Greece says to probe U.S. banks role in debt crisis: PM

Greece says to probe U.S. banks role in debt crisis: PM

www.reuters.com

(Reuters) - Greece may investigate U.S. investment banks and their role in the run-up to the Greek debt crisis which has shaken faith in euro zone economies, Prime Minister George Papandreou said in comments broadcast on Sunday.

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Oh this is rich.

Ok, so you have a European country about to fail and all of a sudden it's the US banks fault that they are. How? The Euro zone from what I understand uses the "Bank of Germany" (I put it in quotes because it's not the real name, just that Germany is Europe's bank as it was) so why aren't they investigating the role Germany played, unless this is just one more nail in our coffin, and a way in through the cracks to cause the United States to fail even more miserably to bring about this one world currency idea, which really won't ever work.

But suing US banks over your debt? I wish I could..

www.reuters.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

As I understand it, Goldman Sachs were heavily involved with loans to Greece, then betting against them, and clearing up when everything went tits-up!

There is also rumour of GS covering up a lot of dodgy financial details that basically gave the impression that everything was rosy, which of course it wasn't.

I'd also think twice about defending GS as an "American" bank. They certainly don't give a damn about America and it's people and will, in fact have, been screweing America too. They are a bank, it's what they do!

reply to post by vkey08


Firstly you seem to know very little about how "Europe" works..

Secondly.. So you are saying there was no US banking fraud involved in the Global Crash?

This is a joke right?

Because its hilarious..

reply to post by vkey08


Vkey
Greece may be looking to shift some of the blame to there own financial crises, but I do think there may be a legitimate reason behind it. As was stated above Goldman Saks was invested in Greece and bet against there own loans. What happens when the world bank or the IMF get involved in a country is it means that when the loans are made, the banks making the loans have very little intent on them being repaid. So then after the crises hits the fan, the banks come in and start taking what ever the country has that can be sold on the open market. So now that Europe and Greece have new loans, the whole process will be starting again.
For a better understanding watch this video.

reply to post by vkey08


My dear if you have followed our very own thread on the Markets, that is big enough no to be ignored, you would have learned that the economic crisis now facing almost the entire world started with the derivative scam in the US and the burst of the mortgage bubble, even China was involved in this and fell under the big bank scam without telling their own investors

Yes the economic crisis started in the US took two years to spread over EU and affect all those banks and Nations that were involved.

We even predicted in the Market data thread the domino effect and is not over

What it started in the US with corrupted practices will end with the US as the default of nations will fall heavily on US markets.

Come and join us in the Market data thread so you be on top of how the Market world works.



[edit on 16-5-2010 by marg6043]

They know its london and new york that caused all this.

Why shouldn't the people who did this pay, and someone at the mo is attacking the eu and the euro zone, and putting out loads of rumours. Where are these rumours coming from, lol.

I suggest someone is playing this out and without any care what so ever for who they are destroying.

We all know its london and new york.

Ah, good old fashioned American paranoia and patriotism when it comes to that troublesome place known as the rest of the world.

One thing I do love about Greeks is their complete lack of fear when it comes to standing up to authority and injustice, I hope we can all take a lesson from the streets of Athens.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Originally posted by vkey08


Oh this is rich.

I am sorry this is research poor .Your gut reaction comes from your heart and your emotions are blinding your judgement .What is being done here was not an attack on You Personally or Your Country or fellow Citizens .Wall St is Multi National and just happens be in the United States of America . Wall St is where the economic slide began and the Major Banking Corporations there warrant an investigation period ! No one is bashing you .You have more in common with the people of Greece than the people you are defending .We all need to breathe and put things in perspective . We the people need to come together on this , We all have this in common regardless of where we are in the globe . We are all in this together .

Yet more proof that the entire concept of governments and sovereign nations if slowly swirling the drain. They are nothing more than the public relations departments of the corporate interests, who in turn are just divisions of the empire that rules the whole world.

reply to post by vkey08


Vkey - Please do some research on global economics before you cast aspersions about our Greek friends, and Europeans in general. It's like me saying that all American are cheese-burger obsessed white-trash that sit on their butt and watch baseball all day. Stereotypes do you no favours.

The posts above are very informative - I suggest you read the book "Confessions of an economic hitman" (as shown above), and also the "Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein.

Parallex.

So basically all of the bankers in the world are gullible fools, except for those in the US and UK? How about the US and UK being used once again as a scapegoat, because Socialism has failed? I'd like an investigation into George Soros' involvement.

reply to post by Dermo


The banks were involved, but GS only aided the Europeans in this mess. Now that does not suggest that they were without blame, but you better believe that GS did nothing illegal. Unethical perhaps, but not illegal.

The Germans hold over $40bn of Greek debt and the French over $60bn.

The Greeks have been unable to meet the debt/GDP ratios stipulated by the EU for some time and Goldman created a lending scheme that enabled the Greeks to borrow and keep that debt off their books, making their credit balance look more favorable than it really was.

The French and Germans knew what was going on here. The Greeks certainly did.

This is like a fat person suing Burger King.

Originally posted by Dermo
reply to post by vkey08

 

Firstly you seem to know very little about how "Europe" works..

Secondly.. So you are saying there was no US banking fraud involved in the Global Crash?

This is a joke right?

Because its hilarious..

