The real reason governments desire a “cashless society”… Greek banks prepare plan to raid deposits to avert collapse
Greek banks are preparing contingency plans for a possible “bail-in” of depositors amid fears the country is heading for financial collapse, bankers and businesspeople with knowledge of the measures said on Friday.
The plans, which call for a “haircut” of at least 30 per cent on deposits above €8,000, sketch out an increasingly likely scenario for at least one bank, the sources said.
A Greek bail-in could resemble the rescue plan agreed by Cyprus in 2013, when customers’ funds were seized to shore up the banks, with a haircut imposed on uninsured deposits over €100,000.
It would be implemented as part of a recapitalisation of Greek banks that would be agreed with the country’s creditors — the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.
“It [the haircut] would take place in the context of an overall restructuring of the bank sector once Greece is back in a bailout programme,” said one person following the issue. “This is not something that is going to happen immediately.”
Eurozone officials said no decision had been taken to wind up any Greek banks or initiate a bail-in of depositors, a process that would be started by the ECB declaring the banks insolvent or pulling emergency loans.
Greece’s banks have been closed since Monday, when capital controls were imposed to prevent a bank run following the leftwing Syriza-led government’s call for a referendum on a bailout plan it had earlier rejected. Greece’s highest court rejected an appeal by two citizens on Friday who had asked for the referendum to be declared unconstitutional.
Depositors can withdraw only €60 a day from bank ATM cash machines, while requests to transfer funds abroad have to be approved by a special finance ministry committee in co-operation with the Greek central bank.
Linky? Try this.
It’s a 30% … oh, what’s that EUphemism again? … “haircut”. How bad could that be?
Someone once said “The double with socialism …”
I posted this yesterday ,it is the conservative middle class that will take the haircut, the ones with savings
The lefties that spent everything they took and more will not have any savings
The 1%ers. , which will include a large number of Facebook socialists will have moved their money long ago
I do get a chuckle out of the lefty bloggers/commentators who try to make the creditors appear immoral for not lending (giving) Greece more money. From a Christian perspective I like St Paul’s approach, “Let him who will not work – not eat”. In other words Greece: Earn/pay your own way in this world
Varoufakis, a sensible, moderate “socialist”, calls Europe’s demand that Greece make good on its debts “terrorism”. Anything not re-distibutive is terrorism. Anything like, you know, individual freedom, property, truth-telling, personal responsibility, facts, and so on.
Terrorism, meanwhile, is freedom fighting. Just ask those ISIS sex slaves.
Sorry: “trouble”
From the Telegraph’s live coverage, a response from a Greek named Ioannis:
“There’s something you can’t understand unless you live in Greece. In this country we have communism not capitalism, but still everyone blames capitalism.
“Everyone lives from the state. Even the private sector lives from the state in many ways, for example by not paying taxes and not getting punished for that.
“I was in the Greek university for many years (diploma + MSc) and I experienced the terrorism of the leftists every single day. Supporting a different opinion is a reason for them to use physical and psychological violence against you. The universities are occupied by student/wannabe politicians (PM Tsipras was one of them) for several months per year. I won’t continue, because I may say things that will sound unreal to you and lose credibility..”
It used to be called stealing.
We have entered a time of challenging troubles. The ultimate outcome is uncertain. What we do know, based on history, is that it will be bloody and horrific. It’s unlikely that most people, even in the developed west, will be able to escape its consequences. Hunter gatherers in remote areas will be relatively unscathed. Many of the rest of us will die. The best we can hope for is that the collapse will hold off until we’ve seen season six of Game of Thrones.
This is the end-game of catering to the low information voter and unconstitutionally bridled democracy in general. When the discussion on the limitations on legitimate functions of the state never happens, socialism / fascism is the result and desperate states know no moral limitations on their own reach. Public sectors everywhere are “in control” and out of control.
It seems pretty clear Greece has no intention of repaying its debt. In fact it probably hasn’t the means to repay, even with more austerity.
