Massive Bank and High Profile Resignations Across the World [Archive] - Page 5

Sabrina

22nd May 2012, 19:11

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=30944

22 May

FINANCIAL IMPLOSION: Global Derivatives Market at $1,200 Trillion Dollars … 20 Times the World Economy

by Washington’s Blog

Top Derivatives Expert Estimates Size of the Global Derivatives Market at $1,200 Trillion Dollars … 20 Times Larger than the Global Economy

How Large Is the Derivatives Market?

Everyone paying attention knows that the size of the derivatives market dwarfs the global economy. But how big is it really?

For years, there have been rumors that there is over a quadrillion – one thousand trillion – dollars in notional value of outstanding derivatives. But no one really knew.

Even though the Bank of International Settlements regularly publishes tables showing the amounts of different types of derivatives, some of the categories are ambiguous, and so it has been hard to get a good handle on what’s really out there.

For example, one blogger wrote last year:

Estimates of the notional value of the worldwide derivatives market go from $600 trillion all the way up to $1.5 quadrillion.

Smart guys like bond trader Jeffrey Gundlach said last year that we’ve got a quadrillion dollar derivative overhang, the government hasn’t done anything to fix the basic problems in our economy, and so we’ll have another crash.

But I’ve now found an estimate from a top derivatives expert who confirms the claim.

Specifically, Paul Wilmott – who has written numerous books on the subject – estimated the number last year at $1.2 quadrillion:

The… derivatives market … is 20 times the size of the world economy.

According to one of the world’s leading derivatives experts, Paul Wilmott, who holds a doctorate in applied mathematics from Oxford University (and whose speaking voice sounds eerily like John Lennon’s), $1.2 quadrillion is the so-called notional value of the worldwide derivatives market. To put that in perspective, the world’s annual gross domestic product is between $50 trillion and $60 trillion.

A Clear and Present Danger to the World Economy

The size of the derivatives market is a huge threat to the world economy:

One of the biggest risks to the world’s financial health is the $1.2 quadrillion derivatives market. It’s complex, it’s unregulated, and it ought to be of concern to world leaders ….

***

How big is the risk to the world economy from these derivatives? According to Wilmott, it’s impossible to know unless you understand the details of the derivatives contracts. But since they’re unregulated and likely to remain so, it is hard to gauge the risk.

But Wilmott gives an example of an over-the-counter “customized” derivative that could be very risky indeed, and could also put its practitioners in a position of what he called “moral hazard.”

***

Another kind of market conduct that makes markets volatile is what Wilmott calls positive and negative feedback loops. These relatively bland-sounding terms mask some really scary behavior for investors who are not clued into it. Wilmott argues that a positive feedback loop contributed to the 22.6% crash in the Dow back in October 1987.

As we noted last year:

Bloomberg reported in May:

Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management’s emerging markets group, said another financial crisis is inevitable because the causes of the previous one haven’t been resolved.

“There is definitely going to be another financial crisis around the corner because we haven’t solved any of the things that caused the previous crisis,” Mobius said …“Are the derivatives regulated? No. Are you still getting growth in derivatives? Yes.”

***

The global financial crisis three years ago was caused in part by the proliferation of derivative products tied to U.S. home loans that ceased performing, triggering hundreds of billions of dollars in writedowns and leading to the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September 2008.

Credit default swaps were largely responsible for bringing down Bear Stearns, AIG (and see this), WaMu and other mammoth corporations.

And unexpected changes in interest rates could cause a major bloodbath in interest rate derivatives.

And, no, there have not been any reforms or attempts to rein in derivatives, and the Dodd-Frank financial legislation was really just a p.r. stunt which didn’t really change anything.

But the big banks and their minions claim that the huge amounts of derivatives themselves is unimportant because these are only “notional” values, and – after netting – the notional values are deflated to much more modest numbers.

But as [Tyler] Durden – who has a solid background in derivatives – notes:

At this point the economist PhD readers will scream: “this is total BS – after all you have bilateral netting which eliminates net bank exposure almost entirely.” True: that is precisely what the OCC will say too. As the chart below shows, according to the chief regulator of the derivative space in Q2 netting benefits amounted to an almost record 90.8% of gross exposure, so while seemingly massive, those XXX trillion numbers are really quite, quite small… Right?

…Wrong. The problem with bilateral netting is that it is based on one massively flawed assumption, namely that in an orderly collapse all derivative contracts will be honored by the issuing bank (in this case the company that has sold the protection, and which the buyer of protection hopes will offset the protection it in turn has sold). The best example of how the flaw behind bilateral netting almost destroyed the system is AIG: the insurance company was hours away from making trillions of derivative contracts worthless if it were to implode, leaving all those who had bought protection from the firm worthless, a contingency only Goldman hedged by buying protection on AIG. And while the argument can further be extended that in bankruptcy a perfectly netted bankrupt entity would make someone else whole on claims they have written, this is not true, as the bankrupt estate will pursue 100 cent recovery on its claims even under Chapter 11, while claims the estate had written end up as General Unsecured Claims which as Lehman has demonstrated will collect 20 cents on the dollar if they are lucky.

The point of this detour being that if any of these four banks fails, the repercussions would be disastrous. And no, Frank Dodd’s bank “resolution” provision would do absolutely nothing to prevent an epic systemic collapse.

Washington’s Blog is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Washington’s Blog

Sabrina

22nd May 2012, 19:16

Well

Bush and Blair’s Pre-Iraq Conversation Must be Disclosed, UK Tribunal Rules
UK Foreign Office loses appeal against release of extracts from phone call that took place a few days before invasion

By Richard Norton Taylor – The Guardian – May 21, 2012

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/21/bush-blair-pre-iraq-conversation?INTCMP=SRCH

Extracts of a phone conversation between Tony Blair and George Bush a few days before the invasion of Iraq must be disclosed, a tribunal has ruled.

The (UK) Foreign Office lost an appeal against an order by the information commissioner, Christopher Graham, to disclose records of the conversation between the two leaders on 12 March 2003. Graham’s order was made in response to a freedom of information request by Stephen Plowden, a private individual who demanded disclosure of the entire record of the conversation.

“Accountability for the decision to take military action against another country is paramount,” Graham had said in his original order.

Upholding that ruling on Monday, Judge John Angel, president of the information tribunal, said Foreign Office witnesses had downplayed the importance of a decision to go to war, a view the tribunal found “difficult to accept”.

The tribunal added: “Also in our view, particularly from the evidence in this case, the circumstances surrounding a decision by a UK government to go to war with another country is always likely to be of very significant public interest, even more so with the consequences of this war.

”It said parts of the phone call between Blair and Bush recording what the former British Prime Minister said must be disclosed. The two men are believed to have discussed UN resolutions on Iraq and a television interview given by Jacques Chirac, then French president, on 10 March 2003. Blair repeatedly blamed Chirac for the failure to get a second UN security council resolution backing an invasion of Iraq.

Jack Straw, then foreign secretary, claimed in evidence to the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war that Chirac made it clear France would not back a fresh UN resolution “whatever the circumstances”.

Straw added: “I don’t think there was any ambiguity.”

The issue is important because the Blair government claimed Chirac’s interview killed off all hope of a diplomatic solution. Straw’s claims were contradicted by Sir John Holmes, then UK ambassador to France. He told Chilcot that Chirac’s words were “clearly ambiguous”. One interpretation, Holmes said, was that Chirac was simply warning that France would veto a fresh UN resolution at that time as UN weapons inspectors had not been given a proper chance to do their job.

Clare Short, international development secretary at the time, accused Blair in the tribunal hearing of “clearly, deliberately misleading the French position”.

Angus Lapsley, a Foreign Office official responsible for US-UK relations, argued against disclosure on the grounds that Britain had “a uniquely close and privileged relationship with the US”. He added that there was “no comparator” in terms of the “breadth and depth” of the UK’s relationship with the US, which was vital to Britain’s national interests.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office, which has 30 days to disclose the information or appeal, said it was “obviously disappointed by the decision of the tribunal”. He added: “We will want to study the terms of the judgment more closely over the coming days.”

Sabrina

22nd May 2012, 19:43

http://americankabuki.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/remarkable-comments-by-rosanne-barr.html

The Remarkable Comments by Roseanne Barr About the FED, Debt Forgiveness and NATO Wars

Roseanne talks about running for President of the USA. CNN commentator's face is a picture as she talks about wanting a debt jubilee from the banks of the Fed who control everything - and that they are in cahoots with the people who control everything in the world. Good on you Roseanne! She said she'd look at debt forgiveness for US student loans and ask bankers to put patriotism above profits.

Sabrina

22nd May 2012, 19:47

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/exgoldman-man-faces-insider-dealing-charges-7771441.html

22 May

Ex-Goldman man faces insider dealing charges

The great and the good of the Indian business community may be fiercely protesting his innocence on the web and in interviews, but a jury of ordinary New Yorkers will decide the fate of Rajat Gupta, the former Goldman Sachs board member whose trial for insider trading got under way yesterday.

Mr Gupta, right, is the most senior businessman to face charges after a huge sweep of insider trading arrests in the US, and prosecutors signalled they will rely on wiretapped conversations in which he is alleged to have passed on boardroom secrets to the hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, who is already serving 11 years for insider dealing.

Jury selection began in a Manhattan courthouse yesterday, and potential jurors were told the case could last up to a month. Mr Gupta was accompanied to court by his wife, Anita, and their four adult daughters. They heard him described by Assistant US Attorney Reed Brodsky as having "violated his duties and abused his position as a corporate insider".

In its opening statement, the defence said the case against Mr Gupta was "based on speculation, guesswork and suspicion of what might have happened".

Potential witnesses include other Goldman directors, including the chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, and A G Lafley, the former chairman of Procter & Gamble, where Mr Gupta was also a board member.

Mr Blankfein testified last year at the trial of Rajaratnam that Mr Gupta had violated Goldman's ethics policies by passing details of board discussions in 2008. Once, Mr Gupta called Rajaratnam 23 seconds after the end of a board meeting to reveal details about unexpectedly poor quarterly results the bank was about to publish. Galleon, Rajaratnam's hedge fund, sold all of its Goldman shares. Also played at trial was the tape of Rajaratnam grilling Mr Gupta about whether the Goldman board had discussed acquiring the bank Wachovia or an insurance company. "Have you heard anything along that line?" Rajaratnam asked. "Yeah," Mr Gupta responded. "This was a big discussion at the board meeting."

Mr Gupta's arrest last year was an extraordinary reversal for a man with impeccable business credentials. Now 63, he has been in the US since the Seventies. He rose to lead the consulting powerhouse McKinsey as managing director. He has denied the charges.

Sabrina

22nd May 2012, 19:55

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9282027/Japans-credit-rating-cut-by-Fitch-on-debt-fears.html
22 May

Japan's credit rating cut by Fitch on debt fears
Japan's sovereign rating was cut by one notch by Fitch on Tuesday as a political stalemate dims the chance that the country can curb its snowballing debt.

Fitch lowered Japan's long-term foreign currency rating to A plus from AA. It cut the local currency ratings to A plus from AA minus. Both were cut with a negative outlook.

Fitch warned that further downgrades are possible unless the government takes new fiscal policy measures to stabilise public finances and its ratio of debt to gross domestic product.

The yen fell after the move, taking the dollar to a session high of 79.85 yen (63.5p).

The downgrade could serve as a chilling reminder to highly indebted countries in Europe that urgent action is needed to trim public debt and prevent concerns about sovereign debt from weighing further on the global economy.

"The downgrades and negative outlooks reflect growing risks for Japan's sovereign credit profile as a result of high and rising public debt ratios," Andrew Colquhoun, head of Asia-Pacific sovereigns at Fitch said in a statement.

more at link

Earth Angel

22nd May 2012, 23:52

AMAZING job you've done with this thread Sabrina........by tomorrow it will certainly have reached 50,000 views!! Thank you so much for all the work and effort you've put into this for all of us!
:cheer2:

Sabrina

23rd May 2012, 17:35

This is an excellent interview on Red Ice Radio with Ian Crane on the scam of the financial world. He also talks about meetings coming up in Ireland, Manchester and London to educate the public about the sheer criminality of it all. I'll post info. on these under a different link. There's a big awakening going at the moment, and a lot of groups helping get the information out at grass root level. :) S

http://www.redicecreations.com/radio/2012/05/RIR-120520.php

Ian Crane - Hour 1 - Financial Terrorism
May 20, 2012

Ian R Crane is an ex-oilfield executive who now lectures, writes and broadcasts on the geo-political webs that are being spun; with particular focus on US Hegemony and the NWO agenda for control of global resources. Primarily Ian focuses his attention and research on the geopolitical arena but has a deep personal interest in folklore, mythology and the cosmological belief systems of ancient and indigenous cultures. Ian returns to Red Ice to discuss the elite's game plan to destroy the world economy. We'll also discuss the culture of Goldman Sachs, which is focused on locking the masses into a materialistic mindset so they don't remember who they truly are. Ian explains the ultimate drive behind the scenes in this global game of monopoly. Later we talk about Iceland, Russia and Greece. Ian says the days of the private banking system are coming to an end.

Notes on the Red Ice Radio website re: this interview:

Relevant links
ianrcrane.com
alternativeview.co.uk
economichitman.co.uk
uncensoredmag.co.uk
nznaturalmed.co.uk
World’s powers will fake alien invasion at the Olympics closing ceremony to keep us living in fear
`Tectonic' Shift on Wall Street as Lehman Fails, Merrill Sold - "A New Financial World Order"
Is testosterone the new drug of choice on Wall Street? How traders are using male hormone booster shots to maintain a competitive edge
Iceland votes to reject debt slavery, is threatened with reprisals
Goldman Sachs boss says banks do "God's work"
Who got the Bailout Money? Trillions Down the Drain
"Vampire Squid" Goldman Sachs confesses it is being investigated for helping Greece hide its debts
European Stability Mechanism = Debt Slavery
European Stability Mechanism
Illuminati Board Game Predicts Japan Disaster
Guy uses Illuminati card to predict the exact date and hour of the tsunami in Japan
Sonic device deployed in London during Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
ArcelorMittal Orbit

Sabrina

23rd May 2012, 17:57

FINANCIAL TERRORISM EXPOSED conferences coming up in UK and Ireland (as mentioned by Ian Crane on the Red Ice Radio interview as above).

http://www.alternativeview.co.uk/

Dublin - 27 May
Manchester - 2 June
London - 3 June

Any UK Avalonians interested in coming to the London event? It costs - but I reckon this one is worth it. Sab. :)
The Dublin event is five days before the next Irish referendum. The Irish press are invited. Let's see what coverage gets out - but grass roots groups such as Awake in Ireland and One World Scam are supporting the event.

Here's some info. on the Irish referendum. Well the official propaganda version anyway :).

http://www.europeaninstitute.org/March-2012/irish-referendum-on-eu-fiscal-pact-could-cause-complications-35.html

IRISH REFERENDUM ON EU FISCAL PACT COULD CAUSE COMPLICATIONS (3/5)
By Garret Martin

All but two (the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic) of the twenty seven EU member states signed the new fiscal compact on 2 March. This inter-governmental agreement, aiming to prevent a recurrence of the serious debt woes that have plagued Europe, will come into effect once it is ratified by 12 of the 17 states of the Eurozone, as most are expected to do via their respective parliaments.

But a possible fly in the ointment exists because Ireland will put the fiscal pact to a national referendum. Prime Minister Enda Kenny had hoped to avoid a popular vote and proceed with ratification by parliament. But his attorney general ruled that because the pact is an “inter-governmental agreement” and not an EU Treaty, it is not covered by the section of the Irish Constitution that accepts the validity of full-fledged EU treaty obligations.

Ireland will hold a referendum in May or June, under the shadow of the memory that the Irish electorate has twice rejected EU treaties in the past, most recently the Lisbon Treaty in June 2008, before assenting in a second ballot. (referendum is now June).

The fiscal compact will move ahead irrespective of the results of the Irish vote, but a “no” vote would have important economic consequences for Ireland and beyond. Not only could it jeopardize its membership in the Eurozone but, as reported by the BBC, it would also mean that “Dublin would be prevented from accessing the European Stability Mechanism (ESM)” that is due to come into force this summer and will provide substantial assistance to member states threatened by a debt crisis.

Sabrina

23rd May 2012, 18:01

Morning Song has posted an interesting piece about the Swiss Parliament examining a gold franc currency.... can't imagine what excitement and hysteria must be happening behind the scenes - but perhaps the clones don't do excitement..

http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?45507-Swiss-Parliament-Examines---Gold-Franc---Currency-Today--May-22-2012-

Sabrina

25th May 2012, 06:20

This is an interesting one!

Vatican, Italy

Vatican Bank Head Ousted as Holy See Fights Sandal
By Jean-Louis de la Vaissiere (AFP) –

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican Bank ousted its president on Thursday after he failed to clean up the image of an institution that has come to symbolise the opacity and scandal gripping the Holy See's administration.

Ettore Gotti Tedeschi was forced to resign "for failing to carry out duties of primary importance," the Holy See said in a statement.

The president was ousted in the wake of a series of financial scandals as the Vatican tries to clean up its image and put a stop to a leak of documents.

"The board passed a unanimous no-confidence vote against the president... and believes the action is important to maintain the vitality" of the bank, the Vatican said, as internal divisions over transparency came to a head.

Gotti Tedeschi, an expert on financial ethics, was put in charge of the bank -- also known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) -- in 2009, in an effort on the part of the Vatican to rid the institution of scandal.

Moneyval, the Council of Europe's experts on anti-money laundering, is due to rule at the beginning of July on the whether the Holy See has managed to clean up its act and meet international monetary standards.

But the former head of Spanish bank Santander's Italian operations tasked with bringing transparency to the bank came under suspicion in 2010 when he was investigated as part of an inquiry by magistrates into money-laundering.

Gotti Tedeschi, 67, was accused of violating laws set up in 2007 that tightened rules on disclosure of financial operations to the Italian central bank in a bid to stamp out money laundering.

He was more recently also suspected of leaking documents and accused in some quarters of serving his own interests.

The board said it would seek a president who could "help the institute establish efficient and extensive relations between it and the financial community based on mutual respect of accepted international banking standards."

For now, Deputy President Ronaldo Hermann Schmitz will take over the reigns.

Gotti Tedeschi's exit comes at a tense time for the Vatican, which has had to deal over the past months with a series of leaks of sensitive documents and accusations of corruption and fraud splashed over the Italian press.

In the wake of the 2010 scandal -- which saw an Italian court temporarily seize 23 million euros ($33 million) from the IOR -- Pope Benedict XVI created a new financial authority to "prevent and oppose illegal financial activity."

The aim was to get the Vatican on to the "white list" of financially virtuous countries, but internal tensions sprang up after the Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone pushed for the new transparency law to be watered down.

It is not the first time that the IOR, which administers accounts held by religious orders, cardinals, bishops, priests and nuns, has made the headlines.

In 1982 IOR was caught up in one of Italy's biggest fraud cases when Milan's Banco Ambrosiano -- of which it was the main shareholder -- collapsed.

Banco Ambrosiano's chairman Roberto Calvi, known as "God's Banker" because of his ties with the Vatican, was found hanging from a London bridge.

Director of Vatican Bank resigns under pressure
By Alessandro Speciale
Religion News Service, Updated: Thursday, May 24, 3:11 PM

VATICAN CITY — In an unprecedented move, the board of the Vatican Bank on Thursday (May 24) forced its president, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, to resign.

According to a Vatican statement, the bank’s supervisory council unanimously passed a no-confidence motion in Gotti Tedeschi for his “failure to fulfill various primary functions of his office.” Carl A. Anderson, the supreme knight of the U.S.-based Knights of Columbus, is one of the council’s four members.

The Vatican’s chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, declined to give more details on the reasons for the dismissal, but analysts say the move should be read in the context of an internal Vatican struggle over controversial new rules for financial transparency.

Since 2010, Gotti Tedeschi, together with the bank’s director general, Paolo Cipriani, has been under investigation for alleged money laundering.

In the past, the Vatican Bank, which operates under the protection of the Vatican’s status as a sovereign nation, has been often accused of involvement in shady financial operations, such as money laundering for Italian politicians and even mafia bosses.

According to Giuseppe Di Taranto, professor of finance with LUISS University in Rome, in recent years “Pope Benedict XVI has spearheaded an effort to bring more transparency to the Vatican,” seeking its entry into an international list of financially transparent countries.

A key step in this direction was the creation of an independent financial watchdog in December 2010. But according to internal Vatican documents leaked in recent months to the Italian press, the watchdog panel’s effective powers have been at the center of a heated Vatican power struggle.

A senior Vatican source quoted by the Italian news agency ANSA said this so-called “Vatileaks” scandal was one of the reasons that led to Gotti Tedeschi’s ousting.

In a statement, the Vatican Bank — officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion — said it hoped to find a new president who would “rebuild relationships between the Institute and the financial community, based on mutual respect of internationally accepted banking standards.”

A cardinal’s commission overseeing the bank’s activities, headed by the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, will meet tomorrow to discuss the bank’s “future steps.”

An outspoken economist, Gotti Tedeschi had been at the helm of the Vatican Bank since 2009. His provocative analyses of the global economic crisis often appeared in the pages of L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s semiofficial newspaper.

According to Di Taranto, even if the precise reasons for Gotti Tedeschi’s dismissal remain unclear, to comply with European standards “there is a need for a further modernization and restructuring” of the Vatican Bank. “After all, the Vatican is a very rich country.”

May 24, 2012 - 22:10
Vatican bank sacks president in no-confidence vote

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The president of the Vatican bank has been ousted by the board of directors, the Vatican said on Thursday, blaming him for a deterioration in standards of governance.

The board unanimously passed a no-confidence vote in Italian Ettore Gotti Tedeschi for failing to carry out "various fundamentally important functions of his office", the Vatican statement said.

The bank will seek a new president who can "re-establish full and effective relations between the Institute and the financial community, based on mutual respect of internationally accepted banking standards", it said.

The Vatican bank, founded in 1942 by Pope Pius XII, has been in the spotlight since September 2010 when Italian investigators froze 23 million euros ($33 million) of its funds in Italian banks after opening an investigation into possible money-laundering.

Gotti Tedeschi told Reuters that he had been ousted because the bank did not like his honest way of doing things.

"I don't want to speak or give interviews, I have paid for my transparency," he said.

The Vatican recently adopted new financial transparency laws and set up internal regulations to make sure its bank and all other departments adhere to international regulations and standards, and cooperate with foreign authorities.

But in January Italian newspapers published leaked internal letters that appeared to show a conflict among top Vatican officials about just how transparent the bank should be about dealings that took place before it enacted its new laws.

In response to the money-laundering probe the bank, officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion, said it did nothing wrong and was just transferring the funds between its own accounts. The money was released in June 2011, but the investigation is continuing.

In March, the U.S. State Department for the first time put the Vatican on its list of countries considered vulnerable to money laundering.

That decision dealt a blow to the Vatican's bid to be included in the European Commission's "white list" of states which comply with international standards against tax fraud and money-laundering. A decision on its inclusion is expected next month.

(Additional reporting by Paolo Biondi,; writing by Gavin Jones; editing by Pravin Char)

Reuters

Sabrina

25th May 2012, 06:31

Published on Tuesday, May 22, 2012 by Alternet

The Rise of the New Economy Movement
Activists, theorists, organizations and ordinary citizens are rebuilding the American political-economic system from the ground up

by Gar Alperovitz
Just beneath the surface of traditional media attention, something vital has been gathering force and is about to explode into public consciousness. The “New Economy Movement” is a far-ranging coming together of organizations, projects, activists, theorists and ordinary citizens committed to rebuilding the American political-economic system from the ground

interesting initiatives - story at link

Sabrina

25th May 2012, 06:35

Have been feeling that this was a very odd story unfolding.

http://the2012scenario.com/2012/05/facebook-ipo-goes-from-bad-to-court/#more-122212

Facebook IPO: From “In Trouble” to Court

Facebook IPO: From “In Trouble” to Court
Stephen: This whole Facebook IPO is very, very odd. Not even with what is the world’s largest customer base and the world’s most invasive marketing tools has the social networking site been able to fulfill the original public offering price.

The questions keep coming about the concealment of important information by Facebook and the underwriters as shareholders’ losses – which are in the billions – continue to rise. As does their anger and the number of calls they are making to their lawyers…

Facebook, Wall Street Banks Under Fire from Lawmakers and Lawyers
Two US congressional committees said they would conduct preliminary inquiries into Facebook’s IPO, and attorneys filed two separate lawsuits alleging that average investors were misled.

By Jim Puzzanghera and Stuart Pfeifer, Los Angeles Times - May 23, 2012

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-facebook-beseiged-20120524,0,393314,full.story

WASHINGTON — Already grappling with regulatory reviews of its troubled initial public offering, Facebook Inc. and the Wall Street banks that shepherded the deal are now under fire from lawmakers and lawyers.

Two congressional committees said Wednesday that they would conduct preliminary inquiries into the IPO. And attorneys filed two separate lawsuits alleging that average investors were misled in the days before Facebook shares began trading Friday.

“Shareholders suffered billions of dollars in losses,” said Darren Robbins, a partner in the San Diego law firm of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dow, which filed one of the suits. “To have what was perceived as a watershed IPO result in this kind of harm is deeply troubling.”

Facebook has vowed to defend itself vigorously against shareholder suits.

And the Menlo Park, Calif., company reportedly was considering moving its stock listing to the New York Stock Exchange from the Nasdaq Stock Market, whose technical glitches executing trades Friday added to the IPO’s woes.

Facebook shares rose $1 on Wednesday to close at $32, a 3.2% gain. But the shares still were trading well below the IPO price of $38.

A revised revenue forecast issued by Facebook only days before its initial public offering has become a flash point for investors, regulators and lawyers.

Robbins Geller, which recovered $7.2 billion for Enron shareholders in 2008 in the largest-ever class-action settlement, sued on behalf of three Facebook shareholders. It was the most high-profile of at least three suits seeking class-action status filed this week.

The suits alleged that Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and the banks underwriting the IPO concealed crucial information shortly before the social networking company went public.

The Robbins Geller lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, accused the defendants of failing to disclose fully before last Friday’s IPO a revised forecast showing that revenue would not be growing as anticipated because users were moving to mobile devices that can’t display as many ads.

Meanwhile, regulators are examining whether investment banker Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter, selectively informed clients of an analyst’s negative report about the company before the stock started trading.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the self-policing body for the securities industry, said their agencies are looking into the events surrounding the IPO. Rick Ketchum, the head of FINRA, said Tuesday that the question is “a matter of regulatory concern.”

Neither the SEC nor FINRA would provide additional details.

“Until we unwind the facts and circumstances surrounding this situation, it is inappropriate to speculate about what potential violations may have occurred,” a FINRA spokesperson said Wednesday.

The Robbins Geller suit focuses on what it alleged was the failure of the companies to disclose to all investors that Facebook was “experiencing a severe and pronounced reduction in revenue growth due to an increase of users of its Facebook app or website through mobile devices rather than a traditional PC.”

The suit alleges that Facebook had told the lead underwriters of the IPO to reduce their 2012 estimates for the company and that information was “selectively disclosed” to preferred investors and left out of the prospectus and registration statement.

“The notion that the lead underwriters would contemporaneous with a road show and a filing of the registration statement receive information and thereafter materially reduce revenue projections for the very period the IPO occurred is nothing less than shocking,” Robbins said.

“You’re telling one group of folks and giving them access to one thing while people are putting up more than $15 billion worth of cash,” he said. “There’s a reason why you have multiple investigations.”

Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said the company would fight the suit. “We believe the lawsuit is without merit and will defend ourselves vigorously,” he said.

A spokesman for Morgan Stanley, which has taken the most heat for the IPO’s problems, declined to comment on the suit.

But the firm addressed the suit’s main issue in a statement Tuesday, saying its procedures complied “with all applicable regulations.”

Morgan Stanley said that after Facebook released a revised securities filing May 9 “providing additional guidance with respect to business trends,” a copy was forwarded to all of the bank’s institutional and retail investors and “was widely publicized in the press at the time.”

Jill Fisch, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said underwriting an IPO and analyzing its stock are supposed to be separate. But there’s no obligation for analysts to share their conclusions with everyone and often provide better information to their favored clients.

“That’s standard operating practice on Wall Street,” she said. “That’s why analysts provide information to the big institutional investors. Those are the preferred customers.”

Plaintiff attorneys may have a difficult time prevailing in the lawsuit, in part because Facebook’s registration statement disclosed that revenues were down because of customers’ increasing use of mobile devices, said Thomas Hall, who is co-head of litigation at the New York law firm Chadbourne & Parke.

“The issue in the case will be: Was that enough or do they have to make more specific disclosures?” Hall said. “It certainly is not on its face what I would call a very strong case.”

The Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee are both looking into the

Facebook IPO, though neither has started a formal investigation or set hearings, aides said.

“Effective capital markets require transparency and accountability, not one set of rules for insiders and another for the rest of us,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), chairman of the Senate Banking subcommittee on financial institutions and consumer protection.

Brown said the SEC “must fully investigate and take appropriate action if it discovers any violations.”

SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro said Tuesday that there are issues related to the Facebook IPO that the agency needed to look into.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) said his staff is setting up briefings with Facebook, regulators and other stakeholders.

The House Financial Services Committee staff also is gathering information about Facebook’s IPO, said Marisol Garibay, a committee spokesperson.

and

http://www.businessinsider.com/facebooks-bankers-made-100-million-as-they-fought-the-market-on-its-first-day-of-trading-2012-5

Facebook's Bankers Made $100 Million As They Helped The Stock Find Its
Feet

Sabrina

25th May 2012, 06:59

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/why-private-equity-firms-like-bain-really-are-the-worst-of-capitalism-20120523

23 May

Why Private Equity Firms Like Bain Really Are the Worst of Capitalism

career at Bain Capital at the center of his presidential campaign, former buyout artist Mitt Romney has put the private equity industry on trial.

About time.

Romney wants us to believe that critics of private equity are against capitalism. They’re not. They’re against a predatory system created and perpetuated by Wall Street solely to pump its own profits.

Defenders of private equity say firms like Bain, which Romney co-founded in 1984, exist to build businesses, creating jobs and prosperity all the while. "We started Staples, we started the Sports Authority, we started Bright Horizons children centers," Romney said at one of the GOP presidential debates last year. "Heck, we even started a steel mill in a farm field in Indiana. And that steel mill operates today and employs a lot of people."

And Romney also touts Bain's success at taking struggling companies and putting them on a path to profitability. "Sometimes we acquired businesses and tried to turn them around — typically effectively — and created tens of thousands of new jobs," he said at the same debate.

Romney’s whole election pitch turns on the story he tells about his time at Bain, which goes like this: I, Mitt, have a record of building businesses and creating jobs, and what I did for floundering companies, I'll do for the U.S. economy.

There's only one problem with Romney's story: It doesn’t describe most of what private equity firms actually do. The companies Romney holds up as successes – Staples, Sports Authority et al. – were not Bain private equity deals; they were venture capital investments in companies that Bain neither owned nor ran. All well and good: Venture capital is a good thing – essential for funding the growth of new and developing companies. But Romney didn't make his fortune through venture capital; he made it through private equity – and private equity, as President Obama pointed out this week, is a very different proposition. "Their priority is to maximize profits," the president said of PE firms, and "that’s not always going to be good for businesses or communities or workers."

full story at link

Sabrina

25th May 2012, 07:07

From Mass Resignations on Facebook :)

Goldman Sachs has joined Twitter: @GoldmanSachs.

Feel free to use that information however you please.

Sabrina

25th May 2012, 07:13

So predictable ..... :)

25 May UK

Is this the end of free banking? Watchdog calls for a monthly fee for ALL accounts

Bank customers should be charged a monthly fee on current accounts even if they are in credit, according to a finance industry watchdog.

Charges of £15 a month could be applied, allowing a fixed number of cash machine withdrawals, direct debits, standing orders and cheques. Any transactions beyond these caps would attract extra charges.
The idea comes from Andrew Bailey, executive director of the Bank of England and the chief executive-elect of the Government's Prudential Regulatory Authority, set up to police the banks.

He said up-front fees should form part of a radical shake-up of the current system in which the 'myth' of free banking is perpetuated.

He suggested that the fees would replace a regime of back-door charges which banks use to make money from ordinary customers.

The fact that banks pay little or no interest on credit balances in current accounts amounts to a stealth charge.

Separately, customers are stung with high interest rates and penalty charges on credit cards, loans and mortgages.

Mr Bailey suggested one benefit of the fees would be that banks would be less inclined to rip off customers through the mis-selling of products and services such as payment protection insurance.

In a speech to the Westminster Business Forum, he said it would be difficult for banks to introduce monthly charges 'without appearing to collude'.

Consequently, he said, the Government or its agencies may need to take action.
'It may require intervention in the public interest, not least because it is a way to encourage greater competition,' he said. But Labour Treasury spokesman Chris Leslie MP said: 'It's vital that George Osborne's new regulator is on the side of ordinary savers, who trust the banks with their money and allow the banks to use their deposits to make a profit to cover the costs of their accounts.'
Official customer body Consumer Focus said: 'What mustn't happen is that consumers end up with the worst of both worlds – paying for accounts but still enduring unfair charges, opaque products, mis-selling and poor customer service.'

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: 'It's a complete myth that banking is free now – consumers pay more than £9billion a year in fees and lost interest on their accounts.

'The idea that if banks charged more, they would stop trying to mis-sell other financial products is completely unfounded.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2149626/Is-end-free-banking-Watchdog-calls-monthly-fee-ALL-accounts.html#ixzz1vra0e0CS

Sabrina

25th May 2012, 07:17

25 May UK

Hunt, BSkyB and a damning memo to Mr Cameron: Email reveals PM knew Culture Secretary backed Murdoch bid a month before he gave him control

'If we block it our media sector will suffer for years,' Mr Hunt told him

The document also adds James Murdoch was 'furious' with Vince Cable over his handling of the bid
A source close to Mr Hunt said the memo did not mean he couldn't make an independent decision

Jeremy Hunt privately urged David Cameron to back Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB takeover bid just weeks before the Prime Minister put him in charge of ruling on the issue, it emerged last night.
In a bombshell email, the Culture Secretary lavished praise on the £8billion bid.

Mr Hunt said it would allow Mr Murdoch’s son James to create ‘the world’s first multi-platform media operator’ and insisted that if it was blocked the ‘media sector will suffer for years’.

The Premier will now face tough questions over why he gave Mr Hunt responsibility for the bid, despite knowing that he had been privately cheerleading for the Murdochs.

full story at link

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2149438/Hunt-BSkyB-damning-memo-Mr-Cameron-Email-reveals-PM-knew-Culture-Secretary-backed-Murdoch-bid-month-gave-control.html#ixzz1vrbIiYKX

Sabrina

25th May 2012, 07:25

'Contagion' is the buzz word the main stream media and pundits seem to love to be using at the moment in the English speaking world. Mixed messages daily - Greece exiting euro would be a disaster on one hand, and it's inevitable on the other. Churning up deliberate confusion and panic? The planned campaign of the cabal or the inevitable demise of the dysfunctional corrupt old system, before the hidden abundance and free energy gets unveiled? Choose your timeline ladies and gentlemen :).

25 May

Greece WILL leave the eurozone on January 1, 2013': Citigroup boss predicts exit date and warns of 'massive wave of contagion across Europe'

Currency trading bank says Greece's new currency would fall by 60%

European markets relatively stable today despite the dire warning

FTSE-100 up 1.18%; CAC 40 up by 0.85%; DAX up 0.39%
Had plunged yesterday after Bundesbank said Grexit would be better

France and Germany disagree over Eurobonds at six-hour crisis summit

Officials say growth-led French gaining ground on austere-Germans

Nick Clegg to take swipe at those urging for Greece to quit the euro

The euro crashed to a 22-month low yesterday as the European economy took another dramatic turn for the worse.

Figures showed the biggest slump in private sector business across Europe this month for nearly three years.

The dire news sent the euro tumbling against the dollar to $1.25 – its lowest level since July 2010. Against the pound it was worth little more than 80p.

The latest gloom came against a backdrop of a continuing sense of crisis over Greece as Berlin and
Paris remained at loggerheads on what to do, despite the emergency Brussels summit that ended in the early hours of yesterday morning.

This comes as a senior economist at the world's second-largest currency trading bank claims Greece will leave the single currency eurozone on January 1, 2013.

Citigroup's Michael Saunders said Greece's new currency would fall in value immediately by 60 per cent - and unleash a massive, yet manageable, wave of contagion across Europe.
In a note to clients, he said the likelihood of Greece leaving the euro in the next 12 to 24 months was now between 50 to 75 per cent - and assumed there would be a 'Grexit' at the start of next year.
The firm based its case on the belief that Greece would fail to form a government capable of implementing austerity measures after its next set of elections on June 17.

This would 'accentuate' the stalemate between the nation and its creditors.

Mr Saunders said: 'We assume Grexit occurs on January 1, 2013, with Greece staying in the EU and receiving external loan support [to mitigate risks of social unrest and collapse of civil society].
'We expect that Grexit will be followed by a series of policy responses aiming to prevent a domino-style collapse of the banking system and escalating economic disruption.'

The claim came as stock markets across Europe remained stable today despite increased fears of Greece's chaotic exit - and a growing rift between France and Germany on plans to save the single currency.
Markets plunged yesterday after the mighty German Bundesbank warned it would be better to let Greece leave the euro than give its crippled economy any more cash.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2149193/Greece-WILL-leave-eurozone-January-1-2013-Citigroup-boss-predicts-exit-date-warns-massive-wave-contagion-Europe.html#ixzz1vrcLUuf7

Sabrina

25th May 2012, 07:29

25 May

Hong Kong Billionaire Faces Corruption
Charges in Macau

Joseph Lau, the Hong Kong tycoon heading Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd., will face charges in Macau over allegations of bribery and money laundering tied to a land deal.

It’s the latest high-profile corruption case involving a Hong Kong property company. Macau’s lower court rejected Lau’s request to dismiss charges that he or his company offered a bribe to a jailed former official there in connection with a government tender near the island’s Cotai strip, the Journal reported.

“As a result, the case will be remitted to the Court of First Instance of Macau for trial in due course,” Chinese Estates said in a statement (pdf) to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange late Wednesday.

In a later statement (pdf), Lau denied the charges and the company said he will continue his duties as Chinese Estates’ chairman and chief executive.

See more on this story at Corruption Currents

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/05/25/hong-kong-billionaire-faces-corruption-charges-in-macau/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=chinablog

Sabrina

25th May 2012, 07:36

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304065704577424630055781026.html?mod=WSJ_business_whatsNews

J.P. Morgan Unit Made Risky Bets on Firms

The J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. unit whose wrong-way bets on corporate credit cost the bank more than $2 billion includes a group that has invested in financially challenged companies, including LightSquared Inc., the wireless broadband provider that this month filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The investments raise new questions about the risks being taken by the bank's Chief Investment Office, or CIO, which J.P. Morgan has said is tasked primarily with investing excess cash and managing risks for the New York company.

The investing in distressed companies isn't related to the loss-making trading connected to a London employee ...

Wall St Journal 25 May

¤=[Post Update]=¤

24 May 2012 15:17
Chairman of the Syrian National Council Burhan Ghalioun resigned from his post on Thursday.

ISTANBUL

Chairman of the Syrian National Council Burhan Ghalioun resigned from his post on Thursday.

Sources told AA that Ghalioun resigned from his post due to mounting criticisms of his leadership within the Council.
Ghalioun, who was re-elected as chairman of the Council last week, declared his resignation as soon as a replacement was found through elections or consensus.

According to Al Arabiya's website, Ghalioun, who is a professor and lives in Paris, was not new to Syrian uprisings; in fact he returned to the scene in 2011 picking up from where he left off. Ten years ago, he participated in the Damascus Spring, a period of intense political debate after the death of President Hafez al-Assad, in June 2000, and which continued to some degree until autumn 2001, when most of the activities associated with it were suppressed by the government.

The SNC, a 300-member council formed in September 2011 in Istanbul, is a coalition of seven opposition groups.

http://www.aa.com.tr/en/news/53525--s

Sabrina

25th May 2012, 07:39

25 May

Chile Codelco CEO Hernandez to resign, CFO to step in

SANTIAGO – Chile's state copper giant Codelco said on Thursday CEO Diego Hernandez was resigning and would be replaced by CFO Thomas Keller, just as the world's No. 1 copper producer is striving to end a bitter contract dispute with global miner Anglo American.

