Banks prepare for the return of the drachma

[BillBoard]

How is this for news?!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/banks-...083804551.html

By Douwe Miedema and Sarah White

LONDON (Reuters) - Banks are quietly readying themselves to start trading a new Greek currency. Some banks never erased the drachma from their systems after Greece adopted the euro more than a decade ago and would be ready at the flick of a switch if its debt problems forced it to bring back national banknotes and coins.

[jpatter666]

Re: Banks prepare for the return of the drachma

How is this for news?!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/banks-...083804551.html

By Douwe Miedema and Sarah White

LONDON (Reuters) - Banks are quietly readying themselves to start trading a new Greek currency. Some banks never erased the drachma from their systems after Greece adopted the euro more than a decade ago and would be ready at the flick of a switch if its debt problems forced it to bring back national banknotes and coins.

Yow....I recall EJ stating such preparations would be virtually impossible to hide or do because they'd become self-fulfilling [if I'm wrong on this I'm sure MM will correct! ]

I'd say Greece leaving is baked-in now.

[c1ue]

Re: Banks prepare for the return of the drachma

This is cool. A return to the Drachma as a Y2K type legacy issue.

[gnk]

Re: Banks prepare for the return of the drachma

November 2011: Greece preparing to leave Euro for Drachma

And in February of this year, Greece received a second bailout.

If this story was credible, or at least indicative of a real move to the drachma, the currency markets would already be telling us.

I've heard many rumors of the return of the Drachma since 2010. You can also see the exchange rate of various former EU countries' currencies:

for example - http://www.exchangerate.com/currency.../last-30-days/

I think it's more contingency planning than anything else, until the markets say otherwise.

[lektrode]

Re: Banks prepare for the return of the drachma

could also be a 'negotiation' tactic ? (for the next bailout)
kinda like how the n.koreans do it...

[gnk]

Re: Banks prepare for the return of the drachma

could also be a 'negotiation' tactic ? (for the next bailout)
kinda like how the n.koreans do it...

That's what I think. Germany says everything is fine, Greece has been firewalled, they can leave, etc... Greece says hey, if we fall, everyone falls with us so let's renegotiate...

Lots of bluster, but at the end of the day, dissolution would be disastrous for everyone. The Herculean effort to maintain the EU/Euro, however crazy, will continue because the alternative is even worse. Not that I rule it out either.

In my opinion, if Greece leaves, then the EU would lose something... credibility and the aura of permanency. It becomes a club with a revolving door, not the solid evolution of continental integration it wants to be. And so, the next question would be: who is next to go? And the bond vigilantes, like a swarm of locusts, will go from one "field" (country) to the next, creating havoc. Sort of like the post Lehman world. One bank after the other was getting attacked after Lehman fell. But saving one nation's banking system is one thing, bailing out successively larger sovereign economies, with their own banking systems in tatters, is another.

[Thailandnotes]

Re: Banks prepare for the return of the drachma

"Although fears about bank runs have been quieted, the uncertainty has caused many Greeks to take at least a portion of their savings out of their accounts. “Right before elections, nothing was moving, it was like people were in shock. No deposits, no withdrawals. Two days after elections, the panic started,” said a banker in a branch in downtown Athens who declined to give her name.

“I’ve witnessed a loyal customer closing her account, all 150,000 euros of it, putting it in her handbag, and walking out the branch,” the banker said. She added that it was more common for people to take out smaller amounts, 3,000 to 5,000 euros, or about $4,000 to $6,500."

[Mega]

Re: Banks prepare for the return of the drachma

Greek update:-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/f...from-euro.html
There IS a plan in the works!
Mike

[cobben]

Re: Banks prepare for the return of the drachma




Solidarity account for public debt repayment
Pursuant to Bank of Greece Governor’s Act 271/4.3.2010, an account entitled “SOLIDARITY ACCOUNT FOR REPAYMENT OF PUBLIC DEBT” (No. 24/26132462) has been opened at the Bank’s Head Office, Public Entities Accounts Section, for voluntary deposits, to be used exclusively for the repayment of Greece’s public debt.

Deposits to the account shall be accepted, starting 5 March 2010, at the Head Office, the Branches, Outlets and Agencies of the Bank of Greece, as well as through commercial banks.

The details of the solidarity account are as follows:
IBAN: GR 04 010 0024 0000000026132462
SWIFT/BIC: BNGRGRAA.

For further information, please contact the Public Entities Accounts Section, tel: 210 320 2716 & 210 320 3376.