Cyprus

Cyprus President’s Family Transferred TENS OF MILLIONS To London Days Before Deposit Haircuts

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– Cyprus President’s Family Transferred Tens Of Millions To London Days Before Deposit Haircuts (ZeroHedge, March 31, 2013):

A day after former Cypriot President Vassilou was found to be among many elite Cypriot (politicians and businessmen) who had loans written-off by the major (now insolvent) banks; it appears the rot is far fouler than expected. In a somewhat stunning (or purely coincidental) revelation, ENETEnglish reports that Cypriot newspaper Haravgi claims that current President Nicos Anastasiades’ family businesses transferred ‘dozens of millions’ from their Laiki Bank accounts to London just a week before the devastating depositor haircuts were unleashed upon his people. Of course, the denials are loud and Anastasiades has demanded an investigation into the claims; we are sure the government-selected ‘independent’ committee will be as thorough as the Libor anti-trust investigators. As a reminder, as we noted yesterday, here are Cyprus’ gun control laws.

Via EnetEnglish,

A company owned by in-laws of Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades withdrew dozens of millions from Laiki Bank on March 12 and 13, according to an article published in Cypriot newspaper Haravgi.

Read moreCyprus President’s Family Transferred TENS OF MILLIONS To London Days Before Deposit Haircuts

Cyprus Parliament President Says ‘No Future’ Under Troika, Calls For ‘Iceland’ Solution

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Flashback:

– How Iceland Overthrew The Banks: The Only 3 Minutes Of Any Worth From Davos (Video)

– Impossible In America: ‘Executives At Collapsed Iceland Bank Jailed For Fraud’ (Reuters)

– The Icelandic Success Story

– Iceland’s Economy Now Growing Faster Than The U.S. And EU After Arresting The Banksters

– Here Is What Happens If You Do Not Bail Out The Banksters And Avoid Getting Raped By The IMF

– Two Thirds Of Icelanders Oppose EU Membership

– A Lesson For Europe: Why Iceland Won’t Join The Euro (Video)

– Iceland Once Again Tells IMF, UK, Netherlands To ‘Go to Hell’; ‘Ice Torture’ Repayment Scheme Collapses

– Cyprus Parliament President Says “No Future” Under Troika, Calls For “Iceland” Solution (ZeroHedge, March 30, 2013):

Just last week Yiannakis Omirou, Cypriot House of Representatives President, was calling for the nation to accept it is “time for responsibility” as they progressed towards a final solution; and yet today, as Cyprus’ Famagusta reports, he believes the ‘Troika-imposed’ responsibility will, “turn Cyprus into a colony of the worst possible type.” His ‘Icelandic’ solution is to “leave the Troika and EMS behind,” to ensure “national independence, national sovereignty, moral integrity, and economic independence.” He may have a point; judging from the chart below of the Troika’s poster-child Greece, relative to Iceland, things are not going so well. As Omirou ominously concludes, “if we remain bound by the Troika and the memorandum Cyprus’ destiny is already foretold and there will be no future.”

Via Famagusta Gazette,

There is no other alternative but to free Cyprus from the bonds of the troika and the memorandum, House of Representatives President Yiannakis Omirou has said.

Read moreCyprus Parliament President Says ‘No Future’ Under Troika, Calls For ‘Iceland’ Solution

Criminal Act: The European Union’s Financial Looting of Cyprus

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Related info:

– Cyprus: Why Big Depositors Are Facing A Complete Wipe Out

– Another Non-Russian, Non-Oligarch, Non-Billionaire, Non-Tax Evader Speaks Up: ‘I Went To Sleep Friday A Rich Man, I Woke Up Poor’

– TOTAL ECONOMIC COLLAPSE AWAITS CYPRUS – Caught In The Cyprus Crossfire: Small Businesses Suddenly With Zero Cash

– Have The Russians Already Quietly Withdrawn All Their Cash From Cyprus? … YES!!!

– Criminal Act: The European Union’s Financial Looting of Cyprus (Global Research, March 29, 2013):

The bailout imposed on Cyprus by the European Union (EU) is a politically criminal act of financial looting, aimed at destroying the country’s banks and reducing the working class to penury.

In the name of avoiding state bankruptcy, the small Mediterranean island of some one million people is being subjected to the type of shock-therapy already inflicted on Greece.

