*****European Banks Desperate To Avoid Recognizing Losses On Their 8 Trillion Us Holding*****

Summary of key points:

European banks own 8 trillion US assets (treasuries, agencies, consumer loans, etc…) and they are losing access to their dollar funding. If European banks are forced to sell their US assets, it will crash the credit markets, and they will have to recognize enormous losses. Since the fed is desperate to prevent the collapse of the US financial system, it lent those European banks 600 billion dollars so that they wouldn’t be forced to sell. Meanwhile, European banks accepted this 600 billion because they don’t want to recognize losses on their toxic US securities.

What is going to happen? Well in my last entry, I highlighted how:

“When the American economy fell into depression, US banks recalled their loans, causing the German banking system to collapse”

The same thing will happen in 2009, except the roles will be reversed. As Europe falls into a depression, European banks will recalled their loans and sell off dollar assets, causing the US banking system to collapse. Once this foreign liquidation and deleveraging of US assets begins, the current need for dollar financing will be replaced by desperate panic to escape America’s collapsing currency. Finally, like with US banks back in the 1930s, European banks will have to recognize enormous losses on their foreign holdings, making many of them insolvent.

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