Troika strikes Spain - 8,000 employees from Spain's nationalized banks get the boot out of the door in exchange for the first tranche of Spain's bank bailout - remind anyone of Greece ? Italian students protest Monti Government . Portugal sees its youth return to farming as there are no jobs in the Cities !

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-11-25/europe-demands-nationalized-spanish-banks-fire-8000-transfer-first-bank-bailout-tran

Europe Demands Nationalized Spanish Banks Fire 8,000 To Transfer First Bank Bailout Tranche

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 11/25/2012 09:07 -0500

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For those still unsure why Spain PM Mariano Rajoy is fighting tooth and nail to avoid requesting an official activation of the ECB's SMP reincarnation: the OMT, which is a conditional bond buying program supposedly pari passu with the private market (but not really) here is an explanation. While Spain already requested, and received, a bailout of its banking system, which according to erroneous analyses by firms such as Oliver Wyman will be at most €60 billion, and which according to others (such as us) will eventually end up costing orders of magnitude more once the green light for extortion is open for the New Normal modified vigilantes, said bailout would come with full conditions. Today we learn what a major condition of the first bank bailout tranche disbursement will be. It should come as no surprise to our readers- recall that in May when discussing the absolute lack of any actual austerity implementation we said, that "In fact, the epicenter of the current meltdown - Spanish banking - has seen only de-minimus headcount reduction over the past few years - so who is tightening their belts?" It seems someone at the Troika was paying attention, because as El Pais reported, European condition number 1 will be an epic bloodbath of pink slips come Monday, with Spanish banks expected to fire thousands of bank workers immediately and shut down 1,000 branches.

From Reuters:

European authorities will transfer 35 billion euros to Spain's state bank rescue fund on Dec. 15 in exchange for massive layoffs at Spain's four nationalised banks, including state-rescued Bankia, El Pais newspaper reported on Sunday.

The cash injection from European bailout funds will be disbursed to troubled Spanish banks two weeks after it is paid into Spain's bank restructuring fund, or FROB, the paper said.

Bankia, which sought a 23.5 billion euro bailout from the state in May, is expected to be forced to lay off up to 6,000 people from its current 20,000 staff, while NovaGalicia Bank is seen laying off 2,000 of its 5,800 workforce, said El Pais, citing European and banking sources.

Bankia and NovaGalicia Bank declined to comment on the report, which also said the banks would have to close 1,000 branches between the two of them.

Catalunya Caixa (CX) and Banco de Valencia, the other two nationalised lenders, are currently being sold off, and conditions would be imposed on the buyers, the paper said.

Spain's economy ministry also declined to comment on the date the aid could be disbursed to the state rescue fund, or the exact amounts the lenders would finally need.

This is the chart of bank employees we showed back in May:

So, the "massive" headcuts at the 4 nationalized banks will lower total bank headcount by... 3%. Surely this will fix Spain.

But the immediate problem for Spain is that these soon to be former 8000 workers at least used to collect paychecks, quite higher than average at that, and pay taxes on said earnings. That will soon end, and the immediate result will be even less government tax collections, even as the ongoing persistence in cutting any spending means the budget will continue to soar, and only pulling a Groupon, and revising the budget to exclude this, that and the other line item, will make Spain appear even remotely viable.

But the best news from today, and one we can't wait to witness first hand, will be Spanish cops and bankers protesting side by side against evil, and largely non-existent (sorry, the cut of the 13th annual salary isnot belt tightening), austerity starting in 5... 4... 3...

and......

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2012/11/450000-businesses-shut-down-in-italy.html

Sunday, November 25, 2012 1:47 PM

450,000 Businesses Shut Down in Italy; Non-Performing Loans Jump 15.3%, Write-Downs 21.6%

Here are a couple of interesting economic links from Italy courtesy of reader Andrea. The translations from Italian are a bit choppy, but the gist of the articles is easily understandable.

Non-Performing Loans Jump 15.3%, Write-Downs 21.6%

From Thompson Financial News: Non-Performing Loans Jump 15.3% 

 Non-performing loans amounted to approximately 117.6 billion, 1.8 billion more 'than in August and 15.6 billion in more' than in September 2011, marking an annual increase of 15.3%.

