Showing posts with label consultants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label consultants. Show all posts

Monday, October 27, 2014

Europe was alight with speculation on Friday about verdicts on the financial health of the region’s 130 largest lenders.
The big question was - and, well 25 failed -  which banks might fail the central bank’s review and how much new capital might be needed for the banks to survive. Estimates of the capital shortfall varied widely, from about 10 billion euros, or about $12.6 billion, to as much as €50 billion. The central bank’s review was based on figures at the end of 2013. Banks that have not passed muster and have not taken steps to shore up their finances will have nine months to top up their reserves. Otherwise, they risk being shut down. The central bank noted the results would not be final until approved by its governing council Sunday morning. “Until that time, any media reports on the outcome of the tests are by their nature highly speculative,” it said. Banks were informed of the preliminary results of the review and stress tests on Thursday. They will not know for sure whether they passed or failed until Sunday, shortly before the public disclosure. Most analysts expected the shortfall to be relatively modest, in part because bankers have known for a year that the test was coming and have sold risky assets and raised more capital, money that is available to absorb losses and is crucial to a bank’s survival in a crisis. “The number of banks that would need to raise additional capital will be limited,” analysts at Barclays said in a note to clients on Friday. “This is due to the substantial pre-emptive measures that the banks have already undertaken.” Betting on which banks would do better or worse than expected was rampant on Friday. Trading was suspended on Friday in shares of the Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena after they jumped more than 10 percent on the strength of speculation that it would fare better than expected under European Central Bank scrutiny. The larger question is whether the review, which included an audit of bank holdings followed by so-called stress tests of their ability to withstand a crisis, will remove doubts about the underlying health of eurozone lenders and make it easier for them to raise money that they can lend to customers.
Jörg Krämer, chief economist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, was pessimistic about the effect that the review would have on the eurozone economy. The reason for declining credit in the eurozone is not that banks cannot lend, he said on Friday, but that businesses do not want to borrow. “The stress tests will help certain countries like Italy and Spain,” Mr. Krämer said in a meeting with a small group of journalists. “But it won’t be a breakthrough for the whole eurozone.” There could be a sell-off in financial markets on Monday if the central bank uncovers a bigger capital gap than expected. But there is also a risk of a negative market reaction if the review appears to be too lax. Previous stress tests by other regulators gave stamps of approval to banks that later failed, undermining trust in the whole banking system. The European Central Bank has a strong incentive to be tough. It will become the overall supervisor of eurozone banks on Nov. 4, and needs to show it has the skills and backbone to do the job. “If convincing enough, the assessment can support sentiment, the eurozone economy and the banks,” Suvi Kosonen, an analyst at ING Bank, said in a note on Friday.
The central bank conducted the stress tests with the European Banking Authority, which will simultaneously release results on Sunday that include lenders in European Union countries that are not in the eurozone, like Britain and Sweden. Banks found short of capital will have two weeks to submit a plan to the central bank on how they will shore up their finances. Even banks that pass could find themselves under pressure to raise more capital, if they pass only narrowly. The audit will expose that banks may have been overvaluing their assets or failing to set aside enough money to cover bad loans.(source NYT)

Thursday, September 18, 2014

A fortnight ago, about 130 business leaders, who between them employ 50,000 people in Scotland, wrote an open letter in the Scotsman newspaper saying No Thanks to separation. The group, led by the chief executive of engineering giant Weir, Keith Cochrane, said the “business case” for Scottish independence had not been made.

Kingfisher boss Cheshire does not believe Scotland will be able to keep the pound, which would mean repricing 35,00 products, with the cost being passed on to customers. He called on other business leaders to come out and make similar points, saying “It’s now or never.”
Jean-Bernard Levy, the head of France’s Thales – Britain’s second-largest defence contractor – said a yes vote would force the company to reconsider its facilities on both sides of the border.
BP boss Bob Dudley, said he does not want to see Scotland “drifting away” from the UK, because independence would almost certainly mean higher costs for his business.
HSBC chairman Douglas Flint has warned that uncertainty over Scotland’s currency could prompt capital flight from the country and leave it in a “parlous” financial state.
Weir, one of Scotland’s biggest companies, said independence will “guarantee” higher costs for business but produce few and uncertain benefits, after commissioning a report on the economics.
Standard Life, one of the main pillars of Scotland’s finance industry, has set up English subsidiaries as a part of “contingency” planning that could see it quit Scotland.
Royal Bank of Scotland, Scotland’s biggest bank, has tried not to raise the temperature despite harbouring concerns over the risks to its credit rating and business.
Lloyds Banking Group has warned of a “material impact” on its costs and borrowing, implying a knock-on impact for businesses and customers for the owner of Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland.
Alliance Trust, a pensions and savings firm based in Dundee, has been registering companies in England.
Former Sainsbury’s boss Justin King, was accused of scaremongering by the Scottish National party when he warned that independence could mean higher food prices north of the border. Asda and Morrisons have also warned consumers would face higher prices, reflecting the higher transport costs for some remote areas.

