Another Non Speech in the European Parliament
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Ashley Mote Silenced on Financial Crisis
A debate in the European Parliament on 8 October 2008 was supposed to be about the next meeting of the European Council of Ministers. For obvious reasons it quickly evolved into a debate on the current global financial crisis.
I asked for a minute, but was never called because other speakers spoke for far too long. Indeed, the French Minister for Foreign and European Affairs spoke three times at great length.
Had I been given the floor, this was my one-minute’s worth:
“So now we all know how paper-thin European Unity really is.
Each country for itself when the ludicrous “scientific precision” of Basel 2* finally kicks its inventors in the teeth…as was widely predicted at the time. It has made this financial crisis much worse.
And where is the European Central Bank in all this - silent and out of its depth. So much for monetary union.
Last weekend’s mini EU summit merely confirmed that bewildered rabbits get squashed by runaway trains.
But the present situation is too dangerous for confusion and doubts.
Millions of savers and pensioners are losing out.
Why did the German finance minister Peer Steinbruck blame Anglo-American capitalism? Was he hoping the catastrophe at Hypo Real-Estate would stay under the carpet?
Was it forgetfulness, wilful deceit or selective ignorance?
Even worse, he also forgot that Deutsche Bank has been amongst the most extravagant players in the money markets, accumulating the most colossal portfolio of worthless toxic assets.
No wonder the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, stood on her head after the Irish and Greeks took decisive action to protect their own interests.
It seems European Unity means nothing when the chips are down.”
(speech ends)
* Because I was speaking to the European Parliament I could assume members knew what Basel 2 is. For the rest of the world, let me explain (and see letter to the Wall Street Journal below).
Basel 2, officially EU directives 2006/48 and 49, demands that every EU-based bank and financial institution must apply an EU-formulated “Risk Assessment Model” at the end of each and every day’s trading to show if it is solvent. If not, it must immediately stop trading. No problem in a rising market, but a huge problem in a falling market, not least because the “Model” fails to take any account of the inevitable market swings up and down every day, and it also fails to take account of the underlying worth of assets.
When first introduced, advocates boasted that this “Model” would bring “scientific precision” to the financial markets - as vivid an illustration of simultaneous bureaucratic arrogance and ignorance as you could ever imagine.
Both Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley fell foul of Basel 2, and that is what threatens the theoretical solvency of all major banks in a falling market, and accelerates the problem exponentially. Like so many other EU-inspired problems in the past, this banking crisis is down to the ivory-tower bureaucrats in Brussels. But no-one dares tell the public for fear of undermining British membership of this lunatic asylum.
Letter to the Editor
Wall Street Journal
European Edition
8 October 2008
Sir
Your outstanding coverage of the present monetary crisis has so far made no reference to the impact of the ludicrous “scientific precision” of Basel 2 EU directives. They have finally kicked their inventors in the teeth, as widely predicted by economists and others at the time.
Officially directives 2006/48 and 49, Basel 2 demands that banks and other financial institutions apply an EU-formulated “Risk Assessment Model” at the end of each and every day’s trading to show if it is solvent. If not, it must inform the authorities immediately and stop trading. No problem in a rising market.
But a huge problem in a volatile or falling market, not least because the “Model” fails to take any account of inevitable changes in market sentiment. Neither is the short-term impact of new information factored in, regardless of its accuracy or inaccuracy. The “Model” also ignores the essential underlying worth of assets.
In the UK, both Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley fell foul of Basel 2. It threatens the theoretical solvency of all major banks in the EU in a falling market, and accelerates the problem exponentially.
This banking crisis is is far worse than it should have been, not least because the ivory-tower bureaucrats in Brussels ignored sound advice based on market experience. We are all now reaping the whirlwind.
Ashley Mote MEP
Independent, South-East England
European Parliament
Brussels.
To respond to, or comment on this Email, please email ashley.mote@btconnect.com