Rescuing Banks in Spain & Germany
Being german citizen living in Spain I have been ashamed with the german government "rescuing" banks that had driven themselves into bancrupcy with tax payers' money and Spain not having to do so. In Spain there has been a meeting with government and banks where supposedly none of the banks had asked for government funds in order to be rescued - we don't know what really happened there (it must have been around 2010) as the meeting has been held behind closed doors (noone had been admitted but bank managers and representatives of the government) and the only ones who stated anything were the banks saying that nobody requested anything. "Spanish banks are the best ones in the world", as everybody knows - this has been a usual statement made by ALL spaniards who cared about the banking system - (they say the same about their social security and pride themselves for Obama's people having been in Spain to learn from the spanish social security - what 90% of these people don't know is that Obama's assessors had been in all european countries to study the social security! As the spanish government "only stated that they have been in Spain", people like to think that they have "only been here"!).
Back to banks!
This week we had the downfall of "Bankia" (which has been among the best banks in the world - as I have learned in these eleven years in Spain) and just for curiosity today I looked up the "unbelievable" and criminally negative figures of german banks. Which in the end has cost german taxpayers 13.000 MILLION €uro!!! This figure has been published by FOCUS on April 27th 2012. This is the figure for ALL banks that "needed" to be "rescued" for misleading clients' funds - we don't know how much the managers charged for driving these companies into bancrupcy (when am I going to get a company to lead into bancrupcy and get millions from it?).
Today it has been published by El Pais that only the Bankia Group's "toxic actives" are around 30.000 Million €uro! This is three times more of the whole of the german banks needed .... only by one group! There is no "Santander", "BBVA" nor the "Cajas de Ahorro" (which have had a massive amount of fusions lately, so noone knows what is going on anymore) or other "big banks" in the country.
We don't know yet whether the government is willing to bail out one of the "best banks in the world", but it seems to me that they will have to, as they are "relevant to the system" (for keeping it going - did anybody ask anyone who actually wants this system to keep going on like that?).
Our new spanish government says that they won't do it, but they did the same with lowering the cost for companies to fire their people - which in the end led thousands of companies to laying off workers for literally no money, etc. "pp".
Is there any reason for taxpayers keeping on paying their taxes? Taxes in Europe had the intention of keeping social peace, allowing almost evcerybody a life of dignity, but now it seems that all our taxes ore going into outer space, just to keep the commissions of some, asuring a life of poverty to those who can not take care of their own income anymore, which obviously has to be enough to face always growing prices.
Good night.
Showing posts with label banks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label banks. Show all posts
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Welcome to Africa
This is Spain in summer: hot, really wonderfully hot! And complicated ... only in summer it really compensates. When it's cold, there is no charm what so ever to it, nor an excuse.
Well, here in Spain "we" claim to have "the best banks in the world". Problem is, they don't work!
I have tried to deposit some money on my account yesterday, and after having been in a queue for over 30 minutes, in a bank which has received a "european award of excellence", I was so happy to be able to read this over and over again until it was my turn. Then eventually I got there, a very friendly lady was at the counter (which is not very common, at least in this part of the country), I handed over the money as do basically every month, she punched in the data and ... all of a sudden she asked me my name. I almost told her that I am married already, but didn't. So she asked me my ID ... that was when I knew it was an "official question". I told her my ID number. And then she went on about my name ... asked me how to spell it. There was something strange in the air ... our monthly ritual has been deritualized. She then asked for all the data again, shook her head slightly, and said that there seems to be something wrong with the system, asking me to come back later. So I went back an hour later, had another 30 minutes in a queue of one of the best banks in the world, and after being attended by the same friendly woman, we reached the same point. She asked me to call the "technical department", which cost me money and time ... to find out, that everything is fine with the account. I asked them whether there has been a change in the policies, they said "no". So I went back to the office of one of the best banks in the world. This time it only took me 15 minutes to be attended, by this ever friendly lady. I told her, what I had been told. She tried again with the same result, asking me to try again later or tomorrow ... as the best banks in the world are only open to the public until 14:30. That's what I call service!
So I called the technical department once more, and told them what had happened. This time (a woman) said that the system had been updated and it could be due to that, so she asked me to try again the next day.
Guess what I did first thing this morning?
... yes ... "the best banks in the world", where it is impossible to deposit cash! Today it took me 45 minutes in the queue, because in front of me there was a woman who was trying to deposit a cheque. Her problem was that her agency had been closed due to some sort of crisis that is hitting other banks all over the world, excempting the best ones, and now she has been told that her bank account did not exist. She then explained that her account did exist, but due to the shutting down of her old agency something must have changed and the bank may not have told her. Well, the end of the story was that this good woman has not been able to deposit a cheque on her own bank account. I felt an immediate sympathy for someone I would usually have not looked at with much of it. So she has been sent home with her cheque and has been asked to come back later (this sounded familiar to me). Then it was another woman's turn and then I was allowed to try again.
Well, same story again. "The system does not allow me to do anything." (But it was not the friendly woman of the day before, but this one told me that they have been with problems for cash deposits for some time.) So I called the "miraculous" technical department of the awarded bank to tell them that once again it had been impossible to deposit cash money onto my account. So I once more have been told that everything was OK with the account and that I could deposit the money. So I told them, that exactly that was the reason for my phone calls: I could NOT make a deposit on my own account with this very bank! I have been asked to go there again and to try again.