The terms of the €10 billion loan dictated by the EU, European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund include winding up Laiki bank—Cyprus’ second-largest bank—and transferring its debts to the ECB to the Bank of Cyprus, which also faces major restructuring. An additional €5.8 billion is to be raised by imposing severe penalties, of 40 percent and more, on bondholders and those with bank deposits over €100,000.

Read moreCriminal Act: The European Union’s Financial Looting of Cyprus

Political Fallout Begins: Former Cyprus President Named In Loan Write-Offs Leading To Banking Insolvency

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– Political Fallout Begins: Former Cyprus President Named In Loan Write-Offs Leading To Banking Insolvency (ZeroHedge, March 30, 2013):

A few days ago, when news hit that Cyprus has begun investigating who the people were who had managed to pull cash out of nation’s insolvent banks, both during the capital control “blackout” period and previously, we asked “how much longer will the rule of law remain in Cyprus once full blown class warfare is unleashed, and the 99% are generously handed the list of the 1% who were “informed” enough to pull their money from the flaming sovereign equivalent of Bernie Madoff, while every other uninsured depositor is facing losses of up to 80%, and soon 100%?” We may get the answer much sooner than expected, as the first iteration of this list: one naming the beneficiaries of millions of loans written off by the now insolvent Cyprus banks and therefore indirectly responsible for the “impairment” of the banks’ depositors, was released yesterday by Greece’s daily Ethnos newspaper. But what virtually assures substantial political fallout is that among the people listed is Cyprus’ former president, George Vassiliou.

Kathimerini summarized the situation as follows:

Read morePolitical Fallout Begins: Former Cyprus President Named In Loan Write-Offs Leading To Banking Insolvency

Cyprus: Why Big Depositors Are Facing A Complete Wipe Out

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Related info:

– Another Non-Russian, Non-Oligarch, Non-Billionaire, Non-Tax Evader Speaks Up: ‘I Went To Sleep Friday A Rich Man, I Woke Up Poor’

– TOTAL ECONOMIC COLLAPSE AWAITS CYPRUS – Caught In The Cyprus Crossfire: Small Businesses Suddenly With Zero Cash

– Have The Russians Already Quietly Withdrawn All Their Cash From Cyprus? … YES!!!

– And Scene: Big Cypriot Depositors Facing Complete Wipe Out (ZeroHedge, March 29, 2013):

9.9%? 30%? 60%? 80%? Nope – according to the latest from Reuters, the cash-on-cash return to all uninsured depositors in the healthy, i.e., only remaining big Cyprus bank, will be a big, fat doughnut.In what appears to be drastically worse than many had hoped (and expected), uninsured depositors in Cyprus’ largest bank stand to get no actual cash back from their initial deposit as the plan (expected to be announced tomorrow) is:

  • 22.5% of the previous cash deposit gone forever (pure haircut)
  • 40% of the previous cash deposit will receive interest (but will never be repaid),
  • and the remaining 37.5% of the previous cash deposit will be swapped into equity into the bank (a completely worthless bank that is of course.)

So, theoretically this is 62.5% haircut but once everyone decides to ‘sell’ their shares to reconstitute some cash then we would imagine it will be far greater. Furthermore, at what valuation will the 37.5% equity be allocated (we suspect a rather aggressive mark-up to ‘market’ clearing levels).

Critically though, there is no cash. None. If you had EUR150,000 in the bank last week (net of insured deposits which may well be impaired before all is said and done) you now have EUR0,000 to draw on! But will earn interest on EUR60,000 (though we do not know at what rate); and own EUR56,250 worth of Bank of Cyprus shares (the same bank that will experience the slow-burn leak of capital controlled outflows).

It seems, just as we warned, that the deposit outflow leakage that we discussed did indeed weaken the situation of the large banks significantly.

As Reuters adds, the toughening of the terms will send a clear signal that the bailout means the end of Cyprus as a hub for offshore finance and could accelerate economic decline on the island and bring steeper job losses.

– Big depositors in Cyprus to lose far more than feared (Reuters, March 29, 2013):

Big depositors in Cyprus’s largest bank stand to lose far more than initially feared under a European Union rescue package to save the island from bankruptcy, a source with direct knowledge of the terms said on Friday.