 

Friday, November 15, 2013

"David Cameron and other European
Union leaders need to show the same political courage and vision of Winston Churchill's call for "a kind of United States of Europe", José Manuel Barroso has said."
It takes possibly more courage to say "NO" to such nonsense.
Continuing down the now clearly wrong path. with a EU that has changed almost completely from the "Common Market" it started out as, will require courage, a lot of it, and the ordinary working people have that in abundance- question is which of our "leaders" has that and is willing to pay the price it requires- "You cannot please all of the people all of the time!" The wise leader right now will see that its much better. long-term, to please his own people, and stop listening to the EU loonies who say thay can please all the people, all the time- they can't, they haven't and they won't ! Get us out of this obvious compromised loyalty mess- get out of the EU, and do it NOW!...This man and Van Rumpooy are at the top of the EU tree. Unelected by any of the people of the EU they have insurmountable power and can do as they wish. Thus we the people have been denied democracy. They are not bound by MEP's voting in the EU parliament and can and do ignore their wishes. EU rules trump national laws and regulation where the EU has competency, The EU has competency where it has been given to them by the governments(politicians) of the sovereign members. Thus we have a politburo largely ruling over us. Not the trading arrangement that was voted on in the 1970's is it. They use every crisis as a means of even more control over our lives. The EU is like a rather fat and unpleasant spider, and we are caught in its web!...I have been warning about the ever increasing powers of the EU for some time now, could this be the straw that finally breaks the camels back? What sovereign Govt. will tolerate such interference in it's financial affairs? If this measure is allowed to happen it signals the end of Democracy in Europe, is that a price worth paying? As I see it we now have no choice but to vote UKIP to remove ourselves from this wholly dictatorial club before we lose our sovereignty forever, Rule Britannia!!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

The following information focuses on earthquakes because seismic activity poses a significant risk for Romania. However, Romania is at risk for other natural and manmade hazards. While much of the information below specifically addresses earthquakes, it is applicable to multiple hazards, and we encourage you to think broadly about the possible risks you and your family may face and to be prepared for any kind of emergency that may arise.
Romania is situated in a seismically active region and has a history of devastating and deadly earthquakes. The Bucharest area has experienced a number of tremors of varying intensities, and the probability that a severe and damaging earthquake will occur is high. The consequences of such a disaster will vary greatly depending upon the circumstances surrounding the quake, and no one can predict with any certainty what conditions will exist immediately following an intensive shock.
It is prudent that everyone be prepared to care for themselves in the immediate aftermath of a major earthquake. Every family and company should develop its own emergency plan, stock its own emergency survival kit, and ensure that its personnel and their family members familiarize themselves with emergency procedures and take precautions to protect their personal safety.

The Role of the Embassy

The Romanian Government is responsible for assisting foreigners in the event of a disaster, but authorities may be stretched beyond their capacity to respond in the immediate aftermath of a major earthquake. Telephone services will be severely overloaded, if they are functioning at all, and the Romanian Government will likely restrict phone use to priority users. Nonetheless, the Embassy will quickly want to ascertain the welfare and whereabouts of American citizens.
To aid in this process, American citizens should cooperate with Romanian authorities at evacuation sites and clearly identify themselves as Americans. Those connected with larger organizations such as companies, schools, or church groups should try to let these organizations know of their welfare and whereabouts if this is practical. If possible, American citizens should try to contact their American Citizen Services wardens and/or the Embassy.

The Embassy will be in touch with the Romanian Government and with larger umbrella organizations to attempt to identify as many American citizens as possible and determine their welfare. In the likely event that it is impossible to communicate by telephone or use motor vehicles, Embassy consular assistance teams may be deployed to major evacuation sites, international schools, hotels etc. to collect information from and about American citizens.

The Embassy will help provide information about the situation and communicate with Romanian government officials, if necessary, in order to obtain proper food, shelter and medical attention. However, a significant earthquake will likely overwhelm the Romanian government’s resources and individuals should be prepared to provide for their own emergency needs.
We will pass as much information as possible about the welfare of individual U.S. citizens back to the Department of State in Washington, D.C. so that this information may be shared with families, friends and employers.

The Role of the Romanian Government

The Romanian Civil Protection Command is part of the Romanian Defense System and is responsible for protecting the population, assets, national heritage and geographical environment in case of a natural disaster. The command’s activities include disaster intervention, search & rescue, warning and notification, sheltering, evacuation, etc. A central committee for evacuations is set up under authority of the Government if evacuation is required. In the event of a disaster, the location of the centers is determined depending on the area affected and the type of disaster that occurred. The Civil Protection Command coordinates with the local authorities in order to notify the population regarding evacuation or taking shelter.

Evacuations

Evacuations will likely occur after an earthquake. City authorities will issue evacuation advice. Americans, as well as others affected by the disaster, may seek assistance from the Romanian authorities, but you should be prepared to take care of your own emergency needs for the first several days of any disaster.

Earthquake Preparedness/Survival Information

FEMA produces a comprehensive Disaster Preparedness Guide called Are You Ready?, which can be easily downloaded by section or in its entirety. This indepth guide provides a step-by-step approach to citizen preparedness by walking the reader through how to learn more about local emergency plans, how to identify hazards that affect their local area, and how to develop and maintain an emergency communications plan and disaster supplies kit. Other topics covered include evacuation, emergency public shelters, animals in disaster, and information specific to people with disabilities. However, it is designed primarily for residents of the United States, and not all of the information will be relevant to disaster preparedness in Romania. Regardless, it can be a useful resource and a good starting place when preparing for a disaster.

