InfoAnda - Merkel says EU ready to act as Spain downgraded |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Ex-aides to Japan's PM charged in funding scandal | 25 December 2009
Dalai Lama envoys hope to revisit autonomy plan | 27 January 2010
Nokia CEO sees billions from Microsoft deal | 14 February 2011

Activists threaten industry shutdown in Indian tech town | | 26 September 2011

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Merkel says EU ready to act as Spain downgraded |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Frederick Kempe Christopher Papagianis Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (3) Slideshow Video Full Focus Photos of the week Our top photos from the past week. See more Images of May Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Argentina loses a third of its dollar deposits 08 Jun 2012 For election favor, Obama looks to Merkel, again 08 Jun 2012 Defamation action filed over Miss USA rigging claim 08 Jun 2012 Lil Phat Dead: Trill Entertainment Rapper, 19, Killed in Atlanta Shooting 08 Jun 2012 Obama says it's clear U.S. economy "not doing fine" 1:06am EDT Discussed 277 Florida to continue voter purge in defiance of warning 142 Wisconsin recall vote to resonate in presidential race 141 Marijuana initiative could make or break Obama in Colorado Watched Self-adjusting glasses a clear alternative for the developing world Fri, Jun 8 2012 A look at the UK’s most beautiful face Thu, May 10 2012 An apology in Afghanistan Fri, Jun 8 2012 Interactive Euro zone bank stress test calculator Use the Reuters Breakingviews stress test calculator to calculate how the Target core Tier 1 capital ratio and sovereign haircut levels affect the amount of capital banks need to pass the stress test. Full Coverage Merkel says EU ready to act as Spain downgraded Tweet Share this Email Print Related News IMF head: Europe must fix banks, become more unified Fri, Jun 8 2012 Spain's banks need at least 40 billion euros: IMF Fri, Jun 8 2012 Analysis & Opinion UK limbers up for next EU clash Spain’s message keeps getting lost in translation Related Topics World » Related Video Reuters Asks: Three months to save the Euro? Fri, Jun 8 2012 Cameron and Merkel still divided in call for action Asmussen: ECB needs a 10 year plan for Europe Breakingviews: Europe needs to sort its prorities out 1 of 10. A Spanish flag flies above the Bank of Spain in Madrid, June 6, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Paul Hanna By Carlos Ruano and Andreas Rinke MADRID/BERLIN | Fri Jun 8, 2012 8:42pm EDT MADRID/BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe was ready to act to ensure stability in the euro zone as Spain's credit rating was cut by three notches on Thursday amid expectations it may soon seek EU help for banks beset by bad debts. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he would wait for the results of independent audits of the banking system before talking with Europe about how to recapitalize troubled lenders. An International Monetary Fund report due out next Monday is expected to show Spanish banks need at least 40 billion euros ($50 billion), financial sector sources said. Without waiting for a widely expected EU rescue, credit ratings agency Fitch cut Spain's sovereign rating to BBB from A with a negative outlook, saying Madrid was especially vulnerable to a worsening of the euro zone debt crisis. Fitch estimated Spanish lenders need 50 to 60 billion euros in capital under their updated base case. However, the total fiscal cost to underpin the banks could rise as high as 100 billion euros or 9 percent of gross domestic product in a more extreme scenario similar to Ireland's bank meltdown, it said. Speaking after talks in Berlin with British Prime Minister David Cameron - who called for "urgent action" to tackle the debt crisis - Merkel said Germany stood ready, alongside the other 16 euro zone countries, to do whatever was necessary. "It is important to stress again that we have created the instruments for support in the euro zone and that Germany is ready to use these instruments whenever it may prove necessary," she said, referring to the euro zone's temporary bailout fund, the EFSF, and to its permanent successor, the ESM. If Spain does decide to seek help with recapitalizing its banks, laden with bad property debts and other underperforming loans, it is expected to ask for funds from the 440 billion euro EFSF or the 500 billion euro ESM, due to be operational in July. Despite the pressure, Spain demonstrated it could still tap credit markets, raising all the money it required, although at a higher cost. Madrid sold 2.1 billion euros of government bonds, paying just over 6 percent for 10-year debt - up from 5.74 percent last month and the highest at auction since 1998. The sale laid to rest - at least for now - fears raised by Treasury Minister Cristobal Montoro on Tuesday that Spain was being shut out of credit markets. In the midst of the storm, Spain nominated a new central bank governor, Luis Maria Linde, aiming to restore the Bank of Spain's credibility, battered by its handling of the banking crisis. He was preferred to outgoing European Central Bank executive board member Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo. OUTSIDE PRESSURE Despite a rally in stocks, bonds and the euro owing partly to expectations of action by central banks to revive economic growth, the euro zone remains under pressure to act quickly and decisively to resolve its debt problems. France, the euro zone's number two economy after Germany, continued to benefit from its safe-haven status, selling 7.84 billion euros of bonds at record low yields despite announcing a partial reversal of the previous government's pension reform on Wednesday that runs counter to EU policies. President Barack Obama and Canadian and Japanese leaders telephoned Europe's main leaders this week to express concern at the worsening crisis and press for stronger action - raising hopes before