European crisis watch

The latest news indicating that France may be sliding into the group of crisis countries comes from German engineering giant Siemens. According to the Financial Times, Siemens withdrew half a billion euros from an unnamed French bank and deposited it with the European Central Bank.

That brings the total to €6 billion that Siemens has withdrawn from private European banks.

According to the Financial Times, “Siemens’ move demonstrates the impact of the eurozone’s deepening sovereign debt crisis on confidence in European banks.”

Does Siemens fear that something big is about to shake Europe? Siemens has close connections to Europe’s political class—especially that of Germany. If any corporation was “in the know,” it would probably be Siemens.