"Calls rise to rescue Spain’s banks; Homegrown housing bubble blamed for woes" by Stephen Castle | New York Times, April 19, 2012
LUXEMBOURG - Rising concern about the health of Spain’s financial institutions - laid low by a festering home mortgage crisis - has fed speculation that, for the first time, the eurozone’s bailout rescue fund might be needed to help recapitalize a big country’s banks....
And another E.U. domino teeters on the brink.
But it would be politically delicate for Spain or its banks to tap that money.
Spanish banks congratulated themselves a few years ago for not having invested in the US subprime mortgages that sparked the world financial crisis.
But sticking close to home posed its own perils, as the banks lent prodigiously to Spanish home buyers - helping to inflate a real estate bubble that subsequently burst.
It doesn't look as if the Spanish escaped anything.
--more--"
Related: Moody’s downgrades Spanish banks
Spain banking crisis worsens
With a shove from the same banksters who put you in the position you find yourselves:
"Borrowing costs are rising for Spain, May 29, 2012
MADRID — Spain’s borrowing costs neared record highs Monday as investors fretted over how the government would find additional money to bail out Bankia, the country’s largest mortgage lender, and other troubled banks....
Related:
"Estimates of how much money Madrid might need for its banks have ranged widely, from $50 billion to $100 billion or even $113 billion....
-- even though the $126 billion link I gave you up top said it could be as high as $350 billion (give or take a few billion) --
the European Stability Mechanism. But the current fund still has $314 billion, in its war chest."
I'm just sick of the mind-manipulating, farming-of-conditions terminology, folks. I hope you can understand.
Stocks were down broadly in Spain. That helped pull down markets elsewhere in Europe, despite optimism in some quarters over weekend polls in Greece indicating that political parties supporting that country’s bailout deal might be able to form a government after June 17 elections. If that happened, the widely feared Greek exit from the eurozone would seem less likely to occur.
I'll be getting to Greece and that rigged poll shortly.
And BRACE YOURSELF for what the TRUE COST of a SPANISH BAILOUT!!
The big financial fear about Spain is that a collapse of its banking industry, with $1.25 trillion in deposits, might require a bailout that Europe cannot afford.
Still....
Afford it you will!!
Meanwhile, as investors seek havens from the eurozone’s troubles, Switzerland — which is not part of the European Union and uses its own currency, the franc — has begun considering new controls to stop a destabilizing inflow of foreign currency into the country.
Wait, wait, wait.... Swiss smart enough to stay out of that pos? That's why their economy and currency a pos right now?
The Swiss National Bank worries that too much money rushing in would bid up the value of the franc so high that Switzerland’s industries would have trouble competing on global markets....
So the bankster's scheme is now impacting even the repositories of hidden wealth, huh?
--more--"
Turns out Spain won't be needing a bailout after all:
"Spanish parent of Sovereign Bank says it doesn’t need a bailout" by Todd Wallack | Globe Staff, June 09, 2012
Banco Santander, the Spanish parent of Boston-based Sovereign Bank, has remained profitable over the past several years — earning nearly $2 billion last quarter alone — and continued to pay dividends.
Did I mention that big banks are booming?
In a recent speech, Santander chairman Emilio Botin said the company “ended 2011 as one of the soundest, most solvent, and liquid banks in the world.”
Lying and looting seem to go hand-in-hand, don't they?
*******************************
Santander could need to raise cash from the Spanish government if Latin American regulators limit the amount of profits Santander can pull out of its operations there to offset losses in Spain and Portugal, Andrea Filtri, an analyst with investment bank Mediobanca, who downgraded Santander’s shares this week, said. More than half the company’s profits came from Latin America last quarter.
Oh, so they ACTUALLY WILL NEED a BAILOUT anyway. The level of spin on this pos is really saddening.
Despite the turmoil, Santander said it remains profitable, well capitalized, and more geographically diverse than other Spanish banks. In addition to Spain, Portugal, and the United States, Santander has major operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Mexico, Poland, and the United Kingdom....
It's a global bank and global banks get bailouts.
And look who gets a picture at least, dear readers.
--more--"
Is that what they were protesting?
Update: Spain will ask for bank bailout
