Paul Jorion's Blog

Tag: Mariano Rajoy

  • THE DRAWBRIDGE MENTALITY, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell

    A united front of German banks has opened up, refusing any kind of interference from a supervisory body – in this case the ECB – due to their little idiosyncrasies and their little hidden frailties, but also the risk of being made to contribute via a European fund to the saving of other countries’ establishments. The savings banks, mutuals and regional banks (Landesbanken) which comprise it represent 70% of the deposits held in Germany.

    Talking of deposits, the prospect of a separation of deposit activities from speculative activities has … Read the rest

  • THE WINDOWS MUST REMAIN CLOSED, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell

    By rejecting the quartet’s plan, (which has, moreover, already been watered-down) before the summit has even been held, the German deputy foreign affairs minister, Michael Link has placed himself in the avant-garde of all those opposing any attempt at a compromise. The “iron chancellor’s” hard-line approach has not changed: political union first, but not yet, and possibly the rest after that. There is a risk that the only thing left of the elaborate construction, already proposed only in its broadest outlines (even for that of the banking union component) is the … Read the rest

  • A HUNDRED BILLION EUROS FOR SPANISH BANKS, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell.

    It was no longer possible to carry on. Two and a half hours of videoconference between the Eurozone’s finance ministers (joined by Christine Lagarde on behalf of the IMF) were needed to finalize the scheme, allowing the German and Spanish governments to save face. Germany made sure that aid for the Spanish banks passed via the State, thus increasing Spain’s deficit, whilst Spain attempted to explain that this was not a bail-out plan or a loss of sovereignty, with, furthermore, the assistance not being subject to any austerity measures.

    Up to … Read the rest