"DRAGHI SAYS EU BUDGET RULES ARE THERE TO BE RESPECTED" - Draghi also realises that big countries will ignore them with impugnity - just like they did the first time around. France is already in violation and knows full well that the EU and the ECB are utterly importent in the face of that.  Just as they were when Germany - yes, Germany - lead the way in breaking the rules shortly after the euro came into being. All countries remember this, espescially the ones on the receiving end of imperious Germanic lectures about "doing their homework".  Germany has made the classic mistake of doing well when others around it are doing badly, presuming this state of affairs will persist eternally and feeling it has a free hand to treat it's neighbours as it pleases. The moment German needs demand it, the Fiscal Pact will be out of the window; Anegla Merkel would be out of office within weeks if her government were to attempt the sort of austerity it has, in essence, forced upon Greece. The Netherlands were, if anything, even more hawkish than the Germans regarding "lazy Southerners" and wanted things like automatic fines. Then their own economy began to suffer the same problems and they also breached the rules - you don't hear much from them these days. Our Scottish friends may wish to ponder the huge difference in the treatment meted out to small countries as opposed to large ones in the EU. Of course, none of this should be greeted with any Satisfaction in the UK. A recession in the eurozone is bad for us too. Though thankfuly we have at least managed to dodge the madness of dropping a hand-grenade into the economy via a Scottish separation. Now, a worsening recession means there will be less taxable income for governments to fund ever growing entitlements. Add that to a huge pile of moldering away bad debts. What I see is not a solvable problem the way the world works today.

Neither Draghi or any of the bankers even bother to talk about the real problem of not enough regional income and too much government spending. Draghi’s only solution is some form of money printing. Printing money to pay bills might work over the short term. But long term, it cannot. If money printing works in the real world why not print and give every one a billion dollars, euros or yen?

The most Draghi can do is have the ECB print money to service existing bad debts made by banks and governments. But printing money to pay interest and principle on loans is not debt service. That is called money printing, debasing the currency whatever. Yes, governments want to do whatever possible to avoid bad times for its citizens. But, as someone else once said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Russia's ruling party is heading to a convincing victory in Crimea's polls, less than six months after annexing the region.

A preliminary count on Monday showed Crimea's regional branch of the United Russia party was leading with 71.04 percent of votes, after 50 percent of the ballots had been counted, Crimea's electoral commission said. The ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), led by firebrand lawyer Vladimir Zhirinovsky who backs the Kremlin, was running second with just over eight percent of the vote. No other party appeared to have broken the five percent barrier for representation in the Crimean regional parliament, with a turnout of around 52 percent. The residents of the Black Sea peninsula were voting to select politicians for the parliaments of Crimea and Sevastopol, and for local city councillors. In polls for the regional parliament of the city of Sevastopol, United Russia had won 76 percent, while LDPR won 7 percent, with 65 percent of the votes counted.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who leads the United Russia, said the vote proved Russia was acting legitimately in Crimea.  "All the participants in the electoral campaign in Crimea have proved to us and our neighbours that power in Russia is based on legal procedures," Medvedev said on Monday in remarks released by the government. However critics called foul, saying politics in the region had come to resemble the Soviet political landscape, with the election characterised by favoritism towards Russian President Vladimir Putin's ruling party. "Suddenly, in three months everything became United Russia here," Andrei Brezhnev, head of the Communist Party of Social Justice said.  Ukraine condemned the votes as illegitimate in a statement issued by its foreign ministry.

I have a feeling that this whole economic situation is going to end up with a "boy who cried wolf" scenario....there have been so many "crisis" stories since 2007 that no one cares any more, then one day we will wake up and the Euro will be on its knees ....then the media will be happy because there will be an actual crisis to report on !

In the mean time...A "French expansionary policy' would have to be paid for with German, Dutch, Finnish money. These payees may agree if as part of the package deal there was real external control at a federal level over spending in France (and Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece) and as a result of this control see a roll back of many aspects of the huge government spending in France where 65% of GDP is direct government spending. What the payees want is a reform of rigid labor markets and money to be spent on supporting projects that will employ people and not on cradle to grave government largesse beloved of French socialists. On the other hand, the French ideal is an agreement where they get pots of other peoples money to allow them to carry on exactly as they where doing and even expand the dirigiste state more. Mr Hollande made lots of election promises (eg hiring 65000 more teachers that he now he is President he knows France cannot afford. He would love Germany to pay. France (and others) will never give up an iota of sovereignty over their economy, so don't expect the Germans and others to agree to mutualize debts....Well...It is really all a big scam. Governments borrowing money that they know they wont pay back, banks doing the same, senior politicians and banksters all know that they will be retired soon, into the sunset with their golden pensions and pots of cash. They wont be around to live in the hell they have created. Meanwhile, the workers, the poor, the unemployed, the pensioners will all pay the price of rising unemployment, failed social systems and rising crime. Eventually there will be an overthrow of the current system, but the crooks will all be gone to Dubai, USA or some other capitalist entity that doesnt ask questions about how they got their money. I live in the UK, the poverty is visibly worse every day and our politicians do nothing. Same everwhere I guess. Pity. Within weeks of taking office at the start of the year he was flooding Europe's banks with €1tn in cheap, short-term credit. Was that the same cheap loan scheme that was known as LTRO? Long Term Refinancing Operation? Either way Angela seems to have it well under control. She will play it her way, loosen the purse strings as and when necessary. The Germans really couldn't give a damn but if, in their desperation, the EU wishes to place the future of Europe in her lap, who is she, a mere frau, to refuse? Interesting times. Time for us to think about where's the EXIT maybe?

