BRRD

Banking mergers are absolutely not the answer to the banking problems today – in fact, they would constitute a dangerous leap forward.

As stated by La Tribune, “Emmanuel Macron wishes the implementation of the European Banking Union – a system for joint management of bank failures – to be finalised as soon as possible in order to draw lessons from the Euro zone’s debt crisis.” Well, alright, but why is it so urgent? Is the French President aware of any disturbing report on the French banks?

The ECB wants to prevent bank runs by allowing banks to block deposits and authorise limited withdrawals, like they did in Cyprus in March, 2013. According to the institution, the deposit protection scheme is no longer necessary.

“Europe’s bank sector has grown too big and may need to shrink, possibly through mergers or failures (...) many banks in the euro area do not earn their cost of capital.” In other words, they are zombie banks, bankrupt and only kept alive by the liquidity flowing from the ECB.

Getting one’s money out of the bank – at least a large portion of it – is one thing, but what is one to do with it? The preferred investment, the most reassuring, according to observations and some polls, is real estate.

A new nail should be driven in the savers’ coffins, according to the very serious Reuters press agency: the freezing of bank accounts in order to avoid any bank run.

Let’s ask for ECBexit! Not to get out of the euro (and get back to manipulated national currencies... no, thanks!), but to drastically reduce the power of the European Central Bank.

What will American banks do if their own existence is in jeopardy, due to major losses? Well, as a matter of fact, there is only one possibility left: draw from their clients’ accounts.

Everyone must now be made aware that if a bank goes bankrupt, it will have the legal right to bail itself out by taking money out of your account, whether it’s in France or, very soon, in all European countries.

From now on, when a European bank goes bankrupt, the shareholders shall be the first to foot the bill (makes sense), then the holders of bonds issued by the bank (also makes sense) will be next in line, and if this isn’t enough, the bank will be allowed to use the money in their clients’ accounts directly – a real scandal, a challenge to the right of ownership, a legal hold-up.