Awol Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 (edited) Surprised this hasn't already been posted so here's a new thread for it. Pretty incredible situation unfolding in Cyprus this weekend. It is the latest country to require a bailout to prop up it's banking sector, which has combined balance sheets eight times the size of the Island's economy. The EU have agreed to give them a 10 billion Euro bailout, on the basis that they implement a "tax" on all Cypriot bank accounts amounting to 6.7% on accounts containing less than 100,000 and 9.9% and accounts with more than 100,000 euros. In the EZ bank deposits are protected from this action by law so they've got around that by calling it a "tax" instead. The Cypriot Parliament have to approve the measure on Monday (a bank holiday) and in the meantime controls have been put in place to stop savers emptying their accounts physically or electronically - this vast theft is due to take place first thing Tuesday morning. In return for this state sponsored looting savers will get shareholdings in insolvent banks that will probably be utterly worthless within hours. The EU proposal is incredible, basically stealing the savings of ordinary people in a bank raid that has no more legitimacy than walking through the front door wearing a balaclava and waving a sawn off. Despite the now customary denials of possible contagion by EU officials (perhaps 'financial terrorists' is more accurate) it also sets a precedent for what might happen in the other Med countries that are financially screwed at the moment. If this goes ahead (and it looks like it will) you'd expect that 1) there will be a bank run on Tuesday so big that all financial institutions in Cyprus will simply collapse, 2) the riots that follow will be epic, and 3) 1 & 2 would likely lead to a similar problem cascading beyond Cyprus into other EZ countries. Innstead of the now established practice of channelling tax payers money to big banks through governments, the plan now seems to be cutting out the middleman and taking cash from the public directly. This could get very messy, very quickly..link European finance ministers have agreed an £8.7bn bailout for Cyprus which includes all Cypriot bank customers handing over up to 10% of their savings. Cyprus becomes the fifth country after Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain to turn to the eurozone for financial help amid the region's debt crisis, but also faces a possible run on its banks as depositors try to avoid losing up to 10% of their savings. The savers, half of whom are thought to be Russian, will raise almost €6bn. It is the first time a bailout has included such a measure. "I wish I was not the minister to do this," the Cypriot finance minister, Michael Sarris, said after 10 hours of late-night talks in which eurozone finance ministers agreed the package. "Much more money could have been lost in a bankruptcy of the banking system or indeed of the country." Without a rescue, Cyprus would default and threaten to unravel investor confidence in the eurozone, a renewed confidence fostered by the European Central Bank's promise last year to do whatever it takes to support the euro. However, on Cyprus, initial incredulity at the decision gave way to anger. Co-op credit societies, normally open on Saturdays, were shut for business in the coastal city of Larnaca as depositors started queuing early in the morning to withdraw their cash. "I'm extremely angry. I worked years and years to get it together and now I am losing it on the say-so of the Dutch and the Germans," said British-Cypriot Andy Georgiou, 54, who returned to Cyprus in mid-2012 with his savings. "They call Sicily the island of the mafia. It's not Sicily, it's Cyprus. This is theft, pure and simple," said a pensioner. The bailout was smaller than initially expected and is mainly needed to recapitalise Cypriot banks hit by sovereign debt restructuring in Greece. Cypriots with savings of under €100,000 will pay a one-off levy of 6.75%, which rises to 9.9% for those with larger deposits. The levy on bank deposits will come into force on Tuesday, after a bank holiday on Monday. Cyprus will take immediate steps to prevent electronic money transfers over the weekend. "As it is a contribution to the financial stability of Cyprus, it seems just to ask for a contribution of all deposit holders," the Dutch finance minister, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chaired the meeting in Brussels, told reporters. Such levies break the taboo of hitting bank depositors with losses, but Dijsselbloem said it would not have otherwise been possible to salvage its financial sector, which is around eight times the size of the economy. "We are not penalising Cyprus ... we are dealing with the problems in Cyprus," Dijsselbloem said, adding that that under the programme, the island's debt would fall to 100% of economic output by 2020. In return for emergency loans, Cyprus agreed to increase its corporate tax rate by 2.5 percentage points to 12.5%. This should boost Cypriot revenues, limiting the size of the loan needed from the eurozone and keep down public debt. The International Monetary Fund managing director, Christine Lagarde, who attended the meeting, said she backed the deal and would ask the IMF board in Washington to contribute to the bailout. "We believe the proposal is sustainable for the Cyprus