You can either believe that we’re all in this together and it’s all getting better. Or you can believe, as I do, that it is getting better for the few (5%) who own 50% of the worlds’ financial wealth and worse for the other 95% of us. Remember, the next time you see the Dow …
The Too Big to Fail Insurers – the next bail outs, another nail in Democracy’s coffin. Read More »
Part one was the Bad Bank. Part two was, what might be in the BB courtesy of Bankia and the other Caja. Part three… Part two of this series ended talking about Recourse and Non-recourse loans. Noting that Spanish mortgages are recourse. Meaning that if the borrower defaults the lender/bank has recourse to not only the collateral …
I thought it might be a good moment to take a broad look at Spain’s financial troubles and outlook. For those of you who tire of details, the executive summary is that is that it is bad and without a doubt going to get considerably worse over the next 6 – 18 months despite Spanish …
I just wanted to write a quick note about HSBC and money laundering. When we hear of a bank caught money laundering there is a tendency, gently encouraged I think, by the banks and the media, to think of it as we would if we heard of someone in our street having been caught fencing …
A word about banks and the laundering of drug money Read More »
Let me make it clear straight away – the lies, corruption, cowardice and greed of Spanish bankers and government officials is nothing special. What is happening in Spain now, reminds me of Northern Rock in the UK, Hypo in Germany and CountryWide in the US. So please do not think that I dislike Spain or of …
The Eurofiscal Corruption Contest – The Spanish entry. Read More »
Headline in the FT “Spain to force banks to set aside €30bn.” This is a bad joke. One which ordinary Spanish people are going to pay for in blood. First, €30bn is a joke because it is not enough and the Spanish central bank and the government know it. Second, 30bn of what? The Spanish …
Just a snap shot of how well our fearless leaders’ solutions are working. The Milan Index MIB Its highest ever point was 44 364 on the week of 14 May 2007 Its lowest ever was 12 895 on the week of 2nd March 2009 Today 8 …
Revealing news this today – According to Frankfurter Allgemeine Credit Default Swaps for many of Europe’s biggest banks shot up yesterday. And what is most interesting is which banks fared worst: the big two in Spain, BBVA and Santander and in Germany, Commerzbank. Why should CDS costs shoot up yesterday? Well yesterday was, as I noted in …
Bond holders hint at the real state of Europe’s banks Read More »
