More about BIS from "The Tower of Basel" an excellent book..

"The BIS is a unique institution: an international organization, an extremely profitable bank and a research institute founded, and protected, by international treaties. The BIS is accountable to its customers and shareholders—the central banks—but also guides their operations. The main tasks of a central bank, the BIS argues, are to control the flow of credit and the volume of currency in circulation, which will ensure a stable business climate, and to keep exchange rates within manageable bands to ensure the value of a currency and so smooth international trade and capital movements. This is crucial, especially in a globalized economy, where markets react in microseconds and perceptions of economic stability and value are almost as important as reality itself.The BIS also helps to supervise commercial banks, although it has no legal powers over them. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, based at the BIS, regulates commercial banks’ capital and liquidity requirements. It requires banks to have a minimum capital of eight percent of risk-weighted assets when lending, meaning that if a bank has risk-weighted assets of $100 million it must maintain at least $8 million capital. The committee has no powers of enforcement, but it does have enormous moral authority. “This regulation is so powerful that the eight percent principle has been set into national laws,” said Peter Akos Bod. “It’s like voltage. Voltage has been set at 220. You may decide on ninety-five volts, but it would not work.” In theory, sensible housekeeping and mutual cooperation, overseen by the BIS, will keep the global financial system functioning smoothly. In theory....The BIS is now the world’s thirtieth-largest holder of gold reserves, with 119 metric tons—more than Qatar, Brazil, or Canada. Membership of the BIS remains a privilege rather than a right. The board of directors is responsible for admitting central banks judged to “make a substantial contribution to international monetary cooperation and to the Bank’s activities.” China, India, Russia, and Saudi Arabia joined only in 1996. The bank has opened offices in Mexico City and Hong Kong but remains very Eurocentric. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Slovakia (total population 16.2 million) have been admitted, while Pakistan (population 169 million) has not. Nor has Kazakhstan, which is a powerhouse of Central Asia. In Africa only Algeria and South Africa are members—Nigeria, which has the continent’s second-largest economy, has not been admitted. (The BIS’s defenders say that it demands high governance standards from new members and when the national banks of countries such as Nigeria and Pakistan reach those standards, they will be considered for membership.)"

This whole mes was a creation of the EU's imperialist ambitions , they financed the opposition to the democratically elected President with at least a billion Euros , succeeded in overthrowing him and in putting their placemen in power and then sat back. However as the West has discovered in Iraq, Afganistan ,Libya, and Syria it is extremely easy to interfere in the affairs of another country but very difficult to control events thereafter . However even the most stupid western politician should have understood Russia would not just stand by. Unfortunately our leaders have shown they are totally stupid as far as intervention in foreign countries is concerned.
Putin is in the right to defend what he cosnsiders to be his sphere of influence. As this mess continues the economic consequences for everyone but particularly the average EU citizen goes from bad to worse...

If I understand it correctly the latest false Kiev claim goes like this:

1. A mighty Russian force attacked Ukraine through the border.
2. A heroic Ukrainian army destroyed at least 50% of this menacing force.
3. The Russians put their tail between their legs and retreated before the mighty Ukrainian army could wipe out the rest of them.
4. Apparently the terrified Russians had the good sense in them to take back to Russia all their destroyed equipment for reasons of protecting the Ukrainian environment.

In all of this excitement, no soldier or journalist was able to use their iphone and capture some evidence. No aerial satellite photography either. Other than these minor details (of no evidence existing anywhere) this is a decisive victory for Kiev's unstoppable forces... Lies, upon lies, upon lies. Such is the natural environment for the beast called EUSSR. It has to feed on lies otherwise it dies. And since it refuses to die it has to constantly fabricate new lies just to keep up with its corrosive self-indulgence.

