On Sunday, in "Reports Of Secret Drachma Plots Leave Tsipras Facing Fresh Crisis [5]", we outlined an alleged "cloak and dagger" (to use Ambrose Evans-Pritchard's words [6]) plot spearheaded by Yanis Varoufakis, to set up a parallel banking system for Greece that could be activated in the event pressure from Brussels and the ECB crippled the country's ability to transact in euros.
According to a recorded teleconference between the former FinMin and "international hedge funds" heard by Kathimerini, Varoufakis planned to create secret accounts using tax filer numbers for individuals and corporations which he would obtain by hacking into the troika-controlled General Secretary of Public Revenues. Greeks would be made aware of the accounts' existence in the event the banking system ceased to function altogether, and Athens would effectively facilitate payments through the new system in defiance of the EMU. Clearly, this would not have been well received by Brussels - especially the bit about hacking their software - but ultimately, because the new system would be entirely controlled by Varoufakis' finance ministry, it could be converted to the drachma immediately.
Ultimately, the revelations have exacerbated an already fragile political situation which was inflamed last week after FT reported that Left Platform leader Panayotis Lafazanis convened a "secret" meeting at the Oscar Hotel in Athens on July 14 at which he attempted to convince Syriza hardliners to storm the Greek mint, seize the country’s currency reserves, and, if necessary, arrest central bank governor Yannis Stournaras. Now, Tsipras must fight to convince the opposition lawmakers who have been instrumental in helping him pass two sets of bailout prior actions that their efforts are not being subverted in secret by members of Tsipras' own party. If he fails, their support could dry up quickly leaving the PM with no support from either side of the aisle.
Having thus set the stage, we bring you the full audio recording of Varoufakis' teleconference in which the Tsipras-backed parallel payment system is outlined.