Interesting: ECB's Trichet to leave Australia early for meeting

On Sunday I informed you about a secret meeting of the world's top central bankers in Australia (link). Well, Jean-Claude Trichet (head of the European Central Bank) was supposed to remain until Wednesday, but was hurriedly called away... Hmm?

ECB's Trichet to leave Australia early for meeting

SYDNEY, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The head of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, is leaving a Sydney meeting of central bankers early to attend an ECB council meeting, an official at the Reserve Bank of Australia said on Tuesday.

It was not known whether the ECB meeting was scheduled or an extraordinary meeting. There had been rumours last week, later denied, that the ECB would hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss sovereign debt problems in some euro zone countries.

Trichet was originally scheduled to be in Sydney through Wednesday for a seminar of central banks in the Euro Area and East Asia-Pacific.


Could this be the reason why?

Greek Ouzo crisis escalates into global margin call as confidence ebbs

For the third time in 18 months the global financial system risks spinning out of control unless political leaders take immediate and radical action.

Greece's drama has already metastasised into a wider systemic crisis. The world risks a replay of the Lehman collapse if this runs unchecked, this time involving sovereign dominoes.

Today's events will not wait. The rocketing cost of (CDS) default insurance on Iberian debt speaks for itself. Lisbon retreated from a €500m bond issue last week, even before the government lost a crucial finance vote. Can Athens raise money at all on viable terms?

There are echoes of early 2009 when East Europe blew up, with contagion hitting global bourses, commodities, and iTraxx credit indices. That episode was halted by the G20 deal to triple the IMF's fire-fighting fund to $750bn. The odd twist today is that Greece cannot turn to the IMF because that offends EMU pride, yet no other help is on offer because the EU has no fiscal authority. Greece lies prostrate between two stools.