In the brief period of one week the European Union and the United States concluded last Friday in Washington the first round of talks for a major Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that is their bilateral free trade agreement. The time schedule of this grandiose endeavour is unbelievably short, given the magnitude of the […]Who and why want the EU-US trade agreement here and now
July 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
In the brief period of one week the European Union and the United States concluded last Friday in Washington the first round of talks for a major Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that is their bilateral free trade agreement. The time schedule of this grandiose endeavour is unbelievably short, given the magnitude of the […]The US repelled EU proposals on common rules for banks
July 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The European Commission and more precisely the European Commissioner Michel Barnier fights a battle in two fronts over the financial sector’s future. One internal with Germany on EU banking union and another one external with the US on common rules for banks. Understandably in both fronts he has the full backing of the Commission and […]Banks get trillions and the unemployed ECB’s love…
July 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
To understand the kind of world we live in it suffices to follow the way the banks make their billions. Let’s start from the repercussions from the great credit crunch of 2008-2009 which still haunt our everyday lives in Europe and the US but no bank has come close to pay the price for their […]ECB is about to lend trillions to banks
July 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The institutionalisation of the Single Resolution Mechanism to deal with failing banks, a new tool to complement ECB’s Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), two cornerstones in building the European Banking Union, cannot be accomplished correctly, if member states were allowed directly or indirectly to support with public money their failing or about to fail banks, in […]Why the ECB suddenly decided to flood banks with money?
July 10, 2013 by 1 Comment
It was not a coincidence that the Governing Council of the European Central Bank suddenly decided unanimously last week to further relax its monetary policy promising more and cheaper loans to all banks, exactly at a time when the US central bank, the Fed, is about to start calling back the trillions of dollars it […]EU: 13 major banks may pay fines 10% of worldwide turnover
July 3, 2013 by 2 Comments
In a long-awaited decision, Joaquín Almunia, Vice President of the European Commission responsible for Competition Policy, accused thirteen western giant investment banking groups and two support bodies that those banks created a trust, setting prices in the over the counter trade of Credit Default Swaps and Derivatives, a multi trillion business. The Commission’s investigation covers […]EU Commission: Banking and energy conglomerates don’t threaten competition!
June 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
At a time when the financial sector in the eyes of the wider public all over the world, and more so in Europe and the US, is to be held responsible for the real economy crisis and the unemployment burst, the European Commission dares to approve the acquisition of NYSE-Euronext (NYX) by the InterContinental Exchange. […]IMF v Germany: Eurogroup keeps the fight under control
June 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
As it usually happens in the European Union, a much debated and infested with conflicting interests major issue, like the bank recapitalisation, will not be decided upon in one go but it will remain open for as much time as needed to mitigate differences. Yesterday evening the Eurogroup meeting, which usually precedes the Ecofin Council […]EU Parliament: It takes real banks to fight unemployment and recession
June 17, 2013 by 1 Comment
The European Parliament has a unique ability to identify the key issues in the Union’s conjuncture, not only in the political but also in the economic front. Seemingly the close contact of its members with their constituents is at the heart of this special property. Seen under this light, the last Parliamentary debate on what […]Germany’s fiscal and financial self-destructive policies
June 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
IMF Mission’s “Concluding Statement” (Article IV Consultation) on the German economy which was published yesterday, contains almost the same basic recommendations as the European Commission’s assessment aired at the Semester Press Conference in Brussels on 29 May. Both reports had references to Germany’s over stretched fiscal consolidation (meaning unneeded austerity) and the need to increase […]Eurozone: How safe are our deposits? Which banks will survive?
May 11, 2013 by 1 Comment
The Ecofin Council, the EU body that regroups the 27 Ministers of Finance, probably the most powerful institution of the European Union, is to conduct its regular meeting this Monday and Tuesday 13 and 14 May. On its agenda the main item will be a Commission’s proposal for a crucial Directive, establishing a framework for […]The banks dragged Eurozone down to fiscal abyss
May 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment
For a long time now economic analysts and commentators have been arguing that government support to financial institutions was the main culpable party of excess fiscal deficits in the Eurozone and the European Union as a whole. Those are direct subsidies under the form of capital injections, quite different from the support to lenders from […]Commission and ECB prepare new financial mega-tool in support of SMEs
May 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday the two most important institutions of the European Union, the European Commission and the European Central Bank, separately unveiled their intentions to seriously engage in an effort to create a new policy tool in support of the Union’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and defragment Eurozone’s financial markets .The Commission issued an announcement entitled, […]Hostages to a rampant banking system
April 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The European Commission presented yesterday its European Financial Stability and Integration Report (EFSIR) at a joint conference with the European Central Bank (ECB) in Brussels. Overall, the report concludes that “despite improvements, the financial crisis continued to exert a significant impact in holding back economic growth in 2012”. Earlier today, Friday 26 April, the European […]Who is to profit from the quasi announced ECB rate cut?
