European banks in spotlight as Baltic crisis hits Sweden

Telegraph
"Sweden is preparing to part-nationalise banks exposed to the economic collapse in Baltic states, raising fears that a string of Western European countries could face similar fallout from rising defaults in the former Communist bloc. .....The dramatic situation in Latvia went from bad to worse on Thursday as overnight rates reached 140pc, a sign that the country's currency peg in Europe's Exchange Mechanism is close to snapping. Credit default swaps measuring risk on Latvian debt rocketed above 750 after Latvia's treasury failed to sell a single note at a $100bn debt auction on Wednesday."