Banker's Game is a short documentary that was released in October 2025, produced by whistleblower John Christmas and his assistant Andrea Vrazhalska. Evita Birzina Ansis Pūpols from Latvia, as well as Mauro Caterina from Italy are investigative journalists who appear in the video too. It has been available on YouTube since 2 May 2026.
The main theme of the documentary is a comparison between a historical bail-out in Latvia of Parex Banka (founded in 1991) in comparison with the bail-out of Italian bank Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena, the oldest bank in Italy (incorporated in 1472). Specific reference is made to a secret transaction in Latvia, approved in 2010 by then Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis. This secret transaction was reversible and used to provide Latvia entry into the Eurozone by artificially keeping Latvia's public debt and deficit low enough to meet the Stability- and Growth Pact criteria, in which the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was a key investor (or actually debtor subjected to the put-option agreement). A recurring theme is that the EBRD has used similar agreements in other countries, sometimes involving fraudulent firms with serious money-laundering deficiencies.
One of the core questions in the documentary is whether or not reversible transactions are lawful, particularly in relation to government statistics. The Stability- and Growth Pact specifically forbids government deficit to exceed 3% of GDP. During Latvia's entry into the Eurozone, this was sustained by the usage of a secret put-option, which at the time would be a violation of ESA-95 norms. A recurrent difficulty with addressed issues is the inability to find persons or authorities to understand the underlying problems of involved transactions.
A second video on YouTube that connects to this topic, by the same whistleblower, was recorded by Brussels Press Club in May 2022. In here reference is made to Parex Bank and several other financial and political institutions that have facilitated money laundering, mainly by Russian and Eastern-European Oligarchs. One conclusion that can be drawn from linking both videos is the long-term nature of these problems, and how they have negatively affected European institutions for years.
Disclaimer: I have not received instructions or money to post below video or Banker's Game.
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These are excellent points. As the whistleblower in the case in Latvia, besides the fact that Latvian taxpayers lost billions of euros from the EBRD deal, I'd also like to add that terrorizing a whistleblower with threats is illegal.