WSJ - Ireland's economy slid into crisis in 2008 when the bursting of its property bubble wrecked the country's banks and brought the euro-zone member close to bankruptcy. In late 2010, the government secured €67.5 billion ($91.54 billion) in loans from the EU and IMF, the last of which will be disbursed over the next two months. From next year, the government will have to finance itself exclusively through the bond markets. Finance Minister Michael Noonan told lawmakers that the budget will introduce up to €2.5 billion in new tax increases and spending cuts, saying that Ireland will better the deficit target for 2014 that was set under its bailout agreement. The proposed cuts are the smallest since 2008. Under the budget, the deficit is planned to fall to 4.8% of gross domestic product in 2014 from 7.3% this year. The government is committed to reducing its deficit to below 3% of GDP in 2015. Required to keep cutting its deficit over the next two years, Ireland's government will then be obliged to endure a tight regime of fiscal oversight for many more years to cut its towering national debt.  Despite those constraints, Mr. Noonan told lawmakers that in ending its dependence on EU and IMF loans, the nation would regain control over its own destiny.

"We have a fair wind at our backs to achieve our objectives and to restore our sovereignty," he said.

After the long years of sacrifice, the government is seeking to shore up faltering public support for austerity, describing its 2014 budget as one of the last of the big painful efforts to move the country out of crisis and into recovery. The leaders of the two parties in the coalition government have said there is now clear evidence that the country is emerging from its "national emergency."

There is much at stake for the euro zone, which has also provided bailouts to Greece, Portugal, Cyprus and Spain. A successful return to the bond markets for Ireland would offer euro-zone policy makers a rare opportunity to claim a success for their much-criticized strategy for confronting the currency area's fiscal and banking crisis, one that has relied heavily on austerity.

Mr. Noonan said that for the first time since the onset of the financial crisis, the government will post a primary budget surplus next year. That would mean that excluding interest payments, its tax revenues would exceed its spending, helping to cap its huge debts.

Tuesday's budget means that since 2008, Ireland has detailed cuts to its budget totaling a cumulative €30 billion, representing about 18.5% of the country's annual economic output and making it one of the largest austerity programs undertaken anywhere in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

The EU and IMF and other institutions, such as the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and the Irish central bank, had urged the government to go further and meet in full a proposed €3.1 billion in deficit cuts, to safeguard its finances. But the coalition projects that it will still meet its bailout budget targets in 2014 and 2015, and help promote jobs.

Super speach...watch IT IS A GOOD ONE !

Experts "travaille" sur les "eurobonds" à Strasbourg - we are screwed !

Les "eurobonds" reviennent. La Commission européenne a annoncé mardi 2 juillet à Strasbourg la formation d'un groupe d'experts pour évaluer les avantages et les risques d'une mutualisation partielle de la dette au sein de la zone euro, vue comme une première étape vers la mise en place d'obligations communes (euro-obligations).

La Commission avait décidé de mettre en place ce groupe d'experts en contrepartie d'un renforcement de la discipline budgétaire décidée au printemps, et sous la pression du Parlement européen. Onze experts font partie de ce groupe, dont l'économiste française Agnès Benassy. Ce groupe devait initialement présenter ses conclusions d'ici mars 2014, mais aucune indication calendaire n'a été fournie mardi.

Le rôle de ce groupe est d'analyser les avantages et obstacles à la mise en place d'un fonds d'amortissement, qui permettrait de mutualiser une partie de la dette de la zone euro, ou la mise en place d'"eurobills", des titres de dette communs à court terme.

PRESSION DE BERLIN - Le sujet est particulièrement délicat car l'Allemagne, qui emprunte à très bas coût sur le marché de la dette, refuse toute forme de mutualisation de la celle-ci au sein de la zone euro. Le sujet a été maintes fois évoqué, et toujours repoussé à plus tard, sous la pression de Berlin.

Pendant la partie la plus aiguë de la crise, de nombreux responsables politiques et économistes plaidaient pour la mise en place d'euro-obligations, afin de faire baisser la pression sur les pays les plus fragiles de la zone euro, dont les taux d'emprunt atteignaient des niveaux insupportables.

"Les membres de ce groupe d'experts, dirigé par M^me Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, ancienne membre du directoire de la Banque centrale européenne, possèdent une expertise impressionnante et ont des parcours variés. Je leur fais confiance pour donner des conseils précieux sur ces questions très complexes d'un point de vue politique, économique et juridique", a affirmé le président de la Commission, José Manuel Barroso, qui s'exprimait devant le Parlement européen.

