Europe

Cyprus vs Bankocracy: ‘Mattress better place to keep cash than banks’

"Thousands of Cypriots are celebrating, after the country's Parliament gave a resounding no vote to the EU-IMF bailout package. The move could have seen the government take up to 10% of people's savings, from private bank accounts - as a precondition to securing the much needed 10 billion euro loan. Now that it's been rejected, the ailing Eurozone member will have to work out another plan to avoid bankruptcy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCyprus vs Bankocracy: ‘Mattress better place to keep cash than banks’

Ben Swann Reality Check: Central Bankers Want Personal Savings Accounts To Pay For Bailouts?

"A stunning situation is unfolding on the island of Cyprus. Like other countries in Europe, Cyprus is in a debt crisis and is seeking a bailout from European central bankers. But it is the way the EU and Cyprus government has tried to help pay for the bailout that has the entire world paying attention. Ben Swann breaks this story down in Reality Check." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBen Swann Reality Check: Central Bankers Want Personal Savings Accounts To Pay For Bailouts?

Cyprus concedes big bank account tax, nationalizing pension funds

"As Cypriot party leaders met, a senior Cypriot official told Reuters that Nicosia had agreed with EU/IMF lenders on a 20 percent levy over and above 100,000 euros at No. 1 lender Bank of Cyprus, and four percent on deposits over the same level at others. Cypriot lawmakers voted in late-night session on Friday to nationalize state pensions and split failing lenders into good and bad banks. They also gave the government powers to impose capital controls, anticipating a run on banks when they reopen on Tuesday. A plan to nationalize semi-state pension funds has met with resistance, being possibly even more painful for ordinary Cypriots than a deposit levy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCyprus concedes big bank account tax, nationalizing pension funds

1,000 bank workers march on Cyprus’ presidential palace to protest bank restructuring

"At least 1,000 bank workers fearing for their jobs staged a march on the Cyprus presidency on Saturday ahead of a planned protest outside parliament which is to debate a bailout to save the island from bankruptcy. The workers marched from union headquarters towards the presidential compound where they held a brief rally at the gates before heading towards the finance ministry. The marchers held placards that read: 'Hands off provident funds' and 'No to the bankruptcy of Cyprus' as well as 'Let us dream.' Police initially blocked the protesters from nearing the presidential palace before then letting them through." Continue reading →

Continue Reading1,000 bank workers march on Cyprus’ presidential palace to protest bank restructuring

You thought the whole ‘EUSSR’ thing was over the top? Have a look at this poster

"For three generations, the badge of the Soviet revolution meant poverty, slavery, torture and death. It adorned the caps of the chekas who came in the night. It opened and closed the propaganda films which hid the famines. It advertised the people's courts where victims of purges and show-trials were condemned. It fluttered over the re-education camps and the gulags. For hundreds of millions of Europeans, it was a symbol of foreign occupation. Yet here it sits on a poster in the European Commission, advertising the moral deafness of its author (I hope that's what it is, rather than lingering nostalgia)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYou thought the whole ‘EUSSR’ thing was over the top? Have a look at this poster

Gerald Celente: The Financial System Is Collapsing Before Our Eyes

"All Cyprus is, it’s (similar to) a division of the Grand Cayman Island, it’s just a different group of people washing and money laundering. But this is about much more than Cyprus, bank runs, and stealing money from the depositors. What we are looking at, Eric, on another level is an alliance, an alliance leading to wars. Look, they just appointed a new President in China, Xi. Where is the first place he went to visit? Moscow. Putin. Then there is Iran. So you can see the alliances already forming: It’s China, Russia, and Iran, against the United States, the Arab League, and Nato. And then you look at where the United States is now moving its military - Asia." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGerald Celente: The Financial System Is Collapsing Before Our Eyes

Cypriot president ‘warned his friends to move money abroad’ before financial crisis hit

"Cypriot president Nikos Anastasiades 'warned' close friends of the financial crisis about to engulf his country so they could move their money abroad, it was claimed on Friday. The respected Cypriot newspaper Filelftheros made the allegation which was picked up eagerly by German media. The Cyprus newspaper did not say how much money was moved abroad but quoted sources saying the president 'knew about the possible closure of the banks' and tipped off close friends who were able to move vast sums abroad." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCypriot president ‘warned his friends to move money abroad’ before financial crisis hit

Pictures From A Cyprus ATM Line

"For a few days, the people of Cyprus were calm, quietly and orderly accepting the unreality of the levy being imposed upon them - incredulous that it was even possible. As we reach the 4th day of bank closures, amid rolling rumors and ECB threats, it appears the people have reached a tipping point as this series of images from Cyprus ATM lines indicates - the bank-jog has arrived. When will it become a full blown sprint? It appears the catalyst for this latest move is the ECB threat and EU concerns over the future of the two biggest insolvent banks: As AFP reports: EU calls on Cyprus to set capital controls and merge 2 biggest banks Laiki and Bank of Cyprus." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPictures From A Cyprus ATM Line

Is Spain Preparing For Its Own Deposit “Levy”?

"While Spain's economy minister Luis De Guindos proclaimed in the Senate today that bank deposits under EUR100,000 are 'sacred' and that 'Spanish savers should stay calm,' Spain, it would appear, has changed constitutional rules to enable a so-called 'moderate' levy on deposits- as under previous Spanish law this was prohibited. For now, they claim the 'levy' will be 'not much higher than 0%' and is mainly aimed at regions in Spain that have 'made no effort to collect taxes' based on new revenue expectations." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs Spain Preparing For Its Own Deposit “Levy”?

Peter Schiff: Cyprus Lifts the Curtain

"The decision to inflict pain on both large and small depositors was almost universally described as a historic blunder. But the mistake was to do so in a manner that was not camouflaged by financial smoke and mirrors. In truth, rank and file depositors have been paying, and will continue to pay, for all manner of bailouts and stimulus. Whether it's through lower interest payments on deposits, inflation, higher taxes, higher borrowing costs, or the accumulation of unsustainable sovereign debt, Cypriots will bear the burden of past profligacy. But the new plan for Cyprus was far too transparent, simple, and direct to survive in a world dependent on deceit and obfuscation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPeter Schiff: Cyprus Lifts the Curtain