Additional resources are also available online. Please visit the following websites for additional information about preparing for a disaster:

Emergency Supply Kit

Essential Supplies (Store enough for three-five days)
 
  • Water (four liters or one gallon per person per day. Change water every three to five months)
  • Food (canned or pre-cooked, requiring no heat or water. Consider special dietary needs for infants, the elderly, pets, etc.). Can opener.
  • Flashlight with spare batteries and bulbs
  • Radio (battery operated with spare batteries)
  • Large plastic trash bags (for trash, waste, water protection, ground cloth, temporary blanket)
  • Hand soap and/or disinfecting hand cleaner gel that does not require water
  • Feminine hygiene supplies, infant supplies, toilet paper
  • Essential medications as required; glasses if you normally wear contacts
  • Paper plates, cups, plastic utensils, cooking foil and plastic wrap and paper towels
  • First Aid kit with instructions
  • Lei, euros, and/or dollars in small bills (ATMs may not work after a disaster), with coins and phone cards for public phones. Credit cards.
  • Sturdy, closed-toed shoes and work gloves
Place emergency supplies in a sturdy tub where you can quickly and easily access your kit.

Essential Home Preparations Before a Disaster
 
  • Secure water heaters, refrigerators and tall and heavy furniture to the walls to prevent falling.
  • Move heavy items to lower shelves, and install latches or other locking devices on cabinets.
  • Install flexible connections on gas appliances.
  • Remove or isolate flammable materials.
  • Move beds and children's play areas away from heavy objects which may fall in an earthquake.
  • Register at Embassy or Consulate serving your area. You can do so online at https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ui/ or contact the U.S. Embassy to register.
Essential Planning Before a Disaster
 
  • Draw a floor plan of your home showing the location of exit windows and doors, utility cut off points, emergency supplies, food, tools, etc. Share it with housekeeper, babysitters, neighbors, and guests.
  • Establish family meeting points with alternate sites inside and outside of your home for all members to gather in the event of an evacuation.
  • Establish reunion sites with alternate sites for when the family is not at home, e.g., local shelter, neighbor's house, park, school.
  • Designate a person outside of your immediate area for separated family members to call to report their location and condition if separated.
  • Learn or establish disaster policy/planning at your children's school.
  • Know your neighbors and make them aware of the number of people and pets living in your home.
  • Learn where the nearest designated shelter for your neighborhood is.
  • Photocopy passports and other important documents. Store copies away from home (for example, at work). Scan important information and keep a thumb drive with critical documents in a safe, easy-to-access place or save it in email that you can access from anywhere.
  • Learn how to contact the police, fire and rescue services in Romanian. Be able to provide your address in Romanian.
Essential Steps Immediately After a Disaster
 
  • Check your immediate surroundings for fire, gas leaks, broken glass, and other hazards.
  • Check your home for significant damage. Do not remain in your home if you believe there has been structural damage.
  • Open doors and/or windows to avoid being locked in if there are after-shocks.
  • Contact one friend or relative in the U.S., and ask them to inform other parties of your situation.
  • Monitor local TV and radio for evacuation information. Contact your American Citizen Warden or the Embassy, if possible.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Negociators Thursday plunged into difficult budget talks to avoid a repeat crisis within months, and quickly agreed to lower their sights from the sort of grand bargain that has eluded the two parties for three years.
After approval late Wednesday of the agreement ending the standoff, the deal-making mantle shifted overnight from the leaders of the Senate to the Budget Committee leaders, Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, and Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, two less senior lawmakers who nonetheless could make very effective salespeople since they command loyal followings in their parties. The political pressure lifted as well, for now. But the need for a bipartisan breakthrough, even a modest one, was amplified by the economic costs wrought by the 16-day shutdown and near-default on government obligations.       
“The key now is a budget that cuts out the things that we don’t need, closes corporate tax loopholes that don’t help create jobs, and frees up resources for the things that do help us grow — like education and infrastructure and research,” President Obama said Thursday from the White House, setting ambitious goals for Congress even as his own role in the bargaining was unclear.
The question of what a new House-Senate budget conference can deliver by its Dec. 13 deadline — in time for Congress to act by Jan. 15 on funding to keep the government open — remained the subject of deep skepticism, well earned by past failures at reaching so-called grand bargains for deficit reduction and spending investments in the past three years.
With the scope of the talks narrowed for now, on the table are ideas left over from past, failed bargaining: possible reductions in other programs — like farm subsidies, federal pensions, the Postal Service and unemployment insurance — and relatively minimal tax loophole closings, possibly as little as $55 billion.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Several hundreds of people were protesting in the village of Silistea-Pungesti in Eastern Romania on Wednesday against plans by US company Chevron to start operating the first shale gas exploration drill in the county of Vaslui, news agency Agerpres reports.
