EU Plan Lets Banks Take Deposits in Crisis

The European Central Bank has unveiled a new set of banking plans that will allow failing banks to freeze their deposits in the event of an economic catastrophe to prevent further bank failures.

 

The European Central Bank has unveiled a new set of banking plans that will allow failing banks to freeze their deposits in the event of an economic catastrophe to prevent further bank failures.

Central banks ‘have never been on thinner ice’

Banks are in over their heads in trouble. Central banks are over their heads in trouble as well. The only thing left to bail them all out would be the IMF — which is within the realm of possibility as we enter a harsh downturn.

 

Sentiment at IMF annual meeting sours on Fed, BOJ, ECB

The global financial elite has soured on global central bank policy, believing that it’s now counterproductive, doing more harm than good.

That was the message on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting in Washington, where in informal survey of more than 100 bankers found more than 70% saying monetary policy is now part of the problem instead of a solution.

Bank of England busy preparing for Brexit vote

The Bank of England is consumed with preparing contingency plans for Britain to leave the EU, with staff across its financial stability, monetary policy and regulatory wings ready to calm any turmoil.

In the days leading up to the June 23 poll, the Bank will hold additional auctions of sterling to ensure the banking system has sufficient funds to operate in a potentially chaotic moment.

Three exceptional auctions of cash have already been planned for June 14, 21 and 28. But stuffing the banks full of cash will not prevent foreigners and UK households and companies dumping sterling in the event of a Brexit vote.

Next financial crash is coming – and before we’ve fixed flaws from last one

In case you missed it last week:

 

The next financial crisis is coming, it’s a just a matter of time – and we haven’t finished fixing the flaws in the global system that were so brutally exposed by the last one.

That is the message from the International Monetary Fund’s latest Global Financial Stability report, which will make sobering reading for the finance ministers and central bankers gathered in Lima, Peru, for its annual meeting.

Global markets will only get more volatile and put UK lending at risk, Bank of England warns

The stock market turmoil that followed Black Monday could become a common occurence, with serious implications for bank lending in the UK

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Modern technology and mathematical formulas mean dealers can execute split-second trades at higher volumes than ever before. But the downside to this is that when everyone uses similar algorithms, it results in a market with only buyers or only sellers, causing prices to swing violently, according to the Bank of England.

Bank Of England Economist Calls For Cash Ban, Urges Negative Rates

Just three short years ago, Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane appeared a lone voice of sanity in a world fanatically-religious Keynesian-esque worshippers. Admissions in 2013 (on blowing bubbles) and 2014 (on Too Big To Fail “problems from hell”) also gave us pause that maybe someone in charge of central planning might actually do something to return the world to some semblance of rational ‘free’ markets. We were wrong! Haldane appears to have fully transitioned to the dark side, as The Telegraph reports, he made the case for the “radical” option of supporting the economy with negative interest rates, and even suggested that cash could have to be abolished.

Say A Little Prayer

Monthly Investment Outlook from Bill Gross

I’m not what you would call a “prayerful” type of guy. Even at 30,000 feet, when the air gets rough, I never invoke the “God” word, settling instead for promising myself that if I ever get back to terra firma, I will never fly again, which I promptly forget days or even hours later. It’s not that I’m a non-believer in prayer’s ultimate destination, but more of a cynical take on why the Lord would hand out party favors to everyone that asked, or to those that asked most intently.

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Funny, too I think, about how I learned two different versions of the Lord’s Prayer: one – the Protestant litany – spoke to “forgiving our debts as we forgive our debtors”; the other – maybe a more traditional Catholic influenced version – substituted “forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The differences never much bothered me as I prayed less and sinned more into my teenage years, but later I got to thinking about it as I entered the bond market and began to contemplate the odds of paying and being paid, or trespassing and being trespassed against with other people’s money. Given a chance, I thought I would infinitely prefer forgiving a trespasser as opposed to a debtor.

Bank of England’s EU exit strategy leaked to national newspaper – by its head of press

A senior official at the Bank of England “inadvertently” sent research assessing the economic dangers of the UK leaving the European Union to an editor at a national newspaper.

The Bank was left in an embarrassing situation on Friday after it accidentally emailed details – including how to fend off inquiries related to the report – directly to the Guardian newspaper.

A Bank spokesperson said that the error was “unfortunate”.

‘Timebomb’ UK economy will explode after election, says Albert Edwards

The UK economy is a ticking time bomb set to explode after the general election, according to a leading City commentator who has warned of a fresh crisis for the pound.

Albert Edwards, who heads the global strategy team at investment bank Société Générale and is well known for downbeat views, chides the coalition for a legacy of “grotesquely wide deficits” in both the public sector finances and on the UK’s current account – its overall trading position with the rest of the world.

Bank of England stress tests to include feared global crash

 

The Bank of England is to impose a series of tests on major UK banks to establish whether they are able to withstand a dramatic slowdown in China, a contraction in the eurozone, the worse deflation since the 1930s along with a fall in UK interest rates to zero.

The Co-operative bank – which failed last year’s tests – is no longer included in the annual assessments of the industry’s financial strength as it is too small, leaving six banks and the Nationwide building society to be tested.

Is Russia Preparing to Move to the Gold Standard?

Russia isn’t alone in thinking what happens to those who attempt to abandon the U.S. Dollar as a means of exchange, which was likely the real reason for both wars in Iraq, plus the toppling of Libya, Egypt, so on and so forth.

It’s also highly interesting to note that this falls in line with what was described by retired General Wesley Clark as the U.S. plan to overturn seven countries in five years (see also HERE) in order to keep the next superpower from rising. Although that timeline may not have been 100% exact, schedules do change to fit needs in an ever-changing environment, countries have without a doubt been overturned and destroyed in a bid to remain on top.

The fight to undermine and dethrone the United States by Russia (and China) has been going on for quite some time and quite successfully under the radar of ordinary citizens.

 

An article by Mises Institute contributor Marcia Christoff-Kurapovna believes that now is the ideal time for Russia to introduce a gold-backed ruble.

Mises Institute contributor Marcia Christoff-Kurapovna believes that Russia may be in the process of planning for the introduction of a gold-based currency, and would be better off for it.

“Though a far-fetched idea at first glance, many factors suggest that remonetization in gold may be a logical next step for Moscow,” Christoff-Kurapovna notes in an analytical article published Friday on the libertarian think tank’s website.

Central banks ‘have lost credibility’

Many share markets may be riding higher on hopes of European stimulus this week and overlooking plunging oil prices, and even lower global growth targets, but experts say its time that investors woke up to the fact that central bankers aren’t doing a great job.

The Australian share market rose 0.7 per cent in early trade on Wednesday joining a global rally on expectations that the European Central Bank will announce a 1 trillion bond buying program to help revive economic growth.

Renminbi (RMB) Yuan Clearing Bank To Open In London

A RMB Yuan (CNY) clearing bank will be officially appointed in the United Kingdom (UK) in June, said Mark Boleat, policy chairman for the City of London Corp, in an interview at the weekend.

“There will be a clearing bank in London. In due course, there will be an announcement,” Mr. Boleat said. The news will be an endorsement for London’s efforts to become an offshore yuan center. Other European financial centers in the race to become a Yuan center include Frankfurt, Paris, Switzerland and Luxembourg.

An official clearing bank facilitates efficient clearing of offshore Renminbi transactions, achieved through the appointed bank’s direct cooperation with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) , the country’s central bank.