Comments on EURO-JOBLESS rise: I believe that the politicians have let us down, are continuing to do so and will carry on doing it. Where I digress is that I believe they do not tell us the whole truth. And here i am thinking about Balls and Milliband junior who try to seduce us with easy solutions when there are none. This is a long haul and we have to cut Govt spending. to say otherwise is either cloud cuckoo land or lies.Although the unemployment figures are still dreadful I am assuming that the slight reduction in Portugal’s rates would have to do with seasonal work related to tourism which always influences partial figures for Q2 and Q3. Probably not really a trend, unfortunately.

And I wonder, as with Greece, if reality isn’t a bit worse in Portugal as I read a lot of reports of companies that don’t pay their employees. So, they are neither unemployed nor in meaningful employment. A bookshop chain where I regularly buy most of my literature apparently only pays their employees one wage every 3 months. Portuguese law only allows for a contract to be cancelled by an employee with a justifiable reason for non-payments if these are not paid for 3 months.  In this case this means that the employees cannot have access to the Portuguese equivalent of JSA or ESA but can’t also cancel their contract with justifiable reason, which would allow them to eventually claim those benefits. If they were to cancel their contracts at this stage they would actually need to pay probably pay some money back to the company as severance but would also lose all rights to claim for their missed wages for previous months....There is an alternative. A very good one. Watch. A bank charges interest to a firm which means it earns interest and can pay its staff. The staff then spend their money at the firm and get stuff the firm produces for them. The firm now has the income which it can use to pay the bank interest. Monetary result is zero (the bank interest charged paid for itself), but real goods and services were produced and transferred to bank staff. Money and goods are not the same thing. They operate in different circuits and respond in different ways. Why have a bank issuing money out of thin air?, that is still a Monetary based system. Why not have a Resource based system?. An economy based upon meeting peoples needs (and desires) while accepting there are finite resources in the world to be shared amongst the population. Any system based upon interest is fundamentally flawed and damages us and the environment in the long run.

The European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) vs. The Euro

I'm getting a great deal of "de ja vue" with what's happening these days, The ERM....I remember everybody desperately trying to keep it going long after the game was up, then finally when the bang came, it came big time. I think the same will happen to the Euro.  One mighty loud bang about to come, and when it does come, it will happen very very quickly......After all, was the ERM not the farther of the Euro?.....The European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) is based on the concept of fixed currency exchange rate margins, but with exchange rates variable within those margins. This is also known as a semi-pegged system. Before the introduction of the euro, exchange rates were based on the European Currency Unit (ECU), the European unit of account, whose value was determined as a weighted average of the participating currencies....A grid (known as the Parity Grid) of bilateral rates was calculated on the basis of these central rates expressed in ECUs, and currency fluctuations had to be contained within a margin of 2.25% on either side of the bilateral rates (with the exception of the Italian lira, which was allowed a margin of 6%). Determined intervention and loan arrangements protected the participating currencies from greater exchange rates fluctuations.

The European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) was a system introduced by the European Community in March 1979, as part of the European Monetary System (EMS), to reduce exchange rate variability and achieve monetary stability in Europe, in preparation for Economic and Monetary Union and the introduction of a single currency, the euro, which took place on 1 January 1999. After the adoption of the euro, policy changed to linking currencies of countries outside the Eurozone to the euro (having the common currency as a central point). The goal was to improve stability of those currencies, as well as to gain an evaluation mechanism for potential Eurozone members. This mechanism is known as ERM2.

Austerity is politically unsustainable across Europe...

Economists at Deutsche Bank said that a 'yes' vote was not guaranteed. "The polls should not be taken for granted. Irish voters have some history of tactical 'No' voting in European referenda. The Nice and Lisbon Treaties were rejected before certain issues were clarified." The Deutsche economists added that Ireland's vote would have wider significance during the current crisis. "This will be an occasion to judge voter appetite for austerity. Rejection could reinforce a general fear that austerity is politically unsustainable across Europe," they said.

