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A Black Swan Lands In Southern Austria: The Ripple Effects Of "Mini-Greece Going Off In The Heartland Of Europe"

Tyler Durden's picture




 

By far the most notable news of the past week, which has still gone largely unnoticed by the greater investing community whose focus instead was on whether algos would ramp the Nasdaq to 5000, and keep the S&P above 2100, even before Mario Draghi finally began buying bonds that nobody wants to sell, was the "Spectacular Development" In Austria, whereby the "bad bank" of failed Hypo Alpe Adria - the Heta Asset Resolution AG - itself went from good to bad, with its creditors forced into an involuntary "bail-in" following the "discovery" of a $8.5 billion capital hole in its balance sheet primarily related to ongoing deterioration in central and eastern European economies.

This shocking announcement promptly sent the price of Heta bonds crashing as creditors, no longer enjoying the explicit guarantee of the state, scrambled to get out of "northern Europe's" first Lehman moment.

But while the acute pain came and went for Heta bondholders who have seen a nearly 50% loss in just a few short months, the bigger and far more diffuse pain is only just starting, or as Bloomberg put it, "Austria’s decision to wind down Heta Asset Resolution AG sent ripples through the financial system, causing credit rating downgrades in Austria and bank losses in Germany."

The first casualty: the beautifully picturesque southern Austrian province of Carinthia.

 

Why and how was one of the 9 Austrian provinces just sacrificed? Telegraph explains:

[The Heta] bonds are notionally guaranteed by the Austrian state of Carinthia, which now theoretically becomes liable for the bail-in. It’s an echo of the mess Ireland got itself into at the height of the banking crisis, when it foolishly attempted to stem the panic by underwriting all Irish banking liabilities; the move very nearly ended up bankrupting the entire country. Hypo will bankrupt Carinthia.

 

Essentially, what the Austrian government is doing is cutting loose an entire region, rather in the way the federal authorities in the US allowed Detroit to go bust a number of years ago.

 

It’s a mini-Greece going off in the heartlands of Europe.

Specifically, to quantify the Carinthian exposure vis-a-vis its guarantee which will now be put in play: Carinthia provides deficiency guarantee on Heta's senior debt: the total is equivalent to €10.2 billion, or nearly five times the state's 2014 operating revenue. Carinthia's budgeted revenue in 2015 is just €2.36 billion, and as such the southern province of 556,000 would be unable to honor the guarantees if they came due now or in a year’s time, Governor Peter Kaiser told Austrian radio ORF on Tuesday.

In other words, we now have a waterfall bailout chain whereby the state guaranteeing the debt of the insolvent entity that guaranteed yet another insolvent entity, will itself need to be bailed out by the sovereign, Austria! Or perhaps not: Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling has said repeatedly that the Austrian government isn’t liable to cover Carinthia’s guarantees.

This is also why late on Friday, Moody's downgrades the State of Carinthia's rating to Baa3 from A2 (outlook to negative from stable). This is what the rating agency said:

The rating action follows the decision of the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) on 1 March 2015 to initiate resolution measures on Heta Asset Resolution AG (wind-down entity of former Hypo-Alpe-Adria), in accordance with the Federal Banking Restructuring and Resolution Act (BaSAG). BaSAG is the national implementation law of the European Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD), effective since 1 January 2015. The FMA also imposed a temporary payment moratorium on Heta's liabilities until 31 May 2016. This follows the disclosure of Heta's recent asset review by external auditors, which indicated an additional shortfall of assets of up to EUR7.6 billion, compared to the EUR4 billion expected before.

 

Carinthia provides a statutory deficiency guarantee on a very high portion of Heta's senior debt; the total guarantees are equivalent to nearly EUR10.2 billion, or nearly five times the state's 2014 operating revenue. In addition, Carinthia provides a statutory deficiency guarantee to Pfandbriefbank (Oesterreich) AG (A2, RUR) of which about EUR1.2 billion is related to Heta as of year-end 2014.

 

The downgrade reflects an increased susceptibility to event risks, including litigation from Heta's bondholders and further actions by the FMA, and greater than anticipated shortfalls of Heta's assets. All these factors could lead to a crystallization of a significant portion of Carinthia's guaranteed debt. This amount could exceed Carinthia's liquidity resources, likely lead to increased financial leverage and could require some form of extraordinary central government support.

 

We understand that there is a likelihood that the deficiency guarantee could not be enforced upon a full or partial cancellation of bailed-in debt under BaSAG, because of the guarantee's accessory nature. However, we see an increased uncertainty regarding further resolution actions. Additionally, uncertainty could result from the legal risk associated with different contractual provisions of Heta-bonds.

Whether or not the Telegraph is right remains to be seen, and the otherwise beautiful province of Carinthia is now insolvent remains to be seen, but the bigger problem is that the Heta fallout does not stop there.

As Bloomberg reports, "among Heta’s liabilities affected by the moratorium and a future bail-in are 1.24 billion euros Heta owes to Pfandbriefbank Oesterreich AG, which issues bonds on behalf of Austrian provincial banks."

Moody’s said it may cut Pfandbriefbank’s A2 rating as well as the ratings of two of its biggest member banks, Hypo Tirol Bank AG and Vorarlberger Landes- und Hypothekenbank AG, owned by the western Austrian provinces of Tyrol and Vorarlberg, respectively. A2 is the sixth-lowest investment grade rating at Moody’s.

Below are all the Pfandbriefbank members, all of which will now suffer and require further capital injections in some capacity:

Some additional color from Barclays:

The main purpose of the exclusion of secured liabilities from the application of the bail-in tool is to prevent contagion. Indeed, there are a number of contagion channels when treating the guaranteed liabilities of HETAR not as secured liabilities.

 

First, the securities benefiting from the deficiency guarantee of Carinthia are also regarded as eligible collateral for a wide range of public sector covered bonds across the EU, including Austria, Germany, Luxembourg and France. As of 30 September 2014, Austrian banks had a total of €2.7bn of exposure to Carinthia, which partially consisted of exposure to HETAR. Furthermore, Pfandbriefbank (Österreich) AG (PFBKOS), the universal legal successor of Pfandbriefstelle der österreichischen Landes-Hypothekenbanken, has €1.2bn of Carinthia guaranteed claims against HETAR. These claims were explicitly made subject to the moratorium. According to article 2 of the Austrian Pfandbriefstelle law, the member banks of PFBKOS are jointly and severally liable for the debt of PFBKOS. Thus, irrespective of the future of PFBKOS, there is an incentive for the member banks to jointly step in for missing payments from HETAR, as otherwise debt holders of PFBKOS bonds could claim payment from any of the member banks individually. Notably, the FMA decided to exclude public sector Pfandbriefe issued by HETAR from the moratorium, indicating a degree of concern about contagion risk. We believe that the inclusion of guaranteed HETAR securities in the application of the bail-in measures adds to contagion risk, as demonstrated by the PFBKOS example.