Hey Mario: what part of "FUCK OFF" don't you undestand.

EUROSMOKE AND LIES - “The answer to the crisis has not been less Europe but more Europe... The EU and the [euro] are no exceptions. The choice is between adapting them to the new conditions or do nothing and risk their dissolution.” The EU is a body primarily driven by pure politics without any ameliorating rational input from experts in economics markets science etc. Both the creation of the Eurozone and the FTT were political projects making extensive use of confirmation bias and totally ignoring expert advice. The Eurozone is a failure and the FTT will kill off the City as well as destroy markets inside the EU which both sovereign states and EU companies rely on. Politicians and bureaucrats taking the decision have never even heard of the repo market but they are about to find out how important it was once they destroy it. Rational thought would mean taking account of the views of experts on the FTT but the FTT is a political dream where there is no room for reality. If there was there would be no FTT. Any organization run by purely political decisions is going to lose out against a more rational response elsewhere in the world. I doubt the EU will ever base its decisions on rational thought processes rather than politics as there is no mechanism in place to force elite politicians to take note of experts. In their conceit they only see their own narcissistic beliefs as relevant to decision taking. Confirmation bias means that politicians start by already knowing the answers and see the job as putting their irrational policies in place. When policies do not work in the real world confirmation bias is called upon again to warp data to explain failure without ever seeing any need to change policy. Failure followed by more failure is guaranteed by the political approach. Pressure from the UK public to leave will increase noticeably once the FTT is in place and the City goes down the tubes. This will be extensively reported by the media. How often have we heard this before? You will never convince the average Brit that having more decisions taken by the unelected elite in Brussels is going to deliver anything for us. The nearer you get to a EUSSR the less the Brits will like it and the more we will want to leave. We have a totally different mentality to the majority of the EU who think that taking all decisions centrally will lead to economic success. That idea is seen as rubbish here and unworldly. To work in the real world the people taking the decisions would have to real experts in many fields and driven by rationality instead of politics. That can never happen in the EU as it is a political construct. Instead decisions are from over-conceited politicians and bureaucrats whose knowledge and understanding of the real world is minimal. Whatever Draghi says about banking reform will be politically based and not based on research by experts. The starting point always has to be 'more EU' whereas it is unlikely in the real world that all answers would come out to be simply as case of more EU solving the problem. That is illogical. Draghi : "If we are successful in establishing (a federal Europe) as I am sure we will be..." "Europe is much more stable today (thanks to me)..." There you have it. Breathtaking arrogance combined with delusion. The only option we have is to gtf away from pr!cks like this.

Hmmm...I wonder what would the master EU idiot - Ollie R. say about this ...

Telling people that they can lose their deposits, even possibly below guaranteed amount (100,000 euros), which later was retracted, had not been a mistake. Firstly people realized and got used to the idea that such thing was no longer unthinkable. Secondly, by hitting deposits above 100,000 euros with up to 40% (or even maybe up to 60%) tax, it was made clear that such hit can be very hard indeed. Not some 6.75% or 9.9% as originally mooted: so now it is matter for the 'financial markets' to extend their target, below 100,000 euros. It is indeed a very primitive piece of social engineering and coaching people for the forthcoming loss. It is preparing psychologically all countries in Europe for the next step of the largest heist in history: direct and hard targeting of people's deposits. There is also a rather ironic twist in the events in Cyprus. It has been widely reported that many billions of euros held in banks in Cyprus came from all sorts of dodgy businesses (Russia?). There is even a whispering subliminal propaganda designed to make it easier to accept this new phase of the largest heist in history. The message is that there is nothing wrong in stealing money from the thieves.