Ireland is the only member state that will ratify the compact with a full public vote, because the Irish Constitution dictates that any transfer of national sovereignty can only be granted via a referendum. "The latest polls suggested Ireland would back the pact"
should read: "The latest polls suggested Ireland would back the suicide pact"Any country which rejects the fiscal pact will not be eligible to access the European Stability Mechanism, the eurozone's permanent bail-out fund. here are the main points of the ESM.......god help us Article 8 The authorized capital stock shall be EUR 700 Billion
Article 9 3) ESM Members hereby irrevocably and unconditionally undertake to pay on demand any capital call made on them within seven (7) days on receipt of such demand.
Article 10: Changes in authorized capitol stock.
The board of governors may decide to change the authorized capital and amend article 8 (...) accordingly Article 27; Legal status, privileges and immunities.
2) The ESM (...) shall have full legal capacity (..) to institute legal proceedings.
3) The ESM, its property, funding and assets (..) shall enjoy immunity from every form of judicial process (...)
4) The property, funding and assets of the ESM (...) be immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation or any other form of seizure, taking or foreclosure by executive, judicial, administrative or legislative action.
Article 30: immunities of persons
Governors, alternate governors, Directors, alternate directors, The managing director and staff members shall be immune from legal process with respect to acts performed by them (...) and shall enjoy inviolability in respect of their official papers and documents...

Democracy in the EU is dead and gone. The EU is now run by a band of totalitarian communist hooligans who have no respect for either sovereignty or democracy. They are worse than the Chinese leadership who at least have some concern for their poor destitute workers. This will end in a massive uprising, much bloodshed and the European dream of peace in our time, left in tatters!.. The high youth unemployment and austerity measures in Southern Europe are creating a very dangerous environment and it can only be a matter of time before civil unrest gets out of control.why are we accepting the system that enslaves us saving itself at our expense?...let the banks fall...wipe out all virtual debts...arrest the people who are trying to keep this corrupt system alive and start again...with a new system NOT based on a small group of people being able to make money out of thin air and charging us interest on it so we can use it.. THATS a crime...obviously...its corruption and a con of the highest order...so arrest them!!!..There seems to be an accepted view that the juggernaut of globalisation cannot be stopped or reversed. Globalisation was an accepted view in the 1920’s, until the bust. Globalisation was stopped in its tracks and the opposite took its place, Nationalism.

The imposition of austerity measures in the West is demonstrating to the vast majority that globalisation has done them no favours at all. Nationalism will probably first raise its head in the club med countries and this will be the beginning of the end for the latest globalisation phase.

Spain's unemployment rate is rising rapidly. While the labor ministry doesn't give an unemployment rate, Spanish unemployment stood at 23.6% in February, according to data published Monday by the European Union's Eurostat agency, more than twice the 10.8% average rate for the 27 EU members and an increase from the 23.3% rate in January. Spain's economy is expected to contract 1.7% this year, according to the government's estimates, and the central government is struggling to balance demands to slash the country's deficit without hurting economic activity too heavily. Last week, it announced budget cuts worth more than €27 billion, or about 2.5% of gross domestic product, through decreases in spending and tax increases along with other measures. But in an interview Monday with The Wall Street Journal, Finance Minister Luis de Guindos said the government worries that cutting the budget too severely could curtail economic growth.

Italy has pledged to eliminate its budget deficit by 2013, although a senior Treasury official has emphasized that it has no explicit target for this year. Italy has vowed fiscal consolidation worth 7% of GDP since 2010 to reach that 2013 target. Underscoring just how harshly Italy's tax-heavy policies are affecting domestic consumption was underscored by foreign car dealers association Unrae's report this week that Italian car sales fell 21% in the first quarter—the biggest season for such purchases—and March unit sales hit a 32-year low. Prospects are dim. "Consumers have insurmountable obstacles ahead of them, with higher income tax rates from March, higher property taxes as of June and a value-added tax hike in September," said Unrae President Jacques Bousquet. Italy's budget targets are based on a GDP contraction of only half a percentage point this year and a modest return to growth in 2013. Late last year Italy, responding to pressure from European Union officials, installed Mario Monti to head a government of technical experts. Its first act was to pass a supplementary round of tax increases and public-spending cuts in December to stay on course to reach its targets even as growth slowed. The commission's latest warnings from Copenhagen are identical.

arbitraj@aol.com

The total value of private deposits in Greek banks down to €170.1bn, the lowest in over five years and 30% below their peak of December 2009. The steady decline in deposite is partly due to worried citizens removing their savings in case the Greek banking sector should collapse, or even leaving the country altogether. But it also reflects that fact that people have been using their savings to keep afloat, following rising unemployment and wage cuts. In Brussels, EU officials have denied claims that Spain may have to seek financial help. European Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj has just told a press conference that media reports that Spain may seek bailout aid are "completely without foundation". Altafaj added that the private sector should be able meet most of the cost of overcapitalizing Spain's banks. As we flagged up, analysts fear that the Spanish government will be unable to pick up the bill.