Protesters - some of whom have come from the Barlad, Iasi and other cities in the region of Moldova, Eastern Romania, some of whom are locals from Pungesti - installed tents on the field where Chevron machines are to be deployed. They remained there over night to protest today and said they would not leave the perimeter and would not allow representatives of the US company to come to the area.
On Wednesday afternoon, some 500 people were taking part in the protest. Some locals forced a line of intervention police deployed in the area and managed to reach the perimeter they were not allowed in. Vaslui county prefect Radu Renga warned that laws must be complied it and that gendarmes have to intervene when public order and traffic on public roads are affected.
The first exploration drill is to be deployed in the close vicinity of the village of Pungesti.
Chevron Romania holds another three certificates for the county of Vaslui to start explorations in order to identify possible shale gas reserves.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Talks on forming a new German coalition between Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and their main leftist rivals are under way in Berlin.  Her Christian Democrats (CDU) fell just short of an outright majority at last month's polls, when their liberal partner won no seats at all.   Seven leading figures from the CDU are meeting seven counterparts from the Social Democrats (SPD).   The SPD is seen as their likeliest new partner despite sharp differences.  Also present at the talks are seven members of Mrs Merkel's Bavarian allies, the Christian Social Union.   Key issues are taxation and a proposed national minimum wage.   If a grand coalition is forged by the two main parties, like the one Mrs Merkel led in 2005, it faces the twin tasks of rebalancing the eurozone's biggest economy and winning the support of the German public to tackle the eurozone's debt and banking problems.  The SPD, which has not won an election since 2002, has said that any deal must be approved by its membership.   Keeping its options open, Mrs Merkel's party is also holding preliminary talks next week with the Greens. At the election on 22 September, the CDU took about 41.5% of the vote, the SPD won 26%, the Greens 8.4%, and the former communist Left Party 8.6%.   The CDU's previous coalition partner, the Free Democrats, narrowly failed to cross the 5% threshold for entering parliament.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Japan's government is to spend almost $500m (£320m) in an attempt to contain leaks and decontaminate highly toxic water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The measures, announced on Tuesday, come as the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), struggles to prevent leaks into the Pacific Ocean and to find a way to contain and treat the huge volume of water that has accumulated at the site since it was hit by a tsunami in March 2011. The decision is widely seen as a safety appeal just days before the International Olympic Committee chooses between Tokyo, Istanbul and Madrid on which city will host the 2020 Olympics. The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said the government would take a more active role in the biggest nuclear cleanup in history, amid mounting concern that Tepco is no longer able to cope alone. "The world is watching to see if we can carry out the decommissioning of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, including addressing the contaminated water issues," Abe reportedly told cabinet ministers. Reports said that about 32bn yen of the 47bn yen in new funding would be spent on constructing a 1.4km-long underground frozen wall around four damaged reactors – an untested and expensive technique. The wall would prevent groundwater from mixing with coolant water that becomes contaminated after it comes into contact with melted nuclear fuel. A further 15bn yen will be spent on improving technology to remove all radioactive particles – except tritium – from the water, or to least reduce them to legally accepted levels. The head of Japan's nuclear watchdog, Shunichi Tanaka, confirmed on Monday that discharging treated water into the ocean is one option under consideration. Given the large volumes involved, experts say that Tepco will soon run out of storage space and will have no choice than to discharge or evaporate the contaminated water....
These are the facts :
1. TEPCO has "no idea" where the melted reactor cores from reactors 1,3 and 4 have gone. They know that they are somewhere under the remains of the shattered and sinking reactor buildings but where remains a mystery
2. Radiation on site will kill an unprotected man in just 4 hours. Something is extremely hot (which is why they keep having to spray thousands of gallons every day) and extremely radioactive. See point 1 for a clue what
3. Heat + Radioactivity = bonkers ice wall not working, that is assuming that they are able to successfully build it
4. Reactor 4's shattered building is sinking diagonally. The entire site is built on aquifers, its extremely soft thanks to the earthquake + tsunami + water spray. TEPCO need to manually remove the 1,300 fuel rods from the pool above what's left of reactor 4 (never been done before)
5. Ground water is now just over a foot away from the surface and rising. Its extremely radioactive (see points 1 and 2) and if it does reach the surface would force the evacuation of personnel. Remove them and that removes both the bonkers ice wall project and the ability to (a) cool and (b) remove the 1,300 fuel rods. That means an uncontrolled nuclear fire.

