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"European Union lawmakers struck a deal on legislation to create a single agency to handle failing euro-area banks after an all-night negotiating marathon ahead of a summit of EU leaders starting today in Brussels.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was drawn into the talks around 5:30 a.m as the discussion pressed on and negotiators reached out to nations that had taken the hardest line against speeding up decision-making and funding for the proposed Single Resolution Mechanism. Lawmakers emerged around 7:15 a.m. with a deal, which now will need formal approval by the European Parliament and by national governments"
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-20/eu-lawmakers-said-to-reach-provisional-deal-on-bank-bill.html
ESL: 2 days post Flaherty. What's with the rush to push these reforms through?
Addendum: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/finances/docs/banking-union/dg-markt-factsheets-srm_en.pdf
"On 10 July 2013, the Commission proposed to create a Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM). After the agreement on a Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), this is the next step towards Banking Union, indispensable to develop the EU Economic and Monetary Union and to prevent bank bail-outs."
ESL: Step 1 - check. Step 2 check. As the ING guy often asks, "What's in your wallet?"
Interesting timing - the exact same day Carney is set to announce a "Central Bank revamp" which I gather could be construed as a significant move towards implementing global bail-in provisions that Sinclair has warned about for the past year?
Is Flaherty one of the insider good guys trying to send an important warnings to investors who have ears to hear?! At any rate thanks to Jim for getting our finances in order - much appreciated.
Foreigners Sell A Record Amount, Over $100 Billion, Of Treasurys Held By The Fed In Past Week
Or perhaps a warning shot over the bow from the eastern alliance? ("don't meddle in our affairs")
Germany Has Recovered A Paltry 5 Tons Of Gold From The NY Fed After One Year
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/19/2014 - 13:35
On December 24, we posted an update on Germany's gold repatriation process: a year after the Bundesbank announced its stunning decision, driven by Zero Hedge revelations, to repatriate 674 tons of gold from the New York Fed and the French Central Bank, it had managed to transfer a paltry 37 tons. This amount represents just 5% of the stated target, and was well below the 84 tons that the Bundesbank would need to transport each year to collect the 674 tons ratably over the 8 year interval between 2013 and 2020. The release of these numbers promptly angered Germans, and led to the rise of numerous allegations that the reason why the transfer is taking so long is that the gold simply is not in the possession of the offshore custodians, having been leased, or worse, sold without any formal or informal announcement. However, what will certainly not help mute "conspiracy theorists" is today's update from today's edition of Die Welt, in which we learn that only a tiny 5 tons of gold were sent from the NY Fed. The rest came from Paris.
Hey C1 . Some interesting comments on this board re IRS penalty assessments (considered "frivolous") levied on high-value barter type transactions involving Gold coins traded at face value. Seems they have all the bases covered, although trades of coins with numismatic value may be exempt, which could offer a safe-haven from inflation, although I gather the exchange would still be subject to capital gains tax. Worth considering - a high inflation environment would likely invite higher, perhaps confiscatory-level rates of taxation, on the capital gain, erasing any net benefit in hedging bets against the taxman.
"....Venezuela newspaper El Nacional reported Tuesday that Venezuela’s Central Bank and Goldman Sachs are ready to sign an agreement to swap or exchange international gold reserves with a start date in October 2013 until October 2020.
The negotiated amount is equivalent to 1.45 million ounces of gold, valued at US$1.8 billion at today’s prices, which is to be deposited in the Bank of England with the transfers made directly to Goldman Sachs once delivery times are stipulated. Goldman Sachs will then pay U.S. dollars for the gold......"
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-25/what-is-goldman-sachs-doing-with-venezuela-s-gold-.html
ESL comment: Another 50 odd tonnes thrown into the mix, multiplied by a factor of 100 virtual ounces of Gold for every real ounce that exists, as a crutch to support the paper-based exchanges a stretch longer. Strange learning about this development not all that long after the late Chavez fought tooth and nail for years to repatriot Venezuela's Gold.