an EU summit on June 28-29. But Merkel earlier doused expectations that the summit will produce a breakthrough, saying progress towards a fiscal and banking union would take substantially longer. In a television interview, she said the euro zone was moving inevitably towards a political union requiring nations to cede more sovereignty, and that would lead to more of a multi-speed Europe, with non-euro states in the slow lane. "I don't believe that there will be one single summit that will decide on a big bang," Merkel told ARD. "But what we have been doing for some time, and on which a working plan will certainly be presented in June, is to say we need more Europe." "Whoever is in a currency union will have to move closer together. We have to be open to make it possible for everyone to participate. But we cannot stand still because some do not want to go with us," she said. Most EU officials see the process of integration taking five to 10 years at best, much longer than the view of the markets, although economists also argue that agreeing steps towards closer union will itself help boost market sentiment. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, who chairs EU summits, said he would only present "building blocks" on closer euro zone fiscal and banking union this month and aimed to have detailed proposals in October. Speaking to think tanks in Brussels, he said the euro zone was fighting for survival. "The rest of the world is looking at us. They are not asking for new debates, they are asking for decisions," he said. RIFT WITH BRITAIN As the EU's biggest economy and largest contributor, Germany holds the key to how the bloc comes to Spain's rescue, and whether Europe is able to agree on a banking union with a joint deposit guarantee and a bank resolution fund, as envisaged by the European Central Bank and the European Commission. Merkel's remarks underscored a growing rift with non-euro member Britain, a longstanding brake on European integration, which said bluntly on Thursday that it would not take any part in a euro zone banking union. Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) George Osborne told BBC radio: "There is no way that Britain is going to be part of any euro zone banking union. "I think Britain will require certain safeguards if there is a full-blown banking union." His comments, reiterated more softly by Cameron in Berlin, highlight the potential complexity of EU negotiations on the issue, since London is the euro zone's main financial centre and could veto deeper banking integration. Osborne urged the euro zone to use its bailout fund to recapitalize Spain's troubled banks, which are reeling from the bursting of a property bubble and aggravated by recession. The IMF report goes before the global lender's board on Friday, raising expectations that EU and Spanish officials may have the outlines of a possible rescue plan worked out for when the numbers are released. One senior EU official indicated that Spain could take a "minimalist" approach to recapitalization, requiring 30-40 billion euros for four or five weaker institutions, or else a "maximalist" line which might need as much as 100 billion. "Politicians tend to prefer doing the least that's required, so in the case of Spain, it seems likely that a minimalist approach will be taken," the official said. Spain has so far made no application for European aid, and officials say it is determined to avoid the kind of humiliating policy conditions and intrusive quarterly EU/IMF inspections imposed on Greece, Ireland and Portugal. While a rescue loan may be presented for political reasons as going to Spain's FROB bank resolution fund, legally European bodies can lend only to the state, EU officials say. That raises the question of what policy conditions and monitoring would be attached to any assistance. Under the rules of the EFSF, so far used to bail out Ireland and Portugal, countries can receive aid for their banks without having to submit to the same strict 'conditionality' as under a full bailout program. (Additional reporting by Julien Toyer, Fiona Ortiz and Andres Gonzalez in Madrid, William Schomberg in New York, Annika Breidthardt and Noah Barkin in Berlin, Luke Baker in Brussels, Estelle Shirbon and Fiona Shaikh in London; Writing by Paul Taylor and Luke Baker; Editing by Will Waterman and David Stamp) World Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (3) RonB wrote: Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Saturday, 9 June 2012
U.N. says seven peacekeepers killed in Ivory Coast |
Egyptians protest against ex-premier before election |
Lopez Obrador stages late charge in Mexican election |
Russia's Putin signs anti-protest law before rally |
NATO says sorry for killing civilians in Afghan raid |
Apple's war with Google heats up |
Lindsay Lohan taken to hospital after car crash |
Alan Jackson gets personal in 'Thirty Miles West' |
Shirley MacLaine honored with AFI lifetime award |
Paris Jackson confused by childhood veils, masks |
Costner pans Baldwin role in oil skimmer company |
Merkel says EU ready to act as Spain downgraded |
U.N. says 7 peacekeepers killed in Ivory Coast |
Husband of Nigeria air crash victim sues Boeing |
Smell of death lingers at Syrian massacre village |
Exclusive: Business software IPOs hope to trump market woes |
LinkedIn breach puts site's reputation on the line |
IT security provider Qualys files for $100 million IPO |
Singer Lauryn Hill says family safety came before taxes |
Mubarak faithful rally to demand move to hospital |
Veiled suicide bomber kills four French soldiers in Afghanistan |
Guards quit, but fear lingers in China activist's home village |
Greek far-right TV debate attacker blames victims |
ICC lawyer meeting Gaddafi son detained in Libya |
Myanmar steps up security after Muslim-Buddhist violence |
Clashes, air strikes in south Yemen, 13 killed |
Attack on U.N. came from Liberia, Ivory Coast says |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01