Massive Bank and High Profile Resignations Across the World

[Sabrina]

http://www.tdarkcabal.blogspot.ca/20...report-43.html

The White Hats report on the latest financial revelations.

[Sabrina]

Kuwait: Ruler accepts resignation of government
The Associated Press
Wednesday, July 4, 2012 | 3:11 a.m.


Kuwait's ruler has accepted the resignation of the prime minister and his Cabinet, the OPEC nation's official news agency said Sunday, laying the groundwork for a new government to be formed.

The decision is the latest step aimed at breaking a political stalemate in that has pitted Kuwait's Western-backed ruling dynasty against conservative Islamists and other opposition lawmakers.

An order from the emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, called for the government to continue on a caretaker basis until another is chosen, the Kuwait News Agency reported.

The Cabinet handed in its collective resignation last week. That move and the emir's subsequent acceptance are seen as formalities after a court ruled June 20 that parliamentary elections held in February were unconstitutional.

Prime Minister Sheik Jaber Al Hamad Al Sabah, a member of the ruler's family, was quoted Sunday as saying he and his Cabinet resigned "for the sake of abiding by all relevant legal and constitutional procedures as well as sound implementation of the rule of the Constitutional Court."

The court's ruling called for reinstating the previous legislature, elected in 2009. Those lawmakers are seen as more liberal and supportive of the government than the parliament elected in February, which is dominated by hard-line Islamists and their conservative tribal allies. Tensions have flared since then.

Kuwait has the Gulf's most politically independent parliament. It often demands to question top officials and has the ability to pass no-confidence votes to oust Cabinet officials.

[Sabrina]

http://rt.com/business/news/banks-cr...ure-plans-381/

4 July

Major banks say they are ready to go under


The US Federal Deposit Insurance and Federal Reserve released public summaries of plans for quick liquidation of nine of the world’s largest banks in the case of an emergency, without government bailouts.

Complex financial firms with more than $250 billion in nonbank assets including J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Barclays PLC, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and UBS were the first to prepare the worst case scenarios by July 1. In total, about 125 banks are expected to submit plans to the regulators by the end of 2013.

Public summaries reveal that Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs plan to sell assets or stand-alone businesses to other financial firms, private-equity investors or insurance companies in the event of a collapse. Citigroup said its banking business could be split off from the parent company and recapitalized as a smaller bank. Credit Suisse plans to sell its businesses to hedge funds, banks and securities firms.

Meanwhile Barclay’s paper is already out of date after the resignation Tuesday of CEO Bob Diamond and COO Jerry Del Missier.

Banks are required to give the government the tools to wind them down in a case of failure under provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law designed to end the practice of bailing out “too big to fail” banks by the state. The act aims to secure the financial system from turmoil such as followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers or Bear Stearns in 2008.


and Max Keiser´s latest report on the financial scandals:

http://rt.com/programs/keiser-report...09-max-keiser/


and

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/07/...e&ref=business

July

Former Brokers Say JPMorgan Favored Selling Bank’s Own Funds Over Others

Facing a slump after the financial crisis, JPMorgan Chase turned to ordinary investors to make up for the lost profit.

But as the bank became one of the nation’s largest mutual fund managers, some current and former brokers say it emphasized its sales over clients’ needs.

These financial advisers say they were encouraged, at times, to favor JPMorgan’s own products even when competitors had better-performing or cheaper options. With one crucial offering, the bank exaggerated the returns of what it was selling in marketing materials, according to JPMorgan documents reviewed by The New York Times.

story at link

[centreoflight]

Posted by Sabrina (here)
http://www.spiegel.de/international/...-a-842140.html

German de Spiegel online:

Transparency vs. Money Laundering
Catholic Church Fears Growing Vatican Bank Scandal

A new scandal threatens to engulf the Catholic Church and this time the focus is money. Senior Vatican officials are battling over the future of the Vatican bank. While some would like total transparency, dubious transactions from the past and present could harm the Church's image.

Thank you Sabrina for your dedication to collect information and sharing what you find with us.