All of that is just reactor 4. 1 and 3 are also shattered though in a slightly less precarious state, 5 + 6 are shut down with the fuel extant. With the greatest of respect, an untested ice wall is not the solution. Fukushima is an ongoing disaster so great that it literally threatens the continuation of Japan as a nation, and a much larger area should another earthquake topple reactor 4's building and expose the fuel rods. And they are bidding for the Olympics? FFS

Friday, August 30, 2013

In Germany, the finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has completed an outspoken week with a flourish.
Speaking to German daily Handelsblatt, in an interview published this morning, Mr Schaeuble revisited talk of a third bail-out for Greece, following on from his surprise admission about the prospect earlier this week. Today, he added that, while Greece is likely to need another rescue package, that the sums involved will not be as high as the earlier deals, which totaled €240bn. He's also insisted that Greece will not get another debt haircut.

We have held out the prospect of further aid, on condition that the government in Athens meet its agreed commitments and on the expectation the sums involved will be much smaller than before.

I don't want to be accused, after the election, of not having said the truth before the election.

I'm happy that the broad public is aware of what I've been saying for a long time, that we'll have to look next year at further measures for Greece.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Syriza's Tsipras pushes war reparations issus -- Wolfgang Schäuble may be on a charm offensive but behind-the-scenes there is much talk of war reparations. War reparations are a neuralgic point that few German politicians can ever avoid and today, as finance minister Schäuble held talks with prime minister Antonis Samaras and other officials in Athens' governing coalition, the main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras ensured it was raised.Meeting Greece’s octogenarian head of state, Carolos Papoulias, barely a block away, the radical leftist repeated that it was wrong to sweep the issue of compensation for crimes committed during the Nazis’ savage occupation of the country “under the carpet.”A world war II veteran, Papoulias has strongly supported the compensation claim. Schäuble has been one of the most fiercest critics of Greece’s attempt to win further reparations from Berlin saying “the issue was settled a long time ago. Paying reparations is out of the question.”His rejection has added to the sour mood between the two countries. In the war of words between Athens and Berlin over the issue, Tsipras hopes to at least have embarrassed Schäuble on his home turf....Schäuble is "who many in Greece blame for pushing the tough cutbacks forced on the country in recent years." Hardly surprising, given the deft way Greek politicians have of passing the laws that they've negotiated, and then blithely putting the blame on the Troika for everything.
"I'm not the super-troika" commented Schäuble to German TV, before setting off.  The cuts in the public sector aren't new. They've been in every memorandum since 2011. Maybe even since 2010, the first memorandum.  So, the Papandreou, and then Papademos, and now the Samaras administration ducked and they weaved and palavered for a few years, until it finally hit the top of the prior items list. They'd have been better to have got it done fast, back when their was more popular support for reforms. A point made by the extremely annoying Alexis Papachelas at ekathimerini. But he, too, has this Samaras habit of just deftly putting it on the Troika.
The troika’s big mistake...Those among us, however, who could see a little bit further down the road had seen that the socialist PASOK’s party old guard, together with the unionists and the core members of the administration, would seek to block any ambitious reform effort.
Ably helped by Mr. Samaras and New Democracy, naturally. This weary "we could see it all coming" tone really gets on my wick. If New Democracy were so clever and far-seeing, then they should have formed a government of national unity to get the Reforms through. Which is what Samaras was requested to do.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Best wishes to the Greek people. Considering that I am a right of centre poster I'm not always that impressed by some strikes. Much of that comes from the British memory of the 1970s 'I'm alright Jack' (Peter Sellers film) type of Union action which was unhelpful to the British economy.
 Greece is an entirely different case, and more or less the only avenue that your average Greek citizen has left to register their protest at the troika and corrupt Greek political class. Though one day mass walkouts can only go so far, and have to wonder if more sustained action will eventually be needed to bring down the government.
Eurozone industrial output slips in May - Industrial output in the eurozone has come in largely as expected, slipping 0.3% in May from April.
In annual terms, output fell 1.3%, according to data from Eurostat.
There was some mildly positive news in revisions to previous data, with output now believed to have expanded 0.5% on the month in April, compared with a previous reading of 0.4%.
Further details from Eurostat also bring some welcome cheer for Portugal, which tops the industrial growth league in May. Eurostat reports:  Among the European Union member states for which data are available, industrial production fell in thirteen, rose in nine and remained stable in the UK. The largest decreases were registered in Romania (-10.7%), Lithuania
(-6.3%) and Sweden (-3.8%), and the highest increases in Portugal (+6.1%), Latvia (+2.2%) and Estonia (+2.0%).
Looking at the drivers of production throughout the eurozone, Eurostat says:  In May 2013 compared with April 2013, production of durable consumer goods dropped by 2.3% in the euro area. Capital goods decreased by 1.5%. Energy rose by 0.1%. Intermediate goods grew by 0.4%. Non-durable consumer goods increased by 0.6%.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

The European Commission released the details of its proposals for a single bank resolution mechanism. Here's the run-down of their plans - stupidity has no limit ...it seems...:
 
1. The ECB, as the supervisor, would signal when a bank in the euro area or established in a Member State participating in the Banking Union was in severe financial difficulties and needed to be resolved.
2. A Single Resolution Board, consisting of representatives from the ECB, the European Commission and the relevant national authorities (those where the bank has its headquarters as well as branches and/or subsidiaries), would prepare the resolution of a bank. It would have broad powers to analyze and define the approach for resolving a bank: which tools to use, and how the European Resolution Fund should be involved. National resolution authorities would be closely involved in this work.
3. On the basis of the Single Resolution Board's recommendation, or on its own initiative, the Commission would decide whether and when to place a bank into resolution and would set out a framework for the use of resolution tools and the fund. For legal reasons, the final say could not be with the Board.
4. Under the supervision of the Single Resolution Board, national resolution authorities would be in charge of the execution of the resolution plan.
5. The Single Resolution Board would oversee the resolution. It would monitor the execution at national level by the national resolution authorities and, should a national resolution authority not comply with its decision, it could directly address executive orders to the troubled banks.
6. A Single Bank Resolution Fund would be set up under the control of the Single Resolution Board to ensure the availability of medium-term funding support while the bank was restructured. It would be funded by contributions from the banking sector, replacing the national resolution funds of the euro area Member States and of Member States participating in the Banking Union, as set up by the draft Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

UK to claw back power from the EU.

EUOBSERVER(source)BRUSSELS - The UK wants to retain 35 EU-wide police and justice laws out of some 130 in its wider efforts to claw back power from the EU.
“We believe the UK should opt out of the measures in question for reasons of principle, policy, and pragmatism,” UK home secretary Theresa May told ministers in London on Tuesday (9 July).
Tory-right wingers want to repatriate all 133 laws, but May said the UK should retain its co-operation with the EU police agency, Europol, and the EU's joint judicial authority, Eurojust.
“We should opt in post-adoption provided that Europol is not given the power to direct national law enforcement agencies to initiate investigations or share data that conflicts with our national security,” she noted.
The European Arrest Warrant will also figure into UK’s provisional opt-in list but with added conditions to better protect British nationals of extradition to other member states in case of minor offences.  May wants to amend the Extradition Act so that people in the UK can only be extradited under the European Arrest Warrant when the requesting state has already made a decision to charge and a decision to try. The UK parliament is set to vote and adopt the measures next week but opposition ministers say they need more time to examine the 159-page document that details the government’s full plans. Others accused the home secretary of double standards over the government’s stated position on EU-related justice issues.
May had previously suggested that the European Arrest Warrant was not in the UK’s interest. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said “the home secretary has been forced to admit the truth, Britain does need the European Arrest Warrant, it does need joint-investigation teams, Europol, the exchange of criminal records, and help to tackle online child abuse.” Other proposed desired opt-in laws include the principle of mutual recognition to financial penalties, confiscation orders, and simplifying the exchange of information and intelligence between law enforcement authorities with member states.
The UK has to accept all 133 measures, made before the Lisbon Treaty was adopted in 2009, or reject them all. If it rejects them all, it can then opt back into individual laws it wants to keep.
The decision must be made by June 2014 or all the EU laws, as of December of the same year, will be subject to oversight by EU judges as well as the European Commission’s enforcement powers.
“Following our discussions in Europe, another vote will be held on the final list of measures that the UK will formally apply to rejoin,” said May. Some senior government officials see the move as part of David Cameron’s push for an in/out referendum on its EU membership.  MPs last week unanimously backed a bill that guarantees the popular vote by the end of the 2017. The opposition Labour party, however, boycotted the vote on the bill.
The commission, for its part, says it respects the UK government's choice to opt out, and welcomes the UK intention to also opt back into certain measures. “The commission will clearly need to take the necessary time to assess the indicative list of proposals for opting back in that the UK has outlined,” said a commission spokesperson in a statement. The commission will formulate an official position after it receives formal notice following the December 2014 deadline.  Official negotiations between the two have yet to start.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