Read moreCyprus: Why Big Depositors Are Facing A Complete Wipe Out

‘Betray Your Bank Before Your Bank Betrays You’ (Bloomberg)

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– Betray Your Bank Before Your Bank Betrays You (Bloomberg, March 28, 2013):

What’s a Slovenian with several hundred thousand euros in the bank supposed to do? Spread it out among at least a few different banks, that’s what. Or move the money out of the country, while it’s still possible.

Imagine what must be on the minds of any savvy depositors still left at Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor d.d., now 79 percent- owned by Slovenia’s government. It was one of only four lenders in October that failed the European Banking Authority’s latest capital-adequacy test, a ritual best known for how lax its standards are. One that flunked was Bank of Cyprus Pcl, where uninsured depositors face 40 percent losses as part of the country’s bailout terms. Another was Cyprus Popular Bank Pcl, also known as Laiki Bank, where uninsured deposits will fare far worse and the bank is being shut.

Cypriot banks’ customers were complacent after uninsured deposits went unscathed in Ireland, Greece, Spain and Portugal, the first euro-area countries to seek international rescues. Slovenians won’t have that excuse should their country be next.

Read more‘Betray Your Bank Before Your Bank Betrays You’ (Bloomberg)

Another Non-Russian, Non-Oligarch, Non-Billionaire, Non-Tax Evader Speaks Up: ‘I Went To Sleep Friday A Rich Man, I Woke Up Poor’

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– “I Went To Sleep Friday A Rich Man, I Woke Up Poor” (ZeroHedge, March 29, 2013):

Another non-Russian, non-oligarch, non-billionaire, non-tax-evader speaks up…

So much has been written of the Cypriot bail-ins and massive haircuts for the uninsured depositors – assumed to be nasty oligarchic Russian money-launderers – that, it appears, the reality for people living in Cyprus has been forgotten. We noted earlier the small business issues, but as the Sydney Morning Herald reports, real lives have been destroyed. 65-year-old John Demitriou retired (back) to the picturesque fishing village of Liopetri, Cyprus, with his life-savings of around $1 million living off the interest it paid from Laiki ‘Popular’ Bank and spending it on his grandchildren. He was in no hurry to invest it; to spend it on big purchases.

Then, after being told just last week by his bank manager, “there’s no problem, nothing to worry about,” he so painfully notes, “I went to bed Friday as a rich man. I woke up a poor man,” as Laiki’s depositors over EUR100,000 were devastated thanks to the bail-in. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs notes, “there is no need for special measures,” to help John (or the other 5000 Cypriot-Australians on the island) as he exclaims, “it’s not Russian money; it’s not black money; it’s my money.”

Via Sydney Morning Herald,

”Very bad, very, very bad,’‘ says 65-year-old John Demetriou, rubbing tears from his lined face with thick fingers. ”I lost all my money.”

Read moreAnother Non-Russian, Non-Oligarch, Non-Billionaire, Non-Tax Evader Speaks Up: ‘I Went To Sleep Friday A Rich Man, I Woke Up Poor’

TOTAL ECONOMIC COLLAPSE AWAITS CYPRUS – Caught In The Cyprus Crossfire: Small Businesses Suddenly With Zero Cash

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– Caught In The Cyprus Crossfire: Small Businesses Suddenly With Zero Cash (ZeroHedge, March 29, 2013):

One of the prevailing false conventional wisdoms about the Cypriot cash confiscation is that it primarily affected rich, tax-evading individuals of Russian origin. Alas, those same individuals are likely to have been least affected, as subsequent discoveries of capital control breaches by the “richest and best connected” reveal, while increasingly it appears that the uninsured depositors on whose back the nation of Cyprus was bailed out are small and medium corporations, who had been parking cash for net working capital purposes with Cyprus’ banks, cash which is now gone forever to feed the creeping insolvent Euro-monster, and which can’t be used to fund such day to day business activities as payroll, purchases, and business operations.

Such as this one:

The most of circulating assets on our business Current Account are blocked.

Over 700k of expropriated money will be used to repay country’s debt. Probably we will get back about 20% of this amount in 6-7 years.

I’m not Russian oligarch, but just European medium size IT business. Thousands of other companies around Cyprus have the same situation.

