Mass Panic In Cyprus: The Banks Are Collapsing And ATMs Are Running Out Of Money

http://www.prisonplanet.com/mass-panic-in-cyprus-the-banks-are-collapsing-and-atms-are-running-out-of-money.html

Mass Panic In Cyprus: The Banks Are Collapsing And ATMs Are Running Out Of Money


Michael Snyder
Economic Collapse
March 22, 2013

European officials are openly admitting that the two largest banks in Cyprus are “insolvent“, and it is now being reported that Cyprus Popular Bank only has “enough liquidity to cover the next few hours“. Of course all banks in Cyprus are officially closed until Tuesday at the earliest, but there have been long lines at ATMs all over Cyprus as people scramble to get whatever money they can out of the banks. Unfortunately, some ATMs appear to be “malfunctioning” and others appear to have already run out of cash. You can see some photos of huge lines at one ATM in Cyprus right here. Some businesses are now even refusing to take credit card payments. This is creating an atmosphere of panic on the streets of Cyprus. Meanwhile, the EU is holding a gun to the head of the Cyprus financial system. Either Cyprus meets EU demands by Monday, or liquidity for the banks will be totally cut off and Cyprus will be forced out of the euro. It is being reported that European officials believe that the “economy is going to tank in Cyprus no matter what“, and that it would be okay to let the financial system of Cyprus crash and burn if politicians in Cyprus are not willing to do what they have been ordered to do. Apparently European officials are very confident that the situation in Cyprus can be contained and that it will not spread to other European nations.

Unfortunately, European officials are losing sight of the bigger picture. If the largest banks in Cyprus are allowed to fail, it will be another “Lehman Brothers moment“. The faith that people have in banks all over Europe will be called into question, and everyone will be wondering what major European banks will be allowed to fail next.

Meanwhile, European officials have already completely shatteredconfidence in deposit insurance at this point. Everyone now knows that when there is a major bank failure that depositors will be expected to share in the pain. Expect to see “bank jogs” all over southern Europe over the coming weeks.

The banks in Cyprus had been scheduled to reopen on Tuesday, but very few people expect that to actually happen at this point. In fact,Bloomberg is reporting that EU officials are actually thinking about shutting down the two biggest banks in Cyprus and freezing their assets…

Finance ministers for the 17 euro countries are considering a plan to shutter the two biggest banks in Cyprus and freeze the assets of uninsured depositors, said the four officials, who asked not to be named because the talks are ongoing. The ministers are holding a teleconference tonight.

Cyprus Popular Bank Pcl (CPB) and the Bank of Cyprus Plc would be split to create a so-called bad bank, one of the officials said. Insured deposits — below the European Union ceiling of 100,000 euros ($129,000) — would go into a so-called good bank and not sustain any losses, while uninsured deposits would go into the bad bank and be frozen until assets could be sold, said the four officials.

Losses to unsecured creditors, including uninsured depositors, could reach 40 percent under the plan, which has support from the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. The proposal, a version of which was rejected last week, is considered a better option than taxing insured deposits or allowing Cypriot banks to collapse in a disorderly fashion if they lose access to ECB aid, the officials said.

Such a scenario would be an utter disaster.

How would you feel if you woke up someday and 40 percent of your life savings was suddenly gone?

According to Greek newspaper Kathimerini, European officials are also openly discussing the possibility of a Cyprus exit from the eurozone if a suitable bailout agreement is not worked out…

The possibility of Cyprus exiting the eurozone was discussed during teleconference involving technocrats from the Euro Working Group on Wednesday, Kathimerini understands.

A reliable source told Kathimerini that the technical implications of a euro exit, as well as the adoption of capital controls were debated by the Euro Working Group officials during the teleconference.

As I mentioned above, European officials seemed resigned to the fact that there will be an economic collapse in Cyprus “no matter what”, and so letting Cyprus leave the euro would not make that much of a difference. Either way, the banks are going to have to be “reorganized” and capital controls will be imposed…

In detailed notes of the call seen by Reuters, the group’s chair Austria’s Thomas Wieser said: “The economy is going to tank in Cyprus no matter what. Restrictions on capital will probably be imposed.”

Never before have we seen European officials impose such a harsh ultimatum with such a short deadline. It is almost as if they want to boot Cyprus out of the euro. The following comes from a recent CNBCreport…

In stark twin warnings on Thursday, the European Central Bank said it would cut off liquidity to Cypriot banks and a senior EU official made clear to Reuters that the bloc was ready to see the bankrupt island banished from the euro in the belief it could then contain damage to the wider European economy.

