AHA THE REAL STORY EMERGES A 10-hour meeting in Brussels failed to yield a blueprint for banksâ role in a revamped Greek rescue as European finance ministers haggled over what they called a âcredible firewallâ against fallout from deeper writedowns. The ministersâ meeting broke up at about 7 p.m. after reaching agreement that European banks may need about 100 billion euros ($139 billion) in capital after marking their sovereign-debt holdings to market values, according to a person familiar with the discussions. This amount is needed to reach a core tier 1 capital level of 9 percent based on a European Banking Authority test, said the person, who declined to be identified because discussions are private. The struggle to get an accord on bank capital was just one piece of solving the two-year-old financial crisis. Governments also are pushing for deeper writedowns on banksâ holdings of Greek debt, a step the investors are resisting. âDiscussions are making progress, albeit limited,â Charles Dallara, managing director of the Institute of International Finance, the umbrella group for 450 of the worldâs biggest financial companies, said in a statement late today. The negotiations were part of a six-day stretch of talks aimed at stopping contagion spreading to Spain and Italy as the turmoil pushes Greece closer to default, roils global markets and dents confidence in the survival of the 17-nation currency. Finance ministers now yield the conference tables after two days of talks to leaders, who meet tomorrow and on Oct. 26. READ FULL STORY http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...anks-role-in-greek-crisis.html#0_undefined,0_
European banks may need about 100 billion euros ($139 billion) in capital after marking their sovereign-debt holdings to market values, -------------------- We should just give them the money. We spend that much on dog food in the US.