BBC
Sunday, Oct 5, 2008

Another major European financial institution is teetering on the brink of collapse after a banking consortium withdrew from rescue talks.

Germany’s second-largest mortgage lender, Hypo Real Estate, said a bail-out deal had fallen apart.

Correspondents say its failure will put further strain on financial institutions in other countries.


http://www.ewagz.com/blogs/807/Anothe ... uropean-bank-falters.html

Europeans scramble to save failing banks
Brödtext: Europeans scramble to save failing banks
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Germany joined Ireland and Greece on Sunday in guaranteeing all private bank accounts, putting Europe's biggest economy at odds with calls for a unified European response to the global financial meltdown.

The decision came as governments across Europe scrambled to save failing banks, working largely on their own a day after leaders of the continent's four biggest economies More..called for tighter regulation and a coordinated response.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said that no citizen should fear for the safety of their investments, speaking to reporters as her government held crisis talks on the collapse of a ballyhooed euro35 billion (US$48.4 billion) bailout of Hypo Real Estate AG, the country's second-biggest property lender.

German Finance Ministry spokesman Torsten Albig said the unlimited guarantee covered some euro568 billion (US$785 billion) in savings and checking accounts as well as time deposits, or CDs.

In Iceland — particularly hard-hit by the credit crunch — government officials and banking chiefs were discussing a possible rescue plan for the country's overstretched commercial banks.

Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said he aims to find a new owner for troubled bank Fortis NV to restore confidence in the company before the opening of markets on Monday.

Leterme told two media outlets that government officials were going over a takeover bid for Fortis' Belgian operations. The bank's Dutch operations were nationalized amid fears they could go insolvent.

Bprivate lenders withdrew support, a key element to the proposal that had already been approved by the EU earlier this week.

Icelandic banks expanded rapidly after deregulation of the domestic financial market in the 1990s and now have combined foreign liabilities in excess of euro100 billion (US$138.34 billion) — dwarfing the tiny country's gross domestic product of euro14 billion (US$19.37 billion).

The government last week took over Iceland's third-largest bank, Glitnir, a decision that prompted major credit ratings agencies to downgrade both Iceland's four major banks and its government credit rating.

Looming large was a growing sense that the Federal Reserve and Europe's major central banks — which have been flooding euros and dollars to banks that have grown increasingly unwilling to lend money even to themselves — were ready to institute emergency cuts to their benchmark interest rates this week.

None of the banks, including the European Central Bank and Bank of England, have commented on potential rate hikes or cuts. But analysts believe the Bank of England, which meets this Thursday, will likely lower its rate below 5 percent. The ECB left its rate unchanged at 4.25 percent on Thursday, but opened the door to a rate cut.

Robert Brusca, chief economist at the New York-based Fact and Opinion Economics, said that the ECB does issue such a cut it would a be a sign "that they're really, really scared.
"

Räddningsplan för tyska ekonomin
Nya räddningsplaner i mångmiljardklassen är klara för tyska Hypo Real Estate och belgiska Fortis.

Samtidigt förvånar Tyskland med tal om en obegränsad insättningsgaranti för bankkunder.

Olagligt, hävdar EU om det senare.

Sent på söndagskvällen, i en kamp mot klockan innan finansmarknaderna öppnade för veckan, förhandlades räddningsplaner fram för de vacklande storbankerna Hypo Real Estate (HRE) och Fortis.

I Tyskland utvidgas en tidigare kollapsad plan på 35 miljarder euro för HRE med 15 miljarder, meddelade tyska myndigheter efter förhandlingar med den privata banksektorn. Enligt Welt am Sonntag klarar sig därmed HRE i alla fall året ut – men 2009 kan det behövas lika mycket till.

Från Bryssel rapporterades samtidigt att franska BNP Paribas går med på att ta över större delen av Fortis, banken som är Belgiens största privata arbetsgivare. Den nederländska delen av Fortis förstatligades i fredags.

Tyskland gick på söndagen också ut med en obegränsad spargaranti.

– Vi säger till alla sparkontoinnehavare att deras behållningar är säkra. Den federala regeringen garanterar detta, sade förbundskansler Angela Merkel på en presskonferens.
EU dömer ut

Utspelet förvånar eftersom Tyskland fanns bland kritikerna när Irland den gångna veckan beslutade om en sådan garanti. EU-kolleger sade då att åtgärden snedvrider konkurrensen eftersom den kan utlösa kapitalflykt.

Och EU:s konkurrenskommissionär Neelie Kroes har redan dömt ut Irlands beslut.

– Mitt folk var i Dublin i fredags och lördags, och kom tillbaka med besked att förändringar ska göras, sade Kroes till nederländsk tv.

– En obegränsad garanti är inte tillåten.

Men konkurrensargumentet faller delvis om alla EU-länder skulle se sig tvungna att haka på.