ECB - Troubled bank balance sheets ...

Troubled bank balance sheets had the potential to “choke the engine of recovery” in the 17-nation bloc, and “exert a more persistent drag on economic growth,” said Mr Coeuré, who sits on the executive board of the European Central Bank (ECB). Mr Coeuré said ailing banks had to be repaired or shut down. Failure to do so could result in a decade of stagnant growth in the eurozone, similar to Japan in the 1990s. He said the eurozone crisis risked creating a Japanese-style wave of “zombie banks” in which lenders, fearful of falling foul of capital rules, chose to “evergreen” - or roll over - bad loans instead of recognizing losses on their books. This had led to the “perverse” practice of banks extending credit to insolvent borrowers, rather than lend to creditworthy firms, said Mr Coeuré. Banks then “gambl[ed] on the hope that [firms] would recover or that the government would bail them out”. Mr Coeuré called on leaders to complete the steps needed to implement the eurozone’s banking union. He also said measures were needed to tackle youth unemployment...
Meanwhile, Olli Rehn, an incompetent idiot, the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, said the next tranche of Greece’s bail-out could be paid in installments amid growing frustration with Athens’ slow pace of reform.
“It is possible, but not certain,” Mr Rehn said on Friday. “It all depends on whether Greece can meet all requirements that they are committed to.”  A separate report by the European Commission and the ECB showed that Spain’s troubled lenders did not need further taxpayer support. The eurozone’s fourth largest economy has so far received €41.3bn to recapitalize its banks....
German politicians have been vocal in their opposition to the EU Commission's plans for a single bank resolution authority, concerned that it could override a national decision on how to deal with a struggling bank. Yesterday finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned that the plans could require treaty change. I would strongly ask the commission in its proposal for a [single resolution mechanism] to be very careful, and to stick to the limited interpretation of the given treaty.  We have to stick to the given legal basis, as otherwise we risk major turbulence.  More on the plans for the so-called "single resolution mechanism" to be proposed by the EU Commission today.  If plans go ahead at the planned pace, a new agency within the European Central Bank will be in charge of the wind-down or rescue of failed banks by 2015. The eventual aim is for the ECB to draw from a common multibillion euro fund, supplied by eurozone banks. However, since it will take years to accumulate the €60bn needed for a bank resolution fund, it will be limited to overseeing national-level bank bail-outs to begin with.


 

Sunday, June 30, 2013

....Move on, nothing to see here....or is it ?

At least the French have a convincing politician to whom they can turn.  She also doesn't pull her punches on the unmitigated and undeniable social and cultural disaster that is mass immigration.  All we have in our political class are varying degrees of effete, self serving liars, traitors and multi-cult fetishists.
Mrs Le Pen said her first order of business on setting foot in the Elysee Palace will be to announce a referendum on EU membership, "rendez vous" one year later. "I will negotiate over the points on which there can be no compromise. If the result is inadequate, I will call for withdrawal," she said. It is no longer an implausible prospect. "We cannot be seduced," she said, brimming with confidence after her party secured 46pc of the vote in a by-election earthquake a week ago. Her candidate trounced the ruling Socialists in their own bastion of Villeneuve-sur-Lot.  "The euro ceases to exist the moment that France leaves, and that is our incredible strength. What are they going to do, send in tanks?" she told the Daily Telegraph at the Front National's headquarters, an unmarked building tucked away in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. Her office is small and workaday, almost austere. "Europe is just a great bluff. One side there is the immense power of sovereign peoples, and on the other side are a few technocrats," she said. For the first time, the Front National is running level with the two governing parties of post-War France, Socialists and Gaullistes. All are near 21pc in national polls, though the Front alone has the wind in its sails. Yet it is the detail in the Villeneuve vote that has shocked the political class. The Front scored highest in the most Socialist cantons, a sign that it may be breaking out of its Right-wing enclaves to become the mass movement of the white working class....
Asked if she intends to pull France of the euro immediately, she said: "Yes, because the euro blocks all economic decisions. France is not a country that cannot accept tutelage from Brussels," she said. Officials will be told to draw up plans for the restoration of the franc. Eurozone leaders will face a stark choice: either work with France for a "sortie concertee" or coordinated EMU break-up: or await their fate. Mrs Le Pen fears that other EMU states will resist and let "financial Armaggedon" run its course, but it is a risk that has be taken. Her plan is based on a study by economists from l'École des Hautes Études in Paris led by Professor Jacques Sapir. It concludes that France, Italy, and Spain would all benefit greatly from EMU-exit, restoring lost labour competitiveness at a stroke without years of depression. They say the eurozone's North-South imbalances have already gone beyond the point of no return. Attempts to reverse this by deflation and wage cuts must entail mass unemployment and loss of the industrial core. The current strategy of internal devaluation is self-defeating in any case, since recession causes debt ratios to climb faster. 
No mention of this Euro bombshell in: Der Spiegel, El Pais, BBC
and very little in Le Monde....Move on, nothing to see here.
There is hope, real hope, that the Euro monster will implode.
And before you call me racist, I love Europe, the culture and the people. I am a European....Please don't get me wrong. I deplore the EU and all it claims to stand for (itself)!!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Spanish industrial production dives again - The economic crisis in Spain continues. Data released this morning showed that industrial production in the country tumbled by 6.5% in February, compared with a year ago.
That's the 18th monthly contraction in a row.
The slump was driven by a double-digit decline in production of durable goods for consumers, who are suffering badly as Madrid implements its austerity programme.
But production was also down across the board, from other consumer goods to large-scale industrial equipment:
Spanish industrial production, February 2013
Many Spanish factories have closed since the financial crisis struck, creating a vicious circle of rising unemployment and falling demand.
One example, thousands of people were employed at a door factory in the town in Villacanas, south of Madrid. In the good days they churned out products for Spain's property boom - but the plant is now closed, along with most of of the Villacanas industrial park....
The picture is slightly better in France this morning, where industrial production only fell by 2.8% year-on-year in February, and actually picked up by 0.7% compared with January.
I'll be tracking the reaction to today's data, and watching developments across the eurozone -- particularly Slovenia (whose PM yesterday rejected speculation that a bailout would be needed), and Cyprus (where time is running out to agree its bailout).