 

Second, a number of Austrian banks, including HYPO NOE Gruppe Bank AG and Vorarlberger Landes- und Hypothekenbank AG reported in their annual accounts for 2013 that they had direct exposure to HAA. At this point in time no write-downs were made as reference was made to the “value of the guarantee given by the state of Carinthia”, as well as the fact that there has been no “statutory procedure allowing a territorial authority to declare insolvency”. When announcing the moratorium, FMA explicitly expressed doubts about the value of the respective guarantees. Furthermore, this week Austrian Finance Minister Schilling, in an interview with Austrian state radio, ORF, was quoted as saying that “many have been saying that one should have known that a province like Carinthia can’t guarantee for debts of that size”. Thus, it appears very likely that Austrian banks will have to provision for claims they hold against HETAR and which were now made subject to the moratorium.

 

Third, according to article 115(2) of the EU’s Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR), claims benefiting from the deficiency guarantee of an Austrian sub-sovereign can be treated as an exposure to the central government. The respective list of the European Banking Authority contains all nine Austrian regional governments, as well as more than 2,300 local authorities. Based on this rule, EU banks are allowed to apply a 0% risk-weighting to these exposures. In combination with article 10 of the EU’s delegated act on the Liquidity Coverage Ratio, they are also allowed to treat these assets as “extremely high quality liquid assets” under the level 1 bucket of their liquidity buffer portfolios. Finally, solvency 2 rules foresee that debt issued by Austrian regions could be treated by EU based insurance companies and pension funds similarly to debt issued by the Austrian central government with a 0% capital charge.

Irony #1: the very same bonds that are about to lead to a waterfall in impairments are the ones that were, according to EU regulations, "riskless." One can only imagine how much latent risk Europe's bank have as a result of the supremely idiotic decision to keep a major subsection of European debt as 0% RWA. That may work as long as the ECB backstops everything, but the second Mario Draghi ends QE, does everything implode under its own weight?

And then there is the question, how much more maximum pain could there be in Austria. Barclays responds again"

As of year-end 2013, there were about €60bn of claims guaranteed by Austrian regions. We estimate about €50-55bn of such claims were still outstanding as of year-end 2014. In particular, we note that as of year-end 2012, the guarantee commitments of six out of nine Austrian regions exceeded the total annual income.

The full breakdown of who guarantees what in Austria:

And then, once the impairment wave of the latest European insolvency shocker is done with Austria - a wave which nobody expected at all, and it thus a legitimate Black Swan - it will flow over into Germany. From Bloomberg:

German banks yesterday also emerged as major Heta bondholders. Dexia’s Dexia Kommunalbank Deutschland AG said it owns 395 million euros of Heta bonds and will take an unspecified charge in the first quarter. Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG also owns 395 million euros of Heta bonds and said it will write them down by 120 million euros, cutting its expected pretax profit by two-thirds.

 

NRW Bank confirmed it owned Heta bonds, declining to specify the size of its exposure. WDR TV station reported the bank owns 276 million euros of them.

Irony #2, and the biggest one of all: while German banks had spent the past 3 years preparing for the inevitable Grexit and offloading all their exposure to the now insolvent Greek state, it was a waterfall chain of events which started in Germany's own "back yard", courtesy of auditors who decided it was unnecessary to mark losses to market until it was far too late, and the immediate outcome is that one ninth of until recently Aaa/AAA-rated Austria is now also insolvent. And that is just the beginning.

One can only imagine how many such other "0% risk-weighted" Pandora boxes lie in wait across what are otherwise considered Europe's safest banks, provinces and nations.

 

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Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:04 | 5868297 ThaBigPerm
ThaBigPerm's picture

... Rich Carinthian leather?

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:41 | 5868370 Seize Mars
Seize Mars's picture

Now that is fuckin' funny.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:51 | 5868384 walküre
walküre's picture

Kärnten (Carinthia) is a most beautiful region in Europe. My heart weeps for Kärnten. Such lovely people. Beautiful women with much folklore in their chests and the men are strong providers of the true mountain family. What have the banksters done this time? It is a shame, shame, shame. Adolf is truly spinning in his grave.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:58 | 5868393 Pinto Currency
Pinto Currency's picture

 

 

Bubble collapse after decades of increasingly loose monetary policy is not a black swan.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:33 | 5868454 Greenskeeper_Carl
Greenskeeper_Carl's picture

Good point. Rating insolvent institutions (and countries) as AAA and declaring them riskless and letting then be back by a state whose annual income is less than 20% of the liabilities they are backing is hardly a recipe for long term stability. All bubbles burst eventually, and the world is full of bubbles, so this one popping is hardly surprising. What's IS surprising is that more of them haven't popped yet.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:48 | 5868461 macholatte
macholatte's picture

 

 

What have the banksters done this time?

 

They're foreclosing as usual and will distribute the bounty to their friends via new 100% non-recourse loans guaranteed by depositors or tax payers .... game on.

 

 

Conspiracy theorists of the world, believers in the hidden hands of the Rothschilds and the Masons and the Illuminati, we skeptics owe you an apology. You were right. The players may be a little different, but your basic premise is correct: The world is a rigged game.

Matt Taibbi

 

 

 

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 04:28 | 5868702 Self-enslavement
Self-enslavement's picture

They take paper and ink, print Monopoly money and exchange it for your land, your children, your life itself.

Why aren't all the parasites being rounded up and put in FEMA camps?

That is the question.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 04:54 | 5868724 Haus-Targaryen
Haus-Targaryen's picture

We all know the ECB, or the ÖNB or the Easter Bunny or BuBa will step in and backstop this.  Shoot Angela Merkel will get out on the street corner offering sexual favors for a 20€ to backstop this before it gets out of control.  

 

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 05:54 | 5868745 RadioactiveRant
RadioactiveRant's picture

She'd have to pay me a lot more than 20 Euro...

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 05:58 | 5868748 Haus-Targaryen
Haus-Targaryen's picture

Could you imagine a 

Angela Merkel - Janet Yellen - Hillary Clinton 3 way?  

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 06:08 | 5868750 Wolferl
Wolferl's picture

10 billion Euro at 50% is 5 billion in liability for Kärnten.  If they borrow the money at close to 1% for 10 years that´s 500 million per year to pay back and change for the interest. That´s not nice for the Kärntner but they can afford it. They the voted for that moron Jörg Haider many times, who made all this happen and that´s what they get now. Disclaimer: A great deal of my family is from Kärnten and i´m down there in my familiy´s house many times in the year.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 06:15 | 5868752 Haus-Targaryen
Haus-Targaryen's picture

Next time you are there, ask them for me when do want to annex Süd-Tirol.  

This year or next?   

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 06:53 | 5868771 Wolferl
Wolferl's picture

Lol, Kärntner are not Tyroleans. They are pretty proud they managed to prevent the Slaws from stealing land in southern Kärnten after WWI and WWII. In general Austria will take Süd-Tirol anytime if the people there will vote for it.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 07:10 | 5868779 USisCorrupt
USisCorrupt's picture

For God sake let the PONZI end !