Member States providing further economic development....

At a very crucial and difficult time for the EU, irregular migration flows are increasing rapidly and forcing political debates over the functioning and the effectiveness of the Schengen area. Today's almost unanimous positive vote (51 for, 3 against, 2 abstentions) on the Report on the Amendment of the Schengen Borders Code in Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, gives a crystal clear message that MEPs want to protect and further empower the Schengen area.   The Schengen area is one of Europe's greatest achievements. It ensures the free movement of EU citizens by eliminating border checks carried out on people, thus enhancing the notion of solidarity and common European identity, and promoting better economic results and growth. By updating the rules and legal developments that have taken place since the establishment of Regulation 562/2006, and since the coming-into-force of the Lisbon Treaty, the current amended proposal takes into consideration legal and practical experiences gained over time from the Member States through the application of the Schengen Borders Code. MEPs regard the notion of the removal of controls at the internal borders between Members States as vital and goes hand in hand with the need for effective controls, deeper cooperation and mutual trust at the external borders of the Schengen area. In this context, the adopted amendments improve the existing frame and on the other hand strengthen the external borders which will also strengthen solidarity amongst the Member States by also providing further economic development.

GERMANY TODAY - National airline Lufthansa said it had scrapped more than 400 flights scheduled for Tuesday, mostly at Germany's biggest airport, Frankfurt.  The walkout is part of wider industrial action by public sector employees ahead of further talks due later this week.  Service workers' union Verdi is demanding a 6.5% pay rise for its two million members. About a third of flights were cancelled at Frankfurt, a spokesman said. Munich, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Cologne-Bonn and Hannover are also among the airports affected. In earlier talks, the union rejected an offer of a 3.3% pay increase over 24 months from public sector employers. Further negotiations are scheduled to start on Wednesday. The union says public sector workers are undervalued, and that their pay has been squeezed by national and local governments trying to keep spending down.

A short story ...

At the end of 2007 beginning of 2008, $1.9 trillion was wiped off the value of securitized MBS and ABS products as credit rating agencies started to downgrade many thousands of trenches. S&P for example downgraded 16,381 trenches by July 2008 which they had originally given a AAA rating. At least that is my understanding. If I am in error, perhaps you can tell me where for there is nothing in your short response to indicate a lack of understanding on my part. Unfortunately, there is nothing in your response to demonstrate a more thorough understanding on your part either which is a very good example of what Bally was talking about. But it may be that you are not referring to the process but to the detail of how each tranche was given a rating, ie. the mathematics behind each securitized product. Is this what you hoped to challenge? How that works? If you don't know but wish to know, see this paper for a good overview:
Credit Securitization and Credit Derivatives: Financial Instruments and the Credit Risk Management of Middle Market Commercial Loan Portfolios
It specifically addresses the sub portfolio middle market and notes; "In recent years, the development of markets for credit securitization and credit derivatives has provided new credit risk management tools. However, in the addressed market segment adverse selection and moral hazard problems are quite severe." The important thing is the date, 1998. The risks are flagged ten years before the crash. They were known about before the crash as Belinda Ghetti's email to Nicole Billick (internal S&P) demonstrates: "Let's hope we are all wealthy and retired by the time this house of cards falters." If you have some additional knowledge of interest, please share it with us.

The Brussels double standards are shameful

ROMANIA - According to market sources, in today's meeting, the government will decide on the price at which the 15% stake in "Transelectrica" (symbol: TEL), will be sold.
The final prospectus will include a minimum and maximum price, which will be set by the Government. At the end of the trading session, yesterday, the price of a TEL share was 17.06 lei, which means the 15% stake in the company was worth 187.58 million lei.
The intermediaries of the offering, which have met the foreign investors, in a "road-show" in Europe, will try to obtain the discount requested by investors. Domestic and foreign investors alike claim that in order for the offering of "Transelectrica" to be successful, the government needs to grant a discount of at least 10%. Some of the experts of the capital market feel that, if the state won't agree to offer a discount, the offering might be unsuccessful, which would represent a disaster for the stock market. Through the agreement with the IMF, the government has pledged to sell, through the "Office For The State's Interests and Industrial Privatization" (OPSPI), 10-15% stakes in the companies owned by the Ministry of the Economy. The first sale offering, which is part of this agreement, is the one conducted by the "Transelectrica" Romanian National Power Grid Company (symbol: TEL). The Romanian government currently owns 73.6% of the shares of the company, the Proprietatea Fund owns 13.4%, and the free-float is 12.8%.