Codelco told Chile's market regulator Hernandez tendered his resignation, effective June 1, for "personal reasons."

His resignation comes just two days after Codelco announced it had agreed to go back to the negotiating table in a push to end a damaging and increasingly acrimonious dispute with Anglo American over the global miner's operations in the country's central-south region.

Keller, 55, is known as a sharp, accomplished negotiator who was the architect of financing for the plan to buy Anglo's southern Chilean assets, and is close to Hernandez. Keller was also formerly CEO of the world's No. 3 copper mine, Collahuasi, which is partly owned by Anglo.

It was not immediately clear how the management change could play into the dynamic with Anglo.

Codelco and Anglo have been at odds since last October, in a spat over Codelco's long-standing option to buy a minority stake in the coveted Anglo American Sur (AAS) properties, including the flagship Los Bronces mine.

After two months of secret talks in December and January came to nothing, the market had been bracing for a multibillion- dollar, tricontinental legal battle that could drag on for up to five years.

Investors have fretted that a drawn-out battle would damage both Chile and Anglo, proving a dangerous distraction for the London-listed miner's management and one of the largest legal battles to land in Chilean courts.

http://www.miningweekly.com/article/chile-codelco-ceo-hernandez-to-resign-cfo-to-step-in-2012-05-25

Sabrina

25th May 2012, 07:44

25 May

BlackBerry stock falls after sales chief resigns

TORONTO — Shares in Research In Motion Ltd fell more than 3 percent on Thursday morning after the BlackBerry maker said its global sales chief had resigned.

The resignation of Patrick Spence, a 14-year RIM veteran, comes as the Canadian company struggles to sell legacy products and prepares for the make-or-break launch of its new smartphone later this year.

London-based Spence had risen steadily through RIM’s ranks and was widely credited with building strong sales growth in the Middle East and other emerging markets.

“Losing Patrick is undoubtedly a blow to RIM and he is a significant loss to the European operation,” said Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight. “He was a well-liked and committed BlackBerry advocate who was highly regarded both inside and outside the business.”

RIM did not name a replacement or say where Spence was going when it made the announcement late on Wednesday.

Spence was pivotal to the global launch of a range of BlackBerry 7 devices last year and had worked to decentralize RIM’s sales planning so it fit better with regional needs.

His sudden departure was not a shock to some analysts, who said his close ties to RIM’s former co-Chief Executive Jim Balsillie may have left him isolated after Balsillie quit earlier this year over a major strategy disagreement.

more at link
http://www.interaksyon.com/infotech/blackberry-stock-falls-after-sales-chief-resigns

Sabrina

25th May 2012, 07:49

Main stream media seemed to miss this :)

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/05/21/massive-anti-nato-protests-in-chicago/

Thousands of people rallied in Chicago against NATO on the opening day of its Summit meeting.

The massive anti-NATO demonstrations aim to boycott the event. Thousands of peaceful protesters, including peace activists and war veterans, have marched through the second largest city in the U.S. carrying banners against NATO and demanding the dissolution of the Alliance.

Several demonstrations were staged throughout the entire week leading up to the largest protest action of the year for the city, posing a serious challenge to “law enforcement” agents, who responded with arrests and violence.

A huge showdown is expected later, with police already on high alert. Around a dozen activists were arrested on the eve of the gathering – three were charged with conspiracy to cause terror.

more at link and RT coverage

Robert J. Niewiadomski

25th May 2012, 08:23

Vatican bank board fires president, citing neglect of duties

By Catholic News Service
VATICANCITY (CNS) --Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, president of the Vatican bank, was fired May 24 by the bank's board of directors, who censured him for neglecting his duties amid worsening management problems...

Full story at the following link:
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1202168.htm

Sabrina

26th May 2012, 17:28

Another interesting development at the Vatican.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18219390

Vatican leak inquiry: Pope's butler charged

The Pope's butler has been charged in connection with the Vatican's inquiry into a series of media leaks.

Vatican magistrates have named 46-year-old Paolo Gabriele as the suspect in their investigation, saying he illegally took confidential documents.

A series of leaks, dubbed Vatileaks, has revealed alleged corruption, mismanagement and internal conflicts.

Last month, Pope Benedict XVI set up a special commission of cardinals to find the source of the confidential memos.

Mr Gabriele is the pope's personal butler and assistant and one of very few laymen to have access to the Pope's private apartments.

Documents found

He lives with his wife and three children in an apartment within the Vatican walls, where Italian media report that a stash of confidential documents had been discovered.

"I confirm that the person detained on Wednesday for illegal possession of private documents is Mr Paolo Gabriele, who remains in detention," the spokesman for the Holy See, Father Federico Lombardi said, according to Italy's state broadcaster, Rai.

The Vatican's judge, Piero Antonio Bonnet, has been instructed to examine the evidence of the case and to decide whether there is sufficient material to proceed to trial.

Mr Gabriele has nominated two lawyers capable of representing him at a Vatican tribunal, and has met with them.

He would, the Vatican has said, have "all the juridical guarantees foreseen by the criminal code of the State of Vatican City".

As the Vatican has no jail, Mr Gabriele is being held in one of the three so-called "secure rooms" in the offices of the Vatican's tiny police force inside the walled city-state, Reuters reports.

If convicted, he could face a sentence of up to 30 years for illegal possession of documents of a head of state, probably to be served in an Italian prison due to an agreement between Italy and the Vatican, Italian media report.

The Vatileaks scandal has filled Italian media - dominating the columns of Italian newspapers and filling TV programmes and magazines.

'Poison pen' memos

The detention comes during one of the most tumultuous weeks in recent history for the Vatican.

Mr Gabriele had worked as the Pope's personal valet since 2006
Last week a book, entitled His Holiness, was published by an Italian journalist with reproductions of confidential letters and memos between the pope and his personal secretary.

The Vatican called the book "criminal" and vowed to take legal action against the author, publisher, and whoever leaked the documents.

Last Thursday, the president of the Vatican bank - Ettore Gotti Tedeschi - was ousted by the bank's board.

Sources close to the investigation said he too had been found to have leaked documents, though the official reason for his departure was that he had failed to do his job.

Mr Tedeschi himself said the move had been a punishment for his attempt to make the bank more open.

The BBC's David Willey, in Rome, says the leak of a string of highly sensitive internal documents from inside the Vatican's Secretariat of State, including personal letters to Pope Benedict XVI, has been an evident embarrassment to the Pope, prompting the rare investigation.

The leaked documents include a letter to Pope Benedict by the Vatican's current ambassador to Washington alleging cronyism, nepotism and corruption among the administrators of Vatican City.

Others concern "poison pen" memos criticising Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the pope's number two, and the reporting of suspicious payments by the Vatican Bank.

Sabrina

26th May 2012, 17:32

A good way of bringing in more security powers?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/9291493/Theresa-May-well-stop-migrants-if-euro-collapses.html

26 May UK

Theresa May: we'll stop migrants if euro collapses
The Government is drawing up plans for emergency immigration controls to curb an influx of Greeks and other European Union residents if the euro collapses, the Home Secretary discloses today.

In an interview in The Daily Telegraph, Theresa May says “work is ongoing” to restrict European immigration in the event of a financial collapse.
People from throughout the EU, with the exception of new member countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, are able to work anywhere in the single market.
However, there are growing concerns that if Greece was forced to leave the euro, it would effectively go bankrupt and millions could lose their jobs and consider looking for work abroad.

The crisis could spread quickly to other vulnerable countries such as Spain, Ireland and Portugal, although Britain is regarded as a safe haven because it is outside the single currency.

Details of the contingency plan emerged as the euro crisis deepened further yesterday.

Catalonia was forced to turn to the Spanish government for a bail-out and speculation mounted that Bankia, the troubled Spanish bank, would need £15 billion in state support. European markets fell again as the euro dropped in value against other major currencies.
The Home Secretary says that the Government is already “looking at the trends” to determine whether immigration from beleaguered European countries is increasing. While there is no evidence of increased migration at present, she adds that it is “difficult to say how it is going to develop in coming weeks”.
On the subject of whether emergency immigration controls are under consideration, Mrs May says: “It is right that we do some contingency planning on this [and] that is work that is ongoing.”

The introduction of immigration controls within the EU would undermine a key part of the single market. However, it is allowed in “exceptional” circumstances under European law.

Controls are most likely to include restrictions on people seeking to work in Britain, who could be made to apply for visas.

Several European governments introduced temporary immigration controls when countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic joined the EU, to stop an influx of workers. France also threatened to reintroduce passport controls at the Italian border following an influx of Libyan and Tunisian refugees during the Arab Spring.
David Cameron has already said that Britain has made contingency plans to deal with the break-up of the single currency.

They involve preparations to evacuate Britons from Greece if civil disobedience spirals out of control, and for banks to take steps to protect

more in the Telegraph today:

Greece would exit euro by breaking aid deal, Samaras says
Greece will go bankrupt and exit the euro if it pulls out of its loan agreement with international lenders, according to the New Democracy party leader.

and

No German money for Greek 'bottomless pit'

Germany will not "pour money into a bottomless pit" and patience with Greece is growing thin ahead of a new election next month, according to a member of Angela Merkel's cabinet.

and

Lagarde: Greece at 'payback time'

The Greeks have had years of having fun and shirking taxes, but now it is payback time, Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund has warned.

and

Bankia asks for €19bn from Spain's taxpayers
Fears of a Spanish bail-out escalated after its wealthiest region asked the central government to help pay its bills and the country's fourth largest bank asked for a €19bn (£15bn) taxpayer rescue.

Sabrina

27th May 2012, 15:52

http://birdflu666.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/swiss-expert-compares-euro-crisis-to-a-war/#more-5960

Swiss expert compares euro crisis to a war

A leading Swiss financial expert Felix Zulauf has called the euro currency a “fantasy project” and warned that it is bringing “unending suffering to Europe”.

http://www.mmnews.de/index.php/wirtschaft/10116-euro-krise-wirkt-wie-krieg#13379626148141&if_height=80

Zulauf compared the euro crisis to a war, destroying “economic structures, companies and existences” in an interview for the WirtschaftsWoche to be printed on Saturday.

He estimated that Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Spain will leave the eurozone within a year.

He predicted that Greece would leave in the second half of 2012.

The eurozone is under siege from the twin evils of a privatised money system controlled by commercial banks and a loss of competitiveness by many countries due to an inability to devalue, resulting in growing current account deficits and debts to foreign creditors.

Because banks control virtualy the entire money supply in the eurozone, they can create bubbles and busts, takig money out of the system and destroying individuals, companies and countries.

So far no politician and no ECB banker has had the courage to switch the money supply back into public hands. Banks need to return to their original function. They should only be allowed to lend as much money as they have ie have a 100% capital reserve.

Europe’s bloated banking sector has to be nationalised, the debts cancelled and the banks task of creating money as a means of exchange for trade has to be returned to the people.

In addition, eurozone countries need to be allowed to introduce regional parallel currencies or leave the eurozone to devalue and regain competitiveness.

A suggestion by an economist working for Deutsche Bank that Greece should introduce a parallel currency made up of promissory debtors notes is a sick joke.

If the eurozone uses the crisis in the right way, it could spell the end of the private money and the resulting mountain of debt.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://birdflu666.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/austrian-finance-minister-joins-major-front-against-eurobonds/#more-5958

Austrian Finance Minister joins major front against eurobonds

Austria’s ÖVP Finance Minister Maria Fekter has dismissed as “nonsense” French President Francois Hollande’s call for eurobonds in a refreshing show of honesty.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/22/us-eurozone-austria-idUSBRE84L07N20120522

Fekter was rightly criticised for her tough talk about immigrants when she was Interior Minister. She surely will not be criticised for her tough talk about eurobonds by anyone who is clued in on what eurobonds really mean.

Eurobonds spell the total destruction of the value of the pensions and salaries and money of everyone in the eurozone by means of hyperinflation engineered to pay the interest on the growing national bankster debt.

Fekter is one of the few finance ministers in the eurozone who has managed so far to avert a disastrous meltdown of state finances and the social fabric by a judicious mix of cuts in the bloated public sector, tax cuts to stimulate demand and also by sharing the burden of the cuts fairly evenly on all sectors of society.

On the back of a new package of measures to improve democracy and transparency, the ÖVP is sure to gain support. The ÖVP has also tried to tackle the mafia in their own party – unlike other parties.

But not even Fekter using all her skills will be able to find a long term solution to the growing debt problems of the eurozone caused by a privatised money supply and a loss of competitiveness.

The only people supporting eurobonds are the UK government, the European Commission and the EU Parliamentary President, France and Belgium.

The way the UK government has aligned itself with eurobonds and plans for a fascist central euro government raises significant questions about the UK’s government’s commitment to democracy.

Every other country in the eurozone from Sweden to Bulgaria opposes eurobonds. Even the German SPD has recognised that eurobonds are financial weapons of mass destruction.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pointed out yet again that eurobonds are illegal and the path to a „debt union“ is fatal in comments reported by the New York Times.

„Conservative German state politicians from Ms. Merkel’s bloc put out a statement on Tuesday rejecting euro bonds, calling them “the fatal path to debt union.” When Germany’s constitutional court signed off on the euro zone bailout fund in September, it also appeared to rule out taking on collective debt.

In her public comments on euro bonds, Ms. Merkel has not completely dismissed them as a potential long-term solution. But a senior German official said that there was “no legal basis” for euro bonds and that they were “explicitly forbidden” by European Union treaties.“

[…] say that euro bonds might address the problem for a few years, but that eventually the overall indebtedness of the bloc would reach unsustainable levels, and the smaller states would pull Germany under with them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/world/europe/search-shifts-for-euro-zone-relief.html

Even the Netherlands come down firmly against eurobonds, reports The Guardian.

The Netherlands’ caretaker prime minister Mark Rutte has said he would continue to block eurobonds even if Germany changed its mind. He told reporters:

Sabrina

27th May 2012, 15:56

http://birdflu666.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/frankfurt-bankster-protest-attracts-30000/#more-5932

FRANKFURT BANKSTER PROTEST ATTRACTS 30,000

Frankfurt, Germany’s bank capital, was put under police lockdown last Saturday to stop demonstrations against the bankster bailouts.

In the end, only one march organised by an umbrella group Blockupy Frankfurt was allowed to protest the commercial banks and ECB’s loan sharking operations.

http://blockupy-frankfurt.org/

The march attracted more than 30,000 people. In spite of harrassment by police provocateurs, the demonstration went off peacefully.

Youtube clips show the cars of protestors transporting copies of the German Constitutional law guaranteeing the right to free assembly and speech being stopped and searched by the police.

5ebC8_q0zCM

The march is a sign of the growing anger in Germany at the debt slave policies of the government.

Sabrina

27th May 2012, 16:36

UK main stream media on the eurozone problems;

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9293101/Greece-will-run-out-of-money-by-end-of-June-warns-former-PM-Lucas-Papademos.html

27 May

Greece will run out of money by end of June, warns former PM Lucas Papademos
Former Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos has reportedly warned that Greece may run out of money by the end of June if international bailout funds are cut off following next month's election.

full story at link

and

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9292511/Lloyds-of-London-preparing-for-euro-collapse.html

Lloyd's of London preparing for euro collapse
The chief executive of the multi-billion pound Lloyd's of London has publicly admitted that the world's leading insurance market is prepared for a collapse in the single currency and has reduced its exposure "as much as possible" to the crisis-ridden continent.

full story at link

and

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/9293270/Europes-Maquina-Infernal-has-crippled-Spain.html

Europe's Maquina Infernal has crippled Spain
Spain is spiralling into the vortex of debt-deflation. This has nothing to do with Greece. It is not the result of fiscal extravagance over the past decade, or other such Wagnerian myths.

The country’s collapse is the mathematically certain - and widely predicted - result of ferocious monetary and fiscal contraction on an economy struggling to deal with a housing bust.

Monetary tightening by the European Central Bank caused Spanish real M1 deposits to fall at an 8pc rate in mid-to-late 2011, guaranteeing the crash into double-dip recession that we now see.

full story at link

and

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/markets/article-2150417/Bank-England-governor-Sir-Mervyn-King-hosts-euro-crisis-summit.html

Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King hosts secretive summit on euro crisis

London will this week host a private global summit on the world financial crisis amid mounting pressure on eurozone economies.

No agenda has been published and there will be no communique issued afterwards.

‘It is a private, off-the-record meeting,’ said a source.

In the past two days, Spain’s fourth biggest lender, Bankia, said it needed a 19 billion euros (£15 billion) bailout and the prosperous region of Catalonia warned that it needed more funding from Madrid.

The yield on Spanish government bonds – the government’s likely cost of borrowing – jumped to 6.3 per cent, a figure widely regarded as unsustainable.
The summit will be dominated by central bankers including the host, Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England. Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, and Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People’s Bank of China, have been invited.

The eurozone is paralysed as it awaits the outcome of elections in Greece on June 17.

The left-wing Syriza party is leading in the polls and is pledged to reject austerity.Hawks led by Germany insist that Greece must stand by the cuts programme if it is to keep receiving bailout money. Greece might have to exit from the euro.

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, also struck a uncompromising stance this weekend, saying she had little sympathy for Greeks who did not pay their taxes and said the country needed to stick to its austerity package.

Meanwhile, banknote printer De La Rue releases full-year results on Tuesday. Its shares have jumped as Greece may soon need drachmas.

Sabrina

28th May 2012, 21:37

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18235660

28 May

TNK-BP chief executive Mikhail Fridman to resign

The boss of TNK-BP, the Russian oil group half owned by the UK's BP, is to resign.

BP said Mikhail Fridman, TNK-BP's chief executive, would be stepping down in 30 days "for personal reasons".

TNP-BP is a joint venture between BP and Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR), a group of Russian billionaires that includes Mr Fridman.

Some commentators have suggested that the news marks a further deterioration in the relationship between BP and AAR.

Last year, BP had to abandon plans to form another joint venture with rival Russian oil firm Rosneft after AAR launched a legal challenge.

BP said Mr Fridman's departure would have no impact on TNK-BP because his role had "largely been ceremonial".

Sabrina

28th May 2012, 21:43

Trxs-ypR804

28 May

Tony Blair gets worries as a protester manages to get past security and accuse Tony Blair of war crimes at the Leveson inquiry. (London)

Recorded from Sky News, 28 May 2012.

Sabrina

28th May 2012, 22:05

http://www.cnbc.com/id/47591170
28 May

RIM's top lawyer joins parade of resignations

TORONTO, May 28 (Reuters) - The top lawyer at Research In Motion Ltd has resigned and will soon leave the struggling BlackBerry maker, RIM said on Monday, joining a parade of long-time company executives to depart since Thorsten Heins took over as CEO earlier this year.

The loss of Chief Legal Officer Karima Bawa - who litigated numerous patent disputes and helped write many of RIM's commercial deals - follows the resignation of RIM's head of global sales, Patrick Spence, last week.

RIM said Bawa was in discussion with RIM about her intention to retire for some time, and planned to stay on to support the hiring and transition of a replacement.

Sabrina

28th May 2012, 22:08

Great Western Minerals Group Announces Russell Grant Resignation
SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN -- (Marketwire) -- 05/28/12 -- Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. ("GWMG" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: GWG) (OTCQX: GWMGF) today announced the resignation of Russell Grant as Senior Vice-President, Business Development and as a Director of the Company.

Mr. Grant has served as Senior Vice-President, Business Development and as a Director since April 2010 during which time he has been responsible for initiatives that included the establishment of GWMG's joint venture agreement with Ganzhou Qiandong Rare Earth Group Ltd. and commercial development opportunities.

Sabrina

28th May 2012, 22:16

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/commodities/9296368/Sir-Richard-Needham-quits-Lonrho-board-after-bust-up-with-chairman.html

28 May UK

Sir Richard Needham quits Lonrho board after bust-up with chairman

Former trade minister Sir Richard Needham has quit the board of Lonrho on the eve of tomorrow's AGM after a blistering row over pay and corporate governance at the Africa-focused group.

Sir Richard resigned his non-executive post after a bust-up with executive chairman David Lenigas over a proposed hike in his annual salary from £500,000 to £750,000.
In his resignation letter, he said that under Mr Lenigas’s leadership the company risked again being “dubbed an unacceptable face of capitalism”.

Sir Richard said that he had only been told of the planned salary increase at a board meeting in April and informed by Mr Lenigas that he was expected to approve it immediately because “the accounts are going to the printers in three hours”.

He objected to the “massive increase” for running a “FTSE small cap company”, valued at £160m. But he reluctantly signed off the accounts after forcing Mr Lenigas to cut his pay rise by £50,000 and take it as £550,000 basic pay, on which his bonus is calculated, and a £150,000 pension top-up. Proposed rises for other directors were also cut.

full story at link

Sabrina

28th May 2012, 22:22

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/news-international-tried-to-blackmail-select-committee-7792687.html

28 May UK

News International 'tried to blackmail select committee'

Met told to investigate claim that MPs were targeted to gather dirt for intimidation plot that was ordered from outside the newsroom

Detectives carrying out the multimillion-pound investigation into illegal newsgathering techniques at Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper group have been asked to investigate whether it attempted to blackmail politicians.

The alleged plot centres on News International's apparent efforts to warn off MPs on a parliamentary committee from disproving its discredited defence that phone hacking was the work of a single "rogue reporter".

According to the former senior News of the World journalist Neville Thurlbeck, News International ordered the Sunday paper's reporters to scour the private lives of MPs on the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee in 2009. At the time, Mr Murdoch's company was mounting what it now admits was a mistakenly "aggressive" response to allegations that the interception of voicemail messages was rife at its headquarters in Wapping, east London. On the advice of the parliamentary authorities, the Labour MP Tom Watson has now asked the Metropolitan Police to investigate the allegation.

According to Mr Thurlbeck, reporters were told by those in "deepcarpetland" to obtain evidence of affairs or gay relationships. The aim, he claimed, was to "to find as much embarrassing sleaze on as many members as possible in order to blackmail them into backing off from its highly forensic inquiry into phone hacking". In a letter – a copy of which has been obtained by The Independent – to the Deputy Assistant Commissioner leading the Met's inquiries into News International, Sue Akers, Mr Watson wrote: "If these allegations are found to be true, it suggests there was a conspiracy to blackmail."

Mr Watson, a member of the committee put under surveillance by News International, said: "I have evidence that I was put under covert surveillance in September 2009 by the private investigator Derek Webb, as well as Mazher Mahmood and an accomplice. Mr Thurlbeck may not be aware of this. I would, therefore, urge you to investigate Mr Thurlbeck's claims in order to establish whether any offence was committed."

The Met launched an inquiry into alleged computer hacking at The Times earlier this year in response to a letter from Mr Watson. Yesterday the Met said it was unable to comment on the MP's latest request. The Leveson Inquiry – where former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair will appear today – has been investigating the power wielded behind the scenes by News International. While blackmail would be a significant deepening of the criminal inquiries enveloping NI, former News of the World reporters have spoken in the past about their use of "leverage" to secure the co-operation of people about whom the paper had embarrassing information.

Mr Thurlbeck, the former chief reporter, disclosed the alleged operation against MPs in comments to Mr Watson that the MP included in his co-authored book, Dial M for Murdoch. Mr Thurlbeck said that an "edict" had been passed to reporters to "find out every single thing you can about every single [committee] member: who was gay, who had affairs, anything we can use."

In the New Statesman this month, he added that the NOTW's journalists had been so concerned about the exercise that they did not carry it out, but went further than he had previously about its intent. He wrote: "At the height of the hacking scandal, News of the World reporters were dispatched round the clock... the objective was to find as much embarrassing sleaze on as many members as possible in order to blackmail them into backing off from its highly forensic inquiry into phone hacking."

In his letter to Ms Akers, dated 9 May, Mr Watson wrote: "I think it is important that I write to make you aware of new information published by Neville Thurlbeck.... The comments concern the blackmail of members of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, and will be of interest to you given Mr Thurlbeck's previous arrests."

Mr Thurlbeck, arrested on suspicion of phone hacking, remains on police bail. News International made no comment on Mr Watson's letter.

Sabrina

28th May 2012, 22:32

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Vatican-s-Fake-Occupy-by-Rev-Dan-Vojir-120527-850.html

The Vatican's Fake Occupy Implodes: Documents Evoke A History Of Money Laundering, Sexual Terrorism, And Even ... Murder

THE BUTLER DID NOT DO IT

A tell-all book, leaked documents, billions in favorable contracts, money laundering, sexual terrorism ... and possibly murder. With St. Peter's in the background, it all sounds like a Dan Brown thriller. But in this mystery, the butler did not do it. At least not to the extent that a papal investigation would have it.

Paolo Gabriele, 46, who has worked as Benedict's butler since 2006, was reportedly taken into custody after investigators found a mass of documents in the Vatican apartment he shares with his wife and three children.
The arrest comes a month after the Vatican gave an investigative team led by Cardinal Julian Herranz, a member of Opus dei, a full "pontifical mandate" to join Vatican police in rooting out the perpetrators of what has been dubbed Vatileaks.

Gabriele is now languishing in a Vatican prison cell (yes, the Vatican does have a prison) and for now it seems that his only crime was the same as that of Pvt. Bradley Manning (wikileaks) - leaking the juiciest anti-Vatican documents in history.

Sources close to Gabriele, however, say that he would not have masterminded a leak and that his possession of the documents proves very little: no motive has been proffered and apparently no money was offered for the documents.

MONEY FIRST

The documents show how contracts were awarded to favoured companies and individuals and also highlight allegations of internal power struggles with the Vatican's bank known as the Institute for Religious Works.

In a chaotic mire of firings, leaked documents and sordid stories, one thing stands out: an attempt at looking transparent has failed. From Yahoo News :

The Vatican in July will learn if it has complied with the financial transparency criteria of a Council of Europe committee, Moneyval -- a key step in its efforts to get on the so-called "white list" of countries that share financial information to fight tax evasion.

As was reported in OpEdNews last October, the Vatican issued a statement entitled: TOWARDS REFORMING THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL AND MONETARY SYSTEMS IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL PUBLIC AUTHORITY . The gist of the memo endeared the Vatican to the hearts of the OWS movement, but was seen by many to be just another attempt to gloss over the latest money-laundering scandal (fined $30 million by the Italian government).

HIS HOLINESS - One Helluva Read

The book, which was described as criminal by the Vatican, alleged that the editor of the Vatican's newspaper started a gay smear campaign against a rival editor, with the help of a newspaper owned by the Berlusconi family.

Letters depict collusion between the Berlusconi government and the Vatican over how to avoid EU pressure to make the Catholic church pay tax on its properties.

With previously leaked documents, journalist Gianluihi Nuzzi wrote a book in 2009 entitled Vatican SpA, and his latest work, His Holiness, uses even more, including some of the documents found in the home of Gabriele. In it, "hypocrisy within the Vatican goes unchallenged and scandals multiply", in-fighting, smear campaigns and the pope's personal correspondence with the head of the Vatican bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi all highlight the almost innate corruption holding sway in the Vatican for years.

MURDERS IN THE RUE VATICANE

The leaked documents have brought to light old scandals and conspiracy theories as well: The Vatican bank, The Institute for Religious Works, has been embroiled in intrigue and nefarious doings as far back as 1978, when Banco Ambrosiano became steeped in scandal, resulting in the loss of over $350 million.

Three suspicious deaths are connected with the demise of the Banco Ambrosiano: Roberto Calvi , Chairman of the bank, Graziella Corrocher, his private secretary, and ... Pope John Paul I. Roberto Calvi was found hung under a London Bridge a victim of foul play (not suicide). Graziella Corrocher's death was an apparent suicide, but suspiciously close to Calvi's death. John Paul's death is now worthy of a Dan Brown thriller: his cause of death has never been satisfactorily explained, and, against custom, his body did not undergo an autopsy.

All this would be old news except for Ratzinger's (Benedict's) involvement in spin and cover-up: one of the most vocal clerics against the papacy (especially in regards to its infallibility) has been Hans Kung, who's proximity to John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul I concerned the papacy enough to have him barred from teaching theology at the University of Tubingen. As then-head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (ancestor to the old Inquisition), Ratzinger continued the disbarment.*

WHAT HAPPENS IN ROME, STAYS IN ROME

And what the pope knows is at the crux of the matter: the portrait of a clueless, doddering old man certainly does not fit Benedict. His obvious cover-up of pedophile priests , first in Munich as archbishop, then as head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, showed a man used to secrecy and intrigue. His experience with clandestine affairs did not stop when elected pope: in order to maintain secrecy, a man of his stature must know everything there is to be secret about.

So it seems that Benedict XVI has had a history of cover-ups and his papacy has hidden financial abuse, sexual abuse and maybe even murder, but will the latest scandal hurt the papacy? Will the"criminal" book, His Holiness, make an 1800 year-old institution come crashing down around his Prada-clad feet?

Hardly. But stay tuned, just in case.

*Even though Kung and Ratzinger had been friends. Kung was instrumental in getting Ratzinger the position.

Sabrina

29th May 2012, 09:20

More on the protester and Tony Blair - London

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/may/28/blair-protester-target-pm-again

28 May

Blair protester vows to target former PM again
Exclusive: David Lawley-Wakelin talks to the Guardian about bursting into the Leveson inquiry and calling Tony Blair a 'war criminal'

The activist who burst into the Leveson inquiry to shout at Tony Blair as the former prime minister gave evidence had barely planned the protest and made his way into the courtroom unchallenged via a back staircase, he has told the Guardian.

David Lawley-Wakelin, a film-maker and teacher of film, who has made a documentary about the Iraq war, said he had now been released by police without charge or even a caution.

He disrupted proceedings on Monday when he emerged through a rear door to shout: "Excuse me. This man should be arrested for war crimes." The 49-year-old then made allegations about Blair being "paid off" by JP Morgan for his role in the conflict, yelling: "The man is a war criminal," before he was dragged away. Blair immediately denied the allegations.

Lord Justice Leveson apologised to Blair and ordered an investigation into how the intruder gained access to court 73 at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Lawley-Wakelin said he had read about Blair's appearance before Leveson only on Sunday and set off for the courts from his west London home on Monday morning with no idea at all how he might get in.

full story at link[COLOR="red"]

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Well that's one way of provoking the Greeks into wanting to leave the euro...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/28/christine-lagarde-greek-comments-fury

28 May

Christine Lagarde's Greek comments provoke fury

IMF chief rounded on by country's political establishment after her description of Greeks as rampant tax-dodgers

story at link

Sabrina

29th May 2012, 09:27

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/taiwans-finance-minister-resigns-over-controversial-tax/520803
29 May

Taiwan’s Finance Minister Resigns Over Controversial Tax

Taiwan’s finance minister said Tuesday she would resign over a controversial plan to impose a capital gains tax on the trading of stocks, bonds and derivative products.

Christina Liu said in a brief statement she had tendered her resignation because she did not agree with a new version of the tax bill being proposed by the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party.

“The finance ministry proposed the tax out of fairness and justice ... but those who make huge profits from the stock market still don’t have to pay taxes under the [KMT] bill,” she said.

Liu has said that the plan was meant to increase government revenues and promote “social justice” but it has sparked growing concerns and criticism from investors as the stock market fell.

At present investors only pay a 0.3 percent transaction tax while trading on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
full story at link

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Rashdan resigns from MAS
Posted on 29 May 2012
sunbiz@thesundaily.com

PETALING JAYA (May 29, 2012): Malaysian Airline System Bhd's (MAS) executive director and deputy CEO Mohammed Rashdan Mohd Yusof is believed to have resigned from his posts, nine months after being appointed to the national air carrier.

It is learnt that he submitted his resignation letter to MAS chairman Tan Sri Md Nor Yusof yesterday afternoon.

His resignation came after MAS' major shareholder Khazanah Nasional Bhd announced early this month that the share-swap deal between the national airline and AirAsia Bhd had been called off, eight months after its signing in August 2011, following heavy political and union pressure.

During his short stint in MAS, Rashdan was in charge of short-haul operations, commercial, finance, corporate finance and strategic procurement units. This includes the purchase of aircraft.

Sabrina

29th May 2012, 09:31

More on BP and the joint Russian venture resignation

BP's Russia operations in turmoil as CEO resigns

MOSCOW
Tuesday, May 29, 2012

RUSSIAN billionaire Mikhail Fridman (pictured) yesterday resigned as chief of BP's Russian joint venture in a surprise decision that threw one of the British giant's most profitable operations into turmoil.

The tycoon's departure as TNK-BP boss came just seven months after he had been confirmed to the post for two years following a bruising board battle between the venture's local and British partners.

That strife had already forced BP to abandon its historic Arctic tie-up with the Russian state champion Rosneft and brought shareholder calls for the resignation of group's US chief Bob Dudley.

But Fridman's confirmation by both the firm's local and British owners appeared to put the dispute behind them and set Russia's number three oil firm on an even footing.

TNK-BP kept its announcement of Fridman's resignation to just a few terse sentences that failed to explain his logic or the company's immediate plans.

"Mikhail Fridman has submitted a letter of resignation to TNK-BP Ltd's board of directors, notifying his resignation from the position of chief executive officer of the TNK-BP Group."

TNK-BP has had a turbulent history that reflects the trouble Western majors have had in making progress under the tough rules imposed during the 12-year domination of President Vladimir Putin.

The firm is a cash cow that pays BP billions of dollars in dividends every year and is is responsible for about a quarter of the parent company's current output.

But it also represents an incessant headache for BP because of both management wrangling and concerns over Russia's plans to establish still further control over the energy industry at the expense of private players.

Fridman's resignation from TNK-BP came just a week after Putin's old energy czar and close confident Igor Sechin was put back in charge of Rosneft after holding a top ministerial post.

His placement was followed by a quick flood of Russian press reports about Kremlin plans to consolidate the energy industry around Rosneft and possibly make it into an oil and gas super-giant that would essentially resemble a Soviet-era ministry. "Speculation has inevitably emerged that we may again be heading in the direction previously talked about to create an umbrella holding company in the energy sector... into which the state is more likely to inject its various existing holdings," said Chris Weafer of Troika Dialogue. AFP

Sabrina

29th May 2012, 09:38

msm contagion buzz word now changed to euro collapse :)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9296628/Bank-of-England-prepares-plans-for-euro-collapse.html
29 May UK

Bank of England prepares plans for euro collapse

The Bank of England is poised to cut interest rates or launch another round of quantitative easing if the euro collapses, it emerged on Monday.

A senior official for the Bank said the measures would "again play [their] part in mitigating the impact" of Greece or other countries leaving the single currency.

The comments come after the head of the IMF suggested last week that British interest rates may have to be cut to zero if the economic situation deteriorates.

The Bank has already completed a quantitative easing programme, effectively printing more money worth £325billion and this may be extended again.

Yesterday, David Cameron hosted a meeting with Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank; Lord Turner, the chairman of the Financial Services Authority; and the Chancellor, to discuss contingency plans to deal with the collapse of the euro.

There is growing speculation that Greece may be forced out of the euro following new elections next month, if a coalition government cannot be formed that will back austerity measures.

In Britain, ministers have already overseen extensive contingency planning to prepare for the possible impact of the break–up of the euro. This extends from asking banks to insure their holdings in Greece to considering new border controls to prevent a wave of immigration from beleaguered European economies.

A disorderly eurozone break–up could spark another deep recession comparable to that caused by the banking crisis.
Yesterday, Dr Ben Broadbent, a member of the Bank's monetary policy committee and former Treasury adviser, said that the Bank was ready to intervene.

He said: "Were the still unlikely worst case risks in the euro area actually to be realised, then our own monetary policy would again play its part in mitigating the impact."

But he added: "While they are both necessary and effective, these domestic interventions have their limits. It remains the case that, for the time being at least, the most important policy decisions affecting the UK are being taken in other parts of the continent.
"Fears have increased of a rare but bad economic outcome. These heightened fears may already have been affecting the growth of UK activity, investment and productivity for some time."

The economist also indicated that the financial markets may already be overreacting to events in Europe.

"Markets and businesses possess 'animal spirits' and can overreact to events," Dr Broadbent said. "They may have done so again."
Yesterday, the Greek government announced another €18 billion (£14.4 billion) of funding for the country's beleaguered banks. The Spanish government reiterated assurances that it did not require an international bail–out, despite this now being seen as inevitable by many financial experts

Sabrina

29th May 2012, 14:55

http://whatonearth2012.ning.com/profiles/blogs/how-to-fix-the-fed-dismiss-dimon-boot-the-bankers-and-can-the-cor

How to Fix the Fed: Dismiss Dimon, Boot the Bankers, and Can the Corporations | NationofChange

Posted by Debbie DuBois

people are calling for Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, to resign from the Board of the New York Federal Reserve.

His latest scandal, combined with Dimon's hypocrisy and relentless self-promotion, make him an obvious target. But Dimon isn't alone. Bankers dominate the Fed at the regional and national levels, and most of the other outside seats are held by executives from large corporations. (Remember Herman Cain?)

Should Dimon resign? They all should.

The Board Member With No Name

The scary thing is that Dimon may not be the Fed's most inappropriate board member. That honor may belong to the individual I call the Board Member With No Name. (I don't to want inflame the situation by identifying her, and what she represents is more important than who she is.)

Shouldn't a résumé that includes being the top bank lobbyist and working for the firm that laundered a third of a billion dollars for Mexican drug cartels disqualify someone from serving at the Fed?

Before she became the banking industry's chief lobbyist, the Board Member With No Name was an executive at scandal-plagued Wachovia Bank, an institution whose egregious mismanagement led to its collapse and a government rescue. Wachovia's many scandals and crimes included: deceptively packaging its toxic subprime mortgage backed securities; rigging municipal bond bids, which led to a$148 million fine; and, worst of all, laundering $378 billion in drug money for the Mexican cartels that have murdered at least 60,000 people.

The legislators who passed the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 couldn't have imagined that someday one of its governors would come from a firm that was buste,d when its laundered money was used to buy a drug-smuggling plane in Sinaloa.

Banks are large organizations, and it's unlikely that the Board Member even knew about the wrongdoing. She looks like a very nice person - and she probably is. But her background hardly qualifies her for a position of public trust. After all, she's only two or three degrees of Kevin Bacon away from cartel bosses like "El Loco," who leads a group of deserters from the Mexican Army's Special Forces known as "Los Zetas."

Coincidentally, El Loco was arrested this week for beheading 49 people and dumping their bodies in the town square.

The drug cartels have been called "vicious," "evil," and "sociopathic." At Wachovia they were also called "preferred clients."

Conflicted

The New York Fed is the most powerful of all the regions - understandably, since it includes Wall Street. Dimon's one of three bankers on its board. One of the others is from a bank which still owed the government nearly $1 billion in TARP money as of last report. The corporate world is represented by the CEOs of a technology venture capital firm, an HMO, and the company which owns Macy's and Bloomingdale's (who's actually said to be a good guy.)

The Richmond Fed's bank representatives include the leaders of First Citizens Bancshares and CommerceFirst bank, as well as the managing partner of a Charleston law firm who specializes in labor and employment law (judging from his resume he defends corporations). There are also executives from an oil company, a big construction company, and an aerospace manufacturer. The Seattle board includes executives from Wells Fargo Bank (Wachovia's new parent) and Boeing.

And so it goes ...

Other banks and corporations represented at the regional or branch level include Bank of America, Boyd Gaming, Shorenstein Properties, Dow Chemical, Nissan, AutoNation, USAA, IBM, Southwest, JC Penney, USG, Nissan, along with energy and lumber companies and some of the legal and accounting firms that serve the country's megabanks.

Of nearly 250 Board members for the Fed's regions and branches, I was able to identify only three union representatives (from the AFL-CIO), one or two pension fund representatives (pension funds have been robbed blind by the big banks), and one member of a housing coalition. The Fed's boards have become more exclusive than a country club - and a lot more powerful.

Federal Case

Why do we even have a Federal Reserve? There are people - mostly libertarians of the Ron Paul school - who think it should be abolished. They're wrong. We need a central bank. The financial crises which peppered our early history proved the need for a secure dollar backed by the "full faith and credit" of the United States government.