economy," she said, "The IMF is considering proposing a contribution to the financing of the package ... The exact amount is not yet specified." Edited March 25, 2013 by admin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Sorry but this is just a lazy way of stealing citizens dosh. In the West we give it fancy names to disguise it and make it seem legit. It started off being called capitalism.... then fractional reserve banking was invented (which is the ultimate route of the financial crisis), and then people started to smell fish, so socialism came along, which also helped to steal people's wealth, then fractional reserve banking had reached a point that some people were able to both indebt governments and use political influence as capital, and enough wealth that they could legitimately pull a fast one on the banks. Then, surely by coincidence the great depression happened, which allowed a few select few to buy up even more of the wealth, and fund both sides of World War II to great profit for themselves. And then they convinced the people that tax was good so the wealth could be redistributed, which it was... but not to the poor... to the government, who had conveniently decided to privatise the central banks, because of course, the public should not have a say in the wealth creation, but the rich people who like wars should, which meant that every unit of currency in the western world came along with one extra unit of debt, which basically shafted the populations hope of ever living in an economy (or technically an anti-economy) without debt... If you want to see a spectacular theft from the public purse... google $2.3 million dollar fraud. Sorry did I say million, I meant trillion. But after spending all the time writing this out it appears that we actually agree (damn aspergers). It seems a shame to waste this though. My main theory of it all is that the recession is basically made up brainwashing. Having worked for a corporate entity, you kind of see how they brainwash you subconsciously, and if you apply this same critical thinking to watching the news, it is a peace of piss to see when people are getting brainwashed. It is when meaningless statements/catchphrases are repeated over and over and over, such as 'economic recession', 'global warming' and my personal favourite 'terrorism'. And this news story is another part of it. Just something to keep people scared and obedient as we move closer and closer and closer to fascism. The wealth has already been missappropriated, the food supplies are nearly undercontrol, the people are nice and ignorant. And all we can do is sit back, watch the Villa, and hope they had our best interests in mind all along. I will leave you with a coincidence though... in 2000 there were only seven nations in the world without a privatised central bank ... afghanistan, iraq, syria, sudan, north korea, libya, iran. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMFy Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 ^ Best post ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Quick question: why are about half the savers in Cypriot banks Russian? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 because during the the westernisation of Russia, following the Russians realised very quickly that any wealth they had in the banks would end up in the hands of Roman Abramovich and the other oligarchs. Taking this into account the middle rich Russians decided to move their wealth out of the country, as it would be safer there. The poorer russians kept it under their pillow, which is partly why Russia has such a reputation for a black market. I guess as of today, the poor Russians are feeling slightly cleverer than the middle rich Russians, and after the sacking of Di Matteo both are feeling cleverer than Roman Abramovich. For an interesting read on the Oligarchs - check out World on Fire by Amy Chua... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumerican Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 I was posted to Akrotiri for 2 years (Yes I realise I say I was posted to a lot of places but I genuinely was ) and Cyprus is full of Russians . They own most of the strip clubs and had a regular scam going where they would fleece some unsuspecting tourist for a round of drinks .It doesn't surprise me that there is a lot of Russian money there . There are no penguins there though so **** knows why Britain has bases there . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted March 18, 2013 Author Share Posted March 18, 2013 I was posted to Akrotiri for 2 years (Yes I realise I say I was posted to a lot of places but I genuinely was ) and Cyprus is full of Russians . They own most of the strip clubs and had a regular scam going where they would fleece some unsuspecting tourist for a round of drinks .It doesn't surprise me that there is a lot of Russian money there . There are no penguins there though so **** knows why Britain has bases there .We had penguins in Dhekelia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted March 18, 2013 Author Share Posted March 18, 2013 Facing Bailout Tax, Cypriots Try to Get Cash Out of Banks In a move that could set off new fears of contagion across the euro zone, anxious depositors drained cash from automated teller machines in Cyprus on Saturday, hours after European officials in Brussels required that part of a new 10 billion euro bailout be paid for directly from the bank accounts of ordinary savers. The move — a first in the three-year-old European financial crisis — raised questions about whether bank runs could be set off elsewhere in the euro zone. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the president of the group of euro area ministers, declined early Saturday to rule out taxes on depositors in countries beyond Cyprus, although he said such a measure was not currently being considered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Not good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eames Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 This is the most stupid idea anyone has ever had ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 18, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted March 18, 2013 What a shitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colhint Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 This is the most stupid idea anyone has ever had ever. what about making Stephen Ireland part of the Milner deal? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eames Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 No. On paper even that had some sensible features. This is Habib Beye stupid. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 I will leave you with a coincidence though... in 2000 there were only seven nations in the world without a privatised central bank ... afghanistan, iraq, syria, sudan, north korea, libya, iran. you left Panama , Monaco and Andorra off that list ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corcaigh Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 I rather the Cyprus way to the Irish way. Here the working and lower middle classes are being bled dry slowly over a period of years/decades through never ending tax increases & draconian cuts in public services to pay for 'our' bailout. Thankfully however the "wealth creators" and their bank accounts have been left untouched, our bankers maintain their massive salaries and the politicians & civil servants who landed us in the shit have only had minor cuts to to their salaries, perks & fat pensions. Even the property developers whose massive failed financial gambles have been taken on by Irish taxpayer are getting fat salaries paid for by the taxpayer through NAMA. Whilst our gilded elite continue to enjoy the high life and its business as usual as far as they are concerned, we have an economy stuck in the mud, record unemployment (~14%), record emigration (most of my peeps are gone overseas) and little prospect of our economy rebounding in the short to medium term. And thats with some of the terms of our bailout being made a little less severe then what it was, we're still goosed. So yeah, the Cypriots are going about it the right way. Let the wealthy speculators take the hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 I'm rather surprised there hasn't been some kind of floor proposed (even a relatively low one like €5k or €10k). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 I rather the Cyprus way to the Irish way. Here the working and lower middle classes are being bled dry slowly over a period of years/decades through never ending tax increases & draconian cuts in public services to pay for 'our' bailout. Thankfully however the "wealth creators" and their bank accounts have been left untouched, our bankers maintain their massive salaries and the politicians & civil servants who landed us in the shit have only had minor cuts to to their salaries, perks & fat pensions. Even the property developers whose massive failed financial gambles have been taken on by Irish taxpayer are getting fat salaries paid for by the taxpayer through NAMA. Whilst our gilded elite continue to enjoy the high life and its business as usual as far as they are concerned, we have an economy stuck in the mud, record unemployment (~14%), record emigration (most of my peeps are gone overseas) and little prospect of our economy rebounding in the short to medium term. And thats with some of the terms of our bailout being made a little less severe then what it was, we're still goosed. So yeah, the Cypriots are going about it the right way. Let the wealthy speculators take the hit. You're obviously not paying attention. It's not just the wealthy speculators being hit, it's people like me and you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 I'm rather surprised there hasn't been some kind of floor proposed (even a relatively low one like €5k or €10k). Indeed. That may well have sweetened this mess. Frankly, it's daylight robbery. It's all well and good the Cypriot government passing the buck to Germany, but what happened to standing up for your people, those that elected you? Farce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colhint Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 I'm rather surprised there hasn't been some kind of floor proposed (even a relatively low one like €5k or €10k). Indeed. That may well have sweetened this mess. Frankly, it's daylight robbery. It's all well and good the Cypriot government passing the buck to Germany, but what happened to standing up for your people, those that elected you? Farce. Whats this, expecting politicians to stand up for you. It'll never catch on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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