UPDATE 1-EBRD offers Ukraine 5 bln euro package, sticks with Russia

FYI.

The website of EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development):

http://www.ebrd.com

So, essentially, the Europeans are paying everyone to chill. Meanwhile, Lurch is parading around announcing he’s going to broker a resolution to the “crisis”, while completely overlooking the fact that two of the requirements for a broker are neutrality and honesty.

on the condition it enters into an IMF programme and makes greater efforts to stamp out corruption.

Good luck with all that.

Yeah, as if giving corrupt pols more money has ever satisfied their greed.

It’s like promising a junky more heroin if they go into a treatment program.

Typical liberal solution to a problem: throw money at it so they feel like they are doing something meaningful. All we are really doing is fattening the Ukrainian calf up before the Russians come to collect it.

Oh, gee, sorry. You thought the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was exclusively owned or funded by Europeans.

Sorry 'bout that, not exclusively.

From their website:

Our shareholders

The EBRD's shareholder countries and organisations each made a capital contribution, which collectively forms a solid capital base. This enables us to borrow funds on the international capital markets.

More on how the EBRD is funded

Our shareholders
Member country Date joined Capital subscription (€ 000)
Albania 18 Dec 1991 30,010
Armenia 7 Dec 1992 14,990
Australia 30 Mar 1991 300,140
Austria 28 Mar 1991 684,320
Azerbaijan 25 Sep 1992 30,010
Belarus 10 Jun 1992 60,020
Belgium 10 Apr 1991 684,320
Bosnia and Herzegovina 17 Jun 1996 50,710
Bulgaria 28 Mar 1991 165,980
Canada 28 Mar 1991 1,020,490
Croatia 15 Apr 1993 109,420
Cyprus 28 Mar 1991 30,010
Czech Republic 1 Jan 1993 256,110
Denmark 28 Mar 1991 360,170
Egypt 28 Mar 1991 21,010
Estonia 28 Feb 1992 30,010
European Investment Bank (external link) 28 Mar 1991 900,440
European Union (external link) 28 Mar 1991 900,440
Finland 28 Mar 1991 375,180
FYR Macedonia 21 Apr 1993 17,620
France 28 Mar 1990 2,556,510
Georgia 4 Sep 1992 30,010
Germany 28 Mar 1991 2,556,510
Greece 29 Mar 1991 195,080
Hungary 28 Mar 1991 237,110
Iceland 29 May 1991 30,010
Ireland 28 Mar 1991 90,040
Israel 28 Mar 1991 136,560
Italy 28 Mar 1991 2,556,510
Japan 2 Apr 1991 2,556,510
Jordan 29 Dec 2011 1,000
Kazakhstan 27 Jul 1992 69,020
Korea, Republic of 28 Mar 1991 300,140
Kosovo 17 Dec 2012 5,800
Kyrgyz Republic 5 Jun 1992 21,010
Latvia 18 Mar 1992 30,010
Liechtenstein 28 Mar 1991 5,990
Lithuania 5 Mar 1992 30,010
Luxembourg 28 Mar 1991 60,020
Malta 28 Mar 1991 2,100
Mexico 28 Mar 1991 31,510
Moldova 5 May 1992 30,010
Mongolia 9 Oct 2000 2,100
Montenegro 3 June 2006 4,200
Morocco 28 Mar 1991 10,500
Netherlands 28 Mar 1991 744,350
New Zealand 19 Aug 1991 10,500
Norway 28 Mar 1991 375,180
Poland 28 Mar 1991 384,180
Portugal 5 Apr 1991 126,050
Romania 28 Mar 1991 144,070
Russian Federation 9 Apr 1992 1,200,580
Serbia 19 Jan 2001 140,310
Slovak Republic 1 Jan 1993 128,070
Slovenia 23 Dec 1992 62,950
Spain 28 Mar 1991 1,020,490
Sweden 28 Mar 1991 684,320
Switzerland 29 Mar 1991 684,320
Tajikistan 16 Oct 1992 21,010
Tunisia 29 Dec 2011 9,860
Turkey 28 Mar 1991 345,150
Turkmenistan 1 Jun 1992 2,100
Ukraine 13 Apr 1992 240,110
United Kingdom 28 Mar 1991 2,556,510
United States of America 28 Mar 1991 3,001,480
Uzbekistan 30 Apr 1992 44,120

But that's just owners. The owners don't fund all the lending they do. They borrow for that.

