PPCC: Pisitófilos Creditófagos. Primavera 2026

[Derby]

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/30/private-credit-risk-banks-europe-earnings-barclays-ubs-debt-santander.html

Private credit fears loom large over Europe’s banks this earnings season

Key Points
*European banks’ exposure to private credit has returned to the spotlight this earnings season.
*Both UBS and Deutsche Bank called their positions “well diversified”, while Santander said its exposure is “immaterial.”
*But Bank of America’s latest credit investor survey highlighted growing anxieties over spillover risks from private credit, particularly among higher-grade investors.

Banking executives in Europe have moved to calm investor concerns over private credit risks, as lenders’ exposure to the troubled sector re-emerged during earnings season.

Barclays revealed a £15 billion ($20.3 billion) exposure to private credit in its first quarter earnings statement on Tuesday. This formed part of an overall structured financing exposure to non-bank financial intermediaries, totaling £66 billion, which also included an additional £1 billion tied to business development companies, a focus of recent stress in the U.S.

The U.K. lender said it took a £228 million credit-related hit during the quarter after the collapse of specialist mortgage provider Market Financial Solutions (MFS) in February.

C.S. Venkatakrishnan, Barclays’ CEO, said the single-name charge, which related to a “well-publicized, sophisticated fraud”, was in its securitized products business. The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority opened an investigation into MSF in March. Its collapse was viewed as a potential “cockroach” pointing to wider issues in the space.

Barclays said its broader private credit activity is focused mainly on senior corporate lending, predominantly in closed-end funds involving large established managers, with strict limits on borrower and sector concentrations.

Meanwhile, Santander’s potential losses arising from its credit exposures, including those tied to Market Financial Solutions, have been “fully covered” in the first quarter, according to CFO José García Cantera.

Speaking with CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday, Cantera declined to comment specifically on MFS. But he said Santander’s exposure to the wider private credit space remains “immaterial”, representing less than 1% of its total exposures, with 70% of it comprising subscription facilities.

“For us, the question is not if one particular case attracts attention. It’s whether systems actually work,” he said. “We feel very, very comfortable with our credit systems because they have proven time and time again they work properly.”

Tensions spread

Santander’s exposure to London-based MFS, which focused on bridge loans and buy-to-let mortgages, is believed to be between £200 million and £300 million.

MFS entered insolvency proceedings in a U.K. court in February, leaving debts of some £1.3 billion amid allegations of mismanagement, with its failure reverberating across a range of banks and asset management firms on both sides of the Atlantic.

Its implosion followed the high-profile collapses of First Brands and Tricolor in the U.S. last year, which ignited fears over risky debt underpinning the private credit market — even though those failures related to complex asset-based finance and bank-syndicated debt, rather than traditional private middle-market direct lending.

Anxieties have since spread to U.S. business development companies — investment vehicles managed by private credit firms — amid growing scrutiny over lending to the software sector, which faces disruption from agentic AI.

UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti acknowledged the ongoing stress within private credit this year, particularly in the so-called “semi-liquid” BDC space, where several asset managers have restricted investor redemptions.

“It’s more of a liquidity kind of issue, than necessarily a clear underlying performance issue,” Ermotti told CNBC’s Carolin Roth in an interview on Wednesday.

But UBS, which reported its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, does “not see any major dislocation or issues” arising from its own private credit investments, according to Ermotti.

The Swiss banking and asset management giant’s exposure to private credit is “well diversified” and “good quality”, amounting to around 0.5% of its balance sheet, he added.

Deutsche Bank, meanwhile, said its private credit exposure has not incurred losses, is “well diversified,” and reflects “strong underwriting standards.”

‘Opaque’

Private credit spillover risks remain a major concern among investment-grade investors, partly due to uncertainty around bank and insurance exposure, according to Bank of America’s latest credit investor survey.

Barnaby Martin, head of European credit strategy at BofA Global Research, said IG investors see the asset exposure of the banks and insurers as “still a bit opaque,” while software loan volatility is also a pressure point.

In contrast, high-yield specialist investors “nearer the fault line” currently appear “a lot more sanguine” on private credit spillover risks, Martin told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe”. Instead, they’re more concerned about high energy prices and inflation, according to the BofA survey.