– Irlands åtgärd i veckan att garantera alla insättningar gjorde en europeisk enighet om insättningsgarantier nödvändig. Tysklands beslut i dag gör den helt oundviklig, sade Liberaldemokraternas ledare Nick Clegg enligt nyhetsbyrån PA.

– Tyskland är Europas ekonomiska supermakt. Där det leder måste andra följa.

Enligt BBC delar Londonregeringen den bedömningen.
Dansk fond

Från Danmark kom på söndagskvällen liknande signaler. Regeringen och storbankerna i Köpenhamn rapporteras ha enats om en fond som ska se till att bankkunder hålls skadeslösa om banker går omkull.

Enligt Politikens och danska TV2:s källor vägrade bankerna att bidra med mer än 30–40 miljarder danska kronor. Om större hål uppstår så lovar regeringen att gå in med skattebetalarnas pengar.

Hittills har de insättningsgarantier som finns i många länder alltid haft ett tak, som i Sverige ligger på 250 000 kronor per kund.

Helgens olika utspel höjer insatserna till EU:s finansministermöte i Luxemburg på måndagen och tisdagen. Om andra länder ser sig tvungna att följa efter Irland och Tyskland kan snabbt till och med USA:s gigantiska finansräddningspaket se litet ut.

USA beslutade i fredags om upp till 700 miljarder dollar i statliga pengar till den krisdrabbade finanssektorn. Det motsvarar 4,9 biljoner svenska kronor, men bara Irlands garantiåtagande kan komma att omfatta upp till 500 miljarder euro, uppemot 5 biljoner kronor. Och Irland är bara ett av 27 EU-länder.
TT
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/finanskrisen/article3464834.ab


Snart ett gemensamt förslag i EU...
Kul o se hur aftonbladet stänger kommentarfunktionen på vissa ställen.

Euron följer kanske med dollarn på väg mot toapappersvärde?

Quote:
Alla verkar ju flytta från dollarn till euron. Fast eliten måste ju ha nåt av värde så antingen guld eller annan valuta borde hålla sig stark.

Lite skakigt i branschen nu...

European Union Going Bankrupt

Brödtext: Eddie NWO Censored


G4 leaders stop short of bailout - Oct 5 , 2008 - European leaders vow to help banks out at the end of an emergency summit in France to try to shore up confidence in a banking system hit by the worst financial crisis since the 1930s,
But they did not go as far as adopting a US-style bailout package which would allow the government to buy toxis assets off financial institutions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJqlU7Tuodg



October 04, 2008 - The French President Nicolas Sarkozy is hosting a meeting with the leaders of Britain, Germany and Italy as well as the head of the European Central Bank to discuss a response to the current econom...
The French President Nicolas Sarkozy is hosting a meeting with the leaders of Britain, Germany and Italy as well as the head of the European Central Bank to discuss a response to the current economic crisis, but action from their leaders cant come soon enough for many European citizens

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vZOqklbgpE

October 04, 2008 - European leaders arrived in Paris for a meeting hosted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, to try to shore up confidence in a banking system hit by the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. The meeting follows approval by the U.S. Congress of a 700-billion dollar bank bailout plan to tackle a crisis sparked by a collapse in the housing market and resulting bad mortgages. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told journalists that he and his European counterparts will do whatever is necessary to secure the stability of the system.
Beyond offering reassuring words, the summit is expected to focus on whether governments across the European Union should raise bank deposit protection levels to restore confidence

**********************************
Europeans scramble to save failing banks
**********************************

Associated Press
By MATT MOORE
Sun Oct 5, 2:07 PM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081005/a ... sywSzp6cShtu8zHDKTwKs0NUE

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Germany joined Ireland and Greece on Sunday in guaranteeing all private bank accounts, putting Europe's biggest economy at odds with calls for a unified European response to the global financial meltdown

The decision came as governments across Europe scrambled to save failing banks, working largely on their own a day after leaders of the continent's four biggest economies called for tighter regulation and a coordinated response

Chancellor Angela Merkel said that no citizen should fear for the safety of their investments, speaking to reporters as her government held crisis talks on the collapse of a ballyhooed euro35 billion (US$48.
4 billion) bailout of Hypo Real Estate AG, the country's second-biggest property lender

German Finance Ministry spokesman Torsten Albig said the unlimited guarantee covered some euro568 billion (US$785 billion) in savings and checking accounts as well as time deposits, or CDs

In Iceland — particularly hard-hit by the credit crunch — government officials and banking chiefs were discussing a possible rescue plan for the country's overstretched commercial banks

Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said he aims to find a new owner for troubled bank Fortis NV to restore confidence in the company before the opening of markets on Monday

Leterme told two media outlets that government officials were going over a takeover bid for Fortis' Belgian operations.
The bank's Dutch operations were nationalized amid fears they could go insolvent