With regard to loans net of write-downs at the end of September totaled 67.2 billion, about 1.5 billion more 'than a month before and almost 12 billion more' than in September 2011, with an annual increase of 21.6%.

450,000 Businesses Shut Down in Italy in Three Years

La Stampa reports 450,000 Businesses Shut Down in Italy in Three Years.

 In just three years, from 2010 to 2012, about 450,000 companies closed with a loss of over 300,000 jobs, while the Italians caught up in terms of wear [usurious loans] increased to 600,000.

These are the data provided by Sos enterprise-Confesercenti usury-day. In particular, wear Italian capital Rome and Naples are confirmed.

It is "wear submerged, chameleon, now violent now` hit and run 'which marks a difference between the demands of incredible help and legal reality." [Bankruptcy looms]

The President of Confesercenti Marco Venturi pointed out that "the rest of the bank lending to businesses fell by 6%, rising instead both protests, particularly in the South, both failures, especially in Lombardy and the north-east. Do not forget that over the years has formed an army of 5 million people who for various reasons - bad payers, protested - is effectively excluded from the banking system and therefore must satisfy all its needs for cash."

The fact that more businesses shut down than jobs lost in those businesses says that many of the businesses are shell corporations. However, the implied stress is very real.

For more from Andrea regarding Italian bankruptcies, please see Reader Comments on Italy's Insane Labor Rules




http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/11/2012112414242329798.html

Italian students stage anti-austerity protest

Marches against education spending cuts fill Rome's famed avenues after leaders push through new economic measures. Last Modified: 24 Nov 2012 15:25 inShare1 Email Print Share Feedback

Three student protests converged into one mass march in the Italian capital [AFP]

Thousands of students and teachers have marched through central Rome to protest against education spending cuts. Saturday's demonstration comes as Mario Monti, the prime minister, pushed through "austerity measures"; raising taxes and reining in public spending, at a time when schools and universities say they desperately need more support.  "We need to fight for our rights. This government doesn't represent us and these austerity measures and all the cuts they've introduced are totally anti-democratic," Tommaso Bernardi, student protester, said. Italy's education system is "crumbling into pieces", Michele Orezzi, a university union co-ordinator, said. "We need to change this country, starting from investments in schools, universities and culture." Youth unemployment stands at about 35 per cent, more than three times the national average, and with Monti's austerity policies biting into education spending, school pupils and university students have taken an active role in anti-government protests. Students have occupied schools around Rome in recent weeks to express their anger and frustration at repeated funding cuts, chaining gates shut and camping inside classrooms. Monti has defended his austerity plan, saying his technocrat government - appointed a year ago when Italy faced a Greek-style debt crisis - would be remembered for having helped Italy pull itself out of a deep economic malaise without resorting to borrowing from foreign lenders. "Rome is a city in lockdown," Al Jazeera's Claudio Lavanga reported from the Italian capital. "As for now, it has been a peaceful demonstration, but most of the roads into the city centre are still closed." Several other protests are due to take place in Rome later on Saturday, including a rally organised by a far-right group and another by an opposing anti-fascist demonstration. Police have organised different routes and times for the rallies to reduce the risk of violence, after scuffles broke out between police and demonstrators during recent protests that saw officers criticised for heavy-handed tactics. "I hope we'll see a lot of people here today because we need to make ourselves heard," Davide Marini, a student, said. "The demonstration on November 14 was a great one but I hope today there will be no clashes because the thing is when there are clashes that's all everyone then talks about - and no attention is given to the real reason we are demonstrating." Earlier, a summit to try and agree the European Union's new trillion-dollar budget ended in failure on Friday. After two days of bitter bargaining in Brussels, EU leaders remain divided over whether to continue with austerity programmes or to spend more to boost growth. and...... http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/11/2012112411146284997.html Portuguese youth turn to farm work Young people are returning to their hometowns in the countryside to farm after failing to find jobs in the city. Last Modified: 24 Nov 2012 12:48 inShare Email Print Share Feedback High unemployment is making farm work a better alternative for young people from Portugal. Many people who left their countryside homes for work in the city are now also returning to live with their parents and take up old family traditions of farming. Some are also exploring innovative and new possibilities in the farmlands. Al Jazeera's Nick Spicer reports reports from Alentejo.