He explained that while credit concerns in the U.S. center around software risk, distress in Europe is emerging in the chemicals sector, and the impact of China exporting goods and raw materials into the continent.

“That’s what we’ve got to worry about,” Martin added. “That’s where your credit loss problem in Europe is more centered.”

[Derby]

https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-is-losing-e500m-a-day-in-energy-crisis-ursula-von-der-leyen-warns/

Iran war costs EU €500M a day, von der Leyen warns

The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz has driven up global energy prices.


European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on April 29, 2026. | Sebastien Bozon/AFP via Getty Images

Europe is losing nearly €500 million a day as the Middle East conflict drives up fossil fuel costs, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday, as turmoil in the Persian Gulf continues to rattle global energy markets.

“In just 60 days of conflict, our bill for fossil fuel imports has increased by over €27 billion, without a single molecule of additional energy,” she told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. President Donald Trump has instructed aides to prepare for a prolonged blockade of Iran, a strategy aimed at squeezing Tehran’s economy by restricting shipping to and from its ports. The approach risks further disrupting oil and gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a quarter of global oil trade and significant volumes of natural gas and fertilizers flow.

Von der Leyen framed the conflict as further proof that the EU should accelerate its shift away from imported fossil fuels and electrify faster.

“The way forward is obvious. We must reduce our overdependency on imported fossil fuels and boost our home-grown, affordable, clean energy supply. From renewables to nuclear, in full respect of technology neutrality," she said.

Von der Leyen said the Commission will present an Electrification Action Plan by the summer, including an “ambitious” EU-wide target. A draft Commission agenda seen by POLITICO showed the plan is now expected on June 10, alongside a broader strategy on strengthening energy security.

The Commission president renewed calls for faster progress on the EU’s Grids Package, which is currently being negotiated by EU lawmakers and governments and aims to upgrade infrastructure to handle more renewable power and rising electricity demand.

She also urged closer coordination on diesel and jet fuel reserves, oil stock releases and output from refineries, measures which are part of Brussels' broader response to the energy crisis unveiled by the Commission last Wednesday.

[Derby]

https://www.ft.com/content/19cf1211-f2b7-48bc-ae8b-8c36c8d3da40

Starwood real estate fund halts redemptions as bet on lower interest rates bites

Move comes after fund restricted investors’ liquidity rights two years ago


Barry Sternlicht, Starwood’s billionaire founder and chief executive © Bloomberg

Starwood’s high-profile property fund has halted redemptions as it seeks to prevent a flight of assets amid mounting pressure on its bet that property markets would quickly recover from interest rate rises in 2022 and 2023.

Starwood Real Estate Income Trust, one of the first retail private markets funds, pinned its decision to temporarily suspend most redemptions on interest rates that have “remained high”. The move comes after Sreit had restricted investors’ liquidity rights by more than 80 per cent two years ago.

The issue was “not the real estate,” said Barry Sternlicht, Starwood’s billionaire founder and chief executive, in a letter to shareholders on Wednesday, but rather “the pressure created by elevated redemption requests, which rose quite suddenly when interest rates spiked and remained high”.

Sreit has struggled to recover from a real estate market that has remained weak since interest rates began to creep up four years ago. The fund owns 598 properties across the US.

Sternlicht, in his letter, said Sreit would “reintroduce liquidity when it can be done in a consistent and sustainable way”.

The CEO said Starwood expected “the war with Iran to conclude, oil prices to subside, inflation to stabilize, and for Kevin Warsh to be seated as Fed Chair, supporting a lower interest rate environment”.

“The temporary actions announced today reflect our commitment to making the right long-term decisions for all Sreit shareholders, including the nearly 70 per cent who have never made a redemption request,” Sternlicht said in a statement.

Sreit also cut its distribution from 6.3 per cent to 4.7 per cent to conserve capital.

US hedge fund Saba Capital last month offered to buy 5 per cent of the outstanding shares in Sreit, at a discount of more than 20 per cent of the fund’s most recent stated value.

Two years ago, Starwood limited investors’ ability to redeem their investments after the FT reported that Sreit had tapped its credit facility to support redemptions, rather than selling real estate assets.

