Cyprus Popular Bank Pcl’s uninsured depositors, with account balances above the €100,000 benchmark, will suffer an almost total loss of their money. The haircut agreed between the Cypriot government and the Eurogroup may reach 80%, while the rest 20% will be returned after the liquidation of CPB’s assets, a procedure that may take years and […]Berlin cannot convince markets it doesn’t love confiscating deposits
March 28, 2013 by 1 Comment
Cyprus Popular Bank Pcl’s uninsured depositors, with account balances above the €100,000 benchmark, will suffer an almost total loss of their money. The haircut agreed between the Cypriot government and the Eurogroup may reach 80%, while the rest 20% will be returned after the liquidation of CPB’s assets, a procedure that may take years and […]Eurogroup president swallows statement on savings confiscation
March 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Even if last weekend’s negotiations over the Cyprus problem were so demanding and exhausting for Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch minister of Finance and President of Eurogroup is not excused for having said that the solution agreed for Cyprus will be from now on the standard arrangement for any future financial bailout or rather bail-in in […]Why and how Germany had it again its own way in Cyprus
March 25, 2013 by 1 Comment
The final agreement reached between the Eurogroup and the Cypriot authorities contains two pivotal elements. The first is a draconian downsizing of the tiny country’s overgrown banking system. The second and less important element is “an independent evaluation of the implementation of the anti-money laundering framework in Cypriot financial institutions, involving Moneyval alongside a private […]EU prepares a banking union amidst financial ruins
March 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
There was no better opportunity than now, to observe how unfounded and shallow the institutional structure of Eurozone was, probably for the big guys to do whatever they liked. At a time when the Cyprus banking sector threatens to drive the whole island to a shipwreck, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission are […]South Eurozone needs some…inflation and liquidity
March 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
As it was expected, Eurostat proved to be right in its last week’s estimate that February yearly inflation was less than 2% on the average in the 17 member states Eurozone. As a matter of fact yesterday’s announcement of the EU’s statistical service revealed that February inflation was 1.8%. Inflation rates diverged wildly between the […]Paris, Washington, IMF against Berlin and ECB on money and interest
March 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Inflation in Eurozone is steadily following a downward path for months now, having already reached levels below the ECB benchmark of 2%, being estimated by Eurostat, the EU statistical service, at 1.8% in February. At the same time, the euro area is bound to be announced in technical recession by 31 March, for having recorded […]The Ecofin Council creates officially the clan of ‘undead’ banks
March 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Today 5 March 2013, in Brussels, without much publicity the Economic and Financial Affairs Council of the European Union, known as the Ecofin Council, is expected to discuss, inter alia, the new draft rules on bank capital requirements (“CRD 4”), including future rules on bankers’ bonuses. Those issues go in pair, in a way that […]Is ECB helping Germany to buy cheaply the rest of Europe?
March 5, 2013 by 1 Comment
Next Thursday 7 February the Governing Council of the European Central Bank will gather in Frankfurt in its regular monthly meeting, to discuss monetary policies and take the relevant decisions. Presumably there will be no change of ECB’s main interest rate, which is pegged at 0.75% as from 11 July 2012. Nor any other major […]Is South Korea set to lose from its FTA with the EU?
March 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The recent announcement (issued at the highest level by three presidents; Barack Obama, Herman Van Rompuy, Manuel Barroso), that the European Union and the United States were ready to start negotiations, aiming at the conclusion of a far-reaching Free Trade Agreement (FTA), sounded the alarm to other EU’s major trading partners and more so in […]Switzerland to introduce strict restrictions on executive pay
March 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Michel Barnier, European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, speaking recently during the 11th Annual Conference of the European Financial Services, revealed his frustrating experience from this years’ Davos gathering. On that occasion Barnier had the opportunity to meet the leaders of the world financial industry. Talking with them, he said he understood they are […]At last some rules on banks
March 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The public outcry against bankers at last produced some tangible results in Brussels. According to a ground-breaking agreement struck between the European Parliament and the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, bankers’ bonuses are capped at the double of their annual salaries. Secondly the capital requirements of the banks are increased to […]An FTA between EU-US to hurt South Korea
February 25, 2013 by 1 Comment
Ten days ago, Brussels and Washington issued a joint statement signed by three Presidents, namely the US leader Barack Obama, the European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso. With it, the EU and the US announced their decision to conclude a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end […]‘Free state aid’ for imprudent banks
February 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Over the past few years the Commission’s approval for government rescue of imprudent banks, under the EU state aid rules, has become a cliché. As if those rules do not exist, when it comes to banks. On every other state aid case granted by national governments to the private sector, the Commission remains adamant and […]ECB describes in detail how it exploits the poor
February 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The European Central Bank during the last two years made profits of €2.11 billion, by exploiting the misery of the five Eurozone countries in financial distress. Of that money, €1.2bn came only from Greek sovereign bonds, that is from the Greek taxpayer and there aren’t many of them. The information is supplied by the ECB […]Draghi sees inflationary bubbles
February 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The governor of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, speaking yesterday in the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, in an unexpectedly strong statement said that the euro area is still open to “potential inflationary bubbles”. He then added that “the possible effects of Euro exchange rates on inflation must be monitored […]Financial Transaction Tax: More money for future bank bailouts?
February 15, 2013 by 3 Comments
The European Commission announced today the details of the implementation of the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), under the procedure of the enhanced cooperation. It must be noted that such a procedure may be launched at the request of at least nine EU member states. Incidentally, the eleven member states actually wishing to introduce a financial […]EU–US: What is the real exchange in a Free Trade Agreement?
