Ah January, a new month, a new year, and a very happy month it's going to be for the bondholders of Anglo Irish Bank (and let's not any of us, please, start using its new nom-de-plume). A dead bank, a zombie bank, a bank with now just a single reason for its own continued existence - to pay Irish taxpayers' money on its own failed bonds.
It started on Tuesday of this week, a mere €2,000,0000 paid out to a lucky US$ Bondholder, it continues for the rest of this month, five Anglo bonds in total including a €1bn 'covered' (by us) bond on Jan 22nd but culminating surely in the unsecured €1.25bn bond on Jan 25th.
We've had so many months of national shame since the original sell-out to the ECB by our own government on Nov 2010, that sell-out now being continued by this new government, so what's one more? Still though, over €3bn in bank bonds this month - at what stage do we, the people, shout stop?
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
The Dirty Dozen w/e Dec 25th 2011
Christmas week, and the generosity of our government - on our behalf - knows no bounds. Have a look at what's coming down the track; if there's a need for anyone to add anything, then we really are finished.
Monday, 12 December 2011
The Dirty Dozen w/e Dec 18th 2011
At what stage do we start to make the connection between the fact that EBS has such a high mortgage interest rate and its need to pay back its fast-maturing bank bonds? Five bonds for an aggregate of €51m on Dec 16th alone (details below), any wonder they're gouging already under-pressure Irish homeowners?
At what stage do we start to make the connection that with €55bn in bonds maturing over the next four years, the Irish banks are in no position to lend money to ANYONE in this economy now, or at any time in the forseeable future? And where do ye think that €55bn will come from - from bank profits? Even in the best of times that scale of profiteering would have been pretty ambitious, but now? So, ye think we're gone past 'injecting' funds into the banks?
At what stage do we make the connection between the billions the ECB is loaning to our Central Bank and the billions our banks are paying out on those failed bonds?
At what stage do we start to question the logic of taking on a €72bn debt, which with interest will easily surpass the €100bn mark, JUST TO ALLOW US make those short-term borrowings from that same ECB?
We were going to struggle anyway to make ends meet on our annual budget but the bank bond debt burden is crushing us. When will we zone in on the very specific questions above, and STAY on those questions until we get the relief that is long overdue?
At what stage do we start to make the connection that with €55bn in bonds maturing over the next four years, the Irish banks are in no position to lend money to ANYONE in this economy now, or at any time in the forseeable future? And where do ye think that €55bn will come from - from bank profits? Even in the best of times that scale of profiteering would have been pretty ambitious, but now? So, ye think we're gone past 'injecting' funds into the banks?
At what stage do we make the connection between the billions the ECB is loaning to our Central Bank and the billions our banks are paying out on those failed bonds?
At what stage do we start to question the logic of taking on a €72bn debt, which with interest will easily surpass the €100bn mark, JUST TO ALLOW US make those short-term borrowings from that same ECB?
We were going to struggle anyway to make ends meet on our annual budget but the bank bond debt burden is crushing us. When will we zone in on the very specific questions above, and STAY on those questions until we get the relief that is long overdue?
Monday, 5 December 2011
The Dirty Dozen w/e Dec 11th 2011
And so it begins; no, I'm not talking about the details of another austerity Budget as presented by our puppet government but as dictated by our troika masters, grim as that may be, I'm talking about another month of shame, the December Dirty Dozen, the 12 days pre-Christmas when another €770m is siphoned from us to be paid to bondholders whose failed bets we are being mandated to 'honour'.
Neither Noonan nor Howlin will mention the €43m being paid by Bank of Ireland today, the €24m by Anglo on Wed week, the five individual bonds totaling €52m by EBS on Fri week, all senior unsecured bonds, but all will be paid. Honour?
Neither Noonan nor Howlin will mention the €43m being paid by Bank of Ireland today, the €24m by Anglo on Wed week, the five individual bonds totaling €52m by EBS on Fri week, all senior unsecured bonds, but all will be paid. Honour?
Saturday, 26 November 2011
The Dirty Dozen w/e Dec 4th 2011
Apologies, no update last week, chasing my tail on a number of other subjects, not least the 20-slide/20-seconds per slide presentation in Cork, a considerable challenge for a guy who's exasperated first editor at the Examiner (the legendary Tom Aherne) stated one evening - "If I gave you War & Peace to synopsise 'twould come back longer!"