The move by Sternlicht comes as similar private credit funds sponsored by the likes of Blue Owl and BlackRock have been forced this year to halt redemptions after investors’ requests breached the 5 per cent threshold.

[pollo]

No soy físico, pero hasta donde yo sé, todas esas viviendas que se retiran del mercado del alquiler "por la inseguridad jurídica" y demás cuentos, no se desintegran.

Tampoco las 2.000.000 que se habían estimado en toda España que estaban cogiendo polvo (dato aquí aparecido en mil ocasiones) por ser básicamente invendibles al precio que se pide o porque al propietario le sale gratis tenerla cerrada sin motivo durante décadas.

Aun sólo teniendo en cuenta las primeras (las que son puro chantaje social) ya valdría como ejemplo de que no hay nada que averiguar, ya va implícito en la situación.

Se parte de una falsa premisa: que la vivienda es escasa y "no hay".
Las medidas tienen que ir principalmente a castigar duro a quien tenga vivienda inutilizada en zonas de alta demanda por que le sale de los cojones.

Es un chantaje a toda la sociedad.

Impuestos exponenciales según número de viviendas inactivas y a correr. Se acababa la tontería en dos meses.

La consecuencia última será la destrucción total del tejido económico y productivo de occidente y el consiguiente vasallaje a China y demás, tanto miedo que se les tiene.

Una crisis gorda es lo mejor que nos puede pasar, porque matará expectativas.

[...]
• Omite que las contradicciones internas del sistema son insalvables: Habla correctamente de la ecuación Inmigración + Habitacionismo. Lo importante es la inmigración masiva porque genera mayor demanda de vivienda baratísima. El crecimiento vía inmigración diluye la ratio deuda/PIB pero también tensiona el Gasto Público. ¡Y hay darle vivienda a los inmigrantes! En cuanto al habitacionismo hay que hablar de serios riesgos legales y reputacionales. Habría un tercer sumando: Turistificación. Este asunto está muy estudiado. La gran paradoja es que el turismo destruye precisamente aquello que lo hacía atractivo: precios, desplazamiento de residentes, pérdida de autenticidad, etc. Se vende autenticidad (verdad) al Turismo, pero este la elimina.
[...]

Ojalá me equivoque pero no veo claro como van a "dar vivienda" y además baratísima. Esa vivienda a día de hoy ni está en el mercado ni hay un marco legal y de financiación que permita construir a destajo para resolver el problema en un plazo de tiempo adecuado para que evitemos ver cosas muy locas.

No es tan fácil como sacarse de la manga un IMV, que al fin y al cabo es meter dinero en una cuenta bancaria; aquí hablamos de que algo tangible como un parque de vivienda nuevecita y barata no está construida. Si de verdad se quieren evitar tiendas de campaña y pisos patera generalizados la única solución a corto plazo es dar un disgusto al propietariado. ¿Hay narices para eso?. Yo lo dudo.

No tengo ni idea cómo van se va a salir de esta situación de una manera digna.

Así:

https://okdiario.com/coolthelifestyle/arquitectura/dia-china-construye-edificio-10-plantas-bloques-hormigon-como-si-fueran-piezas-lego-915165

El otro día hice un post sobre la partida de ajedrez inmobiliaria. Hay solares urbanos vacíos de sobra, con sus conexiones de electricidad, agua y alcantarillado. Si hubiera voluntad teníamos 50.000 viviendas nuevas antes de final de año como aviso a navegantes. Si el propietariado no se baja de la burra se anuncia un millón de viviendas nuevas para finales de 2027.. aunque sólo se construyera una cuarta parte, ya teníamos el mercado arreglado. Y si encima ponemos como condición a los chinos que levanten sus fábricas en España y contraten personal español, tenemos arreglado el problema de la vivienda en Europa entera (con vivienda china made in Spain).

Necesito un censo de vivienda vacía para poder coincidir contigo. A nivel personal, y puedo estar muy equivocado porque me falta perspectiva, es que yo no conozco pisos vacíos donde vivo: o están alquilados a la antigua usanza o son pisos turísticos. Ningún rentista deja escapar la posibilidad de ponerse las botas.

