Spain, Italy and other European nations to be raided to save Euro

It is in their blood. Bankers are born believing they can risk people’s assets and then come back to ask for financial rescues to pay for the losses that weren’t even theirs.

By LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | MARCH 26, 2013

What are the real chances that the European Union applies the same medicine to other members nations in an effort to ‘save’ the Euro? According to Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch chairman of the eurozone, more looting is possible in places like France, Italy and Spain, three of the most heavily burdened countries in the economic bloc.

Dijsselbloem said yesterday that the European technocratic organization would do what is necessary, that includes taking more money from depositors and investors in other countries, the keep the Euro afloat. The statement sent shocks and sounded alarms all over European markets.

The plan revealed by Mr. Dijsselbloem should not be a surprise for those who closely follow what’s going on in the old continent and almost everywhere in the world. The openness of many other countries to apply for the same kind of aid that Cyprus did this week will hold  shareholders, bondholders and even bank depositors hostage to the thirst of the European bankers who in in addition to causing the debt crisis are now demanding that the poorest in the continent pay for the losses of their gambling.

Given the uproar caused by his words, Dijsselbloem’s communication department quickly tried to soften them, but the stone had been already thrown. Now that people all over Europe and the world know of the bankers’ plans, it is likely they will proceed with caution. It is even possible that they delay further raids in other countries in order to calm the markets and the insecurity created by the statement issued on the same say when most details about the so-called Cypriot bailout was completed.

Dijsselbloem has revived fears that awoke while the Eurogroup endorsed and then rectified the confiscation of deposits in accounts with 100,000 euros or more by imposing a new tax. This measure is the first in the history of the European Union.

Banking professor Juan Ignacio Sanz Esade of Spain says it is possible that something similar might happen in Spain in the “medium or long term”. He emphasizes that “there is a great suspicion when trying to recognize our own responsibilities.” For Sanz, Spain’s Bankia is one of the first candidates to suffer the same fate as Litzki and Bank of Cyprus. “Bankia is likely to continue falling if the market remains in this situation” and states that “no banking unit will be strong in Europe until all banks are cleaned up.”

The European currency fell after Jeroen Dijsselbloem, announced that example of Cyprus can be the model for future takeovers anywhere in Europe. “If there is a risk in a bank, our first question should be ‘Okay, what are you in the bank going to do about that? What can you do to recapitalise yourself?’,” he said. “If the bank can’t do it, then we’ll talk to the shareholders and the bondholders, we’ll ask them to contribute in recapitalising the bank, and if necessary the uninsured deposit holders.”

The problem with this is that the bankers are only partners in crime with the largest banking institutions in the continent, so the public would do a disservice to themselves by believing that their local banks have their best interests in mind. Cyprus is a clear example of that. Neither can depositors or investors trust their politicians, because as it has been seen in Cyprus, they are easy pray for technocrats who use baseless threats to inflict fear on them.

It is important to remember that with the banking takeover in Cyprus two things became apparent. First, no one’s savings or investments are safe in any bank, and second, previous policies that protected savers’ funds according to the amount they had in their accounts have also been ditched. Now, according to Mr. Dijsselbloem, all accounts are fair game. It is expected that private investors and depositors be hit to pay for bad banking debts.

The Immorality Crisis not lack of Transparency caused the Financial Collapse

By LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | DECEMBER 5, 2012

The European Union countries most affected by the global economic and financial collapse are also some of the most corrupt. But the highest levels of immorality and corruption are not seen at the national level, but on the international stage.

A recent publication by Transparency International which assesses the perception of corruption through a well established index, calls the results “disappointing” in the sense that countries, especially those hit the hardest by the current financial collapse, are corrupt at heart, indeed.

The Index 2012 Corruption Perceptions from Transparency International shows that Greece obtained the worst result of all the European Union with a score of 36 out of 100, in 94th place out of 174 countries in the table. The Hellenic country is below Bulgaria and Romania.

Among the members of the European Union, Spain is in 13th place, after Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, UK, France, Austria, Ireland and Cyprus. The report from TI shows the stagnation of Spain, the second country in Europe on its way down the cliff. Spain shares the 30th position with Botswana in the latest report of the corruption index.

