12-12-2016, 11:15 PM
*** 13-Dec-16 World View -- Italy's bank crisis seems likely to cost thousands of people their savings
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Egypt's Christians demand revenge after Sunday's church bombing
****
![[Image: g161212b.jpg]](http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g161212b.jpg)
Egyptian Christians shout slogans in front of riot police outside a Cairo church on Monday (Reuters)
Egyptian Christians are blaming the government for Sunday's suicide
bombing that killed 24 people and injured 49 in a chapel adjacent to
St. Mark’s Cathedral, Cairo’s largest church and home of Coptic Pope
Tawadros II. Some are demanding the fall of the regime.
According to witnesses, the police didn't perform the usual checks and
searches of people entering the Church. According to one witness,
"There were police cars stationed in front of the church
gates. ... They were too busy eating breakfast and drinking tea and
soda. They weren’t doing their job."
Egypt's president Abdel al-Fattah al-Sisi blamed the Muslim
Brotherhood. However, the Muslim Brotherhood has denied this, and no
one has claimed responsibility, but the only people celebrating on
social media were supporters of the so-called Islamic State (IS or
ISIS or ISIL or Daesh), who wrote, "God bless the person who did this
blessed act." Al Arabiya and Reuters and AFP
Related Articles
****
**** Italy's bank crisis seems likely to cost thousands of people their savings
****
We've been reporting Italy's banking crisis for a while now, and
there's always been uncertainty about which of several paths it would
take. After the events of the last week, a lot of that uncertainty
has vanished, but the result isn't what would be hoped.
Italy held a referendum last Sunday on a change to the constitution
that would make Italy's government more stable. Prime minister Matteo
Renzi had promised to resign if the referendum was defeated. Italy's
Banco Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), founded in 1472, and the
world's oldest operating bank, was hoping that the referendum would
pass, since they believed that would make it more likely that
investors would lend the bank 5 billion euros to make a debt repayment
and avoid a bank crisis for a few more months.
Well, the referendum was voted down. Renzi resigned, as promised.
Italy has a new prime minister, the outgoing foreign minister, Paolo
Gentiloni, who took office on Monday. But whether investors would
lend MPS 5 billion euros is still in doubt, and considered less
likely. Hope is not dead, as there's still a chance that Qatar's
sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, will lend MPS
one billion euros, and that will encourage other investors to provide
the other four.
Failing that, Italy's government will have to bail out MPS. Under
European Central Bank (ECB) rules that were imposed because of
Greece's banking crisis, a government bailout of MPS would require a
"bail-in" of MPS's bond holders.
For almost all banks, the bond holders are sophisticated investors who
purchased bonds issued by the bank as an investment. But MPS is
unique, in that thousands of ordinary people, including many elderly
savers, who wanted to deposit their money in savings accounts instead
were sold bank bonds by the bank's staff. The result is that a
"bail-in" of supposedly sophisticated investors will actually cause
tens of thousands of people to lose their life savings.
MPS asked the ECB for a few more weeks' time to get the loans, but the
request was rejected by the ECB. As a result, either MPS must get its
loans this week, or else the new prime minister Paolo Gentiloni will
have to authorize a government bailout by next weekend. Guardian (London) and AP
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Egypt, Cairo, St. Mark's Cathedral,
Pope Tawadros II, Abdel al-Fattah al-Sisi, Muslim Brotherhood,
Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh,
Italy, Matteo Renzi, Paolo Gentiloni, European Central Bank,
Banco Monte dei Paschi di Siena, MPS
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Egypt's Christians demand revenge after Sunday's church bombing
- Italy's bank crisis seems likely to cost thousands of people their savings
****
**** Egypt's Christians demand revenge after Sunday's church bombing
****
Egyptian Christians shout slogans in front of riot police outside a Cairo church on Monday (Reuters)
Egyptian Christians are blaming the government for Sunday's suicide
bombing that killed 24 people and injured 49 in a chapel adjacent to
St. Mark’s Cathedral, Cairo’s largest church and home of Coptic Pope
Tawadros II. Some are demanding the fall of the regime.
According to witnesses, the police didn't perform the usual checks and
searches of people entering the Church. According to one witness,
"There were police cars stationed in front of the church
gates. ... They were too busy eating breakfast and drinking tea and
soda. They weren’t doing their job."
Egypt's president Abdel al-Fattah al-Sisi blamed the Muslim
Brotherhood. However, the Muslim Brotherhood has denied this, and no
one has claimed responsibility, but the only people celebrating on
social media were supporters of the so-called Islamic State (IS or
ISIS or ISIL or Daesh), who wrote, "God bless the person who did this
blessed act." Al Arabiya and Reuters and AFP
Related Articles
- Terror bombing of Coptic Christian church in Cairo Egypt kills 25 (12-Dec-2016)
- Egypt in shock over bloody massacre of Coptic Christians (11-Oct-2011)
****
**** Italy's bank crisis seems likely to cost thousands of people their savings
****
We've been reporting Italy's banking crisis for a while now, and
there's always been uncertainty about which of several paths it would
take. After the events of the last week, a lot of that uncertainty
has vanished, but the result isn't what would be hoped.
Italy held a referendum last Sunday on a change to the constitution
that would make Italy's government more stable. Prime minister Matteo
Renzi had promised to resign if the referendum was defeated. Italy's
Banco Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), founded in 1472, and the
world's oldest operating bank, was hoping that the referendum would
pass, since they believed that would make it more likely that
investors would lend the bank 5 billion euros to make a debt repayment
and avoid a bank crisis for a few more months.
Well, the referendum was voted down. Renzi resigned, as promised.
Italy has a new prime minister, the outgoing foreign minister, Paolo
Gentiloni, who took office on Monday. But whether investors would
lend MPS 5 billion euros is still in doubt, and considered less
likely. Hope is not dead, as there's still a chance that Qatar's
sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, will lend MPS
one billion euros, and that will encourage other investors to provide
the other four.
Failing that, Italy's government will have to bail out MPS. Under
European Central Bank (ECB) rules that were imposed because of
Greece's banking crisis, a government bailout of MPS would require a
"bail-in" of MPS's bond holders.
For almost all banks, the bond holders are sophisticated investors who
purchased bonds issued by the bank as an investment. But MPS is
unique, in that thousands of ordinary people, including many elderly
savers, who wanted to deposit their money in savings accounts instead
were sold bank bonds by the bank's staff. The result is that a
"bail-in" of supposedly sophisticated investors will actually cause
tens of thousands of people to lose their life savings.
MPS asked the ECB for a few more weeks' time to get the loans, but the
request was rejected by the ECB. As a result, either MPS must get its
loans this week, or else the new prime minister Paolo Gentiloni will
have to authorize a government bailout by next weekend. Guardian (London) and AP
Related Articles
- Sunday's referendum in Italy threatens EU's stability (02-Dec-2016)
- After Brexit and Trump, Italy's Five-Star-Movement may be the next surprise (18-Nov-2016)
- Italy bank crisis more dangerous to EU than Brexit (05-Jul-2016)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Egypt, Cairo, St. Mark's Cathedral,
Pope Tawadros II, Abdel al-Fattah al-Sisi, Muslim Brotherhood,
Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh,
Italy, Matteo Renzi, Paolo Gentiloni, European Central Bank,
Banco Monte dei Paschi di Siena, MPS
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
