Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Stop Your BS! Tell Us How Much You Could Lose!!!

On the UK Telegraph.

  • "To restore confidence, you need total disclosure of possible losses," said Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the IMF's managing director. "Not only losses which are linked to the original sub-prime crisis, but also the losses linked to the slowdown in the economy, and impaired assets. There are lots of things that still have to be disclosed," he said, adding that credit mechanism remained jammed.

oO...

  • "Stresses persist, conditions for access to bank lending are tight, funding costs remain high. Sizeable losses lie ahead as the recession unfolds. The financial sector is hamstrung in fulfilling its vital intermediation role."

    The IMF says eurozone banks will need to raise a further $375bn (£235bn), compared to $250bn for US banks, and has called for a stress-test along the lines of the US Treasury probe.

    There are widespread concerns that Germany in particular is hiding bank problems until after the September elections, using its "bad bank" scheme to keep "zombie institutions" alive.

    The eurozone is not yet out of the woods, and risks sliding into a deeper downturn. "Adverse feedback loops between the financial and real sectors could trigger a protracted deflation," said the fund.

    Separately, Standard & Poor's cut Ireland's sovereign debt rating to AA on fears that its bank rescues will cost €20bn (£17bn) to €25bn and push the national debt above the danger level of 100pc of GDP. "The rating could be lowered again if asset quality in the Irish banking system deteriorates at a faster pace [or if] the average maturity of the government's debt shortens materially for a sustained period."

    The euro fell sharply, although analysts said Ireland's troubles may ultimately pose a greater risk for sterling for contagion reasons. S&P has threatened to strip Britain of its AAA rating unless London gets a grip on spending. Austria is also in the firing line as concerns grow over bank exposure to Eastern Europe.

    Ireland's woes are compounded by the crushing defeat of the premier Brian Cowen's Fianna Fail, which lost all its seats in the EU elections.

    In Spain, the government announced a €9bn fund to rescue banks hit by the property crash. PriceWaterhouseCoopers said the sum fell far short of what is needed, fearing that Spain's banks will need at least €25bn and perhaps as much as €75bn in fresh capital. Non-performing loans will reach 7pc to 8pc, double the level in March.

Source: here

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