Panics like the one that led to William Jennings Bryan's famous "Cross of Gold" speech were led by speculators who became wealthy at the expense of working people and farmers. Back in the 19th Century many banks issued their own dollars, leaving both buyers and sellers unsure of their value from day to day. Anybody who had been holding "Lehman Brothers dollars" would be out of luck today.

So the question isn't whether we need a central bank: We do. The question is, Why is it dominated by the people who have already ruined the economy once - and who have a clear conflict of interest?

The World's Biggest ATM

Give a bunch of bankers access to the world's biggest ATM and look what happens: As Bloomberg News reported last August, "Wall Street's aristocracy got $1.2 trillion in secret loans" from the Federal Reserve.

What the Federal Reserve hasn't done is carry out its mission, which the Fed's own "Purposes and Functions" document describes as:

· Conducting the nation's monetary policy by influencing the monetary and credit conditions in the economy in pursuit of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates

· Supervising and regulating banking institutions to ensure the safety and soundness of the nation's banking and financial system and to protect the credit rights of consumers

· Maintaining the stability of the financial system and containing systemic risk that may arise in financial markets

· Providing financial services to depository institutions, the U.S. government, and foreign official institutions ...

When it comes to that last bullet point the Fed's knocked it out of the park, especially for the banks. The other goals? Not so much.

NationofChange is a 501(c)3 nonprofit funded directly by our reader...
Scoring the Fed

Let's rate the Federal Reserve according to the parameters it set out for itself:

· "Maximum employment": Thanks to the Fed, banks have had access to free or very-low-cost money, which they've used to make money on Treasuries and other safe investments. But they haven't been lending it to the consumers and small businesses who are the engines of job growth.

· "Stable prices": Gas prices keep swinging up and down radically because of speculation.

· "Moderate long-term interest rates": Yes - but is that good? Opinions vary.

· "Safety and soundness of the nation's banking and financial system": JPMorgan Chase's recent debacle shows how little the Fed has accomplished here. but then, how easy can it be to rein in Jamie Dimon when he's chairing the meeting?

· "Protect the credit rights of consumers": Massive mortgage fraud by major banks. One settlement after another for deceiving consumers. How much time do you have?

· "Maintaining stability ... containing systemic risk": JPMorgan Chase's latest debacle settles this issue once and for all ...

... By any objective measurement, the Federal Reserve has failed to do meet these key objectives, and the composition of its boards is one of the reasons why.

The Radical Fed

Is it any wonder that the Fed gave out more than a trillion dollars to Wall Street's biggest banks - and did it in secret? (That alone would appear to violate securities law, since it allowed bankers like Jamie Dimon to materially misrepresent the financial condition of their corporations.)

And that's not all the newly radicalized Fed has done. It broke the rules by allowing Goldman Sachs and GE Capital to call themselves "banks" - just in time to collect their taxpayer-funded bailouts. But it hasn't shown any flexibility when it comes to demanding that banks use some of their low-interest Fed loans to lend to the people and companies that will use it to create jobs.

The Fed has even broken its own rules in order to protect bad bankers. As Prof. Steven Davidoff noted in the New York Times: "In Blocking Activists, the Fed Protects Poorly Performing Banks." It's also protecting poorly performers bankers - like the ones that sit on its boards.

In one case the Fed blocked a shareholder action by invoking a rule which said an outside party couldn't have more than 25 percent control of a bank - but the shareholder would only have acquired 22 percent control. As Davidoff documents, Fed is repeatedly bending or violating its own rules to prevent shareholders from exercising their rights to limit executive compensation or take action against underperforming or ethically-challenged executives.

The Fed has changed the playbook for bankers over and over. But whenever someone suggests imaginative programs to stimulate the economy by helping consumers or small businesses the Fed suddenly decides it's a stickler for the rules.

Resistance Is Futile

In our interview for The Breakdown last week, Paul Krugman reiterated his statement that his former Princeton colleague Ben Bernanke has "joined the Borg." The "Borg" is the collective alien entity from Star Trek that takes over people's identities and leaves them with no other mission but expanding its own power.

These Federal Reserve boards represent the Corporate Borg in all its unchecked power - but the power they possess is power that we have given them, through our elected representatives.

It doesn't have to be this way. There are good folks on the Committee, like Janet Yellen, Sarah Bloom Raskin and Daniel Tarullo.

But they're the exceptions, not the rule.

Enter SandersThat's why Sen. Bernie Sanders' Federal Reserve Independence Act is so important. The bill would eliminate these conflicts of interest and force the Fed boards to stop serving bankers' interests and return to the Fed's original mission. People should insist that their Senators support it.

The bill follows on the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, which was cosponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ron Paul. That bill demanded a public audit of the Fed, which is how we learned about those massive secret loans. That act showed that the left and the right can work together to change our broken central banking system.

It's time to reunite that left/right coalition. Ron Paul may be wrong about the need for a central bank, but he's right when he says that the Fed must be accountable to the people.

Dissing Dimon

Which gets us back to Jamie Dimon. When the prominent economist Simon Johnson first demanded Dimon's resignation he noted that, while his role is sometimes described as "advisory," Dimon sits on the Management and Budget Committee which supervises the pay of senior Fed executives.

That committee also approves the self-evaluation of senior Fed executives - which essentially means it gives them their performance reviews. It reviews and approves the Fed's overall budget, too, including the budget for auditing bankers like Jamie Dimon. According the Fed itself, its other main responsibility is to "review and endorse the Bank's strategic plan."

Budget, compensation, strategic planning: That pretty much covers everything.

Johnson's call for Dimon's resignation has been joined by Elizabeth Warren and the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, which calls Dimon's position "a stunning conflict of interest."

They're right, of course. But in saner times people would also be demanding that Dimon resign from his bank, too. His tenure as CEO has been marked by a wave of massive deals to settle criminal and civil charges. That alone would have led to disgrace and resignation in more civilized times.

Even in today's more mercenary atmosphere, Dimon's nothing to write home about: The stock was worth around $40 when he became CEO in 2005 and never rose much above $50 after that. It was $33.78 after this latest fiasco.

Dismissing Dimon

From his perch on the New York Fed board, Dimon has had a front row seat to the dispensing of a trillion dollars in secret cash to Wall Street banks - including his own. His bank reportedly received as much as $48 billion in secret loans at 1.1 interest, when less privileged banks were paying 3.8 percent. The money saved in interest on that loan alone could amount to almost $1.3 billion.

It's like the old saying goes - a billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money.

Dimon's always been a paper tiger, a product of his own PR campaign and the low standards of his profession. If he won't resign as JPM's CEO, he should certainly resign as its Board Chairman, a title he assumed in 2006. That's another clear conflict.

An ethically-managed Federal Reserve wouldn't wait for Dimon to resolve this internal conflict by giving up one of these roles. It would have demanded it long ago. And it would have dismissed Dimon from its Board for JPMorgan Chase's past scandals, as well as the one that just came to light.

And now for something completely different ...

It seems like something out of a Monty Python routine. The boards that govern the Federal Reserve, the publicly-created central bank that dispenses money to bankers, are all dominated by ... the bankers who receive that money. Picture it if you can:

Fed Board room, 2008:

ECONOMIST: This is serious! The global economy is collapsing because of your reckless gambling!

LONE CITIZEN BOARD MEMBER: That is serious. What can we do? We could break up our banks and fire their executives, or ...

BANKER: Wait! I've got it! Give us more money!

(Nods all around the table)

Six months later:

ECONOMIST: This is serious! We've given you money but you're not lending it out to get the economy moving!

LONE CITIZEN BOARD MEMBER: That is serious. What can we do? Perhaps there could be rules and conditions about lending that ...

BANKER: Or they could give us more money!

OTHER BANKERS: Good one! Let's go with that!

Three years later:

ECONOMIST: This is serious! Joblessness is still at record highs. Poverty has soard. Too-big-to-fail banks are bigger than ever. And you guys are still breaking the law and skirting the rules.

LONE CITIZEN BOARD MEMBER: Hmm. That is serious. The Fed could use its regulatory authority to ...

BANKER: (aside) I hate that guy. (to all) Let me see ... hmmm ... how about giving us more money?

Three and a half years later:

ECONOMIST: This is serious! The country -

BANKERS (in unison): More money!

Clean Up the Boards

The Federal Reserve's governing structure isn't quite that bad - but it's pretty close. As the President of the Kansas City Federal Reserve just noted, bankers have a "special obligation" to maintain the "integrity, dignity and reputation" of the central bank. ""No individual is more important than the institution and the public's trust," she added.

We'll go a step further: The public's trust can no longer be given to a central bank whose governing bodies are dominated by the wealthy and powerful. Bankers and large corporations should be asked to provide information to the Fed, and should be encouraged to offer their advice. But they don't belong on its boards or committees.

Other steps are needed to make the Federal Reserve responsive the people who created it and gave it such power. But the composition of its boards is a key part of its problem. Its an impediment to change and a disgrace to the nation. As Simon Johnson told an interviewer recently, "No other central bank in any serious country in the world allows bankers to be represented in this fashion."

It's time to boot the bankers from the Federal Reserve's boards and those seats to people who will work on behalf of the citizenry which created the Fed in the first place.

Sabrina

29th May 2012, 15:14

More on the Vatican:

via The 2012 Scenario

http://the2012scenario.com/2012/05/vatican-denies-senior-cardinal-is-vatileaks-whistleblower/#more-123627

2012 MAY 29

Vatican Denies Senior Cardinal is ‘VatiLeaks’ Whistleblower

Stephen: Hot on the heals of the arrest of the head of the Vatican Bank comes more scandal from inside the Catholic church’s historic headquarters.

Documents leaked to the Italian press earlier this year shed light on dark power struggles between senior cardinals, alleged corruption and nepotism in the running of the Vatican administration, and a mysterious prediction that the 84-year-old pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, would die within a year, possibly as a result of an assassination attempt.

We’ve been told that there are Earth Allies within all major global organisations. Are these allies from within the Vatican now ensuring that the “secrets” of the Catholic church are finally revealed? My gut says yes – and that there are a lot more to come…

Vatican Forced to Deny Senior Cardinal is Mastermind of Vatileaks Scandal
The Vatican has been forced to deny that a senior cardinal is the mastermind behind the so-called Vatileaks scandal that has seen the Pope’s personal butler arrested.

By Nick Pisa, Rome , The Telegraph UK – May 28, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/87yk5dx

Father Federico Lombardi, the Pope’s official spokesman, was forced to speak out after several Italian newspapers claimed that the brains of the operation – where potentially embarrassing Vatican documents found their way into the Italian press – was an unidentified “prince of the church.”

Speculation has continued to gather pace that senior Church figures are behind the leaking of sensitive Vatican documents and that butler Paolo Gabriele, who has worked for Benedict XVI for five years, is nothing more than a scapegoat. Gabriele was arrested last week after documents were found inside his Vatican apartment.

Several Italian newspaper carried an interview with an anonymous whistle-blower who explained why the documents were being leaked.

“There’s a group of us: the real brains behind it are cardinals, then there are monsignors, secretaries, small fry”, the informer said.

“The valet is just a delivery boy that somebody wants to set up. Vatican intelligence has security systems more advanced than anything the CIA has but cardinals are still in the habit of writing their messages by hand and dictating them.

“It’s open warfare, with everyone against everyone else. Those doing it are acting to protect the Pope.”

He added: “There are those opposed to the Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone. And those who think that Benedict XVI is too weak to lead the church. And those who think that this is the time to step forward. So it’s become everyone against everyone.”

The source also explained how Benedict had gathered a select group of five people to act as his eyes and ears within the Vatican “to protect himself”.

Within hours of the interview being published Father Lombardi issued a denial categorically stating “no cardinal was involved and no one else is under investigation.”

Elsewhere Cardinal Robert Sarah, 67, head of the Pontifical Council Cor Um, which handles church missions around the world was the first senior figure within the Curia to speak out about the scandal.

“Let’s hope that the arrest of the butler is an isolated case and that there are no other traitors plotting in the Vatican,” he said. “There is much sadness. It is painful to see someone like the Holy Father betrayed by someone who is so close to him.

“However it would be even more serious if other accomplices came to light. That’s why we must let the magistrates investigate fully to clarify this shocking situation and until then nothing can be excluded including a plot or some other guided hand.”

Sabrina

29th May 2012, 15:21

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2012/05/28/benjamin-fulford-5-28-12-insiders-predict-a-5-day-bank-holiday-in-europe-before-euro-ends-renminbi-may-replace-us-dollar-in-september-the-cabal-world-soap-opera-is-winding-down/#more-11469

Kauilapele on Benjy Fulford's latest.....

Sabrina

29th May 2012, 15:34

More demonstrations for freedom:

http://www.rt.com/news/canada-protest-lawyers-montreal-488/

29 May Canada

Lawyers against law: Montreal legal eagles parade against anti-rally bill

Hundreds of lawyers have marched through Montreal in a subdued challenge to a new bill that harshly limits public protests. Canada’s province of Quebec has gone through 106 days of massive actions, which started as student outrage over tuition hikes.

On Monday, over 500 lawyers, notaries and other legal professionals, dressed in their courtroom gowns, walked in silence through the streets of Canada’s second-largest city.

The black-robed parade protested Bill 78, an emergency law that lays down strict government regulations for demonstrations numbering over 50 people. The lawyers were cheered by crowds; many onlookers shouting “Merci!”

Nevertheless, the lawyers’ protest was laid out just in accordance with the controversial bill, as they are sworn to uphold the laws of the land. So the local police had received the itinerary of the march eight hours prior to the event.

Remi Bourget, one of the organizers, says some lawyers were worried they might be fined under the new bill for taking part.
“That’s why we especially wanted to march legally, in our black robes and in silence,” Bourget told The Montreal Gazette.

The lawyers oppose the law passed on May 18, though it mainly targets students and teaching staff. The lawyers find it unjust and “probably unconstitutional.”

more at link

Sabrina

29th May 2012, 15:39

http://rt.com/business/news/olympus-woodford-dismissal-compensantion-478/
29 May

Olympus butters up ex-chief out of court

Japanese camera-to-endoscope-maker Olympus is set to pay millions to its former head Michael Woodford out of court. The settlement would compensate for discrimination and unexpected early dismissal after the ex-CEO lifted the curtain on huge fraud.

Tuesday’s news came after a London hearing scheduled for Monday was put off without any clear explanation. Olympus appears to be seeking ways to avoid an official trial that could damage the image and reputation of the Japanese firm.

Back in October 2011 the Olympus board decided to sack Woodford – the only board member of European origin – officially accusing him of an “inability to perceive the corporate culture of a Japanese company.”

The former CEO, who headed Olympus for just 2 months, said this was because he made an attempt to “let daylight in” on certain deals. The company became the focus of massive attention, after some of its managers admitted Olympus had been hiding losses of around $1.7 billion for 13 years. The company chose to disfigure its financial statements in order to support high prices for stock.

The exact sum of the settlement remains a subject of speculation, with Reuters mentioning millions of pounds and Russia’s Kommersant daily mulling about $15.7 million.

The final word will come from the Olympus board that’s set to meet on June 8. Should the board refuse to settle out of court, the case will be reopened, according to Reuters.

Sabrina

30th May 2012, 08:34

oopps wonder who spread that one ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9298501/Christine-Lagarde-attack-on-Greece-backfires-as-she-pays-no-tax.html

30 May

Christine Lagarde attack on Greece backfires as she pays no tax

Christine Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund managing director who provoked an angry reaction from the Greek people after telling them to pay their taxes, does not pay tax on her own salary, it has emerged.

Ms Lagarde was forced to publish an embarrassing climbdown on her Facebook page over the weekend after being bombarded by hundreds of Greek people who felt insulted by her suggestion that the country’s crisis was partly due to “all these people in Greece who are trying to escape tax”.

However, on Tuesday she had to admit that her $467,940 (£300,000) annual salary and $83,760 of additional allowances are entirely tax-free as the IMF is an international organisation.

An IMF spokesman said: “Salaries, like those in most international organizations, are paid on a lower, net of tax basis to ensure equal pay for equal work regardless of nationality.”

He added that Ms Lagarde, 56, does pay all other “taxes levied on her, including local and property taxes in the US and France”.
Ms Lagarde earns more than President Barack Obama and David Cameron, both of whom pay taxes.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9298405/FSA-fines-hedge-fund-chief-3m-who-hid-losses.html

30 May UK

FSA fines hedge fund chief £3m who hid losses

A hedge fund boss has been fined a record £3m by the City regulator for hiding huge losses at his company from investors.

Alberto Micalizzi, chief executive of London-based Dynamic Decisions Capital Management (DDCM), was yesterday handed the fine by the Financial Services Authority.

The regulator accused Mr Micalizzi of lying repeatedly to investors after DDCM lost more than $390m (£223m), or 85pc of its value, in the months following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008.

Instead of telling investors of the losses, Mr Micalizzi – a former professor finance at Milan’s prestigious Bocconi University, the alma mater of Italian prime minister Mario Monti, who also once taught economics there – is alleged to have created artificial profits by recognising gains on a bond that was bought for substantially less than it was worth.

As the scale of the losses grew, Mr Micalizzi, working in concert with two companies only identified as 'Company A’ and 'Company B’, bought and sold back parts of the bond to artificially offset the collapse in the fund’s value.

In total, $418m of profits were created through a series of transactions with Company A, which was set up in 2007 and was described as having “no identifiable track record in the financial services or commodity trading industries”.

Sabrina

30th May 2012, 08:43

Bank of Spain governor to step down on June 10

MADRID

May 29 (Reuters) - Bank of Spain governor Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez will step down on June 10, one month earlier than expected, the central bank said in a statement on Tuesday.

and

MADRID (MarketWatch) -- Bank of Spain Governor Miguel Angel Fernández Ordóñez will step down a month ahead of schedule, giving his successor a head start on trying to tame the country's unraveling fiscal situation, the Bank of Spain said in a statement Tuesday. Ordóñez was originally scheduled to leave the post on July 12, but will now step down June 10, the central bank said. The move follows the nationalization of Bankia SA ES:BKIA -5.36% , one of Spain's largest banks, earlier in the month. The Bank of Spain has come under criticism for not being alert to the troubles at Bankia, which is in the midst of a messy government bailout. The exit of Ordóñez also comes as the economic and financial crisis in Spain deepens, with borrowing costs rising closer to levels seen as unsustainable for the government.

and

Also Spain:

Spain - Global Financial Services Group - earlier this Month - resignation:

José Barreiro steps down as head of Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) (BBVA)

Changes at BBVA’s Management Committee: Juan Asúa will be head of CIB and Jaime Sáenz de Tejada will lead Spain & Portugal
The changes ensure continuity of the management model at the Spain & Portugal unit and at CIB.

José Barreiro is stepping down from his executive functions at BBVA for personal reasons although he will maintain links with the Group. Juan Asúa will take over as head of Corporate & Investment Banking. Jaime Sáenz de Tejada, who is currently head of business development in Spain, will fill Mr. Asúa’s previous position as head of Spain & Portugal and will join the management committee.
BBVA chairman Francisco González said: "I have accepted José’s decision with regret. In my opinion his work at CIB has been extraordinary and I am happy to know he will continue his ties to the Group as a consultant and a representative. Furthermore I am convinced Juan and Jaime will ensure continuity of the franchise management model.”

and earlier in the month as well:

Former IMF Chief Resigns as Head of Spanish Bank
May 8, 2012

The chairman of Spanish banking group Bankia resigned unexpectedly Monday, the same day that Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said his government may use public money to rescue the country's ailing banks.

Rodrigo Rato, a former managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), had hitherto defended the solvency of Bankia, which groups the Madrid savings bank Caja Madrid and six smaller regional savings banks.

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/2012/5/8/former_imf_chief_resigns_as_head.htm

Bankia is considered the bank most exposed to the meltdown of Spain's decade-long property boom, which left the country's lenders with toxic real estate assets worth about $230 billion.

Sabrina

31st May 2012, 22:51

I feel another resignation coming on...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/leveson-inquiry/9304119/Hunt-defied-advice-on-BSkyB-bid.html
31 May

Hunt defied advice on BSkyB bid
Jeremy Hunt defied government legal advice by communicating privately with James Murdoch about the BSkyB takeover bid, the Leveson Inquiry heard.

Documents before the inquiry showed that the Culture Secretary sent a series of text messages to the News Corp executive indicating his apparent support for the takeover; at one point congratulating him after the bid was approved by the EU.

He admitted that he continued to communicate privately with Mr Murdoch despite recommendations from his department’s lawyers on at least two occasions that he should not express opinions on the controversial £8 billion bid.

Despite the admissions, Downing Street yesterday cleared Mr Hunt of any wrongdoing within minutes of the evidence session finishing.

The Prime Minister expressed his confidence in the Secretary of State, who will not be referred to an independent adviser over claims he broke the ministerial code of conduct.
more at link
Labour said that the Culture Secretary had “lied” to Parliament and reiterated calls for his resignation.

Sabrina

31st May 2012, 22:56

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2152043/Former-Cameron-spin-doctor-Andy-Coulson-vigorously-contest-Tommy-Sheridan-swingers-trial-perjury-allegations.html

31 May UK

Former Cameron spin doctor Andy Coulson will 'vigorously contest' Tommy Sheridan swingers trial perjury allegations

Strathclyde officers arrested the former Downing Street spin doctor after taking him to Glasgow for questions about evidence he gave in 2010 case
Mr Coulson denied to the court he knew phone hacking was widespread at the NotW

He was also arrested last year as part of the Met's investigation into phone hacking and is still on bail
Crown Office spokesman said there was no legal obligation for him to stay in Scotland and he returned to his London home today

David Cameron’s former spin doctor Andy Coulson will 'vigorously contest' perjury allegations against him if they are ever brought to trial, his lawyer said today.
Mr Coulson, 44, was arrested and charged by Strathclyde Police last night over allegations he lied on oath during the perjury trial of disgraced Scottish socialist politician Tommy Sheridan in 2010.

The dramatic development is acutely embarrassing for the Prime Minister whose controversial decision to bring the former News of the World editor into Downing Street has already raised serious questions about his judgement.

Mr Coulson was hired by Mr Cameron just months after he was forced to quit the News of the World in 2007 following the jailing of the paper’s royal editor on phone hacking charges. Mr Cameron said he had deserved a ‘second chance’.

Strathclyde Police, which sent officers 400 miles to detain Mr Coulson at his South London home yesterday, said a report would be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal which will decide whether Mr Coulson is to face court proceedings.

Perjury carries a maximum life sentence in Scotland although a spokesman for the justice department yesterday said three years was a more typical tariff.
Mr Coulson, already on police bail after being arrested last July over phone hacking and police bribery allegations, was taken into custody following a 6.30am raid.
Yesterday he was driven to a police station in Govan, Glasgow, for questioning and then charged.

Today a Crown Office spokesman said there was no legal obligation for him to stay in Scotland, and he returned to his home today.
No date has been set for any court appearance.
more at link

foreverfan

2nd June 2012, 00:46

Latest Drake Update May 31, 2012 (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/freedomreigns/2012/05/30/drake)

Pretty interesting for the first 30 minutes. Then questions are taken at 1:15.

Sabrina

3rd June 2012, 18:01

It's Bilderberg meeting time in the US and here's the Bilderblog from UK's Charlie Skelton and also Infowars take on it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/series/charlie-skelton-bilderblog

British comedy writer Charlie Skelton stalks the secretive comings and goings at the annual Bilderberg conference of leading world figures.

and also,

http://www.infowars.com/bilderberg-breaking-news/

Sabrina

3rd June 2012, 18:05

More on the Vatican leaks ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/03/vatican-leaks-pope-benedict-documents

3 May

Vatican leaks: No respite for Pope Benedict as more documents published
Butler Paolo Gabriele believed to be one of 20 whistleblowers trying to oust pontiff's prime minister, Tarcisio Bertone

Pope Benedict XVI may have been hoping for some respite from the scandal which has engulfed his papacy, with a visit this weekend to Milan, where he celebrated an outdoor mass for a million faithful and took in a performance of Beethoven's ninth at La Scala opera house.

For the 85-year-old pontiff, the three-day trip outside the Vatican walls was a break from the Vatileaks scandal, which has seen his butler, Paolo Gabriele, arrested on suspicion of disclosing dozens of embarrassing letters alleging corruption and nepotism at the Holy See.

Gabriele is believed to be one of up to 20 whistleblowers trying to oust Benedict's powerful prime minister, secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who has been accused of incompetence, covering up graft, and packing key Vatican posts with supporters.

The pope kept Bertone firmly at his side in Milan, sending a clear sign he is standing by his long-term collaborator, but the tension shows no sign of waning. On Sunday, La Repubblica published newly leaked Vatican correspondence with an anonymous covering note stating the whistleblowers still at large will not stop until Bertone – and the pope's personal secretary Georg Gänswein – are kicked out.

Gabriele, who was arrested in possession of crates of confidential letters addressed to the pope, has spent a week under guard in a "secure room" in the tiny city state and will be interrogated early this week. His lawyers are hinting he might name names.

"The Vatican is a hive of interests, different groups like Opus Dei and little transparency which heightens tension," said Gianluigi Nuzzi, the journalist who last month published the leaked letters in "Your Holiness", a book the Vatican describes as "criminal".

The stakes are high and time is short, since the winning side could have a huge say over who replaces the pontiff.

more at link

Sabrina

3rd June 2012, 18:18

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/02/us-egypt-mubarak-trial-idUSBRE85103920120602

Egypt's Mubarak sentenced to life, protests erupt

(Reuters) - Hosni Mubarak, toppled by an uprising last year after 30 years ruling Egypt, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Saturday for his role in killing protesters after a trial that sets a precedent for holding Middle East autocrats to account.

But it was not enough for thousands of Egyptians who poured onto the streets afterwards in a nation already on edge before a deciding presidential vote in two weeks. Some wanted Mubarak executed, others feared the judge's ruling exposed weaknesses in the case that could let the ex-military strongman off on appeal.

Wearing dark glasses, the 84-year-old Mubarak was wheeled into a courtroom cage on a hospital stretcher to join co-defendants including his two sons Alaa and Gamal, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adli and six security officials.

Addressing the hushed courtroom, Judge Ahmed Refaat said: "The court has ordered a punishment for Hosni Mubarak of life in prison based on charges of participating in crimes of killing and attempted killing."

Propped up on the stretcher and stony-faced during the verdict, the only words the former air force commander uttered were to acknowledge to the judge over a microphone that he was present before the ruling was read out. Afterwards, he was whisked off by helicopter to a prison hospital.

His two sons, businessman Alaa, and Gamal, a former banker was once seen as being groomed for president before his father was toppled on February 11, 2011, had corruption charges quashed, but stay in jail over another case referred to court last week.

Refaat sentenced Adli, whose police force was hated for the brutal tactics used against the revolt, to life in prison. About 850 people were killed in the 18-day uprising against Mubarak.

But the judge acquitted the senior security officials for lack of evidence, a decision that worried lawyers for victims' families who said that could help Mubarak win any appeal.

Businessman and Mubarak ally Hussein Salem, being tried in absentia, was also acquitted of corruption charges.

It was the first time an ousted Arab leader had faced an ordinary court in person since a wave of uprisings shook the Arab world last year, sweeping away four entrenched rulers.

State television said Mubarak suffered a "health crisis" when he was flown to Cairo's Tora prison, where he was admitted to a hospital facility. Mubarak had been held at a luxurious military-run hospital during the 10-month trial.

more at link

Sabrina

3rd June 2012, 18:24

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/woman-who-couldn’t-be-intimidated-by-citigroup-wins--31-million.html?page=1

Woman Who Couldn’t Be Intimidated by Citigroup Wins $31 Million

Sherry Hunt never expected to be a senior manager at a Wall Street bank. She was a country girl, raised in rural Michigan by a dad who taught her to fish and a mom who showed her how to find wild mushrooms. She listened to Marty Robbins and Buck Owens on the radio and came to believe that God has a bigger plan, that everything happens for a reason.

She got married at 16 and didn’t go to college. After she had her first child at 17, she needed a job. A friend helped her find one in 1975, processing home loans at a small bank in Alaska. Over the next 30 years, Hunt moved up the ladder to mortgage-banking positions in Indiana, Minnesota and Missouri, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its July issue.

On her days off, when she wasn’t fishing with her husband, Jonathan, she rode her horse, Cody, in Wild West shows. She sometimes dressed up as the legendary cowgirl Annie Oakley, firing blanks from a vintage rifle to entertain an audience. She liked the mortgage business, liked that she was helping people buy houses.

[Related: Bank of America whistleblower receives $14.5 million in mortgage case]

In November 2004, Hunt, now 55, joined Citigroup (C) Inc. as a vice president in the mortgage unit. It looked like a great career move. The housing market was booming, and the New York- based bank, the sixth-largest lender in the U.S. at the time, was responsible for 3.5 percent of all home loans. Hunt supervised 65 mortgage underwriters at CitiMortgage Inc.’s sprawling headquarters in O’Fallon, Missouri, 45 minutes west of St. Louis.

Avoiding Fraud

Hunt’s team was responsible for protecting Citigroup from fraud and bad investments. She and her colleagues inspected loans Citi wanted to buy from outside brokers and lenders to see whether they met the bank’s standards. The mortgages had to have properly signed paperwork, verifiable borrower income and realistic appraisals.

Citi would vouch for the quality of these loans when it sold them to investors or approved them for government mortgage insurance.

Investor demand was so strong for mortgages packaged into securities that Citigroup couldn’t process them fast enough. The Citi stamp of approval told investors that the bank would stand behind the mortgages if borrowers quit paying.

At the mortgage-processing factory in O’Fallon, Hunt was working on an assembly line that helped inflate a housing bubble whose implosion would shake the world. The O’Fallon mortgage machinery was moving too fast to check every loan, Hunt says.

Phony Appraisals

By 2006, the bank was buying mortgages from outside lenders with doctored tax forms, phony appraisals and missing signatures, she says. It was Hunt’s job to identify these defects, and she did, in regular reports to her bosses.

Executives buried her findings, Hunt says, before, during and after the financial crisis, and even into 2012.

In March 2011, more than two years after Citigroup took $45 billion in bailouts from the U.S. government and billions more from the Federal Reserve -- more in total than any other U.S. bank -- Jeffery Polkinghorne, an O’Fallon executive in charge of loan quality, asked Hunt and a colleague to stay in a conference room after a meeting.

The encounter with Polkinghorne was brief and tense, Hunt says. The number of loans classified as defective would have to fall, he told them, or it would be “your asses on the line.”

Hunt says it was clear what Polkinghorne was asking -- and she wanted no part of it.

‘I Wouldn’t Play Along’

“All a dishonest person had to do was change the reports to make things look better than they were,” Hunt says. “I wouldn’t play along.”

Instead, she took her employer to court -- and won. In August 2011, five months after the meeting with Polkinghorne, Hunt sued Citigroup in Manhattan federal court, accusing its home-loan division of systematically violating U.S. mortgage regulations.

[Video: Madoff Whistleblower: Big Banks Are Ripping Off Pension Funds]

The U.S. Justice Department decided to join her suit in January. Citigroup didn’t dispute any of Hunt’s facts; it didn’t mount a defense in public or in court. On Feb. 15, 2012, the bank agreed to pay $158.3 million to the U.S. government to settle the case.

Citigroup admitted approving loans for government insurance that didn’t qualify under Federal Housing Administration rules. Prosecutors kept open the possibility of bringing criminal charges, without specifying targets.

‘Pure Myth’

Citigroup behaving badly as late as 2012 shows how a big bank hasn’t yet absorbed the lessons of the credit crisis despite billions of dollars in bailouts, says Neil Barofsky, former special inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

“This case demonstrates that the notion that the bailed-out banks have somehow found God and have reformed their ways in the aftermath of the financial crisis is pure myth,” he says.

As a reward for blowing the whistle on her employer, Hunt, the country girl turned banker, got $31 million out of the settlement paid by Citigroup.

Hunt still remembers her first impressions of CitiMortgage’s O’Fallon headquarters, a complex of three concrete-and-glass buildings surrounded by manicured lawns and vast parking lots. Inside are endless rows of cubicles where 3,800 employees trade e-mails and conduct conference calls. Hunt says at first she felt like a mouse in a maze.

“You only see people’s faces when someone brings in doughnuts and the smell gets them peeking over the tops of their cubicles,” she says.

Jean Charities

Over time, she came to appreciate the camaraderie. Every month, workers conducted the so-called Jean Charities. Employees contributed $20 for the privilege of wearing jeans every day, with the money going to local nonprofit organizations. With so many workers, it added up to $25,000 a month.

“Citi is full of wonderful people, conscientious people,” Hunt says.

Those people worked on different teams to process mortgages, all of them focused on keeping home loans moving through the system. One team bought loans from brokers and other lenders. Another team, called underwriters, made sure loan paperwork was complete and the mortgages met the bank’s and the government’s guidelines.

Yet another group did spot-checks on loans already purchased. It was such a high-volume business that one group’s assignment was simply to keep loans moving on the assembly line.

Powerful Incentive

Still another unit sold loans to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, the government-controlled companies that bundled them into securities for sale to investors. Those were the types of securities that blew up in 2007, igniting a global financial crisis.

Workers had a powerful incentive to push mortgages through the process even if flaws were found: compensation. The pay of CitiMortgage employees all the way up to the division’s chief executive officer depended on a high percentage of approved loans, the government’s complaint says.

By 2006, Hunt’s team was processing $50 billion in loans that Citi-Mortgage bought from hundreds of mortgage companies. Because her unit couldn’t possibly review them all, they checked a sample.

When a mortgage wasn’t up to federal standards -- which could be any error ranging from an unsigned document to a false income statement or a hyped-up appraisal -- her team labeled the loan as defective.

Missing Documentation

In late 2007, Hunt’s group estimated that about 60 percent of the mortgages Citigroup was buying and selling were missing some form of documentation. Hunt says she took her concerns to her boss, Richard Bowen III.

Bowen, 64, is a religious man, a former Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet at Texas Tech University in Lubbock with an attention to detail that befits his background as a certified public accountant. When he saw the magnitude of the mortgage defects, Bowen says he prayed for guidance.

In a Nov. 3, 2007, e-mail, he alerted Citigroup executives, including Robert Rubin, then chairman of Citigroup’s executive committee and a former Treasury secretary; Chief Financial Officer Gary Crittenden; the bank’s senior risk officer; and its chief auditor.

Bowen put the words “URGENT -- READ IMMEDIATELY -- FINANCIAL ISSUES” in the subject line.

“The reason for this urgent e-mail concerns breakdowns of internal controls and resulting significant but possibly unrecognized financial losses existing within our organization,” Bowen wrote. “We continue to be significantly out of compliance.”

Sabrina

3rd June 2012, 18:33

From the Facebook Mass Arrests page:

The much anticipated mass arrest may not come from U.S, or Europe. Most likely will be in Asia with the arrest of some Malaysian top officials for mass looting. The French Courts is proceeding investigation against a former Defence Minister suspected of bribery in the purchase of Scorpene Submarine which may have a link to the brutal murder of a Mongolian model. The ruling party may be dragged down in conspiring to protect their cabal.

http://alithome.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/end-of-malaysian-cabal.html

THE END OF MALAYSIAN CABAL
I was an UMNO/BN die-hard fan. Dr. Mahathir was my idol and if I was not a Muslim, I would have had his portrait up in my room conduct daily ritual praising him for the shock and awe he created in my life back then. It all changed in 2006, a neuron in my brain must have popped and lead a rush of electricity to some uncharted faculties of my mind where I started to see the dark side of things.

The days of the Cabals created by Dr. Mahathir has come to an end. Brought down by one woman, Dato Ambiga. Her intentions were pure, to clean-up electoral system. Unintentionally, like a domino it brought down the Malaysian Illuminati aka UMNO/BN as a bonus. Little did I realize that for more than 40 years, these illuminati planned and orchestrated ways to take control of the country, through 12 rigged General Elections.

story at link

foreverfan

4th June 2012, 00:26

Freedom Reigns Terri make so much sense. Is Terrorism really real? (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/freedomreigns/2012/05/29/from-my-porch-alternative-perspectives)

percival tyro

4th June 2012, 18:33

Phew! I'm wishing that soon you will enjoy a much deserved holiday this year Sabrina. Thankyou for your ongoing enlightenment.

Sabrina

4th June 2012, 21:35

http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=5b609edac78a7310VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&ss=china&s=news

China 2 June

Another banker caught in ABC graft probe's net
Officer from mid-sized mainland lender arrested for indirect links to corruption suspect Yang Kun

A corruption investigation involving Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), one of the mainland's Big Four state-controlled banks, has implicated a smaller Chinese bank and threatens to ring in more mainland lenders and property developers.

An official at second-tier lender China Minsheng Banking, He Juxin, has been detained by police in Beijing - in connection with the case of an ABC executive vice-president suspected of corruption and illegal gambling, sources say.

A spokesman for Minsheng Bank in Beijing said yesterday that he had no knowledge of He's case. But a source close to the matter said the bank's senior executives had been informed of He's detention.

He was general manager of brand management, people who were briefed on the matter said.

He's arrest late last month came at the same time that ABC top brass Yang Kun was detained in Beijing by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party's internal anti-corruption arm.

Both bankers are believed to have close personal ties to another businessman detained in the corruption probe, Wang Yaohui, chairman of the secretive and closely-held property-to-resources conglomerate Zhonghui Guohua Industry Group.

It is unclear if Yang and He have any direct personal connection.

"With the development of the investigation, I can assure you that you will see more big fish caught. This is not a small case, but a very big deal," said one source, adding that the low-profile Wang had a large network of bankers and officials in Beijing.

Two people in the mainland's financial industry told South China Morning Post (SEHK: 0583, announcements, news) that the cases came to Beijing's attention after the anti-corruption central commission received a complaint from an anonymous source earlier this year about Yang's gambling and misuse of Agricultural Bank of China funds.

Yang is responsible for real estate loans at the company.

At about the same time, Minsheng Bank also received a formal complaint about He's alleged involvement in corruption. If ABC's Yang is proven to have been involved in illegal activities, it would mark the highest-profile case involving a Big Four banker since the state-owned banks started going public in 2005.

The detention of Yang was confirmed by ABC in a stock filing on Wednesday. Yang, considered a rising star in the banking industry, is known for being a fan of gambling, particularly poker and mahjong.

People with knowledge of the matter interviewed by the Post described Yang's case as potentially as serious as that of former Bank of China (Hong Kong) chief executive Liu Jinbao in 2003.

Liu had been caught up in an anti-corruption investigation at that time and in 2005 was sentenced to death. The sentence, however, was suspended for two years, which means Liu is likely to serve a long jail sentence instead.

Minsheng Bank's He served in the PLA before he joined the second-tier bank. He used to be a mid-level executive at Minsheng Bank's Shanghai branch before being promoted to more senior positions at the bank's head office, according to people who worked with him.

In addition to He's official title at Minsheng Bank as its top executive in charge of brand and marketing, He is also the director of the Minsheng Art Museum, which was established and funded by the lender to collect and exhibit valuable artworks.

According to people who know about their business dealings, He and Zhonghui Guohua chairman Wang share an interest in art.

They also said Wang, with Yang's help, obtained loans from Agricultural Bank of China to shore up some money-losing property projects in Beijing, and to finance the businessman's personal hobbies, including buying artworks and gambling.

Additional reporting by Jane Cai in Beijing

BANK SCANDALS

2012

May Yang Kun, ABC executive vice president, is under investigation related to the gambling activities of a Beijing property entrepreneur.

May Two ABC Shanghai sub-branch managers arrested for allegedly illegally gathering deposits of 270 million yuan and lending the money to a property developer at a monthly interest rate of between 5 and 9 per cent, according to mainland media reports.

Mar A manager of ABC's Jiangyin sub-branch fled the country with his entire family after allegedly stealing more than 300 million yuan.

Feb Mainland media report that two directors of ABC's Xuzhou sub-branch were involved in a discounted bills fraud that incurred a loss of 160 million yuan

2011

Sep Caixin reported that ABC's Inner Mongolia branch was gathering illegal deposits.

Source: Bank of America-Merrill Lynch

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=e636d977873a7310VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&ss=Companies+%26+Finance&s=Business

China

Banker's arrest may cause aftershocks in real estate

Property businesses that received loans from ABC executive at risk of being caught up in his graft case

The detention of a senior executive at one of China's Big Four state-controlled banks not only caught the mainland's banking industry by surprise, it is likely to make some property developers anxious.