The Brussels double standards are shameful: they refuse half a billion to poor Hungary whilst bullying her and at the same time they showered Defaulted, bancrupt Greece with 66 billion in the last few days alone. Also ,why they are not tough with Spain which deficit is already exceeding 5.8 % instead of the 4.4% as required by the just signed Fiscal treaty and will be probably/surpries, surprise/ double as much further down the line this year? How long the lazy, profligate PIIGS countries will get preferential treatment in Europe and be Europe's spoiled children that are allowed everything unlike Eastern Europe that is the foster kid, pushed aside , humiliated,bullied and ignored? That's the reason why I immigrated to America years ago and I would not give a single cent cent businnes to the criminal EU.....Barosso and Juncker, eat your hearts out....Will these EUSSR members ever wake up to what is being done to them?---- They are slowly being castrated by the parasites in Brussels, who are more interested in saving their beloved euro and their fat necks, than any mere country!! It only needs a handful of members to say enough is enough and the whole house of cards will come crashing down!

The resolution of the Greek financial crisis

"Where are the 130 billion euros of aid to Greece going?" The response by Die Gazette is unequivocal: financial institutions outside of Greece will get 40 percent of the rescue package, Greek banks 23 percent, and the European Central Bank 18 percent. The remaining 19 percent are earmarked for financing needs in Greece itself. In other words, more than 80 percent of the rescue package is going to creditors – that is to say, to banks outside of Greece and to the ECB. The billions of taxpayer euros are not saving Greece. They’re saving the banks. For the German quarterly, the ambition to reduce the country's debt from 160 percent to 120 percent of GDP by 2020 is an “illusion”.... In Douglas Adams' novel “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”, the Earth is a kind of gigantic computer built by a higher intelligence to ponder the eternal questions of the universe. This higher, extra-terrestrial intelligence is therefore constantly setting up tricky and complex experiments to test mankind’s skills and level of development. If this conjecture by Douglas Adams were true – that is, that this is the deeper meaning of human existence – then our handling of the euro crisis would probably be setting us back many, many places in the interplanetary IQ rankings. For months now the eurozone has been stepping again and again through the same hoops of the experiment at ever increasing speed and rising panic.

Greece slashes its debt burden and qualifies for fresh bailout money as part of the €130bn (£109bn) package from the IMF

Greece has won sufficient support from its private-sector creditors to clinch a new bailout package, as it announced on Friday morning that 85.8% of bondholders had agreed to take heavy losses on their investments....At the end of several months of wrangling with creditors, the government reassured markets that it saw take-up for its bond swap deal rising to more than 95% once special clauses were triggered to enforce the agreement. Market players are hopeful the move that will at least briefly quell fears that the Greek crisis will send more shockwaves across Europe and beyond and further harm the global economy....For the bondholders the deal means taking losses of as much as 74% on their holdings but European policymakers have insisted that is a relatively small price to pay for containing the eurozone sovereign debt crisis. Greece is now expected to enforce so-called "collective action clauses" on any holders who had not accepted the bond swap deal.....The deal will mean embattled Greece slashes its debt burden and qualifies for fresh bailout money as part of the €130bn (£109bn) package from the IMF, the E.U. and European Central Bank.....Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos thanked creditors for help returning "Greece to a path of sustainable growth".

OK still working this out this morning.... My thoughts, the Greek bond holders have agreed the haircut. But all bonds are insured by CDS----BUT its now up to the banks, the same ones who sold the CDS to decide if they will pay out the insurance? ... This debt swap and the recent flooding of EU banks with a trillion cheap euros seems to be a desperate face saving attempt by EU politicians to keep the increasingly Frankenstein like eurozone patient alive....wowwwww
Surly that can't be right ...!!!!

GREECE - THE FARCE !!!!...So who's swapping their bonds and who isn't?

A miracle:----95pc of Greek bondholders accept deal allowing a purely "voluntary" restructuring to go ahead --- Athens is desperate to secure a "voluntary" agreement from bondholders - crucial to protecting its word and reputation in international markets, as well as avoiding a dreaded "disorderly" default. Both the hurdle and the deal - creditors are being asked to swap their bonds for new ones worth around a third of the value - are tough. The International Institute of Finance (IIF), the body that has negotiated with the Greek government on behalf of bondholders, said its members "intend to participate" in the deal. The group released several tallies on Wednesday - in the latest of which they said they spoke for bonds "amounting in aggregate to €84bn, or 40.8pc of the €206bn total PSI eligible debt". A raft of international banks have announced their intention to accept the deal, too. But we already know some are voting against. Let's have a stab at it. I think I had a go at this once before. There is surely the risk of a systemic bank run unfolding across the European continent if Greece is "allowed" to leave the Euro? As soon as people realise that if Greece can leave the euro, then why not Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy, at which point the value of the euro collapses. The euro becomes infungible overnight. Clearly, anybody at all holding euros in any of those countries would want out as their holdings would potentially be on a trajectory towards a massively devalued currency (the new escudo, the new punt or whatever). A bank run is one thing of course; a systemic bank run is uncharted territory, I assume. If you then throw in all of the euro commercial contractual arrangements threatened by the extinction of the contractual currency itself and you have the mother-of-all catastrophes on your hands. People tend not to behave rationally if they perceive that events are likely to get seriously out of hand imminently. Of course, "allowing" Greece to leave the euro might not have any or all of these unintended consequences, but will Europe's politico-banking mafia take the chance? I don't know. What I do know is that if Greece leaves the euro, Europe is stuffed; and if Greece stays in the euro, Europe is stuffed. This is what happens when politicians and bureaucrats convince themselves that economic fundamentals don't matter when driving through a grand political dream (or nightmare in the case of the EU) without popular awareness and understanding, and democratic consent. Economics always wins in the end because economics describes how people live their lives. Politicians merely fantasize for their own ends, and the apparatchiks feed off them like parasites; the EU in a nutshell.

