http://www.forbes.com/sites/francescoppola/2015/06/29/the-day-the-euro-died/2/
The
last and most damaging of the leaks was given to Robert Peston of the
BBC on the morning of Sunday June 28th. The choice of both media
institution and reporter is significant: Robert Peston’s reporting of
Northern Rock’s liquidity problems in September 2007 famously caused a
run on the bank. And Peston did it again. He reported
IN ADVANCE of the ECB governing council’s decision that the ECB was
going to “turn off” ELA. By the time the ECB announced its decision,
some hours later, Greek ATMs were rapidly running out of cash.
Where the leak to Robert Peston came from we do not know. But front-running the ECB governing council’s decision is tantamount to spreading rumors to start a bank run, which is illegal in most Eurozone countries (though apparently not in Germany). And since the Eurosystem is responsible for ensuring financial stability, deliberately starting a bank run is a major breach of the mandate of both the ECB and the national central banks. Whoever leaked this should be summarily dismissed.
Anyway, wherever it came from, it was clearly intended to force Greece to impose a bank holiday and capital controls. And it achieved its objective.
Late in the afternoon of Sunday June 28th, the ECB announced that it would freeze ELA funding for Greek banks at its current level, although it didn’t seem too happy about it:
--
Where the leak to Robert Peston came from we do not know. But front-running the ECB governing council’s decision is tantamount to spreading rumors to start a bank run, which is illegal in most Eurozone countries (though apparently not in Germany). And since the Eurosystem is responsible for ensuring financial stability, deliberately starting a bank run is a major breach of the mandate of both the ECB and the national central banks. Whoever leaked this should be summarily dismissed.
Anyway, wherever it came from, it was clearly intended to force Greece to impose a bank holiday and capital controls. And it achieved its objective.
Late in the afternoon of Sunday June 28th, the ECB announced that it would freeze ELA funding for Greek banks at its current level, although it didn’t seem too happy about it:
--
José Manuel Sousa
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