April 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
It is probably the first time in the annals of the European Central Bank that its president and vice president went so close as to almost announce the next interest rate reduction. Yesterday ECB’s Vice-President Vitor Constancio, presented the central bank’s Annual Report for 2012 to the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the […]Whose interests are protected by the new Mortgage Directive?
April 23, 2013 by 4 Comments
At a time when very few European consumers decide to look for a mortgage to buy a new home and the European lenders very sparingly grant such loans, the European Commission found the opportunity to launch its new initiative on a Mortgage Directive, supposedly to better protect consumers. Under the experience of the past four […]IMF: European banks do not perform their duty to real economy
April 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
During this week everybody took an interest on Europe’s and more so on Eurozone’s financial standing. During the last two days Jörg Asmussen, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, the International Monetary Fund and the European Council Presidency came out to either criticise or reassure everybody that the European financial and banking system […]Eurozone bank rescues ‘a la carte’ until 2015 then only bail-ins
April 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The fact that the Eurozone does not have a standard procedure to deal with failing or about to fail banks and the national bankruptcy laws of the 17 member states are far from offering a relevant solution, has prompted the two most competent persons in the Union to describe the way such dealings will be […]Draghi reveals how failing banks will be dealt, may cut interest rates soon
April 5, 2013 by 1 Comment
The governor of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, speaking yesterday in his regular monthly Press conference after the Governing Council meeting, was rather straight forward on two crucial fronts. First, he left to be clearly understood that if the now prevailing unfavourable economic conditions in the Eurozone continue, with recession dragging on and the […]EU Directive makes haircut on uncovered deposits a standard in bank bail-ins
March 31, 2013 by Leave a Comment
What happened in Cyprus was neither improvised nor exceptional. Peoples’ bank deposits above the secured benchmark of €100.000 were confiscated according to a very important proposal for a Directive which was forwarded from the Commission to the European Council and the European Parliament last June under the name of “Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE […]Germany hides its own banks’ problems
March 28, 2013 by 1 Comment
The insistence of the Brussels, Berlin and Paris authorities that Cyprus is a special case and the rest of the Eurozone banking system is safe, has only superficial value. Markets do not believe that. It’s not only that the Greek, Italian or even the Spanish banking systems are in deep trouble. The problems are not […]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 […]Managers’ pay under fire
March 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The European Parliament approved on Thursday 21 March, new rules capping fund manager bonuses. Undertakings for collective investments in transferable securities (UCITS), which gather assets from ordinary retail investors and pool them to buy bonds, shares or other financial products, must from now on operate under stricter rules, to protect investors in them properly, said […]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 […]No tears for Cyprus in Brussels and Moscow
March 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
One after the other Eurozone’s major players draw their red lines towards Cyprus, after the country’s Parliament rejected unanimously the agreement struck between the Nicosia government and the Eurogroup in the early hours of Saturday morning 16 March. The agreement was supposed to provide the Cypriot authorities with €5.8 billion from a haircut of 6.75% […]Cyprus Parliament says no to blackmail
March 20, 2013 by 1 Comment
Not one Cypriot Parliamentarian voted yes for the draft bill proposal, providing for a haircut on all deposits in Cypriot banks. As a result the island’s financial system will remain shut down until Thursday, in the hope that a solution to the stalemate will be found. It was quite a spectacle to see all the […]Cyprus tragedy reveals Eurozone’s arbitrary functioning
March 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Monday’s night statement by the Eurogroup President, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, on Cyprus was the perfect field for a full PhD research, on the way decisions are made in the European Union. The problem is that until some years ago this kind of decision-making when wrong, and it usually was, had negative consequences only on subsidies paid […]Eurozone officials play with people’s deposits and minds
March 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
It seems that, some only theoretically serious decision-making political bodies, like the Eurogroup, collectively believe they can play with a haircut on bank deposits, as if it was a trivial matter. Unfortunately there is no other explanation. Institutions like the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and of course the German […]The Eurogroup has set Cyprus on fire
March 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Eurogroup’s decision to impose a haircut on all bank accounts held in Cypriot banks, even on balances bellow the until today “theoretically” guaranteed benchmark of €100,000, may become a boomerang for the entire Eurozone and will certainly set the island once more on fire. Who is to say that this will not have a devastating […]Our present and future tax payments usurped by banks
March 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
According to Eurostat, the EU statistical service, tax payments in absolute terms, kept rising in the Eurozone after 2009 and surpassed the pre-crisis levels in 2011. Given that all along this period most of the euro area member states applied austerity measures, by cutting social spending, it is common knowledge by now that the extra […]
A Brussels antithesis reveals where the EU is heading
March 6, 2013 by 1 Comment
Yesterday in the Ecofin Council in Brussels, a handful of politicians from EU’s member states, away from their constituencies, left to be ‘guided’ by the European Commission in mortgaging to the EU’ bureaucracy their counties’ financial sovereignty, by approving the “two pack” directives. On the same occasion they created the clan of the ‘undead’ banks […]