When I was in India I came to the conclusion that the fascist system, which maybe the whole world is now under, is based on 3 forces:
1) the mafia
2) the religious people and
3) the politicians.

In India this was very apparent. Here in the west many people work for the mafia and feel that this are respectable institutions. I refer to the multinationals and the banks. The religious people and the politicians have done a very good job to brainwash the population, while they enjoy the money they collect from the mafia.

[Billy]

French police raid home of former president Nicolas Sarkozy
http://www.rt.com/news/police-raid-sarkozy-home-324/

Police officers have carried out a number of raids in Paris - on the villa Nicolas Sarkozy shares with his wife Carla Bruni, on the law offices of the former president's attorneys and on the apartment provided to him by the government.

Judge Jean-Michele Gentil and financial police searched the Sarkozys’ villa Montmorency, located in the French capital's most luxurious district, the offices of Arnaud, Claude and Associates, in which Sarkozy is a shareholder, and an apartment given to the former president by the government.

The raids are reportedly linked to a campaign finance corruption scandal involving billionaire L’Oreal heiress Lilian Bettencourt.

Bettencourt, France’s richest woman, is alleged to have illegally contributed two payments of 400,000 euros each to Mr Sarkozy's 2007 election campaign, despite the fact the legal limit on individual donations being 4,600 Euro.

Both were traced to Swiss accounts, and one was allegedly received by Sarkozy in person in Paris, in return for offering the cosmetics magnate tax breaks once he came to power.

[modwiz]

Posted by Sabrina (here)
Guardian UK
As it says in the Guardian article above, Barclays CEO has also resigned:


Barclays today announces the resignation of its Chief Operating Officer, Jerry del Missier with immediate effect.

Commenting, Mr del Missier said: "My 15 years at Barclays have been a time of great accomplishment, both for me personally and for the bank. I am grateful for the opportunities that were provided to me and proud of what we achieved. We built one of the premier global investment banks from scratch – something that we are all very proud of. The firm is as strong today as it ever has been and is incredibly well placed to succeed within the post financial reform competitive landscape.

"I have every confidence that the Board and Executive Management of Barclays will be successful in executing their plans, and I wish them the best of luck in doing so."

Commenting, Barclays Chairman, Marcus Agius said: "Jerry played a pivotal role in many of Barclays standout successes during the last 15 years, including his extraordinary contributions as part of the leadership team that built the investment bank. His many contributions to the firm were critical to why Barclays was able to weather the extreme market turbulence of the credit crisis as well as we did. His colleagues, clients and other stakeholders hold him in the highest regard."

2.45pm: Breaking news: Jerry del Missier, chief operating officer of Barclays, has just confirmed that he is quitting the bank.

We'd reported this morning that Del Missier was considering his position -- it appears that he's been blamed for Barclays manipulation of the Libor rate.

These creeps need to be handcuffed to a bench placed under a place where pigeons roosts. Bronx, NY has elevated train stations where sitting in a parked car while underneath them sounds like it is raining from all of the droppings. I nominate one of these stations to place the aforementioned bench.

Ah, I feel better now.

[Lettherebelight]

Barclays....another one to add to the list.

http://www.knowthelies.com/node/7234

[Sabrina]

http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/13...reshuffle.html


Burma's VP Resigns in Reshuffle

Thursday, 5 July 2012

by Michael Lipin, VOA

Burma has confirmed the resignation of a conservative vice president as part of a Cabinet reshuffle that reformist lawmakers hope will reduce the influence of anti-reform figures in the government.

The speaker for Burma's two houses of parliament announced the departure of Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo for health reasons on Wednesday, as the two assemblies opened a new legislative session in the capital, Naypyitaw.

Tin Aung Myint Oo is a former top general who is close to retired Burmese military ruler Than Shwe. The outgoing vice president had asked to step down in early May to seek medical treatment for health problems.

Joint assembly speaker Khin Aung Myint said military personnel who hold one quarter of parliamentary seats must nominate a new vice president by July 10 for approval by the full legislature. One of the favorites for the post is election commission chairman Tin Aye.