The business is definitely ruined, all Cypriot workers to be fired.

We are moving to small Caribbean country where authorities have more respect to people’s assets. Also we are thinking about using Bitcoin to pay wages and for payments between our partners.

Special thanks to:

– Jeroen Dijsselbloem
– Angela Merkel
– Manuel Barroso
– the rest of officials of “European Comission”

So while Cypriots may have been quite cool and collected during yesterday’s bank reopening when the Troika was kind enough to give them access to €300 of their cash per day, one wonders just how cool and collected they will be when the implications of the cash crunch spread through the system, when hundreds of small and medium business are forced to lay everyone off overnight, when paychecks suddenly stop and when not only savings but ongoing cash grinds to a halt.

Because if the locals thought the deposit haircut is the worst of it, just wait until the full brunt of what a -20% depressionary collapse in the economy hits them head on.

Oooops … (Memo From The Central Bank Of Cyprus Sent To Bank CEOs)

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– Oooops… (ZeroHedge, March 29, 2013)

After reading this memo from the Central Bank of Cyprus sent to bank CEOs on February 11, arguably to put them at ease, all we can say is “Oooops”…

We’ll ignore the contents of the memo, including such statements that “restricting the property rights of depositors” is unconstitutional – that is after all for the people of Cyprus to opine on (we did however have a hearty laugh upon learning that there is a European Convention of Human Rights),

As for the FT article referenced? The following, from February 10, which references a “confidential memo” which foretold the events from two weeks ago with absolute precision :

Read moreOooops … (Memo From The Central Bank Of Cyprus Sent To Bank CEOs)

The Definitive Cyprus Bailout Infographic

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– The Definitive Cyprus Bailout Infographic (ZeroHedge, March 28, 2013):

Everything you wanted to know about the ‘unique, exceptional, non-template, toolbox-of-blueprint-instruments’ bailout of Cyprus but were afraid to read more than 100 words.

Read moreThe Definitive Cyprus Bailout Infographic

So Who Knew? In February Cyprus Deposit Outflows Soared To A Three Year High

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– So Who Knew? In February Cyprus Deposit Outflows Soared To A Three Year High (ZeroHedge, March 28, 2013):

The decision to crush Cypriot depositors (first all of them, then just the uninsured ones) came in March, without any prior hints of the carnage that was about to be unleashed upon Cypriot bank unsecured liabilities. Or so the media narrative goes, because the last thing needed is to give skeptics any indication the “ad hoc” Troika plan was not so ad hoc after all, and some individuals – notably the whale depositors – were warned in advance, sparing them the indignity of pulling a few billion at €300 per day. Alas, as just released central bank data shows, there may be cracks in the narrative because in February, at a time when the Eurozone was supposedly getting better every day and the Dow Jones was on the verge of its all time high, Cypriot depositors pulled the largest amount of cash in over three years.

Add this curious finding to the to do list for the ‘task force’ investigating who not only circumvented the capital controls, but had advance knowledge it was coming. Surely they will get right on top of that.

Source: Goldman

‘This Isn’t Going To Stop With Cyprus’

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Watch the video here:

– ‘This isn’t going to stop with Cyprus’ (RT, March 28, 2013):

The Cyprus liquidity crisis will only lead to violence, Wide Awake News founder Charlie McGrath has told RT. The journalist warns that the Cyprus solution may serve as a model as the wider EU deals with the financial crisis.

RT: The authorities have promised to reopen the banks on Thursday – do you think Cypriots can sigh with relief now?

Charlie McGrath: No, not at all. And let’s examine the word reopen, because they are not really reopening. They are putting on all these capital restrictions on the people of Cyprus, 300 euros is the max withdrawal they can make. They can only take 3,000 maximum amount if you are going to travel. You live in Cyprus and you have relatives that live in the United States and the UK, wherever and you want to send them money – you absolutely cannot.

The so-called establishment media is talking about, there’s been enough time that has passed since the announcement of this deal that they don’t think there’re going to have a bank run but the real reason they don’t think they’re not going to have a bank run is because they are really not opening the banks. They’re going to have all type of guards and police and very limited funds that the people of Cyprus can take. So, I don’t think they should be relieved at all, nor should Europe nor the rest of the world for that manner.

RT: At this point – how do you convince panicked savers across Europe that the EU won’t dig into their accounts, next?

