The US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which is overseeing the remains of failed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is reportedly planning to argue that America's biggest banks failed to check the health of mortgages before they sold them on to investors. The collapse of hundreds of thousands of sub-prime mortgages triggered the 2008 credit crisis and the collapse of Fannie and Freddie. The New York Times said the FHFA is expected to file the lawsuit against the banks, including Bank of America, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, as early as Friday. The agency, which is seeking billions of dollars in compensation, claims the banks failed to notice that borrowers were taking on mortgages that they could not afford. The FHFA lawsuit, which follows a subpoena issued to the banks last year, demands that the banks pay compensation to cover some of the $30bn (£18.5bn) Fannie and Freddie lost on mortgage-backed securities. Most of Fannie and Freddie's losses were borne by US taxpayers after the government was forced to step in and bailout the pair to the tune of $141bn. It follows a similar $900m lawsuit filed against Swiss bank UBS in July. At the time UBS said it would "vigorously" defend all charges brought against it. In total the FHFA issued 64 subpoenas to the issuers and servicers of mortgage-backed securities last year. Last week the agency's director, Edward DeMarco, who declined to discuss the pending lawsuit, said there were "more to come". The banks declined to comment to the New York Times.

Earlier, London shares had collapsed after Thursday's heavy selling on Wall Street prompted steep falls on Asian bourses. Fears that the global economy was heading for a double-dip recession, and signs that Europe's bailout of Greece could collapse, saw the FTSE lose more than 3% of its value at one stage, sending it well below the 5000 mark. The steadier start to trading on Wall Street helped calm nerves in the City at the end of another frenetic week that saw markets once again focus on their two major concerns: growth and the fragility of Europe's single currency. "This week has seen a continuation of the trend of weaker than expected data and political reaction to the European problems which pretty much amounts to 'let's have a get-together a couple of times a year'," said Gary Jenkins, an analyst at Evolution Securities. The jittery atmosphere sent investors heading once again to the safe havens of the Swiss franc, the Japanese yen and gold. Bullion rose as high as $1,881 an ounce, with some dealers expecting it to test the $2,000 an ounce level over the coming weeks. On the foreign exchanges, the dollar dropped to just under ¥76 against the Japanese currency and was also down against the Swiss franc and the pound. The dollar's fall helped underpin oil prices, with a barrel of Brent crude trading almost $2 higher at just under $109 a barrel. Switzerland's two biggest banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, have denied that they made use of the Federal Reserve's swap facility via the Swiss National Bank, insisting they have no liquidity problems. There had been speculation that a Swiss bank had accessed the US liquidity facility via a $200m repurchase transaction with the SNB last week.

US Federal Regulators (FTC) - are stepping up their scrutiny of the US arms of Europe's largest banks, amid mounting concerns that the eurozone debt crisis could spill into the American banking system. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which oversees the US operations of many large European banks, has been asking for more information about their ability to fund themselves, the Wall Street Journal reported. It wants to know whether they have reliable access to the funds needed to operate on a day-to-day basis in the US, and is pushing them to turn their US businesses into self-financed organisations that are better insulated from potential problems with their parent companies. Officials at the New York Fed are "very concerned" about European banks facing funding difficulties in the US, a senior executive at a major European bank who has attended talks with officials told the Journal. The New York Fed has also been co-ordinating with New York's superintendent of financial services, Benjamin M Lawsky, to monitor European banks' funding positions, amid fears that those in trouble could siphon money out of their US arms. According to Federal Reserve data, foreign banks, many of which have big trading operations in the US, have seen their funding positions there fluctuate wildly in recent months.

BERLIN—Barely 12 hours after a reluctant European Central Bank breathed new life into the euro project, German politics dashed hopes that Europe would soon receive a bigger bulwark against a spreading government-debt crisis. A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Christoph Steegmans, removed hopes of a more robust European Financial Stability Facility, saying the fund will stay as agreed at a July 21 European Union summit. "The EFSF will remain what it is, and keep the volume it had before July 21," Mr. Steegmans said at a regular government press conference. The ECB Sunday made a landmark decision to expand its bond-buying program to include Italian and Spanish government debt, a step aimed at stopping a market sell-off that threatened to send their borrowing costs to unsustainable peaks. The ECB hesitated last week to take such a step, which greatly expands its role as an underwriter of government finances. But it was deemed critical to buy time until an improved bailout fund, the EFSF, could be ratified and implemented before October. The changes to the EFSF mandate would allow the fund to buy government bonds in the secondary market. The European Commission has asked for a massive increase in the EFSF's current lending capacity of €440 billion ($628.23 billion) guaranteed by euro-zone governments. Market watchers said a new volume of up to €1.5 trillion or more might be needed to reassure investors that the fund can offset government solvency threats. The euro promptly lost much of the ground gained from the overnight ECB announcement as investors responded to German opposition to a massive build-up in the euro-zone's defenses against debt contagion.

