Posted on 02/22/2013 7:57:10 PM PST by Lorianne
Nationalised Spanish lender Bankia is expected to reveal a €19bn loss next week, the largest in the country’s corporate history. ___ The bank has been struggling to close 1,100 branches and sell assets since its bailout in 2012.
On Thursday Bankia will report full-year earnings, including a €12.6bn provision taken at the end of last year. The writedown is a result of the lender moving assets into Spain’s “bad bank” at heavy discounts.
Bankia, which is seen as a symbol of Spain’s financial woes, was created through the merger of seven smaller savings banks before being listed on Madrid’s stock exchange. When the company failed, hundreds of thousands of people who had been sold shares saw their savings wiped out. The collapse forced Spain to ask Europe for a bailout for its banking sector, which has meant the lender is subject to tight controls.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
To big to fail...or not?
The PIGS are coming home to roost.
That's the key line in all this talk, but it's thoroughly overlooked. Essentially, it's a sovereign government admitting it is failing in its basic duty and begging other sovereign governments for help.
The current economic crisis isn't a market failure, of which there are many, but an absolute failure of governments over and over again.
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