Newspapers : 21st October

Thieves pinch from Sarkozy's bank account . Charles Bremner, The Times (en)

Financial crisis is shifting power to Asia, says HSBC boss Stephen Green. Katherine Griffiths, The Telegraph (en)
" ... Speaking at a financial conference in Dubai, the banker also condemned the financial model that has led to the crisis as "bankrupt" ...
... "The rebalancing of the global economy towards Asia, home to over half the world's population, and its implications for the Middle East, is the shift that will affect financial markets most profoundly," he said ... "

Orange Revolution implodes to leave a nation in despair. Askold Krushelnycky, The Independent (en)
" ... Their leaders are at war, their country is verging on bankruptcy and the Russians are growling on their doorstep. Ukrainians have been plunged into disillusion and despair by the lethal combination as they witness the death throes of the Orange Revolution that brought President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Julia Tymoshenko to power ... "

Scottish independence: the dream that just melted away. Mary Dejevsky, The Independent (en)
" ... At the base level, Scotland lost control of two of its proudest institutions and had to look, again, to Westminster ...
... At a higher level, the notion that Scotland could be viable as an independent country, in large part thanks to a strong financial services, has been discredited. Iceland, cited as a promising model for Scotland's future, proved the point with its precipitate descent into near-bankruptcy ...
... And at the highest, least tangible level, there is psychology. How much belief will Scots retain in their country's ability to go it alone in the great global world? ...
... The Baltic States and the former constituent republics of Yugoslavia – to take but two examples – are, by and large, far more content and better governed than they were when they were formally part of somewhere else. Even if rule from Westminster is more benevolent than rule from Moscow or Belgrade, there was no good reason why what worked for these newly formed, or re-formed, states should not work for Scotland, too ..."

Moscow moves to ward off attack on rouble. Charles Clover and Catherine Belton, The FT (en)
" ... On Friday, the central bank banned certain types of currency transactions, a sign they feared a speculative attack on the rouble. Foreign banks in Russia have also reported contacts from the central bank that discouraged them from moving money out of Russia ...
... government, which has the third largest foreign exchange reserve in the world, has spent up to $67bn (€50bn, £39bn) since early August defending the rouble. The reserve is shrinking by $12bn-$16bn a week as Russians take money out of the country in response to a steadily worsening credit crunch and a collapsing stock market.

Stormy outlook for Europe’s economies. Ralph Atkins , The FT (en)
" ... "Western Europe,” the IMF said, “is being hit by major shocks that are weakening economic activity, notably extraordinary financial stress.” BNP Paribas forecasts that the eurozone will contract 0.3 per cent in 2009. The biggest eurozone members, and the UK, all face at least technical recessions ..."

France injects €10.5bn into top six banks. Ben Hall and Scheherazade Daneshkhu, THe FT (en)
" ... The French government is to inject €10.5bn (£8bn) into France's six largest banks in a bid to shore up their balance sheets and ensure they continue to provide credit to consumers and businesses ... Until Monday night, France's banks had given no indication they were interested in accessing a €40bn recapitalisation fund unveiled last week. But Ms Lagarde said Crédit Agricole would receive €3bn, BNP Paribas €2.55bn, Société Générale €1.7bn, Crédit Mutuel €1.2bn, Caisse d'Epargne €1.1bn and Banque Populaire €0.95bn ...

European carmakers eligible for rescue funds. Richard Milne, Daniel Schäfer and Ben Hall, The FT (en)
" ...German and French carmakers, which have asked the European Commission for €40bn ($53bn) in cheap loans, are eligible to tap their governments’ banking rescue plans, according to government officials. Both the German and French finance ministries said on Monday that the financing arms of carmakers could use the state guarantees for new lending of up to €400bn and €320bn respectively ...