FRANCE/ICELAND: D-Day for banks as they wait to see if French respond to soccer star Eric Cantona's call to withdraw cash

Record ID: 560595

  • Title: FRANCE/ICELAND: D-Day for banks as they wait to see if French respond to soccer star Eric Cantona's call to withdraw cash
  • Date: 9th December 2010
  • Summary: PARIS STREET NEWSPAPER KIOSK
  • Embargoed: 24th December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France, France, Iceland
  • City:
  • Country: France Iceland
  • Topics: Finance,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAC4MLX8DZAHQDXDQKILTJ54BBP
  • Story Text: It was D-Day for French banks on Monday (December 7) as they waited to see how many people heed the call by soccer star turned actor Eric Cantona for people to withdraw their money from banks to punish them for their role in the financial crisis, although financial markets professionals said they were not worried.
    "Can one live without banks?," screamed one newspaper headline over a picture of Cantona, whose call became a hit on the internet in several countries.
    On the streets of Paris, people withdrawing money saluted the act of defiance against the banks but didn't really believe that sparking a major run on financial institutions would do any good for an economy recovering from the worst recession in decades.
    "We give them our money, but they do lend it to us from time to time. A country without a solid banking system is a country without an economy," said Jean-Marie Caulas.
    Financial professionals said the gesture showed that people were angry at their banks for the crisis. But its effect would probably only rest with the symbolism, he said.
    "This call is a bit one that resembles Robin Hood. It's a call to face up to the big bad bankers. Today, this call isn't really credible as even if Cantona has a big audience, there won't be any problems. They are able to refinance themselves with the central banks. It won't pose a single liquidity problem," said Francois Chaulet, a director with Montsegur Finance in Paris.
    In an interview with Presse Ocean, a western French newspaper a few weeks ago, Cantona said traditional means of protest such as strikes and demonstrations were outmoded. If protesters really wanted to make themselves felt, they should withdraw their money en masse, he said.
    "You go to your bank in your village and you withdraw your money. And if 20 million people do that, the system crumbles, no weapons, no blood, Spaggiari style," Cantona said, referring to Albert Spaggiari who staged one of France's biggest bank heists in the 1970s without any violence.
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