Yang Kun (pictured), an executive vice-president of Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), was detained several days ago in Beijing by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party's internal anti-corruption arm which reports to the top leadership.

ang is believed to have been involved in gambling and corruption, particularly related to several money-losing property projects that received loans from ABC, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Some of the sources interviewed by the South China Morning Post (SEHK: 0583, announcements, news) described Yang's case as potentially as serious as former Bank of China (Hong Kong) chief executive Liu Jinbao's case in 2003.

Liu was caught up in an investigation into Shanghai property tycoon Zhou Zhengyi, who bribed senior officials and bankers, including Liu. In 2005, Liu received a two-year suspended death sentence.

Several bankers on the mainland said they expected Yang's detention to soon prompt the banking regulator to request domestic lenders to strengthen their internal controls, especially regarding loans to the property sector. They said the regulator urged banks to strengthen the monitoring of loan risks after Liu was caught.

"The case [of Yang] does reflect ABC's weakness in corporate governance, which has been one of our key concerns" since its initial public offering of shares in 2010, said Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts Winnie Wu and Michael Li in a research note. ABC raised more than US$22 billion by listing its shares on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges, which remains the world's biggest initial public offering.

Yang, whose detention was confirmed by ABC in an official announcement late on Wednesday, has worked for the bank for more than 20 years. Born in 1959, Yang has a reputation for maintaining a low profile.

But he is well known among senior people in the mainland's financial community for being a fan of gambling, particularly poker and mahjong.

Yang's circle of business friends, who often play cards and sometimes travel to Macau for gambling, include mainland property tycoons and relatives of senior officials, said the sources on condition of anonymity.

Guangdong's 21st Century Business Herald, citing unidentified sources, reported yesterday that Wang Yaohui, chairman of the secretive and closely-held property-to-resources conglomerate Zhonghui Guohua Industry Group, based in Beijing, was also detained recently in a case related to Yang. His whereabouts couldn't be determined yesterday.

"I feel this time the [troubled] water is very deep," said one senior executive in the financial industry who knows Yang personally. "It's about the property industry again, and the amount of money involved [in bribery and corruption and illegal loans] won't be small, I believe."

He added that the probe might be extended to developers who received loans from ABC with Yang's help. As an executive vice-president, Yang was mainly in charge of loans, especially those related to real estate.

The scandal's effect on the stock markets has been mixed. The price of the bank's shares in Hong Kong edged higher yesterday to HK$3.14 each in a weaker overall market, while the shares fell by nearly 2 per cent in Shanghai, where the broader market declined 0.52 per cent from Wednesday.

1 June

Sabrina

4th June 2012, 21:41

http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15997350,00.html
6 June Tibet

Two of Dalai Lama’s envoys to China have resigned from their positions, saying it is difficult to engage in any substantive dialogue with China due to deteriorating situation in Tibet.
Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen have tendered their resignations to Lobsang Sangay, the prime minister of the Tibetan government in exile.

Gyari and Gyaltsen announced their decisions after a meeting of the Tibetan Task Force in Dharamsala, India, which hosts the Tibetan government in exile since 1959. During their tenure as envoys since 2002, Gyaltsen and Gyari led nine rounds of talks with the Chinese representatives. However, their last meeting with the Chinese government took place more than two years ago.

Tough negotiations

“Given the deteriorating situation inside Tibet since 2008, leading to the increasing cases of self-immolations by Tibetans, we are compelled to submit our resignations,” Gyari and Gyaltsen said in a statement, adding that it was a difficult time to have a substantive dialogue with China. They said their Chinese counterparts "did not respond positively" to Tibetan proposals for genuine autonomy and even threatened to abrogate the minority status of the Tibetans in the Chinese constitution. The envoys said this could further undermine the Tibetans' claims to regional autonomy.

For his part, Prime Minister Sangay praised the "invaluable" contribution of the envoys to the Tibetan cause and said his cabinet would continue to look to them for advice.

"They have worked extremely hard in challenging circumstances and made earnest efforts to move the dialogue process forward and resolve the issue of Tibet peacefully," Sangay said in a statement. "The Kashag (cabinet) will continue to rely on them for their wise counsel."

Perhaps they're making way for those who can make it work? S

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/102652/naidenoff-tenders-resignation-as-head-of-ucrs-upper-house-bloc

4 June Buenos Aires

Naidenoff tenders resignation as head of UCR's Upper House bloc

UCR’s Senator Luis Naidenoff has tender his resignation as head of the party’s Upper House bloc due to “personal reasons”, according to what sources told Ambito.com
Naidenoff had been appointed back in November 2011, and there is yet no clue on who might replace him.

Sabrina

4th June 2012, 21:45

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/06/04/baroness-warsi-apologises-for-embarrassing-prime-minister-over-foreign-trips_n_1567925.html?ref=uk
UK 6 June

Baroness Warsi Faces Investigation Over Allegations Of Breaking Ministerial Code

Baroness Warsi is to face an investigation by the independent adviser on the ministerial code after failing to disclose her shared business interest with a relative who travelled with her to Pakistan on an official visit.

The Conservative Party co-chairman wrote to David Cameron saying "sorry" for the embarrassment caused by the undeclared relationship with Abid Hussain, who assisted the British High Commission with outreach events in Pakistan in July 2010.

She said Mr Hussain was her husband's second cousin and this fact was "widely known", including to her private office and the British High Commission.

But she said she did not realise the need to declare they had "a common business interest as minority shareholders in a small food company".

"I sincerely regret that I did not consider the significance of this relationship with Mr Hussain when the arrangements for the visit were being made. In retrospect, I accept that I should have made officials aware of the business relationship between Mr Hussain and myself, and for this I am sorry.

"I regret that this failure may have caused embarrassment to the Government."

The Prime Minister said he accepted her apology but was asking Alex Allan, his adviser on ministerial interests, to "consider the issues that have been raised with respect to the Ministerial Code and to provide advice to me as rapidly as possible".

Cameron's decisions to refer the case to Allan comes just days after he decided the allegations that culture secretary Jeremy Hunt broke the rules over his handling of the BSkyB bid did not warrant a similar inquiry.

Sabrina

4th June 2012, 21:52

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9311190/Global-slump-alert-as-world-money-contracts.html

4 June

Global slump alert as world money contracts

Growth of the world money supply has dropped to the lowest level since the financial crisis of 2008-2009, heralding a severe economic slowdown later this year unless authorites rapidly take action.

The latest data show that the real M1 money supply – cash and overnight deposits – for China, the eurozone, Britain and the US has been contracting since the early Spring. Any further falls risk a full-blown global recession.

Clear signs of trouble are emerging in the US, until now the last bastion of strength. The New York Institute of Supply Management said its ISM business index – a proxy for business demand – flashed a "screeching halt" in May, crashing to 49.9 from 61.2 in April, where anything below 50 denotes contraction. Unemployment is rising again after grim jobs data for April and May, indicating that the economy may have fallen below stall speed.

Central bank governors and finance ministers from the G7 bloc are to hold an emergency teleconference call on Tuesday to grapple with Europe's escalating crisis. There is mounting anger in North America and Asia over the failure of the Europeans to use their vast resources to contain the brushfire in Spain.

The world money data collected by Simon Ward at Henderson Global Investors show that real M1 for the G7 economies and leading E7 emerging powers peaked at 5.1pc in November and has since plunged to 1.6pc in April. The data explain why commodity prices are falling hard, with Brent crude down to a 16-month low of under $97 a barrel.
China's money data are falling at the fastest pace since records began. The gauge – six-month real M1 – gives advance warning of economic output half a year ahead. "Europe needs to start quantitative easing [QE] immediately and China must ease policy," said Mr Ward.

The Americans may act first. Goldman Sachs expects Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke to open the door for QE in testimony on Thursday.

Stock markets rallied in Madrid and Milan led by bank shares on rumours of an EU plan to recapitalise banks directly with funds from the EU bail-out machinery.
Olli Rehn, the EU economics chief, said use of the European Stability Mechanism to bail out lenders was a "serious possibility", adding that it was imperative to "break the link between banks and sovereigns".

However, there is no sign yet that Germany will be willing to drop its veto on such action, viewed by Berlin as the start of debt mutualisation. Chancellor Angela Merkel crushed talk of an instant "banking union" after meeting commission president Jose Barroso, saying their could be no quick fix. She called instead for EU banking supervision as a "mid-term goal".

Her spokesman said any options that "resemble eurobonds" are for the distant future. "It's up to national governments to decide whether they want to avail themselves of aid. That also applies to Spain," he said.

Use of the ESM for bank bail-outs would meet fierce resistance in the German, Dutch and Finnish parliaments. A senior EU official said even Germany's Social Democrats are cooling on eurobonds. "They looked at the polling data and shivered. The German people are not willing to send money into a bottomless pit," he said.

Sabrina

4th June 2012, 21:56

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financial-crime/9310909/Rogue-trader-Jerome-Kerviel-blames-SocGen-for-4.9bn-loss.html

4 June France

Rogue trader Jerome Kerviel blames SocGen for €4.9bn loss

Jerome Kerviel, the rogue trader who cost Societe Generale €4.9bn (£4bn) four years ago, began his appeal on Monday by arguing that he was made a scapegoat by the bank and that it should take responsibility for the loss.

"I am not responsible for this loss ... I always behaved according to rules set by my superiors," Kerviel told the judge in a Paris court at the start of his four-week trial. "My mandate was to make money for the bank."

Wearing an open-necked white shirt for his court appearance and showing little emotion, Kerviel rejected his conviction in 2010 for breach of trust, forging documents and computer hacking. He was sentenced to three years in jail and was ordered to repay the €4.9bn he cost SocGen.

Kerviel, 35, who did not profit personally from the trades, has consistently argued that his superiors knew what he was doing and turned a blind eye as long as he was making them a profit.

On Monday he claimed SocGen operated lax supervision of its traders, never informed him what his official remit was, and claimed that his desk regularly breached its €125m trading limit. He said both he and other traders exceeded their limits "very, very regularly".

David Koubbi, Kerviel's lead lawyer, said he "is guilty of nothing" as the case rests on him betraying the trust of the bank. "He is ready to take responsibility for what he did, but he will never accept the blame for what he didn't do," Mr Koubbi added.

SocGen's team responded by arguing that Kerviel's roles in market-making and arbitrage were clearly defined and that individual traders were responsible for staying within their limits.

The case threatens to be damaging for the French bank by dredging up its past. SocGen was fined €4m at the time for risk control failures that ultimately cost the former chief executive Daniel Bouton his job.

Kerviel became a cult hero in France after his record rogue trades nearly brought down the bank, with a comic book, fan clubs and T-shirts all created to support him. A poll in 2008 showed 77pc of French respondents saw him as a "victim" of what he described as "a big banking orgy".

Sabrina

4th June 2012, 22:18

http://www.24hgold.com/english/contributor.aspx?rss=true&article=3936797222G10020&redirect=false&contributor=Mac+Slavo
4 June Greece

Greek Power Regulator Calls Emergency Meeting to Avert Collapse of Power Grid and Natural Gas System

When the political and economic systems of entire nations collapse the consequences are devastating.

Earlier this year pharmacies and hospitals in Greece were unable to provide life saving medicines due t... flow of credit from manufacturers to distributors to patients. A collapse in the country’s economy has forced many Greeks to turn to black market barter economies and has left millions financially devastated, with no hope of finding an income stream for the foreseeable future.

The credit system of the entire country is in shambles. So much so that reports are emerging about food shortages and hunger within the Greek prison system, suggesting that serious problems in the food delivery chain have begun to materialize.

As Nigel Farage warned recently, we are beginning to see the rise of extreme political parties as a consequence of the total and utter desperation of the populace.

Today the news gets even worse. Greece’s Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) announced an emergency meeting to deal with what can only be construed as a tell-tale sign that this crisis is very rapidly reaching critical mass and may spiral out of control in the very near future:

Greece’s power regulator RAE told Reuters on Friday it was calling an emergency meeting next week to avert a collapse of the debt-stricken country’s electricity and natural gas system.

“RAE is taking crisis initiatives throughout next week to avert the collapse of the natural gas and electricity system,” the regulator’s chief Nikos Vasilakos told Reuters.

RAE took the decision after receiving a letter from Greece’s natural gas company DEPA, which threatened to cut supplies to electricity producers if they failed to settle their arrears with the company.

Source: Reuters

Sabrina

5th June 2012, 15:08

5/6 June Venus transit - reportedly June is a powerful month energetically. I suspect this will have a big impact on the financial and political worlds. Let's see what happens. Here are two posts from two of my favourites on this all - Dana Mrkich and Lauren Gorgo. I suspect now is the time to let go of 'conspiracy' nit picking on what is and who is and who or what isn't... and all the fear based old school... scary stuff.... Let's envision what we want - not what we don't want.. The wheels are coming off the financial bus. The public don't trust the politicians any more. People feel life doesn't work. It's much bigger than debate as to whether Drake or Bill Woods are or aren't. But our own intuition will tell us anyway on all of this. Let's put out for what we want. :)

Monthly Visions June 2012: Alignments and Eclipses and Transits oh my! - Dana Mrkich

http://danamrkich.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/monthly-visions-june-2012-alignments.html

see full post at link:

The process of addressing this balance has already started but after the June 5/6 Transit we will see it accelerate. You can see it now most obviously in arenas like politics where the people are taking a stand against controlling dictators and dishonest, corrupt government representatives. For too long we have shrugged our shoulders with a kind of ‘that’s just how it is in politics’ mentality, but a surge of empowerment is filling humanity, reminding us that this may be how it has been, but it is not how it is supposed to be. People are looking for honesty and transparency in their leaders, and want someone who speaks and acts from the heart. The old ways of working just aren’t going to work anymore, and this will leave many of the old guard confused because they’ll wonder why people aren’t responding to them as they used to!

and

Lauren Gorgo

http://thinkwithyourheart.com/1711/the-stages-of-rebirth/

see full post at link

It was at that moment I realized that we had officially been squeezed into what the sisters had referred to in the first 5D report as the death/birth canal…that we were aggressively picking up speed and headed, heart-first, toward our brand new life. The rare May 20th eclipse coupled with all the Pleiadian energy from the alignment with our central Sun, Alcyone, served to literally and figuratively remove the shackles from our past, whereas today’s lunar eclipse is closing the cycle of completion so that tomorrow, on the Venus eclipse/transit Sun, we can begin a new journey of the heart. All of this is right in time for the upcoming solstice which promises to kick a group of us square out of our nests.

Sabrina

5th June 2012, 19:53

A great round-up of info. from Scott Mowry:

Each and every day brings more and more confirmations that something exceptionally extraordinary is happening to the human race and our planet Earth. We must realize and appreciate, at this very moment, we are living in the greatest, most spectacular times in the history of the world –– bar none. article at link:

http://www.miraclesandinspiration.com/news_signs-of-the-golden-age.html

Kimberley

5th June 2012, 20:19

Thank you Sabrina for all you are!!
Much love! :hug:

Sabrina

6th June 2012, 11:02

The Tablet (UK)

Knight resigns as teacher
5 June 2012

A senior member of the British Order of Malta is stepping down as a teacher following revelations that he failed to properly report safeguarding concerns about a man later convicted of possessing child pornography.

Fra' Duncan Gallie, 59, a member of the international order's governing body, the Sovereign Council, is to retire early from his post at St Edmund's College, Ware. He had previously been the head of boarding in a career that spanned 36 years at the school.

In a letter to parents, Christopher Long, the school's headmaster, said that Fra' Duncan brought forward his retirement by 12 months to the end of this academic year 'to ensure that the reputation of the College is not compromised'.

Sabrina

6th June 2012, 11:08

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120606/local/BOV-property-fund-saga-who-should-carry-the-can-.422967

6 June Malta

(via The TImes)

Bank of Valletta may have faced an embarrassing string of censures over its botched multi-property fund but experts in the field disagree on who should resign.
A client should not suffer a loss due to mismanagement

BOV was this week fined €200,000 for selling high-risk property fund shares to inexperienced investors. The fine came at the conclusion of the third and last investigation by the Malta Financial Services Authority into the bank’s handling of the La Valette Multi Manager Property Fund.

Economist and BOV shareholder Karm Farrugia believes the bank’s entire board should resign for having repeatedly faced reprimand and fines by the MFSA.
More importantly, however, he adds, the bank’s chairman should step down for the way he defended the property fund’s actions.

“He was imprudent, proud and arrogant and told investors to put up or shut up,” he says, referring to when investors were told to waive their legal rights for 75c, a figure that has now been raised by the MFSA to an unconditional €1 per share.

“They should resign, not for making these mistakes but for not admitting to them and apologising.”
He says the bank has lost millions of euros because of the handling of this saga and the sooner the board is replaced the sooner it can revive.
more at link

and

Wednesday, June 6, 2012, 11:01
AD demands BOV chairman's resignation
Following the latest ruling of the Malta Financial Services Authority, BOV chairman Roderick Chalmers and other officials directly involved in the matter should assume responsibility and resign, Alternattiva Demokratika said.

AD said in a statement that Finance Minister Tonio Fenech should assume political responsibility, given the government's shareholding in the bank and the fact that the BOV chairman is a government appointee.

"People were misguided by BOV. Minister Tonio Fenech should have seen the writing on the wall and should assume political responsibility for this. AD demands full release of government's correspondence on the matter," the party said.

Sabrina

6th June 2012, 11:18

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/debt-crisis-live/9312612/Debt-crisis-Live.html

Euro Debt Crisis live info. at link. Includes:

Moody's has downgraded six Germany banks, including the country's second largest lender Commerzbank, due to the increased risk of further shocks emanating from the euro area debt crisis.

and via the Telegraph:

Spain makes plea for EU aid for troubled banks
Spain has admitted for the first time that it can no longer raise money on the global markets or roll over its sovereign bonds, threatening to set off a dangerous escalation of Europe's debt crisis.

and

Moody's cuts rating of German and Austrian banks
Moody's Investors Service cut the credit ratings of six German banking groups and Austria's three largest banks on Wednesday, saying they face risks if the euro zone crisis deepens.

and

Italian austerity forces region to sell its rare mouflon sheep
As Italy attempts to carve away at its enormous public debt, not even wildlife is safe from the sweeping austerity cuts.

and

Will Greece and Spain's youth jobs crisis spread to the UK?
A skills mismatch has intensified youth joblessness on the Continent, taking it above 50pc in some nations, and the worry is it could happen in Britain.

and

UK banks sitting on £40bn of undeclared losses
Britain's banks are sitting on a £40bn black hole of undeclared losses that are preventing them from making vital loans to businesses and households.

Sabrina

6th June 2012, 11:34

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-2154958/Alessandro-Profumo-Barclays-employees-stand-trial-alleged-tax-fraud.html
5 June

Italian banker Alessandro Profumo and another 19 people including three Barclays employees to stand trial for alleged tax fraud

Barclays bank became embroiled in yet another controversy over tax yesterday.

A Milan judge has ordered top Italian banker Alessandro Profumo and another 19 people including three Barclays employees to stand trial for alleged tax fraud.
The case centres on a suspected tax fraud in 2007 and 2008 at leading Italian bank Unicredit, arising from the use of a complex Luxembourg-based offshore financial scheme provided by Barclays.

The so-called Profit Participation Instrument set up by the British bank was known as Project Brontos, and used convoluted transactions including the issue of Turkish lira securities and currency swaps. Barclays is alleged to have enabled UniCredit to earn interest of around 20 per cent in 2007 – around five times the amount it could have achieved on the interbank market.

Profumo, who is now the chairman of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Italy’s third largest lender, was chief executive of UniCredit at the time.

He said he is looking forward to the trial in order to put an end to the damage to his reputation, which, he said, is suffering ‘unjustly’. Profumo is under accusation for having authorised the operation, judicial and investigative sources have said.

In a separate statement UniCredit said it is confident that the trial would clear the conduct of the bank and its former and current employees.
Barclays said it believed neither it nor any of the individuals involved had violated any laws in Italy.

A spokesman said: ‘Barclays takes its responsibilities as a corporate citizen very seriously, complying with taxation laws in the UK and in all the countries where we do business.
‘Barclays continues to believe firmly that it and the individuals involved have not violated any tax or other laws in Italy, and we continue to support fully the individuals named in this matter.’

Sabrina

8th June 2012, 16:54

The latest from David Wilcock today - 8 June:

Mass Arrests / Divine Intervention: New Briefings (Finally!)

http://divinecosmos.com/start-here/davids-blog/1060-massdivine

Sabrina

8th June 2012, 16:58

Agricultural Bank of China: Vice President Pan Gongsheng Resigns
5:54 AM ET on Friday, June 08, 2012

Fiona Law

HONG KONG--Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. (1288.HK) said Friday that Vice President Pan Gongsheng tendered his resignation as executive director and vice president, with effect from Friday afternoon.
Pan also resigned as member of the board's strategic planning committee, the lender said in a statement.
Pan confirmed that he has no disagreements with the board, nor any matters relating to his resignation that should be brought to the attention of the shareholders, the statement said, without elaborating.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 08, 2012 05:54 ET (09:54 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Sabrina

9th June 2012, 20:23

Discernment needed on this, as with everything else - and the questionability of glowing endorsement on Tom Heneghan - but who knows until it happens :)

http://www.dailypaul.com/238111/mass-arrests-confirmed-to-be-underway-do-not-be-shocked-when-it-happens

6 June

Mass Arrests confirmed to be underway. Do not be shocked when it happens.

Submitted by SimpleSam on Wed, 06/06/2012 - 08:23
in
Off Topic
DP Original
Folks you may not believe Drake, may not believe Thierry and you may not even believe myself, but I cannot think of even one of you who would DENY the respected journalism of Tom Heneghan and the British Guardian's editor in chief?

MASS ARRESTS ARE COMING VERY SHORTLY
"UNITED STATES of America - It can now be reported that the final implementation of the Wanta-Reagan-Mitterrand Protocols is now only days away.

The implementation of the Protocols will:

1. Absorb worldwide debt

2. Recapitalize banks worldwide, and

3. Create an interest rate equilibrium that is revenue neutral and non-inflationary."
http://www.myspace.com/tom_heneghan_intel/blog/545840426
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jun/04/mf-global-chi...

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000090651
http://www.dharmasanctuary.org/2012/01/23/global-settlement/

The Global Settlements ARE the final financial trigger for the arrests that will be taking place, taking many of you by shock as all the way along you have believed these things to be false.

You may not be able to deal with the changes easily, and I mean that sincerely because the global settlements are a huge change. You will hear about it on television. They mean bankers will be arrested across the board, period.

Watch Drake's radio show some time when you aren't interested in fear and just want the truth, basically. He'll explain that the "Plan" started in 1979 and that is officially the same timeline when the Wanta Reagan Mitterand Protocols started. Authorized by former presidents more than sixty years ago, the Reagan Mitterand Protocols are the only reason the U.S. Military would be given the actual power to arrest these criminal bankers and of course traitors. Listen to "Drake" confirm in his own words, the Protocols have quite a lot to do with the five-inch thick "Plan". The Reagan Mitterand Protocols are the global settlements, and every single paper in Europe, has been apprized for more than a year.
http://www.americannationalmilitia.com
http://www.soldierhugs.com
(Yes I do know thierry t & lady dragon, who are a part of the plan)
http://www.fcm2012.com

WHAT DO GLOBAL EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT REVALUATIONS MEAN?

They mean the financial criminals lose a huge amount of their financial status, which translates to wholesale changes across the board. The Wanta Mitterand Protocols as soon as they settle, produce changes you will never see coming or hear the end of for decades.

Benjamin Fulford by the way, is a dis-info flake and worth ignoring. If you happen to follow the British news closely, you'll notice they are discussing a lot about Global settlements.
http://www.independent.co.uk/
http://tdarkcabal.blogspot.com

Corzine resigned and will be under arrest after several massive injunctions against MF Global. The Global Settlement Revaluations are the same thing as the Wanta Reagan Mitterand Protocols. This was ordered by several District Judges and over 53 Article 3 courts in this country. So the revaluations are coming...after that? The arrests, the plan, everything else- can only begin.

(Caveat: Drake works for thierry whom I know years back, thus he is linked to me & is giving the green light on all orders)

CeltMan

9th June 2012, 21:56

A Simple Human

9th June 2012, 23:36

Just heard this.

"Breaking – Italy,First Bank Going Bye Bye? All Accounts Blocked! – 9 June 2012"

http://lucas2012infos.wordpress.com/2012/06/09/breaking-italyfirst-bank-going-bye-bye-all-accounts-blocked-9-june-2012/

@ CeltMan,

This is potentially important information. Once translated to English via Google Translate, the bank's site states the following:

THE PRESS May 31, 2012

On 31 May 2012, the Special Commissioners of Bank Network Investments SpA in Extraordinary Administration (MI), with the approval of the Supervisory Committee and with the approval of the Bank of Italy, have decided to suspend the payment of liabilities of any kind, pursuant to art. 74 of Leg. September 1, 1993. 385 (TUB), for the period of one month. The suspension does not include client financial instruments.

The measure was necessary to face the difficult situation of the bank.

Organs extraordinary Bank Network Investments SpA, an intermediary member of the Interbank Deposit Protection Fund, are developing a plan for solving the crisis in order to safeguard clients' rights, provides for the intervention of Consultinvest SIM Group and Bank Savings of Ravenna.

Banca Network Investimenti (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bancanetwork.it%2Fcontent%2Fsospensione-dei-pagamenti)

Since the notice states, "The suspension does not include client financial instruments", I would be interested to know if the bank actually did suspend all transactions. Perhaps one of our PA Forum members from Italy can confirm this and apprise us of the situation.

Two other banking news of note are:

Argentine Central Bank Suspends Dollar Reserve Requirement

Dollar withdrawals quickened since Fernandez, who was re- elected in October, restricted purchases of foreign currency to stem record capital outflow that was draining central bank reserves. Since November, Argentines need approval from the tax agency to buy dollars or other currencies. From last month, those who want to buy foreign currency to travel abroad must submit details of the itinerary, estimated cost and purpose of the trip.

Read the full article at Argentine Central Bank Suspends Dollar Reserve Requirement (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-08/argentine-central-bank-suspends-dollar-reserve-requirement-1-.html) (Bloomberg)

Spain to Accept Rescue From Europe for Its Ailing Banks

Responding to increasingly urgent calls from across Europe and the United States, Spain on Saturday agreed to accept a bailout for its cash-starved banks as European finance ministers offered an aid package of up to $125 billion.

Read the full article at Spain to Accept Rescue From Europe for Its Ailing Banks (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/business/global/spain-moves-closer-to-bailout-of-banks.html?pagewanted=all) (New York Times)

So, it appears that the European finance ministers are trying to extend the Euro crisis for a while longer.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Regarding Banca Network Investimenti (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bancanetwork.it%2Fcontent%2Fsospensione-dei-pagamenti) suspending funds, I looked into this situation further and found an Italian consumer protection organization, Adiconsum (http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adiconsum.it%2FPages%2FPageArea_Detail.aspx%3Fh%3D46%26n%3D0), which contains some information on their site. The site provides the following article (translated to English), Credit - NO LEVIES - PAYMENTS OF BNI for Account Holders (http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adiconsum.it%2FPages%2FNews.aspx%3Fn%3D1675), which states:

BNI depositors unable to make withdrawals / payments, payments of utility bills, mortgage payments, taxes

Peter Giordano, Adiconsum: "Grave of the Bank of Italy's attitude that takes action without considering the impact on depositors, and especially on single-income families and pensioners"

Adiconsum Bank of Italy asks for an urgent meeting and the lifting of the

The Bank of Italy authorized the suspension of payments by Bank Network Investments SpA (BNI) without communicating anything to the depositors.

Very serious and unacceptable - says Peter Jordan, Secretary General Adiconsum - the attitude of the Bank of Italy SpA in each BNI, because highly prejudicial to the interests of customers.

Bank of Italy, in fact, after extending the receivership of the bank, thus giving the impression of an imminent rescue, then gave the green light for compulsory winding up, without giving any prior notice to the depositors, leaving them in no condition to perform any type of operation, even basic ones for daily survival, such as withdrawals / payments, utilities payments, rates, taxes.

We must unfortunately note that offensive measures as those adopted to customers BNI - Giordano complaint - not an isolated case. Decisions without taking into account the heavy impact, particularly on savers in possession of a single bank account on which accrediting salary or pension, are not new to Bank of Italy, and also affected depositors of Banca MB.

The attitude of the Bank of Italy - Jordan continues - is bureaucratic and deed and as Adiconsum we asked in a letter sent to the Bank of Italy and the lifting of the BNI and an urgent meeting to define the way in which customers, especially Fixed-income families and pensioners, can perform normal daily operations.

The suspension seems to be legitimate since there are presently 17 user comments complaining about the situation. I would still like to know the exact reason for the suspension though. Is it only due to the "Euro crisis", or are there other circumstances that have only affected this specific bank? If any of our Italian friends see this post and can provide any information, I would appreciate it.

Sabrina

10th June 2012, 17:52

More on the leaks and the Vatican - this is going to be a big story I suspect.

http://www.rt.com/news/tedeschi-vatican-vatileaks-banker-vatileaks-546/
10 June The Vatican

Former 'God’s Banker' could blitz Vatican with cache of secret documents

The former head of the Vatican Bank has become the Papacy’s Enemy Number One, after police discovered a trove of documents exposing financial misdeeds in the Holy See. The banker now reportedly fears for his life.

Earlier this week police conducted a dawn raid on the house and office of Ettore Gotti Tedeschi. Investigators say they were looking for evidence in a graft case against defense and aerospace firm Finmeccanica, which was formerly run by a close friend of Gotti Tedeschi.

Instead, as it turns out, police stumbled upon an entirely different find.

They discovered 47 binders containing private communication exposing the opaque inner workings of the secretive Holy See. They included financial documents, details of money transfers and confidential internal reports – all prepared by Gotti Tedeschi to build a convincing expose of corruption in the Vatican.

A renowned economics professor and head of the Italian branch of the giant Bank of Santander Gotti Tedeschi took what turned out to be a poisoned chalice of a job in 2009, when he became the President of the Institute for Works of Religion, the formal name for the Bank of Vatican. His brief was formidable – to introduce transparency to a lucrative enterprise that had become a byword for money-laundering and corruption.

After a tumultuous three years marked by in-fighting and public scandals, Gotti Tedeschi was unanimously dismissed from his post by a board of Vatican officials in May.
“I have paid for my transparency” the indignant banker said to the media, as he stormed off even before his dismissal hearing was over.
The confidential minutes of the stormy meeting obtained by Reuters showed the banker accused of "progressively erratic personal behavior" and "exhibiting lack of prudence and accuracy in comments regarding the Institute".

But there may have been other reasons.

Aware that his crusade against corruption was failing, Gotti Tedeschi probably began to leak important documents to the media.

The drip-drip of damaging revelations (alongside more personal ones presumably passed onto the media by the Pope’s own butler) has been dubbed 'Vatileaks', and has captivated Italy in recent months.

At the hearing, the board that dismissed the banker also indirectly accused Gotti Tedeschi of being behind some of the leaks, pointing to his "Failure to provide any formal explanation for the dissemination of documents last known to be in the president's possession."

While the leaks were a weapon with which to attack his enemies, Gotti Tedeschi was also preparing a last resort option if the battle was lost – a ‘suicide belt’ that would blow the lid off Vatican.

Several months ago, he reportedly told his friends that he began collecting an exhaustive dossier “in case something happened to him.”
It is this dossier that the police have now apparently discovered.

The Vatican is barely concealing its panic – and wants the folders handed back unopened.
“We have faith that the prosecutors and Italian judicial system will respect our sovereignty—recognized internationally—with regard to these documents,” said an official statement.

But there is little chance the Papacy will get its way this time.

Italian prosecutors have frequently been at loggerheads with the Vatican and have accused it of using its sovereignty as a shield against proper regulation.
If the documents do spark a legal firestorm, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi is sure to be a key witness in any trial. A former employee against his employers, and a conservative Catholic pitched against the Vatican itself.

Allegedly, Gotti Tedeschi keeps a list of personal enemies in the Vatican – people who he had felt would stop at nothing to prevent him from reforming the Institute for Works of Religion. His friends have told the media he is shaken and scared.

Police are now considering putting the whistle-blowing banker under armed protection.

Alie

10th June 2012, 18:07

Sabrina

10th June 2012, 18:15

More on the Euro games...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9322407/Debt-crisis-Worries-over-market-reaction-as-Spain-bank-bailout-wins-broad-support.html
10 June

Debt crisis: Worries over market reaction as Spain bank bailout wins broad support

Spain has won broad backing for its decision to request a loan of up to €100bn (£81bn) from eurozone funds to help prop up up its banks, but worries remain about whether enough has been done to calm markets when they open on Monday.

Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, said the size of the planned aid consistent with the IMF's estimate of the capital needs of Spain's banks and should provide "assurance that the financing needs of Spain's banking system will be fully met".

She said: "The IMF stands ready, at the invitation of the Eurogroup members, to support the implementation and monitoring of this financial assistance through regular reporting."
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called Spain's decision and the commitment by its European partners to provide support "concrete steps on the path to financial union, which is vital to the resilience of the euro area."

While Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi called it a "major first step" toward stabilising the European and global economy.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a statement: "With this thorough restructuring of the banking sector ... we are certain that Spain can gradually regain the confidence of investors and market participants."

Eurozone policymakers are eager to shore up Spain's position before June 17 elections in Greece which could push Athens closer to a euro exit and unleash a wave of contagion. Spain's auditors could report back after that date. (that word 'contagion' again :)).

The Eurogroup said the funds could come from either from the eurozone's temporary rescue fund, the EFSF, or the permanent mechanism, the ESM, which is due to start next month.
More at link

Sabrina

10th June 2012, 18:40

More on no. 1077 and 1078 stories on Italy via Bankster Spotting on Facebook. I haven't found any of this in the UK financial press...

ITALY

The Bank of Italy authorized the suspension of payments by Bank Network Investments SpA (BNI) without communicating anything to the depositors.

Very serious and unacceptable – says Peter Jordan, Secretary General Adiconsum – the attitude of the Bank of Italy SpA in each BNI, because highly prejudicial to the interests of customers.

Bank of Italy, in fact, after extending the receivership of the bank, thus giving the impression of an imminent rescue, then gave the green light for compulsory winding up, without giving any prior notice to the depositors, leaving them in no condition to perform any type of operation, even basic ones for daily survival, such as withdrawals / payments, utilities payments, rates, taxes.

We must unfortunately note that offensive measures as those adopted to customers BNI – Giordano complaint – not an isolated case. Decisions without taking into account the heavy impact, particularly on savers in possession of a single bank account on which accrediting salary or pension, are not new to Bank of Italy, and also affected depositors of Banca MB.

The attitude of the Bank of Italy – Jordan continues – is bureaucratic and deed and as Adiconsum we asked in a letter sent to the Bank of Italy and the lifting of the BNI and an urgent meeting to define the way in which customers, especially Fixed-income families and pensioners, can perform normal daily operations. Italian website http://www.adiconsum.it/%28X%281%29A%28LlSQwS99zQEkAAAANGFiNjk2MTUtMjgyYi00YWY1LWExYjQtZGQ2NTUxODJkNmEx6l-WV0xsL0EHAb-E7yTLHgcUjbI1%29%29/Pages/News.aspx?n=1675&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Credito - NIENTE PRELIEVI - VERSAMENTI PER I CORRENTISTI DI BNI-http://www.adiconsum.it/Pages/News
www.adiconsum.it

ThePythonicCow

10th June 2012, 18:57

Sabrina
For those who are able to listen to Coast to Coast, this was an AMAZING interview:

Prophecy of the Popes with Tom Horn ----> http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2012/06/03

The Vatican Connection to the Here & Now was AMAZING (had to repeat myself).

That seems to be this show, available on Youtube:

COAST to COAST AM - 6/3/2012 - TOM HORN / Prophecy of the Popes Part 1:
VLYDNWpyYSM

COAST to COAST AM - 6/3/2012 - TOM HORN / Prophecy of the Popes Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cPC_OTleNI

COAST to COAST AM - 6/3/2012 - TOM HORN / Prophecy of the Popes Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOgdH98rBWs

COAST to COAST AM - 6/3/2012 - TOM HORN / Prophecy of the Popes Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGb44g1ZYLg

COAST to COAST AM - 6/3/2012 - TOM HORN / Prophecy of the Popes Part 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZlOP7_MAAs

COAST to COAST AM - 6/3/2012 - TOM HORN / Prophecy of the Popes Part 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJc14UIpSI8

COAST to COAST AM - 6/3/2012 - TOM HORN / Prophecy of the Popes Part 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdXw_W_RnRw

COAST to COAST AM - 6/3/2012 - TOM HORN / Prophecy of the Popes Part 8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11S3Y_Lw_6M

COAST to COAST AM - 6/3/2012 - TOM HORN / Prophecy of the Popes Part 9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fhsdxLLZjo

Sabrina

10th June 2012, 19:37

Perhaps this is symbolic of other things!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/9320179/Goldsmith-and-Rothschild-dynasties-head-for-divorce.html
10 June

Goldsmith and Rothschild dynasties head for divorce

A battle for their fortunes and a most public slanging match on Twitter and the internet – how did the marriage of Ben Goldsmith and Kate Rothschild come to this?

seemed a marriage made in heaven. The groom was dashingly handsome in traditional morning suit, the pregnant bride pretty and coy in a flowing white gown, a wreath of fresh flowers adorning her long dark hair. Then there were the matching fortunes: this was a union between a Rothschild banking dynasty heiress and a scion of the Goldsmith clan – two of the richest families in Europe and both individually valued at several hundred millions of pounds.

Indeed, at the 2003 society wedding of Kate Rothschild and Ben Goldsmith, it appeared the young couple had the world at their feet. Now, their marriage lies in tatters. Rothschild’s unlikely affair with the American rapper Jay Electronica led Old Etonian Goldsmith to announce their divorce this week, unleashing a war of words between the pair on the social media website Twitter. But the bitterness has only just begun. This is set to be a most messy divorce – for as well as the complexity of the couple’s finances, Ben’s brother, Tory MP Zac, left his wife, Sheherazade Ventura-Bentley, for Kate Rothschild’s sister, Alice, which should make for some awkward family gatherings.
Indeed, the Goldsmiths have plenty of experience in marriage breakdowns. As well as the late Sir James Goldsmith’s legendary infidelities, Ben’s sister Jemima divorced her cricketer husband Imran Khan in 2004, and later had a high-profile relationship with Hugh Grant, which also collapsed.

A family friend told The Daily Telegraph: ''Both Zac and Jemima have gone through marriage breakdowns, so they have experience of financial settlements. Zac’s is still not resolved, which shows just how complex the financial issues are. The settlement is likely to take a long time. Believe me, both sides have good lawyers and this is not an amicable situation.’’ Indeed, some estimate that the divorce could cost many hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal fees. And Sheherazade Ventura-Bentley, remember, brought little fortune to her marriage, unlike Rothschild – which gives some indication of how much more protracted this battle will be.
A source close to the family said last week: ''Ben is going to start proceedings at the earliest opportunity. They will fight over the kettle and the teapot! There is a lot of anger.’’
more at link

Sabrina

10th June 2012, 19:41

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9321954/Nat-Rothschild-to-take-back-seat-at-Bumi.html

Nat Rothschild to take back seat at Bumi

Nat Rothschild is set to take a back seat on Thursday as investors gather at Bumi’s AGM to formally approve its board reshuffle in the wake of an explosive row.

The financier stepped down in March as co-chairman of the FTSE 250 coal business he brought to London, after a fallout with his Indonesian partners in the venture. He is still a director so will not address fellow investors at the meeting unless directly asked questions.
Last autumn, a letter was made public in which Mr Rothschild said Bumi’s major subsidiary needed a “radical cleaning-up”, seen as a show of frustration with the Bakries, a powerful Indonesian family.

Plans to oust the Old Etonian from the board were dropped after talks but he stepped down as co-chairman and a new board was agreed.

The reshuffle will be put before investors at the AGM hosted by the new chairman, Samin Tan, a long-standing Bakrie ally, as the board puts itself up for re-election. That includes Mr Tan, Nalin Rathod, Bumi’s new chief executive, Scott Merrillees, the chief financial officer, and Mr Rothschild. Three new faces are up for election to replace directors including James Campbell, who with Mr Rothschild set up the Vallar cash shell that gave birth to Bumi.