Technically what happened there was that the billions of euros in cash deposited in Cyprus was used to redeem for a lot of toxic waste of the financial institutions (it is called 'making investments' in a financial language, with depositors cash). So, as expected, those who had cash ended up with nothing and those who held (and are still generating) zillions of toxic waste, got another tranche of their heist. The largest heist in history continues. Now...if it is true, as it is widely rumored, that many billions of euros of mafia money have been kept in Cyprus and now something like 40% or even 60% are going to be lost, one could wonder whether European politicians, central bankers, who drive this process, e.g. finance ministers, or some other decision makers, even lower down the chain, are going to sleep comfortably. Or are they going to think more about their own and their families safety? Is mafia going to accept such multibillion euros loss? Or would they plan to teach a lesson in order to get their money back, to get a compensation for the current 'inconvenience' and mess and to make sure such a thing is unthinkable in the future. Mafia starts wars when there is big money at stake. And in Cyprus some powerful groups lost billions of euros. Therefore we can also look forward to listen to some interesting news. Don't be surprised.

The eurozone will remain mired in recession in 2013 and leading nations such as France and Spain will miss debt-cutting targets, the European commission has admitted, backtracking on forecasts that the 17- country bloc will grow this year.

The European Union's executive body blamed a lack of bank lending to households and businesses, and record joblessness, for delaying the recovery. Unemployment in the eurozone is set to peak at 12% in 2013, or more than 19 million people, it said. Greece and Spain will be the worst-hit countries, with jobless rates of 27% this year.

The estimate highlights the widening chasm between Germany and France, the two largest eurozone economies, amid warnings this week that France is drifting closer to the bloc's periphery than its main economic rival. The commission predicts that Germany will grow by 0.5% this year, while France is expected to eke out just 0.1% growth. Joblessness among the French is expected to hit 10.7%, compared with 5.7% in Germany.

A senior ally of German chancellor Angela Merkel accused France of being a "problem child" in the eurozone. Michael Fuchs told German radio the French needed to save, implement economic reforms and work longer hours. "Other countries have done their homework a lot more intensively, for example Spain and Italy … but the French believed they could escape this," he said.

Marco Buti, the commission's director general for economic and financial affairs, said unemployment remained unacceptably high. This had grave social consequences, he said, and could weigh on growth in the future if it becomes entrenched. The figures also have consequences for the UK because the eurozone is the economy's largest trading partner and is the fulcrum of hopes for an export-led recovery in Britain's finances.

The commission said the threat of a breakup of the eurozone had receded and financial market conditions had improved substantially, but the impact had not yet fed through into the real economy. As a result, it said the 17 eurozone economies would contract by 0.3% in 2013 rather than grow by 0.1%, as previously predicted.

MADRID—Spain has been quietly tapping the country's richest piggy bank, the Social Security Reserve Fund, as a buyer of last resort for Spanish government bonds, raising questions about the fund's role as guarantor of future pension payouts. Now the scarcely noticed borrowing spree, carried out amid a prolonged economic crisis, is about to end, because there is little left to take. At least 90% of the €65 billion ($85.7 billion) fund has been invested in increasingly risky Spanish debt, according to official figures, and the government has begun withdrawing cash for emergency payments. Although the trend has drawn little public attention or controversy, it has become a matter of concern for the relatively few independent financial analysts who study the fund, which is used to guarantee future payments of pensions. They say the government will soon have one less recourse to finance itself as it faces another year of recession and painful austerity measures to close a big budget deficit. That pressure, some analysts said, could force Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government to seek a rescue this year from the European Union's bailout fund, a politically risky course he seeks to avoid. In addition, there are worries that Social Security reserves for paying future pensioners are running out much quicker than expected. In November, the government withdrew €4 billion from the reserve fund to pay pensions, the second time in history it had withdrawn cash. The first time was in September, when it took €3 billion to cover unspecified treasury needs. Together, the emergency withdrawals surpassed the legal annual limit, so the government temporarily raised the cap. Demonstrators including a retired couple and their daughter marched at a protest against tax increases and austerity cutbacks in Malaga, southern Spain, in October. Spanish officials defend the heavy investment of the Social Security Reserve Fund in their government's high-risk bonds. They say the practice is sustainable as long as Spain can continue borrowing in financial markets, and they predict the economy will start to recover late in 2013, easing the debt crisis. But some analysts say Spain will have trouble finding buyers for the estimated €207 billion in debt it plans to issue in 2013, up from €186 billion in 2012, to cover central-government operations, debt maturities of 17 regional administrations, and overdue energy bills. "With foreign investors staying away from the Spanish debt market, you're going to need all the support you can get from domestic players," said Rubén Segura-Cayuela, an economist with Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. And domestic appetite for Spanish debt, he added, may not be enough. Spain's commercial banks already have increased their Spanish government-bond portfolio by a factor of six since the start of the crisis in 2008, and now own one-third of government bonds in circulation. The percentage of Spanish government debt held by the Social Security Reserve Fund stood at 55% in 2008, according to official figures; by the end of 2011 it had risen to 90%. Analysts say the percentage has continued to rise, even as international agencies have lowered Spain's credit ratings.

