Increasing public spending had contributed to a substantial deterioration of public finances in Cyprus over recent years. To address fiscal imbalances, the government introduced an initial set of fiscal reform’s in late 2012. However, additional measures are needed to ensure the sustainability of public finances. The size of the necessary adjustment will depend, among other things, on the magnitude of spillovers from financial sector restructuring.
Tag Archive for Global Financial Crisis
Vatican
Vatican International Financial Global Public Authority Paper Full Text
An English translation of the Vatican Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace paper “Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of Global Public Authority” released October 24, 2011.
European Union
EU European Financial Stability Facility Draft Market Intervention Guidelines October 19, 2011
Three confidential draft copies of the European Financial Stability Facility’s guidelines on primary market purchases, secondary market interventions and precautionary programs dated October 19, 2011.
European Central Bank, European Union, International Monetary Fund
IMF, EU, European Central Bank “Troika” Greece Debt Sustainability Analysis October 21, 2011
Since the fourth review, the situation in Greece has taken a turn for the worse, with the economy increasingly adjusting through recession and related wage-price channels, rather than through structural reform driven increases in productivity. The authorities have also struggled to meet their policy commitments against these headwinds. For the purpose of the debt sustainability assessment, a revised baseline has been specified, which takes into account the implications of these developments for future growth and for likely policy outcomes. It has been extended through 2030 to fully capture long term growth dynamics, and possible financing implications.
Department of the Treasury, Federal Reserve
Confidential Draft of U.S. Treasury “Volcker Rule” Restrictions on Proprietary Trading With Hedge Funds
The OCC, Board, FDIC, and SEC (individually, an “Agency,” and collectively, “the Agencies”) are requesting comment on a proposed rule that would implement Section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) which contains certain prohibitions and restrictions on the ability of a banking entity and nonbank financial company supervised by the Board to engage in proprietary trading and have certain interests in, or relationships with, a hedge fund or private equity fund.
Headline
Occupy Wall Street Photos September 2011
Dan Nguyen – http://www.flickr.com/photos/zokuga/ Collin David Anderson – http://www.flickr.com/photos/collina/ Paul Weiskel – http://www.flickr.com/photos/31167233@N08/ Andrew Shiue – http://www.flickr.com/photos/djwerdna/ Occupy Wall Street – http://www.flickr.com/photos/occypywallstreet/6173632320/ David Shankbone- http://www.flickr.com/photos/shankbone/
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Occupy Wall Street Protest Police State Photos
David Shankbone – http://blog.shankbone.org/ Paul Weiskel – http://www.flickr.com/photos/31167233@N08/ Pamela Drew – http://www.flickr.com/photos/pameladrew/
Federal Reserve, Government Accountability Office
GAO Federal Reserve $16 Trillion Emergency Bailout Loans Audit Report
On numerous occasions in 2008 and 2009, the Federal Reserve Board invoked emergency authority under the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 to authorize new broad-based programs and financial assistance to individual institutions to stabilize financial markets. Loans outstanding for the emergency programs peaked at more than $1 trillion in late 2008. The Federal Reserve Board directed the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) to implement most of these emergency actions. In a few cases, the Federal Reserve Board authorized a Reserve Bank to lend to a limited liability corporation (LLC) to finance the purchase of assets from a single institution. In 2009 and 2010, FRBNY also executed large-scale purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities to support the housing market. The table below provides an overview of all emergency actions covered by this report. The Reserve Banks’ and LLCs’ financial statements, which include the emergency programs’ accounts and activities, and their related financial reporting internal controls, are audited annually by an independent auditing firm. These independent financial statement audits, as well as other audits and reviews conducted by the Federal Reserve Board, its Inspector General, and the Reserve Banks’ internal audit function, did not report any significant accounting or financial reporting internal control issues concerning the emergency programs.
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Greece Syntagma Square Protest Photos June 2011
linmtheu – http://www.flickr.com/photos/26040773@N07/ SekaRuis – http://www.flickr.com/photos/sekarius/ endiaferon – http://www.flickr.com/photos/endiaferon/ cortlinux – http://www.flickr.com/photos/cortlinux/
United States
Senate Report: Wall Street and the Anatomy of Financial Collapse
This Report is the product of a two-year bipartisan investigation by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations into the origins of the 2008 financial crisis. The goals of this investigation were to construct a public record of the facts in order to deepen the understanding of what happened; identify some of the root causes of the crisis; and provide a factual foundation for the ongoing effort to fortify the country against the recurrence of a similar crisis in the future.
