How the world sees Greece
 Arab News | Saudi Embassy in Greece warns against car sale hoax Arab News ATHENS: Saudi Embassy in Greece warned Saudi nationals not to respond to any phone hoaxes or through tempting Internet invitation to buy luxury cars at cheap prices in Greece and Cyprus. In a statement issued today, the embassy called on Saudi ... |
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Greek Oil Company Sees Strong Interest in Bond Offer Wall Street Journal LONDON—Greek oil refiner Hellenic Petroleum SA is seeing strong demand for its first international debt sale, a sign that investors are returning to Greece as they continue to seek higher-yielding investments. Hellenic Petroleum has increased the size ... |
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 Christian Science Monitor | Greece starts firing civil servants for first time in a century Christian Science Monitor The mass layoffs were announced last week in a televised address by the Greek prime minister himself, Antonis Samaras. Despite the massive unemployment in Greece, the goal of the government has become the laying off of 180,000 civil servants by 2015. |
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Hollande's party accuse Merkel of acting in German interests and demand showdown with 'chancellor of austerity'
French president François Hollande's governing Socialist party has delivered a blistering assault on Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, accusing her of causing the single currency crisis that has been tearing Europe apart for more than three years, of acting selfishly and intransigently in her own political and German national interest, and demanding a "showdown" with the "chancellor of austerity".
The French socialists' criticisms, in a draft paper on party policy on Europe ahead of a conference in June, came as Spain dramatically shifted its commitment to austerity. Spain set a far higher budget deficit target for this year while admitting that the country's chronic unemployment would stay above 25% for the next four years.
The new budget deficit target, increased from 4.5% to 6.3%, means Spain only has to reduce spending by 0.8% of GDP over this year. But greater realism about its ongoing recession saw the government admit the economy would shrink by a further 1.3% this year.
The Spanish government has put back the target of reaching the Brussels-mandated deficit level of less than 3% until 2016, a move that will see public debt grow to 100% of GDP.
The French socialists' draft paper contends that Europe is being run by a rightwing Anglo-German cabal dominated by liberal free trade interests with the rest of the world and austerity within the EU.
It calls into question the Franco-German alliance that has been at the heart of the EU for as long as it has existed and argues that France alone of the big EU countries has a government that is genuinely pro-European.
Merkel, as well as Hollande's predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, and David Cameron come in for severe criticism. Merkel and Sarkozy, the draft declares, managed to turn a small crisis that started in Greece more than three years ago into a European disaster.
The 21-page draft was leaked to Le Monde, which said it had the tacit support of Hollande's government. It said: "The [EU] community project is now scarred by an alliance of convenience between the Thatcherite accents of the current British prime minister – who sees Europe only as à la carte and about rebates – and the selfish intransigence of Chancellor Merkel who thinks of nothing else but the savings of depositors in Germany, the trade balance recorded in Berlin and her electoral future."
The paper reveals just how bad relations have become between Berlin and Paris, with Germany alarmed at the condition of the French economy and frustrated that Hollande appears unwilling to embark on the kind of radical structural reforms the Germans think are necessary.
The document also calls bluntly for an end to austerity as the main response to the debt and currency crisis, accuses the political right dominating EU politics as being focused on "deregulation, deindustrialisation and disintegration".
Spain's move to ease its deficit burden was praised by the European commission in Brussels in what is a clear sign that it, too, has radically changed its previously hawkish insistence on harsh austerity.
It said in a statement: "Regarding the fiscal targets, the postponement of the correction of the excessive deficit (to below 3% of GDP) to 2016 is consistent with the current technical analysis by the commission services of what would be a balanced – but still ambitious – fiscal consolidation path, given the difficult economic environment."
The Spanish finance minister, Luis de Guindos, insisted that, despite continued recession and 27% unemployment, Spain was turning the corner and that last year's intense austerity measures - which helped tip a further 600,000 Spaniards into unemployment – had been worth the effort. "The results have not been good but they could have been much worse," he said.