Growth in China, Risks in the USA...If the situation in Southern Europe doesn't improve in 2013, the German economy will become even more dependent on consumers in the rest of the world -- particularly in the United States and China.

Concerns about a slump in Chinese growth have eased recently, with the World Bank revising its growth forecast upwards. And demand from emerging economies continues to be good.

But the situation in the US is more difficult. President Barack Obama's re-election has dispelled some uncertainty, but the country's political divide is deeper than ever before. The brinkmanship that saw a deal reached on Jan. 1 on the "fiscal cliff" may have averted disaster, but it hardly inspires confidence in the world's largest economy. And while there may have been a last-minute deal, it is difficult to predict what effect it will have. After the Democrats and Republicans reached an 11th-hour deal on the budget in 2011, rating agency Standard & Poor's responded to the deal by stripping the US of its highest rating.

The shakier the global economy, the more important domestic demand becomes. In Germany, companies have been wavering for some time, with investment in new equipment declining over the past year. Consumers, on the other hand, have been a driver of the German economy, a first in a country that has often been criticized for its heavily export-dependent economy.

"Even during the financial crisis, consumption was solid as a rock," said Ifo's Carstensen. "That was because the labor market was supported by measures such as shorter working hours."

However, at the end of 2012, that mood deteriorated, with the GfK consumer confidence index falling twice in a row, largely because of fears over employment prospects. According to a survey by insurer Allianz, the fear of job losses has increased significantly over the past year. Thus far, many German companies had continued to hire new staff, while existing workers benefited from salary increases secured through collective bargaining agreements. According to Weber, however, "that positive trend in the labor market is broken."

During the 2009 financial crisis, after the federal government introduced its short-time working program, many German companies sucessfully avoided layoffs. And Weber believes 2013 will not see any catastrophic plunge. "There will be no major downturn," he says, but rather "more of a long, drawn-out dampening."

Data from Barclaycard says sales in the run-up to Christmas have risen just 0.7pc compared to last year.

Although there was an overall rise, there were falls in food and drink sales, clothing, and department stores. Sales slowed through the month as customers appeared to wait as late as possible for deals. The data paints a concerning picture for the high street, with online sales rising 11.1pc compared to last year, significantly ahead of overall sales growth. Online sales now account for more than a fifth of spending in the UK for the first time.

Barclaycard has compiled comprehensive spending data for the first time this Christmas using transactions from its 11m customers in the UK. It covers the period from November 1 to December 14, showing a spike in online sales in late November and early December as consumers snapped up products. There then followed a lull in spending. On December 14, sales were down 2.8pc compared to the same time last year....Widespread price promotions are being offered to last-minute Christmas shoppers by retailers hoping to ring up record sales this weekend. Three-quarters of shops have sales or advertising promotions in their windows, but discounts are not as big as in 2011, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Shoppers are being offered discounts averaging 44%, compared with 48% this time last year. Visa expects to process 31.9m transactions on Saturday , or £15,000 every second, as consumers take advantage of late-night and early-morning shopping to purchase presents. Retailers including John Lewis and HMV will keep some branches open until 10pm on what is expected to be the busiest shopping day of the year.

"Despite a cautious start to consumer spending in the build-up to Christmas, we are now expecting the high street to see its busiest day of the year on Saturday as shoppers hunt for last-minute gifts for family and friends," said Steve Perry, commercial director at Visa Europe.