February 14, 2013 by 1 Comment
The usually slow-moving European Commission over issues like free trade agreements, this time didn’t lose its time and President Manuel Barroso announced yesterday that, “the European Union and the United States have decided to initiate internal procedures to launch negotiations with the aim of reaching a ground-breaking free trade agreement: the Transatlantic Trade and Investment […]Trying to cure bank cancer with analgesics
February 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Last week the European Central Bank issued a press release welcoming the EU Commission’s initiative to regulate the banking industry’s setting of benchmark interest rates, like the Euribor. Interbank interest rate benchmarks are systemic and vital to the entire financial system. Any failures may cause losses for investors, distort the real economy and undermine market […]Commission goes less than mid-way on expensive euro
February 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Olli Rehn, the EU Commissioner for the Economy took the floor yesterday, over the euro exchange rate market developments. As he usually does, Rehn wanted on this issue too, to be seen as going mid-way between Berlin and Paris. The question to be answered is of course, if the euro is expensive or not? However […]Does the EU want GMOs and meat with hormones from the US?
February 11, 2013 by 2 Comments
The prospective drafting of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union and the United States is developing into a major issue and as things evolved last week, it seems that this may lead the EU into a new division, between France on the one side and the free trade lovers Britain and […]Why the financial scandals multiply?
February 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Deutsche Bank discharged yesterday a number of medium ranking dealers, related to the Libor fixing ring, while along with other major European lenders Deutsche appears ready to pay fines of hundreds of millions. Yesterday the Royal Bank of Scotland, another “systemic” financial group, agreed to pay $600 million in fines to US and British authorities […]European markets itchy with short-term disturbances
February 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment
European markets had a very bad day yesterday, Monday 4 February. During the first hour of business bourses all over Europe, the euro included, had a discouraging start. The largest losses were monitored in the Paris stock exchange, with the CAC index losing around 3%, a large percentage change for a prime market. In view […]More bank bailouts at taxpayers’ expenses
February 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday the European Sting wrote that the Vítor Constâncio, Vice-President of the European Central Bank was asking for more taxpayers’ money to support careless “systemic” banks in case they fail. Possibly he could have longed to deny this “accusation”. To this effect he will get the floor here below to defend himself. In a speech […]ECB asks for more subsidies to banks
February 1, 2013 by 1 Comment
The European Union authorities have so far bestowed hundreds of billions of EU taxpayers’ money to the European Stability Mechanism and the European Financial Stability Facility of a total value of at least €700 billion, to be used to bailout banks and not only. As if those practically unlimited resources were not enough to secure […]Appreciation of euro to continue
January 31, 2013 by Leave a Comment
This January’s upwards trend of the euro parity with the other major currencies, the dollar and the yen, led today at a quote very close to the upper benchmark of 1.35, triggering worries about Eurozone’s exports. During this first month of the year the single European currency has appreciated at least 15% with the dollar […]EU Parliament semi worried over democratic deficit
January 31, 2013 by 1 Comment
Yesterday at the European Parliament in Brussels, during the closing session of the Parliamentary week devoted to the European Semester (EU economic governance – fiscal treaty), a joint group of EU parliamentarians and members of national parliaments concluded, that the under construction closer economic and monetary union calls for more democratic control. The MEPs and […]Banks suffocate the real economy by denying loans
January 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday the European Central Bank released data on Eurozone bank deposits and loans for December 2012. According to this report deposits by households and the non financial business sector increased during 2012 by at least 4%, while the loans to private sector (non-financial businesses and households) continued to decrease. The diverging direction of increasing […]Eurozone’s sovereign debt not a problem anymore?
January 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Understandably sovereign debt statistics for Eurozone and the EU have become most crucial over the past five years, not only for the implicated countries but also for the global financial community. Until recently a bad spell over Greece’s prospects concerning its government debt could send all and every world market to a downwards spiral. And […]It’s a lie Eurozone isn’t competitive
January 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday a press release of Eurostat, the statistical service of the European Union, revealed that during the third quarter of 2012 Eurozone recorded a positive foreign trade balance in goods of the order of €30.5 billion. It’s even more interesting however that during the same period the balance of trade in services left an impressive […]EU: Centralised economic governance and bank supervision may lead to new crisis
January 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment
In the first Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) of the year on January 22, the two first and more important items on the agenda were the “enhanced economic governance and policy coordination” (the “two-pack” economic governance) and secondly the “financial regulation and bank supervision”. On both accounts the Council made giant steps forward setting […]Banks get new capital for free and citizens pay the bill
January 22, 2013 by 3 Comments
Yesterday the European Commission approved “temporarily” the recapitalisation of a Portuguese bank Banif with €1.1 billion. The Commission will take a final decision on the compatibility of the capital injection with EU state aid rules after the assessment of the restructuring measures will be proposed by Portugal. Presumably those restructuring measures will be layoffs […]Cyprus banks under scrutiny
January 21, 2013 by 1 Comment
Eurozone’s support to Cyprus is not on the agenda of todays’ Eurogroup, the council of the 17 Eurozone ministers of Finance, nor will this issue be discussed in tomorrows’ Ecofin, the council of the 27 EU economic ministers. This is a clear sign that there will not be any decision on this problem until the […]Jeroen Dijsselbloem new Eurogroup president
January 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
According to an official announcement of the Council of the European Union, on 21 January, the Eurogroup, the council of the 17 Eurozone ministers of Finance appointed its new president, the Dutch Minister of Finance Jeroen Dijsselbloem. Dijsselbloem takes over from Jean-Claude Juncker, minister of Finance and Prime Minister of Luxembourg, and will hold the […]
