STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Monday, 3 March 2014

[Demeter]

43. ECB Wins EU Court Ruling to Keep Greek Swap Information Secret

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-20/ecb-wins-eu-court-ruling-to-keep-greek-swap-information-secret.html

The European Central Bank won’t have to disclose how Greece used derivatives to hide its debt after the European Union’s top court quashed efforts to make the information public.

The European Union Court of Justice, in a Feb. 6 decision, rejected a freedom-of-information request by Bloomberg News to access two internal ECB papers, citing procedural errors.

European taxpayers, bearing the cost of Greece’s 240 billion-euro ($329 billion) bailout, won’t learn whether EU officials knew of irregularities in Greece’s public accounts before they became public in 2009. The case was the first legal challenge to a refusal by the ECB to make public details of its decision-making process.

“Our case has always been about the public’s right to know if EU officials allowed Greece to hide its deficit, which helped trigger Europe’s debt crisis,” Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief Matthew Winkler said. “We are disappointed with the court’s ruling and we will continue our work to bring more transparency to markets in Europe and around the world.”

WOW! STINKBOMB!