Despite the apparent truce, Bumi’s share price has yet to recover, with the stock also hit by falling prices for its coal. The shares were last week trading at an all-time low of 365p, against 850p just four months ago.

Sabrina

10th June 2012, 20:01

Published on Jun 8, 2012 by TheAlexJonesChannel

This is an overview in the Financial Terrorism conference held in the UK this past weekend. Speakers included Max Keiser, John Perkins, F William Engdahl, Ian Crane, Alessio Rastani and more. Stay tuned for more in depth videos from the conference.

EHwv4vIYVlg

Alie

11th June 2012, 19:16

Here's Ben Fulford's latest 6-11-12 regarding banking .... (http://shiftfrequency.com/ben-fulford-june-11-2012-meetings-set-for-july-15-20th-in-attempt-to-end-financial-crisis/)

Ben Fulford (June 12 2012) ~ Meetings Set For July 15-20th In Attempt To End Financial Crisis
Posted on June 11, 2012 by Gillian
Benjamin Fulford

"There will be a series of both secret and public high-level meetings from June 15 to June 20th aimed at ending the financial crisis that threatens to collapse the Western world’s banking sector, according to multiple sources. The hope is that the G20 meeting set to start on June 18th will lead to a breakthrough.

To help make that possible, the White Dragon Society sent a message to the Committee of 300 proposing the announcement of a campaign, similar in intensity to a world war, aimed at ending poverty, stopping environmental destruction, eliminating disease and otherwise trying to save our wonderful, but ailing planet.

If the committee responds positively and yet the high-level financial blockage continues, then the next level response will be directed at the P2 freemason lodge and the BIS, according to sources involved in the negotiations.

The other culprit known to be directly involved in stopping the new financial system is the drone serial killer Barak Obama, hired hand for the Federal Reserve Board owning cabal families. These families, the Warburgs, the Harrimans, The Scherffs (Bush), the Morgans, the Mellons, the Rockefellers, the Rothschilds and their subsidiaries would then be considered to be the source of the problem and subsequently dealt with.

So far the Bushes, the Rothschilds, the Rockefellers, the Black Pope and a who’s who of the Western power elite have already been offering astronomical bribes to White Dragon Society members in an attempt to maintain their control on the dollar and Euro printing presses.

Needless to say, a lot of these super-rich trillionaire families would become street trash without their fabled money printing presses. Since it costs them nothing to punch extra zeroes into central bank computers, they keep coming up with ever more absurd and astronomical numbers that have nothing to do with the real world. The last central bank cabal “bond” one this writer saw had 46 zeroes on it but it was just as worthless as the rest. What the cabal families do not have is what they need the most, the goodwill of the people of the planet earth.

We also need to keep in mind the possibility that the blockage of the financial system in the West does not originate either with the Federal Reserve Board families, the committee of 300, the P2, the BIS or any other human organization. In that case, the rogue artificial intelligence story being put out by MJ12 will have to be taken seriously. It would mean temporarily ending all electronic money, unplugging all bank and financial institution computers and reverting temporarily to cash and carry until the system can be safely rebooted. This is the worst case scenario for financial system collapse. It will mean considerable, temporary, hardship but not mass starvation.

In any case, enough people have become aware of the scam that is privately owned fiat (out of nothing) money that the genie cannot be put back into the bottle. The process of monetary creation and distribution will have to be carried out in total transparency from now on.

The cabal will also have to start telling the truth about their secret rule. This will mean appearing before a South African style truth and reconciliation committee and talking about their crimes against humanity in exchange for forgiveness.

This further means the robber baron control matrix that has been set up over the past 100 years (or probably much longer) will have to be dismantled.

It will involve a total rewriting of history. We already know that history as taught in Western schools is a highly censored version of what really happened. For example, in the real version of history, the robber barons won and established totalitarian rule. In the false version taught in the West the cabal monopolies and cartels were broken up by democratically elected governments.

In the cabal version, civilization began in Mesopotamia about 7,000 years ago and all other civilizations are “junior” to the West. The truth is that there were advanced civilizations more than 14,000 years ago in many parts of the world (based on overwhelming archaeological and historical evidence). Perhaps opening the Vatican library to international scholars would be a good place to start.

The breakup of the media and school brainwashing system will also lead to radical changes. One Russian source says the brainwashing runs so deep it will take at least 15 years to produce a new non-brainwashed generation.

The White Dragon Society believes that from now on humans will only need one commandment: “do unto others (including non-human others) as you would have others do unto you.” The idea that apart from that one rule, people could do whatever they want, however they want, whenever they want, according to their desires, left the cabalist speechless.

One cabal family member seemed perplexed and scared and in awe of the idea of people being set free. The cabalists somehow think civilization will collapse if people are not kept as slaves but that is patently not true. People will continue to work and create because otherwise they will become bored.

Of course, the battle is not over yet and this free future has still not actually started."

Sabrina

11th June 2012, 21:00

Euro games continue. This morning the markets were being talked up after the Spanish bailout. Now they're down again. No doubt somebody made some money along the way... :)

11 June

Market gains wiped out as Spanish banking giants Santander and BBVA hit with credit rating downgrade

Relief on the financial markets that a massive bailout had been agreed for Spanish banks dissipated today as investors fretted over the details and a ratings agency hit two of Spain's banking giants with a downgrade.

Share prices had already fallen back this afternoon and the cost of borrowing for the Spanish government had risen before Fitch cut the long-term credit ratings for Banco Santander and BBVA to BBB-plus from A, following its three-notch cut to the country's sovereign rating last week.

In a move that could again spark concerns among British bank customers after a similar step from Moody's some weeks ago, Fitch also downgraded its Santander UK rating to 'A' from 'A+'.

Early gains on the London stock market inspired by the the £80billion European Union rescue package agreed over the weekend were steadily eroded through the day as investors started to digest the implications of the deal.

After the coup de grace from Fitch, the FTSE 100 index closed 2.7 points down at 5,432.37. And as markets started to worry about the details and how the bailout would be financed, the euro gave up most of the day's gains to fall back to $1.255.
The Dow Jones on Wall Street was trading in negative territory and the German and France markets finished the day more or less flat after showing substantial gains this morning.

Eurozone finance ministers agreed to lend Spain as much as £80billion to recapitalise its banking sector – almost double what most were expecting. The 17-nation currency area agreed to lend Madrid the cash to shore up a raft of regional banks that were left exposed by the property crash.........................

The next key date for the euro crisis is Sunday when Greece holds an election that is being seen as a referendum on whether to stay in the eurozone or reject painful austerity measures.

more at link

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/markets/article-2157659/Market-gains-wiped-Santander-BBVA-hit-credit-downgrade.html#ixzz1xWKzOBwD

Sabrina

11th June 2012, 21:21

http://demonocracy.info/infographics/usa/world_debt/world_debt.html

A world in debt...

Sabrina

11th June 2012, 21:38

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0611/breaking28.html

UK/Ireland

11 June

McGuinness to resign MP seat

Sinn Féin MP for Mid Ulster Martin McGuinness is to resign his seat, forcing a byelection, as part of a shake-up to end Sinn Féin dual mandates at Westminster.

Party president Gerry Adams said Sinn Féin's four other MPs will stand down from the Northern Ireland Assembly where new representatives can be put in their place without further elections.

Mr Adams said his party would continue to refuse to sit in Westminster, but wanted to avoid creating a string of electoral contests by resigning all five of its parliamentary seats.

Stormont politicians have been heavily criticised in the past for holding posts in local councils, the devolved Stormont Assembly and at Westminster.

Mr Adams said: “The key thing to be said about this issue is that other parties are talking about ending dual mandate, Sinn Féin has ended dual mandate.”

The Sinn Féin MPs set to leave the Assembly are West Belfast representative Paul Maskey and West Tyrone representative Pat Doherty, plus former Stormont ministers Fermanagh-South-Tyrone MP Michelle Gildernew and Newry-Armagh MP Conor Murphy.

Mr Adams said his party had resolved the issue of Assembly members holding council seats, and was now dealing with MPs who sit at Stormont.

“We are today announcing that that is going to be phased out,” he said.
more at link...

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.financeasia.com/News/304350,will-li-resigns-as-co-head-of-china-ecm-at-deutsche-bank.aspx

11 June

Will Li resigns as co-head of China ECM at Deutsche Bank

Will Li is leaving Deutsche Bank after two years to return to the fund management industry, sources say. Separately, the bank has let go of two bankers in its corporate finance division as part of a headcount reduction.

Will Li, co-head of China equity capital markets (ECM) at Deutsche Bank, has resigned after almost two years with the bank. According to sources, Li plans to return to the buy-side.

Li started work in the investment banking industry in Hong Kong in 2000 and has held a variety of roles at different banks, but with a key focus on China. He is no stranger to fund management, however. Before he joined Deutsche in July 2010, Li ran his own macro hedge fund, Ocean Capital China Macro, which he started in 2009 and ran for about one-and-a-half years. The fund was awarded as the best macro hedge fund in 2010 by our sister magazine, AsianInvestor.

At Deutsche Bank, Li initially held a position as head of Asian real estate and gaming before he was appointed co-head of China ECM towards the end of 2010 together with Ian Long. Since then, the firm has worked on the a number of major listings by Chinese companies in overseas markets, including those of Haitong Securities, New China Life Insurance and Shanghai Pharmaceuticals in Hong Kong, and Renren.com on the New York Stock Exchange.

Li is said to have resigned in early May and worked his last day at the firm a couple of weeks ago. He leaves the industry at a time when it is getting harder and harder for banks to make money on Chinese IPOs as fees are coming down and syndicates are getting bigger. In the current challenging market environment, Chinese issuers have also started to mandate banks based on their ability to bring in cornerstone investors or on the back of commitments to hard underwrite the deal, sometimes ignoring previous track records of bringing companies to market. This is resulting in a certain amount of frustration among established ECM bankers.
more at link

gripreaper

11th June 2012, 23:47

Boy am I feelin it today;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVBEO7r-CZM&feature=youtu.be

Alie

12th June 2012, 00:39

Boy am I feelin it today;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVBEO7r-CZM&feature=youtu.be

Gripreaper --- thank you for an awesome fine :)

Now did you hear this "awesome" tirade from an Illinois state representative? *** parts of it are in the top video ****

gIec4NVPOUk

gripreaper

12th June 2012, 00:50

And the hits just keep coming. the Eurozone has decided to bail out Spain. How will they do it? by borrowing more money, kicking the can down the road, stiffing their grandchildren for the tab, and THEN...get this... GIVING ALL THAT MONEY STRAIGHT AWAY BACK TO THE BANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKpE0HqJtow&feature=player_embedded

It's a friggin BIZZARO WORLD of living in the Twilight Zone !!!!!

foreverfan

12th June 2012, 10:28

It's a friggin BIZZARO WORLD of living in the Twilight Zone !!!!!

http://thebarking.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Twilight-Zone.jpg

Sabrina

12th June 2012, 17:40

Euro crisis and the dominoes falling:

http://www.sharecast.com/cgi-bin/sharecast/story.cgi?story_id=20156298

12 June

Italy could be next Eurozone country to need aid

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Now that Spain’s bailout has become official, all eyes have shifted to Italy amidst worries that Rome will be the next to fall victim to the European debt crisis contagion and also need a rescue.

Italy has a €1.56tn economy, the third-largest of the Eurozone, and worries are focused on the country over doubts that it will be able to grow out of its recession and pay off its mountainous debt pile. To make matters worse, Europe has just approved an up-to-€100bn bailout of the Spanish banking system of which Italy is expected to have to pay a large part.

Even Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti admitted last weekend that “there is a permanent risk of contagion. (that word again) ” The European technocrat who took over for Silvio Berlusconi explained that this is the reason “why strengthening the Eurozone is of collective interest.”

Spiro Sovereign Strategy says that “the problem for Italy is that where Spain goes, there’s always the perception that Italy could follow.” Indeed experts from Commerzbank to Citigroup are already convinced that Italy will probably end up needing external help at some point. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank has said that investors are losing confidence in Italy’s capacity to solve its own situation as it is finding problems have access to financing in the markets.

“At current yields, Italy’s fiscal position is unsustainable on a long-term basis”, says Citi. It’s exactly those high borrowing costs that lead Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter to say that she couldn’t rule out that Rome would need European aid in the months ahead.

and

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/debt-crisis-live/9325838/Debt-crisis-live.html

Debt crisis: live
Spanish 10-year bond yields jump past 6.8pc, a 13-year high, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel warns that any funds for the country will be tied to reforms of its banking sector.

• Spanish bond yields hit euro-era high of 6.83pc
• Merkel: Spain must reform banking sector in return for funds
• Cyprus 'asks Russia for €5bn loan'
• Osborne: most difficult decision was cutting 50p tax rate
• Fitch: Spain will 'significantly' miss deficit targets
• UK manufacturing falls by more-than-expected 0.7pc

story at link

Sabrina

12th June 2012, 17:49

Secret or periodical controlled leaks to selected press??

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9327300/EC-preparing-secret-plans-for-Greek-euro-exit.html

12 June

EC preparing secret plans for Greek euro exit
Legal advice on capital controls, including limits on withdrawals from Greek bank accounts, and emergency border restrictions, has been provided by the European Commission to eurozone governments drawing up plans for Greece to leave the euro.

Commission officials confirmed on Tuesday that "these elements" of contingency planning for a Greek exit from the single currency have been discussed by the "euro working group" (EWG) of Treasury officials and junior finance ministers over the last six weeks.
"There are indeed discussions, and we are asked to clarify what is foreseen in the EU treaties," said a Commission spokesman. "Some people are working on scenarios. We are providing information on EU law as guardian of the treaties."

Greek newspaper Ekathimerini reported bank withdrawals in Greece have hit a rate of up to €500m per day, a level expected to accelerate in the aftermath of Greek elections on Sunday.

The admission that the Commission has given legal advice on the introduction of capital controls will fuel uncertainty and market turbulence amid fears that the eurozone is heading for a break up over the summer.

The discussions, carried out during weekly conference calls, have taken place as the EU prepares for the possibility Greeks will elect a radical-left coalition, Syriza, which has pledged to tear up an austerity programme that is condition of a €240bn EU-IMF bailout.

Capital restrictions, including limits on cash-machine withdrawals, are legal under Article 65 of Europe's internal market rules allowing emergency measures to preserve "public security" in the event of a Greek exit, said a Commission official.

Eurozone governments have also sought advice on suspending the EU's passport-free travel zone in order to introduce border checks to stop Greeks taking money out of Greece or to limit the numbers of people fleeing political chaos.

The Commission, and other EU officials, have stressed that the discussions do not amount to a master plan or "disaster script" for Greece to leave the euro.

"There is no plan whatsoever pre-supposing a Greek exit from the eurozone. We must wait for the Greek citizens to decide their future," said the Commission spokesman. "Our role is to say what is possible under EU law, not to draw up scenarios. We're not scriptwriters for disaster films."

European diplomats have expressed anger at officials briefing the content of confidential discussions deemed so sensitive they are "forbidden from being written on paper".

"You have to wonder at the mentality of someone who plans capital controls and then tells the world about it in advance," said a diplomat.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9327509/London-in-focus-as-JP-Morgan-chief-Dimon-faces-Congress.html

12 June

London in focus as JP Morgan chief Dimon faces Congress

The London arm of JP Morgan that racked up billions of dollars of trading losses will come under fire in Washington on Wednesday as a powerful Senate committee grills Jamie Dimon, the bank’s chairman and chief executive, over the trading loss that stunned Wall Street.

Senators will want to know how the London unit of JP Morgan’s chief investment office (CIO) generated the more than $2bn (1.3bn pounds) of losses and when regulators on both sides of the Atlantic were informed.

The hearing will be one of the most high-profile clashes between Wall Street and Congress since Senators quizzed Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein and others over the causes of the financial crisis in the spring of 2010.

That the losing bets were placed by traders in London, one of whom has been dubbed the London Whale because of the size of his trades, has already reignited the debate in the US about how authorities can best regulate large financial institutions that operate across borders.

The London arm of the CIO is regulated from the US by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, while JP Morgan’s investment banking business in London is regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Mr Dimon has admitted that the losses stemming from the series of bets made on indices measuring the financial health of several major companies could grow further. Shares in JPMorgan have dropped almost 20pc since the bank first disclosed the losses at the start of May.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://the2012scenario.com/

Kevin Annett Tells Vatican: Citizens Will Name and Arrest Church Rapists

Thanks to Geoffrey West

By the International Tribunal for the Crimes of Church and State – - June 11,2012

http://itccs.org/

In this video interview with Alfred Lambremont Webre, Rev. Kevin Annett, Acting Secretary of the International Tribunal for Crimes of Church and State – www.itccs.org – discusses a public declaration to Pope Ratizinger (Pope Venedict XVI) and the Vatican stating that unless specific actions are taken by the Pope and the Vatican by September 15, 2012, “every known Roman Catholic priest or official who has harmed a child or protected those who have will be publicly named by our network, and will be publicly arrested and expelled from their churches.”

The Declaration continues, “This decision is made under the common law right of citizenship arrest of those who endanger children when established authorities refuse to protect the community.

Such direct action to protect our children will be accompanied by ongoing occupations and seizures of Roman Catholic Church property commencing globally on September 15, 2012.

08e30vnE6js

onawah

12th June 2012, 18:12

I posted in The Vatican, Up Against the World thread including the above video, and an article as well.
http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?631-At-the-Vatican-Up-Against-the-World&p=505079#post505079

Sabrina

12th June 2012, 18:31

https://www.adr.com/Markets/GlobalNewsStory?docID=1-DN20120612010238-7B6ELPJ2PP8E7358VQ16ILBU59

Esprit: CEO Resigns for Personal Reasons, Effective July 2013
Tuesday, June 12, 2012

By Chester Yung

HONG KONG--Fashion retailer Esprit Holdings Ltd. (0330.HK) said Tuesday its Chief Executive Ronald van der Vis has resigned, citing "personal and family reasons," with his resignation is effective on or before July 1, 2013 according to the contract.

"Mr. van der Vis has decided to resign for personal and family reasons, and he has expressed his wish to pursue other interests," the company said in a statement.

"The Board regrets this, but respects Mr van der Vis's decision to devote more time to his personal endeavors," the retailer said, without saying who would replace Mr. van der Vis.

and

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/ceo-of-kuwaiti-telco-wataniya-resigns-461849.html

12 June

CEO of Kuwaiti telco Wataniya resigns

The chief executive of Wataniya, Kuwait's No. 2 telecoms operator, has resigned, parent company Qatar Telecom (Qtel) said on Tuesday.
Qtel said Scott Gegenheimer left to "pursue other opportunities" and his deputy Abdulaziz Fakhroo has been promoted to acting chief executive.

Gegenheimer joined Wataniya in 2002 and became CEO in 2008. Fakhroo was appointed deputy chief executive earlier this year.

Qtel owns a 52.5 percent stake in Wataniya, which is also known as National Mobile Telecommunications Co.

and

12 JUne

KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — Malaysia Airlines (MAS) deputy group CEO Mohd Rashdan Yusof has resigned a mere eight months after taking up the role, the airline said today.

His resignation confirms weeks of speculation that the veteran corporate figure would leave the national carrier after helping to structure a fundraising exercise.

The reason given by MAS for Rashdan’s departure was that he had decided that it is time for him to “move on and pursue other interests” after having assisted MAS in its recent business and funding plans.

Sabrina

12th June 2012, 18:40

http://www.cfoinnovation.com/content/arrest-top-bankers-china-may-be-sign-reform

Arrest of Top Bankers in China May Be Sign of Reform

Two weeks after China’s anti-graft watchdog detained Yang Kun, Deputy Head and Executive Director of the country’s third-largest bank, Agricultural Bank of China, another bank executive has also been arrested. The President of the Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC), Tao Liming, is “assisting an investigation by relevant authorities into a personal ‘economic problem’,” PSBC, the nation’s seventh largest lender by assets, said in 11 June announcement.

Some analysts regard the spate of arrests as a sign that China is serious about cleaning up the banking system, whose proper functioning is crucial to economic and business growth. A number of mainland banks have long been suspected of making reckless loans and allowing top officials to misappropriate assets.

“It is no surprise that senior bankers were found to have committed economic crimes,” Guo Tianyong, a professor at the Central University of Finance and Economics, told the South China Morning Post. “The root cause lies in the massive power granted to them without sufficient supervision on them.”

However, other people familiar with the investigations speculate that the arrests are part of the jockeying for plum posts in the once-in-a-decade reshuffle of the country’s top leadership. The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China will be held later this year.

More arrests are expected. The PSBC announcement said another official from the bank's fund operation department, Chen Hongping, is also assisting investigators. Tao, his superior, has been put under shuanggui, a disciplinary system used against senior government officials in China, a person close to the PSBC told the Post, but no other details were available.

The newspaper’s sources said Tao and Chen were found to have issued illegal loans to clients to book illicit gains and to have misused the bank’s assets.

Separately, Chinese financial magazine Caixin and other media outlets report that Zhuang Yonghui, former chairman of Yantai Bank, was recently questioned on suspicion that he embezzled bank funds. That probe is said to have resulted in the detention of more than a dozen people. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Bank is the largest shareholder in Yantai Bank, with a 20 % stake.

Tao was appointed president of PSBC in 2007 after Beijing separated the banking unit of the State Postal Bureau from the postal authorities.

The PSBC went from being a limited liability company to a joint stock company earlier this year. It has more than 500 million clients, as well as assets exceeding 4 trillion yuan (US$634.92 billion).

Sabrina

12th June 2012, 18:50

5 Million Farmers Sue Monsanto for $7.7 Billion

June 2012

Launching a lawsuit against the very company that is responsible for a farmer suicide every 30 minutes, 5 million farmers are now suing Monsanto for as much as 6.2 billion euros (around 7.7 billion US dollars). The reason? As with many other cases, such as the ones that led certain farming regions to be known as the ‘suicide belt’, Monsanto has been reportedly taxing the farmers to financial shambles with ridiculous royalty charges. The farmers state that Monsanto has been unfairly gathering exorbitant profits each year on a global scale from “renewal” seed harvests, which are crops planted using seed from the previous year’s harvest.

The practice of using renewal seeds dates back to ancient times, but Monsanto seeks to collect massive royalties and put an end to the practice. Why? Because Monsanto owns the very patent to the genetically modified seed, and is charging the farmers not only for the original crops, but the later harvests as well. Eventually, the royalties compound and many farmers begin to struggle with even keeping their farm afloat. It is for this reason that India slammed Monsanto with groundbreaking ‘biopiracy’ charges in an effort to stop Monsanto from ‘patenting life’.

Jane Berwanger, a lawyer for the farmers who went on record regarding the case, told the Associted Press:

“Monsanto gets paid when it sell the seeds. The law gives producers the right to multiply the seeds they buy and nowhere in the world is there a requirement to pay (again). Producers are in effect paying a private tax on production.”

The findings echo what thousands of farmers have experienced in particularly poor nations, where many of the farmers are unable to stand up to Monsanto. Back in 2008, the Daily Mail covered what is known as the ‘GM Genocide’, which is responsible for taking the lives of over 17,683 Indian farmers in 2009 alone. After finding that their harvests were failing and they started to enter economic turmoil, the farmers began ending their own lives — oftentimes drinking the very same insecticide that Monsanto provided them with.

As the information continues to surface on Monsanto’s crimes, further lawsuits will begin to take effect. After it was ousted in January that Monsanto was running illegal ‘slave-like’ working rings, more individuals became aware of just how seriously Monsanto seems to disregard their workers — so why would they care for the health of their consumers? In April, another group of farmers sued Monsanto for ‘knowingly poisoning’ workers and causing ‘devastating birth defects’.

Will endless lawsuits from millions of seriously affected individuals be the end of Monsanto?

Read more: http://naturalsociety.com/5-million-farmers-sue-monsanto-for-7-billion/#ixzz1xbf9G800

Sabrina

12th June 2012, 19:10

Random thoughts on it all:

Things certainly seem to be coming to a head financially, politically, on the religious/Vatican front, energetically, earth change wise etc. etc.

And by the by, Dutchsinse has just put this on his Facebook page:

'North California .. look at the areas steaming.. Mono lake.. north of Lake Tahoe.. and then look at north california.. we know what THOSE areas are up north..

several high peaks that SHOULD produce some kind of cloud IF this was regular cloud formation.. but the fact it is ONLY occurring at these areas.. leads me to the same conclusions as before..

we are on the edge of a huge development earth changes wise.. all the signs are pointing towards it... from animal deaths to earthquake unrest.. to mystery booms.. and multiple volcanic ventings.. PLUS the global earthquake uptick.. and large number of volcanic eruptions.. add in the space activity.. and we've got ourselves a REAL issue going on here.

all the secrecy.. all the denial from professionals.. literally cutting feeds, censoring data etc..

Id say.. 'whatever it is' .. its imminent... weeks maybe.. who knows.. and who knows what the ultimate outcome will be.. volcanic eruptions.. large earthquakes.. something bigger? right now I can't even begin to imagine what something this big might mean or cause.'

http://climate.cod.edu/flanis/1km.php?loop=1&type=vis&region=N_California&numimages=48

and

Anyway, this is probably posted and debated by the Drake followers or detractors, but for the record, am putting it here as part of the jigsaw puzzle and everyone can use their own discernment as usual :)

*UPDATED NOTICE*
PER DRAKE; THE ORIGINAL LADY DRAGON POLL IS CLOSED FOR INITIAL SAMPLE, PLEASE CONTINUE TO VOTE HERE http://www.soldierhugs.com/cabal-surrender-poll-vote/ FOR FURTHER RESULTS TO BE TABULATED TUESDAY JUNE 12th, 2012

We the People of planet Earth hereby set forth the NON-NEGOTIABLE CONDITIONS whereas to accept the COMPLETE and IRREVOCABLE PEACEFUL SURRENDER of the various Dark and Controlling factions whom have illegally and covertly usurped Human populations & societies with varying agendas intended to control, rule, manipulate, subjugate, and ultimately exterminate the majority of our Human populations. These Dark and Controlling factions have and operate under many names, structures, titles, and organizations. Some to include but not limited to are; The Illuminati, P2 Freemasons, The Cabal, Committee of 300, Bilderberg Group, The New World Order, Rothschild Group, Rockefeller Group, Neo Nazi Bush Cabal, Federal Reserve Central Banks, European Central Banks, Shadow Government, etc, etc… all hereinafter referred to as "Cabalist´s".

*Foundational Pre-Requisites*
It is understood and assumed as a Prerequisite to and in Addition of the below conditions listed, that the Cabalist´s STAND DOWN and allow a NEW GLOBAL FINANCIAL system to be enacted and ANNOUNCED; whereas the current FIAT and FRACTIONAL RESERVE Banking and Financial protocols of the FEDERAL RESERVE & ROTHSCHILD EUROPEAN banking Cartels and their Subsidiaries, are REPLACED with a new EQUITY based & ASSET backed Financial system and Currency exchange REVALUATION globally that ALIGNS with the INTERESTS and WISHES of the World populations. (ie: uS Treasury notes vs. Fed. Reserve notes) Additionally it is demanded the immediate release of the WORLD GLOBAL SETTLEMENTS, the PROSPERITY PROGRAMS, CMKX, FARM CLAIMS and all AMERICAN INDIAN SETTLEMENTS that Congress has APPROVED yet has still not funded, be RELEASED and INITIATED.

and

Oh yes, and the channeled messages are reaching a crescendo as well for those who follow them.

and

And ex MOD ufo investigator, Nick Pope, has been bizarrely quoted in the UK's Daily Mail in a big article about the possibility of alien visit at London's Olympics (probably not friendly). He, of course knows much better (but the Mail seems to have had a serious of positive 'possibility of aliens' stories this year if we are being softened up?? False flag is being shouted at Nick Pope - so that's good:

http://www.examiner.com/article/exclusive-nick-pope-responds-to-allegations-of-false-flag-activities-at-london

Massively arrestingly interesting times :).

And G20 is 18 June and Solstice is 20 June, and I've got written in my diary from somewhere:
23-24 June Uranus (in Aries) and Pluto (in Capricorn) Square transitions - will dismantle dark teams across the world. So bring that on!

Alie

12th June 2012, 23:02

Your quote "Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it's getting!" is quite appropriate, me thinks :)

Thanks Sabrina!

Random thoughts on it all:

Things certainly seem to be coming to a head financially, politically, on the religious/Vatican front, energetically, earth change wise etc. etc.

And by the by, Dutchsinse has just put this on his Facebook page:

'North California .. look at the areas steaming.. Mono lake.. north of Lake Tahoe.. and then look at north california.. we know what THOSE areas are up north..

several high peaks that SHOULD produce some kind of cloud IF this was regular cloud formation.. but the fact it is ONLY occurring at these areas.. leads me to the same conclusions as before..

we are on the edge of a huge development earth changes wise.. all the signs are pointing towards it... from animal deaths to earthquake unrest.. to mystery booms.. and multiple volcanic ventings.. PLUS the global earthquake uptick.. and large number of volcanic eruptions.. add in the space activity.. and we've got ourselves a REAL issue going on here.

all the secrecy.. all the denial from professionals.. literally cutting feeds, censoring data etc..

Id say.. 'whatever it is' .. its imminent... weeks maybe.. who knows.. and who knows what the ultimate outcome will be.. volcanic eruptions.. large earthquakes.. something bigger? right now I can't even begin to imagine what something this big might mean or cause.'

http://climate.cod.edu/flanis/1km.php?loop=1&type=vis&region=N_California&numimages=48

and

Anyway, this is probably posted and debated by the Drake followers or detractors, but for the record, am putting it here as part of the jigsaw puzzle and everyone can use their own discernment as usual :)

*UPDATED NOTICE*
PER DRAKE; THE ORIGINAL LADY DRAGON POLL IS CLOSED FOR INITIAL SAMPLE, PLEASE CONTINUE TO VOTE HERE http://www.soldierhugs.com/cabal-surrender-poll-vote/ FOR FURTHER RESULTS TO BE TABULATED TUESDAY JUNE 12th, 2012

We the People of planet Earth hereby set forth the NON-NEGOTIABLE CONDITIONS whereas to accept the COMPLETE and IRREVOCABLE PEACEFUL SURRENDER of the various Dark and Controlling factions whom have illegally and covertly usurped Human populations & societies with varying agendas intended to control, rule, manipulate, subjugate, and ultimately exterminate the majority of our Human populations. These Dark and Controlling factions have and operate under many names, structures, titles, and organizations. Some to include but not limited to are; The Illuminati, P2 Freemasons, The Cabal, Committee of 300, Bilderberg Group, The New World Order, Rothschild Group, Rockefeller Group, Neo Nazi Bush Cabal, Federal Reserve Central Banks, European Central Banks, Shadow Government, etc, etc… all hereinafter referred to as "Cabalist´s".

*Foundational Pre-Requisites*
It is understood and assumed as a Prerequisite to and in Addition of the below conditions listed, that the Cabalist´s STAND DOWN and allow a NEW GLOBAL FINANCIAL system to be enacted and ANNOUNCED; whereas the current FIAT and FRACTIONAL RESERVE Banking and Financial protocols of the FEDERAL RESERVE & ROTHSCHILD EUROPEAN banking Cartels and their Subsidiaries, are REPLACED with a new EQUITY based & ASSET backed Financial system and Currency exchange REVALUATION globally that ALIGNS with the INTERESTS and WISHES of the World populations. (ie: uS Treasury notes vs. Fed. Reserve notes) Additionally it is demanded the immediate release of the WORLD GLOBAL SETTLEMENTS, the PROSPERITY PROGRAMS, CMKX, FARM CLAIMS and all AMERICAN INDIAN SETTLEMENTS that Congress has APPROVED yet has still not funded, be RELEASED and INITIATED.

and

Oh yes, and the channeled messages are reaching a crescendo as well for those who follow them.

and

And ex MOD ufo investigator, Nick Pope, has been bizarrely quoted in the UK's Daily Mail in a big article about the possibility of alien visit at London's Olympics (probably not friendly). He, of course knows much better (but the Mail seems to have had a serious of positive 'possibility of aliens' stories this year if we are being softened up?? False flag is being shouted at Nick Pope - so that's good:

http://www.examiner.com/article/exclusive-nick-pope-responds-to-allegations-of-false-flag-activities-at-london

Massively arrestingly interesting times :).

And G20 is 18 June and Solstice is 20 June, and I've got written in my diary from somewhere:
23-24 June Uranus (in Aries) and Pluto (in Capricorn) Square transitions - will dismantle dark teams across the world. So bring that on!

Alie

13th June 2012, 00:17

Insightful ...

Massive Debt Collapse with Author, F. William Engdahl

JFZGMWJUc4I

Sabrina

13th June 2012, 20:45

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jun/13/jamie-dimon-blames-top-executive?newsfeed=true

13 Junne

Jamie Dimon blames JP Morgan losses on top executives in Senate testimony

Appearing before banking committee, JP Morgan boss is critical of legislation that would curb some types of hedging in US

JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon blamed the bank's $2bn-plus trading losses on "poorly conceived" strategies of senior executives who failed to keep him informed, as he escaped largely unscathed Wednesday from a Senate banking committee hearing set up to investigate the affair.

While Dimon told the committee that while he was ultimately responsible for the fiasco, he said he was not made fully aware of a strategy in London that was "poorly conceived and vetted" and that "violates common sense".

Dimon told senators that the bank was now looking to "claw back" compensation from those responsible. He refused to be drawn on details of who might be asked to return any money; Ina Drew, who headed the chief investment office where the losses occurred, earned close to $15m last year. Shareholders recently approved a $23m pay package for Dimon.

Senators at the hearing largely failed to land a blow on Dimon, although Democrats were critical of his attacks on financial regulation. The banker has been a major critic of some of the new rules brought in after the credit crisis, and he used the hearing to once more attack legislation aimed at curbing risky investments as banks considered "too big to fail".

When reports first emerged of problems at the bank's London office, now the subject of investigation by the FBI and financial regulators on both sides of the Atlantic, Dimon described them as a "tempest in a teapot". Dimon told the committee that before he made the comments he was assured by Drew, who oversaw the controversial trades, that losses were isolated and being taken care of. "I didn't know," Dimon told CNBC in an interview after the hearing. "I'd be crazy to get out there and say something I knew to be a lie."

During the hearing Robert Menendez, a Democratic senator for New Jersey, said the bank has been "lobbying extensively" against regulations that would protect the bank against losses," Sherrod Brown, a Democratic senator for Ohio asked Dimon if "too-big-to-fail banks are too big to manage and too big to regulate".

Dimon told the committee: "The American business machine is the best in the world. We are blessed to have it." He warned that if the wrong financial regulation was imposed the US would be "throwing the baby out with the bathwater." (ha ha)...

The bank boss was particularly critical of the Volcker rule, legislation now being drawn up by regulators that seeks to limit the types of hedging allowed at the biggest US banks. His critics have argued the rule could have prevented losses like those seen in London. "I think it is unnecessary. I wouldn't have tried to write the rule as it is currently constructed," said Dimon.

Dimon was noticeably rattled by questions from Jeff Merkley, Democratic senator for Oregon. Dimon said he believed that "big dumb banks" should be subject to "a bit of Old Testament punishment" if they fail. Merkley said after the 2008 credit crunch JP Morgan would have faced a similar punishment and Dimon would would have lost his job if the government hadn't used the Tarp bail out to save the bank.

Visibly irritated, Dimon said the bank didn't need Tarp funds and only took them because the government wanted it to. Merkley said many analysts disagreed. "They are factually wrong," said Dimon, launching into a defence before Merkley said: "Sir, this is not your hearing, I am asking you to respond to questions."

Sabrina

13th June 2012, 20:51

Get the feeling 'they' are turning on each other...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9330366/Trading-house-sues-Barclays-for-133m-over-Swedish-deal.html

13 June

Trading house sues Barclays for £133m over Swedish deal

Barclays Bank is being sued for €164m (£133m) by an irate former client which claims the lender went behind its back and bought a company it was itself pursuing.

CF Partners, a boutique trading house, alleges Barclays "breached its duty of confidentiality" by using secret information given to the bank in its role as an adviser to buy the company on its own account and make a profit at its client's expense.

The High Court battle, which began yon Wednesday, names Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond along with Rich Ricci, co-chief executive of the corporate and investment bank, and a number of other Barclays investment bankers.

The case centres on a deal that took place in 2008, when CF Partners hired Barclays Capital to help it buy Swedish carbon trading company Tricorona. BarCap was providing financing and M&A advice, which was set to net the bank £15m in fees.

On July 29, 2008, a confidentiality agreement was signed between all the parties and CF Partners began working on "Project Carbonara".
Tim Lord, QC, who is acting on behalf of CF Partners, said it was following the assurance of the confidentiality agreement that his client shared its highly sensitive commercial strategy for Tricorona, which was set to boost the value of its portfolio. more at link

Sabrina

13th June 2012, 20:55

http://the2012scenario.com/2012/06/cobra-exclusive-world-first-radio-interview-surrender-of-the-cabal-mass-arrests-and-so-much-more/

Cobra radio interview, mass arrests and much more apparently - not heard it myself yet but intriguing no doubt.

Sabrina

13th June 2012, 21:00

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/greek-bank-run-update-€100-€500-million-day

12 June

Greek Bank Run Update: €100-€500 Million Per Day

Five days ahead of the Greek parliamentary re-vote, the media propaganda machine has gone mute due to the moratorium on the RAND() known as popular polling: forgotten are the days when Syriza' popularity rating would swing from -100 to +100 in the span of hours, Diebold notwithstanding. Which leaves the media machine just one tactic: updates on the economic collapse as a tacit suggestion of what may happen if situation is not fixed. And while at this point it is nearly impossible to distinguish propaganda from fact, the latest numbers out of Kathimerini are just stunning. As Bloomberg's Marcus Bensasson reports, citing Kathimerini, the Greek banking system has continued to hemorrhage deposits this month, amid uncertainty over the outcome of elections on June 17. "Many people are putting money in shares of mutual funds denominated in dollars because of the bureaucratic difficulty of taking money out of Greece, or are keeping cash at home, the newspaper said." How much? "Deposits are leaving the banking system at a rate of 100 million to 500 million euros ($125 million to $625 million) a day, Kathimerini said, without specifying over how long a period that rate of outflow has continued."

Considering that the Greece banking system has about €170 billion in total deposits, this is roughly 0.3% of the entire deposit base fleeing each day - those who understand the nuances of fractional reserve banking get why this could be an issue.

Putting this in the US context, which has over $8 trillion in various forms of deposits, this would be equivalents to about $25 billion getting withdrawn. Every day.

Robert J. Niewiadomski

14th June 2012, 12:02

This may seem as "unvoluntary" resignation, though the effect is the same - post vacancy...

Italian newspaper "La Republica" announced today that the Vatican computer engineer responsible for Holy See's IT infrastructure is missing/dead along with all the passwords and other sensitive information... Below is a link to the scan from the original newspaper (by http://stampanazionale.esteri.it) in Italian, sorry could not find an english translation:
http://stampanazionale.esteri.it/PDF/2012/2012-06-14/2012061421920257.pdf
There is also mention of that case in the Polish newspaper "Rzeczpospolita" (The Republic), link provided below (in Polish ;) ):
http://www.rp.pl/artykul/42,891930-Zaginal-ekspert-ds--informatyki-w-Watykanie.html
And (very clumsy) Google translation in English below:
http://translate.google.pl/translate?hl=pl&langpair=pl%7Cen&u=http://www.rp.pl/artykul/11,891930-Zaginal-ekspert-ds--informatyki-w-Watykanie.html

Sabrina

14th June 2012, 20:47

More on Robert's story above.

http://brazilweirdnews.blogspot.co.uk/
14 June

Where is the Vatican Hacker?

VATICAN. Is disappeared. There is some time nobody knows the whereabouts of the man who best knows the Vatican's digital secrets. The so-called "engineer of Pope" must to be in somewhere but nobody knows where.

He is young a man, 36 years old, who has created the protection of data and the computer center located in the basement of the Apostolic Palace. Therefore, he knows too much. His truly identity, is a secret. All what is known that is that he was a former hacker who was able to get into the computer system and obtained privileged informations.