 

Hit the Domino and let it RUN !

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 08:09 | 5868864 overmedicatedun...
overmedicatedundersexed's picture

at the root of all the west's problems : elite crime. the institutions who are responsible for the law: courts, police, lawyers, and yes sadly elected who's oath is to uphold it..they have all failed, corruption is our number one problem. kill the lawyers kill the judges kill the police agency.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 09:11 | 5869042 Triggernometry
Triggernometry's picture

I'll be riding the nearby Tyrolean Alps come April, perhaps I'll swing by...

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 07:40 | 5868810 negative rates
negative rates's picture

Are we still voting?

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 12:51 | 5869922 Wolferl
Wolferl's picture

The Italians don´t want a vote over South Tyrol. Thiefs don´t want votes, they just want to keep what they were stealing.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 05:58 | 5868747 new game
new game's picture

black sparrow. tweety bird, thats it...

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 10:08 | 5869261 Theosebes Goodfellow
Theosebes Goodfellow's picture

~"Why aren't all the parasites being rounded up and put in FEMA camps?"~

Because they are the ones running said FEMA camps. If the guards become inmates, who become the guards?

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 21:39 | 5871754 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

I like him.  Don't always agree but respect his attempts to be honest and clear.

 

It's really interesting that we've had this great Tea Party movement that is all about restoring free market capitalist values, but what they completely fail to understand is that what we've got now is a situation where there is a small class of gigantic financial companies that have put themselves above capitalism.

 

See what I mean?  Soooo close... but not quite there.  Companies are great, meaning corporations of course, to blame because there really is no person in the bullseye.  Families are made of of individuals who own companies.  Companies follow owners orders. 

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:42 | 5868463 Dubaibanker
Dubaibanker's picture

Q: How do you know when a politician is lying?

A: Because his lips are moving!

This joke came to mind when I heard that a bank established in 1896 in Austria that had become insolvent and completely nationalised in Austria in 2009, decided NOT to pay back its bond holders on Sunday evening, 1 Mar 2015. These bankruptcies for bondholders etc have a habit of happening on weekends!

The Govt decided not to pay the bond holders using the new European Union provisions whereby depositors and bond holders of all banks are now at risk since 2014.

These new regulations implemented since last year basically mean that in the event any Govt decides that a certain bank has no money, then the Govt will not bail out or support the bank but instead ask the depositors, bond holders and shareholders to contribute (share the losses of the insolvent banks of Eurozone). These rules were quietly introduced around the world but mostly across Eurozone in 2014.

This is why I have been suggesting to keep as much money outside Eurozone as possible and not invest in any European banks, as much as possible.

Over the last 3-4 years, the Austrian Govt transferred all the 'bad bonds' and 'bad debts' into a 'bad bank' and assured everyone that the Austrian Govt will not let the 'bad bank' become insolvent. But the Austrian Govt was lying!

Of course, the bad bank failed and now even the good bank is at risk!

The capital shortfall, that has appeared 'suddenly' despite stress tests every year are a joke and a complete fabrication of lies! The shortfall is of EUR 7.9bn in this comparatively smallish bank of Eurozone and the Austrian Govt has refused to put any more money and instead will ask more than 1.2 million customers of the bank and EUR 8.5bn of bondholders to share this capital loss which basically is an insolvent bank, DESPITE EXPLICIT GOVERNMENT GUARANTEES AND HAVING SENIOR DEBT STATUS.

The price of the 2015 bad bank has dropped from EUR 74 to EUR 47 in 1 DAY. http://www.finanzen.net/anleihen/A0G4S6-HYPO-ALPE-ADRIA-BANK-INTERNATIONAL-Anleihe-charttool

Coming back to the joke.....The finance minister of Austria at that time in March 2014 declared that he will never allow a bank to go bankrupt or force losses on bond holders:

14 Mar 2014: Austria Rules Out Hypo Insolvency 

Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank to Be Wound Down Through a Private 'Bad Bank'

By NICOLE LUNDEEN 

Updated March 14, 2014 11:02 a.m. ET

VIENNA—Austria's finance minister Friday said debt-ridden bank Hypo-Alpe-Adria Bank AG will be wound down and not allowed to become insolvent, ending months of speculation on how to close the financial black hole.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304914904579438650811890472

However, as we all know, ALL politicians lie. It's part of their job.

The Austria bank has shrunk from 328 branches to about 245 branches in the last 4 years while under Govt control and so have their assets/size.

However, the current Finance minister of Austria declared on Sunday night, March 1, 2015 that ALL bond holders will face losses including senior bond holders and subordinated bond holders. 

2 Mar 2015: Holders of Bonds Linked to Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank Face Steep Losses

http://www.wsj.com/articles/bonds-linked-to-hypo-alpe-adria-bank-tumble-1425296342

A new plan to wind down the remnants of nationalized Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International AG will see owners of the banks’ debts take steep losses—even if they carry guarantees from the regional government of Carinthia, Austria’s finance minister said Monday. 

Some of the so called 'experts' are surprised as mentioned in the article. :)

But if you have read my past messages, they are all a bunch of liars! If I knew that European banks will keep failing, that means they knew it too! But just kept lying..anyways! This includes the media, research houses, CEO's and almost every senior executive who still has a job inside a bank! Part of the reason is that everyone tries to be optimistic while the whole system based on unpayable and excessive debt is crumbling. Also, most of the people believe the politicians and keep repeating the same lies because NO ONE knows the extent of the insolvencies!

Until now, senior bondholders have taken losses during the resolution of some smaller lenders in Denmark and during the winding down and merger of two Cypriot banks in 2012. Austria would be the first country to hit senior debts under the new EU-wide rules. A first €25 million slice of debt affected by the moratorium would have been due Monday.

2 Mar 2015: Europe cracking as Austria becomes newest country to force depositor bail-ins 

http://www.examiner.com/article/europe-cracking-as-austria-becomes-newest-country-to-force-depositor-bail-ins

Contrary to all the propaganda and rhetoric coming from the mainstream media regarding a global economic recovery, the world is now facing the consequences of a currency war that began in the middle of 2013, and has forced central banks to print money at historic rates.  

Austria now becomes the second European Union (EU) country to implement bail-in measures where depositors and creditors of banking debt will be involuntarily forced to give up their capital and assets to fund a bail-in measure to protect a bank from insolvency.

The first country to do 'bail in' and take money away from depositors was the second largest bank of Cyprus in March 2013 and now in March 2015, we have the exact same event and one of the large Austrian banks has decided to take money away from bond holders and maybe from deposit holders. 

2. Furthermore, just today, Ukraine has announced that their 4th largest bank is INSOLVENT:

3 Mar 2015: Ukraine central bank declares fourth-largest lender insolvent

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/03/ukraine-crisis-banking-idUSL5N0W53H920150303

The central bank said 94 percent of Delta's depositors would be compensated for their lost deposits in full, because it offers guarantees for holders of deposits amounting to less than 200,000 hryvnia.

