Right. That's why they make up half of luxury property buyers in Central London. :eek: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jun/12/london-property-boom-far-east-investors <B>Far East buyers lead boom in demand for London properties China and Hong Kong investors dominate, with many shifting upmarket as collapse of the pound brings big savings</B> Julia Kollewe Affluent buyers from the Far East are piling into the London property market, attracted by the weak pound, record low interest rates and the dramatic undersupply of housing. Asians made up nearly half of all investors in the central London new-build market in the 12 months to March, according to Knight Frank. The market is dominated by buyers from China and Hong Kong (11% of the market), followed by Singaporeans (10%) and Malaysians (7%) The "golden postcodes" are SW1, SW7 and W8, where about 70% of sales of £5m-plus properties happen, with NW3, NW8 and NW1 accounting for a further 13%, says Savills. Those properties typically fetch more than £2,000 per square foot, more than 10% up on last year.
MNI is now reporting that a government offical told journalists that troika officials have indeed hiked the contribution demanded of Cyprus to â¬6.7bn from â¬5.8bn. Going in for the kill?
hahahaha So our suspicions were first raised with Greece. This was not working well, so they went for a weaker EU member. And now the suspcions are fully confirmed. lol
Greek court jails former top politician for graft (Reuters) - A Greek court sentenced a former defense minister to eight years in prison on Monday for failing to disclose the source of lavish wealth that made him a symbol of the corruption that has plagued the country. Once a powerful Socialist politician who almost became prime minister in the 1990s, Akis Tsohatzopoulos has been in jail pending trial since April last year as prosecutors probed allegations of fraudulently acquired wealth. In the highest-profile conviction of a politician in decades, the Athens appeal court found his income statements between 2006 and 2009 were false and he failed to declare a neo-classical mansion at the foot of the ancient Acropolis when he bought it in 2009. Greek politicians are required under law to declare the origin of their wealth. Tsohatzopoulos told reporters shortly before he was sent back to prison that he would appeal the sentence. "The truth was covered up and this is a legal failure. It is an unacceptable decision," he said. During the trial of Tsohatzopoulos, details emerged of an opulent lifestyle that appeared to confirm popular impressions of a self-serving elite that regarded public office as an avenue to personal enrichment. Soaring unemployment and painful austerity measures have deepened popular anger against the generation of politicians who led Greece into a debt crisis in 2009. The government is trying to appease some of that anger by stepping up efforts to crack down on high-level tax evasion and fraud. On Thursday, a former mayor of the country's second city was jailed for life for embezzling about 20 million euros in the first big corruption trial since the crisis erupted. Tsohatzopoulos faces a further trial on charges of money laundering and using offshore companies to buy the luxurious mansion in Athens. In addition to the prison term, he was also fined 520,000 euros and the mansion will be confiscated. Tsohatzopoulos nearly became prime minister in 1996 but was narrowly defeated in an internal party vote to become chairman of the then-ruling Socialist PASOK party, now a junior partner in Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's ruling coalition. He last served as minister in 2004 and quit politics in 2009. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in a series of affairs investigated by prosecutors, including the use of offshore companies to buy the mansion and the purchase of German submarines by Greece. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/04/us-greece-minister-jail-idUSBRE9230PB20130304 ... On Thursday, a former mayor of the country's second city was jailed for life for embezzling about 20 million euros in the first big corruption trial since the crisis erupted. .... Surely 20 million euros could have been used for improving Greek country. I guess now, with this last year headaches, Greek people will start to understand the need to prevent corrupt politicians&co from being too near of their national money honeypot.
actually, Greece might turn out to become a good place to invest. If they start to clean up their corruption and turn it into a well run country, now would mean the bottom for greek asset prices that can't be moved.
I do hope not! There must have been a huge bank run in many parts of Europe this week. I haven't heard anything about it on the news. All quietly done, using a few mouse clicks and the internet, i suppose..
:eek: ... but didn't Greece tapped into their own pension fund? if that is the case, same methods being used.