http://www.silverdoctors.com/germany-returning-to-deutsche-mark-e-sculpture-removed-from-frankfurt-intl-airport/#more-11746
http://en.ria.ru/russia/20120816/175253411.html
and....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9484442/Suicide-of-Deloitte-partner-Daniel-Pirron-linked-to-Standard-Chartereds-Iran-scandal.html
and...
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/european-headlines-are-back
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/18/2012 13:10 -0400
GERMANY RETURNING TO DEUTSCHE MARK? € SCULPTURE REMOVED FROM FRANKFURT INTL AIRPORT
http://en.ria.ru/russia/20120816/175253411.html
Russia Prepared for Possible Economic Meltdown – Putin
15:52 16/08/2012
MOSCOW, August 16 (RIA Novosti)
The Russian economy is prepared for a possible economic meltdown as a result of the slowing of global growth and the escalating eurozone debt crisis, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.
At a meeting with regional ombudsmen, Putin said the situation was complex both in the European and global economies.
“In the United States, the engine of the world economy, the situation looks better but macroeconomic indices that are vital for the economy’s sustainability are no better than in Europe. Their debt state [in the United States] is 104 percent [of U.S. GDP],” he said.
Aside from this, the U.S. financial system is burdened with mortgage loans issued against state guarantees, he said.
“All these factors cause certain alarm. Now news is coming that China’s economic development rates have slightly slowed and declined and China is one of the world’s largest consumers. These are, no doubt, alarming signals. Let us hope that these concerns do not transform into a full-blown crisis,” Putin said. “Let us hope for the better but prepare for the worse,” Putin added.
In 2011, the Russian government started to prepare anti-crisis measures to respond to unfavorable economic developments, he said.
“We also agreed to set aside quite a substantial sum for the start of next year in the 2013 budget as the government’s operational reserve, so that we can respond effectively and energetically to crisis factors, if they emerge,” Putin said, adding the Russian economy was currently demonstrating healthy parameters.
The Finance Ministry has said Russia is drafting several crisis budget scenarios to cater for low oil prices.
"We are currently checking the resilience of the federal budget, and holding stress tests to study its exposure to sharp changes in external economic conditions. We are calculating revenues to estimate their levels at an oil price of $80 per barrel or even $60 per barrel,” Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Lavrov said earlier this year.
and....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9484442/Suicide-of-Deloitte-partner-Daniel-Pirron-linked-to-Standard-Chartereds-Iran-scandal.html
9:44PM BST 18 Aug 2012
Daniel Pirron, a partner in Delloite’s key General Counsel’s office in New York, was found dead in a car park near his home in Trumbull, Connecticut.
On August 6, Deloitte was accused by the New York Department of Financial Services of aiding Standard Chartered in its “deception” over billions of dollars’ worth of trades involving Iran.
Mr Pirron apparently took his own life seven days later.
Deloitte denies the DFS allegations that have led to Standard Chartered agreeing to pay a fine of $340m.
Speaking publicly for the first time about the incident, Mr Pirron’s brother, Mike, said the family believed the two events were connected and that Daniel Pirron had warned his daughters the day before his death that there was “big trouble” ahead.
“My brother didn’t discuss the case but he told me they were in big trouble with this case in London,” he said.
“He was clearly apprehensive about a case that was about to come out. It is just extraordinary, when he was fine, that somebody would take his life.”
Asked directly if he believed the two events were connected, Mr Pirron said: “The circumstances are just too much of a coincidence.
“He was in the legal department and I think he was in London. It had to be work related. He told me the company was under pressure over this.”
The local Fairfield Police have launched an investigation into Mr Pirron’s death and his office in New York has been sealed off.
Mr Pirron, a leading businessman who owns a construction company in Chicago, said his brother had been acting strangely the day before he shot himself. “He was with his daughter on Sunday and she said he was acting very apprehensive. He kept going to the newsstands, looking for an important story to come out to do with Deloitte,” he said.
The family has hired a lawyer to try to retrieve his laptop, which Deloitte is not releasing.
Mr Pirron said that they had been left devastated and confused by his death and are determined to uncover the reasons behind it.
“He had two beautiful girls. He had everything to live for. For him to just step out of the picture just doesn’t make any sense. A lot of things aren’t sitting well with us.”
Daniel Pirron was a detective for the Illinois Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission in Chicago, before moving to work for Deloitte in 1990.
Deloitte denied that Mr Pirron had any involvement in the Standard Chartered matter.
“The loss of our partner, Dan Pirron, is a terrible tragedy and he will be missed dearly by all of his Deloitte friends,” a spokesman said.
Dan was a highly respected member of our office. However, Dan was not involved in any way on our work for Standard Chartered Bank.”
and.....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9484419/Bank-of-England-deputy-governor-Paul-Tucker-warned-banks-they-could-collapse-before-Christmas.html
9:37PM BST 18 Aug 2012
3 Comments
Paul Tucker, the deputy governor of the Bank of England, told an October meeting of the chief executives of Britain’s largest banks that there was a serious chance none of their businesses would survive to the end of the year.
“Gentlemen, you could all be out of business by Christmas,” Mr Tucker said in a stark warning to the bank chiefs, according to three sources present at the meeting.
The revelation of Mr Tucker’s remarkable warning shows the depth of fear among senior officials over the havoc the collapse of the eurozone would wreak on the British financial system.