However, the government said it would still have to raise taxes to meet the new deficit targets. The budget minister, Cristóbal Montoro, pledged no rises in VAT, income tax or fuel taxes, but said other special taxes would rise. He refused to say which ones they were.
Company taxes will also rise and a small tax on banks, based on their deposits, is to be introduced.
The prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, continued his tradition of avoiding the press and public when major announcements on the economy are made, and left ministers to present the changes.
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 Kathimerini | UN says Greek austerity is taking a toll on human rights Kathimerini Austerity measures are hitting Greece's human rights record, a international expert warned on Friday while slamming the “excessively rigid” demands dictated by the debt-wracked nation's rescue program. UN independent expert on foreign debt and human ... 10% of Greeks live in extreme poverty: UN expert UN: Crisis in Greece weakening human rights action - Philly.com UN: Crisis in Greece weakening human rights action |
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Greece's OTE sells Bulgarian unit to Telenor to cut debt Reuters OL) to reduce debt and allow it to focus on client retention amid Greece's crippling recession. OTE, which is controlled by Germany's Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), will receive 717 million euros ($934 million) to sell Globul, Bulgaria's second-biggest ... |
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 Kathimerini | Greek Lawmakers Get Multi-Bill Greek Reporter Parliament Rushing to beat the clock before stopping work for the May 5 Easter holiday, lawmakers in the Greek Parliament have received from Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' coalition government a multi-faceted bill of so-called “prior actions” demanded ... Greek PM Antonis Samaras to travel to China Bulgaria PM talks with Greek counterpart Greek Government Rejects Sales Tax Relief Call - Tax-News.com |
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 Kathimerini | Banks not protected over loans to political parties, says Greek minister Kathimerini A recent amendment that limits the legal responsibility of bank chairmen, board members and other officials with regard to loans they have approved is not part of an effort to provide immunity to anyone, the government insisted on Friday. The law was ... |
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Greece Town Board's O'Keefe Pero resigning Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Jerry Helfer, leader of the Greece Republican Committee, said the committee is screening candidates interested in the position and will provide the town board a list of potentials. Whomever is appointed to replace O'Keefe Pero will likely be the ... |
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Greece Submits Bill to Unlock Bailout Aid Tranche - NASDAQ.com NASDAQ ATHENS--Greece Friday tabled a bill that would ratify several reforms agreed with its international creditors that are seen as a precondition to receiving the next aid installments totaling 8.8 billion euros ($11.44 billion). In an express procedure ... |
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'Visions of an Ancient Dreamer' is a pairing of Greek tragedies Brandeis University “Visions of an Ancient Dreamer,” a pairing of “Orestes” and “Iphigenia and Tauris,” is the culmination of a yearlong collaboration between theater arts and classical studies. Students translated texts, trained in Indian narrative dance with the ... |
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 Philly.com | United Nations: Financial crisis causing Greece to fall behind on human rights ... Fox News ATHENS, Greece – A senior United Nations investigator says Greece is falling behind on its human rights obligations and strongly criticized the "excessively rigid" demands of the crisis-hit country's bailout program. U.N. independent expert Cephas ... UN: Crisis in Greece weakening human rights action - Philly.com Human rights slipping because of austerity: UN investigator |
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 Boston Globe | REVIEW: 'The Big Wedding' Is Not Fat, Greek, Original − Or Funny Yahoo! Movies (blog) Let's face it: The Big Wedding was more fun when it was fat and Greek — or loud and French, in the case of this adaptation of Gallic laffer Mon frere se marie. Writer-director Justin Zackham awkwardly blends feel-good pablum and raunchy sex jokes with ... 'The Big Wedding' renews too many vows |
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Hilton and Greece Olympia baseball teams will raise funds for breast cancer Rochester Democrat and Chronicle The baseball teams at Hilton and Greece Olympia plan to make pink a part of their uniform colors on Saturday. Hilton will host is fourth annual Breast Cancer Awareness Baseball game at 3 p.m. on Saturday on Schwonke Field at Quest Elementary in Hilton. |
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Hervé Falciani awaits outcome of legal tussle between Spain and Switzerland over his role in exposing potential tax cheats
When he appeared in a Madrid court, banking whistleblower Hervé Falciani was disguised with a wig and thick-framed glasses.