Federal Reserve
Federal Reserve Financial Crisis Discount Window Loan Data
A zip file made available by Bloomberg contains the complete contents of their recently granted FOIA request for Federal Reserve Discount Window data on loans made, often to foreign banks, during the height of the financial crisis in 2008.
International Monetary Fund, World Bank
IMF/World Bank “Future of Global Financial and Monetary System” Seminar
In the context of rapidly increasing inter-dependence across national economies and shifting economic weight of different regions, the crisis has been a wake-up call for putting in place a global financial and monetary system that reduces the frequency and severity of crisis, underpinned by greater multilateralism in policymaking. Global cooperation and coordination on a wide set of issues, ranging from crisis prevention to regulatory and prudential reform and to provision of financial support, is critical for responding to the challenges presented by financial fragilities, external imbalances, weak fiscal positions and rising debt levels, and volatile capital flows.
Corporate
AIG 2008 Global Restructuring Plan Overview
AIG Global Restructuring Plan Overview, September 28, 2008.
Corporate
Goldman Sachs AIG/Maiden Lane III Documentation
Goldman Sachs AIG/Maiden Lane III Documentation, 2008.
International Monetary Fund
IMF G20 Report: Fair and Substantial Financial Sector Contribution
This report responds to the request of the G-20 leaders for the IMF to: “…prepare a report for our next meeting [June 2010] with regard to the range of options countries have adopted or are considering as to how the financial sector could make a fair and substantial contribution toward paying for any burden associated with government interventions to repair the banking system.”
Securities and Exchange Commission
SEC Goldman Sachs Securities Fraud Complaint
The Commission brings this securities fraud action against Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“GS&Co”) and a GS&C6 employee, Fabrice Tourre (“Tourre”), for making materially misleading statements and omissions in connection with a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (“CDO”) GS&Co structured and marketed to investors. This synthetic CDO, ABACUS 2007ACI, was tied to the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”) and was structured and marketed by GS&Co in early 2007 when the United States housing market and related securities were beginning to show signs of distress. Synthetic CDOs like ABACUS 2007-ACI contributed to the recent financial crisis by magnifying losses associated with the downturn in the United States housing market.
International Monetary Fund, Lebanon
IMF Report on Lebanon Emergency Post-Conflict Assistance
Despite its large vulnerabilities, Lebanon has so far weathered the global financial crisis and succeeded in maintaining financial stability, raising international reserves, and reducing public debt in 2008. The economy achieved record growth, and Eurobond spreads are now lower than the emerging market average. Fund engagement in Lebanon through the EPCA (which was broadly on track at end-December) has contributed to this performance. Lower global liquidity and the world economic downturn, particularly in the Gulf, will likely affect Lebanon in 2009, with lower growth and deposit inflows.
Federal Reserve
Financial Turmoil: The Federal Reserve’s Grand Tour
Suspects in the subprime crisis
•Technological innovation in the delivery of credit
•Modeling approaches allowed lenders to more finely differentiate and pool riskier borrowers…borrowers who had trouble getting credit in the past
•Did lenders overshoot?
•High CLTV means thin equity for homeowners.
•Doesn’t take much of a decline in prices to put homeowners “under water”
•Lenders might have underestimated the probability of a broad housing shock
Corporate
AIG: Is the Risk Systemic?
Systemic risk is the risk imposed by inter-linkages and interdependencies in a system or market, which could potentially bankrupt or bring down the entire system or market if one player is eliminated, or a cluster of failures occurs at once. Systemic financial risk occurs when contingency plans that are developed individually to address selected risks are collectively incompatible. It is the quintessential “knee bone is connected to the thigh bone…” where every element that once appeared independent is connected with every other element.
Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program
SIGTARP Quarterly Report
By itself, the Troubled Asset Relief Program (“TARP”) is a huge program at $700 billion. As discussed in SIGTARP’s April Quarterly Report, the total financial exposure of TARP and TARP-related programs may reach approximately $3 trillion. Although large in its own right, TARP is only a part of the combined efforts of the Federal Government to address the financial crisis.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Maiden Lane LLC Consolidated Financial Statements 2008
We have audited the accompanying consolidated statement of financial condition of Maiden Lane LLC (a Special Purpose Vehicle consolidated by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York) and subsidiaries (the “LLC”) as of December 31, 2008, and the related consolidated statements of income and cash flows for the period from March 14, 2008 to December 31, 2008. These financial statements are the responsibility of the LLC’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.