EU leaders have agreed on a roadmap for eurozone integration beyond the deal on centralised banking supervision, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

Specific dates have not yet been agreed for the phases of integration. But the EU summit chairman, Herman Van Rompuy, said a deal should be reached next year on a joint resolution scheme for winding up failed banks.

Mr Van Rompuy's far-reaching roadmap was the main topic of the two-day Brussels summit. Speaking after the summit talks, French President Francois Hollande said: "There is no doubt today about the integrity of the eurozone - Europe cannot now be taken by surprise."

But beyond the banking reforms, he said, Europe must address the problems of unemployment and feeble growth.

The deal to make the European Central Bank (ECB) the chief regulator should pave the way for direct recapitalisation of struggling eurozone banks by the main bailout fund, the 500bn-euro (£406bn; $654bn) European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Spain is especially anxious to get that help for its debt-laden banks.

Direct recapitalisation would help break the "vicious circle" in which bank debts have put a crippling burden on national budgets and led to massive taxpayer-funded bailouts. However, Germany insists that the ESM should not be used to write off the existing "legacy" debts that have burdened Spain, Greece and the Republic of Ireland. Any ESM loans will be accompanied by tough rules on budget discipline.

The German (Fourth Reich's ) Governor of Greece - Horst Reichenbach made no comments !!!!!

No final decision on next tranche of Greek bailout expected today, despite "broadly positive" Troika report ( Governor's Horst Reichenbach report in fact).

The German finance ministry has declared that there is no chance of a deal today on Greece's bailout programme, despite Athens approving its 2013 budget last night.

Ministry spokeswoman Marianne Kothe told reporters in Berlin that it wasn't realistic to expect a decision at tonight's Eurogroup meeting (of euro finance ministers), particularly as German MPs must have their say first.

Kothe said: Everyone is working under a lot of pressure to resolve questions which are still open...I think it's rather unrealistic to expect a final decision today as in Germany the Bundestag has to agree to it in advance.

There are also reports this morning that Jean-Claude Juncker, chair of the eurogroup, has also ruled out a decision this evening.

The precise whereabouts of the Troika report on Greece is another issue ... Germany's Kothe said today that she didn't think the final version was complete yet...in fact The German (Fourth Reich's ) Governor of Greece - Horst Reichenbach made no comments !!!!!

The European Union's Autumn economic forecasts said gross domestic product (GDP) across the 17-nation currency area would shrink 0.4pc in 2012 and that it would take until 2014 to recover, with expected growth then of 1.4pc.

"Europe is going through a difficult process of macro-economic rebalancing, which will still last for some time," EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a statement, pointing to a gradual pick-up "from early next year."

The Commission expected the United States to far outstrip Europe, with steadily-increasing growth above the two-percent mark going forward.

However, Rehn said there is still a risk that record and mounting unemployment - put at nearly 12pc next year across the debt and austerity ravaged eurozone - could undo progress on financial markets where the pressures on government borrowing rates have eased in the past few months.

With inflation at next year forecast to "fall below two percent," the core target underpinning eurozone-wide economic planning, Rehn said that decisions taken at some two dozen crisis summits had "laid the foundations for strengthening confidence."
A German government spokesman told reporters that parts of the troika report on Greece would be ready by Monday, although they added that Germany’s lower house of parliament would need to approve the tranche before any cash could be disbursed.

Banks have virtually admitted to fraudulent activities or in their words "mis-selling",

Although most banks have copped a plea over rate rigging, money laundering and PPI fraud and won't be appearing in a court room any time soon, that still doesn't stopindividuals or class action law suits taking place. We should remember that "mis-selling" in banking parlance is viewed as "fraud" in the public's vocabulary and that is why they copped a plea to stop court actions to test this position. We have seen a few of these private cases already happening in the USA from large investors and considering the banks have virtually admitted to fraudulent activities or in their words "mis-selling", the evidence is sitting there to take them to court for having all manner of common banking products being rigged against the customer.