In an embarrassing development for John Boehner, the Republican Congress speaker, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) ruled on Tuesday night that his bill would have only cut spending by $850bn (£517bn)over the next decade, not the $1.2tn he had aimed for. Republicans are now racing to rewrite the legislation, and have pushed back a congressional vote on the plan from Wednesday to Thursday at the earliest. Although Boehner was already struggling to find support for his package, the delay increases the risk that Washington will fail to agree a deal to raise the debt ceiling before 2 August, when the federal government is expected to run out of money. The dollar dropped against other currencies on Wednesday morning as investors faced the possibility that America could default. Several economists believe the country will lose its AAA credit rating within months, which would push up its borrowing costs, even if the $14.3tn debt ceiling is increased in time. The White House said on Tuesday it was working with Congress to devise a "Plan B" that might attract enough support. The two sides have been deeply divided for weeks, with Republicans demanding deep spending cuts and Democrats anxious to include tax rises as a major part of the deal.

Staple foods became 20 to 40% more expensive between July 2010 and February 2011, shows the Z.F. index calculated based on prices in Bucharest hypermarkets. ZF selected 15 products whose price it has been following since 2008, once every six months, at the same Bucharest hypermarkets, Carrefour Orhideea and Real Afi Cotroceni. These products were chosen because they are most often to be found in Romanians' purchase basket. (Z.F.)

In the calculation of this index, ZF chose one brand from each category of products, a brand that is well positioned in terms of market share, produced by one of the top-five players in the category. Therefore, one kilo of Băneasa flour costs 2.8 lei in February, 41.4% more than in July 2010. 1 Kilo of Lemarco sugar now costs 4.295 lei, compared with 3.28 lei, an increase of 30.9%. Similarly, the price of Floriol vegetable oil (1 litre) rose over 35%, from 5.11 lei to 6.91 lei. Data from the National Statistics Institute (INS) point to a 10.2% price increase for flour in the July 2010 - January 2011 period. Similarly, the increase amounted to 8.1% for sugar. The only products whose prices fell, of those analysed by ZF, were beer, mineral water, apples, with the decline amounting to 6.1%, 0.1% and 12.4% respectively.

Romanian tax authority ANAF will refund in January value added tax to companies worth 1.36 billion lei (EUR1=RON4.2621), the highest sum returned so far in a single month, the authority said Wednesday.

Romania To Pay VAT Refunds Worth RON1.36B In January

Of the total refunds, ANAF has already paid Monday RON557 million, and will pay the rest of the sum by the end of the month. Some RON1.21 billion of the total refunds represents compensations.

Real estate developers scheduled for delivery in 2011 at least eight retail projects in Romania totaling a surface of over 230,000 square meters, 17% more than the total area of projects completed in 2009, according to property analysts.

In 2009, developers completed retail projects totaling 195,000 sqm, according to CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) data.

Oradea Shopping City, Uvertura City Mall Botosani, Vitan Outlet Bucharest, Policolor Shopping Center Bucharest and Electroputere Shopping City Craiova are other projects scheduled for completion in 2011. Read more on http://www.mediafax.biz/. (Z.F.)euro, criza datoriilor de stat, euroscepticismul, monede nationale, renuntarea la euro, salvare euro, zona euro

Austria's Erste Bank has sold financial gold

BCR, the biggest domestic bank in terms of assets, is gearing up to enter the niche of gold sales to individuals, where only Greece's Piraeus is operating for the time being. Gold has this year brought a return of around 40% to investors, thus being one of the most profitable investments, just like in 2009, when it had climbed by 32%. Over the past two years, BCR, controlled by Austria's Erste Bank, has sold financial gold only to private banking clients, who have a greater financial power and are seeking ways to diversify their investments. Usually, the minimum quantity that had to be purchased stood at 5 kilos per deal, but smaller deliveries were also negotiated. As part of its new retail strategy, BCR is getting ready to sell gold bullion and coins issued by the Austrian Mint, starting from very small sizes, of just two grams, to one kilo. BCR will sell gold through certain selected branches, but Răzvan Furtună, head of the sales department of BCR Treasury, has not provided any further details for the time being.(Z.F.)euro, criza datoriilor de stat, euroscepticismul, monede nationale, renuntarea la euro, salvare euro, zona euro

