Myths of Space Utilization

Image via WikipediaNews Detail: "In a recent White Paper titled, “Are the Myths of Space Utilization Costing You More Than You Know,” Jones Lang LaSalle, the leading integrated financial and professional services firm specializing in real estate, reveals that there is oftentimes a significant difference between how much vacancy corporate real estate executives think they have within their portfolios and the actual amount, and how this disparity is costing companies millions.

For its occupancy study, Jones Lang LaSalle examined the portfolios of eight major companies representing a cross-section of industries – technology, consumer products, professional services and financial – as well as its own real estate portfolio. The combined measurement was nearly 42 million gross square feet of corporate office space across the globe in 583 buildings.

Jones Lang LaSalle found that by dividing vacant seats by the total number of seats yielded one of the most significant findings: a 26 percent average actual vacancy rate – 13 percent in reported vacancies and another 13 percent in shadow vacancy (office areas reserved for reasons including new hires). This is in marked contrast to the typical estimations of all vacancy at seven to 10 percent."

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Reed Smith Managing Partner on Layoffs: Capacity Didn't Meet Demand

Citing a "continuing slowdown in the economy," the firm announced on Wednesday the termination of 115 support personnel in its U.S. offices and the elimination of up to seven support staff and 11 associate positions in its London office.

See article on AmLaw at: Reed Smith Managing Partner on Layoffs: Capacity Didn't Meet Demand

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Is Laissez-Fair Dead

Image by jetzenpolis via FlickrSome strong words. Read full article here: Are sovereign investment funds the new economic model?

"The Western financial system, as we know it, is dead. Not tarnished or cracked. Dead. With its demise go the Anglo laissez-faire financial mechanisms of the Reagan-Thatcher-Kohl era that have held sway for nearly three decades. The American subset, affectionately referred to as “the cowboy experiment,” run by self-centered eccentrics, is at the root of this collapse. After all, New York, not London, had been the creator of new financial products, strategies and entities. We were the innovators. Leverage was the tool. And greed was the measure of success."

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Help! What is LIBOR?

Bloomberg.com: Exclusive: From "Libor Mystifies Americans as Mayor Reads `Doomsday' By Peter Robison

Libor, set every morning in London, is what banks pay to borrow money from each other. That in turn determines prices for financial contracts valued at $393 trillion as of Dec. 31, 2007, or $60,000 for every person in the world, and helps set consumer interest rates on everything"
In the past week, as governments in Europe rescued five banks and the U.S. debated a bailout, the cost of one-month bank loans in euros and overnight dollar loans soared to records. In practice, that means banks are hoarding cash, raising borrowing costs and slowing economies worldwide. Today's three-month Libor for loans in dollars jumped to 4.33 percent. Overnight dollar loans rose 168 percent on Sept. 30, to a record 6.8 percent from 2.6 percent. '

Libor is actually a set of rates, calculated for several currencies on periods ranging from overnight to 12 months. The British Bankers' Association compiles the dollar rate every day from data submitted by 16 banks, including Deutsche Bank AG and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. There are also rates for the euro, Japanese yen, British pound, Swiss franc, and Australian and Canadian dollars.

Corporate bank loans are often linked to three-month Libor rates. Libor also affects interest costs on credit cards, student loans and adjustable-rate mortgages. From 2004 to 2006, more than half of the U.S. subprime mortgages at the root of the financial crisis, or those issued to the least creditworthy borrowers, had adjustable rates linked to Libor, said Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance in Bethesda, Maryland.

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