Up till now its only the large organizations who have taken the steps to sue the banks but there's no reason why it shouldn't dribble downwards to Mr. & Mrs. Joe Public with a 100k mortgage or an investment whose costs or returns were adversely affected by interest rate rigging. Then there's the common cash ISA's which millions of people have in the UK let alone normal savings. Just how much would that cost to re-imburse people for lost interest.

All that needs to be proved in court is that your banking product was adversely affected by your bank rigging interest rates, commodity prices, power costs, etc, etc and the banks are f***** big time. This is the reason the banks have caved in so easily to the regulators to try and deflect the small investor from taking legal action. However, it won't be long before claims company's create a simple program to figure out how much extra a borrower paid on their mortgage due to the illegal actions of banks and then sue them for compensation and of course their 30% cut. If the banks think they're nearing the end of their self inflicted troubles, don't believe a word of it as there is a lot more to come and some banks will more than likely go under. For savers and perhaps investors, its probably a good move to rate the banks on their exposure to self created criminal behavior and if your bank is in the top 10 banks for future 'fraud' compensation, then pull your savings before they go bust as the FSCS has limits to compensation whatever the government says.

Remember, you heard this first here as I predict that within a year we'll see banks paying compensation on inflated & manipulated mortgage interest rates....
The upper echelons of the EU are showing their mastery (or maybe only their determination) in hiding unconvenient things from the public once again. Interesting to note, that during the start of the Target2 discussion in Germany, a Germany economist did an analysis of the collateral, that southern states had provided for their Target2 liablilities. And the result had been quite shocking, from Spain, he found a loan by Real Madrid, that had been created to buy Christiano Ronaldo and from Portugal there was something, you could call a really long-term bond, since it had an interest rate of 0% and a maturity time of 9999 years (and thats not a typo).Basically - as they proclaimed - the ECB will do "everything" to prop up the south, no matter how risky or legit, as long as they can plaster over the cracks of EMU.
And hey, after all the South has the absolute voting majority in the ECB directorate. Why so shy showing that you are damn well using it?


 

Germany's finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has been talking to Reuters ahead of the G20 summit in Mexico this weekend. He said he did not want the two-day meeting in Mexico City to concentrate exclusively on the eurozone crisis to the detriment of other urgent issues such as the "fiscal cliff" facing the United States and Japan's debt problems.

"The United States and Japan bear as great a responsibility for (ensuring stability) as we Europeans," he said.

"The G20 economies must decisively win back confidence with structural reforms and sustainable financial policies. This is the most important precondition for strengthening global economic conditions," Schaeuble said.

"Without consolidation and reforms we risk further loss of confidence and still less growth. No sustainable growth can be built on a mountain of debt," said the minister, known for his advocacy of fiscal rigour even in times of recession.

Schaeuble has taken a tough line on Greece and other weaker members of the eurozone during the region's three-year sovereign debt crisis, insisting they swallow austerity medicine even as their economies sink deeper into recession.

But he had warm words for Spain, saying it was on the "right path" and that there were signs - seen for example in falling wage costs and in the current account - that its economic imbalances were improving.

Schaeuble reiterated that Greece, still locked in difficult talks with its international creditors aimed at averting bankruptcy, must implement the tough measures it has promised.

The yield on Spanish 10-year government bonds rose sharply Tuesday back above 6pc for the first time in over a week following a meeting of eurozone finance ministers where there was no movement on a possible Spanish bailout.

In early trading the yield rose to 6.095pc on the secondary market, compared to 5.714pc at Monday's close. It had been below 6pc, a level considered by many economists to be unsustainable in the long term, since September 28.

"At the Eurogroup meeting, no progress was made on other 'hot' topics which gather attention today, chief among them being the expected request by the Spanish government for a precautionary credit line from the ESM," said Credit Agricole economist Slavena Nazarova.

The eurozone on Monday unlocked its €500bn crisis war chest, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) as Spain agonised over whether to seek a full bailout.

Spain's heavy debt refinancing burden and high borrowing costs are widely expected to force it to seek a bailout soon, with market pressure likely to rise on Madrid as it faces some 30 billion euros in repayments this month.