The problem going forward is not whether Greece will default or attempt to repay. The problem is who will lend Greece money after this is all settled?
I promise you, if you suck 30% out of my deposits, somehow I WILL balance the books.
What is this teaching us? Saving is bad! Living beyond your means on credit is where it’s at! And who knows? Maybe, you won’t even have to pay back what you owe!
I find it revealing that the mass theft of the people’s savings by government is being called a “haircut”.
Ah, the modern topsy-turvy world. First “gays” are unhappy (quite the opposite of gay) and now the definition of bank robbery is reversed. It used to be that forcibly taking money from a bank was bank robbery, now the bank forcibly taking money from customers is going to be the new definition.
“amid fears the country is heading for financial collapse” Earth to the Eurogreeks – the collapse happened years ago. your head is only just now hearing what your feet have been telling you for years.
Those with financial haircuts leave barbershop for good!!
My wife gives me a haircut…it is a positive good; I can run my fingers through my scalp and not feel injured.
Mass theft by government should be called what it is “Free booting”
And hey “Edward Teach” does your ‘balancing the books’ involve which body parts one can live without; or is that a lifeless concept? 🙂
Argghhh mateys seize the PLUNDER!
Cheers
Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group ‘True North’
Another name for the same thing is “taxes”.
The broke and destitute of elitist makings have a historical record of returning “haircuts” in kind.
I am sure no-one was stupid enough to keep their savings in a Greek bank account. I suspect when 30% is seized, it will be business money intended for payroll and imports. Workers won’t get paid and business inputs won’t be purchased.
More proof your money is safer under your mattress.
Phantom, you may be very sure that, this being Greece, the taxation will not be distributed evenly. Those with real money and influence will certainly be capable of bribing their money out. It’s only the great mass of the citizenry that will have their savings confiscated, sorry “taxed”. Think Titanic; the rich take to the lifeboats while the poor are locked below decks to drown.
Four decades of complete irresponsibility, and the Greeks are finally getting the consequences of what they’ve done.
Oh and make sure all your money is in precious metal coins. Paper money won’t be worth the paper it is written on.
Truly, history repeats itself: classical Greek haircut.
There’s always Bitcoin.
Silver Gold Bull because a $20 bill is nothing more than a promissory note and there comes a time when it’s more convenient to renege on a promise than to honour it. Have your bullion mailed to you and hide it yourself. Governments have been known to seize the contents of safe deposit boxes, they’re a conveniently located concentration of wealth.
Regarding the cashless society, I’m sure the control freaks of this world would love to create one. If every transaction were electronic then it would be much easier to tax every sale and to prohibit certain items (guns, ammunition, illegal drugs, alcohol, books, etc) that government doesn’t approve of.
The left like to bandy with the term “austerity”, which they define as a reduced increase in government expenditure.
Thank God we don’t have ‘bail-in’ provisions written into our laws.
Oh wait…
Buy gold bitches. Not paper gold either.
“…the mass theft of the people’s savings by government” is how “the budget will balance itself”. Mr Trudeau won’t tell you. I just did.
old news, that makes perfect sense.
Yes, you read that right, old news makes sense.
When money isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on, what does a country have left of value besides its own land?
And it won’t be just Greece. The USA is a hair’s breadth behind Greece and rapidly catching up. The difference is that the US prints its own currency and Greece does not. And, the US dollar is the de facto trading currency of the world.
But, what happens when the US has printed so many dollars that each dollar is worth nearly nothing? At some point, the dollar will no longer be considered a hard currency and other countries (particularly China) will be left with no choice but to no longer accept US dollars, but to instead trade only in a hard currency – watch the price of Gold.
When that happens, the US won’t be able to pay the interest on its debts either. The US federal government owns a lot of land, and that’s what will end up settling national debts. Americans will need a passport to enter Yellowstone.
Margaret Thatcher: “… socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people’s money.”
What’s worse is when the “other people” run out of money. Then it gets REALLY bad.
I suggest that the greeks go back to work, stop eating off someone else, and pay your bills.