So who's swapping their bonds and who isn't? .... According to Bloomberg (writing before the latest PCIC statement was released), investors with 58pc of the Greek bonds eligible for the debt swap have so far indicated they'll participate. AP suggests the figure is closer to 48pc, while one Greek website has calculated a participation rate of 76pc. The 32 financial institutions that have signed up to the debt swap aren't necessarily the only ones participating (so far). Other investors that are not affiliated with the IIF committee on Greece may have tendered their bonds privately. I've just had a chat with Nick Matthews, senior European economist at RBS who says "the situation is too liquid" to say whose sums are correct. Investors have until 8pm tomorrow to decide whether to accept the bond swap deal. This will be followed by a conference call held by the Eurogroup of finance ministers at 1pm on Friday. The two banks added are Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg and the Bank of Cyprus, which issued a separate statement earlier. In case you're wondering why Credit Foncier has disappeared off the original list, it's not because they've changed their mind - the name now appears as parent group BPCE.

Here is the updated list of financial institutions: Ageas, Allianz, Alpha Bank, AXA, Banque Postale, Bank of Cyprus, BBVA, BNP Paribas, BPCE, CNP Assurances, Commerzbank, Credit Agricole, DekaBank, Deutsche Bank, Dexia,, Emporiki Bank of Greece, Eurobank EFG, Generali, Greylock Capital Management, Groupama, HSBC, ING, Intesa San Paolo, KBC, Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg, Marfin Popular Bank, Metlife, National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Societe Generale, Unicredit.

The EU people are hopeless bungling fools who seem to think that making laws and agreements can, as if by magic, 'create reality'.

Credit Default Swaps (CDS) allow hedge funds and other actors in the markets to make large amounts of money in the event of a default of an entity that can be a company, or a government. They are a bit like allowing people to take out fire insurance on my house despite the fact that they have nothing to do with me, and don't own my house at all. And, of course, if hundreds of different people have taken out fire insurance on my house, it will hardly be a surprise if one day my house "accidentally" catches fire…Is this why there is so much pressure on the Greeks to either accept totally outrageous levels of austerity, coupled with interest rates for long-term loans that have just reached 25.91%?....How can we find out how much money has been bet on Greek default? Well, you can access data at the DTCC website - the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation. Have a look at their Table 6 that gives CDS data for the top 1000 Reference Entities. You can even download the whole lot as an excel file. They actually provide details about transactions every week. Amazingly up front, when you think about it. For the week ending 3rd February 2012, the total Gross Notional amount outstanding was $14,862,048,912,869 - roughly $14.8 trillion. You can find the amounts for all 1000 entities, one of which is the "HELLENIC REPUBLIC" for which the value is $69,382,164,345 ($69 billion), based on a total of 4,183 contracts. So, I'm not quite sure how to interpret these numbers, but it looks that there are maybe over 4000 people/hedge funds that are looking forward to cashing in their checks for $69 billion if they could get the Greeks to blink in this very dangerous game of poker that is being played on the world stage…..And who will be paying the $69 billion? Anyone like to guess that the banks that have been taken on the bets will need taxpayers to pick up the bill?

Europe is broke.They all need massive amounts of money to keep functioning at all.
The Europe's fiscal pact is not worth the paper is is written on, because everybody will do what they think is good for them. ---- Threfore the whole thing is a FARCE.
Germany provided some liquidity/1 trillion/ so they think it is all done and settled and reforms due in Spain and Italy meanwhile/NOT/ : I wonder what palnet the Germans live on?
Can anyone remember how many times Chelly and the rest of the Euro-clowns insisted that Iceland was going to join the Euro, was applying to join the Euro, would imminently join the Euro, and on and on....Spain is already planning to breach its budgetary targets, defying European leaders on the day they signed their historic fiscal pact.. Mariano Rajoy, prime minister of Spain, said the budget deficit would be 5.8pc of GDP in 2012 - more than 30pc higher than the 4.4pc target agreed by Brussels. In a move that was heralded in Spain as defiance against the German-led austerity drive, Mr Rajoy said he had decided to set a new target rather than extract €44bn (£36.6bn) from the budget at a time of economic crisis. Mr Rajoy said it was now a "sensible and reasonable" target. "This is a sovereign decision made by Spaniards," he said. It was one of their proudest predictions, and like all Euro-clown predictions, prediction was the point. There didn't need to be a fact, having a prediction was enough. A fact only happens once, but a prediction is a day after day thing....And the message was simple. In a crisis, the Euro will save you....oh yeaaaah...!!!!

