According to the founder of the “School of Practical Investing” Fyodor Sidorov, the media reports that tax evasion schemes have also been discovered in banks in Germany, Denmark and the United Kingdom.”Of course, with the problems that European banks (Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank) have started, this can only affect the level of confidence in the whole EU financial system,” explained the expert.How these investigations and tax evasion will affect the stability of banks in Europe, time will tell. However, such patterns are common in the world, and so anything is possible, he adds.According to Sidorov, one thing is clear: every week there are news reports about systemic failures in the banking sector of developed countries. A factor can still be stopped, its diffusion can be limited, but when there are many, it is much more difficult, he believes.
“The combination of liquidity problems, criminal and tax investigations, a decline in confidence in banks and an outflow of funds from deposits – all of this can lead to a financial crisis. “unanimity on both sides of the Atlantic. The only question is exactly when the collapse will occur,” Sidorov noted.The research has already had some negative impact on the French banking sector – the shares of the largest local banks Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole have fallen significantly in price. Andrei Loboda, director of communications at BitRiver, told Rossiyskaya Gazeta about it. The amount of the fine is conditionally low (1.1 billion euros) Previously, BNP Paribas was fined 9 years ago in the amount of more than 9 billion dollars.”The noise of information against the background of searches in world-renowned credit institutions has proven to be very impressive. It is quite possible that the authorities thus wanted to drown the almost uncontrollable situation with massive protests from the French against a backdrop of ‘an unpopular pension reform,’ he said.The speed of events and the superimposition on the banking sector is an extremely adverse story for the EU. Added to social unrest in the EU’s second largest economy is the banking crisis, he added.According to the expert, it is likely that after the United States and Switzerland, the crisis will affect France and Germany, since French banks maintain very close relations with German banks. European authorities are in a difficult position: they cannot stop the rate hike cycle due to the inflated financial bubble and high inflation, hence the risk of a crisis growing, he said.The euro is still the world’s second largest reserve currency, so any problems with the European economy will try to resolve with additional injections, but confidence in the euro will be undermined much faster than in the dollar, Loboda said.
“A further increase in the rate leads to increased liabilities and pushes financial institutions towards a crisis. The EU can continue to print the euro for as long as necessary,” he concluded.According to the newspaper Le Monde, searches are taking place at Société Générale, BNP Paribas, Exane (a subsidiary of BNP), Natixis and HSBC. A spokesperson for Société Générale confirmed to AFP that the group’s headquarters had been searched since Tuesday morning, without specifying for what purpose. The other banks did not respond to requests for comment.These operations are “in progress within the framework of five preliminary investigations opened on December 16 and 17, 2021 into allegations of aggravated money laundering and tax evasion, as well as certain cases of aggravated tax evasion linked to the so-called “CumCum” scheme fraud relating to taxation of dividends,” the PNF said in a statement.
