Monday, September 26, 2011

Chart of the Week: Mo' Money in Euroland

Talk about your insolvencies! Euroland is going to need a whole lot of mo' money to keep kicking the can down the road pass what observers see as the increasing likelihood of Greek default and the possibility of European Monetary Union (EMU) breaking up as sovereign governments return to their own national currencies as a method of deflating sovereign debt. The chart shows European bank funding requirements for the next three years. It is a fact that European banks are even more leveraged than their US counterparts which are also insolvent. Recently Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup have finally, finally been downgraded for their debt quality by rating agencies. This month, Moody's downgraded two large French banks and placed a third bank on review because of their Greek exposure. And we are not talking bikinis here!