Monday 5 March: Euro-zone February services PMI data. Tuesday 6 March: Revised EU fourth-quarter GDP growth data. Wednesday 7 March: German bond auction. Thursday 8 March: Bank of England interest rate decision. European Central Bank interest rate decision and press conference. German January industrial production data. Last day for banks to sign up in Greek PSI offer. Friday 9 March: Euro-zone finance ministers may hold conference call to sign off on Greek bailout. Monday 12 March: Euro-zone finance ministers meet. Greece aims to complete PSI by this date. Tuesday 13 March: German March ZEW economic sentiment indicator. Italian and Greek T-bill auctions. International Monetary Fund board likely to discuss participation in Greek bailout. Tuesday 20 March: EUR14.4 billion of Greek government bonds mature. Spanish and Greek T-bill auctions. Euro-zone finance ministers expected to hold talks on the region's bailout funds.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has ruled that a "credit event" has not occured for Greece.

The ISDA decision of no default is very significant. It means that insurers will not payout when a voluntary credit restructuring arrangement is reached. I am not going to argue the rights or wrongs of this but it may be a game changer.It means that future defaults are more likely as private investors will be reluctant to accept restructuring deals. Private investors will also be more reluctant to invest in further debt. A knock on effect is that the market in Credit Default Swaps is likely to dry up quickly and affect the insurance business bottom lines quite drastically. The eurozone needs to drop Greece quickly as the Euro itself is now at risk. Even Germany has no money and must borrow to lend. This is not acceptable to private investors. Printing more money is not going help matters anymore as future lenders are likely to want to do so in US Dollars which is the world anchor currency. Printing more money will only lead to the devaluation of the Euro and an increase in debt. It is time for the eurozone to accept that this European project is a failure and ditch it. The Brussels eurocrats should start looking for new jobs. Well ISDA have surpassed themselves.... so what does it take to constitute a credit event....You but a bond for 1,000,000 and you get back 250,000 doesn't sound to me like anything other than a credit event...... What a bunch of shysters..Thinking about it, haven't the ISDA just rendered all CDS worthless? In effect, haven't the ISDA just closed down a thriving financial industry - The CDS market. Lets face it, nobody is going to buy them after this...If I had paid out for CDS and was then asked to accept back 30% of what I was expecting, I think I would deem that a "Credit" event...... and look to the courts if the ISDA didn't agree....If Greece isn't a credit event, then nothing short of a nation sinking into the sea will be deemed a credit event....CDS from this announcement forward, aren't worth the paper they are printed on...The ISDA has indeed rendered all CDS worthless. Anyone holding CDS insurance on Portuguese, Spanish bonds etc now knows that the insurance they took out is not worth the paper it is written on as they could lose the vast majority of the value and not be able to claim back one Euro. What will that do to bond yields? And without credible CDS insurance, the dodgy banks holding Club Med bonds must now be regarded as being in a far worse financial state! The only thing preventing higher bond yields is the carry trade following the creation of unlimited credit by the ECB at 1%. How much more credit will the ECB have to release to keep that up?
The house of cards that is the EZ looks even more shaky now...

Kicking the "can" down the road...amuzing if it wasn't sad !

In the wake of this week's deal to prevent a Greek default, Olli Rehn ( the definition of "incompetent"), the EU's economic and monetary affairs commissioner, insisted that a plan to merge two eurozone bailout funds was vital over the next 10 days. Mr Rehn is seeking to fuse the existing European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) fund, worth €250bn, with a new European Stability Mechanism (ESM), to be created this summer and worth €500bn. "This is very important to show that we have credible instruments to ensure we have financial stability in Europe," he said. "It is also very important to encourage our international partners in the G20 and IMF to move in order to increase the resources of the IMF, which form a global financial firewall but also contribute significantly to the European financial firewall." The issue will dominate an EU summit in Brussels on March 1 and is expected to spark a major political battle when Germany's parliament debates the Greek bailout in Berlin in next week. The body representing Greece's private-sector creditors said Tuesday it recommends they "carefully consider" the new deal. But the Institute of International Finance stopped short of any clearer endorsement of the deal, which will force bondholders to trade their existing bonds for new bonds offering a coupon of 2% until 2014, 3% between 2015 and 2020, and 4.3% thereafter. "This is an unprecedented level of voluntary debt reduction," said Charles Dallara, the IIF's managing director, who headed the talks on behalf of private creditors. Though Mr. Dallara emphasized it is up to individual investors to decide whether or not to accept the deal, he expects a big take-up. "Despite a huge loss of value for investors, it holds a number of positive dimensions," Mr. Dallara said. "Losses will be substantial but they are contained."

