GREECE CRASHED IN THE US (GREK)

The Greek stock market closed hours ago, but the exchange-traded fund that tracks Greek stocks crashed during the final minutes of trading in the US markets. This comes following bad news from the European Central Bank (ECB) to Greece. Shortly after 3:30 p.m. ET, the ECB announced that it lifted its waiver on minimum credit rating requirements for marketable instruments issued or guaranteed by Greece. To put it another way, Greece can't exchange its poorly rated bonds for money. "The waiver allowed these instruments to be used in Eurosystem monetary policy operations despite the fact that they did not fulfil minimum credit rating requirements," the ECB said in a press release. "The Governing Council decision is based on the fact that it is currently not possible to assume a successful conclusion of the programme review and is in line with existing Eurosystem rules." "In other words, the ECB doesn't see Greece complying with existing bailout rules," Bloomberg's Lorcan Roche Kelly explained. However, it's not all bad. The ECB has another way for Greece to exchange its securities for liquidity. "Liquidity needs of Eurosystem counterparties, for counterparties that do not have sufficient alternative collateral, can be satisfied by the relevant national central bank, by means of emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) within the existing Eurosystem rules," the ECB said. "The move from the ECB today is a copy of the suspension of Greek debt that occurred in February 2012," Kelly noted. More to come...Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Nationwide's Super Bowl commercial about dead children is about corporate profits ... in a way that we can all appreciate

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UPDATE 2-EU's Schulz warns Greece risks national bankruptcy-newspaper

"If Greece unilaterally changes the agreements, the other side is no longer obliged to stick to them," he said in an advance extract of an interview due ...

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Could Greece Make Fiscal Deficits Hip Again?

First, because there's little appetite among Greece's creditors to forgive past borrowings, so the overall debtload isn't likely to move far. But second ...

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Attackers kill 1, kidnap 3 at ship in western Nigeria, Greek authorities say

by  Associated Press Greece: Gunmen kill 1, kidnap 3 at ship in western Nigeria Associated Press - 4 February 2015 15:53-05:00 ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Gunmen have attacked a cargo ship in western Nigeria, killing one man and kidnapping three others, authorities in Greece say. The government's Merchant Marine Department said a Greek first officer of the Maltese-flagged ship Kalamos was killed in the attack in the Qua Iboe area early Wednesday, while two Greek and one Pakistani crew member were kidnapped. Theodoris Dritsas, the deputy minister for marine affairs, told reporters in Athens the other 19 crew members have been reported to be safe. The ship was traveling from China without cargo. Other details of the attack were not immediately available. News Topics: General news, Kidnapping, Crime People, Places and Companies: Greece, Nigeria, Athens, Western Europe, Europe, West Africa, Africa Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Greeks Meet Skepticism in Frankfurt, Brussels

The European Central Bank said it would no longer accept Greek government bonds from banks seeking liquidity, damping plans by the new Greek government to ease its bailout conditions.

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Greek PM Tsipras seeks anti-austerity ally at Paris talks

Greece’s new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has urged France to help drive European growth with "a change of policy" and a shift away from austerity at talks in Paris as he seeks to drum up support for easing Greece’s debt burden.

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Opinion: Have the Greeks come to their senses?

The high of the election victory has faded. Syriza has come down to earth, and it's facing the financial facts. Greece needs help, and it needs it now, says Bernd Riegert.

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