CYPRUS, This Is How A Country Ends: Not With A Bang, But A Bailout

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-26/how-country-ends-not-bang-bailout




CYPRUS,

This Is How A Country Ends: Not With A Bang, But A Bailout

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/26/2013 19:17 -0400

• Blackrock
 
• Creditors
 
• European Central Bank
 
• fixed
• Italy
 
• New Normal
 
• Reality
 
• Rick Rieder
 
• Sovereign Debt
 
• Wall Street Journal

Curious how in the New Normal a nation is brought to its untimely end without a single shot being fired? Dimos Dimosthenous, who has worked at the Bank of Cyprus for over 30 years, explains:

"That will be the end. Our jobs, our rights, our welfare funds will be lost and Cyprus will be destroyed."

In short: not with a bang, but a bailout.

... But at least it still has the symbol for all that is wrong with the broke(n) status quo: the €

First, however, much more pain, because as Cyprus' FinMin Sarris said a short while ago, uninsured depositors in the second largest bank Laiki which is now pending lqiuidation, may lose 80% (read 100%... or more), and wait up to seven years for a payout. Of course, with the majority of the "evil, tax-evading Russians" long gone having used the chaos and assorted loopholes in the past week to get out of Dodge, the only people punished are assorted local hard workers, and domestic businesses, now set to liquidate as soon as they can afford the bankruptcy filing fee.

Finally, speaking of getting out of Dodge, it is surprising that while professing its love for all man-made bubbles and going all in stocks no matter the fundemantls, the firm that is the shadow overlord of Wall Street, BlackRock, is doing just that.From the WSJ:

BlackRock Inc. the world's largest money manager, has cut holdings of Italy and Spain government bonds over the past three months. The firm may shed more if the euro-zone's growth outlook deteriorates.

"We have been less enthusiastic about euro-zone sovereign debt compared to three to six months ago," said Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of fundamental fixed income and co-head of Americas fixed income at BlackRock. "If growth continues to deteriorate in the euro zone, due in large measure to weak private-sector lending from a deleveraging banking sector, we would further reduce our positions in the euro zone, such as in Italy and Spain."

Speaking in a phone interview with The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Mr. Rieder said for the moment, BlackRock still holds an overweight position on Italy and Spain, though the position is now more moderate after the recent reduction in the Spanish and Italian holdings.

The company, with more than $3.7 trillion in assets under management, was among global investors scooping up sovereign bonds, especially in Italy, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi last summer pledged to do "whatever it takes" to preserve the euro.

Wait... did Blackrock just comprehend that contrary to prior lies bank creditors, all bank creditors and not just depositors, are suddenly expendable?

Funny how one's "investment risk tolerance" changes when the local money printer's promises that nobody will ever suffer losses are openly refuted when reality intrudes.

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