Read more‘This Isn’t Going To Stop With Cyprus’

The Global Elite Plan To Raid Our Bank Accounts

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– The Global Elite Are Very Clearly Telling Us That They Plan To Raid Our Bank Accounts (Economic Collapse, March 27, 2013):

Don’t be surprised when the global elite confiscate money from your bank account one day.  They are already very clearly telling you that they are going to do it.  Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem is the president of the Eurogroup – an organization of eurozone finance ministers that was instrumental in putting together the Cyprus “deal” – and he has said publicly that what has just happened in Cyprus will serve as a blueprint for future bank bailouts.  What that means is that when the chips are down, they are going to come after YOUR money.  So why should anyone put a large amount of money in the bank at this point?  Perhaps you can make one or two percent on your money if you shop around for a really good deal, but there is also a chance that 40 percent (or more) of your money will be confiscated if the bank fails.  And considering the fact that there are vast numbers of banks all over the United States and Europe that are teetering on the verge of insolvency, why would anyone want to take such a risk?  What the global elite have done is that they have messed around with the fundamental trust that people have in the banking system.  In order for any financial system to work, people must have faith in the safety and security of that financial system.  People put their money in the bank because they think that it will be safe there.  If you take away that feeling of safety, you jeopardize the entire system.

So exactly how did the big banks in Cyprus get into so much trouble?  Well, they have been doing exactly what hundreds of other large banks all over the U.S. and Europe have been doing.  They have been gambling with our money.  In particular, the big banks in Cyprus made huge bets on Greek sovereign debt which ended up failing.

But what happened in Cyprus is just the tip of the iceberg.  All over the planet major financial institutions are being incredibly reckless with client money.  They are leveraged to the hilt and they have transformed the global financial system into a gigantic casino.

Read moreThe Global Elite Plan To Raid Our Bank Accounts

Moody’s: Cyprus Euro Exit Risk Substantial

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– Moody’s: Cyprus Euro Exit Risk Substantial (ZeroHedge, March 27, 2013):

Though it may seem a little like stating the obvious to many, Moody’s comments:

While the risk of a euro exit by Cyprus is substantial… …following the economic dislocation that will be caused by the restructuring of the island’s two largest banks and the imposition of capital controls in the country, it is possible that the risk of euro exit will increase further.

And so while the talking heads discuss Cyprus as a unique situation and too small to care about, it seems the reality of the last two weeks has actually raised their chance of Euro exit as opposed to bailed them into the Euro.

Moody’s lowers Cyprus’s country ceilings to Caa2

Read moreMoody’s: Cyprus Euro Exit Risk Substantial

Cyprus Capital Control Details Revealed

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– Cyprus Capital Control Details Revealed (ZeroHedge, March 27, 2013):

As of now, the banks are still expected to open tomorrow; some of the details of the capital controls to be put in place have been leaked (via Phileleftheros):

  • *CYPRUS CONTROLS APPLY TO ALL ACCOUNTS, CURRENCIES
  • *CYPRUS BANK CONTROLS INCLUDE CURBS ON CASHING CHECKS
  • *CYPRUS BANK CONTROLS TO BE IN FORCE FOR 7 DAYS
  • *CYPRUS CURBS INCLUDE BAN ON ENDING TIME DEPOSITS
  • *CYPRUS CURBS TO INCLUDE PAYMENTS ABROAD

So no outflows allowed to a foreign country (cough Russia cough) and for only 7 days (Pluto Standard Time?); furthermore, talk is that carrying cash of over EUR3,000 across the border wil be banned.

Via Philenews,

Read moreCyprus Capital Control Details Revealed

A Furious Cyprus Begins Investigating Who Breached The Capital Controls

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Related info:

– Have The Russians Already Quietly Withdrawn All Their Cash From Cyprus? … YES!!!