Burmese lawmaker Aye Maung of the ethnic minority Rakhine National Development Party told VOA Burmese Service that he hopes the next vice president will be a reformist.
full story at link

[Sabrina]

Pretty blunt reports coming out at the moment -

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/05/wo...ort/index.html

5 July JAPAN

Japanese parliament report: Fukushima nuclear crisis was 'man-made'

Tokyo (CNN) -- The nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan was a "man-made disaster" that unfolded as a result of collusion between the facility's operator, regulators and the government, an independent panel said in an unusually frank report Thursday.

The report by the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission outlines errors and willful negligence at the plant before the earthquake and tsunami that devastated swaths of northeastern Japan on March 11 last year, and a flawed response in the hours, days and weeks that followed. It also offers recommendations and encourages the nation's parliament to "thoroughly debate and deliberate" the suggestions.

The crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant spewed radiation and displaced tens of thousands of residents from the surrounding area in the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine.
Commissioned by the national parliament, the panel's report tellingly blames Japanese culture for the fundamental causes of the disaster.

As well as detailing the specific failings related to the accident, the report describes a Japan in which nuclear power became "an unstoppable force, immune to scrutiny by civil society."
full story at link

[Sabrina]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1650650.html

5 July USA

Countrywide Used Loan Discounts To Buy Congress, Fannie Mae Execs, Other Government Officials: Report

WASHINGTON — The former Countrywide Financial Corp., whose subprime loans helped start the nation's foreclosure crisis, made hundreds of discount loans to buy influence with members of Congress, congressional staff, top government officials and executives of troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae, according to a House report.

The report, obtained by The Associated Press, said that the discounts – from January 1996 to June 2008, were not only aimed at gaining influence for the company but to help mortgage giant Fannie Mae. Countrywide's business depended largely on Fannie, which at the time was trying to fend off more government regulation but eventually had to come under government control.

Fannie was responsible for purchasing a large volume of Countrywide's subprime mortgages. Countrywide was taken over by Bank of America in January 2008, relieving the financial services industry and regulators from the messy task of cleaning up the bankruptcy of a company that was servicing 9 million U.S. home loans worth $1.5 trillion at a time when the nation faced a widening credit crisis, massive foreclosures and an economic downturn.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee also named six current and former members of Congress who received discount loans, but all of their names had surfaced previously. Other previously mentioned names included former top executive branch officials and three chief executives of Fannie Mae.

"Documents and testimony obtained by the committee show the VIP loan program was a tool used by Countrywide to build goodwill with lawmakers and other individuals positioned to benefit the company," the report said. "In the years that led up to the 2007 housing market decline, Countrywide VIPs were positioned to affect dozens of pieces of legislation that would have reformed Fannie" and its rival Freddie Mac, the committee said.

Some of the discounts were ordered personally by former Countrywide chief executive Angelo Mozilo. Those recipients were known as "Friends of Angelo."

The Justice Department has not prosecuted any Countrywide official, but the House committee's report said documents and testimony show that Mozilo and company lobbyists "may have skirted the federal bribery statute by keeping conversations about discounts and other forms of preferential treatment internal. Rather than making quid pro quo arrangements with lawmakers and staff, Countrywide used the VIP loan program to cast a wide net of influence."

The Securities and Exchange Commission in October 2010 slapped Mozilo with a $22.5 million penalty to settle charges that he and two other former Countrywide executives misled investors as the subprime mortgage crisis began. Mozilo also was banned from ever again serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded company.

He also agreed to pay another $45 million to settle other violations for a total settlement of $67.5 million that was to be returned to investors who were harmed.
full story at link

¤=[Post Update]=¤

https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/07/02-4

Following Barclays' Scandal, Stiglitz says 'Send Bankers to Jail'
Without threat of prosecution, says Nobel economist, expect little to change


Nobel Prize winner and former World Bank economist Joseph Stiglitz has called recent revelations that Barclays and other large banks colluded to defraud their costumers by artificially leveraging international interest rates a "textbook illustration" of how banks use privileged information and lax oversight to reap rewards for themselves while savaging the wider societies in which they operate.


