles up to a tiger cub in a Chinese zoo. The rhesus monkey is one of the classic “Old World” monkeys, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. However, all six species of tigers around the world are listed as endangered, and global wild population estimates put the amount of remaining tigers at between 3-4 thousand.
On June 25, concluding with the improvement process that began on 2011, the LatAm Graphic Services Center was officially inaugurated in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The growth of the Editorial Fund and the strategic decision to partially centralize the printing production of books in the region, led to several initiatives focused on maximizing competitiveness, productivity, profitability and time-to-market of the production processes of our print products. (more…)
Single-family home prices rose for the 4th month in a row in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, suggesting the recovery in the housing market continued to gain traction. Today’s graphic shows the year-on-year change for a selection of major cities.
Jeffrey Goldfarb and Breakingviews columnists discuss the ill-advised finger-pointing over technical trading glitches and the ongoing turmoil for Knight Capital and its electronic flub.
According to our Business Law Advisor’s M&A Trends & Insights for Lawyers, Global M&A activity remained slow in the second quarter, with deal volume sitting at its lowest levels in three years. However, in bucking the global trend, U.S. and UK M&A volume was up 14% and 13% respectively.
02 Aug 2012Thomson Reuters
Global M&A activity dropped in volume by 5% compared with the first quarter of 2012. At the same time, a flurry of large deals pushed the total value of deals up 23% in the second quarter. Despite this surge, the total deal value so far this year is still running well below the levels seen over the same time period a year earlier.
The slowdown in global deal activity over the first six months of the year compared with 2011 is widespread, reflecting current global economic malaise, as well as political and financial market uncertainty in much of Europe and the Mideast. Of the 22 most active countries for M&A, more than two-thirds are showing year-on-year declines in both domestic and cross-border activity. (more…)
Highlighting the economic crisis in Greece, and the effects it’s having on the population, members of the far-right party handed out boxes of milk to residents. The ongoing Greek debt crisis has continued its spread across the Euro Zone, with fears of a dissolution of the Zone at an all time high.
Working extra hours, even double time, has become the normal part of a tax accountant’s job.
02 Aug 2012Thomson Reuters
Along with grueling hours, tax accountants have become accustomed to the other “norms” of busy season, such as the stress and pressure of the looming September 15th deadline, demanding clients and bosses and unhealthy late-night dinners.
Sound familiar? Here are a few tips to get you through another busy season:
Today Sony reported that operating profit for April-June fell a much steeper-than-expected 77% to 6.28 billion yen ($80 million) compared with a year earlier. Analysts had expected a 36% fall in profit. Citing exchange rate moves and a weak global economy, Sony cut its forecast for operating profit in 2012/13 to 130 billion yen from a previous forecast of 180 billion yen. The consensus forecast of 18 analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters is for annual operating profit of 139 billion yen. Today’s graphic shows Sony’s operating profit/loss for the last 13 quarters as well as its proportion of sales by segment.
A small difference in the fees you pay on your 401(k) plan could make a big difference when it comes time to retire. Fred Katayama breaks down the ways to maximize your gains with the help of a new law that makes the costs of your 401(k) clear.
03 Aug 2012