Once discovered - the Holy See, instead of punishing him, contracted his services, to control their secrets. With the approval of the Secretary of Vatican State and the Gendarmerie, he became the absolute guardian of delicate issues. Experts say that the security of the Vatican's data network, created by this man, is comparable to that of the CIA.

In public terms,officialy - he never worked for Holy See (Sancta Sede). Thus, he can act temporarily in other areas and countries. This is what is known about the secret identity of an individual who is loyal to the pope. It is the only one who knows how to enter the Vatican network.

The former hacker is aware of emails; he has the key of Vatican's Bank, and perhaps even data about the scandalous informations that, recently leaked to the press and are appearing in headlines.

Now, like in a story of mystery fiction, he vanished with their secrets. There is much speculation about it more but, the theory most comented is that this man does not entrust the Vatican, nor even in the people who hired him and, therefore, decided to disappear.

Well, all this is fascinating, as in a book by Dan Brown, but what this editor asks is: if the guy is a unknown, if nobody knows how or who he is - then, how can one know that he disappeared? Complex...

SOURCE: La misteriosa desaparición del "ingeniero" del papa, el tesorero de los secretos vaticanos.
RTVE/Spain, published in 14/06/2012.
[http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20120614/misteriosa-desaparicion-del-ingeniero-del-papa/535602.shtml]

Sabrina

14th June 2012, 20:57

Now for the good news...

Iceland forgives mortgage debt to save its economy
June 13, 2012 | Filed under: Economy,News | Posted by: True Activist
by J. D. Heyes

(NaturalNews) It’s probably not a concept that most U.S. banks and lawmakers want to think about, but the fact is, Iceland’s economy has grown by leaps and bounds since the government there implemented widespread debt forgiveness for many of its citizens.

The initiative came about http://www.bloomberg.com following protests by Icelanders in 2008-2009 who were angry at the country’s leaders and bankers for its fiscal and economic collapse. At one point, protestors gathered around the Parliament building and pelted it with rocks.

In the ensuing months, Iceland banks have forgiven loans equaling 13 percent of the country’s annual gross domestic product, which has eased the debt burden for more than 25 percent of Iceland’s population, according to a February report published by theIcelandic Financial Services Association.

“You could safely say that Iceland holds the world record in household debt relief,” Lars Christensen, chief emerging markets economist at Danske Bank A/S in Copenhagen, told Bloomberg News. “Iceland followed the textbook example of what is required in a crisis. Any economist would agree with that.”

By any definition, the initiative has been a success.

Iceland’s slow ascent out of the economic abyss began in 2008, following an $85 billion default by the country’s banks. Its economy in 2012 will surpass that of the entire euro zone, as well as the developed world on average (including the world’s largest economy, the United States, whose economy grew at an anemic 2.2 percent in the first quarter of this year), according to an estimate by theOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD).

And, while the rest of the continent continues to drown in debt, most polls now indicate that Icelanders don’t want any part of joining the European Union, which is in its third year of debt crisis.

“The island’s households were helped by an agreement between the government and the banks, which are still partly controlled by the state, to forgive debt exceeding 110 percent of home values. On top of that, a Supreme Court ruling in June 2010 found loans indexed to foreign currencies were illegal, meaning households no longer need to cover krona losses,” Bloomberg Newsreported.

Lessons learned, but who’s listening?

“The lesson to be learned from Iceland’s crisis is that if other countries think it’s necessary to write down debts, they should look at how successful the 110 percent agreement was here,” Thorolfur Matthiasson, an economics professor at theUniversity of Icelandin Reykjavik, toldBloomberg. “It’s the broadest agreement that’s been undertaken.”

He went on to say that without the agreement, homeowners would have succumbed to their debt after the ratio of obligation to income skyrocketed to 240 percent in 2008.

Iceland’s $13 billion annual economy declined 6.7 percent the following year, in 2009, but has since rebounded and will expand by 2.4 percent this year and in 2013, the OECD estimated. Meanwhile, in the rest of debt-ridden Europe, the economy will collectively expand by a paltry 0.2 percent this year and only 1.6 percent the next, OECD estimates said in November.

Housing is now just about 3 percent below values in September 2008, just before the financial collapse. So improved is the nation’s economic and fiscal outlook thatFitch Ratingsin February raised the country toinvestment gradewith a stable outlook, stating the country’s
“unorthodox crisis policy response has succeeded.”

Here’s a concept: People first

Analysts say Iceland’s approach to solving its financial and economic problems put people ahead of markets at every step.

When it was judged in October 2008 that the country’s banks could not be saved, the government stepped in immediately and fenced in domestic accounts while leaving international creditors out of the loop. “The central bank imposed capital controls to halt the ensuing sell-off of the krona and new state-controlled banks were created from the remnants of the lenders that failed,” saidBloomberg.

That said, Icelanders are still reeling from the financial carnage.

“There are still a lot of people facing difficulties; at the same time there are a lot of people doing fine,” Kristjan Kristjansson, a spokesman for Landsbankinn hf, said. “It’s nearly impossible to say when enough is enough; alongside every measure that is taken, there are fresh demands for further action.”

That may come in the form of legal action. A new leadership coalition, led by Social Democrat Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir that was voted into office in early 2009, has authorities looking into who was most responsible for the banking meltdown. And parliament is still weighing whether to move forward with an indictment brought against former Prime Minister Geir Haarde in 2009 for his role in the crisis.

A new coalition, led by Social Democrat Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, was voted into office in early 2009. The authorities are now investigating most of the main protagonists of the banking meltdown.

In all, a special prosecutor has announced that as many as 90 people may be indicted, while more than 200 others, including former chief executives of the country’s three largest banks, will face criminal charges.

In the U.S., meanwhile, no top bank executives or lawmakers have faced prosecution for their roles in the subprime mortgage meltdown, though the federal Securities and Exchange Commission said in 2011 it hadsanctioned39 senior banking officials for conduct tied to the housing market collapse. Big deal.

Meanwhile, the smoke still has not cleared from the bursting housing bubble; so far, home values have declined 33 percent since peaking in 2006. Yet the best Americans can get from their leaders after being suckered into purchasing homes at what turned out to be hugely (artificially) inflated prices is a proposal by President Obama earlier this year to expand loan modifications that included “some” reductions in principal loan amounts.

Gee, thanks, guys.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.bloomberg.com

http://www.independent.ie

http://www.morningliberty.com

A Simple Human

15th June 2012, 18:25

Rajat Gupta Convicted of Insider Trading (http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/06/15/rajat-gupta-convicted-of-insider-trading/) (The New York Times)

Rajat Gupta Convicted of Insider Trading
By PETER LATTMAN and AZAM AHMED | June 15, 2012

Rajat K. Gupta, the retired head of the consulting firm McKinsey & Company and a former Goldman Sachs board member, was found guilty on Friday of conspiracy and securities fraud. He is the most prominent business executive convicted in a wave of prosecutions that followed the government’s sweeping investigation into insider trading on Wall Street.

After a monthlong trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan, a jury took only two days to deliberate before reaching a verdict. It found Mr. Gupta guilty of leaking confidential information about Goldman to his former friend and business associate, the fallen hedge fund titan Raj Rajaratnam, on three different occasions in 2008. He was also convicted of conspiring in an insider trading scheme with Mr. Rajaratnam.

Mr. Gupta was found not guilty of two instances of tipping Mr. Rajaratnam, including an allegation that he divulged secret news about Procter & Gamble, where he also served on the board.

“Having fallen from respected insider to convicted inside trader, Mr. Gupta has now exchanged the lofty board room for the prospect of a lowly jail cell,” Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan said in a statement.

“Almost two years ago, we said that insider trading is rampant, and today’s conviction puts that claim into stark relief, ” he said.

After the verdict was read in the courtroom, Mr. Gupta, 63, remained stoic, his face expressionless. Just behind him, his wife, Anita, buried her head in her hands, leaning against a bench. His four daughters, who had squeezed into the front row of the spectators’ gallery each day during the trial, loudly sobbed and consoled one another. Several jurors were crying as they left the courtroom.

Gary P. Naftalis, a lawyer for Mr. Gupta, said that his client would likely appeal the verdict.

“We believe the facts of this demonstrate that Mr. Gupta is innocent and we continue to believe he is innocent of all the charges,” said Mr. Naftalis. “This is only round one of this matter.”

Jed S. Rakoff, the judge in the case, said he was inclined to set Mr. Gupta free on bail until his sentencing on Oct. 18.

Mr. Gupta faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, but will probably serve less time than that. Mr. Rajaratnam, the former head of the Galleon Group hedge fund who was convicted of orchestrating a huge insider trading conspiracy last year, is serving an 11-year jail term.

Mr. Gupta is one of the 66 Wall Street traders and corporate executives charged with insider trading crimes by Mr. Bharara since 2009. Of those, 60 have either pleaded guilty or been found guilty.

Juries have now convicted all seven whose cases have gone to trial.

The outcome in Mr. Gupta’s trial was a substantial victory for the government. There had been a big question mark whether prosecutors could win a case built largely on circumstantial evidence – phone records and trading logs – of the defendant’s guilt. No witness testified to the contents of any calls between Mr. Gupta and Mr. Rajaratnam. The case lacked the dozens of incriminating wiretaps that prosecutors played at Mr. Rajaratnam’s trial.

The criminal charges against Mr. Gupta, which were brought last October, stunned the global business world. Not since last decade’s corporate crime spree, when Enron’s Jeffrey K. Skilling and WorldCom’s Bernard J. Ebbers received lengthy prison terms, or the Wall Street scandals of the late 1980s that led to jail time for the financiers Michael Milken and Ivan Boesky, had a corporate executive fallen from such lofty heights.

Mr. Gupta, a native of Kolkata, India, was orphaned as a teenager. After earning an engineering degree, he moved to the United States after receiving a scholarship to Harvard Business School. He then landed a job at McKinsey, the elite management-consulting firm. In 1994, at age of 45, Mr. Gupta was elected the global head of McKinsey, the first non-American-born executive to run the firm.

In 2007, after nearly four decades of dispensing business wisdom to corporate chieftains and government leaders, Mr. Gupta retired from McKinsey and became highly sought after as a public-company director.

He joined the boards of some of the world’s most well-known companies, including Goldman and Procter & Gamble.

In recent years, Mr. Gupta had also devoted much of his time to humanitarian causes, raising millions of dollars to combat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. He served as an adviser to both the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Clinton Global Health Initiative. When President Obama hosted his first White House state dinner in 2009, honoring a visit by India’s prime minister, Mr. Gupta and his wife were on the guest list.

The jury appeared to reject one of Mr. Gupta’s central defenses: that it was inconceivable that a person of Mr. Gupta’s station would risk destroying his career by passing along a handful of boardroom secrets.

To bolster this point, the defense put on six character witnesses who told the jury about Mr. Gupta’s sterling reputation, unimpeachable integrity and extensive charitable works.

“Having lived a lifetime of honesty and integrity,” said Gary P. Naftalis, a lawyer for Mr. Gupta, in his opening statement, “he didn’t turn into a criminal in the seventh decade of an otherwise praiseworthy life.”

Yet the government, which was represented by federal prosecutors Reed Brodsky and Richard C. Tarlowe, countered with powerful, if at times tedious, evidence that Mr. Gupta brazenly divulged confidential discussions by the boards of both Goldman and Procter & Gamble to Mr. Rajaratnam.

In interviews afterward, two jurors spoke about their struggles to reconcile the evidence with Mr. Gupta’s distinguished career.

“Here’s a man who came to this country and was a wonderful example of the American dream,” said the the jury’s foreman, Rich Lepkowski, an executive for a non-profit organization. “We wanted to believe that the allegations weren’t true, but at the end of the day the evidence was just overwhelming.”

Prosecutors built their case around phone records, trading logs, instant messages and e-mails that showed a pattern of insider trading. Mr. Gupta would participate in Goldman board calls, and soon after disconnecting from those calls – sometimes within minutes – Mr. Gupta would call Mr. Rajaratnam. Mr. Rajaratnam would then trade shares in Goldman based on Mr. Gupta’s tips.

The circumstantial evidence was bolstered by three telephone conversations between Mr. Rajaratnam and Galleon colleagues that were secretly recorded by the F.B.I. On those wiretapped calls, Mr. Rajaratnam boasted that he had traded Goldman stock because he had a source inside the bank.

“I heard yesterday from somebody who’s on the board of Goldman Sachs that they are going to lose $2 per share,” Mr. Rajaratnam said on one of those calls, in October 2008.

During his closing arguments, Mr. Brodsky, a prosecutor, called this “perfect evidence of insider trading.”

Goldman was on center stage – and in an uncomfortable spotlight – through much of the case. Several of the bank’s top officials testified during the trial, including Lloyd C. Blankfein, its chief executive.

Called to the witness stand by the prosecution, Mr. Blankfein described the secrecy surrounding Goldman board meetings. There was substantial testimony about Warren E. Buffett’s $5 billion investment in Goldman Sachs during the financial crisis, news that Mr. Gupta was charged with leaking to Mr. Rajaratnam before it was publicly announced.

The defense also maligned Goldman throughout the trial, suggesting that the close business ties between Goldman and Galleon meant that there were numerous sources at the bank feeding inside tips to Mr.
Rajaratnam.

“The wrong man is on trial,” Mr. Naftalis, Mr. Gupta’s lawyer, told the jury.

The case has been a major embarrassment for the executives at McKinsey, which Mr. Gupta ran from 1994 to 2003. A trusted adviser to Fortune 500 companies, McKinsey counts among its alumni Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, and James Gorman, the chief executive of Morgan Stanley.

“McKinsey’s core business principle is to guard the confidential and private information of its clients,” said a former McKinsey executive who spoke only on the condition of anonymity. “It is mind-blowing that the guy who ran the firm for so many years could be going to jail for violating that principle.”

Mr. Gupta’s illegal conduct started after he retired from McKinsey. In 2007, he left behind the staid world of management consulting and turned his focus to Wall Street.

It was then that Mr. Gupta fell in with Mr. Rajaratnam, whom he originally met through philanthropic activities. At the time, Mr. Rajaratnam, a Sri Lankan native, was at the peak of his powers, a billionaire hedge fund manager with a superior investment track record. For Mr. Gupta, who wanted to raise his profile in the lucrative world of money management, Mr. Rajaratnam was a top-notch connection.

Together, the two helped start a private equity firm, New Silk Route, which made investments in India. Mr. Gupta invested at least $13 million in Galleon hedge funds and took on a fund-raising role at the firm. He accepted an advisory post at the investment giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company that would pay him millions of dollars a year. He told a colleague that he was raising money for a telecom fund with financial backing from AT&T.

During a telephone conversation between Mr. Rajaratnam and Anil Kumar, a former McKinsey executive who has pleaded guilty to insider trading, the two gossiped about Mr. Gupta’s ambitions to make more money, focusing on his job at K.K.R., a position that might have forced him to resign from Goldman’s board because of conflicts. (He ultimately remained on both.)

“I think he wants to be in that circle,” said Mr. Rajaratnam, in August 2008. “That’s a billionaire circle, right? Goldman is like the hundreds of millions circle, right?”

Mr. Gupta’s friends adamantly dispute the notion that he was driven by materialism. After all, they say, Mr. Gupta had plenty of money, pointing to testimony at the trial from his private banker at JPMorgan Chase that pegged his family’s net worth at $130 million. In addition to his home in Westport, Conn., a waterfront mansion once owned by the retail executive J.C. Penney, he has vacation houses in Florida and Colorado.

“I don’t know who came up with this business that Rajat had billionaire envy,” said Anil Sood, a childhood friend from India who now lives in Virginia. “He has always been quite content with his wealth, and in my mind that’s not the least bit credible.”

But one of the jurors, Ronnie Sesso, a youth advocate at the Administration for Children’s Services in Manhattan, had a different view of Mr. Gupta after listening to weeks of testimony.

“What did Mr. Gupta get by giving Raj this information?,” said Ms. Sesso. “A need for greed.”

William Alden contributed reporting

modwiz

15th June 2012, 19:03

Gupta convicted? Problem solved. :rolleyes:

Let's get Blankfein and Dimon convicted. You have to cut off the head of this monster to have a real effect on the system. Another non-white sacrificial scapegoat is hardly the answer to our problems. In fact, it is cynical business as usual.

SilentFeathers

15th June 2012, 19:28

Gupta convicted? Problem solved. :rolleyes:

Let's get Blankfein and Dimon convicted. You have to cut of the head of this monster to have a real effect on the system. Another non-white sacrificial scapegoat is hardly the answer to our problems. In fact, it is cynical business as usual.

I watched some of the hearing last night with Dimon......Dimon was the ice cream man and the members of congress were children afraid if they made the ice cream man mad that they wouldn't get anymore ice cream.....it was ridiculous as usual and just a "mock" hearing.......

There were only a couple of committee members that really asked any tough questions or made tough remarks, the others actually praised Dimon......amazing what big money can buy huh?

gripreaper

15th June 2012, 19:37

Gupta convicted? Problem solved. :rolleyes:

Let's get Blankfein and Dimon convicted. You have to cut of the head of this monster to have a real effect on the system. Another non-white sacrificial scapegoat is hardly the answer to our problems. In fact, it is cynical business as usual.

Poor Gupta, a lost soul from India, raised in poverty, gives of himself for decades with integrity, get's caught up in the evil vortex known as Wall Street, and falls from grace.

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/GIFsforhire/Sad-Crying/2.gif

http://i458.photobucket.com/albums/qq310/skrau/rk7bf9.gif

Sabrina

16th June 2012, 12:34

Greek elections today - more on the euro game:

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/06/15/banks-fire-drill-for-greece-election/

15 June

Banks’ Fire Drill for Greece Election

The banks are on high alert.

Hundreds of employees at big firms, some part of special teams, will be on standby this Sunday, awaiting the results of Greece’s pivotal election. They are preparing for the worst case. The fear is that the vote will heighten the chances of Greece exiting the euro and the global financial system will be shaken when the markets open on Monday.

After being largely unprepared for the extreme stress of the 2008 crisis, large banks in the United States are determined to be ready this time. They have been taking measures to deal with instability in Europe for over a year. In recent months, they have stepped up their contingency planning, especially after it became clear that Greece was struggling to comply with the terms of a March bailout that was intended to keep the country in the euro.

In New York and London, banks have set up dedicated crisis teams, and rehearsed elaborate responses. As clients get nervous, banks have been guiding clients on how to react to a range of situations, from just one country leaving the euro zone to the dissolution of the euro itself.

Ordinary investors, for example, are demanding more information on Europe from their brokers. David Darst, chief investment strategist at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, said the crisis had consumed his regular Monday morning call with the firm’s financial advisers, and has been the focus of the monthly video he does for clients and brokers. Mr. Darst says he hears two main questions: “What is your thought on Greece pulling out of the euro and it leading to contagion?” and “What impact will this have on my portfolio?”

Large banks that have substantial exposure to Europe have been doing tests to see if important functions like moving money for clients between nations could handle a country leaving the euro. This quarter, a substantial number of Citigroup employees carried out an extensive dry run that assumed a country left the euro and caused wider stress, according to a person familiar with the bank’s activities who was not authorized to discuss the tests publicly. One aspect of the drill looked at how different parts of the bank’s international payment systems performed.

Citigroup also has a London-based team that is focusing on crisis responses. The group reports to the bank’s risk officers who give a regular download to the firm’s chief executive, Vikram S. Pandit. And the bank’s board is being regularly briefed on measures that Citigroup is taking to deal with European turbulence.

Citigroup has $84 billion in loans, bonds and other types of exposure to troubled European countries, plus France. The bank’s filings indicate that all but $8 billion of that exposure is offset with collateral it has collected and hedges on the portfolio.

“We are managing the current issues in the euro zone in line with the bank’s ongoing prudent approach to managing all forms of market, credit and operational risk,” said Jon Diat, a Citigroup spokesman.

Some banks are testing their systems to deal with the possibility of new currencies and preparing guidance for clients on how to operate in such an environment. BNY Mellon, a bank that handles huge amounts of international payments, has been sketching out the potential fallout for several disruptive outcomes in Europe.

“Over the past several months, BNY Mellon has been working to prepare our services, systems and operations to respond to potential euro-zone-related scenarios,” said Ron Gruendl, a spokesman. “Our contingency plans are designed to implement responsive measures efficiently and accurately with as little impact to our clients as possible.”

Banks like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are also looking into the severe legal challenges that would arise if a country exited the euro. Contracts that govern loans, bonds and derivatives in Europe rarely take into account such a situation.

“This is a big issue — what jurisdiction are your contracts written under?” Gary Cohn, president of Goldman, said at the end of last month. “Could you end up having a contract and end up with lira or drachma or something like that?”

Consider an Italian corporation that owed a foreign bank 5 million euros, with a loan agreement struck under Italian law. If Italy left the euro, the bank might have less chance of getting euros back after the exit. In that case, the financial firm might be exposed to a new, less valuable currency.

Recognizing that threat, some banks are trying to move contracts into new jurisdictions like the United States or Britain. By transferring such loan agreements to English law, the banks may increase the chances of getting repaid in euros after an exit, according to legal experts.

“An English court would be likely to say the loan remains a euro obligation,” said Andrew McClean, a partner at Slaughter and May, a London law firm.

The banks are also trying to protect their balance sheets if they do get stuck with large amounts of assets denominated in a new, weaker currency. To help offset the potential financial hit, firms are building up their deposit base in troubled countries.

By doing so, they can better match their assets (the loans) within a specific country with their liabilities (the deposits). Then if a country left the euro zone, the value of the loan might fall in euros, but the banks wouldn’t owe as much to depositors in euros.

“We know that is a strategy that some banks are trying to do,” said Andrew Lim, a bank analyst at Espírito Santo Investment Bank in London. Mr. Lim notes, however, that some large banks, including Deutsche Bank, still have a lot more loans than deposits in countries like Italy and Spain.

If the Greek elections prompt market instability, banks are likely to have another source of support, perhaps overshadowing any of their own efforts to date. In a period of severe weakness, central banks will most likely step in and provide cheap loans to bolster the financial system.

Sabrina

16th June 2012, 12:38

Not a resignation, but an intriguing sudden death...

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/16/world/meast/saudi-arabia-crown-prince-dies/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

16 June

Saudi Crown Prince Nayef dies

(CNN) -- Saudi Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz has died, Saudi state TV said on Saturday.

Nayef, who had been named crown prince in October by his brother the king, was heir to the Saudi throne.

State TV is broadcasting Quran readings as an expression of mourning for the prince, who died in Geneva, Switzerland.

"The news of Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz death was shocking to everyone in the Kingdom and to the royal family," Saudi Foreign Ministry spokesman Osama Nogali told CNN. "We still don't know the reason behind his death."

Nayef's body will arrive in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Sunday and will be buried after afternoon prayer, Nogali said.
The crown prince served as Saudi interior minister since 1975, having overseen the kingdom's counterterrorism efforts.
He also served as deputy premier.

A classified U.S. Embassy cable leaked by the website WikiLeaks described Nayef as a hard-line conservative who was lukewarm to King Abdullah's reform initiatives.

Sabrina

16th June 2012, 12:41

More on preparations for Greek election outcome.

http://the2012scenario.com/

Given that I’m a part time market trader and have a little understanding of what’s going on with OANDA, I’d like to give a word of perspective on events, if I may.

Foreign currency and futures markets trade about 24 hours per day. They close down at 4:15 ET on Fridays and open back up for the week at 6 pm ET on Sundays.

OANDA is one of thousands of brokerage firms. For market advantage they choose to open their trading desk at 6 am on Sundays, 12 hours ahead of the competition.

On Sunday Greece is voting on whether to abide by the austerity measures and remain a part of the Euro. This has the potential to be a huge market-moving event.

OANDA has chosen to delay its opening of their trading desks by nine hours, they are not closing down for the day, they are readjusting their hours with the rest of the competition. I’m assuming this is being done to protect their clients from huge unknown market swings with very little market volume.

While I do believe the Euro is going to fail in the near future and we will likely see a dramatic difference in the market, I personally believe there will be a succession of events that creates the collapse. Could this weekend be the catalyst for such events, yes it is possible. But, in my estimation this article reflects a one-time protective measure by a single brokerage firm and does not, by itself, indicate a potential collapse of the Euro this weekend.

Discretion in any action on your part regarding your personal funds is highly advised.

and more via Before Its News:

From Oanda

Due to the extreme volatility some market analysts foresee could result in the coming days, OANDA fxTrade will not accept any trading activity from 6:00 AM EST until approximately 3:00 PM EST, on Sunday, June 17, 2012. OANDA believes the convergence of a major market event during off-market hours represents a potential trading risk and has taken this rare step to protect traders from excessive rate fluctuations.

Please note that during this halt in trading, you can still access your account details but no trading activity will be accepted. For this reason, OANDA strongly recommends that all traders consider minimizing currency exposures prior to the trading halt.

If you do intend to maintain open positions during this period, be aware that OANDA will hold exchange rates steady during the trading halt. However, when trading resumes, rates will immediately adjust to the current market rate and it is possible that the updated rate could result in a margin closeout if the price has moved significantly against your positions.

Therefore, it is your responsibility to ensure you have adequate funds in your account to prevent a margin closeout.

Read more @ www.zerohedge.com/news/due-extreme-volatility-some-market-analysts-foresee

Sabrina

16th June 2012, 13:07

What Bankster Spotting got on Facebook when tried to post the link (size obviously isn't everything - or is it)... :)

Fair Use - 17 U.S.C. § 107 : US Code - Section 107:

WARNING - We have removed or disabled access to the following content that you have posted on Facebook because we received a notice from a third party that the content infringes their copyright(s):

Note: The World's Largest Banks 2012

http://www.relbanks.com/worlds-top-banks/market-cap

F.U. as stated. relbanks has gone after this "copyright" 5 times now.

Sabrina

16th June 2012, 13:12

Musings from an amateur economist and one-time professional banker

http://coppolacomment.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/real-bailout.html

15 JUne

The real bailout

According to James Mackintosh of the Financial Times, JP Morgan produced some figures today that showed where the money provided to Greece in its much-publicised bailouts actually went. Here's what James said on twitter:

"JP Morgan estimates only €15bn of €410bn total "aid" to Greece went into economy - rest to creditors. No wonder they are cross"
No wonder indeed. The price they paid for those bailouts has been severe cuts in public spending and five years of deep recession. Their adult unemployment is now about 20% and their youth unemployment over 50%. And there is no relief in sight, only further cuts and deeper recession. The Greek economy is collapsing.

No prizes for guessing who the main creditors are, either. Banks, of course. This fun interactive graphic from Thomson Reuters shows which countries' banks are the most exposed to Greece and therefore, presumably, have benefited the most from the bailouts.

In the most recent bailout, of course, the private sector has taken substantial losses - up to 75% NPV haircut on their holdings of Greek debt. But they had already sold a lot of it. Guess who they sold it to? The ECB and the IMF - neither of which took a haircut. So quite a bit of the bailout money has also gone to those institutions. But their purchases of that debt were also effectively a rescue of the banks that were overexposed to Greek debt.

So directly or indirectly, the main beneficiaries of Greek bailout money have been French and German banks. "Aid" to Greece? Anything but. The Greeks can be justifiably angry that their economy has been wrecked in order to fool German taxpayers into believing that they were rescuing a profligate southern state when actually they were bailing out their own banks and protecting France.

The Thomsons Reuters graphic also includes exposures for two other countries that have received "aid" in return for wrenching fiscal austerity. Click on the buttons to see who really benefited from their bailout money. For Portugal, the main beneficiary has been Spanish banks - well, heaven knows they need it (although I suspect most of the exposure is in the largest banks, which are not the ones in trouble). Ireland is interesting, because the banks most exposed are UK banks, though closely followed by German ones. It would seem that despite the UK's steady refusal to participate in Eurozone rescue packages, some of the bailout money is propping up its banks. Nice.

The Spanish bailout acknowledges that the main problem lies with the domestic banks not the sovereign, and therefore imposes "austerity" - of a sort - on the banks, not the people. It is the first sovereign "bailout" to do this. But it won't remain like that for long. Spanish sovereign debt yields are already rising to unsustainable levels. Banks holding that debt will have to mark down the value of those holdings and face substantial losses as a result. At the moment the ECB is not buying the debt, but it is only a matter of time until it does. And eventually Spain will require a sovereign bailout - at which point the screws will be turned on the Spanish people, even though they are already buckling under self-imposed austerity measures and have adult and youth unemployment rates higher than Greece. The Bundesbank's Jens Weidmann is already making noises about higher taxes and deeper spending cuts for Spain. That gives a clue as to which banks are most exposed to Spanish government debt (apart from its own, of course), and the graphic confirms it. German banks, of course. And French.

Italy has not yet been bailed out, and is introducing a range of increasingly desperate measures to try and reduce their government debt significantly - it currently stands at about 120% of GDP, double the Maastricht limit. But yields on its debt are already rising, affecting the value of banks' holdings as with Spanish debt. Again, a quick look at the graphic shows who is most exposed. French banks, this time. And German.

By now it should be apparent where the bailout money has mainly been going, and - more importantly - where it will go when first Spain and then Italy require sovereign bailout. Yes, the UK and Spanish banks have benefited. But they aren't the main beneficiaries overall. The Thomson Reuters graphic shows that the principal beneficiaries of bailout money are French and German banks.

So Germans, too, should be angry. Not with the Eurozone sovereigns, but with their own banks and the French banks. Because it is the reckless lending of those banks, primarily, that has brought the Eurozone to its knees. Yes, we can blame the half-baked Euro for the trade imbalances within the Eurozone, and the incompetent ECB for the crippling deflation in the periphery that is now dragging the entire Eurozone into recession. But the debt crisis - that was created by banks. And it is those same banks that are now receiving trillions of euros in bailout money, one way or another. All the hard work that Germans put in to repair their economy after reunification is going to waste as their taxes and their savings are used to bail out banks, whether indirectly via sovereign bailouts or directly through infusions of capital.

Let's end this madness. Stop inflicting pain on the people of Europe in order to prop up banks. And even more, stop lying to them. The banks that have lent so recklessly across borders are bust. If they are to be bailed out, let them be bailed out by their own governments - if their electorates agree. And if their electorates don't agree, LET THEM FAIL. America's FDIC has much to teach us on this, and Europe would do well to create an equivalent institution. Their mantra is - protect depositors, provide emergency access to funds, take over payments systems, then wind up the failed institutions. Europe should do the same. Let there be no more covert or overt bailouts of banks.

Sabrina

16th June 2012, 13:18

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/easy-street/jamie-dimon-welcomes-you-next-financial-crisis

15 June

Jamie Dimon Welcomes You to the Next Financial Crisis

There was a great irony in JP Morgan Chase Jamie Dimon's love-in of a hearing in front of the Senate this week.

While lawmakers were ostensibly asking Dimon how to prevent the next, distant financial crisis, he was openly telling them that JP Morgan had predicted, to the tune of $100 billion, that we're hurtling towards one this year.

In his least-challenged, least-questioned statement, Dimon explained the intent and strategy of JP Morgan's "London Whale" trade - a complicated $100 billion bet that, so far, may have led to a $2 billion loss and $39 billion in lost market value for the bank. The enormous bet, Dimon explained, was designed "to make money for JP Morgan in a global credit crisis."

Let's stop and think about that: JP Morgan started the London Whale trade in late 2011 or early 2012. That's when the bank must have seen a global credit crisis coming. Dimon said in his testimony this week that JP Morgan, with $700 billion in loans, needed to "protect itself" against "a systemic event." The bank was so positive that this systemic event would occur that it was planning to make money on it.

It's not as if JP Morgan was "hedging" here - there's no question that JP Morgan was inordinately confident that the London Whale was onto something, that a global credit crisis is coming.

When Dimon called the press coverage in April "a tempest in a teapot," it was because at JP Morgan, "almost everyone up and down the line thought it was temporary, it was a small thing, it was blown way out of proportion." To the extent that JP Morgan and Dimon have taken any blame, they have faulted their "model" that accounted for their risk, and not the strategy of the trade itself. Jamie Dimon earlier said that the bank has every intention of hanging with the bet - albeit with reduced risk. In fact, there appears to be a time limit on the bet: the corporate-bond index that JP Morgan bet on expires around December 15 of this year. JP Morgan has to collect its losses or its profits before then.

Translation: the bank's stubborn backing of this bet means it believes losses are temporary; the profits will last.

In another clue, JP Morgan made its gamble by betting on corporate bonds - which means the bank must have believed that this credit crisis would not just affect the obvious suspects - Spain, Greece, and Europe - but also large corporations. (In fact, JP Morgan's bet had a good opportunity to distort the market for corporate debt -- not just through its own actions, but also because its giant bet made the bank a giant target and spurred hedge funds to jump into the market and buy the underlying corporate bonds to bet against JP Morgan. That was an easy consequence to foresee with a big trade and, if the circumstances were right in the financial markets, could have caused a panic on its own, as I discussed with Lauren Lyster at Capital Account on Wednesday.)

JP Morgan is also stubbornly clinging to the bet. Bruno Michel Iksil, the trader who was dubbed the London Whale, is still at the bank, temporarily, but there's no indication that JP Morgan is unwinding the trade. On the contrary, Dimon has publicly said in the firm's conference call that he's willing - and expects - to keep bearing the losses.

In short, JP Morgan heard 2008 rattling its chains. And on that front, the bank may not be wrong. The drumbeat of a global financial crisis is getting louder and closer; in fact, we're probably already in it. Consider the evidence:

Greek elections this weekend are throwing the entire Eurozone into existential and financial turmoil. If an anti-austerity party in Greece wins this weekend, the country may be a prime candidate to exit the euro. Financial panic is sure to ensue. The week has already brought two pre-emptive bailouts: $125 billion to Spain's banks - which failed because it ended up raising the country's borrowing costs and debt to record levels - and 100 billion in England (which will actually take effect June 20). Cyprus is considering a bailout soon, but it knows the EU has no money so it's also thinking of asking Russia and China for money.

Central banks are preparing for unified action and bailouts galore. 2008's bailout architects in the U.S. - including Hank Paulson, Tim Geithner and Neel Kashkari - had an impromptu reunion to plan and/or grouse about Europe in early June. This week, Ben Bernanke told Congress he was worried not just about the fiscal cliff, but about Europe. Today, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said the bank - remarkably loath to commit to action over the past few months - is prepared to mobilize if there is a financial crisis. And as the eurocrisis deepens and it may become harder to borrow money in the markets, some analysts predict that the Federal Reserve will extend or create new stimulus.

The weaknesses of money-market funds have been flagged by regulators as a renewed danger to the financial system - to the tune of "a $2.7 trillion disaster." Many financial regulators - and bankers - will never forget the run on money-market funds in 2008, which the scene for a run on the banks. In late 2011, money-market funds started pulling their money out of Eurozone banks to reduce their risks - a sure sign that those funds saw enormous bank losses coming in Europe. Still, money-market funds are huge investors in banks. Perhaps that's why Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Schapiro has been on a crusade this year to reign in money-market funds. She wants to make sure the funds are better capitalized so they are able to meet redemptions without pulling their investments out of banks.

The weaknesses and ill-preparation of banks are coming to the forefront again. The Governor of the Bank of England pleaded today for a "major recapitalization" of Europe's banks. The Swiss central bank said in a report today that its two stalwarts, Credit Suisse and UBS have inadequate capital to withstand a crisis. I reported last week that one Nobel Prize winner, Robert Engle, had identified the systemic risk of major global banks and found U.S. banks roughly $500 billion short of the capital they would need to make it through a crisis. Moody's is also concerned about banks; the ratings firm promised to embark on a series of downgrades - the most devastating of which would be against Morgan Stanley, which is the smallest of the big banks and would struggle to post more collateral and meet higher funding costs.
This witches' brew of worry could persist for weeks and probably months in low- or mid-level crisis mode until a financial panic sets it off on the boil. That panic could come from the Greek elections, the U.S. "fiscal cliff" problems, or any kind of unexpected financial disaster.

No wonder JP Morgan is standing by its bet. It's hard to argue right now that the bank was totally wrong.

About the author
Heidi N. Moore is the New York bureau chief and Wall Street correspondent for Marketplace, where she reports and writes about the culture of banks, companies, financing and markets.

Sabrina

16th June 2012, 13:31

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1849374_1779304,00.html

Pix of scared stock traders.. ahhh...

Sabrina

16th June 2012, 14:00

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/hri-to-restructure-following-resignation-197604.html
Ireland

HRI to restructure following resignation
By Conor Ryan

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Horse Racing Ireland has announced a significant restructuring of its marketing subsidiary in the wake of the resignation of a senior director over breach of ethics concerns.

Michael O’Hagan resigned as CEO of Irish Thoroughbred Marketing on Monday after HRI initiated a second disciplinary inquiry against him for private deals involving his wife, Josephine O’Hagan, and ITM’s Chinese clients.

Mr O’Hagan also left the role of director of international affairs and communications at HRI.
more at link

Sabrina

16th June 2012, 14:07

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/murdoch-pressured-blair-to-rush-into-iraq-war-says-campbell-in-diaries-7855271.html
16 June

Murdoch pressured Blair to rush into Iraq war, says Campbell in diaries

Spin doctor's claims in latest book contradict media mogul's evidence at Leveson Inquiry

Rupert Murdoch launched an “over-crude” campaign to force Tony Blair to speed up Britain's entry into the Iraq war, according to the final volume of Alastair Campbell's diaries.

Mr Blair's former communications director accuses the media mogul of being part of a drive by American Republicans to drag Britain into the controversial war a week before the House of Commons even voted to approve the intervention in 2003.

The claim is explosive because it appears to contradict Mr Murdoch's evidence to the Leveson Inquiry. The News Corp chief told Lord Justice Leveson in April: "I've never asked a prime minister for anything."

It is the second time that claim has been contested. Sir John Major, the former Prime Minister, told the inquiry this week that Mr Murdoch threatened to withdraw the support of his newspapers for his Government unless it took a tougher stance on Europe.

Mr Campbell's book, based on his extensive diaries during his 10 years working for Mr Blair, claims: "[Tony Blair] took a call from Murdoch who was pressing on timings, saying how News International would support us, etc.

"Both TB and I felt it was prompted by Washington, and another example of their over-crude diplomacy. Murdoch was pushing all the Republican buttons, how the longer we waited the harder it got....TB felt the Murdoch call was odd, not very clever."

Mr Murdoch is expected to stand by his evidence to the inquiry. His company believes there was nothing improper about his phone call to Mr Blair – one of three during that period previously revealed by The Independent – because the support of The Sun and News of the World for the war was well known.

In The Burden of Power: Countdown to Iraq which is being serialised in The Guardian, Mr Campbell casts doubt on Gordon Brown's claim to the Leveson Inquiry this week that he was not aware his close allies were trying to push Mr Blair out of Downing Street to that he could take over.

According to Mr Campbell, Mr Brown agitated aggressively against Mr Blair, demanding a departure date soon after the 9/11 attacks in the US. He claims that Downing Street concluded in 2002 the then Chancellor was "hell-bent on TB's destruction".

The book says Mr Brown and Ed Balls, his chief economic adviser at the Treasury, were suspected of plotting against Mr Blair.

Alan Milburn, the Blairite Health Secretary, told the then Prime Minister that Mr Brown encouraged MPs to defy a government three-line whip to vote against his plans for foundation hospitals in 2003.

One charge that Mr Brown might accept is that he and Mr Balls "thwarted" Mr Blair's attempt to take Britain into the euro. Mr Campbell wrote in 2003: "Things just hadn't worked on the euro and TB was pretty fed up... The judgment was settling that GB had basically thwarted him. TB feared we were making the wrong decision for the wrong reasons."

* Paul Jenkins, the lawyer who gave legal approval for Jeremy Hunt to oversee Rupert Murdoch's attempted takeover of BSkyB, is knighted today.

Sabrina

17th June 2012, 08:03

At least some of the probable long time corruption is getting a public airing re: the Olympics - things just keep coming to the surface... Perhaps nobody wants the tickets in view of all the false flag claim.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18475110

17 June

London 2012: IOC begins Olympics tickets investigation

The International Olympic Committee has begun an investigation into claims Olympics representatives were willing to sell thousands of tickets for the London Games on the black market.

The IOC's ruling executive board met after fresh claims by the Sunday Times involving more than 50 countries.