In an interview with The Independent on Monday, Stiglitz argued (with Barclay's as just the most recent example) that bankers -- without threat of prosecution or jail time -- would continue to use their elevated status to exploit weak regulations, consolidate power, and avoid accountability.

The scandal at Barclays claimed the resignation on Sunday of Chairman Marcus Agius after traders at the bank admitted manipulating Libor, a baseline interest rate used by banks to set lending costs around the world and which acts as the benchmark, according to an estimate by Reuters, on $350 trillion in derivatives and other financial products.

Stiglitz argues, in paraphrase by interviewer Ben Chu, "that breaking the economic and political power that has been amassed by the financial sector in recent decades, especially in the US and the UK, is essential if we are to build a more just and prosperous society. The first step, he says, is sending some bankers to jail."

The banks, said Stiglitz in the interview, "create the non-transparent market" by dominating the legislative process that is suppose to control it. "For every meeting that the government has with [bankers], it [should] have to have a meeting with the labor groups and the representatives of civil society," he said. "The problem today is that there’s not equality of access."

And it's not just the banks, Stiglitz says. "Everybody knew that there was this scope for Libor manipulation. Many economists couldn’t believe that it wasn’t going on. We’re focusing on the bankers but at the micro economic level this goes on all the time. I was party to a suit in the state of Alaska. Oil companies were supposed to pay the state royalties – 60 per cent of the net price, the price of oil net of their transportation costs. They manipulated the transportation costs. They had to pay the state of Alaska $1bn. Stealing a penny a time. For every gallon, they stole a penny, or a fraction of a penny. This is in the nature Adam Smith’s invisible hand when there is a lack of transparency."

In a related analysis, Naked Capitalism's Yves Smith, wonders why the Barclays' Libor scandal caused such justifiable outrage in the UK, but generated barely a murmor in the US. And separately, Reuters tracks developments in the Barclays' case as embattled CEO Bob Diamond fends off criticism after Agius' departure.

[Sabrina]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18742140

6 July UK

Serious Fraud Office launches Libor investigation



The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has confirmed that it has formally launched an investigation into the rigging of inter-bank lending rates.


The case could lead to criminal charges being brought against individuals.

Its involvement follows an investigation by US and UK regulators into the manipulation of Libor, which resulted in a record fine for Barclays.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, said he was "delighted" by the decision.

"As a government, we will make sure the SFO has all the resources it needs to conduct this investigation in full," he said.

"I want the SFO to follow the evidence wherever it goes, to bring prosecutions if they can."

Last week the bank agreed to pay £290m in penalties after its traders tried to rig inter-bank lending rates, sometimes working with staff at other financial institutions.

Regulators are continuing to look into possible rate manipulation at other banks, while the US Department of Justice is carrying out its own criminal investigations.



An SFO spokesperson confirmed that a dedicated case team had now started work, but would not say whom it was investigating.

Its short statement said only: "The SFO Director David Green QC has today decided formally to accept the Libor matter for investigation."

The Libor affair, described by the prime minister as a scandal, has led to the resignation of three of Barclays' most senior executives in a matter of days, including chief executive Bob Diamond.

He appeared before MPs on the Treasury Select Committee this week, when he called the behaviour of those responsible for Libor rigging at the bank "reprehensible".

Regulators in the UK and the US found that Barclays staff had tried to affect rates over a number of years, first for profit and then to reduce concerns about how much it was being affected by the financial crisis.

The SFO is responsible for investigating allegations of serious and complex frauds. It considers whether to prosecute using a number of criteria, including whether it is a matter of public concern, and whether the value of any fraud is more than £1m.

The government agency said a few days ago that it was considering whether a criminal prosecution was appropriate and possible, and said this could take a month.