Large depositors who are 6% of the bank who keep money above the UKH 200,000 limit will see their deposits GONE!!!

2 other small banks were also declared insolvent today in Ukraine.

3 Mar 2015: Delta Bank, one of key Ukrainian banks, and two other banks declared insolvent on Tuesday 

http://www.ukrinform.ua/eng/news/delta_bank_one_of_key_ukrainian_banks_and_two_other_banks_declared_insolvent_on_tuesday_329495

You can continue to invest in Coco Bonds or hold any European bank bonds at your own risk! You will not get any advance warning when ANY bank may fail in EU! It will only happen over a weekend or when banks have been closed for an extended period of time! 

So, stay tuned....and stay safe! And try to stay out of banks physically based in the Eurozone countries including Switzerland! :) 

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:46 | 5868469 847328_3527
847328_3527's picture

This area is one of the few relatively un-touristy areas of Europe left imo. In general, Austria is cleaner, safer, stunningly more beautiful then many other areas that have become infested with ... well, I'll not go further but zh'ers get my drift.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:50 | 5868476 Dubaibanker
Dubaibanker's picture

2017 bond here: http://www.boerse-berlin.com/index.php/Bonds?isin=XS0281875483

Finanzen.net link is not working for some odd reason.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 00:35 | 5868520 stormsailor
stormsailor's picture

i don't have the talent to track what banks are using those bonds as collateral and when those banks on bonds have coupon due that will not get paid, or how much these bondholders will have to "bail-in".

 

probably nothing will become of any of this, but one of these days those derivitives are going to get tripped and the real last party to end all parties will start.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 02:42 | 5868640 Squid-puppets a...
Squid-puppets a-go-go's picture

Well if Austria falls ina heap, it can just hand over its sovereignty and join as one nation with germany, and...

... oh wait

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 08:33 | 5868909 conscious being
conscious being's picture

Not an issue this time around if that's how it plays out. The NAZIs are not in power in Berlin. There's still reason to believe Germany will do the smart and ethical thing and bail on the war party.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 00:43 | 5868528 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

Thank you for the warning that needs be heeded.

 

As with Gold it is also like Cash. If your Cash is held as a deposit in a Bank then you do not own it.

 

If you do not hold it then you do not own it.

 

Opt out while you still have some time.

 

ZIRP? NIRP? Why in the hell are you keeping deposits in any bank? The interest garnered is not worth the underlying risk.

 

Don't give me that FDIC nonsense answer as the FDIC is severely underfunded.

 

Withdraw all of your deposits...TODAY.

 

Bury the damned Cash. You can stash it not under the mattress but you can stuff your mattress with it. It is riskier to keep it at the Bank.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 06:33 | 5868760 HowdyDoody
HowdyDoody's picture

"many other areas that have become infested with ... "

Loud mouthed, ill dressed Americans?

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 01:54 | 5868600 OhNo
OhNo's picture

Great post, Cheers

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 06:00 | 5868749 negative rates
negative rates's picture

I guess we need to set up a "poppin party".

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 08:54 | 5868985 JRobby
JRobby's picture

These are the rules of "The Financial Madness" game. It has been going on for some time now. Need some cash? Issue debt with a AAA rating from one of the selected prostetution rings: S&P, Moody's etc.. Don't worry about the interest payments. There is no "long term" anymore.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 06:39 | 5868767 popocatepetl
popocatepetl's picture

You know what, I lived there 9 years (in Klagenfurt) and I haven't seen more nationalist people in whole Austria! They are Jörg Haider lovers - former state governor of carinthia, former leader of the nationalist party of Austria (FPÖ) and later founder of BZÖ. He died in carinthia in a car accident when he was driving totally drunk around 100 miles per hour from one party to another only a couple of miles away from Klagenfurt. By the way, Haider has made a big contribution to this whole hypo debacle. Now, after the whole money is gone in some deep pockets, the carinthians are waking up at last...

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 08:12 | 5868849 Al Tinfoil
Al Tinfoil's picture

The Hypo-Alpe-Adria bank story is incredible (and darkly hilarious) when you start looking into it.

Google "Wiki Hypo Group Alpe Adria". (the Wiki piece is mercifully short). Then, under EXTERNAL LINKS click on Hypo Alpe Adria-A Bank Scandal in Austria.  That brings up: 

NACHRICHTEN HEUTE "Hypo-Alpe-Adria- A Bank Scandal in Austria", http://oraclesyndicate.twoday.net/stories/3950042/

Then click on the next article under External Links: "Hypo-Alpe-Adria-Bank (Scandalpe): Upddate of the Scandal".

Then for icing on the cupcake, Google "Jorg Haider".

According to these articles, Hypo originated with some persons of questionable reputation, then operations were taken over by a team of well-known con artists, involved itself in numerous scandalous deals, and was the darling of Joerg Haider the "controversial" right-wing Hitler-worshipper who has Governor of the Austrian province of Carinthia/Kaernten.  Carinthia/Kaernteen was the majority shareholder in the Hypo bank at that time.

In May, 2007, with Haider promoting the deal, BayernLB, a county bank owned by the state of Bavaria, Germany, bought a 50% plus one share interest in Hypo bank, for 1.63 billion Euros.  The sale was accompanied by allegations of insider trading in the shares making a profit of 148 million Euros. BayernLB had been trying to enter the Austrian banking market for some time.  Carinthia/Kaernten retained a minority interest. 

It is alleged in the "Update" article that Bayern did no due diligence at best, or at worst its Directors colluded with the Austrians to carry out the crooked deal.  BayernLB found Hypo to be a black hole for its money.  The bank was riddled with bad loans and shady deals including money laundering, fraud, and arms financing.

In December, 2009, the bank was nationalized by the Austrian federal government to prevent its collapse.  Bayern turned over its interest for a symbolic 1 Euro, taking a hit on the overall deal of as much as 6.7 billion Euros.  The total losses on unrecoverable loans were estimated to be between 13 and 19 Billion Euros.

In February 2014, Chancellor Werner Faymann of Austria warned that the HYPO mess remained unresolved, and that its failure would be comparable to the Kredit Anstalt event of the 1930s.  In March 2014, Hypo was split into a Balkans unit, an Italian business, and a bad bank, Heta Asset Resolution. 

March 1, 2015, Austria's Financial Market Authority imposed a moratorium on debt and interest payments by Heta, "after an audit found that it had a capital shortfall of up to 7.6 billion Euros".  Gee, surprise surprise, where did that capital shortfall come from?

As for Haider, he killed himself in a high-speed single-vehicle crash in 2008. He was allegedly heading for his mother's birthday party, had a blood alcohol reading of 3 times the legal limit, travelling at twice the speed limit, had just left a gay bar and had just had a fight with his boyfriend.  His surviving wife disputed the allegation that Joerg was gay.  The police insisted that it was an accidental death, not a murder.