BRUSSELS (AP) — The countries that use the euro pulled Greece back from an imminent and potentially catastrophic default on Tuesday, when they finally stitched together a 130-billion-euro ($170 billion) rescue they hope also will provide a lifeline to their common currency. But the patchwork of measures — including the implementation of austerity measures in Greece and approval by skeptical German and Dutch parliaments — required to give the rescue even a chance of success means it’s unlikely to be the end of the Continent’s debt crisis.

What a sorry bunch of clowns ....Greece in "saved" ...amuzing if it wasn't sad

Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the eurogroup, confirms that a deal has been reached on a new financial programme for Greece, and the details of the Private Sector Involvement (the reduction in Greece's debt pile). Juncker also told the assembled media that the package will bring Greece's debt-to-GDP ratio down to 120.5% by 2020, with a new €130bn of government financing running until 2014. Olli Rehn, EC commissioner, confirms that the eurogroup have agreed to create a "segregated account" for Greece's second rescue fund. In other words, an escrow account, which will allow lenders to claw back the bailout if Greece misses its targets. Rehn also spoke about plans for "strengthened monitoring" of Greece. It's not clear whether this is the 'permanent troika presence in Athens' which the Dutch finance minister demanded. Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, told the press conference that she "personally welcomed the agreement", which would give Greece the freedom to restore its economic competitiveness. Jean-Claude Juncker also confirms that Greece's creditors will take a nominal haircut of 53.5%. That's up from their previous final offer of 50%. Greece will now formally launch this offer to its lenders in the "coming days", he added. Previously, the PSI window was meant to open on Wednesday. In addition (as rumoured) the interest payment charged on Greece's existing loans will be cut. Prime minister Lucas Papademos says the deal is a "historic" moment for Greece. He confirms that an agreement has been reached on the 'basic conditions' of the Private Sector Involvement in the deal.

A financial transaction tax would have a positive impact on growth and jobs -- My latest opinion ON GREECE

The introduction of a financial transaction tax in Europe could benefit the European economy and raise the level of growth, according to a study written by two prominent economists, Professors Stephany Griffith-Jones and Avinash Persaud....The study was presented today in Brussels during a press conference chaired by S&D Euro MP Anni Podimata who will draft the European Parliament's report on the Commission's proposal. Mrs Podimata welcomed the study and said: "This study confirms what we have been saying all along. The financial markets have to make a fair contribution to the crisis they provoked. "An FTT will reduce the fragmentation of the internal market. Put together with other tools, it will act as a disincentive to high frequency trading and other practices which increase risk without ensuring liquidity. "This would contribute to a better financing of the real economy, encourage investment and job creation in the EU. "The S&D Group is against putting the entire burden on ordinary taxpayers, and calls for measures to boost growth. In this sense, an FTT is an integral part of this approach". Professor Stephany Griffith-Jones confirmed the benefits of an FTT. Among them, she said: "The Commission has calculated that it would only have a -0.2% effect on growth. It takes into account the fact that a very small part of investment by credit companies would actually be taxed and that high frequency trading would be decreased. "But, in our study, we argue that an FTT would also contribute to reduce the risk of a future crisis. When this is taken into account, you obtain a positive effect on growth of about a quarter of a percent". Professor Stephany Griffith-Jones rejected the argument that the tax would not be feasible because of fraud: "In the past, the same was said about income tax, which is indeed avoided but which still raises a lot of money", she said.

My latest opinion ON GREECE AND THE E.U.---The only way to save Greece is to expel it from the E.U and the Euro. The only way to save Europe ,is to dissolve the E.U and abandon the Euro. The E.U has been responsible for imposing the iniquitous Climate Change furphy on the ecomomies of Europe. This bizarre and truly vicious religon has smashed the global economy. ... It has acted as a wrecking ball on the financial infrastructure of all those regions witless enough to adopt it. It has driven up energy costs ,leading to the closure of businesses everywhere ,rising unemployment and excessive hardship and death by hypothermia for the elderly and the needy. It has distorted the functioning of economies everywhere by rewarding failed inefficient, primitive energy suppliers and distributors,whilst penalising those who provide cheap and reliable energy. It has rewarded rentseekers and carpet baggers ,at the expense of those who actually do an honest day's work....Ditch the insane climate change policies of the E.U and save the global economy.