Tag Archives: Europe

Why Europe’s most powerful man got covered in confetti

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“During the the European Central Bank’s otherwise sleepy press conference on Wednesday, 21-year old protester Josephine Witt, who was clad in a t-shirt emblazoned with the words ‘End the ECB ****-tatorship,’ jumped onto the stage and showered ECB chief Mario Draghi with confetti and a manifesto decrying the ‘overwhelmingly powerful external environment of the ECB’s monetary policy.’ She was quickly carried off, and taken into custody before being released without charges.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/04/16/why-europes-most-powerful-man-got-covered-in-confetti/

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European Commission president calls for building an EU army

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“The European Union needs its own army to help address the problem that it is not ‘taken entirely seriously’ as an international force, the president of the European commission has said.  Jean-Claude Juncker said such a move would help the EU to persuade Russia that it was serious about defending its values in the face of the threat posed by Moscow. Juncker, a longstanding advocate of an EU army, said getting member states to combine militarily would make spending more efficient and would encourage further European integration.  A spokesman for Ukip said Juncker’s comments vindicated warnings that his party had been giving about the direction of EU policy for years.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/08/jean-claude-juncker-calls-for-eu-army-european-commission-miltary

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‘Civil war’ divides families in row over Greek goldmine

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“The arrival in January of a new leftist government that opposes the investment has sparked a mobilisation among Hellas Gold employees afraid of losing their jobs.  Earlier this month, riot police were sent in when the rival groups came close to clashing in an oak forest between the villages of Stratoni, where Hellas Gold has its base, and Ierissos, whose inhabitants mostly oppose the project.  Hellas Gold plans to invest 1.3 billion euros in the area overall, and extract 9.6 million ounces of gold.  The previous conservative government had supported the investment, arguing that it would create hundreds of jobs in the recession-hit country where the unemployment rate now stands at over 25 percent.”

http://news.yahoo.com/civil-war-brewing-over-disputed-greek-goldmine-064713850.html

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Iceland plans “stability tax” at removal of capital controls

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“Iceland’s finance minister said on Tuesday the government was working on a tax aimed at cash transfers to other countries from the estates of the country’s collapsed banks to prevent an exodus as it starts lifting capital controls.  Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson has promoted such an exit tax, or ‘stability tax’, since before his Progressive Party came to power in 2013 in a coalition together with the Independence Party. It has however not been clear whether he had enough backing by the government for the idea. It was not clear whether a tax would be imposed only on money transferred from the estates from the failed banks or on other transfers as well.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/14/iceland-tax-idUSL5N0XB4G320150414

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Iceland Companies Push to List as Krona Controls Spur Demand

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“Icelandic companies are rushing to raise money and sell shares to local public as the government prepares to remove capital controls.  Reitir hf, a real estate company, this week started trading after Iceland’s biggest initial public offering since the 2008 crisis. The company was the first of at least three planned IPOs this year on the Nasdaq Group OMX Inc. Reykjavik exchange.  Capital controls trap about $5.3 billion in assets on the island, which are now boosting the local stock market and have also triggered a surge in home prices. Reitir became the 15th company on the exchange, up from just seven in 2010. The exchange had 75 companies 16 years ago.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-09/icelandic-companies-push-to-list-as-krona-controls-spur-demand

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Cyprus lifts all capital controls as banks recover

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“Cyprus is lifting the last remaining capital controls it imposed on its banking system during the financial crisis of 2013.  Cyprus was the only crisis-hit eurozone country to restrict capital transfers, as it faced a run on the banks.  The controls were eased in January.  There will no longer be a monthly cap of €20,000 (£15,000; $22,000) on transfers by individuals to foreign banks, or of €10,000 for travellers moving money out of the country. Cyprus received a €10bn bailout from the EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF) after its biggest banks nearly collapsed in March 2013 because of huge losses on their Greek investments.”

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32194092

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A Powerful Weapon of Financial Warfare: The US Treasury’s Kiss of Death

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“Recently Banca Privada d’Andorra (BPA) received the financial kiss of death from FinCEN. FinCEN accused BPA of laundering money for individuals in Russia, China, and Venezuela—interestingly, all geopolitical rivals of the US.  Shortly after FinCEN made its accusation public, BPA’s global correspondent accounts—which allow it to conduct international transactions—were closed.  BPA was effectively banned from the international financial system.  This predictably led to an evaporation of confidence by BPA’s depositors. To prevent a run on the bank, the Andorran government took BPA under its administration and imposed a €2,500 per week withdrawal limit on depositors.”

http://www.internationalman.com/articles/a-powerful-weapon-of-financial-warfare-the-us-treasurys-kiss-of-death

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Ukraine’s Economic Blockade Boosts Bitcoin Usage in Separatist East

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“This is the first time in modern history when such a large swathe of territory with a pre-war population of 3.8 million people has been left with no banking services whatsoever. All business and personal accounts were closed and ATMs stopped operating leaving businesses and millions of people without any means of accessing their money. CoinTelegraph spoke with the Head of the Cryptocurrency Foundation Russia (CCFR), Igor Chepkasov on how cryptocurrencies are being used in these runaway regions and whether the Ukrainian or Russian governments are capable of doing anything to stop this.”

http://cointelegraph.com/news/113926/kievs-economic-blockade-boosts-bitcoin-usage-in-separatist-east

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Google could be fined £4.4bn as Brussels signals legal challenge

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“Google could face a fine of up to $6.6bn (£4.4bn) after the European Commission began to update its evidence against the search engine – signalling that Brussels has decided to launch a full-blown legal challenge into its dominance.  The newly installed competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, whose political career inspired the blockbuster television series Borgen in her native Denmark, has begun updating evidence against Google and weighing whether to ramp up Europe’s five-year probe into Google’s search practices by releasing a new statement of objections.  Google could be fined up to 10% of its worldwide revenues, which were $66bn in 2014.”

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/02/google-could-be-fined-4bn-ec-signals-legal-challenge-margrethe-vestager

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Europe takes on Apple, Facebook, Google and Amazon

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“The EU is preparing to launch an antitrust investigation into Apple’s new online music streaming service, according to reports. In particular, officials are probing Apple’s agreements with record labels to see if it was trying to illegally sideline its rivals. European watchdogs have been looking into Facebook’s privacy policy because they are concerned about the way the social network collects data from users in Europe for target advertisements. The European Parliament recommended breaking up Google to weaken its dominance across the region. Just last week, the European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager launched a probe into Amazon and other e-commerce companies.”

http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/03/news/companies/europe-google-apple-facebook-amazon/

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