Germany sees no alternative to the Euro

(Reuters) - Germany sees no alternative to the euro and Angela Merkel's government believes the best way to strengthen the currency which has helped make the German economy so competitive is closer policy convergence across Europe.
But with German public support in the balance for rescuing euro partners Greece, Ireland and possibly others, it is a tough message for the domestic audience. This explains the apparently mixed messages emerging from Berlin. Germany voices strong objections to some of the proposed solutions to the euro crisis, such as joint euro zone bonds, and Merkel's insistence on a crisis mechanism from 2013 involving private investors has upset markets.
"But in the end Germany has a vital interest in the survival of the currency union," Dekabank economist Andreas Scheuerle said. While mass-selling daily Bild runs headlines like "How Long Will the Euro Hold Out?" and some pundits suggest a north-south euro divide, the crisis seems to have hardened the German establishment's view that there is no alternative to the single currency. The government, including the sometimes fractious members of Merkel's centre-right coalition, plus the business world and the serious media are at pains to nix any talk of Germany losing its enthusiasm for the euro or returning to the deutschemark. Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle, from the Free Democrats, Merkel's often uneasy coalition partners, said on Thursday reinstating national currencies in the euro area was "not realistic". Merkel repeats that Europe's fate is inextricably tied to the currency shared by 16 countries and her comments on private investors needing to share in sovereign risk from 2013 reflect a belief that the euro will still be around. Currently enjoying a much stronger economic recovery than its partners, Germany may return to pre-crisis growth levels as early as next year, largely thanks to exports. So grumbles about the euro are slapped down with the argument that a revived deutschemark would quickly render German exports too expensive."The mark would be so overvalued against other currencies that our exports would be in trouble," said Andre Schwarz of the exporters' association BGA. "The solution is not to let the euro break up."Agerpres, Mediafax, Romanian Vancouver Sun,Global News, Financial Times,Le Monde,Tribune, ,Wall Street Journal,The Washington Times,Athens News,The New York Times,USA Today

The Irish government stood on the brink of collapse Monday

DUBLIN (Nov. 22) -- The Irish government stood on the brink of collapse Monday, a day after being forced to accept a massive bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said he would call an election for early next year, once Ireland passes an emergency budget and finalizes the bailout.The admission represented a huge political blow to Cowen, who only days ago was denying even the need for a bailout to solve the problems brought on by Irish banks' reckless speculation in overpriced real estate.
Ireland's six banks, five of which are already nationalized or part-owned by the state, would be pruned, merged and possibly sold off."Because of the huge risks they (Irish banks) took earlier this decade, they became a huge risk not only to this state but to the eurozone as a whole," he said.Irish banks invested aggressively in runaway property markets at home and abroad. After the 2008 credit crunch sent property prices into freefall, the government tried to save the banks from bankruptcy by insuring all of their borrowings against default. That unprecedented promise - made to retain investor confidence in the country - cannot be kept without a bailout, the government has finally been forced to concede.Unions warned that overhauling the banks would mean thousands more lost jobs in Ireland, where unemployment has already reached 13.6 percent, the second-highest rate in Europe after Spain.Banca Mondiala,FMI, Guvern,agenda de business, bugetul de stat, economie, revistapresei,romania,antena3.ro,realitatea.net,mediafax,bucuresti,camera de comert

"ID card-based" lending?

Bankers, who during the economic boom period lured clients with consumer loans granted upon proof of ID, have over the past two years been trying to offset the declining demand for large loans through aggressive promotional offers for credit cards, which have become the main growth driver of the retail segment overnight.
Amid the falling sales of traditional loans, could credit cards become the new form of ID card-based loans, given that as small sums are involved clients get such a product more easily?

Economists do not like such an outlook, rather viewing this as a bet on the future that could prove risky.Last year, many banks reported two-digit increases in the number of issued cards and the value of sums approved on such cards, as consumer loan portfolios shrank and housing loans were supported only by the "First Home" scheme.In 2010, card portfolios rose at a slower pace amid the prolonged recession, but promotions offers are still driving sales, even though at a slower pace. Banca Mondiala,FMI, Guvern,agenda de business, bugetul de stat, economie, revista presei,romania,antena3.ro,realitatea.net,mediafax,bucuresti,camera de comert