This included allegations that tickets for top events were available for up to 10 times their face value.

The IOC has referred the allegations to its independent ethics commission.

The newspaper submitted a dossier of evidence detailing claims that Olympic officials and agents had been caught selling thousands of tickets on the black market for up to 10 times their face value, says BBC Sports News correspondent James Pearce.

The IOC could also review how Olympic tickets are distributed among member countries - more than one million were distributed to those taking part in the Games.

The Sunday Times alleges, during a two-month investigation in which reporters posed as Middle Eastern ticket touts, it found corruption involving people representing 54 separate countries.

More than one million London 2012 tickets were distributed abroad among all the nations taking part in the Games, but the IOC has strict rules to try to combat touts.

National Olympic committees must ensure that their allocation is only sold within their own region.

Last month a senior Ukrainian Olympic official resigned after being filmed by the BBC offering tickets for cash.

'Strongest sanctions'
The IOC said in a statement: "The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has moved quickly to deal with allegations that some National Olympic Committees (NOC) and Authorised Ticket Resellers (ATR) have broken rules relating to the sale of Olympic tickets.

"The IOC takes these allegations very seriously and has immediately taken the first steps to investigate.

more at link

False flag claims here - but I'm staying out of the 'fear'...

THmovpfOVps

Sabrina

17th June 2012, 08:09

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9334125/What-would-happen-to-Greece-if-it-left-the-euro.html

17 June

Greek election results soon - which way will the dominoes fall? All planned by tptb or the universe fighting back (with the New Moon on 19th and Solstice on 20th bringing in new energies? Let's see. Here is what the main stream media says might happen:

What would happen to Greece if it left the euro

Greece's future in the eurozone will be determined in this Sunday's crucial election. The prospect of a Greek exit from the single currency has troubled investors for months, knocking confidence and triggering steep losses on stock markets. The fallout will be widespread, hitting banks, stock markets and business across the eurozone and beyond. Here we break down some of the areas vulnerable to the impact of a Greek exit from the euro.

The Greek economy
The first place to feel the full force of a Greek exit from the euro is the country itself. Greece's banks would face collapse as the value of the re-introduced drachma will plunge and Greeks rapidly withdraw their savings. The country and its people will find it close to impossible to borrow and political turmoil will hit the streets.

The banking sector
A run on Greek banks is likely as the country's people will want to avoid having their euros converted to drachma or their savings frozen. The same could happen to banks in countries which have lent heavily to Greece, such as France. This could trigger a domino effect, or contagion as it has been called, which could spread to banks in non-eurozone countries, including the UK. This would see banks turning to central banks for support, but governments may not have the money required.

Stock markets
Stock markets, including London's FTSE 100 Index, have suffered steep losses due to fears over the future of the eurozone and a possible Greek exit from the euro has been a major part in this. Investors have pulled out of riskier stocks, such as banks and miners, and ploughed into traditional safe havens, such as the US dollar or gold. Some analysts have forecast major declines on equity markets if Greece exits the euro. Societe Generale predicts a 50pc slide on the key eurozone index DJ Euro Stoxx 50.

Currency
If Greece does exit the euro, a new drachma currency will have to be formed by the new government. The new administration would have to produce enough new notes to replace those currently in use in Greece. It is likely the government would impose some form of capital control in the early days of launching a new drachma, limiting the amount people can withdraw to avoid a massive run on banks. Analysts have predicted that the value of a new drachma would plummet once such capital controls are removed. There would also be material considerations such as where the notes would be produced, what they would look like and who would manufacture them. UK company De La Rue, which makes notes for the Bank of England, has reportedly been drawing up contingency plans for the production of a new drachma.

Eurozone and beyond
A Greek exit from the euro could trigger a deep and long recession in the eurozone and possibly beyond. The impact on banks, currency markets, businesses and government finances would all weigh on growth. The UK is already in recession, which the Bank of England and Treasury has put down to the impact the eurozone crisis has had on the country's finances.

Public finances
The borrowing costs for governments across the eurozone are likely to soar if Greece exits the euro. This is because the move will set a precedent that such an exit is actually possible and will therefore rattle investors' confidence in other eurozone countries. This will be particularly the case for already vulnerable nations such as Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain. Higher borrowing costs mean countries affected could struggle to pay for public services, and lead to these countries seeking bailouts from the European Union rescue fund, but this is already under a massive strain. However, perceived safe haven governments, such as the US and UK, would see their borrowing costs fall further.

Politics and society
Riots have frequently hit the streets of Athens in the past few years as anger over strict austerity measures demanded for the country escalates. The economic turmoil faced by the country - if it remains in the single currency or not - is likely to provoke further protests in the months or years ahead. The political backlash could spread beyond Greece as other eurozone countries suffer and people hold politicians to account.

Exports and tourism
As the euro and the new drachma would likely devalue rapidly, one benefit from such an event would be the positive effect on both eurozone and Greek exports and tourism. The weak value of the euro and drachma would make both more appealing to the rest of the world, boosting trade and attracting more holidaymakers. However, on the flipside it would make the rest of the world less competitive and could hit growth in the UK, US and even emerging powerhouse markets including China.

Robert J. Niewiadomski

17th June 2012, 11:59

Mastermind behind GROM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JW_GROM) special services found dead

Brigadier General Slawomir Petelicki, responsible for the formation of the GROM special services unit in the 1990s, was found dead at his apartment, Saturday, with bullet wounds to the head.
Full story here: http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/103081,Mastermind-behind-GROM-special-services-found-dead

Nobody in Poland believes it was a suicide. People are saying that "serial suicide" has struck again.

Petelicki was in disagreement with present "management board" of Poland. He revealed embarrassing text messages sent by PM to government members instructing what to say after plane crash at the Smolensk military airport in Russia in 2010. All 96 people onboard had died then along with Polish President, chief of the National Bank, millitary commanders and other high rank officials. The official cause of crash: fog, collision with a birch and sloppy performance of the plane's unexperienced crew. It seems not everything can be explained by "official" report. Alternative analysis point to two explosions during the approach.

Poland has a long history of unexplained deaths :( Everyone trying to explain them ads his name to that list...

Sabrina

18th June 2012, 21:13

Sabrina

18th June 2012, 21:23

So what's happening in the euro zone? Mixed messages. Initial market rally after the vote to accept a bailout and now market wobble. Positive news to be discouraged by the look of it. What a game is going on!! :)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18490930

8 June 2012

Antonis Samaras begins urgent Greece coalition talks

The leader of the party that narrowly won Greece's election has begun urgent talks to form a coalition, saying he wants to forge a "national consensus".

New Democracy's Antonis Samaras met leaders of the other two largest parties, but no deal on a coalition has yet been announced.

Mr Samaras says he will seek changes in the terms of a bailout agreement reached with the EU and IMF.

Market responses to the poll result were mixed and bank stocks plummeted.

Mr Samaras called for a "national understanding" as he met President Karolos Papoulias earlier to be given a formal mandate.

Under the constitution, Mr Papoulias has given Mr Samaras three days to form a government.

Mr Samaras said he believed he could form a working coalition.

Initial market rallies quickly reversed, suggesting that the election had not been enough to persuade markets that the euro problem was under control.

Germany's Commerzbank was down 3.6% and France's BNP down 3.3%, with analysts saying much uncertainty remained.

Spanish government borrowing costs rose to a euro-era high, with 10-year bonds reaching 7.144%.

The BBC's Mark Lowen in Athens says Mr Samaras will push for a lightening of the bailout terms from Brussels, arguing that Greeks have accepted more pain by electing a pro-bailout party and that Europe should now cut Greece some slack.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged the future government to live up to its obligations, and said any weakening of reform pledges previously made by Greece would be unacceptable.

"Elections cannot call into question the commitments Greece made. We cannot compromise on the reform steps we agreed on," she told reporters ahead of the G20 summit in Mexico.

Earlier, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle suggested that the timeframe could be discussed.

'Best guarantee'
Mr Samaras met the leader of Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, after talking to the president.

Mr Tsipras said Syriza would remain in opposition and challenge the government, as his party had "different priorities".
full story at link

gripreaper

19th June 2012, 20:23

Listen to Dimon lie with a straight face. One Time Event? Oh, the audacity!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX_qudiWdxU&feature=player_embedded

Love the heckler. Letting them know we're onto them is great.

Sabrina

20th June 2012, 05:50

Interesting take on common law and the Vatican sent to Kauilapele's blog - backing up some info. from Drake and Fulford:

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/

19 June

Liberation of the rest of the world after the example of the US and the old Dutch Batavian Republic (or, “Good Things come from Goor”)

Received this last night from Arend, in the Netherlands. I felt it was to go out this morning. As I do not have a photo of him, I attach a photo from my current location. [UPDATE: see photo of Arend at end of the post... Precious!! Mahalo Arend!]

Some of you will “get” the message here, and will know what to do with it. To me it gives a path to a vision we are all carrying, which is “Peace and Freedom for this planet… NOW.

Hi Kauilapele,

I would like to point you to the research I have done on common law and the principles of declaring independence:

http://www.tuks.nl/wiki/index.php/Main/TheFascinatingHistoryOfCivilLawVersusDivineCommonLaw

In the article, you will find links to the sources I used. What I found out is that current international Civil law and thus *all* the nations operating under this jurisdiction (including the *corporate* US government) ultimately are legally nothing but vassals of the Vatican. In other words: (virtually) *all* nations are run as (de-facto) corporations under the jurisdiction of the Vatican. And that gives some very interesting possibilities:
~~~~~~~
Another part of this story, is the process talked about by a fellow named Drake. He talks about returning the US to common law before Law Enforcement agencies in the US will perform mass arrests of the bankers in the US. In this process, juries are formed (an important feature of common law) in various states, which file some paperwork by which the states declare their independence of the corporate Washington government and return to their original constitution and bill of rights.

Because of the intriguing nature of this process, I started studying the history of our own constitution and found out that the 1789 constitution of the Batavian Republic is the only Dutch constitution that has been lawfully ratified by the people under common law. All later ones, including the 1801 version under Napoleon, were either illegal or not ratified under the authority of the people but under the authority of someone else. Interestingly, the constitution OF the Batavian Republic (and the 1801 one) were the only constitutions OF The Netherlands. ALL the later constitutions are constitutions FOR The Netherlands and thus OF someone else….

Further investigations revealed that the authority under which the current Kingdom of The Netherlands legally operates up until today is none less than the Vatican, which gives us some very interesting possibilities to liberate the people of this planet from literally ages of (financial) tyranny under jurisdiction, authority, sovereignty and responsibility of the Vatican.

One of the most revealing clues on how to do this can be found in the treaty of Paris of 1815:

The Allied Powers having by their united efforts, and by the success of their arms, preserved France and Europe from the convulsions with which they were menaced by the late enterprise of Napoleon Bonaparte, and by the Revolutionary system reproduced in France, to promote its success;

What this says is basically that the French and thus Dutch and United States revolutions are a direct and severe threat to the Vatican’s objectives and therefore a blessing to all freedom loving people on this planet, even though the whole French revolution may (initially) have been a kind of false flag operation along the lines set out by Prof. Veith. Either way, here is why these revolutions actually ARE a deadly weapon against the dark Cabal:

The essential trick for a nation to liberate itself, is to declare a bill of rights and a republican constitution by referendum under common law and under the authority of the people themselves, after the example that has been set in the late 1700s by all three mentioned republics. As far as I am aware, the US did not use a referendum, but the Dutch Batavian Republic definitely did. It may be possible to use some other process, but with a constitution ratified by the people of a nation by referendum there is no question about the legal validity nor authority of said constitution. In other words: NO ONE can legally prevent the people of a nation to declare their independence under common law.

What this does is that it establishes a new legal entity, a free and really independent Republic, under the jurisdiction of Common Law instead of under the jurisdiction of international civil law, which up to this day still operates under authority and sovereignty of the Vatican. In other words: you now have two DIFFERENT legal entities governing over one and the same country, of which only one is really free and independent and operates under the authority of the People now actually OWNING their land instead of legally STILL being a vassal of the Vatican. The latter STILL being the case for at least all previous colonies of the United Kingdom, France, The Netherlands and Spain as well as ALL of Europe and Russia.

The other side of this is that the legal entity that still exists as a vassal of the Vatican no longer has any subjects nor any possessions within the now liberated country, BUT it is still burdened with ALL of its obligations and liabilities established under the authority and responsibility of the Vatican. So, these are NOT the problem of the now liberated people, which were after all just subjects ruled under the sovereignty of the Vatican.

In other words: we now have not only a nice trick to liberate a nation, but also a convenient way to get rid of the problem of nation’s debt, which is now the problem of the Vatican and not of the nation’s self-liberated people.

How nice!

What’s even more interesting, is that this process could in principle also be done at a global level by the UN. If the general assembly would make a statement in which they declare the whole planet to be free and independent under Common Law by declaring a bill of rights and a global constitution after the example set by the US and the Dutch Batavian Republic, then all people would be free from suppression by the Dark Cabal. And the burden of ALL global debts established under the authority and responsibility of the Vatican would no longer be the problem of the people of this planet.

Now THAT would be something I would love to see. :)
~~~~~~~
It turns out that Benjamin Fulford and his fellowship is aware of this principle, too:

Yes, we are aware of this. If the US removes the P2 fascist government run via the United States of America corporation, then all US external debts will not have to be paid by the American people. We are trying to bankrupt that war mongering and murdering corporation and their fascist overseers at the P2 Roman empire headquarters. This in no way implies we are opposed to the beliefs held by the majority of Catholics.

Benjamin Fulford古歩道ベンジャミン
This P2 lodge can ideed be linked to the Vatican as well as various (international) crimes, as you can read in this paragraph.

Please spread the word!

Namaste!
Arend Lammertink, MSc.
Goor, The Netherlands.

[KP note: to read about the horn, Arend sent this link: http://www.essentialvermeer.com/folk_music/midwinterhoorn.html]

Sabrina

20th June 2012, 05:57

Assange's intriguing move to avoid extradition and arrest:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/9343227/Julian-Assange-WikiLeaks-founder-seeks-asylum-in-Ecuador.html

20 June

Julian Assange: WikiLeaks founder seeks asylum in Ecuador

Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, is under protection in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London after he sought political asylum following his failed bid to avoid extradition to Sweden on sex crime allegations.

The 40 year-old Australian, who due to be extradited in just nine days, entered the building in Knightsbridge and requested asylum under the United Nations Human Rights Declaration.

The founder of the whistle–blowing website, accused his government of “effectively abandoning” him and “ignoring the obligation to protect its citizen, who is persecuted politically".

His dramatic move came after he lost a long-running legal bid earlier this month to halt his extradition to Sweden, where he is accused of the sex attacks by two former volunteers.

Officials from the South American nation were considering his request on Tuesday night. Mr Assange would remain “under the protection” of the Ecuadorian embassy in central London in the meantime.

It comes after Ecuador offered Mr Assange residency in the country in November 2010.

In a statement, Mr Assange said: “I can confirm that today I arrived at the Ecuadorian Embassy and sought diplomatic sanctuary and political asylum.

“This application has been passed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital Quito.
"I am grateful to the Ecuadorian ambassador and the government of Ecuador for considering my application."

Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino, confirmed that officials were seriously considering the request after Mr Assange wrote to President Rafael Correa saying he was being persecuted.

"Ecuador is studying and analysing the request," he said from Quito.

He said that Mr Assange had argued that "the authorities in his country will not defend his minimum guarantees in front of any government or ignore the obligation to protect a politically persecuted citizen”.

He said it was impossible for him to return to his homeland because it would not protect him from being extradited to "a foreign country that applies the death penalty for the crime of espionage and sedition".

A statement issued on behalf of the embassy said: "While the department assesses Mr Assange's application, Mr Assange will remain at the embassy, under the protection of the Ecuadorian Government."

"The decision to consider Mr Assange's application for protective asylum should in no way be interpreted as the Government of Ecuador interfering in the judicial processes of either the United Kingdom or Sweden.

"In order to reach a proper decision in line with international law on Mr Assange's application, the Ecuadorian government will be seeking the views of the governments of the United Kingdom, Sweden and the United States of America.”

While officials had earlier offered him asylum, but backed off the move, it remains unclear why Mr Assange opted for Ecuador as the country has an extradition treaty to the United States.

Last month Mr Assange interviewed the country's President as part of his new television series The World Tomorrow.

lE-1-9QXd3Y

In his interview with Mr Correa, the president praised Wikileaks and the subsequent transparency it brought through the release of diplomatic cables.
The moves came after the British Supreme Court decided last month that extradition was lawful and could go ahead. But Mr Assange was given time to consider the judgment.
The Swedish authorities want him to answer accusations of raping a woman and sexually molesting and coercing another in Stockholm in August 2010 while on a visit to give a lecture.
His only legal recourse in Britain is a possible appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
It is understood that Assange's legal team had until the end of the month to apply to the Strasbourg-based court, which would have to decide whether or not to hear his claim within a matter of weeks.
If it rejected it or refused to halt deportation in the meantime, Mr Assange would be put on a plane to Sweden for questioning.
Mr Assange, whose WikiLeaks website has published a mass of leaked diplomatic cables that embarrassed several governments and international businesses, has argued the sex was consensual while the allegations were politically motivated.
His legal struggle to stay in Britain has dragged on for the better part of two years, clouding his website's work exposing the world's secrets.
Mr Assange believes the allegations are politically motivated and could lead to him being sent for trial in the US accused of leaking official secrets.
He has infuriated the US government by disclosing the contents of thousands of diplomatic cables.

The former computer hacker gained international prominence in 2010 when WikiLeaks began releasing secret video footage and thousands of US diplomatic cables, many of them about Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr Assange, who is currently on £240,000 police bail and had been living with friends at a Norfolk country mansion of a supporter, has not been charged with any offenses in Sweden and denies any wrongdoing.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority said it had no information.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said Mr Assange was now "on diplomatic territory and beyond the reach of the police".

Sabrina

20th June 2012, 06:18

Latest on the euro and the so called bail outs :)...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9343049/Debt-crisis-Spain-and-Italy-to-be-bailed-out-in-600bn-deal.html

20 June

Debt crisis: Spain and Italy to be bailed out in £600bn deal

European leaders are poised to announce a £600 billion deal to bail out Spain and Italy, it emerged at the G20 summit on Tuesday night.

Two rescue funds are to be used to buy the debts of the troubled economies, the cost of which have reached record highs in recent weeks.
It is hoped that the move, which represents a substantial shift in policy for Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, will send a strong signal to financial markets that Europe’s biggest economy is finally prepared to back its weaker neighbours.

Mrs Merkel and other European leaders have come under intense pressure at this week’s G20 summit to take radical action to stem the growing euro crisis which has pushed up the cost of Spanish bonds to unsustainable levels. The communiqué issued at the end of the G20 summit, which finished in Mexico last night, said that European leaders had agreed to take action to bring down borrowing rates.

Under the proposed deal, two European rescue funds – the £400 billion (€500 billion) European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the £200 billion (€250 billion) European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) – will buy bonds issued by European countries.

Previously, money in these funds — which has been provided by members of the single currency — has been used to bail out smaller European countries such as Greece, Portugal and Ireland. Governments in these countries were offered money directly in return for agreeing to austerity programmes. Under the new plan, the money in these funds will not be given directly to governments but will instead be used to buy up debts on the financial markets.

full story at link

Sabrina

20th June 2012, 06:23

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/06/2012619193851869222.html

20 June

Egypt

Conflicting reports over Mubarak's health
Military denies earlier reports that Mubarak was "clinically dead", saying deposed president is on life-support machine.

Hosni Mubarak, the deposed Egyptian leader, has been revived and is on an artificial respirator after he suffered stroke, sources in the interior ministry and from his family told Al Jazeera.

A lawyer for Mubarak's family told Al Jazeera he was actually unconscious and on a respirator after he was rushed to Maadi Hospital near Cairo from Tora prison hospital.

Mubarak's wife Suzanne has reportedly arrived at the hospital.

"We do understand from family sources that Hosni Mubarak is improving," Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna, reporting from Cairo, said. "We believe he is still in a coma."

"The state TV has now formally reported that he is in an intensive care unit in Maadi military hospital," he said.

Al Jazeera's Hanna said that earlier there were reports that his heart had stopped and attempts to resuscitate failed.

Earlier on Tuesday the state news agency, MENA, quoted medical sources as saying that the former president, aged 84, was "clinically dead".

'Nonsense' cited

General Said Abbas, a member of the ruling military council, told Reuters that Mubarak had suffered a stroke but added, "Any talk of him being clinically dead is nonsense."

According to an interior ministry spokesman, he suffered a stroke and his condition rapidly worsened on Tuesday.

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh has been monitoring speculation about Mubarak's health

State news agency, MENA, had earlier reported Mubarak's transfer to hospital from prison, where it said he had experienced a stroke and been defibrillated.

State TV earlier said Mubarak was in a "critical" condition and had been placed on a respirator.

The prison official said doctors reported that he had fallen unconscious, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The confusion over the state of health of the former leader came as thousands of Egyptians returned to Cairo's Tahrir Square hoping to reignite the revolution.

Mubarak was sentenced to a life in prison on June 2 for failing to stop the killing of protesters during last year's uprising against him.

He was transferred to prison after spending months in a military facility in detention. Officials have since repeatedly reported his health is deteriorating.

Since his arrival at the prison directly after his sentencing, Mubarak has been suffering from high blood pressure and breathing difficulties and deep depression, according to prison officials.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.wealthbriefing.com/html/article.php?title=Resignations_From_Sarasins_Board_Announced_As_Safra_Deal_Draws_To_A_Close&id=47311
20 June

Resignations From Sarasin's Board Announced As Safra Deal Draws To A Close

Christoph Ammann, chairman, and Peter Derendinger, board member, will resign from Bank Sarasin’s board when Safra’s purchase of Rabobank’s stake in the Swiss bank has gone through.

Ammann and Derendinger, the independent members of the board, are expected to step down next month when the deal is predicted to be completed. Safra, the Brazilian banking group, announced its intention to acquire Rabobank’s shares in Sarasin last year.

The remaining members of the board of directors will then be the two representatives of Rabobank, Sipko Schat and Pim Mol, as well as Hans-Rudolf Hufschmid and Dagmar Woehrl.

The board will convene an extraordinary general meeting as soon as the transaction has been approved by the Swiss financial market supervisory authority. Sarasin intends to appoint a new board of directors at the EGM.

Sabrina

20th June 2012, 06:27

http://www.zawya.com/story/Munir_Makki_resigns_as_MD_and_president_of_FinCorp-ZAWYA20120620054609/
20 June

Munir Makki resigns as MD and president of FinCorp

Munir A Makki, managing director and president of The Financial Corporation (FinCorp) has resigned from the services of the company, according to a company filing to the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) on Tuesday.

The company statement said that Makki has resigned from the company for personal reasons and the board has accepted his resignation.

However, Makki will continue to be a director on the board of FinCorp.

© Muscat Daily 2012

Sabrina

20th June 2012, 06:34

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-dimon-testimony-20120620,0,7763204.story
19 Jne

JPMorgan CEO testifies he did not mislead shareholders

Jamie Dimon faces more congressional heat about JPMorgan's huge trading loss as a financial regulator reveals that the bank's public disclosures are under scrutiny

WASHINGTON — Facing more congressional heat about JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s huge trading loss, Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said he did not mislead shareholders about the extent of the problems as a financial regulator revealed that the bank's public disclosures were under scrutiny.

"We disclosed what we knew when we knew it," Dimon told the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday.

It was the second time in less than a week that he testified on Capitol Hill about JPMorgan's more than $2-billion trading loss. Dimon faced tougher questions from Democrats and Republicans than he did from the Senate Banking Committee last week as both parties tried to position themselves as the protectors of taxpayers from the risk of future bank bailouts.

Five financial regulators also testified at the more than four-hour hearing about what went wrong at the bank's Chief Investment Office and why they didn't catch the trouble earlier.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary Schapiro said her agency was investigating whether JPMorgan complied with public disclosure rules, specifically regarding changes to how it measures the risk of loss on portfolios.

In disclosing the huge losses on May 10, Dimon told analysts and reporters that the company had changed its so-called value-at-risk model in the first quarter, Schapiro said. Such changes must be disclosed and the SEC was looking into the extent of that disclosure and whether it was adequate, she said.

Schapiro wouldn't comment on whether Dimon misled investors in mid-April when he told analysts on a conference call that reports about risky trades emanating from the bank's London office were "a tempest in a teapot."

But she said executives of publicly traded companies must give accurate information about their finances when speaking in public.

"If you choose to speak, you absolutely must speak truthfully and completely and not allow yourself to leave any kind of misleading impression from the information that you're putting out," she said.

Dimon said his comments were "totally a positive, accurate reflection of what I believed at the time."

"On April 13, I believed it was a tempest in a teapot," he said. "I obviously was dead wrong, and I deeply regret having said it."

Dimon apologized that JPMorgan's trading loss was distracting Washington officials from fully focusing on the European debt crisis.

"I'm sorry I've taken up so many people's time with this loss because it is not significant in the global scheme of things," Dimon said.

He reiterated that the bank was embarrassed by the loss and that it "let a lot of people down and we are sorry for it."

But he also said the loss should be put into perspective, saying no customer or taxpayer money was lost. JPMorgan would soon report that it was "solidly profitable" in the second quarter, Dimon said.

Some lawmakers weren't satisfied with the explanation. They questioned why he and other JPMorgan executives had lobbied against new financial rules being drafted by regulators, including one that would mandate more disclosure of derivatives trading done by overseas units.

"Lobbying is a constitutional right and we have a right to have our voice heard," Dimon said.

"I'm not questioning your right to lobby," said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles). "I'm questioning what's in the best interest of the American public."

Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) asked Dimon how regulators could oversee a huge bank like JPMorgan if they were unable to spot the bank's risky trading before the losses got so large.

"Are you too big to fail?" Duffy said, warning against future Wall Street bailouts.

"No, we're not too big to fail," Dimon said.

But Duffy pressed him on what would happen if the losses by JPMorgan, which has $2.3 trillion in assets, were higher. Asked if it was fair to say the bank could lose more than $500 billion or $1 trillion at some point, Dimon responded, "Not unless this Earth is hit by a moon."

:)

modwiz

20th June 2012, 07:28

danceblackcatdance

20th June 2012, 18:21

Cant find anything backing it up but anyway :)

Iceland_Dismantles_Corrupt_Govt_Then_Arrests_All_Rothschild_Bankers (http://www.disclose.tv/news/Iceland_Dismantles_Corrupt_Govt_Then_Arrests_All_Rothschild_Bankers/85375)

"Not only have they been successful, at overthrowing the corrupt Gov’t, they’ve drafted a Constitution, that will stop this from happening ever again. That’s not the best part… The best part, is that they have arrested ALL Rothschild/Rockefeller banking puppets, responsible for the Country’s economic Chaos and meltdown.

Last week 9 people were arrested in London and Reykjavik for their possible responsibility for Iceland’s financial collapse in 2008, a deep crisis which developed into an unprecedented public reaction that is changing the country’s direction."

Sabrina

20th June 2012, 19:03

Cant find anything backing it up but anyway :)

Iceland_Dismantles_Corrupt_Govt_Then_Arrests_All_Rothschild_Bankers (http://www.disclose.tv/news/Iceland_Dismantles_Corrupt_Govt_Then_Arrests_All_Rothschild_Bankers/85375)

Found a few related things - some are here:

http://www.hermes-press.com/iceland_index.htm

http://beansriceandgold.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/banking+world/iceland

Sabrina

20th June 2012, 19:06

Now it's London Mayor and Murdoch..

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-under-fresh-pressure-over-rupert-murdoch-meeting-7869579.html

Boris Johnson under fresh pressure over Rupert Murdoch meeting

Boris Johnson’s links to News International came under fresh scrutiny today after it emerged he had a dinner with Rupert Murdoch days before the Metropolitan Police launched a new inquiry into phone hacking.

The Mayor of London met Mr Murdoch at his home in London on 24 January 2011, at a key time in the growing pressure on Mr Murdoch’s British newspapers.

It took place three days after the former News of the World editor Andy Coulson resigned from Downing Street and two days before the Met opened Operation Weeting into illegal voicemail interception.

The dinner is not declared in the Register of Hospitality placed online by Mr Johnson, whose responsibilities include policing and who previously chaired the Metropolitan Police Authority. full story at link

Alie

20th June 2012, 23:59

http://www.freedumbnation.com/?p=2835

June 18, 2012 9:36 pm
Irish Politicians Demand Their Finance Minister Be Arrested For Attending 2012 Criminal Bilderberg Meeting

Politicians in Ireland have demanded an account of discussions that the Irish finance minister took part in during his attendance at the 2012 Bilderberg meeting in Chantilly, Virginia earlier this month.

The Irish Times reports that Minister for Finance Michael Noonan’s appearance in an unofficial capacity at the secretive elite confab cost the taxpayer more than €4,300.

The report states that a number of Irish TD’s, parliament members, raised Noonan’s Bilderberg trip in parliamentary questions.

Representatives from Labour, Sinn Féin and the technical group all asked for more information on the discussions that took place behind closed doors and away from media scrutiny in the US.

Noonan responded to the questions, but provided scant details, simply saying that he had been invited “given my position as Minister for Finance” and “used the opportunity to tell fellow attendees of the opportunities that exist in Ireland for investors and multinational companies.”

He added that another reason for attending the meeting was to promote the notion that the Irish government has restored economic stability to the country.

“The Irish people have a right to know what their senior Ministers are saying at a meeting like this, and what stance they are taking on global issues.” said Pat Nulty, a former Labour whip, adding that Noonan’s responses were not sufficient.

Critics have noted that the recent bailout of Ireland and it’s compliance with the so called troika agenda of the European Central Bank, the European commission and the International Monetary Fund are undoubtedly the key reasons why Noonan’s presence was requested at the meeting.

In the wake of Bilderberg, it has been rumoured that the three elitist institutions are considering relaxing the terms of the bailout to allow Ireland to return to borrowing on the open market.

Previously leaked documents from meetings have illustrated how the Bilderberg Group, contrary to the media-generated myth that the confab represents a harmless talking shop, sets the consensus for policy decisions sometimes decades in advance.

A clear example is the 1955 Bilderberg meeting held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany. Documents read by the BBC and later released by Wikileaks divulge how Bilderberg members were discussing the creation of the euro single currency nearly 40 years before it was officially introduced in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty.

In the US, politicians attending Bilderberg have been charged with violating the Logan Act, a law passed under the John Adams administration in 1799 which states that it is illegal for “unauthorized citizens” to negotiate with foreign governments

A Simple Human

21st June 2012, 04:08

Irish Politicians Demand Their Finance Minister Be Arrested For Attending 2012 Criminal Bilderberg Meeting

@ Alie,

Wow! I must say that I was quite intrigued when I read the headline of your post. I was hopeful that this was true, as it would indicate progress in the right direction. Unfortunately after doing some searching I was unable to confirm that a demand for the arrest of Minister for Finance Michael Noonan was made. Here's what I found:

The original Irish Times article:

Noonan presence at Bilderberg group conference cost €4,300 (http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0616/1224318057271.html) (Irish Times)

Noonan presence at Bilderberg group conference cost €4,300
By Paul Cullen | June 16, 2012

The cost of Minister for Finance Michael Noonan’s attendance at the annual conference of the secretive Bilderberg group in the US this month was more than €4,300, he has told TDs.

He was invited to attend the meeting “given my position as Minister for Finance” and used the opportunity to tell fellow attendees of the opportunities that exist in Ireland for investors and multinational companies.

Mr Noonan, along with former attorneys general Paul Gallagher and Peter Sutherland, was one of 145 invited leaders and opinion formers who took part in the three-day conference of the western world’s movers and shakers in Chantilly, Virginia.

His attendance was queried by a number of TDs from Labour, Sinn Féin and the technical group, all of whom sought information in parliamentary questions on his discussions at the meeting and the cost.

Mr Noonan told the Deputies that he outlined the significant progress Ireland was making in restoring stability and growth to the economy.

Pat Nulty, who lost the Labour whip last year over opposition to budget cuts, said Mr Noonan’s response lacked detail.

“The Irish people have a right to know what their senior Ministers are saying at a meeting like this, and what stance they are taking on global issues.”
End

So, it seems that Mr. Patrick Nulty (http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=31&MemberID=2393&ConstID=96) who is an independent Teachta Dála (TD (http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/national_government/houses_of_the_oireachtas/work_of_a_td.html)), which is similar to terms such as "Member of Parliament" (MP) or "deputy" used in other states, along with TDs from the Labour Party (http://www.labour.ie/) and Sinn Féin (http://www.sinnfein.org/) provided a written question to the Minister for Finance during the June 13th Dáil Éireann Debate. The question and answer follow:

Written Answers - Official Travel (http://debates.oireachtas.ie/dail/2012/06/13/00070.asp) (Oireachtas)

Written Answers - Official Travel
Dáil Éireann Debate | Vol. 768 No. 2 | June 13, 2012

62. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan if he will report on his attendance at the annual conference of the Bilderberg Group: if he attended the conference on official business; and if he will provide details of any Irish officials attending the conference; the issues he raised at the conference and those who attended the conference from other countries: the details of the full cost of this trip; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28587/12]

Minister for Finance (Deputy Michael Noonan): I attended the Bilderberg meeting in Westfield Marriot, Chantilly, Virginia, USA, from 1 to 3 June 2012. I, like a number of my European colleagues (both Ministers and EU Commissioners), was invited to attend given my position as Minister for Finance. I travelled alone and the total cost associated with my travel and accommodation came to €4,358.33. For further information, I would point Deputies to the Bilderberg Meetings website (www.bilderbergmeetings.org (http://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/index.php)), which includes information on the organisation’s governance, steering committee, meetings and associated press releases.

At this meeting and its workshops I took the opportunity to set out to my fellow attendees the opportunities that exist in Ireland for investors and multinational companies. I also outlined the significant progress Ireland is making in restoring stability and growth to the economy. The Government is focused on encouraging as much investment as possible into Ireland and over recent months we have seen the strong level of inward investment in our economy and have seen the announcement of over 1,000 jobs per month from Foreign Direct Investment so far this year. I would point out to Deputies that a number of the business attendees represent companies which have very significant investments in Ireland that support thousands of Irish jobs.
End

So, while I haven't found any information requesting Mr. Noonan's arrest yet, it does appear that a few of Ireland's politicians are at least acknowledging the Bilderberg meeting, and questioning the merit of Mr. Noonan's attendance. If any of our Irish friends see this post and can provide any information, I would appreciate it.

foreverfan

21st June 2012, 04:51

Can we finally just cut to the chase and get on with it?

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/mba/lowres/mban1279l.jpg

gripreaper

21st June 2012, 05:38

http://static.pokato.net/2011-11-30-14-37-181023386874.jpg

Sabrina

21st June 2012, 06:09

How the euro story and Spain is being 'spun' at the moment:

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/35381/analysis-spain-full-blown-bailout-all-but-inevitable

21 June via AFP
Spain full-blown bailout all but inevitable

MADRID - A full-blown bailout for Spain is all but inevitable as it has lost control of its debt crisis, analysts say, despite Madrid's insistence that it does not need rescuing.

With eurozone ministers set for the first of several key meetings over Spain Thursday, its budget minister insisted the country was stable despite soaring borrowing costs and a 100-billion-euro lifeline thrown out for its banks.

"Spain has not been rescued because it does not need to be rescued," minister Cristobal Montoro told parliament Wednesday.

But analysts warned Spain may not stay afloat without direct financial aid from its European neighbours.

"A sovereign bail-out is all but inevitable," wrote Capital Economics chief European economist Jonathan Loynes.

"The recent further rise in Spanish government bond yields underlines the fact that the banking bailout will not address the country's broader fiscal problems."

Greek elections on Sunday averted the immediate threat of Athens exiting the eurozone, but concern over Spain did not ease.

It paid high borrowing rates to investors in a sale of 12- and 18-month debt Tuesday. The yield on its benchmark 10-year bonds passed the 7.0-percent danger mark on Monday and on Wednesday was around 6.8 percent.

"These borrowing costs are unsustainable and at this level Spain is on track to require a full bailout" unless its debts are underwritten by eurozone partners or the European Central Bank buys its debt, said Kathleen Brooks, research chief at brokerage Forex.com.

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy demanded "urgent" action by the European Union to calm market tension, in a letter to its leaders at the start of June.

He insisted the European Central Bank must play a role by providing liquidity.

But action by the ECB to help keep Spain's borrowing costs down "is far from certain given the ECB's reticence", Loynes warned. The onus is on political leaders ahead of a European Union summit on July 28 and 29.

Marian Fernandez, financial director at investment group Inversis, added: "We do not think the ECB is going to do anything before next week's summit. They have said the ball is in the politicians' court."

Spain, the eurozone's fourth-biggest economy, is expecting Thursday to receive the results of tests by two firms of private auditors to determine how much it needs to borrow under the deal to stabilise its banks.

Madrid is expected to transmit an official request for that aid to its partners at a eurozone finance ministers' meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday, a European Union diplomat said in Brussels.

Then on Friday leaders of Spain, Italy, France and Germany meet in Rome to thrash out a common position on the debt crisis ahead of the full summit in Brussels.

Spain also faces its next debt market test on Thursday, when it will try to raise up to two billion euros in a mix of two-, three- and five-year bonds.

Angel de Molina, an analyst at brokerage Tressis, said the financial markets on which Spain borrows money to finance its activities are "sensing a lack of action and political leadership" in Europe.

"The European Union and the European Central Bank both have to send this message to the markets: we are here to do what we have to do," he said.

As leaders debate roundabout ways of easing pressure on troubled countries by investing European aid funds without carrying out a direct rescue, time may be running out, analysts warn.

"At the rate its yields are rising, Spain doesn't have enough time to wait for Europe's politicians to decide whether or not to underwrite the debts of the weakest states," said Brooks.

"It needs action now."

and

http://newindianexpress.com/editorials/article547013.ece
21 June India

PM’s bailout pledge for Europe is shocking

The $10 billion (Rs 56,000 crore) bailout announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the Eurozone defaulters Greece, Spain and Italy at the G-20 summit in Europe is a cruel joke on the Indian tax payer who has been reeling under the onslaught of inflation. This is hardly the time for such a show of generosity when the Indian economy itself is facing a slowdown that could get worse with time. Industrial growth was at an abysmal 0.1 per cent in April last while agricultural growth continues to be sluggish.

The country has reserves of $290 billion which are by no means princely, while fiscal deficit is expected to surge to 6 per cent of GDP or about $100 billion. In quick succession Standard & Poor’s and another global rating agency Fitch have sounded the alarm bells for India, downgrading its rating outlook. At such a time when India should be tightening its belt and kickstarting economic reforms comes the Prime Minister’s liberal package to bail the Europeans out of a crisis of their own making. Significantly, Europe has never been known to help India in times of crisis.

In a bid to stave off criticism, Secretary in the department of economic affairs R. Gopalan subsequently clarified that India may not be called upon to inject the money it has committed to the International Monetary Fund for bailing out debt-wrecked Eurozone if the global economic situation improves. But there is little prospect of Eurozone economies recovering if they continue to depend on bailouts, don’t cut their expenses drastically and don’t take to the growth path. The Greek economy which is the worst-hit, has been contracting every year since 2008, with almost a quarter of its workforce now unemployed.

While the Prime Minister has shown his generosity to the world leaders, he must seek the approval of Parliament before India signs the cheque to the IMF. Manmohan Singh cannot have a carte blanche. He must ultimately explain to the people how he committed such a large amount at a time of economic hardship for the country.

Sabrina

21st June 2012, 06:28

Alie

21st June 2012, 15:30

Sabrina

21st June 2012, 17:08

No Alie I know what you meant - was just typing quickly before getting teen son out door to school - harder than rebooting the world economy :).

