by Calculated Risk on 11/16/2010 07:45:00 PM

The Financial Times is reporting that a Debt crisis team heads for Dublin. This team includes IMF, European Central Bank, and European Commission officials - personnel from the same agencies who visited Greece right before that bailout. Although this is just a "discussion", the Financial Times suggests this is sign "a bailout for the country’s ailing banks is imminent".

And from the WSJ: Banks' Exposure Stirs EU Contagion Worries

All told, European banks were sitting on more than $650 billion of exposure to Ireland as of March 31, according to the Bank for International Settlements.

A bailout of the Irish banks is a bailout of European banks (especially UK and German banks).

By request, here are links to the sovereign debt series from "Some investor guy" posted earlier this year:

Part 1: How Large is the Outstanding Value of Sovereign Bonds?

Part 2. How Often Have Sovereign Countries Defaulted in the Past?

Part 2B: More on Historic Sovereign Default Research

Part 3. What are the Market Estimates of the Probabilities of Default?

Part 4. What are Total Estimated Losses on Sovereign Bonds Due to Default?

Part 5A. What Happens If Things Go Really Badly? $15 Trillion of Sovereign Debt in Default

Part 5B. Part 5B. What Happens If Things Go Really Badly? More Things Can Go Badly: Credit Default Swaps, Interest Swaps and Options, Foreign Exchange

Part 5C. Some Policy Options, Good and Bad

Part 5D. European Banks, What if Things Go Really Badly?