“Among the countries hardest hit by the crisis are Italy and Greece — both join Spain on their way to total collapse — as corruption in the public sector is a major problem,” said Corbus de Swardt, spokesman for the NGO. He then added that “the fight against corruption is one of the keys so that Greece can emerge from the crisis. True point, although the type of corruption that pulled Greece down to the abyss, did not necessarily originate inside the  country. As it happens in most nations, the bureaucrats who manage the destiny of countries and their people are front men and women whose work is to be ‘YES MEN’ and who represent the interests of the European oligarchy; where the highest levels of corruption emanate from.

In Germany and France, De Swardt believes that “one of the main problems is the relationship between politics and business.” The report reveals the existence of interest groups and a culture of secrecy. He is particularly concerned about the funding of political parties in Germany. Interest groups of course are not limited to women’s rights groups or unions, but to large conglomerates of companies that operate locally and outside the countries and who dictate the policies that the governments follow.

At a press conference Wednesday in Madrid, the President of Transparency International Spain, Jesús Lizcano, innocently advocated for giving good training to staff. He also called for issuing punishments to institutions that do not comply with transparency.

In this context, Antonio Garrigues Walker, executive committee member of IT, reminded people that in the past 18 years, corruption has increased gradually but forcefully mainly because, he said, that most countries do not have transparency laws in place. But reality shows otherwise. Countries with significant rules and regulations about transparency also suffer the consequences of corruption mainly because the rules on transparency are written for the people, not for the corrupt politicians in government and the corporations, who always manage to find back doors and legal windows to get away with cheating the system. Therefore, the crisis is not one of corruption, but of morality. Corruption is just the direct result of a society whose morality has been removed.

“Transparency is an absolute obligation of institutions and an absolute right of citizenship,” said the lawyer, who also lamented that countries like Spain have a civil society that is “weak and dependent.” In his opinion, corruption is “a true leukemia” especially in the economic system and transparency is the instrument to combat it.”

The agreement among most of the attendees is the “truly alarming” intensification of corruption worldwide. The highest levels of corruption speakers said have been seen during the current global financial collapse caused by the corrupt financial system upon which the world functions and which is managed by a few powerful elites.

Since the first Corruption Perceptions Index was published in 1995, both Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian countries remain at the top of the corruption ladder, even though the index does not always shows it. That is not a surprise as many of the oligopolies that are the source of corruption are established there. Outside Europe, countries such as Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia are three of the most corrupt in the world.

Although the Transparency International Index is just a main stream kind of thermometer which superficially gauges the levels of corruption around the world, it is a good starting point. Its results however contrasts with the reality of corruption and transparency. It is important to remember that in the case of the TI Index, it only reports the “perception” of corruption and not the real, factual levels in a country. That is why in its 2012 edition, countries like the United States, Uruguay and Germany hold distinctive positions, despite the fact these countries are submerged deeply into a sea of corruption. Another caveat is that the TI Index only includes the perception of corruption in the public sector and leaves out its twin out-of-control unregulated corporations.

Do we need a global index to know how bad corruption is in a determined country? Not likely. A more faithful gauge would be an honest look around the city and country where we live.

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Italy ready to beg for a Bailout

By LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | JULY 17, 2012

The time for handouts doesn’t seem to end in Europe. After ‘solving’ the Spanish problems, the European bankers are now looking forward to ‘rescuing’ Italy from financial disaster. Italy will be the sixth nation to request and receive a financial bailout of its banking system before the country is officially absorbed by the international banking institutions that have, to a great extent, caused the current crisis.

Today, Italy is the third largest economy in the Euro zone and a shiny holder of a G-7 membership card. But that shiny membership is worth nothing as the Italians are also the third largest holder of sovereign debt. The debt to GDP ratio in Italy surpasses 120%. Italy’s dire situation has not been widely publicized due to the fact it is been hiding behind Spain’s  economically genocidal financial agreement with the bankers, which is the same agreement that Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has in mind for his country.

Monti’s policies, although fairly accepted in his country, have failed to take Italy out of the hole. Instead of pulling the country out of the recession or depression — depending on who you ask — Monti’s so-called reforms aided a contraction of the economy by 0.8% in the first quarter of 2012. With such contraction also came the reduction in economic activity including the manufacturing, services and retail sectors. Retail sales fell below estimates in the past two months, and they are expected to continue the slide to levels between -0.8% and -1.6%.