I am the first to admit that I know not how the EU functions, so to be insulting is not necessary. I am here to learn, and if you care to share how "Europe" works then by all means do so, but please dont' be condescending.

As for US banking fraud? These banks aren't JUST U.S.A. banks any longer, they are global multinationals and should be treated as such, not just as simply US Banks.

reply to post by vkey08


I think we shouldn't blame each other at the time of crisis, the best solution is to nuke the banks

reply to post by vkey08


lol!!! they're ours now!! the US traded taxpayer money for shares in the company, like it or not, you are part owner!!

they were peddling their toxic paper all over the world.....to think it didn't have part in the current world financial situation would be just denying what seems to be obvious!

reply to post by vkey08


I would like to point out that you were also being condescending to my continent in your rant.. And its "Bank Of Germany" rubbish..

Where exactly was I insulting you?

The deregulation by US politicians, namely Bill Clinton, paved the way for the US banks to begin selling toxic assets throughout the world as safe mid yield investments.. This is why many people point the finger at the US.. But obviously, banks worldwide were and are involved in the scam..

BUT!!!!!

Goldman Sachs and Jp Morgan were the two banks that conned Greece and the EU..

These two banks are US banks..

Therefore, their investigation means US banks are being investigated..

I don't understand where the big issue is.. If Deutsche Bank was being investigated, they would be investigating a German bank.. But they aren't..

[edit on 16/5/10 by Dermo]

Originally posted by Dermo
reply to post by vkey08

 

I would like to point out that you were also being condescending to my continent in your rant.. And its "Bank Of Germany" rubbish..

Where exactly was I insulting you?

The deregulation by US politicians, namely Bill Clinton, paved the way for the US banks to begin selling toxic assets throughout the world as safe mid yield investments.. This is why many people point the finger at the US.. But obviously, banks worldwide were and are involved in the scam..

BUT!!!!!

Goldman Sachs and Jp Morgan were the two banks that conned Greece and the EU..

These two banks are US banks..

Therefore, their investigation means US banks are being investigated..

I don't understand where the big issue is.. If Deutsche Bank was being investigated, they would be investigating a German bank.. But they aren't..

[edit on 16/5/10 by Dermo]

How is stating that Germany is known as Europes bank? Angela Markel stated as much on the news the other night, that she was worried that in the end, that the German government would have to step in as most loans and debt in the Euro-zone is owned by or controlled by the German banks. In any way condescending to the whole continent??

What is troubling here is that a sovereign nation, that probably had some hand in it's own crisis, just as we here int he United States have our own hand in our own demise, is trying to pass the blame as it were. All nations, including the United States have to look at what is happening and not just try and pass the buck to the banks, which we all know and agree are more corrupt than the worst dictatorship in the world, yes the banks need dissolving, but you don't do that unless you have something to replace it with, and this just seems like one more step in the direction of a one world control over the monetary supply..

reply to post by vkey08


Ok.. I have read the article several times and am yet to see where it says Greece has tried to pass the blame onto the US..

Can you show me the quote please.. And not the speculative journalistic part.

Thx

reply to post by Dermo


Are you suggesting that the central bankers in Germany and France did not know the quality of the billions of Greek debt they were buying? By virtue of buying that debt they facilitated the current crisis. Yes, the US banks helped the problem along, although it is a bit of a misnomer calling GS a US bank, the same way it is a misnomer to call Deutche a German bank. These are global banks and they operate under regional regulatory laws and protocols. GS operated within the parameters of the EU banking laws. GS is a chartered bank within the EU and as such is the same as a bank who's headquarters is in Berlin. If GS has broken EU law, they will be sanctioned accordingly. To the extent that something is legal in the US but illegal in the EU gives them no safe harbor.

The large European banks benefited by this nonsense by being able to have debt on their balance sheets that was worth far less than the value listed. The Germans and French knew that the Greeks were running off the books debt balances which eroded the value of the debt they were holding. Thats fine when they are using their inflated capital structure to secure higher stock prices, higher executive compensation due to artificial performance and the like.

This is no difference than the crisis in the US. Substitute commercial paper for soverign debt. EU member states act much as counter-partys within the investment industry, passing debt and cash from one to the other and when one government, Greece (think Lehman) can not satisfy their counter party requirements the chain falls apart.

Is it possible that the Germans and others did not know the nonsense that Greece was doing with their balance sheet? Yes, the same way that many healthy banks did not know the quality of Bear Sterns and Lehman commercial paper.

The big difference here is that there is a formal arrangement between Greece and the other EU member states and that trust has been violated by the Greek central bankers. There was no corresponding union amongst the banks in the US that got burned on the commercial paper fiasco. Quite the opposite. In that scenario, other banks simply refused to deal with those banks as counterpartys causing their paper to fail. The reason the could do that is that the were not formally tied together.

The situation with the EU is like the the banks all shared a common stock, in which case they would have to continue the counterparty exposure to Lehman. The EU does have a common stock with Greece. Its the EU and to the extent that they did not bailout Greece they would have had to write down all of the Greek debt and that would tank the banks.

You need to come to terms that the situation in Greece will never change and will only get worse. The Germans and French will continue to bail out the Greeks. They can't kick them out of the EU or the debt will default. All they can do is prop them up until they can get some value out of that debt and then they will say the hell with Greece and kick them out. The question is if the EU can stay together long enough for that to happen.