So I swallowed all my anger, waited an hour, and went back into my little hell, waited another 30 minutes in the excitig queue and finally it was my turn again. ... there she was, the friendly lady of yesterday. She recognized me and sent an "I'm so sorry smile". So there we were to try again. at the third attempt she said: "Ah, let me just try this ..." then she started punching in something, looked up and smiled at me. Then she asked "How much did you want to put in?" (In that moment her face turned into a "bank-face" to me ... she had lost all her charm and sympatghy and became just another bloody part of this corrupt and rotten system.) I told her the amount and ... then she changed again and said: "do you know what it was? ... They have changed the system. Now you have to put in the two surnames, (in Spain everybody has two surames) so I filled in the second surname with Xs and it worked ... just for you to know the next time."
So, there I stood, had put my money to the bank, feeling like a fool. I asked myself, why I had made such an effort of satisfying a bloody bank who does not give a damn for me as long as I am a client of theirs. Once I threaten to go they will start caring, but why should I want to change the bank if it's going to be the same story just with some names changed?
If these are supposed to be the best banks in the world, I don't want to know what banks in other underdeveloped countries may be like!
Spain is closer to Africa than to Brussels, that is a fact, is perfectly clear and can be confirmed on a daily basis.
Well, here in Spain "we" claim to have "the best banks in the world". Problem is, they don't work!
I have tried to deposit some money on my account yesterday, and after having been in a queue for over 30 minutes, in a bank which has received a "european award of excellence", I was so happy to be able to read this over and over again until it was my turn. Then eventually I got there, a very friendly lady was at the counter (which is not very common, at least in this part of the country), I handed over the money as do basically every month, she punched in the data and ... all of a sudden she asked me my name. I almost told her that I am married already, but didn't. So she asked me my ID ... that was when I knew it was an "official question". I told her my ID number. And then she went on about my name ... asked me how to spell it. There was something strange in the air ... our monthly ritual has been deritualized. She then asked for all the data again, shook her head slightly, and said that there seems to be something wrong with the system, asking me to come back later. So I went back an hour later, had another 30 minutes in a queue of one of the best banks in the world, and after being attended by the same friendly woman, we reached the same point. She asked me to call the "technical department", which cost me money and time ... to find out, that everything is fine with the account. I asked them whether there has been a change in the policies, they said "no". So I went back to the office of one of the best banks in the world. This time it only took me 15 minutes to be attended, by this ever friendly lady. I told her, what I had been told. She tried again with the same result, asking me to try again later or tomorrow ... as the best banks in the world are only open to the public until 14:30. That's what I call service!
So I called the technical department once more, and told them what had happened. This time (a woman) said that the system had been updated and it could be due to that, so she asked me to try again the next day.
Guess what I did first thing this morning?
... yes ... "the best banks in the world", where it is impossible to deposit cash! Today it took me 45 minutes in the queue, because in front of me there was a woman who was trying to deposit a cheque. Her problem was that her agency had been closed due to some sort of crisis that is hitting other banks all over the world, excempting the best ones, and now she has been told that her bank account did not exist. She then explained that her account did exist, but due to the shutting down of her old agency something must have changed and the bank may not have told her. Well, the end of the story was that this good woman has not been able to deposit a cheque on her own bank account. I felt an immediate sympathy for someone I would usually have not looked at with much of it. So she has been sent home with her cheque and has been asked to come back later (this sounded familiar to me). Then it was another woman's turn and then I was allowed to try again.
Well, same story again. "The system does not allow me to do anything." (But it was not the friendly woman of the day before, but this one told me that they have been with problems for cash deposits for some time.) So I called the "miraculous" technical department of the awarded bank to tell them that once again it had been impossible to deposit cash money onto my account. So I once more have been told that everything was OK with the account and that I could deposit the money. So I told them, that exactly that was the reason for my phone calls: I could NOT make a deposit on my own account with this very bank! I have been asked to go there again and to try again.
So I swallowed all my anger, waited an hour, and went back into my little hell, waited another 30 minutes in the excitig queue and finally it was my turn again. ... there she was, the friendly lady of yesterday. She recognized me and sent an "I'm so sorry smile". So there we were to try again. at the third attempt she said: "Ah, let me just try this ..." then she started punching in something, looked up and smiled at me. Then she asked "How much did you want to put in?" (In that moment her face turned into a "bank-face" to me ... she had lost all her charm and sympatghy and became just another bloody part of this corrupt and rotten system.) I told her the amount and ... then she changed again and said: "do you know what it was? ... They have changed the system. Now you have to put in the two surnames, (in Spain everybody has two surames) so I filled in the second surname with Xs and it worked ... just for you to know the next time."
So, there I stood, had put my money to the bank, feeling like a fool. I asked myself, why I had made such an effort of satisfying a bloody bank who does not give a damn for me as long as I am a client of theirs. Once I threaten to go they will start caring, but why should I want to change the bank if it's going to be the same story just with some names changed?
If these are supposed to be the best banks in the world, I don't want to know what banks in other underdeveloped countries may be like!
Spain is closer to Africa than to Brussels, that is a fact, is perfectly clear and can be confirmed on a daily basis.
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