Greece Considering Legal Action Against U.S. Banks for Crisis

Quote from ASusilovic:

May 16 (Bloomberg) -- Greece is considering taking legal action against U.S. investment banks that might have contributed to the country’s debt crisis, Prime Minister George Papandreou said.

“I wouldn’t rule out that this may be a recourse,” Papandreou said, in response to questions about the role of U.S. banks in the crisis, in an interview on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS.” The program, scheduled for broadcast today, was taped on May 13. Neither Papandreou nor Zakaria mentioned any banks by name.

U.S. stocks fell and the euro slumped on concern that Europe wouldn’t be able to contain the debt crisis stemming from Greece. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 1.9 percent May 14, while the euro fell below $1.24 for the first time since November 2008.

Papandreou said the decision on whether to go after U.S. banks will be made after a Greek parliamentary investigation into the cause of the crisis.

“Greece will look into the past and see how things went,” Papandreou said. “There are similar investigations going on in other countries and in the United States. This is where I think, yes, the financial sector, I hear the words fraud and lack of transparency. So yes, yes, there is great responsibility here.”

Speculators

In the days leading up to the May 10 announcement of a loan package worth almost $1 trillion to halt the spread of Greece’s fiscal woes, European Union regulators were examining whether speculators manipulated the prices of bonds and equities and contributed to the crisis.

The Committee of European Securities Regulators said on May 7 it was investigating “exceptional volatility” in the markets and would work with other regulators, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as part of a coordinated clampdown.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said May 6 that he was concerned about speculation in bond markets using credit default swaps. “By first buying the CDS and then trying to affect market sentiment by going short on the underlying bond, investors can make large profits,” he said.

Credit-default swaps are derivatives that pay the buyer face value if a borrower -- a country or a company -- defaults. In exchange, the swap seller gets the underlying securities or the cash equivalent. Traders in naked credit-default swaps buy insurance on bonds they don’t own.

In the CNN interview, Papandreou said many in the international community have engaged in “Greek bashing” and find it easy “to scapegoat Greece.” He said Greeks “are a hard-working people. We are a proud people.”

“We have made our mistakes,” Papandreou said. “We are living up to this responsibility. But at the same time, give us a chance. We’ll show you.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aDxF1YfeViEc&pos=1

He is not naming Goldman Sachs, or....?
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Greece looks everywhere else to blame except itself, for its own excesses...
 
Quote from Scataphagos:

1. Greece is a prime example of an entitlement, socialist failed state.

2. History is FULL of examples... including the Roman Empire.

3. It's obvious that such a government and society is a bad deal. Why then, is Obama trying to cornhole America into the same thing? (rhetorical question)
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Well to be fair Germany and the Nordic countries are also welfare states. They aren't doing so bad.
 
I see this all the time on otc, ceo's blame short selllers for the company's stock price(when they are really selling unregistered securities) and focus on that and nothing else.....same thing happened with lehman....when ceo's or heads of state start blaming shorts and that they are going to after them, thats when you add your to your short position
 
Should dovetail nicely into POTUS Barack Hussein Obama's strategy for re-positioning the U.S.A. in the global community.
 
Quote from QuikrRetirement:

Greece looks everywhere else to blame except itself, for its own excesses...
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They need some statesmen for leadership instead of the politicians that they have...
 
agreed, but at least some of the Germans are working, but in Greece, they are all on the dole.


Quote from Options_Noob:

Well to be fair Germany and the Nordic countries are also welfare states. They aren't doing so bad.
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Nah, they just want a few hundred billion. Who needs statesmen when you can have it all for free.


Quote from maxpi:

They need some statesmen for leadership instead of the politicians that they have...
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