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Cypriots face a suspension of credit card payments for overseas goods and a ban on cashing cheques under draft capital controls designed to avert a run on the banks. Here is the government document outlining the capital controls in full. The only notable correction from the measures outlined at 15.51 is that the limit on cash that can be taken out of the country per trip abroad is €1,000, not €3,000 as previously reported: Cypriot finance minister Michalis Sarris has said capital controls are needed because of the "lack of substantial liquidity and significant risk of deposits outflow, with a possible outcome the collapse of the credit institutions". This could cause "chain effects that could lead to systemic instability of the financial system and have destabilizing consequences on the economy as a whole".... Cyprus central bank official Yiangos Dimitriou has confirmed that the cashing of checks will be banned as part of the introduction of capital controls. Dimitriou also told state TV channel CYBC that bank withdrawals will be limited to €300 a day, and that the effectiveness of the controls will be evaluated on a daily basis.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

European leaders have finally agreed a budget deal for the rest of the decade after a marathon 25-and-a-half hour negotiation session in Brussels, that will lead to the first cut in EU spending in its 56-year history.
Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European council who chaired the negotiations, broke the news on Twitter. He tweeted at 4.22pm local time on Friday: "Deal done! #euco has agreed on #MFF for the rest of the decade. Worth waiting for."
David Cameron, who had demanded a cut or at least a freeze in real terms in the near €1tn (£850bn) budget, will claim victory after the European council president proposed a €34.4bn cut over the next seven years.
Van Rompuy finally clinched the deal after all-night talks, which finally took shape when he tabled budget proposals at 6am following a night of haggling at the EU summit described by one official as "like a bazaar".
Cameron sustained himself through the night with Haribos sweets and copious cups of coffee from a Nespresso machine in the UK delegation room at the EC's Justus Lipsius building.
Shortly before 6.30am, the EU's 27 leaders filed into the council chamber to debate Van Rompuy's proposal to cut the "payment ceiling", likened to a credit card limit, for the next seven-year budget from €942.8bn to €908.4bn. This represents 0.95% of EU GNI – slightly below the 1% demanded by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.
Van Rompuy proposed cutting the higher "commitment ceiling" from €993.6bn for the last budget from 2007-13 to €960bn for 2014-20.
Dalia Grybauskaite, the Lithuanian president who was the EU's budget commissioner during the last negotiations in 2005, indicated at around 4am that the EU was on the verge of agreeing its first budget cut. The EU has agreed seven-year budgets since 1993.
"It looks quite difficult still, because for the first time really we do see the chances for real budget cut, it has never been before," Grybauskaite said. "Of course it is difficult for some member states, it is difficult for parliament to accept, and why we're probably in so, so long talks."
The moves towards a deal came after scratchy negotiations that saw France's president, François Hollande, dig in his heels against the British prime minister's drive to slash the budget. He stayed away from a meeting with Cameron and Merkel, aimed at forging a compromise.
Van Rompuy had planned to table a "negotiating box" containing his proposed numbers at around 3pm on Thursday. But he held back while he conducted negotiations with member states before and after a dinner session on Thursday night.
As Van Rompuy continued his negotiations past midnight and into the early hours with individual member states, some leaders were left to kick their heels. Cameron and Merkel were understood to have slept on sofas in their delegation rooms.
At 3.30am, Elio di Rupo, the Belgian prime minister, went into the press bar to eat a sandwich and to forecast hours of negotiations.
One EU diplomat complained that Van Rompuy had adopted crude tactics in which he bought off individual member states with "gifts" while cutting EU-wide infrastructure projects such as the Connecting Europe initiative. "Growth has been the victim of the bazaar," the source said.
Hollande had made clear he wanted to challenge Britain when he led a troika of France, Italy and Spain apparently resolved to resist Downing Street. Cameron met Merkel and the two EU presidents, José Manuel Barroso and Van Rompuy, to explore the potential for agreement on Thursday evening. Hollande was expected to attend the meeting, which went on for more than an hour. When he did not turn up, Van Rompuy, chairing the summit, repeatedly phoned the French leader to summon him to the negotiation.
"Hollande was not even answering his mobile," said a senior EU official. "The French are playing tough, very tough, more so than in November," when a previous summit foundered on Cameron's insistence on cutting €30bn from the proposed budget.
Despite the Anglo-French clash there was consensus on the need for cuts. "The question is how much," said the Latvian prime minister, Valdis Dombrovskis. Hollande said this week that €960bn was his bottom line. And going into the summit he said he would question Britain's contested budget rebate.
"It's got to be possible to find an agreement," the French president said. "If certain [countries] are unreasonable I'll try to reason with them but only up to a point … we need to have a little clarity in the rebates, cheques and refunds given to some and not to others and certainly not to France."
