Europe

The last I had heard about a prospective Gulf currency union came yesterday morning in a note by Marc Chandler who is the Chief Strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman’s FX group.  He indicated that he was more optimistic about a Gulf…

In the links yesterday, I pointed to an FT article detailing the Austrian government’s nationalization of the insolvent bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria (HGAA). The financial institution, which has 40 billion Euros in assets, is the country’s…

There will be no Dubai sovereign default. The government of oil-rich Abu Dhabi surprised investors this morning in announcing a $10 billion rescue package to pay for upcoming obligations of embattled Dubai World. Below Richard…

See also FT.com - Berlusconi assaulted at Milan rally

The Irish government announced draconian spending cuts of 6 billion Euros in order to stave off a debt crisis in the worst modern-day downturn in the nation’s history.  Even so, Irish government bond yields have been rising relative to…

The headline at Bloomberg reads “Ireland, Greece May Leave Euro, Standard Bank Says.”  Before I even started reading this I was sceptical.  The Telegraph’s Ambrose Evans-Pritchard makes calls like this, but his Euro-sceptic views…

This December 2009 post is a reminder of the issues at stake with Greece. It is not credible for the EU to lend psychological and political support given the debt loads now burdening the Greek government. More is needed, either financial…

Moody’s anticipates continued losses at Danske Bank, SEB, and Swedbank due to large exposure outside of the Nordic markets.  In particular, exposure in the Baltics is likely to lead to continued writedowns for Nordic banking…

Greece has been downgraded by Fitch Ratings to BBB+ over concerns about its budget deficit. Despite the cut, Fitch maintained a negative outlook on the country’s ratings, meaning it could fall further in the near future.  This action…

"This is definitely a threat on the horizon," said Blaise Ganguin, the agency's European credit chief. Some 75 companies large enough to be rated face likely default in 2010 as the slow-burn effects of the crisis hit home.…