China’s $1.7 trillion hangover

China’s $1.7 trillion hangover

Up to 40% of China’s $1.7 trillion LGFV loans are at high risk of default. What’s a panicking Beijing to do?

EuromoneyFXNews.com

EuromoneyFXNews.com

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June 1999

A rough guide to bank security



The quest to find the best-guarded bank in Central America begins in Costa Rica. Raids on branches have become a problem in this traditionally peaceful, unarmed society. Crédito Agrícola de Cartago has taken on a nervous-looking youth with a rifle. Few such worries at the central bank, where the security guard is armed only with a pistol and is too busy chatting with the shoe-shiners to notice me sneaking past.
Guatemalan bank security guards put their Costa Rican brethren to shame. Banco Industrial's drive-through branch in the centre of Guatemala City sports two edgy guards armed with semi-automatic rifles.

The banking fraternity in Guatemala City may be obsessed with security but it doesn't seem too concerned about a law that could put a good half of the country's banks out of business. The government wants all banks to have at least 100 million quetzales ($13.8 million)...


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