European banks: Government Debt Exposure

Today I came across a very nice (and funny) presentation on how much government debt exposure these European banks have on their balance sheet.

You can find the presentation here: http://demonocracy.info/infographics/eu/debt_piigs/debt_piigs.html

Bank government debt exposure (Demonocracy.info)

Based on this picture you can almost predict which bank is the safest/riskiest bank to place your money in. The banks with the highest exposure to government debt are the banks that are the most risky when we are faced with a government debt collapse. Almost all of them are Spanish and Italian banks. If you do place your money in a bank, choose wisely! Or do what the wise man would do, don't choose, instead buy gold.

Belgium Downgraded by Fitch

Today Belgium was downgraded by Fitch from AA+ to AA with negative outlook. All of this due to the Dexia fiasco. I'm from Belgium and I can say that the bailout of Dexia was the most immoral thing the government has ever done. Dexia has an enormous amount of Greek debt (US$5 billion write down)  and everyone knows Greece is going to default sooner than later. Supporting Dexia was the dumbest act ever. The only reason why Belgium government bonds are doing well is because Belgians have an enormous amount of savings and the unemployment rate is improving.

But we see the consequences already from Dexia. Several cantons lost several millions of money. Of course, we tax payers will need to pay for this.

Amount of shares in Dexia per capita

4 other countries were downgraded as well:

Italy: A => A-
Spain: AA- => A
Cyprus: BBB => BBB-
Slovenia: AA- => A

Surprisingly, the euro went up...