4 Venezuelan banks closed today - 2 liquidated by state.

[Bo]

Wide Spread panic in streets of Venezuela. The news programs in South America are leading with the story.

[EFerrari]

1. What outlet are you watching/reading? I can't find widespread panic

on insured deposits . . .

[Wilms]

2. The widespread panic is EVERYWHERE!

Just mention Hugo and you'll see Freepers, DLCers, and other Yuppie apologists freak.

Just assure them that you'll check under their beds while they brush their teeth and everything will be fine.

[EFerrari]

4. I thought maybe Bo was reading the Miami Herald.

lol

[Renew Deal]

8. Widespread panic is right here

http://www.myspace.com/widespreadpanic

:hide:

[EFerrari]

12. LOL! Damn you, Hugo!

[roody]

3. link please

[BeFree]

5. In the US

Almost 500 banks have been liquidated this year and there's hardly been a peep, much less any panic.

What's that tell ya?

[EFerrari]

7. As Bank Failures Rise, F.D.I.C. Fund Falls Into Red

November 25, 2009
By ERIC DASH

The government-administered insurance fund that protects depositors fell into the red for the first time since the fallout from the savings-and-loan crisis of the early 1990s as the pace of bank failures accelerated.

The fund had a negative balance of $8.2 billion at the end of the third quarter, federal regulators said Tuesday. Bank customers, however, should remain confident that their deposits would be protected since most of the amount reflects money that Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation has already set aside to cover the losses from future bank failures.

Officials of the F.D.I.C. said in October that the deposit insurance fund had been depleted, but the third-quarter report card on the banking industry issued on Tuesday was the first time that hard numbers had been released. Even amid early signs that the economy is recovering, the report suggested that the country’s 8,100 lenders remain in fragile condition.

In its state of the industry report, the F.D.I.C. reported that banks posted a $2.8 billion gain in the third quarter, after a $4.3 billion loss in the previous period. Meanwhile, the number of “problem banks” that run the biggest risk of collapse increased to 552, from 416 in the second quarter. The number of bad loans of nearly every stripe — credit cards, mortgages, small business and commercial real estate — continue to grow, albeit at a slower pace.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/business/economy/25fdic.html?_r=1&bl=&pagewanted=print

[HamdenRice]

13. It "tells ya" we still have a highly functional system of deposit insurance nt

[EFerrari]

14. So does Venezuela. n/t

[BeFree]

16. That is broke

Yet people are not in a panic.

Maybe if it was headline news every time a bank went down, folks might pay attention?

Plus we've dumped billions into propping them up.
But poor Venezuela gets castigated for two banks via this OP. What does that tell ya?

[EFerrari]

18. The right wing media has a thing for Chavez.

I swear they are under contract to produce at least two alarming stories a week. It's gets really old and dumb.

[sabbat hunter]

6. link? n/t

[Renew Deal]

9. I found something

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8388289.stm

Venezuela closes down four banks for 'irregularities'

The Venezuelan government has shut down four private banks, accusing them of financial irregularities.

The closures come 10 days after the authorities took over the banks on suspicion of violating regulations.

The banks are owned by a group of investors led by businessman Ricardo Fernandez, who is under arrest on charges of misappropriating funds.

Two banks, Provivienda and Canarias, will be liquidated. The others, Bolivar and Confederado, may be rescued.

Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said the "negative performance" of the banks made it necessary to stage a "closed-door intervention".

The assets of Canarias and Provivienda would be auctioned off, but the problems at Bolivar and Confederado were less severe, he added.

The four institutions account for about 6% of the Venezuelan banking sector.

State takeovers

The four banks are not the first Venezuelan financial institutions to have been taken into state hands.

In May, the government nationalised the country's third-largest lender, Banco de Venezuela, after agreeing to pay $1.05bn (£660m) to Spanish owner Banco Santander.

Since 2006, President Hugo Chavez's government has also acquired Venezuela's biggest telecommunications, electricity and steel companies, as well as major oil projects, as it aims to create a state-run socialist economy.

However, the latest bank takeovers stem more from owner Mr Fernandez's deteriorating relationship with the Chavez administration, according to analysts.

Until recently, Mr Fernandez was on good terms with the government. He also owns a number of food companies that supply products to the country's state-run Mercal supermarkets.

But now he and his lawyer, Jose Camacho, are awaiting trial on charges of misappropriating deposits and providing loans to other businesses in which they are investors.

When the government took over the banks on 20 November, it said they had not properly explained increases in capital and were in breach of various other regulations.

Mr Rodriguez said most of the banks' 725,000 account holders would be protected by the government's deposit guarantee fund.

[Vidar]

10. Exactly what we should have done with AIG & Goldman Sachs.

[EFerrari]

11. This story has been out for days. But none of the reports say anything about panic.

And the guy that is under arrest was a big supporter of this government.

If he'd been an opponent, we'd be hearing that Chavez is jailing his opposition.

So, instead of the headline "Chavez cracks down on corruption", we're hearing about a panic that probably isn't happening because those deposits are insured just like our FDIC.

[Renew Deal]

15. I saw rumors about this a couple days ago

"Panic" would be news.

[EFerrari]

17. The news is that two of the banks were closed when last week

the government said it thought all four could remain open. The takeover happened last week, iirc.

It looks like one or more of the owners were misappropriating deposits to invest illegally in their other projects. And it looks like they thought their support of the government would insulate them.

/oops