LONDON | The direct costs of a Greek default and exit would appear controllable after all, analysts at Barclays Capital noted in a report to investors on Friday. But for all the sense markets are supposed to instil into State finances and economic policies, as their champions tirelessly tell everybody, emotion accounts for an awful lot. Let's say, for instance, that yes-all right, Greece's new government would be formed by…
Morgan Stanley brought up on Friday a clear graph on banking cross assets funded at the European Central Bank liquidity facility or the emergency liquidity assistance tools. One of the conclusions, analysts said, is that “only Greece has experienced a strong bank deposit outflow this year, although it is wo relationship advice rth noting that in Spain and Italy internal capital flows occur, too, towards the soundest and biggest banks.”…
Julia Pastor, in Madrid | In a note to investors, Afi’s analysts affirmed on Thursday that German CDS or swap contracts for bond buyers to protect themselves against losses have been under pressure in the last weeks, consequently increasing by 20%, the most among the euro zone’s countries. “It means a change of credit risk perception about Germany, which could be anticipating, as it happened in July and August of…
MADRID | The turnover of audit firms in Spain increased by 2.2% in 2011 to over 2.8 billion, thus extending the trend of steady moderate growth in the previous two years. Tax and legal advice, and corporate finance experienced a more dynamic activity level, while the audit and consulting areas grew by 1%. A study of the sector published by DBK showed that audit firms managed to increase its sales in 2011,…
VALENCIAPLAZA.COM | Víctor Alvargonzález is executive director at financial advisor firm Profim. Alvargonzález points at the root of all Bankia’s problems: in his opinion, a bank managed was destined to become a systemic disaster waiting to happen. He believes Spain’s finances hurt more from lack of credibility than soundness, though. Is it time to avoid the Ibex for a while? We have been sort of avoiding the Spanish market for over…
buy cheap cigarettes By CaixaBank Research team, in Barcelona | In its World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts a slowdown in 2012 that should be followed by a weak recovery in 2013. The good performance of the US economy and the implementation of urgent policies in the euro area have lowered the risk of a sudden relapse and mean that the slowdown will be less than had…
By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | Contrary to what might be assumed, on Wednesday Spanish politics answer to the EU was strong despite the severe turbulences affecting the country’s financial system: the argument is that it does not need to rescued, but its debt needs to be guaranteed. President Mariano Rajoy and the opposition leader, the Socialist Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, agreed to hold this position together in order to “defend the…
LONDON | While the European Central Bank and the Spanish government argued on Wednesday about the best mechanism to salvage Bankia, Caroline Keen, a member of the team managing the Newton Asian income fund at investment house BNY Mellon, said euro crisis contagion was rapidly developing elsewhere, too. Keen warned that economic headwinds from the euro zone were likely to affect the Asia-Pacific ex Japan region for the remainder of…
MADRID | Bankia’s Chairman brilliant performance in transforming the hole he found in his company as an opportunity to ransack the public coffers, has turned him in government’s shadow financial policy maker. His recipe to cure banking ills will receive little praise in economic circles. But it sounds extremely simple and effective. Writing down bad loans resorting to taxpayers’ money amounts to a rather dull endeavour. Bur indulging in such…
By former director of the Catalan Institute for Finance, Ernest Sena | As if nothing had happened in Europe and the world over the past five years, the European Investment Bank continues working in the same line as it did fifty years ago. One must add that the EIB does very well what it does, nevertheless. The EIB is a key part of the European institutional framework. It was created in 1957 by…