Draghi's expanding battery of weapons for combating the euro crisis is to be strengthened immensely on Wednesday when the European Commission unveils new draft legislation putting the ECB in charge of supervising the eurozone's 6,000 banks, with the power to grant and withdraw licences. Within a month of taking office last November, Draghi delivered a coup, launching a trillion-euro programme of cheap loans for Europe's banks. Last Thursday he went much further, announcing a new policy of limitless purchasing of eurozone government bonds known as OMT — outright monetary transactions. The markets went quiet, Spain, Italy, and Ireland rejoiced, as Draghi emphasised for the third time in six weeks that the euro is irreversible. He framed his bold intervention as solidly within his remit to defend the embattled currency. But German monetary purists erupted in howls of protest, although it was the German on the ECB's six-strong executive, Jörg Asmussen, who played a key role in drafting the new policy. "Only a currency whose existence is out of the question can be stable," Asmussen told the Guardian in an interview. "What for us is clearly within our mandate is to guarantee the stability of the euro." Extreme times generate extreme moves. There is no doubt that the eurozone's exhausted political leaders are quietly relieved that Draghi is taking some of the heat out of the crisis. While Merkel, the central actor in the euro drama, could never say so publicly, her aides have been known to concede that Draghi is the only person who can rescue the euro – so let him get on with it. And since the stakes could hardly be higher, for Asmussen the end would appear to justify the means.

Well....as far as Spain goes :

Option 1 :
a country like Spain asks for a bailout and has its budget (and therefore its entire legislative programme) subject to the oversight of the ECB. Death of democracy.
Option 2 :
a country like Spain asks for a bailout but refuses the oversight of the ECB on its legislature ; spurned by the ECB and the markets it crashes out of the Eurozone. Death of the Euro.

German MP makes new bid to stop eurozone rescue fund

Last night one of Angela Merkel's MPs launched another legal challenge to Europe's new bailout fund (the ESM), on the back of the European Central bank's bond-buying plan announced last week.

Peter Gauweiler, a CDU backbencher, argues that the Outright Monetary Transactions programme (in which the ECB would buy up government debt under certain conditions) violates German law.

He has asked Germany's constitutional court to consider this issue alongside the existing challenge to the ESM.

Gauweiler's office argued that the unlimited bond-buying programme announced by Mario Draghi last Thursday had "created a completely new situation"r regarding the ESM, making the impact on Germany's taxpayers "completely incalculable".

In a statement, Gauweiler said:

The ESM -- insofar as it is constitutionally viable at all -- should only come into force when the ECB has taken back its self-awarded power as a hyper rescue-shield.

It's not immediately clear if the Constitutional Court has accepted Gauweiler's complaint, or if it will affect the decision due on Wednesday.

German vice-chancellor Philipp Rösler urged calm last night, saying he couldn't see that the two issues were particularly linked.

'If Germany goes under then the Titanic really hits the iceberg'

The Chinese are worried that Europe is going to collapse. The Europeans are worried that China is going to Collapse. Actually both are headed for Collapse. European demand comes from the north europeans lending to south europeans to consume in the hope that because they are in Eurozone, they will get repaid. Not going to happen, all that is lent will be written off one way or another.

Chinese demand is based on construction of empty cities, empty skyscrapers, trains on which nobody rides, highways and bridges to nowhere, municipal offices that look like palaces and factories to produce this malinvestment.

There is a saying in Chinese, A day comes when the yellow river clears. Well, the Chinese have run out of money, construction has halted across china, steel is piling up, iron ore is piling up. Dealers are choking on unsold cars. Nobody is taking delivery of ships the shipbuilders are building. Don't expect the chinese to keep buying German cars, French wine , Italian leather or Swiss watches. The south europeans have run out of money, don't expect them to buy chinese toys or electronics....Money supply numbers may be just based on channel stuffing. Don't expect it to put food on your table. Inventory liquidation will start soon, then we will find out who has been swimming without clothes

Isay : Merkel desperately sucking up to the Chinese, hoping that they can take up the slack for the increasing effect of falling demand in the Eurozone, to paraphrase a pundit on RT today, 'If Germany goes under then the Titanic really hits the iceberg'