Various former high-ranking officers of Hypo have been arrested, convicted, or investigated for a number of alleged offences relating to Hypo, including fraud and issuing false balance sheets.   

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 08:57 | 5868996 JRobby
JRobby's picture

More bankster mentality spreading everywhere: "Rob now before there is nothing left to rob"

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:29 | 5868423 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

That is funny.  Makes me want to go out and buy an old Chrysler Cordoba.

Youg'uns won't have any frame of reference, but believe me, the "Corinthan leather" thing has FAR outlived the car that made it famous.  It was Ricarco Montalban, yes, the same guy from 'Fantasy Island' and 'Star Trek: Wrath of Khan", who make that phrase imply far more than was actually delivered by this sad, SAD car.

Just so you know:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfKHBB4vt4c

To this day, NOBODY knows what "Corinthian leather" actually is, but when Ricardo said it, you BELIEVED it.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 01:12 | 5868565 IridiumRebel
IridiumRebel's picture

Volare!!!
Oh oh!!!

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:07 | 5868407 DriveByLurker
DriveByLurker's picture

formerly rich Carinthian lenders.

 

(fixed it for you)

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 01:49 | 5868590 ThirdWorldDude
ThirdWorldDude's picture

Tyler, since when is Austria part of Northern Europe?

Bankster geography much?

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 04:49 | 5868719 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

Rich?  Hah!  Everyone's broke, especially if you include all the off-the-books liabilities, such as Medicare, & Social Security.  We know it, they (TPTB) know it, Govts know it, and once the Ignorati know it, that's when the fun begins!

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 08:59 | 5869002 JRobby
JRobby's picture

"include all the off-the-books liabilities, such as Medicare, & Social Security"

There is so much more than that. The magnitude of the ponzi is beyond most comprehension.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:06 | 5868303 A Lunatic
A Lunatic's picture

Lazy fucking Germans.......

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:17 | 5868329 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

The Germans should never have lent so much money to the Germans.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:34 | 5868349 Self-enslavement
Self-enslavement's picture

Jewish Germans printing Monopoly money and lending it to non-Jewish Germans with interest, but you have to borrow more Monopoly money to pay off the interest. Which means you owe even more money, so... You get the point. It's a scam. Insanity. That's why the Jews have been kicked out of every country in the world.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:45 | 5868372 Baby Eating Dingo22
Baby Eating Dingo22's picture

dude

You ever notice all the dirty cops and judges are Irish Catholic?

And the Koreans and Muslims running all the grocery stores

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:21 | 5868433 Seize Mars
Seize Mars's picture

So it's the same then?

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:38 | 5868458 Squid-puppets a...
Squid-puppets a-go-go's picture

Hypothekenbank AG, eh? I wonder what they use for their loan collateral.... again..

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 00:51 | 5868539 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

YOUR FUTURE LABOR AND PRODUCTION IS THE COLLATERAL, SLAVE.

 

Now stop whinng and get back to work. We do not pay you to think.

 

Hugs,

 

The Bilderberg Group and the Red Shield.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 02:22 | 5868625 Squid-puppets a...
Squid-puppets a-go-go's picture

i work a 40 hour week. Sure, it only seems like 1 hour of actual activity, but i rehypothecate that hour another 39 times

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 06:20 | 5868756 new game
new game's picture

my greatest achievement (today), will be to squeeze out a banker, soon...

and then a clean wipe with the paper they issue..

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 07:33 | 5868802 stewie
stewie's picture

All your future labor and production are belong to us!

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 00:07 | 5868499 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

Yes, but they, like us, are only serfs of a different trade. They are still controlled by Banksters.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 01:02 | 5868552 Socratic Dog
Socratic Dog's picture

So wicked muslims run grocery stores, and upstanding jews run central banks.  Then obviously we must have endless war against... the grocery store owners?  Now I get it.

Time for a re-evaluation of premises.  There's something wrong in that equation, can't quite put my finger on it.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 00:04 | 5868496 Peelingtheonion
Peelingtheonion's picture

PTI,

 

S-E...they'll tell you it's because of discrimination....and their Jewish heritage...yeah right....

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 02:47 | 5868645 All Risk No Reward
All Risk No Reward's picture

Do you think all Jewish people in America got a memo not to buy over priced homes and have professional courtesy when it comes to robosigning banks that will forge documents and commit perjury in an effort to steal their home?

Most Jewish people are victims as well - and the message would be better served by someone not quite as simple minded as yourself.  Yes, the Rothschilds running this system are trash.  That doesn't make your Jewish neighbors who had their house stolen via forged doucments and perjured claims The Big Bad.  Please learn to think your way out of the wet paper bag that limits your conception of reality.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 06:20 | 5868754 new game
new game's picture

self enslave... - did you ever think that some fucking idiot  signed the note to pay back these jews. was there a gun to their head when they signed the note? who is the idiot? if the state signs for the taxpayer, well thats a different story, but still, some fucking idiot agrees to pay a smarter jew money with interest. unless there is duress, then i still ask who is the dumb fuck? quite blaming everything on jews. they must be smarter than most other humans. think about it, you and i would love to have the wealth they have achieved. correct? then understand that this is what is done. find a greater fool and lend them money. start your own bank and get rich, ha...

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:35 | 5868367 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

The big lie.

People believing that they can sustain themselves with debt, and worse still people believing that they can actually earn from loaning money to sustain the unsustainable.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:11 | 5868313 venturen
venturen's picture

I wish more banks would crawl in that capital HOLE!

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:20 | 5868432 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

They're already there, dude.  They've just spent a mint convincing you they're not.

 

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:19 | 5868315 Renfield
Renfield's picture

I looked at the sky where black clouds were beginning to block out the sun. And behold, I saw that they were not clouds, but flocks upon flocks of black swans, whose effect on the earth was to darken it to twilight...

(Tyler, I can't keep up anymore with all these events. Seeing so many black swans gather is like watching The Birds. By ones and twos, they gradually gather and wait as a growing crowd, quiet, nearly unnoticed. Suddenly one of them breaks out and then they all attack together. It only takes one to make that first break. In financial terms, is it accurate to call this a murder of black swans?)

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:26 | 5868346 Tasty Sandwich
Tasty Sandwich's picture

Well, has anyone figured out what's going to happen on Wednesday because of the "11.3" on that The Economist cover?

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:34 | 5868356 Renfield
Renfield's picture

I'm waiting for that myself. 11th March and 11th May, yes?

Although I have to say this: the editor of the Economist claims that the arrows with 11.3 and 11.5 on them were not dates, but were simply "Chinese targets", taken from an illustration in one of the articles in that issue.

Alas, I do not subscribe to the Economist. So I have no idea what s/he meant by "Chinese targets", but FWIW, if anyone has an issue sitting around and could venture a guess as to what that means, well, inquiring minds want to know!