And European officials are even publicly talking about the possibility that Cyprus will soon need to start using “their own currency”…

MORE@LINK but you get the drift? right!

http://www.blacklistednews.com/EU_Plays_Misdirection_Game_While_Planning_Cyprus_Gold_Confiscation/24882/0/38/38/Y/M.html

EU Plays Misdirection Game While Planning Cyprus Gold Confiscation
March 21, 2013
Print Version

Source: StratRisks

The Cyprus bailout proposal made by the Eurogroup is both economically and politically absurd. But what if the real reason behind the whole Cyprus crisis is the desire to confiscate the country’s gold?

The European Union, the IMF and the ECB are pushing Cyprus into bankruptcy while risking a contagion effect that could lead to the meltdown of the eurozone. European leaders have already bailed out Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy. Why is the Cyprus bailout so special? Why do the European leaders prefer to push the country into bankruptcy and raid the Cypriot bank accounts instead of saving it?

There are several possible reasons for such a behavior. Either the leaders of the Troika have made a mistake with terrible consequences or they have a plan which is not obvious to outside observers. If the bailout package, combined with a “solidarity levy” on the bank accounts is a bona fide mistake, why aren’t they willing to correct it? The European negotiators insist that Cyprus must provide 5.86 billion euros, knowing that the Cypriot government doesn’t have the money. So far, it looks like the Troika acts within a well established plan. What are they trying to achieve?

Let’s take a look at the gold market. It has been known for several years, that the central banks of the developed world are operating a huge price suppression scheme in the gold and silver markets. The mainstream media is ignoring this fact, but several whistleblowers, like the former Goldman Sachs trader Andrew Maguire, have come up with facts and figures, supporting the hypothesis of a wide conspiracy to suppress the prices of gold and silver. For several years, well known traders and investors like Eric Sprott and John Sinclair have been trying to draw the press’ attention to this problem. According to the latest calculations made by Eric Sprott, it is likely that the US Federal Reserve has almost no physical gold available, so its ability to continue suppressing the gold prices is diminished. If this is true, the Cyprus crisis is a boon to the market manipulators.

source@: http://stratrisks.com/geostrat/11409

So, of course this begs the questions - for those of us who were not saavy enough to convert savings to gold, should we at least take our savings out of the bank here in the U.S. before they close down our banks or put a hold on our money? Any advice?

Well, I can only speak for me but I've kept my bank account balance deliberately low (few hundred bucks max) the past few years. I've taken most of my 401k out over the past few years in installments [so I didn't get hit with mega taxes] and paid off most of my mortgage. Got only about 4 more payments left. Next month I plan on closing out the 401k and converting it into gold and silver. I like those silver and gold combibar cards with the 1 gram break away bits and plan to get a few. I'll keep my checking and savings accounts but as soon as a deposit is made I'll make dang sure that I spend the balance down low very quickly just as I've been doing.

http://www.combibar.com/products/

Judge Napolitano: It can happen here!!!!

On the question of "could this happen in the US of A?"

Gold and silver have real value and are biblical forms of money. During Joseph’s stay in Egypt, the money crashed and that money was silver. Just saying.

If paper decreases in value and gold and silver increase in price dramatically, steps may be taken to tax the gain on the real assets or to outright confiscate them.

There may or may not be a window to divest before they attempt draconian measures.

Some have suggested rare stamps, certified gemstones, foreign real estate, commodities and gold and silver held outside the country in non-bank safety boxes as possible ways of maintaining wealth.

Our real wealth is what we have in Christ Jesus.

The key here would be to follow the leading of the Lord.

Interesting info everyone, thanks. I will pray on it.

Researcher, those little gold and silver chips are just the cutest things! Adorable! I want some! You know women and gold and silver chips - we just gotta have em! LOL

wakeupcall1111 wrote:

Interesting info everyone, thanks. I will pray on it.

Researcher, those little gold and silver chips are just the cutest things! Adorable! I want some! You know women and gold and silver chips - we just gotta have em! LOL

Yer definitely my kind of girl, wakeupcall. You go in for old farts? Bet yer spoke for already though, huh? BTW, each one of those gold chips at today's prices is worth around $60.00-ish whereas 1 ounce of gold is around $1600.00-ish. Those little chips will make smaller purchases in gold practical. Before these things came along silver was the only practical way to handle smaller purchases and at today's silver price of around $30.00 you'd need around 53 ounces of silver to equal one ounce of gold. That's just not practical to lug around in case of a bug-out situation.

$60 per chip, huh. So I'd go through about 1 chip every 2 weeks on my Starbucks addiction alone. Yikes, wouldn't last long!

Aww, you're sweet Researcher. I'm an old fart-ess myself, and been married to one for near on 32 years now. Yeesh. Time - it do fly!