"Normally when there is such a public outcry, the law enforcement agencies manage to act in a more accelerated pace," said Bradley Simon, a former US federal prosecutor who now defends clients in fraud cases.

He said the SFO would be sensitive to criticism that it had been slow to respond in the past.

"They have to show they are on top of this. There are a lot of angry people out there," he told BBC News.


and


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...r-scandal.html

[Sabrina]

http://www.eitb.com/en/news/detail/9...ia-executives/

Spain

Spanish Court Opens Fraud Case Against Former Executives of Bankia

The lawsuit was brought by one of Spain's smaller political parties and accuses 33 officials, including former chairman Rodrigo Rato, of fraud, price-fixing and falsifying accounts.

A Spanish court opened a fraud case against former executives of lender Bankia on Wednesday amid mounting public anger against the state-rescued bank.

The lawsuit was brought by one of Spain's smaller political parties and accuses 33 officials, including former chairman Rodrigo Rato, of fraud, price-fixing and falsifying accounts.

The High Court demands that Rato and the other executives appear in person, and that former Bank of Spain governor Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordoñez appears as a witness.

The government took over Bankia in May after it became clear the bank could not cope with losses stemming from indiscriminate lending during a property boom which crashed four years ago. The bailout forced Spain to seek a European rescue package.

Bankia holds more than 10 percent of Spanish deposits and is the biggest bank likely to receive a capital injection when the European bailout funds materialise later this year. Under new management, the bank has requested a 19-billion-euro ($24 billion) bailout.

Bankia's rescue, and the subsequent heavy losses for thousands of retail investors who took part in a stock market flotation of the bank last year, has angered Spaniards who are suffering from swingeing government spending cuts.
Protestors have staged street demonstrations in their thousands, banging pots and pans and blowing whistles outside bank branches.

Small-scale investors vented their fury at Bankia's new head Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri at a shareholder meeting last week.

[turiya]

Regardless of what's been posted... The Bottome Line is:

[IMG][/IMG]

[Sabrina]

Softly softly catchee monkey Turiya - there's a process going on to get to this IMO - as in above stories.... got to get the veil to really fall from the public's eyes on the lack of credibility of the financial world to make it really interesting...

[Alie]

========> Credible Video about LIBOR with Matt Taibibi of Rolling Stone on Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer

It's over for the banking cabal. 4.jul.2012

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=0oV2mI0IYp8

FYI: I found the following info on Facebook Global Voice 2012

Here are the 17 banks that form the committee to set LIBOR Bank of America

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
Barclays Bank plc
BNP Paribas
Citibank NA
Credit Agricole CIB
Credit Suisse
Deutsche Bank AG
HSBC
JP Morgan Chase
Lloyds Banking Group
Rabobank
Royal Bank of Canada
Société Générale
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Ltd (SMBCE)
The Norinchukin Bank
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group
UBS AG

It is important to note that of these 17 banks that colluded to set phoney LIBOR rates, 9 of these banks are "Authorized Participants" colluding to rig the gold and silver markets in the phoney Gold and Silver ETF's (GLD & SLV).

Barclays Capital Inc
Citigroup Global Markets Inc.
Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC
Deutsche Bank AG
HSBC
JP Morgan Securities Inc.
Merrill Lynch (Bank of America)
RBC Capital Markets, LLC,
UBS Securities LLC

[foreverfan]

Posted by Alie (here)
========> Credible Video about LIBOR with Matt Taibibi of Rolling Stone on Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer

It's over for the banking cabal. 4.jul.2012

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=0oV2mI0IYp8

FYI: I found the following info on Facebook Global Voice 2012

Here are the 17 banks that form the committee to set LIBOR Bank of America

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
Barclays Bank plc
BNP Paribas
Citibank NA
Credit Agricole CIB
Credit Suisse
Deutsche Bank AG
HSBC
JP Morgan Chase
Lloyds Banking Group
Rabobank
Royal Bank of Canada
Société Générale
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Ltd (SMBCE)
The Norinchukin Bank
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group
UBS AG

It is important to note that of these 17 banks that colluded to set phoney LIBOR rates, 9 of these banks are "Authorized Participants" colluding to rig the gold and silver markets in the phoney Gold and Silver ETF's (GLD & SLV).

