During the last two weeks the world’s largest stock markets had a wild time not seen since Lehman Brothers went bust on 15 September 2008. The New York stock exchange in Wall Street lost more than 8% of its capitalization in a few days and then recovered some of the losses to close last Friday […]A new global financial crisis develops fast; who denies it?
August 31, 2015 by Leave a Comment
During the last two weeks the world’s largest stock markets had a wild time not seen since Lehman Brothers went bust on 15 September 2008. The New York stock exchange in Wall Street lost more than 8% of its capitalization in a few days and then recovered some of the losses to close last Friday […]Big world banks to pay $ 4.95bn for cheating customers; Is it a punishment or a gentle caress?
May 25, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Last week five of the world largest banks, JPMorgan, Barclays, Citigroup, Royal Bank of Scotland and Union de Banques Suisses were fined by the American magistrates a total of $ 4.7 billion for rigging interest rate benchmarks. The banks had been setting those standards by themselves for five years after 2007. In another case the […]How Germany strives to mold ECB’s monetary policy to her interests
April 9, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Sabine Lautenschläger, a Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank and at the same time Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Single Supervisory Mechanism is in itself a living proof that euro area is a Germanic monetary zone, in reality an extension of the zone of the German mark. According to […]Will ECB win against low inflation by not following Quantitave Easing?
June 27, 2014 by Leave a Comment
On the 5th of June, the European Central Bank (ECB) decided not to fully deploy all the tools of Quantitative Easing (QE) programme, which showed that the ECB is not yet ready to risk everything in order to deal with low growth and inflation rates. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) […]The EU Commission implicates major banks in cartel cases, threatens with devastating fines
May 22, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Three major international banking firms Crédit Agricole, HSBC and JPMorgan Chase came yesterday again under the watchful eye of the European Commission, for their role in financial sector cartels (interest rates and derivatives denominated in euro). It’s about financial products based on the Euribor (euro interbank offered rate), an interest rate benchmark. This interest rate […]Greece returns to markets at a high cost to taxpayers, after four years out in the cold
April 10, 2014 by 1 Comment
The time that Greece has been waiting for, for quite a long time (4 years) is about to come. Athens is now floating in the capital markets a sovereign bond issue of about €2.5 billion and already unofficial offers from investors have reached €16bn. A very hefty multiple coverage so far of 6.4 times. The book of […]The ECB ‘accidentally’ followed IMF‘s policy advice for growth and job creation by printing more money
April 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, speaking in Washington DC last Wednesday 2 April stressed that the world economy, in the aftermath of the Great Recession of 2008-2012, faces a long period of slow and sub-par growth, “well below the solid, sustainable growth that is needed to create enough jobs and improve […]Eurozone set to abandon monetary and incomes austerity and adopt growth friendly policies
April 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Finally, the European Central Bank’s Governing Council unanimously agreed yesterday to use extraordinary monetary measures to support growth in Eurozone and to counter a possible further fall of inflation rate towards the negative deflation region. To this effect, the ECB stopped just one step short from taking unconventional monetary measures, but the fact that its […]Eurozone closer to a deflation – stagnation trap
March 31, 2014 by Leave a Comment
In a six line and few words Press release, Eurostat, the EU statistical service, announced its flash estimate for March Eurozone inflation at 0.5% further down from 0.7% in February, setting wide open the deflation (negative inflation rates) trap for the 18 countries euro area. This fast disinflation (falling inflation rates) course started last October, […]ECB tied in the anti-monetary German ideology
February 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The European Central Bank President Mario Draghi had a very difficult job yesterday in bridging the Germanic insistence for monetary austerity with the need of supportive measures for the Eurozone real economy to grow. After yesterday’s meeting, the Governing Council of the central bank left the basic interest rate unchanged at 0.25% but it was […]The US banks drive the developing world to a catastrophe
January 31, 2014 by Leave a Comment
How is it possible that the good news of the growth of the American economy which has raised its gear, also brings forth crisis and possibly destruction in developing countries? Yet this is exactly what is already happening in our brave new world. The good news is that the US economy now grows at a […]IMF’s Lagarde indirectly cautioned Eurozone on deflation
January 16, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Weak growth is threatened by deflation in the developed world, while emerging markets have to overcome the financial turbulences that lie ahead, due to forthcoming restrictive monetary policy by the US central bank, the Fed. This is what IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said yesterday, speaking at the National Press Club in the U.S. capital. […]Predicting two more years of economic stagnation
January 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday, as expected, the European Central Bank kept its basic interest rate unchanged at 0.25%. As usually, the decision was taken in the meeting of the bank’s Governing Council, the first of 2014. At this almost zero interest rate cost commercial banks get ample liquidity from the ECB and then lend this money to the […]Commission offers discount on fines to banks for competition infringements
December 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Today, the European Commission fined 8 major banks a total of € 1.7 billion for participating in cartels rigging interest rate benchmarks in markets for financial derivatives covering the European Economic Area (EEA). According to the Commission, four of these firms participated in a cartel relating to interest rate derivatives denominated in euro, and six […]ECB offers cheaper money despite reactions from Germany
November 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday, the European Central Bank, in a swift move, reduced its basic interest rate to 0.25% from 0.5%. The decision was taken by the Governing Council of the bank, in its regular meeting which takes place on the first Thursday of every month. This decision has reportedly taken the capital markets by surprise, but this […]G20: Less growth, more austerity for developing countries
October 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment
IMF – World Bank’s annual meetings and the G20 Finance ministers and central bank governors gathering in Washington D.C. this weekend proved two things; first that the world is more divided now, in the aftermath of the financial crisis and second and more important that the labouring millions of the globe in developing and […]Draghi cuts the Gordian knot of the Banking Union
October 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Mario Draghi, the President of the European Central Bank, had three messages to send yesterday to Eurozone’s political leaders. He did that while answering journalists’ questions, after the regular monthly meeting of the Governing Council, which left the basic interest rate unchanged at 0.5%. For the first time Draghi puts a big question mark over […]ECB offers plenty and cheap liquidity to support growth in all Eurozone countries
July 5, 2013 by 1 Comment
The rare and openly confirmed unanimity of European Central Bank’s Governing Council that interest rates should remain at their present or even lower levels for a long time, didn’t only gave a cause for celebrations in all European bourses, but it also induced some analysts to comment that Eurozone’s recession may be more persistent than […]Has Germany rebuffed ECB on the banking union?
June 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The leadership of the European Central Bank took yesterday a step back from its strong presence in the public discussion over the depth and the strength of the under construction European Banking Union (EBU) and more precisely the single bank resolution authority. Both its President and Vice President Mario Draghi and Vítor Constâncio had very […]Inflation and interest rates indicate urgent need for action
May 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Inflation indices are a measure not only of the rate of change of consumer prices. In organised economies like Eurozone inflation is a good indirect measurement of economic activities. A bit more inflation above the benchmark of 2% is a good indication that the economy is growing, the opposite for measurements below that level. Inflation […]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 […]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 […]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 […]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 […]