– A Furious Cyprus Begins Investigating Who Breached The Capital Controls (ZeroHedge, March 27, 2013):

On Monday we reported the very disturbing news that despite the ongoing liquidity blockade, capital controls and (somewhat) closed Cyprus banks, one particular group of people – the very same group targeted to prompt this whole ludicrous collapse of the island nation – Russian Oligrachs had found ways to bypass the ringfence and pull their money out quickly and quietly. We said that, if confirmed, “If we were Cypriots at this point we would be angry. Very, very angry.” Turns out the Cypriots did become angry, and the questions are finally starting. As Spiegel reports, the Cypriot Parliament, which may or may not last too long once the banks reopen tomorrow and the people realize that in a fractional reserve banking system, those deposits you thought were there… they are gone, poof, has begun investigating the capital flight that may means the destruction of Cyprus has been for nothing. Sadly, it is now too little, too late.

From Spiegel:

Banks have been closed and accounts frozen in Cyprus recently. Nevertheless, large amounts were moved out of the country’s crippled financial institutions on the eve of the bailout package. Lawmakers are suspicious and are investigating both the government and the Cypriot central bank.

Read moreA Furious Cyprus Begins Investigating Who Breached The Capital Controls

This Is How A Country Ends: Not With A Bang, But A Bailout

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– This Is How A Country Ends: Not With A Bang, But A Bailout (ZeroHedge, March 26, 2013):

Curious how in the New Normal a nation is brought to its untimely end without a single shot being fired? Dimos Dimosthenous, who has worked at the Bank of Cyprus for over 30 years, explains:

“That will be the end. Our jobs, our rights, our welfare funds will be lost and Cyprus will be destroyed.”

In short: not with a bang, but a bailout.

… But at least it still has the symbol for all that is wrong with the broke(n) status quo: the €

First, however, much more pain, because as Cyprus’ FinMin Sarris said a short while ago, uninsured depositors in the second largest bank Laiki which is now pending lqiuidation, may lose 80% (read 100%… or more), and wait up to seven years for a payout. Of course, with the majority of the “evil, tax-evading Russians” long gone having used the chaos and assorted loopholes in the past week to get out of Dodge, the only people punished are assorted local hard workers, and domestic businesses, now set to liquidate as soon as they can afford the bankruptcy filing fee.

Finally, speaking of getting out of Dodge, it is surprising that while professing its love for all man-made bubbles and going all in stocks no matter the fundemantls, the firm that is the shadow overlord of Wall Street, BlackRock, is doing just that.

From the WSJ:

BlackRock Inc. the world’s largest money manager, has cut holdings of Italy and Spain government bonds over the past three months. The firm may shed more if the euro-zone’s growth outlook deteriorates.

“We have been less enthusiastic about euro-zone sovereign debt compared to three to six months ago,” said Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of fundamental fixed income and co-head of Americas fixed income at BlackRock. “If growth continues to deteriorate in the euro zone, due in large measure to weak private-sector lending from a deleveraging banking sector, we would further reduce our positions in the euro zone, such as in Italy and Spain.”

Read moreThis Is How A Country Ends: Not With A Bang, But A Bailout

Eurogroup Head Jeroen Dijsselbloem: ‘Levy On Wealth Is Defendable In Principle’

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– Dijsselbloem: “Levy On Wealth Is Defendable In Principle” (ZeroHedge, March 26, 2013):

While France’s Hollande and Spain’s Rajoy are double-teaming the ‘unique, exceptional’ nature of Cyprus, the non-template nature of the ‘deal’, the need for Europe-wide guarantees, and that the ESM should be used to recap banks and not depositors, none other than Dutch FinMin Dijsselbloem is at it again as he admits what many have suspected:

  • *DIJSSELBLOEM SAYS LEVY ON WEALTH IS DEFENDABLE IN PRINCIPLE

and, as if responding to the desperate French and Spanish leaders:

  • *DIJSSELBLOEM SAYS DEPOSIT GUARANTEE SYSTEMS ARE NATIONAL

It would appear our views are increasing appearing true – that a wealth tax is coming in much more systemic a manner than many expect currently.

EUR Fades As Portugal Admits Cyprus Deal ‘Sets Precedent’ – (UPDATE – Denied)

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– EUR Fades As Portugal Admits Cyprus Deal “Sets Precedent” – (UPDATE – Denied) (ZeroHedge, March 26, 2013):

UPDATE: Well that didn’t take long – The Portuguese Finance minister just denied his earlier comments and added that the Cyprus deal is NOT a template for future actions (EURUSD doesn’t believe him).

