Oh boy, can it get any madder? A car lease company owned by Volkswagen and several Middle Eastern state funds wants the Dutch government to guarantee loans of up to €15bn.

They don’t want help from their owners. No, Leaseplan is able to legitimately ask the Dutch taxpayer for support because for some reason it has a banking licence.
Nobody actually seems to be asking what on earth a car lease company – with a fleet of 126,000 vehicles – is doing with a licence to operate as a bank.
Nor do we know how many other ‘banks’ there are out there. So far there has been a deafening silence from authorities who supervise these things.
Doubtless the experts are busy checking it all out.
But while the finance ministry decides whether or not to guarantee Leaseplan loans so it can buy even more cars (itself somewhat at odds with its avowed plans to reduce air pollution), we should not forget that local governments have already done their bit to shore the company up.
Earlier this month it emerged that local councils had lent the company over €400m, lured by a hefty 5.8% interest rate. That money is still safe – so far.
But the fact that Leaseplan wants a government guarantee should be worrying the town hall accountants somewhat. Can we expect to see a run on the bank any day now?