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 05:12 | 5868733 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture
This month the physical gold market will undergo radical change when the four London fixing banks hand over the twice-daily fix to the International Commodity Exchange’s trading platform on 20th March.

Guess who's favorite Dragon is gonna be running the show...

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:40 | 5868460 Hapa
Hapa's picture

+100  A Murder of Black Swans

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 00:05 | 5868497 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

We need a second division of ZH. Break up these swans, put 1/2 of members on each site, and someone reports the summaries back to the other site.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 01:29 | 5868580 JoeySandwiches
JoeySandwiches's picture

I'm more convinced day-by-day that all the damn swans and bubbles are gonna coincidally pop on This Shemitah's day of collapse, in September.

http://www.silverdoctors.com/does-this-seven-year-cycle-of-economic-cras...

 

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:14 | 5868319 Escrava Isaura
Escrava Isaura's picture

 

 

Don't ever let your savings/debt pointing outside your law.

Wonder why?

On a long enough timeline, the survival rate to everyone drops to zero.


Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:15 | 5868323 Fukushima Fricassee
Fukushima Fricassee's picture

Bullish for US storks?

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:16 | 5868326 SillySalesmanQu...
SillySalesmanQuestion's picture

There are lots of boxes waiting to be opened, lots of genies waiting to escape their bottles and lots of hot potatoes being passed around. 

"Burnt my fingers..."

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:17 | 5868328 Eireann go Brach
Eireann go Brach's picture

Is Obama a black swan?

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:30 | 5868353 Theta_Burn
Theta_Burn's picture

...A black con

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 00:03 | 5868495 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

.....qualified to be a "branch Manager."

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:32 | 5868359 remain calm
remain calm's picture

Black turd

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:53 | 5868386 walküre
walküre's picture

He's not even black.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 00:55 | 5868542 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

But he is still a turd.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:18 | 5868331 Brutlstrudl
Brutlstrudl's picture

Kredit Anschtalt.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:20 | 5868332 williambanzai7
williambanzai7's picture

QE is a wonderful fanstastical Keynesian idea...yet no one can explain how to reverse out of it without a mega market calamity. And what of trickle down? Suck it up.

Rational human minds at work or the selfish genetic imperative of self preservation?

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:23 | 5868338 Renfield
Renfield's picture

<<QE is a fanstastical Keynesian idea...yet no one has explained how to reverse out of it without a mega market calamity.>>

What a coincidence... that's the difficulty with the euro too.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:58 | 5868394 Anusocracy
Anusocracy's picture

My dear, here we must print as fast as we can, just to stay in place.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:24 | 5868436 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

"yet no one can explain how to reverse out of it without a mega market calamity"

There IS NO WAY to back out of it without a calamity.  If there was it would mean there are no such things as consequences.  They can be shifted and deferred but the laws of the universe can't simply be waved away beacause you have a printing press.  SOMEBODY will pay the price.

I vote that the poor pay the price.  As is customary.

 

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 00:09 | 5868501 Greenskeeper_Carl
Greenskeeper_Carl's picture

I think what's left of the middle class will be who really gets fucked over, again. The poor don't typically have IRAs or 401ks, nor own homes. Yes, putting all your money in this market is stupid, and While it is hard to feel sorry for people who are blind to reality, a lifetime of propaganda is a tough thing to overcome. These people will see their retirement accounts take a 50% drop( if they are lucky, it could easily be more than that) and once again watch their mortgaged house lose a ton of value , probably putting them in negative equity, for the second time in just a few years. While the poor will no doubt get fucked as well, those who really have worked hard their whole lives and tried to do the right thing actually have assets and bet worth to steal, so they will get it worst of all.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 11:51 | 5869651 schadenfreude
schadenfreude's picture

Pensions are going to suffer. All promises by the state are easily dismissed and all assets, that are easily attained are seized as well. In the end possession is important.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:48 | 5868378 yogibear
yogibear's picture

QE's like a black hole. Once it has you there is no escaping it's financial calamity.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:19 | 5868429 walküre
walküre's picture

Do not despair! No bankster gets ever bent out of shape or heaven forbid, hurt in any QExercise !!!

As long as the banksters are fine, we must all rejoice and pray to the altar of QEternity!!!!

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:18 | 5868333 Lmo Mutton
Lmo Mutton's picture

Not a problem.  Peter can pay Paul and Paul will pay Peter, so that Peter can pay Paul who owes Peter.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:44 | 5868373 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

Or Peter can borrow from Paul and then have him named as a terrorist, and subsequently droned from existence. Who said debt is unsustainable?

 

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:56 | 5868389 willwork4food
willwork4food's picture

+100

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:09 | 5868411 Seal
Seal's picture

the cat and rat ranch of the last Depresion - the cats would eat the rats: the rats would eat the cats: and we'd get the skins for nothing!

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 05:36 | 5868738 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

Methinks Mary is going to start wondering about all this "chuminess" all of a sudden! :>D

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:19 | 5868335 Stormtrooper
Stormtrooper's picture

Anyone for a game of dominoes?

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:36 | 5868368 A Lunatic
A Lunatic's picture

I'll bring the KY.....

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:20 | 5868431 walküre
walküre's picture

Ouch. How do you get them lined up like that?

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 02:43 | 5868642 Thirst Mutilator
Thirst Mutilator's picture

How about some flapjacks?

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:38 | 5868369 disabledvet
disabledvet's picture

Sounds to me like Austria is insolvent.  Very easy to see a Bank run in Europe now.  Folks forget that the Bank runs in the US Great Depression occurred well AFTER the stock market crash.

 

The only thing I am aware of that Austria makes is weapons.

 

Very good weapons mind you.  Might need to start ramping up the ammo production as well.  The new definition of "liquidity" in the New Normal.

 

Fail to see how this is good news for Puerto Rico either...let alone Cuba....or Chicago.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:50 | 5868382 CunnyFunt
CunnyFunt's picture

KTM dirt bikes aren't bad, either.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 01:39 | 5868587 enloe creek
enloe creek's picture

Hanwag shoes really awesome. You can go the website and see a person actually making a shoe.  

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 12:33 | 5869847 zjxn06
zjxn06's picture

"KTM dirt bikes aren't bad, either."

 

Glock pistols!

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:50 | 5868383 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

Its good news for those planning to rule from the ruins of anarchy. The population is addicted to "security" and see their greatest threat not in tyranny, but the concept of self sufficiency. There will be rulers that will have zero tolerance for concepts like liberty or freedom.

We will live in interesting times.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:23 | 5868435 Nobody For President
Nobody For President's picture

We will live in interesting times.

 

Stop cursing us, oldwood


Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:45 | 5868374 WillyGroper
WillyGroper's picture

Hypothekenbank AG

How appropo.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:45 | 5868375 Seize Mars
Seize Mars's picture

You know, this is a bit OT, but not too far off.

Something occurred to me.

