Sunday, June 10, 2012

Ireland Demands Renegotiation Of Its Bailout Terms To Match Spain

From Zerohedge.com

Original source

Well that didn't take long. The ink on the #Spailout is not dry yet (well technically there is no ink, because none of the actual details of the Spanish banking system rescue are even remotely known, and likely won't be because when it comes to answering where the money comes from there simply is no answer) and we already have an answer to one of our questions. Recall that mere hours ago we asked: "We also wonder how will Ireland feel knowing that it has to suffer under backbreaking austerity in exchange for Troika generosity, while Spain gets away scott free." We now know. From the AFP: "Ireland wants to renegotiate its rescue plan to benefit from the same treatment as Spain, which looks set to win a bailout for its banks without any broader economic reforms in return, European sources said on Saturday." And with Ireland on the renegotiation train, next comes Greece. Only with Greece the wheels for a bailout overhaul are already in motion and are called a "vote of Syriza on June 17." And remember how everyone was threatening the Greeks with the 10th circle of hell if they dare to renegotiate the memorandum? Well, Spain just showed that a condition-free bailout is an option. Which means Syriza will get all the votes it needs and then some with promises of a consequence free bailout renegotiation. In other words Syriza's Tsipras should send a bottle of the finest champagne to de Guindos - he just won him the election.
But back to Ireland. From AFP:
"Ireland raised two issues: one is the need to ensure parity of the deal with Spain retroactively on its bailout from EFSF," one European government source told AFP, referring to the temporary rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.

Another European government source confirmed the information.

Ireland secured an 85-billion-euro ($112 billion) rescue deal from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in November 2010, but only after agreeing to draconian austerity measures.

Unlike Ireland, Spain's economy minister said a deal on financing for the country's troubled banks would not impose any conditions on the wider economy.

Dublin plans to raise the issue during the next meeting of eurozone finance ministers to be held June 21, the sources said.

Eurozone finance ministers said Saturday they were willing to give Spain up to 100 billion euros to help its troubled banks, which are suffering due to their massive exposure to the ailing property sector.
Congrats Germany: you have now opened the Pandora's box of infinite moral hazard, bailout renegotiations and unconditional rescues. Anything less than a pari passu bailout to Spain's, which the economy minister touted as having no political strings attached, will incite a revolution.
Oh, and the IMF has just been made obsolete.

John Clarke and Brian Dawe predicting the Spanish bailout on 20/05/2010

Spain begs for bailout of its banks

Original source

Spain became the fourth and largest country Saturday to ask Europe to rescue its failing banks, a bailout of up to (euro) 100 billion ($125 billion) that leaders hoped would stabilize a financial crisis that threatens to break apart the 17-country eurozone.

The rescue offer follows growing pressure from international investors and the Obama administration and comes a week before elections in Greece, whose voters could decide whether the country leaves the euro.

Europe's widening recession and financial crisis has hurt companies and investors around the world. Providing a financial lifeline to Spanish banks is likely to relieve anxiety on the Spanish economy - which is five times larger than Greece's - and on markets concerned about the country's ability to pay its way.

"What the markets are looking for is essentially the Spanish government's acceptance that its banks are broke," said Jacob Kirkegaard, a research fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.

Economy Minister Luis de Guindos announced the deal after an emergency conference call with eurozone financial leaders. He said the aid will go to the banking sector only and would not come with new austerity conditions attached for the economy in general - conditions that have been an integral part of previous bailouts to Portugal, Ireland and Greece.

The exact figure of the bailout has not yet been decided. De Guindos said the country is waiting until independent audits of the country's banking sector have been carried out before asking for a specific amount. The audits are expected June 21 at the latest.

De Guindos did say, however, that Spain would request enough money for recapitalization, plus a safety margin that will be "significant."

With markets in turmoil, de Guindos said the government's efforts to shore up the financial sector "must be completed with the necessary resources to finance the needs of recapitalization."

Finance ministers of the 17 countries that use the euro said the money would be fed directly into a fund Spain set up to recapitalize its banks, but underscored that the Spanish government is ultimately responsible for the loan.

Still, that plan allows Spain to avoid making the onerous commitments that Greece, Ireland and Portugal were forced to when they sought their rescues. Instead, the eurogroup statement said that it expected Spain's banking sector to implement reforms and that Spain would be held to its previous commitments to reform its labor market and manage its deficit.

The eurogroup statement said that meant the cost could reach (euro) 100 billion.

Read more

On The Edge - Global banking crisis & European bank holiday

Jun 9, 2012 by

In this edition of the show Max interviews Warren Pollock from wepollock.com. He talks about the global banking crisis and the systemic fraud in the international banking system. Warren Pollock is a former Wall Street executive and a financial blogger.

Afraid to bank on banks?

I love the smell of burning fiat in the morning, it smells like victory!

Forget the moronic answers given, the important point is that the question is being asked. To quote Krusty the Clown " Questions are Decadent! "

Jun 9, 2012 by

Money makes the world go around... When high yield savings rates start dropping, do we have to save our money the Pirate way? Or simply hide it in a sock?