Barclays Capital Inc
Citigroup Global Markets Inc.
Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC
Deutsche Bank AG
HSBC
JP Morgan Securities Inc.
Merrill Lynch (Bank of America)
RBC Capital Markets, LLC,
UBS Securities LLC

No chit huh? GTFOOH. WOW... Was that RT? That couldn't have been on cable. WTF? Play it again Sam.

[Alie]

From Forbes Online ...

It's Not Libor Stupid, Central Banks Are The Problem

http://www.forbes.com/sites/shahgila...e-the-problem/

"The Libor scandal is about to get a whole lot worse. And, that’s the good news.

Not only are at least twenty more big banks under investigation as part of a massive fraud to manipulate interbank lending rates that affect some $800 trillion in loans and derivatives, but the Bank of England is about to take center stage in the scandal.

And that’s bad news for central banks around the world.

Well, actually, it could be good news, as in really good news if it’s the beginning of the end of what central banks do to manipulate free markets to the benefit of their only real constituents, the world’s big banks."

More at link ...

[Sabrina]

Well use discernment as you would with any other story obviously, and we've seen this info. via Drake already, but interesting to know how far this gets out the other side of the pond from me to the none 'conspiracy nut cases' unlike ourselves and what the reaction is and what happens when the power of intent comes into play?



full article is at the link, snippet here:
http://americannationalmilitia.com/w...-WANTS.....pdf

The Pentagon wants this information to go viral


Background information
Many have already heard of the abnormally large number of arrests and resignations of officials in banking, money funds, investment houses, insurance companies, and governments throughout the world that have taken place since September 2011.

What Americans have not known is that a huge operation is about to take place in the United States. In order to comprehend why we have heard nothing of this event, we must understand that the major newspaper and television media is very tightly controlled by the dark cabal or Illuminati. It is the Illuminati who intend to establish the New World Order by killing off huge segments of the planet’s population and enslaving the rest.

These are the persons who will be arrested and removed to a location where they can perpetuate no more harm, and for their protection before being brought to trial

Before you stop reading and refuse to take 3 hours of your time to listen to the audio listed below, you need to consider: Do I want to know what is about to happen? Do I as a parent, minister, news reporter, teacher, or citizen want to remain ignorant of what is ready to take place that will impact every phase of my life and that of my family and community?
Much preparation is and has taken place behind the scenes to prepare for the forthcoming mass arrests of top officials of corporations and government.

As you will hear on the audio, the Pentagon had already drawn up The Plan for such an event by around 1979. The legal preparation is in place. Extremely detailed planning has the goal of disrupting the general public and the activities that make up our lives as little as possible. However there will be a few days—hopefully not weeks—in which services may be disrupted.


During the actual mass arrests, a period of up to 72 hours (3 days) will involve the closing of our borders and the shutting off of satellites. This will be required to prevent escape of those to be arrested.

This is the period for which we need to be prepared. We will be given 24 hours notice in advance.
In order to prepare the American people, the Pentagon recently asked a former Vietnam veteran who has been involved in the legal preparations to go on the radio and internet and explain what is about to happen. This veteran is going by the name of ‘Drake’.


(for Drake lovers or detractors, their website for him is incorrect and it's now: http://americannationalmilitia.com/ )


and another interesting one: info. sent to the Hague

http://americannationalmilitia.com/2...-at-the-hague/

[Sabrina]

via Huffington Post 6 July

Barclays Criminal Probe Begins, Experts Speculate Other Banks Involved In Libor Manipulation

As the Libor manipulation scandal at British banking giant Barclays continues to escalate with the launch of a criminal probe, U.S. traders, former regulators and finance executives say other firms likely engaged in such behavior -- and that inquiries could even lead to jail time.

On Friday, U.K. regulators announced that Britain's Serious Fraud Office is launching a criminal investigation into bank manipulation of the key global interest rate known as Libor.

