Europe plans trillion euro bailout

[Kane Starkiller]

LINK

Major European economies have announced multi-billion euro rescue schemes to shore up their banks.

Germany has approved a package worth up to 500bn euros (£393bn; $683bn), France will spend about 350bn euros and Spain has set aside 100bn euros.

The bulk of this money will be used to guarantee lending between banks - part of a plan agreed to this weekend by the 15 nations that use the euro.

Meanwhile, President George W Bush said nations were taking "decisive action".

Speaking with Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, he said the US was continuing to work closely with Europe.

The cash injection by France, German and Spain was echoed by similar moves by Austria and Italy.

Austria is to spend up to 85m euros, while the Italian government pledged to inject as much money as needed without giving any figures.

France and Germany will also use the cash to take stakes in ailing banks.

The announcements helped to lift investor confidence, with stock markets rising worldwide.

Two-fold plan

The two-fold plan involves guaranteeing lending between banks and taking stakes in financial institutions - similar to the bank rescue in the UK announced last week.

The US is also getting ready follow in Europe's footsteps and purchase stakes in financial institutions.

"We are designing a standardised programme to purchase equity in a broad array of financial institutions," said Neel Kashkari, the treasury official in charge of the US government's $700bn bail-out package.

Monday's other key developments included:

* The UK government said it would inject up to £37bn of taxpayers cash into Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and HBOS
* US shares, tracking earlier gains in Europe and Asia, rose strongly in early trading as investors welcomed fresh efforts by global leaders to end the recent financial turmoil

* The world's major central banks said they would offer financial institutions an unlimited amount of short-term dollar loans to help stem the crisis
* The Icelandic stock exchange said share trading would remain suspended until Tuesday because of continuing "unusual market conditions".

'Massive'

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said France would offer up to 40bn euros to provide banks with the financing they needed via a public company in which the state would the only shareholder.

"This is a massive engagement," he said.

He added that no financial institution would be allowed to collapse.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the measures being taken would only work if they were accompanied by more robust regulation that will curb "market excesses."

"The package passed by the German government will serve the financial system and ought to serve to protect the citizens and not just serve to protect the banking system," she said.

Fund

Unlike France, Germany and Britain, Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said that Spain did not need to take stakes in any banks because its banks were solvent.

However, last week the Spanish government announced the creation of a 30bn euro fund to buy assets from Spanish banks to help stabilise the lending industry and unfreeze credit.

At present banks are reluctant or unable to loan cash to fellow financial institutions due to fears about whether the money will be paid back.

It is this lending between banks that traditionally lubricates the banking system, freeing up cash for lending to private individuals and other firms.

Holy shit and I thought US $700bn plan was a lot of money. Germany alone almost matches that.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Germany is a rich nation, the richest in the EU. They also don't have a load of pork barrel programmes or idiots in high places, so it's to be expected they not do this by half measures. The EU is copying the US, the US is copying the UK and Iceland has sunk.

[Bounty]

The EU is copying the US

The EU are getting shares in these banks for their troubles. Does the US get anything for their 700bn? Or is that difference pretty much academic?

[Admiral Valdemar]

The EU are getting shares in these banks for their troubles. Does the US get anything for their 700bn? Or is that difference pretty much academic?

I believe the US is looking at something of a stake in the banks they're propping up, which is what the UK plan does. The EU had better ask for something in return for a trillion euros if they know what's good for them.

[Dartzap]

Quick Question Valde - what's your opinion on the UK plan? You've been somewhat quiet on the matter

[phongn]

The EU are getting shares in these banks for their troubles. Does the US get anything for their 700bn? Or is that difference pretty much academic?

The US is apparently planning both buying some of these assets from the bank as well as injecting equity into them and receiving non-voting shares in return.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Quick Question Valde - what's your opinion on the UK plan? You've been somewhat quiet on the matter

Seething with indifference.

[J]

I'm at loss for words, so I'll just quote from here.
A little over a week ago, I compared the goings-on in the wild wanky world of finance with the theatre of the absurd. That comparison no longer holds. We have, in the space of a few days, moved from absurdity into outright insanity, from Waiting for Godot to One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

[Broomstick]

The EU are getting shares in these banks for their troubles. Does the US get anything for their 700bn? Or is that difference pretty much academic?

Ideally, the US will get a return on some of the real estate currently in foreclosure when the market recovers, as well as some other items like stock in companies that recover enough to be profitable. I doubt anyone believes the pie-in-the-sky "We can turn a profit!" cheerleaders it seems quite possible that the US government will recoup some of the $700 billion bailout. Eventually. It will take some years, even with best estimates.

Will that actually work? DamnIfIKnow - but yes, the theory is the US government gets something, even if a high percentage of it is pure vapor.

[Knife]

OMG, the damn Europeans are doing the exact thing we're doing but after us? Holy shit we must be pre-sentient socialists in America.

*runs around hysterically with arms waving in the air*