France and Austria in line for a downgrading if reports are to believed. Reuters tentatively referring to it on their site
The ridiculous amount of money the government wastes by giving it to the horse racing industry annually should be redirected to the banks. The economy needs strong banks.
possible, the Austrians have lent heavily to Hungary
The world economy is a pyramid scheme because it depends on cheap oil and other cheap forms of energy. It also requires constant growth. The era of cheap oil is finished largely because oil is running out. Renewable technologies are way off ever being able to provide enough energy to replace fossil fuels. So we have an economic system which requires constant growth on a planet with finite resources which are running out. But we have a constantly rising population who are supposed to exist on these declining resources. Throw in climate change. Banks require growth but the world is hitting the natural limits of growth. So the banks are fucked long term, in fact the whole world financial system is fucked. It’s only a matter of how long it takes for it to happen. I don’t know when that will be.
Hello Mr. Malthus.
Standard and Poor’s of course are the spivs who happily accepted bribes to rate junk Collateralised Debt Obligations as Triple A+. The fate of the global economy is in safe hands, that’s for sure. Trust them.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jan/13/eurozone-crisis-live-markets-italian-bond-sale
2.59pm: The threat of an S&P downgrade has been hovering over the eurozone for more than a month.
On December 6, Standard & Poor’s put 15 euro nations on downgrade watch.
Six nations were warned that they faced a one-notch downgrade – Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Nine more were told they could suffer a two-notch downgrade: Estonia, France, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
Senior sources in the Netherlands are spinning that they are not on tonight’s list. So they, and Germany, would appear to be safe. That still leaves 13 potential victims.
I know what will sort this.
A summit of European leaders.
Where would one buy lots of cola bottles?
The talks between Greece and their bondholders are also on the verge of collapse meaning that Greece is yet again tethering on the brink of all out default
A severe health warning here as it’s from Jim Cusack but still:
http://www.independe…nd-2996243.html
Senior garda fraud specialist retires to work for Bank of Ireland
The senior garda detective who was in charge of the Anglo-Irish investigation for 18 months took early retirement at the end of last year and is now working with Bank of Ireland, it has emerged.
Former detective superintendent Pat Collins[/url], 52, was regarded as the [url=“http://searchtopics.independent.ie/topic/Garda_Siochana”]Garda’s top expert in corporate fraud investigation. He spent much of his career in the Fraud Squad and before taking charge of the Anglo investigation he spent time on secondment with the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement working with its director, Paul Appleby.
I think the real story here is how a fella can take early retirement at 52! Reform of the public sector my hole.
It’s not exactly a glowing reference really is it? Haven’t seen anyone jailed for Anglo, or are AIB hiring him to keep them out of jail?
A manager (not THE manager, but a manager) in the BOI Branch on O’Connell St in Limerick parks in the same car park as me. I was pretty disgusted to see the cunt rock on in a 2012 BMW 520 company car. Was his 2011 company car not good enough anymore?
I suppose the fact they only lost €180m last year means he earned it.
[quote=“The Runt, post: 535518”]A manager (not THE manager, but a manager) in the BOI Branch on O’Connell St in Limerick parks in the same car park as me. I was pretty disgusted to see the cunt rock on in a 2012 BMW 520 company car. Was his 2011 company car not good enough anymore?
I suppose the fact they only lost €180m last year means he earned it.[/quote]
Have you a private space now since the big win last year?
No it’s just a regular Joe Schmo car park, which I suppose he should be praised for using.
Although I’m thinking there, that the ticketing system in that car park doesn’t allow you to come and go as you please (as in once you leave that counts as a day on your card), so that means the cunt isn’t even using the car to travel around the country during the day.
BURN THEM OUT
Good news for SS in that I believe AIB announcement is due this week and he will finally get the blood he has been positively aching for
What Runt fails to recognise is that the Irish banks need to display a confidence and swagger to help assure potential customers that they’re not on the verge of going bust (again). What kind of message would it send to have the local bank manager or business development manager for the region or something turning up to meet a client driving a fucking 2007 registered car? Like, for fuck sake Runt.
Runt is a small man who cannot see the bigger picture
Is this your idea of a joke Dan? 
AIB hires 100 new staff despite 2,000 job cuts
By Tom Lyons
Sunday March 04 2012
AIB has hired 100 new staff in the last week even as the country’s once biggest bank gears up to lay off up to 2,000 staff.
The 99.8% state-owned bank is currently locked in talks with the Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA) and the Department of Finance over the redundancy terms of departing staff. At the same time, however, it is also investing in training up new ones.
The move has angered some staff who believe the bank should be working to redeploy old staff rather than hiring new ones.
A spokesperson for the bank said: "AIB needs to keep a very strong focus on working with customers in difficulty and has hired and deployed staff to this important work.
“AIB has also started a number of systems and process change programmes and additional resources are needed on a temporary basis for these projects,” she added.
The new staff are understood to be primarily low-paid graduates or contract staff, or they have specialised skills that are not available in the bank because of departures.
AIB is close to unveiling its long-delayed redundancy [color=#009900 !important]plans with employees likely to be offered three weeks’ pay per year of service which is less than the industry average.
In the last two big culls of banking staff Ulster[/url] Bank gave 1,000 staff three-and-a-half weeks while [url=“http://searchtopics.independent.ie/topic/Bank_of_Ireland”]Bank of Ireland gave four weeks’ pay per year of service when it laid off 750 people. The IBOA had hoped to win six weeks’ pay for its members in AIB.
AIB has been forced to shrink its 14,000-strong workforce as it sold units, reigned in lending and reduced costs.
The bank, under chief executive Eugene Sheehy and chairman Dermot Gleeson, was involved in some of the most reckless property deals of the boom. It lost hundreds of millions, lending €1.1bn to developer Liam Carroll alone.
- Tom Lyons
It’s natural that hired in expertise will be required in specialist areas. You can’t just expect to redeploy people in jobs they’re not qualified to do. SHANNONSIDER’s tirades against the banks are really annoying me now.
Runt - you just don’t get how the wheels of commerce turn.
“Does a struggling salesman start turning up on a bicycle? No, he turns up in a newer car - perception, yeah? They got to trust me - I’m taking these guys into battle, yeah? And I’m doing my own stapling.”