The ECB's degradation of the quality of that it accepts as collateral.

The full list of the lowering in standards of debt acceptable to the ECB for advancing funds can be seen on this link. (H/T Acting Man).

The latest changes, dated from 21st September, were clearly in preparation for the announcement of the extension of the further currency debasement, fittingly announced by Jean-Claude Trichet, in his final press conference as ECB Chairman, which historians will presumably come to see as the moment of the denouement of the EU Project.

Also from the Acting Man posting linked above comes a fun calculator which allows one to adjust the haircuts of the various PIIGS and immediately see the capital shortfalls for a wide variety of Europe's banks, fills an idle moment or so!