  • *GASPAR SAYS CYPRUS DEAL NOT A `TEMPLATE’ FOR OTHER COUNTRIES

The shambles continues in Europe. This morning we saw a plethora of EU officials explaining how the Cyprus ‘deal’ is a unique, one-of-a-kind debacle helping to talk back #DieselBoom‘s mis-words, only to have their credibility destroyed by the actual transcript and his actual words. Then we get the fact that a new EU-wide bill on deposit bail-ins is introduced… and now the Portuguese finance minister has added to the dysphoria by explaining that, “the Cyprus deal sets Euro precedent on deposit protection,” and we therefore assume on deposit impairment. It seems EURUSD also sees this…

Here We Go Again: EU Lawmaker To Push For Bail-In Resolution Law For Deposits Over €100K

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– Here We Go Again: EU Lawmaker To Push For Bail-In Resolution Law For Deposits Over €100K (ZeroHedge, March 26, 2013):

Here we go again:

  • EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO PUSH FOR DEPOSITORS WITH ABOVE 100,000 EUROS TO FACE BAIL-IN UNDER NEW BANK RESOLUTION LAW – EU LAWMAKER – RTRS

Basically, this is DieselBOOM ver 2.0. How long until someone scrambles to announce that this, too, was taken out of context?

More as we see it but the EURUSD sure isn’t waiting. Instead, it is plunging.

Full Reuters article:

The European Parliament will demand that big savers take losses if their banks run into trouble, a senior lawmaker told Reuters, adding momentum to a policy unveiled as part of a Cypriot bailout.

Although some policymakers have sought to portray Cyprus and the losses suffered by depositors at two of its banks as a one-off, many experts believe it marks a dramatic change in tack in how Europe deals with troubled banks, to spare taxpayers who have been on the hook for previous bailouts.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, said on Monday that in future, the currency bloc should first ask banks to recapitalise themselves, then look to shareholders and bondholders and then “if necessary” to uninsured deposit holders.

Now the likelihood is rising that tough treatment of big depositors will be written into a new EU law, making losses for large savers a permanent feature of future banking crises.

Read moreHere We Go Again: EU Lawmaker To Push For Bail-In Resolution Law For Deposits Over €100K

Cyprus And The Eurozone Bank Bailout Hypocrisy

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– Cyprus And The Eurozone Bank Bailout Hypocrisy (Testosterone Pit, March 25, 2013):

Cyprus didn’t prick the Eurozone bailout bubble, the notion that bank investors who took enormous risks to gain financial rewards would always be made whole by taxpayers. That bubble had been pricked in February. But it was the first time that the international bailout cabal, the Troika, stuck its needle into it—while Germany quietly bailed out all investors in one of its own rotten banks.

The bailout deal was pretty slick; it dodged the Cypriot parliament which had demolished the prior package. Well-honed Eurozone tactics: don’t allow voting to mess up the plans. Uninsured depositors would eat €4.2 billion—much of it Russian money. Junior and senior bondholders would kiss their €1.7 billion goodbye. That even senior debt, albeit only €200 million, was destroyed was a first in Eurozone history. Eurozone taxpayers would pick up the remaining €10 billion—still a lot for such a tiny country, but at least it wouldn’t be pocketed by some hedge funds, or worse apparently, Russian depositors.

Read moreCyprus And The Eurozone Bank Bailout Hypocrisy

Cypriot Youth Rise Up In Pictures: ‘They Just Got Rid Of All Our Dreams’

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– Cypriot Youth Rise Up In Pictures: “They Just Got Rid Of All Our Dreams” (ZeroHedge, March 26, 2013):

There is a reason we think of youth unemployment as the ‘scariest’ thing in Europe as we have discussed here and here. After a few months of relative calm, it appears the youth are once again finding their hopes dashed and are protesting. As Reuters reports, thousands of students and bank workers protested in the Cypriot capital Nicosia today. “They’ve just gotten rid of all our dreams, everything we’ve worked for, everything we’ve achieved up until now, what our parents have achieved,” is how one young protester exclaimed his feelings, as a bank worker added, “we are scared.” It appears President Anastasiades comment that, “the agreement we reached is difficult but, under the circumstances, the best that we could achieve,” is not reassuring an increasingly volatile people.

Read moreCypriot Youth Rise Up In Pictures: ‘They Just Got Rid Of All Our Dreams’