We didn't miss a whole lot, two smaller bonds paid last week, but this week we're getting into deeper waters. Exactly 12 bonds left in 2011, all in December, and they total a massive €770,000,000. Most of those are senior unsecured, starting with a €43m bond on Monday week, December 5th.
This in a month when - after weeks of softening-up through carefully selected leaks to carefully selected sources - the details of Budget 2012 are announced. The most venerable in our society thrown from familiar surroundings for want of a few hundred thousand while we pay tens of millions on failed bonds, our government paying off the vampires and vultures, the blood-suckers and dead-flesh-eaters of the money markets, while cutting off income and services to all at home.
But sure isn't it all worth it, taking on that additional €100bn of bank bond debt to enable us to borrow €100bn from the ECB, from which we will be able to pay the bank bond billions - all makes perfect sense, right?
Anyway, here they are, the Dirty Dozen for December - Happy Christmas to us all, and Happy New Year to our bondholder friends, a further €3bn in bonds 'maturing' in Jan 2012. A nice way for them to kickstart the year.
We didn't miss a whole lot, two smaller bonds paid last week, but this week we're getting into deeper waters. Exactly 12 bonds left in 2011, all in December, and they total a massive €770,000,000. Most of those are senior unsecured, starting with a €43m bond on Monday week, December 5th.
This in a month when - after weeks of softening-up through carefully selected leaks to carefully selected sources - the details of Budget 2012 are announced. The most venerable in our society thrown from familiar surroundings for want of a few hundred thousand while we pay tens of millions on failed bonds, our government paying off the vampires and vultures, the blood-suckers and dead-flesh-eaters of the money markets, while cutting off income and services to all at home.
But sure isn't it all worth it, taking on that additional €100bn of bank bond debt to enable us to borrow €100bn from the ECB, from which we will be able to pay the bank bond billions - all makes perfect sense, right?
Anyway, here they are, the Dirty Dozen for December - Happy Christmas to us all, and Happy New Year to our bondholder friends, a further €3bn in bonds 'maturing' in Jan 2012. A nice way for them to kickstart the year.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
The Dirty Dozen w/e Nov 20th 2011
Nothing very dramatic coming up this week or even this month, the fuss over the billion-dollar bond done and dusted our national media has moved on, and yet next month - December - we'll pay out more than we did in November, including THAT bond, a total of 15 bonds for an aggregate of €770m, and in January we pay €3bn. Add the two together and what do you get? Why, €3.77bn, just a few bob shy of the €3.8bn cuts/taxes in Budget 2012 - not THAT'S what I call symmetry!
Some things happen because it's inevitable, some things happen because we let them happen - we're letting this happen, month after month.
Some things happen because it's inevitable, some things happen because we let them happen - we're letting this happen, month after month.
Monday, 7 November 2011
The Dirty Dozen w/e Nov 13th 2011
Great effort nationwide to highlight the billion-dollar Anglo bond last week but all gone to waste if we don't continue to shine a light on the fact that this was just one of a continuing series of bonds; starting with a €5bn BoI unsecured bond today (Monday), from here to the end of the year another 15 bonds, all smaller yes but all add up to more than was paid out last Tuesday, to a whopping €787,000,000 in fact. Next year 88 individual bonds for a total of over €19bn, while Irish families suffer torture by a thousand cuts, another €3.8bn of pain in Budget 2012.
It's wrong, plain wrong, that these failed private bonds are paid in full, plus their full 'coupon' (bond interest), while we are asked to suffer cut after cut. 'Moral hazard' me arse - why does no-one ever talk about it as applied to those financial institutions who made those bad investments and aren't made to pay the price, but are protected by the ECB?
Anyway, here they are, the next 'Dirty Dozen'.
It's wrong, plain wrong, that these failed private bonds are paid in full, plus their full 'coupon' (bond interest), while we are asked to suffer cut after cut. 'Moral hazard' me arse - why does no-one ever talk about it as applied to those financial institutions who made those bad investments and aren't made to pay the price, but are protected by the ECB?
Anyway, here they are, the next 'Dirty Dozen'.
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