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AH! THE IMAGE OF FINANCE!
We learned on Tuesday that the fifth largest British bank, Standard Chartered, had promised the New York State regulator that it would pay a fine of 340 million Dollars for illegal transactions with Iran. The matter is not yet…
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LAST CHANCE FOR THE EUROSYSTEM, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
While the parties in the Greek Coalition government are trying to come to an agreement on a plan to make savings of 11.6 billion Euros over the coming two years, which is going to be painful even though they have to present it as…
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MARIO DRAGHI: WHAT IF IT WAS ALL A TERRIBLE MISUNDERSTANDING?
A short while ago, I was taking a siesta, sleeping with a sound conscience, when I woke up with a start, my heart beating wildly, my forehead soaked with sweat and prey to a strong emotion:…
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THREE STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING THE DEBT, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
Whenever monetary creation, or the famous concept of printing money, is alluded to, the idea of hyperinflation is never far away. Subsequently, reference is made to history to predict a return to these episodes that left such an indelible mark in people’s memories. The…
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WAITING IS NO LONGER A VIABLE POLICY, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
Once again, the European stock and bond markets have sounded the alarm. The fall in stock values has been accompanied by an increase in bond rates for the countries in the firing line. The capacities of the banks and of the states to fulfill…
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SPAIN : THE MARKETS ARE EXPECTING NEW DEVELOPMENTS SOON
Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
Exceeding 6% on 10 year debt is already dangerous. According to the terms of the balanced budget rule, this signifies that a nation will require growth of around the same amount, whereas in fact Spain has registered a negative growth since the beginning of the…
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QUIET ON THE SET, AND… INACTION!, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
Events are moving fast. We were expecting it of Greece, but Spain is overtaking it. Yesterday evening, a human tidal wave invaded Spanish town streets, which these days have become virtually permanent places of mini-demonstrations at midday or after work. Today, at the very…
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FIRST IT WAS THE AGENCIES, NOW ITS THE FORECASTERS’ FAULT, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
“I can’t see any time soon when…the pressure will be off” replied David Cameron, the British Prime-Minister, in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. He continued, “this is a period for all countries, not just in Europe but I think you will see it…
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LIBÉRATION, “Plundering and looting must be punished”
Plundering and looting must be punished?
For the economist and anthropologist Paul Jorion, the financial system needs regulating.
The LIBOR scandal took place in 2008 against a backdrop of almost total indifference. This time there has been a huge outcry. Why?
It is a situation specific to Great-Britain. It…
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THE PROVERBIAL OBJECTIVITY OF THE COLUMNIST, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
The case is clear-cut judging by the current climate! The banks are behaving like louts, the regulators supervising them are looking the other way, and the politicians are covering their backs. Indeed, it is difficult to draw up a full list of the scandals…
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ATLANTICO.fr, The LIBOR scandal : are bankers totally untrustworthy?
The LIBOR scandal : are bankers totally untrustworthy??
Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
Can a banker be trusted? This is indeed the question one is obliged to ask in the light of the “LIBOR affair” which broke in April 2008 and saw a dramatic turn…
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THE RESULT OF UNRAVELLING A BALL OF WOOL… FROM THE WRONG END, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
François Hollande has confirmed that the Government is going to propose for adoption an organic law (which a simple law cannot undo) in order to have the balanced budget rule adopted, on the advantageous pretext that it is provisional. There have been many occasions…
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LE MONDE-ÉCONOMIE, The LIBOR affair…… a scandal postponed from 2008, Monday 16 – Tuesday 17 July 2012
My most recent column in the French daily paper Le Monde : Le scandale du Libor, c’était en 2008. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell.
When the LIBOR affair first broke in April 2008, the press comments were laconic to say the least. Last month, when the fire that had been smouldering flared…
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PROGRESS, TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
When there seems no way out, and the future seems unclear, it is then that promising visions of the future seem to abound.
The Bundesbank, accompanied by all those who take their cues from it, never miss an opportunity to remind us of the…
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PERPLEXING MATTERS, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
Two days ago, Christian Noyer, the Governor of the Bank of France, confidently commented on the decision taken by the BCE to put an end to all remuneration on the liquidities parked in the Eurosystem by the commercial banks. The banks prefer placing their…
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WELL SPOTTED, BRAVO!, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
As already highlighted the Spanish government is already benefitting from a de facto rescue plan under another name. To save appearances, the new austerity measures put forward for vote in parliament have not been the object of a memorandum jointly signed with those providing…
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TIME WILL TELL… AND MAYBE IT ALREADY HAS , by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
In the hope of solving the problems once and for all, Mariano Rajoy has decided to take drastic measures in Spain. Taken as a whole, he asserts that the measures that he is going to have adopted by the Cortes (the Spanish Parliament) represent…