According to their site:

Funding

The EBRD is renowned for its flexibility and the diversity of its debt products. The timing and nature of the EBRD's issuance is driven by opportunities that arise across all markets. The proceeds of transactions are typically swapped into a floating US Dollar LIBOR or EURIBOR pool, to facilitate asset and liability management. However, owing to rising demand for local currency financing, the EBRD increasingly holds proceeds in the currencies of its countries of operations.

The 2014 Borrowing Programme

The EBRD will continue to follow three paths:

seeking attractive opportunities for issuing products in emerging markets;
furthering its drive to be a partner for sophisticated investors in structured products; and
issuing bonds in the currencies and markets of its countries of operations as part of its mandate to stimulate and encourage the development of capital markets.

Under the 2014 Borrowing Programme EBRD is expected to borrow up to €6 billion.

Those 6 billion Euros will be borrowed in world financial markets.

See, if you want to control an operation, you set yourself up a board of directors of you and your buddies. Then you get a bunch of rubes to buy shares so they get all excited thinking they are "owners", but really all the decisions are made by your "boys on the board".

Then, you issue lots of bonds. People pay you money for these bonds, you promise to return their principal with interest down the road.

Now you go lend that cash to other rubes that you want to control. You lean on them like Vinny the collector to pay you back. You're "the money man", and find yourself able to control a lot of people.

Your bondholders and shareholders are 100% behind you - they fully support every project you lend money to, because you've got them invested in it with their own money.

If the projects you lent OPM (other people's money) to go south and can't repay you, you really don't care cuz it's not your money. You tell your bondholders a sob story, you try to get them to double down and buy even more bonds, and if you really mess up, you go to governments (oh, gee, a lot of owners are governments, so they don't want to the the "bank" fail) and tell them they'll need to pony up more capital to "recapitalize" the bank. Essentially, you wiped out the value of the shares they bought originally, and you get them to essentially buy their shares over again. You just need to always portray your "bank" like it's a quasi-governmental institution that performs some vital civil service of providing loans to the needy, so the politicians can convince their voters that their government has some vested interest in your operation and needs to give it money / buy shares / lend to it / recapitalize it / etc.

All we are really doing is fattening the Ukrainian calf up before the Russians come to collect it.

Oh, gee, you thought the EBRD was European, or American, or Western, and that this somehow implies that it is "against" Russia.

Sorry, now. Russian enterprises are the biggest recipient of EBRD lending.

In a recent year, up to 40% of their investments went to Russia.

Are you confused yet ?

Ok, good.

Try this story on for size. Elena Kotova, Russian banker who was the top Russian representative at EBRD (based on London) was one of four bankers at EBRD brought up on corruption charges. She went back to Russia and was brought up on charges there. Last I can see she was in a mental hospital in Russia, and she apparently blogs as she awaits some sort of resolution.

There's a long story about it on a website that asked not to be posted on FR at all, links or anything.

I was thinking more about the 1 bil Obama promised last week.

Does anybody ever know what Zero is talking about ?

LOL.

He could have been referring to all the billions that are already heading there. He could have just been yammering. He can say whatever he wants, right ? LOL. It’s so many billions, who can keep count !

Oh how some of those financial elites must laugh about all this.

Doesn’t everybody have one friend or acquaintance like Obama ? Big partier, trys to sounds smart or cool, complete idiot.

I was thinking (yeh, that’s why you smelled smoke)...

There’s a real neat pattern in US Presidents from 1992 on. They’re all goofy. I mean, in photographs they may look smart. But really, they are all party boys at heart. That’s it, they’re real simple. They all love their secret connections to actually the same financial elites. They love that they each have their own fawning supporters all across America. And they love a good partay, at which they can play the big cheese. They’re puppets, and they love being puppets.

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development - EBRD - has another unique place in history.

The 209 book “Fool’s Gold” by Gillian Tett tells of the “pioneering” work in the modern credit derivatives market undertaken by JP Morgan, i.e., Blythe Masters, et.al., which ties in with the Exxon Valdez oil spill and EBRD, which purchased the credit risk associated with JP Morgan extending a $4.8 billion credit line to Exxon.

You can find pages 46-47 online in google books, just search for...

jp morgan derivatives ebrd

using google.

Other sources have the same story.

Small world.