The same measures taken by Spain before the bailout, a series of conditions imposed by the European bankers as a condition to start looking into a possible financial bailout of the Spanish banking system, were also applied by Monti’s-led government. Much austerity and the transfer of Italian infrastructure to the European lenders was the prelude to the upcoming rescue. Neither the people of Italy nor the markets liked Monti’s plan, but then again, it is not them who Monti works for, is it?

Despite the inevitability of the rescue, some issues have arisen regarding Italy’s standing in Europe and whether these conditions would be limiting when it comes to requesting and getting the funds to bailout its banks. For example, financial consultants cite the fact that the European Stability Mechanism has not been approved by all EU members. They also say that the current measures may not be enough to rescue Italy due to the fact its debt is much larger than that of Spain or Greece, for example.

“Placing Italy in a bailout scheme casts an even bigger shadow over the euro-zone,” says Yohay Elam at Forex Crunch. An Italian bailout, Elam says, would create a bigger hole in the debt crisis, because Italy itself has functioned as a supporter of past bailouts, so having to rescue the Italians would mean a larger burden for the region.

But neither Italy’s standing in Europe not the approval of the ESM by all countries is the big enchilada here. Italy will be absorbed by the banks just as Greece and Spain were. The matter is not if, but how. Should things run the bankers way as it happened with Greece and Spain, Italy will also have to surrender complete sovereignty to Brussels, as explained in the memo of understanding signed by both rescuers and rescues. “Spanish authorities will take all the necessary measures to ensure a successful implementation of the programme. They will also provide the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF with all information required to monitor progress in programme implementation and to track the financial situation.”

In the case of Spain, and most likely with Italy, Portugal, France and then Germany, Brussels will begin as a negotiator, but will end as a manager of all European economies. After receiving the proposals for financial bailouts, the World Bank, IMF, European Central Bank, the European Banking Authority and the Prime Ministers will sit down and agree to accept the request for aid and write the conditions for the rescues to occur. However, once the agreement is signed by all parties, the sole management of the programme falls on the hands of the ESM, a banker controlled institution.

Under the ESM, banking institutions that do not belong to large powerhouses will be either absorbed by mandating that they take bailout money, or dissolved. At this time, their assets will be given to the banks. The money that comes from the financial rescue will be given to partner banks, those who are owned by powerful European bankers, and the toxic financial assets will be re-circulated into other nations or financial entities. (MoU page 3)

Most likely, as in the case of Spain, Italy will have to meet the requirements established by the ESM, which are based on a timeline that begins at the signing of the MoU and goes well into 2013 and 2014. The rescue of banks in Spain may work as a model to be utilized in Italy. According to the MoU the losses incurred into by those participating in the financial rescue will be shared by equity holders and subordinated debt holders who may participate voluntarily of these losses, or otherwise be mandated to accept the mandatory Subordinated Liability Exercises (SLEs).

Through the execution of these supposed rescue plans, the European bankers also reassure their position and that of their decaying model as the only ‘legitimate’ way to take on the current crisis, even though that exact same model is the origin of the crisis itself. In Spain, for example, more independence is warranted to the Spanish Central Bank, which is a branch of the powerful European banking institutions.

“A further strengthening of the operational independence of the Banco de España is warranted. The supervisory procedures of Banco de España will be further enhanced based on a formal internal review,” says the MoU. The central bank will be more of a vigilante for the European bankers.

Bank-owned Moody’s downgrades Italy, Portugal sees UK and France Negative

Moody’s.com
February 2012

As anticipated in November 2011, Moody’s Investors Service has today adjusted the sovereign debt ratings of selected EU countries in order to reflect their susceptibility to the growing financial and macroeconomic risks emanating from the euro area crisis and how these risks exacerbate the affected countries’ own specific challenges.