Facing extradition, the man behind the "Lagarde list" of potential tax cheats said in a newspaper interview he had fled to Spain last year when the US authorities told him it was the only country in Europe where his life would not be in danger.
Now Falciani, 41, whose spectacular theft of account data in 2006-7 from a Swiss subsidiary of HSBC has helped uncover thousands of wealthy tax fraudsters, is about to find out if he will be extradited to Switzerland where he faces prosecution and up to seven years jail.
The man seen as the Bradley Manning of global tax fraud awaits a decision from Spanish judges, which may come this week. But the Spanish do not seem eager to hand him over.
If Switzerland views Falciani as a common thief who deserves jail, in Spain and other cash-strapped European countries he is a hero for having helped governments in their efforts to recover hundreds of millions of pounds from tax cheats.
Tax authorities in Britain, Spain and France are known to have recovered money from the estimated £200bn-worth of missing taxes hidden in Falciani's encrypted files of bank accounts belonging to wealthy Europeans. The files became known as the Lagarde list after France's then finance minister, Christine Lagarde, now IMF chief, passed on the data, then in the hands of the French authorities, to the US and several EU members.
Spain's attorney general's office is clear that, having handed over files on tens of thousands of clients without asking for money, Falciani has not committed an extraditable crime.
"His help is not just in finding money that was hidden from tax authorities but in revealing methods employed by HSBC that allow money-laundering by drug-traffickers and terrorists," said Dolores Delgado, the state attorney who opposed the extradition request in court on April 15, referring to a recent decision by US authorities.
In court Falciani claimed he had long been co-operating with the US Justice Department. It had advised him to move from France to Spain in July last year, where he was arrested at a Barcelona port and jailed for five months on a Swiss warrant.
Despite reports that he first tried to sell the data in the Lebanon after downloading details on what French authorities say are 130,000 accounts in 2009, French and Spanish authorities confirmed he had never asked for payment. The French public prosecutor, Eric de Montgolfier, gave court evidence on Falciani's behalf.
Falciani claimed he told a Lebanese bank about the list, using the false name of Ruben Al-Chidiak, to provoke a reaction from Swiss authorities who had refused to let him make a complaint anonymously to expose the HSBC accounts. "I wanted it to be anonymous because I feared for my life," he said.
David Cameron's trade minister, Lord Green, was chairman of HSBC's private banking division at the time.
Delgado said Falciani held the key to the encrypted documents, meaning they could be accessed only with his help, which he had so far volunteered. "We can't punish people who, when they observe criminal conduct where they work, denounce it to the authorities," she said.
Falciani said he had deliberately sought the relative safety of a Spanish jail after US authorities had warned him they were about to act against HSBC for laundering money from drugs cartels.
"They told me that from that moment my life was at risk," Falciani, who has French and Italian citizenship, told El País newspaper this week. "They told me the only safe place in Europe was Spain."
Swiss attempts to extradite him from France backfired when Falciani offered to help prosecutors track down tax fraudsters. His list sparked operations across Europe, with Spanish and British tax authorities recovering vast sums of unpaid tax.
British authorities reportedly believe Falciani will help them recover some £200m from details on 6,000 accounts. And, in the first high-profile conviction last summer, the property developer Michael Shanly admitted evading £430,000 in inheritance tax and was fined £470,000.
Spanish tax authorities have pursued hundreds of tax evaders and recovered hundreds of millions of euros. Among those investigated were Spain's mighty Botín banking fa mily, including the Santander UK boss, Ana Patricia Botín, and her father, Emilio. The courts dropped a criminal investigation when it was revealed they had paid €200m in back taxes.
