Yesterday’s first round contest for the new Conservative leader duly skittled 3 of the candidates whose supporters will now add their votes among the remaining 7 next week. Meanwhile further stories about one or more of the 7 are rumoured to be splashed in the weekend press. GBP rangebound depending on rhetoric from the Boris Johnson team.
Oil prices firmed on the back of 2 ships suffering attacks in the Straits of Hormuz through which 20% of global oil supplies pass. WTI rose $1.61 to $52.75 yesterday morning. Germany issued 10yr Government Bonds at yet another record low of minus 0.24%.
Italy and the Italian Job: a not so cunning plan to circumvent EU rules imposed by Brussels
Each member of the EURO is prohibited legally from issuing new currency as they have all signed up for the EURO. Italy’s government coalition is seriously looking to issue low denomination non-interest bearing Treasury Bills called Mini BOTs which will circulate along with EUROS as a parallel currency.
The argument goes that Italy needs more money to give a boost to the economy and the tax increases and spending cuts insisted on by the EU are unbearable. So the plan is for Italy to issue Mini BOTs and take them back as payment for say taxes or train tickets which would boost liquidity but crucially not expand the official money supply-and there is nothing that the EU can do about it.
This is very dangerous as this parallel currency will damage the integrity of the EURO. What this apparently dry economic description implies for the EURO is nothing short of calamitous and as a maximum could lead to Italy leaving the EURO.
A case of the Italians stealing from …..the Italians.
Kleindienst + Moldova = A Dubai home plus EU Citizenship
Kleindienst is a Dubai real estate developer; Moldova is not in the EU but enjoys visa free access to 121 countries including the EU for its current 3 million citizens.
So anyone (and that means anyone) with 5 million Dirhams or GBP 1 million can buy a Dubai home and Kleindienst will thoughtfully(?) pay the EUR 135,000 investment and fee to those helpful Moldova officials who will immediately spring with Moldovan citizenship and all the EU privileges that accompany it for the applicant.
So a case of buy one Dubai home and get one quasi EU citizenship free. A variation on a Bentley parked in the driveway of a new dream home and…..cheaper.
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder
Click Here to Subscribe to the SGM-FX Newsletter
Related Insights
Daily Brief – Gold and Silver
Humphrey Percy
Wed 4 Feb 2026
Gold and Silver Due to the vertiginous moves in both these precious metals all markets are more than usually fixated on the price action at present. Yesterday, both steadied and clawed back some of the recent losses with Gold rising almost 6% and Silver 10% to USD 4921, and USD 86.70 respectively at the time […]
Daily Brief – Shipping Insurance
Humphrey Percy
Fri 27 Mar 2026
Shipping Insurance According to the Lloyds List, typical rates prior to the war for the Straits of Hormuz for a 1 week policy were 0.15% to 0.25% of hull value. Those insurance rates have rocketed to 5% to 10% of hull value for a 1 week policy. While insurance is still available, more of a challenge is to […]
Daily Brief – Robotaxis
Humphrey Percy
Mon 23 Mar 2026
Robotaxis Uber announced at the end of last week that it is buying 50,000 Rivian R2 robotaxis which will be rolled out initially in San Francisco and Miami in 2028 and then in Europe by 2031. The fully autonomous vehicles will cost Uber USD1.25 billion. EUR/USD 1.1543. People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng gave […]