The announcement comes on the heels of Barclays' agreeing in late June to pay $450 million, admitting misconduct in connection with U.S. and U.K. regulators' charges that it had manipulated Libor to its own benefit. Since then the spotlight has been cast on a dozen other banks, with other firms including Bank of America, Citigroup and UBS under scrutiny, as Bloomberg has reported.

Faced with angry questions during a parliamentary inquiry in London on Tuesday, Barclays CEO Robert Diamond added fuel to the speculation that attempts at Libor manipulation were not limited to his institution, suggesting during his testimony that other banks were also involved in similar behavior. Diamond stepped down earlier this week.

A spokesman for Barclays declined to comment for this story.

The criminal probe raises the prospect of jail time for those responsible, said Michael Greenberger, professor at the University of Maryland School of Law and former director of the division of trading and markets at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. "This is not just a civil problem," said Greenberger. "Manipulation ... can mean time spent in jail for those who do it."

And finance industry insiders are betting that Barclays was not the only bank involved in Libor manipulation.

"I don't believe Barclays was the only bank doing it," said Kamal Mustafa, a former Citigroup executive and CEO of Invictus Group. Mustafa added that if Barclays had been the only firm involved, "it would stand out like a sore thumb."

Peter Tchir, founder of TF Market Advisors, a trading strategy platform, agreed. "I assume you’ll find similar activities took place at other banks," he said, adding that he wouldn't recommend buying bank stocks in the short term. "It's become quite clear they're incentivized to make as much money for themselves as possible."

Despite the scandal, some say that it is unlikely traders will sour on the banking sector. "This is going to make me more cautious about investing in banks until this plays out," said Tchir, adding, though, that he thinks the industry will emerge relatively unscathed. "The banks were already not the most popular industry out there," said Dan Alpert, founding managing partner of real estate-focused investment bank Westwood Capital. "So those who were inclined to be cynical have already reflected it in their investing."

But Alpert is skeptical that bank executives will face prison because of the scandal. "There's no question that market manipulation is a very, very serious crime, and it's something we've thrown people into jail for," he said. But "I don't think anyone's going to jail," he added. If they do, "it won't be for a long time."


Well they say we're being softened up for ET disclosure... perhaps we're being softened up for banksters going to jail as well...

[Sabrina]

http://www.businessinsider.com/its-s...-secret-2012-7

6 July

It's Starting To Look Like Romney Has A Dirty Tax Secret

Mitt Romney has so far released only one year of tax returns (2010), plus an estimate for 2011. This stands in stark contrast to his father, Michigan Governor George Romney, who released 12 years of tax returns when he began running for President in 1967. As his father said at the time, "One year could be a fluke." So the questions remain about what is in Romney's older returns.

Two stories this week and last have ratcheted up the pressure. One is a recent web exclusive for "The Last Word with Laurence O'Donnell" where David Cay Johnston has five questions for Romney that can only be answered with his tax returns. The other is a blockbuster story by Nicholas Shaxson (h/t TPM) in the new Vanity Fair on the shadowy world of Romney's tax havens. Together, they put a laser-like focus on the finances of the man who could become our 45th President.

Johnston is a well-known former New York Times reporter, Pulitzer Prize winner, and the author of the major books Perfectly Legal and Free Lunch. If you don't have time to watch his 3:45 video, here are the five questions:

"1. Did you buy any illegal or gray area tax shelters?
"2. Did an IRS audit ever uncover serious problems with any of your tax returns?
"3. Did you make use of offshore vehicles to defer, or avoid paying, federal income taxes?
"4. Did you take advantage of any tax strategies that the IRS did not uncover in audits?
"5. Did you fully tithe to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints every year and take a deduction on your tax return that shows that?"

These are important questions. We know that Governor Romney has had a Swiss bank account, as well as money in other tax havens like the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, Bermuda, and Ireland. Romney's answer to any question about his taxes has basically been, "Trust me." But the guy's running for President, for Pete's sake. He owes us more than that.

full story at link