Solely I owe the Flemish taxpayer 100%

After issuing a public tender, the Flemish government has apparently made a decision on their new preferred home banker. ING came out as the winner. And already a lot of fuzz going on that it's a shame a non-Belgian, or non Flemish banker for that matter, has been elected. Dexia has announced it will take the decision into consideration and will most likely bring it to court.

I think we are missing the point here. Whether ING wins the competition or not is not the issue, nor the fact that a Belgian/Flemish/Walloon banker wins or loses it. The point is that ING wins it and solely ING. Or whoever and this for 100%.

It's quite remarkable that the lessons of October/November 2008 still haven't filtered through the minds of our policy makers. I deliberately posted a picture above including AIG. In those critical days of 2008 and deciding over Lehman, most big systemic bankers around the FED table during the crucial 14/09 weekend told Bernanke the following : forget Lehman, we have something bigger at stake being AIG. And AIG was indeed the big elephant in the room of CDS liabilities. And AIG was nationalized/bailed out. So it strikes me that again counter party risk is not taken seriously. And at the same time, the preferred chosen one can sit back and relax because he is too big to fail. Another striking element : while the Siemens, Volkswagen and others of today are planning Plan B contingency plans - parking money at central banks - the Flemish government puts 100% of its eggs in 1 sole private sector basket. I hope they are experienced roulette players.