APB acusa Concorrência de lançar consulta enviesada e com "resultados predeterminados"

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«É mais fácil roubar dinheiro criando um banco do que assaltando-o»

Germany plans individual ‘bad banks’

By Bertrand Benoit in Berlin and James Wilson in Frankfurt
Published: January 30 2009 16:54 | Last updated: January 30 2009 20:55

The toxic assets of troubled German banks will be spun off into separate “bad banks” under a new government plan, the Financial Times has learnt.

Instead of setting up a national “bad bank”, the German government wants banks to set up individual vehicles to hold their illiquid assets.

These would be issued with state guarantees by the government’s existing bank rescue fund. Once rid of these assets, the banks could apply to the fund for fresh capital.

Angela Merkel, German chancellor, has come under pressure to modify the government’s October rescue package for the sector, which has failed to shore up confidence in the banks. With its latest plan, Berlin hopes to stop the spiral of asset writedowns eating into balance sheets and forcing banks to hoard capital.

Coalition officials agreed on the outline of the plan on Friday at a closed-door meeting in parliament, participants told the FT. There had been only minor differences between the finance ministry and representatives of Ms Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, they said.

The finance ministry refused to comment.

Berlin aims to finalise the scheme by the beginning of March, too late to have an impact on last year’s balance sheet but in time for the publication of most banks’ annual reports and general meetings. Officials said they did not know whether the sector would support the plan.

The government’s original €500bn bank rescue package included €400bn in credit guarantees for new bank debt as well as fresh capital for cash-strapped lenders. The package is distinct from the €50bn fiscal stimulus adopted by the government this month to support consumption and protect jobs.

Under the proposal, the “bad banks” could use German accounting rules, allowing them to price assets at book value instead of “marking to market”. The international standard has forced banks to undertake continuous writedowns and raised their need for capital.

The coalition is also considering extending the life of the guarantees issued by Soffin, the state body that runs the bank rescue fund, from three to five years. This would require approval by the European Commission.

The proposals of the finance ministry definitely go in the right direction,” Albert Rupprecht, chairman of the parliamentary committee that oversees Soffin, told the FT. Mr Rupprecht, a Merkel ally, said minor differences remained between the CDU and the ministry over the timing of the plan and the type of assistance Soffin could grant both “good” and “bad” banks.The plan would satisfy two conditions set by Peer Steinbrück, finance minister: that it should not involve any new financial commitments by the government; and that the banks, not the taxpayer, should ultimately continue to carry the risks associated with toxic assets.

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A minha questão aqui é, não estará o EUA a arriscar se comprar o lixo tóxico produzido na Europa se a união europeia não criar o seu bad bank?

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Ana Luísa Marques
anamarques@mediafin.pt
Jornal negócios

O prémio Nobel da Economia, Joseph Stiglitz, considera que a criação de um "bad bank" nos Estados Unidos, medida proposta por Barack Obama, vai aumentar a dívida nacional e transformar o dinheiro dos contribuintes em "lixo".

A nova administração norte-americana deverá anunciar brevemente a criação de um "bad bank", banco que compra activos tóxicos de outras instituições financeiras. Barack Obama referiu, hoje, que está a ser preparado um plano para descongelar o mercado de crédito norte-americano mas não especificou, ainda, que medidas vão ser tomadas.

Caso a nova Administração dos Estados Unidos opte pela criação de um "bad bank", este irá provocar um aumento da dívida do país, disse Stiglitz, e transformar o dinheiro dos contribuintes em "lixo".

"Estamos a falar de uma dívida nacional muito difícil de gerir", referiu o professor de Economia da Universidade de Columbia, num debate em Davos, onde também esteve presente o director-geral da OCDE Angel Gurria. Os contribuintes vão andar a pagar esta conta durante anos, assinalou Stiglitz.

O dinheiro que vai ser usado nesta medida devia ser aplicado, por exemplo, na Segurança Social, defendeu o economista, que em 2001 ganhou o prémio Nobel da Economia.

O secretário-geral da OCDE defendeu, por outro lado, que esta medida é necessária para que o mercado de crédito volte a funcionar.

"Concordo que pode ser ética e moralmente questionável, mas é preciso enfrentar a música e alguém tem que assumir as perdas. É a única forma de colocar a economia em funcionamento novamente", defendeu Gurria.

Os prejuízos dos bancos relacionados com os activos tóxicos já atingiram os 2,2 biliões de dólares, de acordo com o Fundo Monetário Internacional (FMI).