These Rothschilds you see on tv, Jacob and Eveyln, consider for a moment the amount of dough these people have or control. Now think for a second. Do you think they would ever actually allow themselves to be seen? Every two-bit dictator has always had doubles, including Saddam Hussein. I doubt anyone, outside a few butlers and maids, have ever seen the actual visage of these people.

 

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:58 | 5868488 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

Of course they use doubles, but human doubles. Otherwise, we would catch on that they are Aliens, hideous looking things like The Predator, from the planet ZioKonia.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 02:47 | 5868647 Thirst Mutilator
Thirst Mutilator's picture

So Donder & Blitzen are really Rothschild doubles?... Who knew?

 

http://static.infowars.com/bindnfocom/2013/09/rothschild1.jpg

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:45 | 5868376 yogibear
yogibear's picture

Euro Trash is stinky-er than Japan's rotten fish economy. That's a surprise.

The Euro garbage has been piling up for years.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:56 | 5868391 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

While Japan is most definitely fucked, they have one advantage...they still have a nation, a people with some unity, some willingness to sacrifice for the whole. Something the EU has done everything they can to kill. No borders, no identity, no hope. Its a free-for-all cluster fuck to see who can fuck who the fastest.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:48 | 5868377 Riquin
Riquin's picture

I see the Euro that is ovarvalued going to .81-.84 to a dollar.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:54 | 5868388 walküre
walküre's picture

Sweet! Mercedes for everyone! Why drive a Chevy when you can own a brandnew C class for same?

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 01:00 | 5868548 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

Parity at 1.00 is targeted for the reset.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 02:50 | 5868649 Thirst Mutilator
Thirst Mutilator's picture

not until it first overshoots & some criminal bastards get tipped off & pick up a few sheckels on the swinging door.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 22:52 | 5868385 Rhal
Rhal's picture

Finally we can see the edge of the sword. QE was given to prevent defaults on payment claims between too-big-to-fails, because they are all technically bankrupt, and when one country defaults on bonds, the insolvency of all is exposed.

Now we need to see where all that money ends up after the crash, and see what part they have in its creation.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:00 | 5868399 prefan4200
prefan4200's picture

No offense intended, Rhal, but did you just figure that out? ... better late than never I suppose.  You're well ahead of the many millions who haven't figured it out and will never figure it out.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:20 | 5868418 Rhal
Rhal's picture

Oh I figured it a while ago (  and started reading ZH shortly after.;) ). But now this should be so obvious to the investing public... erm, main stream news still isn't covering this is it? Fox?. Kramer? 

This is going to surprise a lot of sheeple isn't it?

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 11:32 | 5869554 prefan4200
prefan4200's picture

Rhal - Glad you took my comment in the spirit it was intended.  No, MSM still isn't covering it and they won't until it all goes bad in some kind of highly visible serious way such that coverage simply cannot be avoided.   Even then, MSM coverage will likely be an inch deep, highly politicized, with fingers pointing in all the wrong directions...... And, yes, it will surprise a hell of a lot of sheeple who are wearing blinders and don't even know it.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 02:05 | 5868611 Aussiekiwi
Aussiekiwi's picture

What! , Banks can fail?

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:01 | 5868401 WTFUD
WTFUD's picture

Were the good folks of Carthage, er Carinthia aware that their current gubbermint services are/were about to be eroded?

If this keeps up i see communal/district uprisings where folks take control of their own services and rid themselves of parasitic banksters.

Expect Goldman to have a shoe-in here.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:54 | 5868484 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

(Austrian choppers w/loudspeakers fly over Carinthia)

"Achtung, Carinthians, your state is now broke. C-130s will soon fly over and drop Official NATO survival manuals. Good Luck!"

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:04 | 5868405 jldpc
jldpc's picture

Call the Bull Pen; time for the Fat Lady to warm up.

What's really weird about this story is who the hell do the "auditors" think they are? Give you 5 x1 they don't make it out of March alive.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:08 | 5868409 Thalamus
Thalamus's picture

Bank account holders need to require compensation to offset the risk of bail-ins. You can't have risk with no reward. The banks are scum of earth parasites.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 06:43 | 5868768 HowdyDoody
HowdyDoody's picture

Risks and rewards are shared between all parties. The banskters get the rewards and the depositors have the risk. Seems fair.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:09 | 5868412 Paracelsus
Paracelsus's picture

Don't break that counter-party chain,whew!

My pardon to Obi-Won."It was the sound of a million sphincter muscles tightening at

once..."

Fuck. Let's get every asshole who ever worked for Moody's,and his family,for the past

thirty years,stick them on a Malaysian airliner,point them towards a conflict zone.

Thank God the average Austrian doesn't hate on the basis of religion!

Just Google "Kurt Waldheim's war record in the Balkans,anti-partisan operations".

Ah.He was just doing his job.What happened to the other fellow,ran for president,

George Halder,something a few years back....

Talk about a progressive country! Reminds me of the "Fawlty Towers" episode,"don't

mention the war!".. 

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:11 | 5868416 q99x2
q99x2's picture

Good article. If the US is under the same NWO government as the EU why doesn't Google show EU results in its searches? That ain't fair. It is like Google saying they will segregate people based on various land masses to divide from rising up to oppose the banksters. I think I'll make my suggestion of equal access known to Google and see what they say.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:18 | 5868427 Seize Mars
Seize Mars's picture

Speaking of Rothschilds, here's a thought about the tyranny which is oh-so-popular around the world these days. I've always wondered, where do they get these assholes to be police goons, palace guards, et cetera? It seems they are cheap and easy to get.

Once upon a time I would never have believed American cops would enthusiastically enforce unconstitutional laws. What a laugh.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:51 | 5868482 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

If the cops do not know the Constitution, they cannot enforce it properly. I'd say nowadays it's a roll of the dice.

The Guards usually are ex-military, Ronin, lone samurai.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:25 | 5868437 Paracelsus
Paracelsus's picture

 I think Arnie is from that area.Send in the Schwarzenegger bazooka.

Long prison sentences for Banksters. Forty years plus...

I see a very large refugee problem in around five years or less.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 00:00 | 5868493 Midnight Hour
Midnight Hour's picture

You are wrong. Arnie is from Styria, like me.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 07:38 | 5868807 shovelhead
shovelhead's picture

But unlike Arnie, you'll probably have to import an ugly Mexican housekeeper to bang.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:27 | 5868443 Dragon HAwk
Dragon HAwk's picture

Stupidest thing Humanity did was take a bunch of Debt and call it a Security

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:33 | 5868452 semperfi
semperfi's picture

you had me at Debt

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:42 | 5868462 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

Yes, hohoho, in a perfect world, all those loans for houses, cars, and cap-x would be repaid, and the bank could claim them as actual assets.

But, in  a free market (which we no longer have) sometimes things go bust.

Oh, well, I bet moar black swans are on their way courtesy of  this particular bank. It may set off a circuit breaker further upstream, and, whoops! Another Short Circuit (bank).