Cameron declared that the spending cuts taking place across the different countries had to be replicated in the EU budget. "The numbers are much too high," he said. "They need to come down – and if they don't come down there won't be a deal." To complicate the matter further, Britain is insisting on a different criterion for determining the budget.
The figures initially presented by Van Rompuy in November referred to pledges or "commitments" in the project planning for seven years from 2014. Britain uses a different yardstick: that of "payments", referring to the money actually spent, which usually comes out lower. In the seven years until now the gap between the two was €50bn. Under Van Rompuy's new proposals the gap is €51.6bn for the next budget round.
Downing Street is demanding the lower figure be taken as the cap on what may be spent. The deal looks as though it will be finessed by using both sets of figures to enable conflicting sides to claim victory from very different positions. "They will play on the difference between commitments and payments. That will allow France and Italy to claim they have defended their positions and Britain to claim they won," said an EU official.
Another official involved in drafting the proposed deal said: "There's always a gap between commitments and payments. There will be a gap. That's normal."
The overall budget has to be approved by the European parliament. Martin Schulz, the president of the parliament, made clear he was uneasy with Van Rompuy's plans when he raised concerns about a structural deficit in the EU budget. "The [budget] in the form currently being proposed, however, would turn what is already a legally highly questionable trend into a structural deficit," he told EU leaders.
Even after an agreement is reached on the headline figure, the big fight is likely to be over how to carve up a smaller cake. National and Brussels lobbying will press various claims for farm subsidies, structural funds for the poorest countries and regions, salaries, staffing and administration of the EU institutions, a new kitty aimed at getting the young back to work in areas of the highest unemployment, and infrastructure, broadband, and research investment aimed at spurring growth.
A particular target of the Cameron campaign is the cost of running and staffing the EU, which takes up a mere 4% of the overall budget. The prime minister is calling for savings of €7bn here, by shaving 10% off the salaries bill, curbing special tax rules for EU staff, reducing pensions benefits and altering the system of automatic promotions. It is understood that Van Rompuy is proposing a cut of around €2bn in the administration budget.
The summit's draft conclusions show the scale of the prime minister's success by stressing the need for restraint. The draft conclusions say the budget must act as a catalyst for growth but then add: "As fiscal discipline is reinforced in Europe, it is essential that the future multiannual financial framework [the seven-year budget] reflects the consolidation efforts being made by member states to bring deficit and debt onto a more sustainable path. The value of each euro spent must be carefully examined."
Critics of Britain will say that Cameron has not achieved a budget of €886bn set by Britain in 2011. UK officials say the government gave this figure based on EU spending in 2011 multiplied by seven years. Since 2011, spending has increased, making the comparison irrelevant.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Almost 200,000 people lost jobs between October and December to send the jobless figure to nearly 6m, Spain's National Statistics Institute reported on Thursday.
Spain's youth unemployment - the number aged 16 to 24 without a job - hit a new quarterly high of 55pc, but showed tentative signs of retreating after falling from a peak of 56.5pc in November. Similarly, overall unemployment hit a high in November of 26.6pc and slid in December.
Meanwhile, the number of households in which every member is out of work climbed to 1.8m, more than one tenth of all Spanish families.
The report also suggests the long-term unemployed face a tougher struggle in returning to work, with the number of people remaining unemployed more than a year after losing their jobs rising by 213,800 during 2012.
The bleak figures - which make Spain home to a third of the eurozone's total unemployed - will cast a dark shadow over the one-year-old premiership of Mariano Rajoy, who has faced mounting criticism and a wave of general strikes over his administration's handling of the economy.
Well there is one comment that comes to mind.....
They think its all over..... It is now..
Now we know why last week we had all the talking heads out telling us how great everything is.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Poor countries with loans from the IMF can continue to pay no interest until the end of 2014, the Fund's board said on Friday, as their economies are still recovering from the global economic crisis. The IMF's zero-interest loan program for low-income countries had been set to expire at the end of this year. "The executive board decision to keep interest rates at zero ... is testament to the Fund's continued support for low-income countries since the global economic crisis hit in 2009," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a statement. The IMF decided in 2009 to allow countries eligible for its anti-poverty loan program to pay zero interest on loans in light of the financial crisis.
The Fund also set a target to raise $17 billion to lend to the poorest countries, which are threatened by the risk of euro-zone contagion and by a drop-off in foreign aid after the global recession. IMF's Lagarde has pushed to meet that goal, seeking to ease concerns that the IMF and donor nations may turn a blind eye to the world's poor as they focus on containing the euro zone crisis.
In September, the IMF said it would distribute a $3.8 billion windfall from gold sales to its 188 member countries if they agreed to commit most of the money to the anti-poverty loan program.