British treasury chief Alistair Darling said that he was ready to take "pretty big steps that we wouldn't take in ordinary times" to help the country weather the credit crunch

In the past year the government has nationalized struggling mortgage lenders Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley

"The European banking industry is feeling the wind of default blowing from the other side of the Atlantic," said Axel Pierron, senior vice president at Celent, a Boston, Massachusetts-based financial research and consulting firm

The erosion has also injured overall confidence and caused concern among investors, politicians and the European public

The leaders of Germany, France, Britain and Italy met Saturday to discuss the meltdown that has leapfrogged across the Atlantic from the U.S. to Europe, but shied away from action on the scale of the massive US$700 billion bailout passed by the U.S.
Congress on Friday and later signed into law by President Bush

Their failure to agree to an EU-wide plan showcased the divisions in Europe on how to deal with the crisis

France had suggested a multibillion-euro (multibillion-dollar) EU-wide government bailout plan, but backed off after Germany said banks must find their own way out

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's top adviser, Claude Gueant, insisted that a "common European plan" had come out of the summit

"What is certain and what the citizens of France and Europe must know is that their (banking) establishments won't be left in difficulty," he told Europe-1 radio on Sunday

Germany's Hypo Real Estate said Saturday that the rescue plan had fallen apart after private lenders withdrew support, a key element to the proposal that had already been approved by the EU earlier this week

Icelandic banks expanded rapidly after deregulation of the domestic financial market in the 1990s and now have combined foreign liabilities in excess of euro100 billion (US$138.34 billion) — dwarfing the tiny country's gross domestic product of euro14 billion (US$19.
37 billion)

The government last week took over Iceland's third-largest bank, Glitnir, a decision that prompted major credit ratings agencies to downgrade both Iceland's four major banks and its government credit rating

Looming large was a growing sense that the Federal Reserve and Europe's major central banks — which have been flooding euros and dollars to banks that have grown increasingly unwilling to lend money even to themselves — were ready to institute emergency cuts to their benchmark interest rates this week

None of the banks, including the European Central Bank and Bank of England, have commented on potential rate hikes or cuts. But analysts believe the Bank of England, which meets this Thursday, will likely lower its rate below 5 percent. The ECB left its rate unchanged at 4.
25 percent on Thursday, but opened the door to a rate cut

Robert Brusca, chief economist at the New York-based Fact and Opinion Economics, said that the ECB does issue such a cut it would a be a sign "that they're really, really scared"

Associated Press writers Angela Doland in Paris, Patrick McGroarty in Berlin and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report

**************************************************
France seeks €300bn rescue fund for Europe
**************************************************

Sunday Times UK
October 2, 2008

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol ... arkets/article4864032.ece

France heaped pressure on Gordon Brown last night by floating an ambitious plan for a €300 billion (£237 billion) bailout fund to rescue crippled banks across Europe

As the world held its breath on the fate of America’s $700 billion bank bailout plan, President Sarkozy was seeking the backing of European leaders for his own lifeboat

Mr Brown also faced demands for action from British banks, furious that the Irish Republic’s unilateral guarantee of all bank savings on Tuesday was robbing them of precious deposits. The British Bankers’ Association, which represents high street banks, said that the move was anti-competitive and that it was raising the issue with Dublin.
Some banks would like to see the UK respond with its own explicit guarantee

The Prime Minister has begun to set up an emergency committee to take charge of Britain’s response to the crisis. The body will be similar to Cobra, which is composed of ministers and government officials and meets regularly during crises such as last summer’s floods.
Its secretariat will be run from the Cabinet Office

Mr Sarkozy, whose country holds the European presidency, is seeking Mr Brown’s support before an emergency summit, scheduled tentatively for Saturday, with Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, and Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor. His proposal was greeted with scepticism in Britain and outright hostility in Germany.
It appears to involve the creation of a Europe-wide emergency fund that would be used to prop up banks when national governments are unable to intervene

Ms Merkel said that Germany could not and would not issue a blank cheque for all banks, “regardless of whether they behave in a responsible manner or not”

Amid the confusion and bickering between governments, France denied at first that it had put forward a proposal for a fund at all and then, after admitting that it had done so, denied that it would cost ¤300 billion. Paris said that the figure had come from the Dutch Government.
Officials in The Hague said that they had no idea what the French were talking about

Mr Brown is expected to announce his new crisis committee today or tomorrow at the same time as his reshuffle to replace Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, who has asked to step down. Ed Miliband, one of Mr Brown’s key lieutenants, could be promoted.
There is still a question mark hanging over Alistair Darling’s future as Chancellor

Verkar som det finns lite motstånd i europa, måste va att vi inte har lika höga halter flour i vattnet. Fransmännen är inte o leka med så Nicolas Sarkozy får nog passa sig innan dom plockar fram giljotinen.