Neppure io ho l'intenzione di impantanarmi in una discussione sul rapporto tra economia e politica italiana. Purtroppo le nostre convinzioni politiche sono (di solito) talmente forti da rendere impossibile un dialogo fruttuoso. Trovare una sintesi tra coloro che vedono in Berlusconi il responsabile di (quasi) tutti i mali del paese e chi lo assolve a prescindere (magari formulando teorie che scaricano sull'Europa ogni patata bollente, dall'immigrazione alla finanza...) è impresa semplicemente impossibile.
Personalmente continuo a ritenere fondata su elementi speculativi ed emotivi, invece che sui fondamentali finanziari, la tempesta che l'Italia sta attraversando. Spero, per il bene di tutti noi, che il mio ottimismo non sia frustrato dai fatti.
Tutto questo premesso, e tenendo le dita incrociate, riporto qui sotto alcuni passaggi tratti da un report di UBS del 2010 nel quale si esaminava l'eventualità di uno sganciamento dei paesi "forti" dall'euro. Secondo questo scenario i paesi in questione creerebbero l'area del NDM (Neu Deutsch Mark). L'analista esamina, tra l'altro, come gli assets in euro possano essere convertiti. Ripeto il mio auspicio che non si arrivi mai ad una situazione del genere....
Translation of financial assets
We think the government would require German banks to offer a free-of- charge exchange of deposits, savings accounts and bank loans into the new currency at the official rate. Stocks listed in Germany could start trading in NDM at the inception date, and all derivatives or structured products based on those stocks or stock indices could also be translated into the new currency. Prices for goods, salaries, rents and real estate prices would also be quoted in NDM. Bonds and mutual funds represent an area of greater uncertainty regarding translation, as discussed below.
Pacta sunt servanda (Latin: "Agreements must be kept")
A bond is a financial contract between the issuer and the investor, and all rights and duties are defined in the prospectus. Screening existing prospectus language of EUR-denominated bonds, we find no provisions for changing the currency of payments. Any change to a bond prospectus requires bondholders' vote and cannot be done unilaterally by the issuer or a government. We think any attempt to use national law to enforce bond contract changes would be challenged in court and has little chance of succeeding, especially if the denomination currency continues to exist.
We think the most likely way to exchange bonds would be tender or exchange offers, which allow existing EUR bond positions to be converted into new NDM-denominated bonds at the official rate. For political reasons, it is highly likely that the national government as well as all regional governments (Länder), municipalities and government-owned entities (like KfW, Rentenbank and other agencies) would launch such offers for their EUR bonds.
However, we doubt that the government would be in a position to require all private sector issuers to offer exchanges for their existing EUR bonds. Especially those companies that continue to generate revenues from the Eurozone would most likely want to keep parts of their funding in euro. Also, many corporate issuers use foreign subsidiaries to issue bonds, which would probably not be covered by German law.
For mutual funds, funds investing primarily in Germany would be most likely to change their denomination currency. However, European mutual funds would probably not be converted only because parts of their positions trade in a new currency. After a transition period, German stocks may drop out of the Eurostoxx indices and all related mutual funds.
For investors' reference, we try to categorize the likelihood of financial as- sets being converted:
■ Real assets will be expressed in NDM: German stocks, real estate in Germany
■ Mostlikelytobeconverted:cash,depositsatGermanbanks,savings and insurance contracts
■ Likelytobeconverted:governmentbonds(both national and regioal), Germany-specific mutual funds, structured products and derivatives with German underlyings
■ Conversion uncertain: corporate bonds, mutual funds with non-German holdings, deposits/savings at foreign subsidiaries of German banks, investments outside Germany