Respecto a la construcción modular: la primera vez que la vi fue hace ya 20 años y hace unos 10 me impactó lo que vi. Estuve un par de semanas en un capital báltica y al lado de mi hotel estaban construyendo otro a un ritmo de dos pisos diarios. Todas las paredes, incluidas ventanas venían ya hechas y sólo se atornillaban los módulos para ir creciendo. El cableado y tubería iba por otra parte. Me dijeron que el tiempo de ejecución de la obra era inferior a un año.

Aquí podemos hacerlo pero os recuerdo el show de cuando se construyó el Hospital Isabel Zendal (sin ser del todo prefabricado, porque creo que tiene cimentación tradicional). Todos, ciudadanía y políticos, poniéndolo a parir porque no era lo suficientemente noble para sus señorías. Por mi parte, llenaba el extrarradio de todas las ciudades españolas tensionadas con prefabricados a precio irrisorio, pero no veo nada clara la intención de hacerlo.

[Derby]

https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/currencies/articles/europe-moves-break-visa-mastercards-050114080.html

Europe moves to break Visa and Mastercard's grip — but not everyone agrees


Europe moves to break Visa and Mastercard's grip — but not everyone agrees · Euronews

Europe's payment system is on the brink of its biggest shake-up in decades.

A digital euro, a push for sovereignty from US payment giants and a bitter fight between banks and Brussels are all coming to a head — and the outcome could affect how Europeans conduct even the simplest day-to-day payments.

The digital euro is electronic cash, backed by the European Central Bank (ECB) and designed to sit alongside banknotes and the services offered by commercial lenders.

Under the European Commission's proposal, users would get a digital wallet — with a spending limit yet to be defined — that works for both online and offline payments, with transactions designed to be untraceable.

If legislation passes before the end of 2026, it could be available for retail payments by 2029.

The push is political as much as it is financial.

Visa and Mastercard, both American, account for 61% of card payments in the eurozone and nearly all cross-border transactions, according to ECB data.

US President Donald Trump's return to the White House and his hostile approach to both foreign policy and trade accelerated the debate, and at the European Council in mid-March, EU leaders set a deadline to approve the legislation before the end of 2026.

The ECB's push to launch one is partly a response to the rise of privately issued stablecoins, which have steadily eaten into the payments landscape.

The message from Brussels and institutions across the continent is clear: Europe wants to control its own money.

The contrast with other major economies is stark. The US has moved in the opposite direction, advancing the GENIUS Act to give private stablecoins a regulatory footing, while China has already rolled out its digital yuan at scale.

Europe is charting a middle path — state-backed, tightly regulated and designed to keep monetary sovereignty out of private hands.

Who's fighting it and who is making the case for it?

Not everyone is convinced. As the legislation advances, opposition from commercial banks has intensified.

At an industry event in Brussels in mid-April, French Banking Federation chairman Daniel Baal took direct aim at the project.

"The retail digital euro, as currently designed, disrupts this balance by turning central bank money into a direct competitor of commercial bank money," he said.

Wero, the European payments platform backed by major banks, is also wary.

Its CEO, Martina Weimert, acknowledged a use case for offline payments but warned the legal tender status, which would oblige merchants to accept the digital euro just as they must accept cash, would create a "distortion of competition".

Supporters say the banks are missing the point entirely.

"It's as if cash did not exist, and the industry argued it was unfair because merchants have to accept it, and users don't pay a fee," Peter Norwood, a researcher at Finance Watch, a European non-profit that aims to reform finance in the public interest, told Euronews.

"Cash is a public good. That is what the digital euro is meant to preserve in the digital age."

Without legal tender status, he argued, the project would never reach critical mass.

"If merchants do not have to accept it, it won't have a high uptake and will not ensure the continued availability of public money," Norwood added.

The ECB is trying to minimise tensions over the digital euro by arguing that the private sector will be involved in shaping and managing it.

The bank says commercial lenders will act as the ultimate service providers and will be compensated by the ECB for doing so.

Opposition to the digital euro, however, extends well beyond the banking sector.

