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Spanish economy 21st January 2012

Weekend long read: Spain’s finance and economy ministers open their portfolios to Wall Street and Frankfurt

By Ana Fuentes in New York, and Julia Pastor in Madrid | Right before the three crucial meetings (Eurogroup, Ecofin and European Council) that will take place in the next 10 days, the Spanish government is deploying its best arguments in order to regain markets’ trust. Rajoy’s economic team, the Finance minister Luis de Guindos (left) as well as Cristóbal Montoro, minister of the Treasury, appear in the weekend edition of…

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World economy 27th December 2011

Shopping in Europe

NEW YORK | While European companies and banks try to forget this annus horribilis, some US financial firms are rubbing their hands: under pressure from regulators, Europeans will have to shed up to $3 trillion in assets over the next 18 months, according to Morgan Stanley. Market dislocation on this side of the Atlantic means also a great occasion for American companies to go shopping. This month the German Commerzbank…

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Markets 15th December 2011

“ECB refinancing auctions means help for Spanish, Italian smaller banks”

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided last week on additional enhanced credit support measures to support bank lending and liquidity in the euro area. In particular, the Governing Council proposed to conduct two longer-term refinancing operations (LTROs) with a maturity of 36 months and the option of early repayment after one year. Among other measures, the central bank also accorded to reduce the reserve ratio, which is…

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Markets 5th December 2011

“German banks’ capital needs over €9.5bn vs EBA’s €5bn estimation”

Julia Pastor, in Madrid | The European Banking Authority (EBA) this week revised its figures about recapitalisation volumes needed in the EU institutions. Banco Santander analysts say that “speculations about the German banks are circulation. They may have to increase capital by the amount of €9.5bn instead of the €5bn initially estimated by the EBA.” Also, the Santander note reminded us that European banks are still carrying out liability management…

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Interviews 30th November 2011

“EU public debt rate is lower than in the US or Japan”

MADRID | If there is something we all can agree on is that there is too much debt worldwide. We can also agree on the fact that it is the developed countries that are suffer this high level of debt, after more than ten years of excesses. This is the opinion of Jose Luis Martínez Campuzano, chief strategist at Citi inSpain, who has expressed his views for Consenso del Mercado. “When…

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aggregation line 19th November 2011

Weekend link fest

A curated selection of links we hope can enlighten us all; some come from our corner, some do from other corners of the net. And as always, our comment widgets are anxious to get your suggestions: Humor: What service the next president of Spain should call for… Europe is developing rescue fatigue Get used to the euro crisis: it’s the new normal China worried about banks’ loans to construction companies and…