In Greece, meanwhile, the Hot Doc magazine editor, Kostas Vaxevanis, was arrested for publishing 2,056 Greek names allegedly on the Falciani list. Two people on the list have reportedly since died in mysterious circumstances.
HSBC has said that despite Falciani's claims that he was a whistleblower, it had no record that he had reported anything to his supervisors in Geneva. A spokesman said only 15,000 accounts are involved.
But the bank is under increasing pressure from authorities around the world over what they say is lax control of money laundering.
The US action that sparked Falciani's move to Spain slapped a record $1.9bn fine on the bank for allowing itself to be used to launder money from Mexico's infamous Sinaloa cartel and rogue states such as Libya, Sudan, Burma and Iran.
A senate committee accused Britain's biggest bank of exposing the US financial system to "a wide array of money laundering, drug trafficking and terrorist financing risks."
Authorities decided not to prosecute because HSBC would almost certainly have lost its US banking licence, threatening its future and destabilising the banking system.
The assistant attorney general, Lanny Breuer, blamed the bank's "incredibly lax" monitoring for the laundering of more than $881m in drug-trafficking money.
HSBC said it was "profoundly sorry".
On Tuesday, prosecutors in Paris opened an investigation based on the list into whether HSBC had offered illicit products to help French clients avoid tax. A bank spokesman said the bank had not been officially informed of that investigation. And last week, Spain's supreme court confirmed a €2.1m fine on the bank for infringing money-laundering rules by refusing to identify 138 Swiss accounts.
British tax authorities are also reportedly working through a separate list of thousands of HSBC account holders in Jersey.
Switzerland's $2tn offshore-banking sector, built on strict secrecy laws, is under fire from campaigners. In 2009, its largest bank, UBS, paid $78m and handed over thousands of client names to settle charges that it helped US citizens hide funds.
Tax evasion deprives EU governments of roughly €1tn annually, according to the European commission, and NGO Transparency Now campaigners have launched an online petition calling for international action against Switzerland.
If Spanish judges approve the extradition request, authorities can still prevent him being taken to Switzerland. "The final decision is in the hands of the government," said Falciani's lawyer, Joan Garcés.
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 Greek Reporter | Harpsichordist Ventoura Premiere's Greek Composers Greek Reporter The soloist Julie Ventoura will give a concert at the Hellenic American Union (HAU) Theater on May 23, performing works for harpsichord written by four Greek composers ranked among the greatest of the 20th Century. The works are: Mermaid's reply by ... |
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Controversy over greek system brough to public through debate The DePauw Audience members participate in discussion during the “The Greek System Has Done More Harm Than Good” in Peeler Auditorium on Thursday evening. The controversy surrounding greek life was brought into the public sphere in a debate in Peeler ... |
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 Economic Times | Greek private sector credit shrinks 3.5 per cent in March, decline slows Economic Times Greek private sector credit shrinks 3.5 per cent in March, decline slows. By Reuters | 26 Apr, 2013, 06.26PM IST. Post a Comment. 0. Share More. READ MORE ON » Private sector | greece | Funding | economy | bank credit ... |
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 U.S. News & World Report (blog) | Spain's Economy Is Now as Bad as Greece's U.S. News & World Report (blog) Spain's unemployment rate now matches that of Greece, which is basically insolvent and dependent on European bailout aid. It's more than twice the European average of about 11 percent. More astonishingly, Spain's unemployment rate was less than 8 ... Unemployment in Spain and France Soars to Record Highs |
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 San Francisco Chronicle | UN: Crisis in Greece weakening human rights action U.S. News & World Report ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A senior United Nations investigator says Greece is falling behind on its human rights obligations and strongly criticized the "excessively rigid" demands of the crisis-hit country's bailout program. U.N. independent expert ... Human rights slipping because of austerity: UN investigator |
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