Privacy advocates and decentralisation campaigners have raised concerns that a state-issued digital currency could give governments unprecedented visibility over citizens' spending — and, potentially, the power to restrict it.

The planned cap on individual holdings has done little to ease those fears.

Crypto industry voices, though a smaller force in Europe than in the US, have also pushed back, wary of a digital currency that competes with decentralised alternatives while operating under full institutional control.

The man who holds the keys

The fate of the digital euro now rests largely with one person: Fernando Navarrete Rojas, a Spanish centre-right MEP from the European People's Party (EPP) who is steering the file through the European Parliament, the only EU institution yet to move it forward.

He did not respond to requests for comment from Euronews.

His conduct in parliamentary negotiations, his public speeches and his appearances at industry events all suggest a preference for private-sector solutions over the digital euro.

Navarrete has an extensive background in the banking sector. He held several high-level positions at the Bank of Spain and served as the director of finance at the Spanish Official Credit Institute.

He also led the economic and public policies at the Foundation for Social Analysis and Studies (FAES), a right-wing think tank linked to the former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar López.

According to his public meeting records, he held more than a hundred meetings specifically on the digital euro since he took over the file in December 2024.

With EU governments strongly backing the project, the Parliament is where the battle will be won or lost.

At an industry event in mid-April organised by the French Banking Federation, Navarrete was candid about his scepticism, describing the digital euro as not an urgent priority.

"I'm sorry that we started maybe with not the most urgent parts of the building," he said.

He made it clear he favours the private sector, describing it as "much more efficient".

And like the commercial banks, he warned that legal tender status, which he called an "atomic weapon," could fatally undermine private alternatives. "Even if (the digital euro) is no good, you're forced to use it," he said.

Behind the scenes

According to several people familiar with the negotiations, the Spanish MEP used closed-door meetings to slow the process down, pushing his views into the text and campaigning hard for a key concession: limiting the digital euro to offline use only, on the grounds that an online version would compete directly with Wero, Visa, Mastercard and other private players.

The meetings grew increasingly polarised.

On one side, the Socialists (S&D), liberals (Renew Europe), the Greens and the Left broadly backed the Commission's proposal.

On the other, Navarrete — representing the EPP — took an opposing minority stance, occasionally joined by far-right parties, though their attendance was inconsistent.

Two people familiar with the negotiations described his conduct as unpredictable and determined to stall the legislation.

"We are going nowhere," was the message at the end of several meetings.

German Minister of Finance Lars Klingbeil said in February that those opposing the digital euro were harming Europe — a pointed message aimed at Navarrete and the EPP group, which is divided over the file.

The offline-only position was ultimately dropped from the text, clearing a significant hurdle.

Where do things stand now?

Negotiations are not yet over and remain complex, but the process is moving forward.

Draft texts and meeting minutes seen by Euronews point to a more balanced dynamic than in previous months.

A plenary vote originally scheduled for May has slipped. The parliamentary committee is now expected to vote at the end of June, with the full plenary to follow.

Once the Parliament signs off, interinstitutional negotiations between EU member states, the Parliament, and the Commission will begin, with the final adoption of the legislation targeted for the end of 2026.

[Derby]

https://www.benzinga.com/markets/prediction-markets/26/04/52204146/senate-bans-members-betting-prediction-markets-polymarket-kalshi

Senate Bans Members From Betting On Prediction Markets Such As Polymarket, Kalshi With Immediate Effect

The Senate unanimously passed on Thursday a resolution introduced by Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) that bans Senators, Officers, and staff from participating in prediction markets.

Senate Says No To Prediction Market Wagering

The Senate agreed to pass the resolution “effective immediately,” according to an update on Moreno’s official Senate website.

The resolution alters the Senate’s standing rules, preventing lawmakers from entering financial agreements where the “outcome depends on whether a specific event does or does not happen.”

“Serving in Congress should never be about finding new ways to profit; it should be about delivering results for the American people,” said Moreno. “Senators have no business engaging in speculative activities like prediction markets while collecting a taxpayer-funded paycheck, period.”

Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour applauded the Senate’s decision, saying, “This is a great step to increase trust in our markets by making it an industry standard. Now, let's pass this in the House!” (...)