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:29 | 5868448 Al Tinfoil
Al Tinfoil's picture

So, every bank has given a joint and several guarantee of every other bank in Austria, and every nation in the Euro has given a gurarantee of every other nation in the Euro (in proportion to GDP, under the Fiscal Stability Treaty), so everyone is safe and secure, and everyone can sleep soundly at night, right?  Right?  Um.....right???    

Sounds like a circular Ponzi scheme.  Turns out, instead of security in numbers, it is everyone at risk of contagion.  

And the rating agencies never dreamed of this happening?

How much did the Austrian banks lose as the result of sanctions and financial warfare against Russia?

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 02:14 | 5868621 tarabel
tarabel's picture

 

 

Take off the cruel sanctions against Saint Putin and Austria's banks will magically heal themselves.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:36 | 5868456 Nobody For President
Nobody For President's picture

So I have a vacation planned for Switzerland in May - should I change destination to Carinthia? Exchange rate may be favorable...

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 02:54 | 5868651 Thirst Mutilator
Thirst Mutilator's picture

Depends on what part of the Vegas strip its on.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:39 | 5868459 Paracelsus
Paracelsus's picture

 I think Arnie is from that area.Send in the Schwarzenegger bazooka.

Long prison sentences for Banksters. Forty years plus...

I see a very large refugee problem in around five years or less.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:50 | 5868475 joego1
joego1's picture

Cool, where do they keep all the billions they are going to have to cough up in that beautiful tower?

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 00:06 | 5868479 worbsid
worbsid's picture

"The Hills are alive with the sound of 'KERBANG; damn, damn, damn'".

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:52 | 5868483 847328_3527
847328_3527's picture

So where did all the money go? I mean, people got loans and skadaddled with the moollah while leaving someone else holding the bag. This happened in the USA in the 1980's but the difference that time was over 700 financial execs were indicted.

This time Holder has an unblemished record of having indicted zero white collar criminals. He really belongs in the Guinness Book of records.

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 23:55 | 5868486 Paracelsus
Paracelsus's picture

The article only briefly touches on the source of the bad investments in Eastern Europe.The local farmers will

have lots of pitchforks,no doubt....

So.Soros or somebody scoops up those crap bonds and then acts as a holdout like they did with Argentina?

Oh,thats right.Those bonds had to be negotiated in a N Y Court.

This whole Euro experiment was originally set up to prevent war,expand trade,etc. It seems to be morphing

into a ghastly version of "Frankentein"....

Cheap money (credit) does not recognize the true risk involved. The Bankers in Brussels would not do this if it

was their balls on the chopping block.

The USA,UK,and Germany pulled out of the thirties depression by re-arming for war.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 00:16 | 5868508 tempo
tempo's picture

for thousands of years world economic growth was about .1%,  Then in 1800 the availability of US lands combined w 1 million African slaves and Britain capitalism started the industrial revolution and world economic growth moved to about 2% per year.  Then about 1980 consumer debt increases and chinese workers became necessary to kicked off the latest growth spurt.  Since 2008 about 6 trillion of Central bank debt has kept the system from collasping.   My point is that world economic growth over the past 120 years is an anomoly, unusal  and the the norm is is little or no ecoomic growth.   Debt levels will crush the economic hopes for the next 100 years.   Think big picture.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 00:22 | 5868509 Atticus Finch
Atticus Finch's picture

If it is not clear to everyone that the national and global financial system is a criminal enterprise that needs to end, then this is not going to be the last story. At this point, it seems that drastic action is necessary, such as break into the Central Banks, the IMF, the World Bank and their kindred international banks and simply arrest everyone in sight. I mean all of them from the receptionist to the Chairman of the Board. No questions asked, send all of them to jail and sort it out later. Lock the doors and start over with a national public bank that serves the needs of ordinary people and stimulates the real economy. This is such an obvious solution and course of action that apparently no one sees.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 07:15 | 5868785 Bopper09
Bopper09's picture

Well, if we all just quit using banks they wouldn't be able to do this.  But the very few of us that know or care about what the banks are doing, will not make any difference.  When the majority of people figure out what's happening, of course that will mean it's too late.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 00:31 | 5868519 Dre4dwolf
Dre4dwolf's picture

I have an idea, lets declare a segment of the moon as a state . . . declare it to have x amount of people, declare them to have x amount of dollars and have the moon bail us all out.

All we have to do is assemble a printing press and a catapult on the moon.

The moon can print money and then launch it to wherever it is needed on the globe via the catapult.

Then when we are all safe and out of debt, we can declare the moon bankrupt, and everyone is happy (except the moon people) but they aren't real anyway so they wont mind!

 

I mean if we are going to just shift debt around pointlessly to paper over our problems . . . why beat around the bush with accounting gimmicks? if you are going to use accounting gimmicks / glitches in accounting to offset your liabilities . . . atleast off set them onto a fake entity that doesn't harm anyone when it goes bust . . . <.< 

Its not like bankrupting a town is going to help anyone in reality . . . everything is still what it is. . . you can only fool yourself into calling a duck a chicken for so long . . . eventually you will have to fess up and just eat the damned duck and be contempt.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 02:01 | 5868609 Aussiekiwi
Aussiekiwi's picture

Yeah!, those damn loonie moonies and their printing machine!

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 02:54 | 5868650 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

Maybe we could do currency swaps with the moon, to stabilize the universe?

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 03:02 | 5868655 Thirst Mutilator
Thirst Mutilator's picture

No need for the moon...

 

"The U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press (or today, its electronic equivalent)"

~Ben Shalom [Moons over My Hammy] Bernanke

 

http://pribek.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/bernanke-bare-ass-150x150.jpg

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 01:03 | 5868549 Dapper Dan
Dapper Dan's picture

I half expect to hear about a new candidate for POTUS in the news soon, one that no one has ever about,

Wait, that’s already been done.

 

P.S.


 


Koreatown, Los Angeles, CA, US

Mar 09, 2015, 04:55 AM GMT 7m
Building inspector declares apartment building Koreatown, Los Angeles, structurally sound after partial collapse - @CBSLA


 

 

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 01:03 | 5868553 TeraByte
TeraByte's picture

Dr Guillotin offers a perfect tailor made solution.

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 01:30 | 5868582 Paracelsus
Paracelsus's picture

I don't know how it works in Europe but on Wall Street the downward spiral of over-leveraged banks caused 

a margin call,where the banks had to sell off (firesale) real assets to raise cash to meet the margin call in order

that the line of credit would not be pulled.

The timing is suspicious.They pass the law on bail-ins and voila.....

They just passed the " criminal" omnibus bill in the US Congress,which puts the US Taxpayer on the hook for

that mile-high toxic shit-pile of derivative contracts which are set to explode.

I would be very surprised if we make it to the end of the year.

Funny,I cannot see how this will not start bank runs. Depositor confidence is now destroyed...

Mon, 03/09/2015 - 02:08 | 5868613 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

 

The US Taxpayer.  

A printing press in the basement of the Fed.

Really!

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