Several postings indicated that their authors thought the
European system of more intensive/intrusive financial regulation
may have avoided some of the bad effects of "deregulation." This
does not seem to be the case.

----------

snip

Dublin has nationalised Anglo Irish Bank with its half-built
folly on North Wall Quay and €73bn (£65bn) of liabilities, moving
a step nearer the line where markets probe the solvency of the
Irish state.

A great ring of EU states stretching from Eastern Europe down
across Mare Nostrum to the Celtic fringe are either in a 1930s
depression already or soon will be. Greece's social fabric is
unravelling before the pain begins, which bodes ill.

Each is a victim of ill-judged economic policies foisted upon
them by elites in thrall to Europe's monetary project – either in
EMU or preparing to join – and each is trapped.
snip
--------------
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/c...epression.html


--------------------

Toxic debt plan is the last throw of the dice
Mervyn Davies' first task as minister for trade is to devise a
solution to this phase of the crisis which genuinely draws a line
beneath the horrors on the banks' balance sheets

By Mark Kleinman
Last Updated: 6:52PM GMT 17 Jan 2009

snip
There is justifiable concern that the lack of uniformity among
the banks about the way they are accounting for bad loans is
heightening the uncertainty about the extent of the remaining
problems.

The last week has told us that the system cannot move on without
that uncertainty ending, regardless of the number of schemes the
Government concocts to kick-start bank lending.

A toxic bank which purges the balance sheets of the major lenders
would seem the logical way to do this, notwithstanding the
obvious headache of how to value the assets appropriately so that
neither the taxpayer or the shareholder ends up being cheated.

Shrinking status

The first stage in Stephen Hester's dismantling of Royal Bank of
Scotland came, coincidentally, on the same day that Citi
confirmed that it no longer believes the global financial
supermarket of the past decade is something to aspire to. They
are beginning to look more like corner shops.

Hester's decision to sell the RBS stake in Bank of China had been
an open secret since the day he was appointed to the job. It was
the right thing to do, even if the price achieved from the sale
was low compared with where the shares were trading a year ago,
and even if it marks a disheartening retreat from the
international stage .

That is not Hester's fault. The lock-in period tying RBS's hands
has only just ended. More importantly, he was effectively a
forced seller, and right now bank shares – whether they are in
Australia, China, Germany or Britain – do not command attractive
prices.
snip
The list of banks which have weathered the financial crisis
sufficiently well to avoid tapping shareholders or governments
for fresh equity capital is now a very short one. Is it about to
get even shorter? Among the select few which have stood unaided
are Deutsche Bank, which last week admitted it would make a hefty
full-year loss, and our own HSBC.

Last week's fierce debate about the need (or not) for HSBC to
raise as much as £15bn in capital prompted an indifferent
response from the bank but, like it or not, some of its
shareholders are certainly concerned about its capital position.
Those with furrowed brow include, as we report today, Knight
Vinke, the activist shareholder which believes a rights issue is
"inevitable". Certainly if the bank led by Stephen Green is going
to come to the market, it would be better done sooner than later.
But there are few signs of it happening yet.
snip
------------------
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/c...-the-dice.html



Unka' George [George McDuffee]
-------------------------------------------
He that will not apply new remedies,
must expect new evils:
for Time is the greatest innovator: and
if Time, of course, alter things to the worse,
and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better,
what shall be the end?

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, essayist, statesman.
Essays, "Of Innovations" (1597-1625).