Move Your Money

Events these past few weeks in Cyprus have left most of us in a state of shock. All those lofty principles and guarantees built around  the euro have been proved to be nothing more than a mirage. The warning could not be clearer for depositors, be they private individuals, businesses or large corporations. The Eurosystem exists solely on trust - and if trust goes perhaps ones money should be moving too.

The following video, from the Move Your Money project which is a US based non-profit campaign that encourages individuals and institutions to divest from the nation's largest Wall Street banks and move to local financial institutions. 

The Move Your Money project states this clearly; "Little has changed to prevent another financial crisis or to end 'Too Big To Fail,' and with Congress unwilling to act, we are encouraging individuals to take power into their own hands by voting with their dollars and no longer contributing to a financial system that has led our country astray. We are a campaign that gives people real, concrete actions they can take to create a more sane, stable and localized banking system."

The sentiments expressed are as valid for Europe as they are for the US - neither bankers nor politicians can be trusted.

For additional information read Leo W. Gerard’s “Bank on Being Bilked”

Europe's businesses not prepared for looming SEPA deadline

“With the Sepa migration deadline now just a year away, Europe's businesses still have a long way to go, with only 30% of credit transfers and two per cent of direct debits compliant, according to Experian.

Last year lawmakers finally settled on a deadline of February 2014 for the switch to a Sepa (Single euro area payment) system - designed to simplify and streamline processing operations for domestic and international payments - for Eurozone countries.” <<READ MORE>>

Fragmentation in Europe

As the European Union splinters, Stratfor's Reva Bhalla examines the limits of Continental integration being sought by European policymakers.



For more analysis, visit: http://www.Stratfor.com

Breaking up the euro

Roger Bootle, winner of the Wolfson Economics Prize for his thesis on the mechanics of a Grexit, predicts a bleak future for the single currency. From The Economist.

Greek town develops bartering system without euro

As Greece wonders whether its debt crisis will eventually spell its exit from the euro, one town in the centre of the country, Volos, has formed an alternative local currency.

It works through a bartering system or exchange of goods.

Payment systems and the role of the Eurosystem

The European Central Bank (ECB) has just published a new book entitled “The payment system – payments, securities and derivatives, and the role of the Eurosystem”. The book provides a comprehensive insight into the handling of financial transactions and the functioning of the related financial market infrastructure – a core component of the financial system. It also explains the role and policies of the Eurosystem – which comprises the ECB and the 16 national central banks of the euro area – in this field.

The book is in three parts.

1. Providing an insight into the market infrastructure of modern economies with a view to examining key concepts which have general validity and are thus applicable around the world. Emphasis is placed on the principles governing the functioning of the relevant systems and processes and the presentation of the underlying economic, business, legal, institutional, organizational and policy issues. 
2. Focusing on issues concerning the market infrastructure for the handling of euro-denominated payments, securities and derivatives, as well as the most important EU legislation. 
3. Explaining the operational, oversight and catalyst roles of the Eurosystem and the policies established by the Governing Council of the ECB in this field. It also considers the legal basis for the Eurosystem’s involvement and describes the transparent and cooperative approach adopted by the Eurosystem with a view to pursuing its public policy objectives while acting within a modern market economy environment.

The book can be downloaded free in PDF fromat from the ECB’s website – CLICK HERE.