Europa actua para rescatar a los bancos

The German and French government on Monday unveiled plans to restore liquidity and inject fresh capital into their banking sectors – as part of a coordinated bailout campaign by western governments.Berlin’s bill to shore up the country’s ailing banking and insurance sector was potentially worth up to €470bn, while France’s plan totalled €340bn. Details also began to emerge of the plan to recapitalise US banks and other financial institutions.Neel Kashkari, the Treasury assistant secretary appointed by Hank Paulson, Treasury secretary, to run the US government’s $700bn bail-out fund, said the scheme would be “voluntary” in his first public statements since his appointment.“The equity purchase program will be voluntary and designed with attractive terms to encourage participation from healthy institutions.”Mr Kashkari said Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, would lead the oversight board for the troubled asset relief programme. That panel, which met for the first time last week, also includes Mr Paulson and the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.Italy was among other countries poised for a bailout announcement after Britain said it would inject £37bn into Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS and Lloyds TSB. News that the German bill was on its way to chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet sent the Frankfurt stock exchange soaring. The exchange’s blue-chip DAX index was up 6.53 per cent, or 296.53 points by mid-morning.Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, said that he expected other countries to follow his country’s “unprecedented but essential” bailout. “In extraordinary times, [with] our financial markets ceasing to work, the government cannot just leave people on their own to be buffeted about,” he told a news conference in Downing Street.Spain on Monday said it would provide up to €100bn of guarantees for new debt issued by commercial banks in 2008 and an unspecified further amount next year as part of a eurozone plan to restore confidence in the financial system. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the prime minister, made the announcement after an emergency cabinet meeting following the eurozone summit in Paris at the weekend.Mr Zapatero said the cabinet had also approved a measure allowing the government to buy bank shares, although ministers say they do not see the need at this stage to inject capital into Spanish financial institutions.In other moves, Australia and New Zealand announced guarantees for all bank deposits, as did the United Arab Emirates, while Saudi Arabia cut its interest rates.The Swedish government said on Monday it would unveil steps to safeguard their financial sector in the next few days, but did not plan to inject capital into the Nordic country’s banks. Norway announced at the weekend it would offer its commercial banks up to $55.4bn in government bonds in exchange for mortgage debt and Portugal said it would make as much as €20bn ($27bn) available in guarantees for its banks’ financing.The extraordinary series of actions, which followed record market falls last week, came amid grave concern that investors would scramble for cash this week, threatening the implosion of financial institutions.The German bill, closely modelled on the British rescue plan unveiled last week, will initially empower the finance ministry provide as much as €500bn ($681bn) in loan guarantees and capital to bolster the banking system.The German government pledged €400bn in loan guarantees, provided as much as €80bn to recapitalise banks in distress and set aside €20bn in its budget to cover potential losses from loans.According to leaked details, any bank participating in the scheme would agree to give the finance ministry decision-making power in areas ranging from compensation for directors and staff to “business strategy” and the “utilisation of the funds” provided, as well as in the companies’ dividend policies.The draft, which will have to go through parliament for final approval after endorsement by the cabinet, includes, among other provisions, reforms of Germany’s lending, insurance supervisory and insolvency laws.

http://www.espansion.com/europa_actua_para_rescatar_a_los_bancos.htm