So Barney Frank’s pushing for a bill to provide banks with another $4 Trillion in bailout funds – if needed.

Yep, it must be time for another Sachs attack.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/32255149/wall_streets_bailout_hustle/

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aXKFa5Ml.47s&pos=1
 
I actually think this is probably quite significant in the scheme of things.
Having been mocked, reviled and ridiculed now that times are really tough, it was ever divined that they should lead the rest of the rabble by example.

All very tongue in cheek, coming from me. But when you consider that the Goldman model has been adopted by just about every Thomas, Richard and Harold (perhaps in a similar vein to the now extinct Ford model, obviously for different reasons and in a different world) they were always going to be the ones to get leaned on by the Special One in the suit.
 
As far as the UK’s PBR and its ramifications are concerned, firms were already looking at ways to minimise the impact of any punitive measures and were considering a number of options including increasing bankers’ salaries in return for reducing the bonus element of their pay, beefing up benefits (such as paying school fees) and reclassifying bankers as consultants, thereby making them self-employed businessmen, oops sorry, persons, and escaping any banker tax.
 
Banker tax – I love it
 
In fact, one Asian City bank is believed to have already allocated at least two years’ worth of bonuses in the past few weeks. And the big four accountants and magic circle law firms, that charge up to £600 an hour for advice on two-steps-ahead-of-the-Revenue tax avoidance schemes, had long since set up teams of experts in anticipation of studying the Chancellor’s proposals.
So, the upshot of dear Darling’s announcement, as one rubber-of-hands-together has already stated, “has nothing to do with reducing the public spending deficit, and it may well be contrary to Human Rights legislation as it is unprecedented in the sense that never before has a UK government sought to levy a special tax relating to individuals working in a particular sector.”
 
All in all, there has been much ado about nothing, it’ll likely prove difficult to gauge how much tax the measure will actually raise, as considerable time and effort will be expended by bankers to get round it. The Treasury has better prospects of looking foward to increased revenue from the considerable time equating to billable hours involved for all concerned.

One serious note though. Jamie said yesterday that ”traders fear the UK banking sector could be badly hurt by the combination of EU heavy-handedness and punitive tax policies, permanently killing the UK’s golden goose. It was a fun 25 years while it lasted…”

That’s the contradiction neatly summed up in a nutshell really.

Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor of the Telegraph, writes that Ben Bernanke said that, during his tenure as UK Chancellor, Mr Brown’s decision to strip the Bank of England of its supervisory role over banks had led to a “destructive run” and a “major problem for the British economy”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/6728665/Ben-Bernanke-says-Gordon-Brown-hurt-Britains-ability-to-resolve-banking-crisis.html

Brown is indeed a ‘doctor’ of history, as he continues to refute the devastating consequences of his gross negligence - and so I extend my challenge to any historian who has achieved eminence by anything other than infamy, to get cracking on the the final draft of “The Brown Bottom 1999-2010.”

London-based Fitch’s Edward Parker, head of emerging Europe sovereigns, said in a report published on Thursday last week, that concerns over public finances had moved to centre stage:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aicTjCmDfYSQ

There was also news that day that the IMF said it may conclude negotiations with Ukraine by the end of this week, in which case, Max Alier, the Washington-based lender’s local representative, said in an interview in Kiev, Ukraine may get the fourth tranche of its $16.4 billion loan sometime in November. One of the provisos, however, is that the government needs to endorse several policy decisions, including a veto of the wage and pension law which had been approved by the Ukraine Parliament on 20 October, in an effort to win voters’ support ahead of the general election early next year.

Then on Friday, David Haslem, director for emerging Europe sovereigns, told a conference in Kiev that Fitch saw significant risk for financial stability in Ukraine.

So get ready for the ghost ride:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article6900303.ece

The Russian Prime Minister’s warning of a gas conflict relates to mounting tension in Ukraine between Yulia Tymoshenko, the country’s Prime Minister, and President Yuschenko. Both are candidates in presidential elections due to be held in January and Russia hopes that the winner will be more sympathetic to Moscow than the incumbent. According to Mr Putin, Mr Yuschenko is blocking the transfer of funds needed to pay for gas. Mr Putin insists that Ukraine has the funds to pay its gas bills but the money is being withheld. “According to the International Monetary Fund, Ukraine does have the money. Furthermore, the IMF thinks paying for Russian gas out of Ukraine’s foreign reserves is possible,” Mr Putin said.

Next, roll up for the funny mirrors and the wobbly walk:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/globalbusiness/6474614/Russias-11bn-UK-bond-bid.html 

“Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin needs Western money to rebuild his economy, while Lord Mandelson is keen to exploit trading opportunities”

Please click here for the updated economic data table for today. I have included the GMT times as well as the data released in Japan this morning. Nothing else to pay attention to for a few hours yet.

Have a look at the table to familiarise yourself with what is out in Europe and the US on Friday.

More words on this whole Bk of America and Merill Lynch fiasco with the US bailout watchdog Barofsky saying that he was looking into reports that BofA was pressured on the Merrill deal and that Bernanke and Paulson’s roles in the deal were not as crystal clear as reports imply.

Meanwhile S&P futures are back into positive territory, while the Dow struggles as shares in IBM fall.

Eur/Usd meanders at 1.3075.

Please find attached today’s list of economic goings on throughout the world for Thursday 23 April 2009. Not a lot to pay attention to in Asian trading but plenty to keep us amused from 07:00 GMT onwards in Europe this evening.

Please have a read to familiarise yourself with what is in store as we could have some interesting moves tonight on the back of the data.

The seasonally adjusted visitor arrivals numbers for our good friends in NY have just come out and indicate they fell 0.5% in March from Feb and were 3.6% lower than the same time last year. Apparently the flow of migrants into NZ has been falling slightly since Mid 2007.

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