Moody’s actions can be summarised as follows:

– Austria: outlook on Aaa rating changed to negative

– France: outlook on Aaa rating changed to negative

– Italy: downgraded to A3 from A2, negative outlook

– Malta: downgraded to A3 from A2, negative outlook

– Portugal: downgraded to Ba3 from Ba2, negative outlook

– Slovakia: downgraded to A2 from A1, negative outlook

– Slovenia: downgraded to A2 from A1, negative outlook

– Spain: downgraded to A3 from A1, negative outlook

– United Kingdom: outlook on Aaa rating changed to negative

Please see the individual country specific statements below for more detailed information relating to the rating rationale and the sensitivity analysis for each affected sovereign issuer.

The implications of these actions for directly and indirectly related ratings will be reported through separate press releases.

The main drivers of today’s actions are:

– The uncertainty over (i) the euro area’s prospects for institutional reform of its fiscal and economic framework and (ii) the resources that will be made available to deal with the crisis.

– Europe’s increasingly weak macroeconomic prospects, which threaten the implementation of domestic austerity programmes and the structural reforms that are needed to promote competitiveness.

– The impact that Moody’s believes these factors will continue to have on market confidence, which is likely to remain fragile, with a high potential for further shocks to funding conditions for stressed sovereigns and banks.

To a varying degree, these factors are constraining the creditworthiness of all European sovereigns and exacerbating the susceptibility of a number of sovereigns to particular financial and macroeconomic exposures.

Moody’s has reflected these constraints and exposures in its decision to downgrade the government bond ratings of Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain as listed above. The outlook on the ratings of these countries remains negative given the continuing uncertainty over financing conditions over the next few quarters and its corresponding impact on creditworthiness.

In addition, these constraints have also prompted Moody’s to change to negative the outlooks on the Aaa ratings of Austria, France and the United Kingdom. The negative outlooks reflect the presence of a number of specific credit pressures that would exacerbate the susceptibility of these sovereigns’ balance sheets, and of their ongoing austerity programmes, to any further deterioration in European economic conditions and financial landscape.

An important factor limiting the magnitude of Moody’s rating adjustments is the European authorities’ commitment to preserving the monetary union and implementing whatever reforms are needed to restore market confidence. These rating actions therefore take into account the steps taken by euro area policymakers in agreeing to a framework to improve fiscal planning and control and measures adopted to stem the risk of contagion.

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Merkel and Sarkozy in Talks to End Eurozone

Fears that Italy’s fall may drag the whole region down, prompted the ‘strongest’ economies to think about doing away with the current shape of the Eurozone.

Guardian.co.uk
November 10, 2011

Fears that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis was spiralling out of control have intensified as political chaos in Athens and Rome, and looming recession, created panic on world markets.

Reports emerging from Brussels said that Germany and France had begun preliminary talks on a break-up of the eurozone, amid fears that Italy would be too big to rescue.

Despite Silvio Berlusconi‘s announcement that he would step down as prime minister once austerity measures were pushed through parliament, a collapse of investor confidence in the eurozone’s third-biggest economy sent interest rates in Italy to the levels that triggered bailouts in Portugal, Greece and Ireland.

Italian bond yields surged through the critical 7% mark, at one point hitting 7.5%, amid concern that the deteriorating situation had moved the crisis into a dangerous new phase.

In Athens talks to appoint a prime minister to succeed George Papandreou were in deadlock, and will resume on Thursday morning. The Italian president, Giorgio Napolitano, sought to reassure the markets by promising that Berlusconi would be leaving office soon.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said the situation had become “unpleasant”, and called for eurozone members to accelerate plans for closer political integration. “It is time for a breakthrough to a new Europe,” she said. “Because the world is changing so much, we must be prepared to answer the challenges. That will mean more Europe, not less Europe.”

The president of the European commission, José Manuel Barroso, issued a new call for the EU to “unite or face irrelevance” in the face of the mounting economic crisis in Italy. “We are witnessing fundamental changes to the economic and geopolitical order that have convinced me that Europe needs to advance now together or risk fragmentation. Europe must either transform itself or it will decline. We are in a defining moment where we either unite or face irrelevance,” he said.

Senior policymakers in Paris, Berlin and Brussels are reported to have discussed the possibility of one or more countries leaving the eurozone, while the remaining core pushes on toward deeper economic integration, including on tax and fiscal policy. “France and Germany have had intense consultations on this issue over the last months, at all levels,” a senior EU official in Brussels told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

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