Mr Tucker is one of the front-runners to replace Sir Mervyn King as Governor of the Bank of England.
Minutes published by the Bank’s Financial Policy Committee in September and December made clear the depth of its concerns, but the explicit warning given to the chief executives shows that officials feared a crisis even greater than that in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. The meeting led directly to the creation of working groups at banks to gauge the potential for a full-scale collapse of the financial system.
and...
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/european-headlines-are-back
"The Euro Crisis May Last 20 Years" - The European Headlines Are Back
- Bond
- Deutsche Bank
- European Central Bank
- Eurozone
- Federal Reserve
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- headlines
- International Monetary Fund
- Ireland
- Italy
- Portugal
- Sovereign Debt
In Europe, the "no news" vacation for the past month was great news. The news is back... As is Merkel.
- "The Euro Crisis May Last 20 Years" - Welt
The first five years of the global crisis are over, investors flee from complex financial products and into gold, silver and commodities. Experts warn against a false sense of security. "We should not give us the illusion that the crisis will soon be over," says Patrick Artus of the French bank Natixis. Years of negative developments such as the growing debt, or the de-industrialization of specific sectors should now be reversed. "Such a process takes time." Arthur looks to get politically and economically unstable savers years. "Investors have to live with depressed markets and considerable fluctuations learn." In his view, it must not remain in a lost decade. "The euro crisis may also last 20 years," says Arthur.
- German finmin: no new aid programme for Greece -Reuters
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Saturday that there were limits to the aid that could be granted to Greece and said the crisis-stricken country should not expect to be granted another programme."It is not responsible to throw money into a bottomless pit," Schaeuble said at a government open day in Berlin. "We cannot create yet another new programme."
- Euro Countries Plan Strategies to Prevent Break-Up:Sueddeutsche (via Bloomberg)
Euro-currency area countries are evaluating a multitude of reform options, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reports, citing unidentified people with knowledge of the plans.
These are to be whittled down into a coherent strategy in the “coming weeks”. If Greece exits, members will boost plans to support other vulnerable countries. Options include increasing aid to Ireland and Portugal. ECB would consider supporting Italy and Spain through bond purchases. Greece’s new start would be supported by EU funding. These questions will be discussed “in the autumn”.
- Deutsche Bank Among Four Said to Be in U.S. Laundering Probe - Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) is among four European banks being investigated by U.S. regulators for alleged money-laundering violations, according to an attorney with knowledge of the matter. Federal regulators, including the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Federal Reserve, the Justice Department and the New York District Attorney’s office are all involved in the probe of Deutsche Bank and three other European banks, said the attorney, who asked not to be identified because the investigations are confidential.
- German Industry Group Head says No Place for Greece in Eurozone: WiWo (via Bloomberg)
If Greece doesn’t meet IMF and EU requirements, it must leave the euro, Hans-Peter Keitel, president of Germany’s BDI industry federation, says in an interview with Wirtschaftswoche magazine. Keitel previously said Greece must stay in the euro at all costs: WiWo
Keitel says clear progress is being made in combating the euro crisis. The German federal government is not ambitious enough in its savings program, Keitel says.
- German Taxpayer Association Head Criticises ESM: Euro am Sonntag (via Bloomberg)
Rainer Holznagel, head of German taxpayer association, says payment of Spanish bank debt would require 3% VAT increase in Germany, Euro am Sonntag reports, citing interview.
ESM reduces the rights of the German parliament and the independence of nation states, Holznagel says: Euro am Sonntag
- Bundesbank Vice-Head Opposes Schaeuble’s Banking Proposal: WiWo (via Bloomberg)
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble’s proposal to separate traditional banks from their investment banking units isn’t possible, Bundesbank Vice- President Sabine Lautenschlaeger tells Wirtschaftswoche magazine.
Both types of banks would still be dependent on market confidence, Lautenschlaeger says. Lautenschlaeger favors an investigation into the relationship between lenders and those banks which trade in unregulated financial products.
- Westerwelle Opposes Relaxing Greek Aid Terms: Tagesspiegel
Relaxation of the agreed on terms for Greek assistance would be misunderstood by countries such as Spain, German Foreign Minister and FDP member Guido Westerwelle told Tagesspiegel am Sonntag in interview.
Spanish prime minister would have difficulty passing reforms in parliament if terms were eased for Greece, Westerwelle says. Westerwelle gives his "solidarity" to the people of Greece. Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to visit Berlin on Friday
And just to prove that Europe's beggars continue to refuse to get the memo...
- Spain says there must be no limit set on ECB bond buying - RTRS
The European Central Bank must take forceful and unlimited steps to buy sovereign debt to help Spain reduce its refinancing costs and eliminate doubts over the euro zone's future, Spain's economy minister said in comments published on Saturday. "There can be no limit set or at least (the ECB) can't say how much they will use or for how long," when it buys bonds in the secondary markets, Luis de Guindos told Spanish news agency EFE.
and:
- France Favors Greece Rescue Package, Opposing Germany: Welt (via Bloomberg)
France and southern European nations are in favor of a third rescue package for Greece should it prove necessary, Welt reports, without saying where it got the information. Germany rejects a new rescue package. Germany opposes giving Greece more time to enact cost cuts. Preparations underway for Greece possibly leaving the euro. Main consideration is how to protect other euro crisis countries from the fallout.
