Public Intelligence

U.S. regulators closed Republic Federal Bank, N.A., SolutionsBank and Valley Capital Bank on Friday, bringing the total number of bank failures so far this year to 133, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said. Community and regional banks have been failing at the highest annual level since 1992, as the industry grapples with souring loans tied to mortgages and commercial real estate loans made during the credit boom.

In a report entitled “Worst-case debt scenario”, the bank’s asset team said state rescue packages over the last year have merely transferred private liabilities onto sagging sovereign shoulders, creating a fresh set of problems. Overall debt is still far too high in almost all rich economies as a share of GDP (350pc in the US), whether public or private. It must be reduced by the hard slog of “deleveraging”, for years. “As yet, nobody can say with any certainty whether we have in fact escaped the prospect of a global economic collapse,” said the 68-page report, headed by asset chief Daniel Fermon. It is an exploration of the dangers, not a forecast.

Schjødt represents the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iceland. Schjødt has asked us to review two loan agreements dated 5 June 2009 entered into by Iceland (as guarantor) and the Depositors’ and Investors’ Guarantee fund of Iceland as borrower (“TIF” or the “Guarantee Fund”). One loan agreement is with the UK and one with the Netherlands.