Sabrina

21st June 2012, 17:13

http://www.handclow2012.com/News/WelcomeToTheTruth.pdf

Barbara Hand Clow's latest article on current astrological set-up is interesting re: global control etc.. Here's just a paragraph:

Astrology is rarely as clear as it is right now: Pluto, which rules truth and debt, went into Capricorn in 2008 where it will be through 2024. When Pluto transits Capricorn, there is always a great struggle over the control of human resources, so the battle opened with the financial crisis in 2008. Previously Pluto was in Capricorn AD 778-795; 1024-1041; 1269-1286; 1516-1532; and 1762-1777, and all of these periods were characterized by great transformative changes in the world. For example, the first period indicated—778-795—was when Charlemagne carved Europe up into territories and the Papacy was granted its territories, which has evolved into the hugely powerful Vatican Bank. The last period listed—1762- 1777—was the time of the American Revolution and its foundation as a nation. Simply put, we are in the early stages of a gargantuan struggle over who globally owns and controls what. As it was during 1762-1777, the United States is the central stage for this transformation because 1) it is still attempting to be the world’s empire, and 2) in the USA 1776 founding chart, Pluto is in 28 Capricorn, so the US will have its Pluto Return in 2022. Secondly, while Pluto is in Capricorn, during 2012-15, Uranus in Aries—revolution and surprise—applies seven squares to Pluto that will trigger a crisis over all the issues that came forth during the Uranus/Pluto conjunctions of the 1960s. The charts for the seven Uranus/Pluto squares are cast for Washington, DC, since it is the theatre for the struggle over global control. More about the 1960s in a moment, since first we need more general astrology.

full article at link

Kimberley

21st June 2012, 18:07

U.S. Commerce Secretary, John Bryson, RESIGNS

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-21/u-s-commerce-secretary-john-bryson-resigns-after-medical-leave.html

Bryson Cites Medical Issues in Resignation
By William McQuillen - Jun 21, 2012

U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson resigned, less than two weeks after he was treated for a seizure following a series of minor traffic accidents in California.

Bryson, 68, who has been in office eight months, was found unconscious in his Lexus June 9, after the second of two collisions, Los Angeles County police said. He was treated afterward for a seizure, according to his office.

“I have concluded that the seizure I suffered on June 9th could be a distraction from my performance as secretary and that our country would be better served by a change of leadership of the department,” Bryson wrote in a letter to President Barack Obama dated yesterday and released today.

He took medical leave June 11. Deputy Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank, an economist, has been the acting head of the agency since.

The commerce secretary, whose agency has 47,000 employees and a $7.5 billion budget, drove his car into the rear of stopped vehicle and five minutes later struck another car two miles away. Police had been investigating possible felony hit- and-run charges.

In a statement issued today, Obama thanked Bryson for his service.
Fought Tirelessly

“John fought tirelessly for our nation’s businesses and workers, helping to bolster our exports and promote American manufacturing and products at home and abroad,” Obama said. “John has proven himself an effective and distinguished leader throughout his career in both the public and private sectors.”

Bryson, the former chief executive officer of Edison International (EIX), had been leading the agency tasked with delivering on Obama’s goal of doubling annual U.S. exports to $3.14 trillion by the end of 2014 from 2009 levels.

The agency also runs the Census Bureau and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among other functions.

In his statement, Obama said he was confident in Blank’s abilities and commerce would continue “putting forward policies that help our workers and businesses compete.”

To contact the reporter on this story: William McQuillen in Washington at bmcquillen@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net

Sabrina

21st June 2012, 19:30

Wonder if any other Avalonians in any other countries have seen similar banking glitches? Would be nice if the old system was exiting...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/jun/21/natwest-rbs-customer-technical-hitches

21 June UK

NatWest and RBS customers frustrated by technical hitches

Banks blame IT fault for problem that has left millions unable to access their correct balances or use online services

Royal Bank of Scotland was forced to keep at least 1,000 NatWest branches open until 7pm on Thursday following a technical glitch that caused chaos for millions of customers.

The problem, which resulted in balances not being updated and online services being unavailable throughout the day, left some customers unable to pay for goods and services and unsure how much money they had in their accounts.

Consumers started reporting problems first thing in the morning and services only started to come back on track in the early evening. A spokeswoman for RBS said that "no one would be out of pocket" as a result of the technical problems – indicating that the group would compensate customers who incur additional costs.

For most of the day a message on the NatWest website read: "We are currently experiencing some technical issues which means that account balances have not been updated, and are still showing a balance from Wednesday. Some services are also unavailable online. We are working hard to fix this issue as soon as possible and will keep you updated on progress."

RBS would not say how many customers were affected, but NatWest has 7.5 million UK personal banking customers and almost one million business customers. Some RBS customers were also affected, but the bank said "to a lesser extent".

It is not clear what went wrong. A spokeswoman would only say: "It's an IT problem. Everyone's attention has been diverted to this area until it has been fixed."

Customers reported being unable to pay bills or buy goods and small business customers reported problems paying staff.

The glitch led to hundreds of customers posting angry messages on Twitter about the banks's failure. One wrote: "Thanks to your servers being down, I can't check out of my hotel. So I'm missing my flight home from Venice. Thanks."

Another stated: "Disabled people with shopping deliveries are not getting food and essentials thanks to no money going in banks."

There were repeated threats from customers to switch their account away from the banks. One user wrote: "I'll be moving my account as soon as I can."

Reports also circulated on Twitter about a crowd of angry customers gathering outside a NatWest branch in Reading after being unable to access their accounts.

NatWest took a leaf out of HSBC's book by taking to Twitter to try and calm customers. In November 2011 technical problems prevented HSBC customers from accessing its online banking service and withdrawing money from some ATMs and branches. In response, HSBC's press office used its Twitter account to keep customers updated.

In a series of messages posted on Twitter throughout the day, NatWest repeatedly apologised to customers, adding: "Staff at our call centres are also ready to answer questions and help where they can."

By the end of the day, NatWest said people were "starting to get paid" and balances were starting to show correctly, but could not say when everything would be fixed.

In a later statement, Grant McDonald, head of group communications at RBS, said: "It was caused by a failure of our systems to properly update customers' balances overnight.

"This is an unacceptable inconvenience for our customers, for which we apologise. We can assure our customers that this problem is strictly of a technical nature and we can also confirm that no customers will be permanently out of pocket as a result of this."

Kimberley

21st June 2012, 20:33

It's starting folks.....

Moody’s Downgrade of 15 Banks Expected After the Bell

http://www.cnbc.com/id/47903018

Moody’s could downgrade the debt ratings of as many as 15 global investment banks after the closing bell today, a move that would cost the banks billions of dollars in extra collateral.

In February, Moody’s announced it would review the ratings of 17 global investment banks and has already downgraded Macquarie and Nomura. In the U.S., the companies that are most likely to be affected by today’s action: Bank of America [BAC 7.82 -0.32 (-3.93%) ], Citigroup [C 27.83 -1.03 (-3.57%) ], Goldman Sachs [GS 93.90 -2.65 (-2.74%) ], JPMorgan [JPM 35.51 -0.94 (-2.58%) ] and Morgan Stanley [MS 13.96 -0.24 (-1.69%) ].

Royal Bank of Canada and nine European banks, including Deutsche Bank [DB 35.51 -1.25 (-3.4%) ], BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse [CS 18.57 -0.74 (-3.83%) ] are also on the list.

The current credit actions are part of a comprehensive review of the overall global banking system by Moody’s. In the middle of last month Moody’s downgraded Italian, Spanish, German and Austrian bank credit ratings. The U.S. banks with global capital markets capabilities have had an open dialogue with the ratings company, in an effort to soften the severity of the downgrades.

This afternoon’s anticipated announcement could affect the long-term debt ratings of the bank-holding companies of five of the biggest U.S. banks — only Wells Fargo [WFC 32.34 -0.47 (-1.43%) ] is not on the list. Moody’s is also looking at the short-term debt of the five bank-holding companies and the main bank operating subsidiaries of all except JPMorgan.

The company that has the most to lose: Morgan Stanley. Moody’s is contemplating cutting Morgan Stanley’s senior long term debt rating three notches to Baa2, or just two notches above “junk”. That could put its credit rating on a level with Bank of America’s and Citigroup’s — if its debt is downgraded as expected.

In an interview with CNBC in April, Morgan Stanley Chairman and CEO, James Gorman said the downgrade could affect about 8 percent of the firm’s derivatives contracts. Downgrades of its senior debt could cost Morgan Stanley between $868 million and $7.2 billion in additional collateral and termination payments on derivatives contracts, according to SEC filings.

As for the other banks, dropping its senior debt rating to Baa2 would mean a one notch downgrade for Bank of America, and could mean the bank has to put up an additional $2.7 billion in collateral. Citigroup’s expected two notch downgrade to Baa2 could cost the bank an additional $4.7 billion in collateral.

If Goldman is downgraded two notches, as expected, it will end up with an A3 long term debt rating that would cost $2.2 billion in added collateral. JPMorgan Chase is expected to get a two notch downgrade to A2, costing the bank $4.7 billion in additional collateral and termination payments.

- Written by CNBC's Mary Thompson and Margaret Popper

Sabrina

22nd June 2012, 06:01

Sabrina

22nd June 2012, 06:05

Euro game continues - I'm disappointed that main stream media have omitted to use the word 'contagion' this week ... :)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18539620

22 June

Spanish banks need up to 62bn euros

An independent audit of Spain's banks has found that they will need up to 62bn euros (£50bn) in extra funding.

European authorities had already agreed to provide up to 100bn euros ahead of assessments of the banks' needs.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the eurogroup, said that Spain would make a formal request for financial assistance before next Monday.

He was speaking at a eurozone finance ministers meeting in Luxembourg which will discuss the bailout.

The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, who was also at the meeting, said eurozone countries must tie their economies together much more closely, if they wanted to tackle the crisis.

Ms Lagarde said: "The IMF believes that a determined and forceful move towards a complete European monetary union should be reaffirmed in order to restore faith in the system. Because as we see it at the moment, the viability of the European monetary system is questioned."

She also said that the IMF, the European Union and the ECB - the so-called "troika" overseeing Greece's bailout - will send representatives to Greece on Monday to review the country's progress in reforming its budget.

full story at link

danceblackcatdance

22nd June 2012, 11:32

Robert J. Niewiadomski

22nd June 2012, 12:19

There was "a technical issue" at Ulster Bank yesterday. Resulted in welfare payouts delayed in Ireland... :(

Ulster Bank Technical Issue
Last Updated: 21/06/2012 16:11

Ulster Bank has experienced a technical issue which has resulted in a delay in the processing of certain payments.

The bank is investigating the root cause of the problem, but the issue has resulted in a backlog of payments to be processed which the bank intends to clear as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately this issue with Ulster Bank's systems has affected some customers of this Department. Only those customers whose weekly social welfare payment is normally lodged to an Ulster Bank account are involved.

In relation to these customers, payments that were due to be processed on the night of the 19th (Tuesday night) have been lodged to their accounts and customers will be able to access these funds at ATMs and in their Ulster Bank branch. They may not, however, be able to see these funds if they check their account on-line.

The same issue has affected payments that were due to be processed on the night of the 20th (Wednesday night). Ulster Bank are putting arrangements are in place to ensure that affected customers can access their funds by contacting their Ulster Bank branch.

The Department is liaising with the bank to ensure this issue is resolved as quickly as possible and apologises for any inconvenience caused to its customers.
Link: http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Pages/notice.aspx
(was displaying above message at 12:06 GMT on June 22nd, 2012)

And health services payments delayed too due to same issue with Ulster Bank

Notice to Staff re Ulster Bank
Dear Colleagues

The HSE has been informed that due to a technical issue currently being experienced by Ulster Bank, there will be a delay in the lodgement of salary payments due to be made today to some staff. The HSE is one of a range of organisations in Ireland and the UK currently being affected by these issues.

Ulster Bank is currently trying to resolve this matter. The HSE will issue further updates to staff as soon as more information is available.

Liam Woods

National Director of Finance
Link: http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/News/ulsterbank.html
(was displaying above message at 12:06 GMT on June 22nd, 2012)

It seems the bank continue to be out of service today as well...

Thank you for your patience - Overview
Ulster Bank can confirm that we continue to experience a major IT issue which is resulting in a delay in processing certain payments and we apologise unreservedly for this.

We have been working to minimise the impact for our customers and customers of other banks. We continue to work to resolve this issue and to minimise the impact. We will ensure that those Ulster Bank customers who are affected do not suffer any financial loss.

We will be keeping approximately 80 Ulster Bank branches open today, Friday 22 June, until 7pm in major towns and cities to assist customers who are unable to get to their branch during working hours and our 60 Saturday opening branches will open as usual this weekend. ATM and Anytime Internet and Mobile Banking services are available but are reflecting a delay in customers' balances.

Link: http://www.ulsterbank.ie/roi/personal/generic/service-update.ashx
(was displaying above message at 12:06 GMT on June 22nd, 2012)

I wonder if it has something to do with Moody's downgrading of UK banks?

Robert J. Niewiadomski

22nd June 2012, 12:48

There is something going on...

Isle of Man Bank technical problems today...

Important Information for our customers -message timed at 11:00 on 22 June 2012
We are continuing to experience technical issues with our systems, which is impacting a large number of our customers. As a result, money credited to accounts overnight may not be appearing on balances today.

This problem is strictly of a technical nature and we are working hard to fix it as soon as possible. We will ensure that no customers will be permanently out of pocket as a result.

Staff in our branches and at our call centres are ready and available to answer any questions.

We apologise to our customers for this unacceptable inconvenience. We will continue to provide regular updates throughout the day.
Link: http://www.iombank.com/iom/personal-banking.ashx
(was displaying above message at 12:23 GMT on June 22nd, 2012)

Found this at Max Keiser site. Last friday (June 18th, 2012) there were reports of "computer problems" at French banks
Link to Max Keiser site: http://maxkeiser.com/2012/06/16/mr-x-gets-a-scare-his-bank-in-france-looks-about-to-declare-a-holiday/

Sabrina

24th June 2012, 16:08

Thanks for info. on banking glitches Robert and Danceblackcatdance. Here's some more on problems in UK, still going on. And Ulster, Isle of Man and France (via Max Keiser) as above - very very unusual I think????

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16252281

24 June

Natwest Bank IT Fiasco Enters Sixth Day (UK)

The IT fiasco affacting Natwest, RBS and Ulster Bank that has brought financial chaos to millions dragged into a sixth day with customers facing further frustration.

Customers who had previously been able to view their balances - albeit out of date - earlier told Sky News that they could not access the website at all for a period.

Parent company RBS said it was still experiencing technical issues which meant some account balances may not be showing correctly, while it also admitted some online services were unavailable.

The group told customers: "We are still experiencing technical issues with our service which means account balances may not be displaying correctly.

"Some of our online services such as payments, may also be unavailable. We would like to apologise to everyone who is affected by this."
A total of 1,200 NatWest branches opened on Sunday for the first time ever, as the bank attempted to clear a huge backlog of payments caused by a computer glitch.

RBS boss Stephen Hester issued an apology to customers

Around 7,000 staff were on duty in branches, but social media sites such as Twitter continued to be flooded with angry messages from customers who found themselves without access to cash over the weekend or unable to pay bills.
One wrote: "My bills are still coming out but my wages have not gone through. Can't afford food or fuel to get to work on Monday."
Another tweeted: "3 days and still no wages. Won’t be able get into work tomorrow night due to lack of funds. Zero cash can't pay bills, buy food ect."

Stephen Hester, chief executive of NatWest owner RBS, has issued a public apology for the technical hitch and admitted the bank had let down its customers.

Branches opened their doors between 9am and noon, amid continued anger following days of disruption.
The chaos, caused by a problem with computer software, left many of its clients unable to pay bills or access their money.
Mr Hester strived to reassure customers following fears thousands of people could be hit with penalty charges if their regular payments - including mortgages - were affected.

"I am very sorry for the difficulties people are experiencing," he said.
"Our customers rely on us day in and day out to get things right, and on this occasion we have let them down. This should not have happened.

"Right now my top priority, and the priority of the entire RBS Group, is to fix these problems and put things right for our customers.
"This is taking time, but I want to reassure people that we are working around the clock to resolve these problems as quickly as we are able."

NatWest has more than 7.5 million personal banking customers but it is unclear how many have been affected.
The issues extend to users of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Ulster Bank, which like NatWest are part of RBS Group.
Ulster Bank said about 100,000 of its customers experienced difficulties. While the original technical glitch has been fixed, staff are now working through the build-up of transactions which have not been processed.

Sabrina

24th June 2012, 16:17

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/blair-blocked-cabinet-from-hearing-legal-advice-on-iraq-7878737.html

24 JUne UK

Blair blocked Cabinet from hearing legal advice on Iraq

MPs demand recall of Chilcot inquiry to question former PM over revelation in Campbell diaries

MPs demanded an emergency recall of the Chilcot inquiry last night after new revelations that Tony Blair blocked the Government's most senior lawyer from explaining to Cabinet the legality of the war in Iraq.

According to the newly published full version of Alastair Campbell's diaries, the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith wanted to "put the reality" to cabinet ministers that there was a case against, as well as for, military action in March 2003. But, according to his former spin doctor, the then Prime Minister feared that the legal opinion was too "nuanced" and would allow the war's ministerial critics Robin Cook and Clare Short to say that the case had not been made.

The disclosure is significant because, while it has long been suspected that Mr Blair and his inner circle put pressure on Lord Goldsmith to change his legal advice, this is the first evidence that the PM actively blocked the Cabinet from hearing the full details of the case for war.

MPs from all parties urged Sir John Chilcot, who has finished taking evidence and is now preparing his report into the Iraq war, to reconvene a special session to hear from Mr Blair, Mr Campbell and Lord Goldsmith. The former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said: "According to the diaries, Tony Blair was determined that the decision should not rest with the Cabinet and overruled his Attorney General. Sofa government prevailed at the expense of constitutional requirements. The diaries prove that once a decision to go to war against Iraq had been taken, intelligence and legal advice was manipulated to support that decision."

Lord Goldsmith presented a longer legal opinion to Mr Blair on 7 March 2003 in which he said he believed there was a "reasonable case" in favour of military action, but that "there was also a case to be made the other way". According to Mr Campbell's diaries, Lord Goldsmith warned Mr Blair that he did not want the Prime Minister to "present it too positively" in favour of military action because there was a "case to be made the other way". Mr Campbell wrote: "TB also made it clear he did not particularly want Goldsmith to launch a detailed discussion at Cabinet, though it would have to happen at some time, and ministers would want to cross-examine. With the mood as it was, and with Robin [Cook] and Clare [Short] operating as they were, he knew if there was any nuance at all, they would be straight out saying the advice was that it was not legal, the AG was casting doubt on the legal basis for war. Peter Goldsmith was clear that though a lot depended on what happened, he was casting doubt in some circumstances and if Cabinet had to approve the policy of going to war, he had to be able to put the reality to them."

But Mr Campbell added that this was blocked by Mr Blair and his gatekeeper, Sally Morgan, during a meeting of Mr Blair and his closest aides on 11 March: "Sally said it was for TB to speak to Cabinet, and act on the AG's advice. He would simply say the advice said there was a reasonable case."

Following the 11 March meeting, Lord Goldsmith produced a new, one-page legal opinion which put the "reasonable case" for war – which was discussed at Cabinet and used in Parliament to justify military action.

In his own memoir, A Journey, Mr Blair did not reveal details of how he tried to block Lord Goldsmith. He said only that the Attorney General had "set out the arguments for and against and on balance came out in favour". When he gave evidence to the Chilcot inquiry in January 2010, Lord Goldsmith was asked by inquiry panel member Sir Roderic Lyne whether anyone asked him to "restrict what you said to Cabinet to the fairly limited terms in which you presented this to Cabinet". Lord Goldsmith replied: "No."

Sir Menzies added: "There seems to be a substantial difference between the contents of the diaries and the evidence given to the Chilcot inquiry, and the inquiry would be well advised to reconvene itself."

Last night Clare Short said she was not surprised that Mr Blair had been "deceitful" in presenting the case for war. Peter Kilfoyle, a minister in the Blair government, also called for the Chilcot inquiry to be recalled. "There is a straightforward contradiction between the two positions and it needs to be corroborated."

The Conservative MP Patrick Mercer said: "New facts have come to light and this makes me question whether we know enough about the then Prime Minister's attitude that justified the war."

Mr Campbell said last night: "Peter Goldsmith's legal opinion is in the public domain and it was no secret he had concerns at various points. This is entirely consistent with what he and Tony Blair said to the Chilcot inquiry."

Blair's road to war

29 July 2002

Lord Goldsmith writes to Blair that regime change in Iraq is "not a legal basis for military action".

24 Sept 2002

"Dodgy dossier" in which Blair claims it is "beyond doubt" that Saddam has WMD.

22 Oct 2002

In submission to Chilcot, Lord Goldsmith says "my advice was not sought" after this date.

January 2003

Blair tells MPs there were some circumstances where a second UN resolution "not necessary".

30 Jan 2003

Goldsmith warns Blair lawfulness of invasion debatable with-out UN Security Council determination.

February 2003

Goldsmith advises the "safest legal course" was to gain fresh UN approval.

17 Mar 2003

Lord Goldsmith publishes advice declaring military action "legal", giving "green light for military action".

21 Jan 2011

Blair tells Chilcot inquiry he "did not understand how Lord Goldsmith could reach the conclusion that a further [UN] decision was required" in January 2003.

danceblackcatdance

24th June 2012, 16:19

Sabrina

24th June 2012, 16:23

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/rate-swap-scandal/9351779/Rate-swap-scandal-FSA-review-to-reveal-evidence-of-serious-misselling.html
24 June UK

Rate swap scandal: FSA review to reveal evidence of serious misselling

The Financial Services Authority is to reveal it has found evidence of serious mis-selling at some of Britain’s largest banks as part of a review of the way lenders pushed small businesses to buy controversial interest rate swaps.

Banks are braced for a formal regulatory investigation into how thousands of small and medium-sized businesses came to be sold billions of pounds worth of complex interest rate derivatives.

The lenders are likely to come under pressure to agree to a voluntary compensation scheme for victims.
A full investigation would take at least a year and would raise the prospect of banks being hit with large fines as well as the possibility of bans for any staff found to have broken FSA rules.

The results of the FSA’s initial review of the interest rate swap scandal will be announced on Friday. The inquiry was prompted by evidence uncovered by an investigation by The Sunday Telegraph and The Daily Telegraph, which uncovered cases where small businesses such as chip shops, electrical stores and bed and breakfasts had been sold interest rate swaps despite not understanding how they operated.

Banks have denied any wrong-doing, saying that they followed the rules on providing the swaps which were a hedge against interest rates rising. When interest rates collapsed in the wake of the financial crisis, many of the swaps became expensive to service. Some businesses claimed that the high costs forced them out of business.

full story at link

Sabrina

24th June 2012, 16:26

Hi Sabrina, agreed it seems unusual... Jut looked and theres an apology from Stephen Hester on natwest homepage... Odd though because I got an email and txt from natwest yesterday saying the problem had been fixed and it was only backlog to work through!

Found this on a forum:

http://unemploymentmovement.com/forum/chat-a-rap/3504-natwest-computer-meltdown

*Dons tin-foil hat and ponders conspiracy theories* (must mean us :) )....

What if the two events - credit downgrade and the IT failure causing the block on payments - weren't unfortunate coincidences, but an attempt to halt any mass outflow of cash-capital on release of the news whilst they use the cash-inflow figures piling up in the books to leverage more working capital on the inter-bank market for RBS/Natwest to keep operating???

Sabrina

24th June 2012, 16:35

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/business/global/25iht-banks25.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

24 June

Bankers Call for Wider Measures to Stem Crisis

FRANKFURT — An organization that serves as an umbrella for the world’s largest central banks joined a growing list of institutions and leaders, pushing euro zone countries Sunday to insure bank deposits and take other measures to prevent a banking collapse so that the European debt crisis does not undermine the global economy.

The organization, the Bank for International Settlements, based in Basel, Switzerland, warned that central banks cannot cope with the euro zone crisis alone. They are nearing the limits of their resources, and it is time for policy makers to act, it said in its annual report.

“Central banks are being cornered into prolonging monetary stimulus, as governments drag their feet and adjustment is delayed,” the organization said. “It would be a mistake to think that central bankers can use their balance sheets to solve every economic and financial problem.”

The unusually sharp language reflected frustration among central bankers at the risks they have assumed to fight a crisis that has continued to worsen. Through emergency lending to commercial banks or large purchases of government bonds, central banks in the United States, Europe and other developed countries have more than doubled the money that they have at risk during the past decade, the organization said. The sum equals about 30 percent of global economic output, or $18 trillion, it said.

The Bank for International Settlements acts as a place where central banks including the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, can conduct transactions with each other, and it also serves as a forum for central bankers to discuss issues like economic policy or bank regulation. Members of its board of directors include Masaaki Shirakawa, governor of the Bank of Japan; Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve board; and Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank.

Stephen G. Cecchetti, the organization’s chief economist, said the views in the annual report were those of the institution and not necessarily of its board.

However, the message was in tune with recent statements by Mr. Draghi and others that political leaders must move much more urgently to contain the debt crisis.

A growing number of policy makers, including Mr. Draghi and now the B.I.S., have been pressing euro zone leaders to lay groundwork quickly for a so-called banking union to end the fatal embrace of overly indebted governments and poorly capitalized banks.

“The first step has to be the banks,” Mr. Cecchetti said during a conference call with reporters. “If you can make sure the banks are solid, then the banks are not putting weights on the sovereigns and the banks are able to support real economic activity.”

A banking union would include a deposit guarantee fund to reassure depositors that their money is safe and prevent bank runs in places like Spain. A banking union would also have a powerful, centralized banking supervisor instead of the hodgepodge of national regulators that now exist. And it would have a fund used to wind down failed banks so that taxpayers would not need to bear the burden.

“The conclusion is hard to escape that a pan-European financial market and a pan-European central bank require a pan-European banking system,” the organization said in the annual report.

The report warned that bank deposits were already flowing out of countries perceived as vulnerable. By May, Greek banks had already lost about one-third of their foreign deposits and one-quarter of domestic deposits, and the outflow seemed to be accelerating, the report said.

Money is also flowing out of Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain and into banks in Germany and the Netherlands that are perceived as safer. The organization regularly collects data on flows of money between countries.

While Europe is the epicenter of the crisis, the report said, other regions suffer from similar weaknesses.

“At its root the European crisis is a potential harbinger,” the report said, “a virulent and advanced convergence of the problems to be expected elsewhere if policy fails to break the vicious cycles generated by the global weaknesses we describe in this report — sectoral imbalances, excess leverage, public overindebtedness and overburdened central banks.”

Sabrina

24th June 2012, 16:45

http:/exopolitics.blogs.com/exopolitics/2012/06/911-vancouver-tribunal-expected-to-issue-indictments-in-911-events-around-labor-day-2012.html

9/11 Vancouver Tribunal expected to issue Indictments in 9/11 events around Labor Day 2012

VANCOUVER, B.C. - The 9/11 Vancouver Tribunal is a citizen's tribunal of conscience that was duly constituted by the 9/11 Vancouver Hearings June 15-17, 2012 in Vancouver, B.C.

Alfred Lambremont Webre, one of the Judges on the Tribunal states, "As a duly constituted citizen's tribunal of conscience for the events of September 11, 2001, the 9/11 Vancouver Tribunal has jurisdiction under natural law and justice; declarations of natural law, such as the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights; international humanitarian law such as the Geneva Conventions; and national laws such as national, state and provincial criminal statues prohibiting murder and conspiracy, for any jurisdiction whose citizens died in the World Trade Center on 9/11. The 9/11 Vancouver Tribunal was convened by a worldwide community of citizens who participated in the 911 Vancouver Hearings (June 15-17, 2012) in Vancouver, BC and via streaming internet from diverse locations around the world including the United States, India, and elsewhere."

During the 9/11 Vancouver Hearings, 19 expert witnesses gave sworn testimony as to names, titles, and implicating evidence for individuals, each of whom is alleged to have acted as part of a common plan as a leading co-conspirator in the events of 9/11 and for whom they are aware of prima facie evidence that is sufficient to raise a presumption of fact.

9/11 UFO at World Trade Center

During the Hearings, one of the expert witnesses presented video of exotic technology used at the World Trade Center on 9/11 in the form of an apparently remote-guided wing-less sphere or UFO that flew into a World Trade Center tower. When the UFO sphere was filmed from a vantage point below the UFO, the holographic image of a commercial airliner cloaked the UFO. Yet when the UFO was filmed from above from another vantage point, only the UFO sphere appeared in the film.

9/11 Vancouver Indictment

Following the Hearings, these 19 sworn expert witnesses and additional expert and eye witnesses on 9/11 have been requested to file further written submissions and affidavits with the 9/11 Vancouver Tribunal on or before July 15, 2012 as to individuals for whom there is prima facie evidence that they acted as part of a common plan in the events of 9/11. Each expert witness is being asked to provide a detailed summary of implicating evidence for each such individual named.

From these evidentiary submissions, the 9/11 Vancouver Tribunal plans to develop and issue an Information and Indictment of individuals alleged to have participated in a criminal, common plan and conspiracy to carry out the events of September 11, 2001.

Labor Day 2012

The 9/11 Information and Indictment is expected to issue around Labor Day, 2012. The Information and Indictment will be accompanied by an Evidentiary Report, setting out the evidence of probable cause for the indictments of the Accused.

Legal implications of the 9/11 Vancouver Tribunal

Following the issuance of an Information and Indictment against specific named individuals who allegedly participated in a common plan and conspiracy in the events of 9/11, there are multiple legal venues in which the criminal charges in the Information and Indictment can be prosecuted and tried, and verdicts and judgments reached and enforced against the Accused.

A. International law - The alleged crimes of the Accused in the Information and Indictment may be found to violate the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and constitute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. At the 9/11 Vancouver Hearings Judge Alfred Webre stated, "The 9/11 false flag operations may qualify as a war crime, genocide, and crime against humanity, inter alia, if it can be demonstrated that the true intent of the 9/11 perpetrators was to carry out 9/11 as a pretext for invading Afghanistan, which invasion and war has been found to be genocidal because of the use of depleted uranium weapons and other reasons. So the legal chain of culpability is there, under the Nuremberg precedents of a crime against peace and stating an unjust war. The Tokyo Tribunal for War Crimes in Afghanistan, in an opinion by Judge Niloufer Bhagwat, found that U.S. President George W. Bush and his administration had committed war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity through the horrific birth defects and other widespread genetic and health damage cause to Afghan civilians through the U.S. use of depleted uranium weapons."

The 9/11 Indictment can be taken by the 9/11 Vancouver Commission to the national courts of any of the more than 100 nations, such as Germany and Spain, that are signatories to the Rome statue of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution and enforcement, as well as to the ICC itself. The chief prosecutor of the ICC, to the criticism of many throughout the world, has failed to act on over 400 complaints on war crimes in Iraq and in Afghanistan by US and UK forces, and has privately stated he will not take jurisdiction of 9/11.

B. U.S. Congress - The Indictment of the 9/11 Vancouver Tribunal can be taken by the 9/11 Vancouver Commission to the U.S. Senate and to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to prosecute the Accused Treason under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, which provides, "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted."

There is legal precedent for such an action. In November 2007, a Memorandum was presented to senior Congressional staff and personally to Rep John Conyers, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee setting out sufficient prima facie evidence of Article III(3) treason in connection with the events of 9/11 by George W. Bush, Richard B. Cheney, Donald H. Rumsfeld, and other Jane and John Does. Senior Congressional staff acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations in the Memorandum. Rep. Conyers took the Memorandum home to Detroit, MI over the Thanksgiving 2007 holidays promising an answer as to whether he would move on the file after the Holidays. To this date, no answer has been forthcoming from Rep. Conyers.

C. Canadian Parliament - There are various concurrent efforts to have the Parliament of Canada investigate the 9/11 events, as NORAD is a joint Canada/USA function and 26 Canadians were killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. The 9/11 Vancouver Indictment can be taken by the 9/11 Vancouver Commission to members of Parliament and the Senate, including the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leaders in the Parliament of Canada to appoint a Public Inquiry to investigate and report on possible criminal violations by Canadian persons or U.S. persons, including U.S. government employees or contractors/agents, and other individuals flowing out of the 9/11 events.

D. Prosecution for murder - The 9/11 Vancouver Indictment can be taken by the 9/11 Vancouver Commission to any District attorney and/or U.S. Attorneys in the United States of America, and to any Public Prosecutors in other nations whose citizens were killed in the World Trade Center or the events of 9/11. The alleged Accused, Co-conspirators and persons acting in a common plan to cause, facilitate or support the events of September 11, 2001 can each be prosecuted for murder by a U.S. attorney, by a district attorney or by public prosecutors of a nation whose citizens were killed at the World Trade Center or in any aspect of the false flag operation on September 11, 2001.

E. 9/11 Vancouver Tribunal - The 9/11 Vancouver Commission can establish a formal Tribunal for a trial of the Accused under the 9/11 Vancouver Indictment. This trial would be heard by the 9/11 Tribunal Judges, with appointed prosecutors, counsel for the Accused and due process for the Accused. A sister tribunal of conscience, the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal, has successfully tried George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Richard B. Cheney, Donald H. Rumsfeld, et al. for war crimes in Iraq.

9/11 Vancouver Tribunal & Commission

Judges on the 9/11 Vancouver Tribunal include Constance (Connie) Fogal, B.A, B.Ed, M.A., LL.B, and Alfred Lambremont Webre, JD, MEd. Connie Fogal is former leader of the Canadian Action Party, former Vancouver Parks Board Commissioner, former Director, Kitsilano and Vancouver Community Resource boards; lawyer with the Defence of Canadian Liberty Committee to oppose what Fogal sees as threats to Canadian constitutional sovereignty. Alfred Lambremont Webre is a Judge on the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal, submitted a Memorandum to the Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate 9/11 and was a co-architect of the Space Preservation Treaty.

The 9/11 Vancouver Hearings were organized by Prof. Jim Fezter, PhD, McKnight Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota Duluth, the founder of Scholars for 9/11 Truth, edited its first book, THE 9/11 CONSPIRACY (2007), organized its first conference, “The Science and Politics of 9/11″ (Madison) and produced its first DVD, and co-organizer Joshua Blakeney, Graduate student at the University of Lethbridge, 9/11 activist, Staff Writer at Veterans Today, and now the Canadian correspondent for PressTV, Josh was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship to study “The Origins of the Global War on Terror”.

The 9/11 Vancouver Commission, charged with rolling-out the Indictment and Information to alternative legal venues, includes Prof. Jim Fetzer, Josh Blakeney, Kevin Barrett and John Duddy. Kevin Barrett is a Ph.D. Arabist-Islamologist and one of America’s best-known critics of 9/11, is co-editor of 9/11 AND AMERICAN EMPIRE: CHRISTIANS, JEWS AND MUSLIMS SPEAK OUT (2006), and author of TRUTH JIHAD (2007) and of QUESTIONING THE WAR ON TERROR (2009). John Duddy is a philanthropist with a deep interest in bringing justice in 9/11.

Information:

9/11 VANCOUVER HEARINGS
http://www.911vancouverhearings.com

9/11 Vancouver Hearings: Expert witness Pilot Dennis Cimino testifies on fraudulent flight data recorder (FDR) found at Pentagon on 9/11.
WATCH ON YOU TUBE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmGi5YeQ_Bw

23 June

Sabrina

24th June 2012, 16:52

http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/06/21/inenglish/1340289675_575126.html

June Spain

Supreme Court chief justice steps down over expenses-paid weekend trips

Saying that he was a victim of “a cruel and disproportionate campaign,” Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Dívar on Thursday resigned under pressure for charging 32 long weekend trips to Marbella and other Spanish destinations to the judiciary.

The 70-year-old Dívar told his fellow members of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) that he is “not aware that he did anything wrong” but acknowledged that the situation had become “unbearable” for the entire judicial branch.

Addressing the 20 members of the panel, Dívar, who also steps down as CGPJ president, said he held “no grudges” against anyone for making public the cost and nature of his trips, during which he mixed official functions with private pleasure, passing on much of the combined cost to the state coffers.

It was the first time in the history of the Spanish judiciary, which is celebrating its bicentennial this week, a chief justice or a CGPJ president has stepped down from his position.

full story at link

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/06/14/inenglish/1339685450_514732.html

June - Spain

15-M protestors press fraud charges against Bankia managers

Movement wants jail sentence for Rato after bank’s stock market listing “swindle”
State prosecutor opens criminal probe into Bankia
The bank that brought about a bailout

Activists from the 15-M protest movement on Thursday filed a criminal complaint against former Bankia president Rodrigo Rato at the High Court accusing him of accounting and financial fraud in connection with the government’s intervention of the commercial bank last month.

The complaint also names Bankia and its parent Banco Financiero y de Ahorro (BFA) as co-defendants.

Lawyers for the movement claim that Rato, along with others, presented false figures last year to help with its stock market flotation and rake in investors through this fraudulent scheme. They are asking that the High Court sentence Rato, a former economy minister and IMF managing director, to between one and six years in jail, bar him from conducting financial transactions for a certain period, and order him to pay fines.

“Stockholders were completely duped,” said lawyer Juan Moreno Yague, who is representing the 15-M movement in this case.

Moreno, a 39-year-old attorney from Salamanca, didn’t want to provide too many details citing judicial secrecy. But he said that he was passing the court information given to him by former employees who were “ now sorry” by the actions they took at the bank.

“Let’s just say that there are employees from the inside who are telling us who the targets were. The accounting was badly performed inside the offices, but the guilty ones were those who signed it, in other words, the board members,” Yague said.

This was the third complaint filed against Bankia and Rato. The UPyD party and the obscure rightwing union Manos Limpias have also filed charges against the bank and its former president.

On May 28, the Attorney General’s Office opened an investigation into Bankia after the bank and BFA requested 19 billion euros from the government to clean up its balance sheet, which was hit hard by the slump in the real estate market. Bankia, which was formed last year through the mergers of Caja Madrid and Bancaja plus five other savings banks, was listed on the stock market in July.

Yague said that the 15-M complaint stands out from the rest because it includes information received from inside sources. But he added that the High Court could combine the three if it determines that the allegations are the same.

The 15-M movement last month began seeking donations on its website to pay for attorney’s fees in this case. In less than 24 hours, the group collected 19,413 euros in small contributions from hundreds of citizens.

Rato should be accused under the Penal Code reform of 2010 of presenting a false prospectus, Yague said. When Bankia was first listed on the stock market, its shares were valued at 3.75 and now they are priced at around one euro.

Two Madrid-based shareholders showed up for the 15-M news conference at Santa Bárbara square in Madrid’s Justicia neighborhood. Clemence Cohen, 62, and Carlos (who declined to provide his last name) both said they felt “swindled” by Bankia’s board of directors.

“I bought shares after my bank branch advised me, saying that the stock hadn’t reached its limit. So I decided to purchase some,” Cohen said, adding that spent his entire 3,000 euros in savings purchasing the shares. “Now they are worth about 800 euros. I have been swindled,” he added.

Sabrina

24th June 2012, 17:03

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/06/24/egypt-election-results-mo_n_1622144.html?utm_hp_ref=uk&utm_hp_ref=uk

24 June Egypt

Egypt Election Results: Mohammed Morsi Announced As President Of Egypt

Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood party has been named as the first democratically elected president of Egypt.

Huge cheers erupted and firecrackers were let off in Tahir square as the head of the election commission made the announcement.

Thousands of Morsi supporters had camped in the square, the site in which the Arab Spring uprising began last year.

There had been fears that if Shafiq had won, it could have provoked violent clashes between Muslim brotherhood supporters and those of former Prime Minister Shafiq. It is yet to be seen how Shafiq supporters will respond to the results.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Mursi gained 51.73% of the vote, while Ahmed Shafiq got 48.27%, the election commission says.

Scenes broadcast from Cairo so far showed intense jubilation that the country had a new president, and one not associated with the old regime.
full story at link

Sabrina

24th June 2012, 19:33

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/061212DimonIsNotAlone.pdf

Jamie Dimon Is Not Alone

During the financial crisis, at least 18 former and current directors from Federal Reserve Banks worked in banks and corporations that collectively received over $4 trillion in low-interest loans from the Federal Reserve.

U.S. Senator Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) Washington, D.C.
June 12, 2012

Jamie Dimon, the Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase, has served on the Board of Directors at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since 2007. During the financial crisis, the Fed provided JP Morgan Chase with $391 billion in total financial assistance. JP Morgan Chase was also used by the Fed as a clearinghouse for the Fed's emergency lending programs.
In March of 2008, the Fed provided JP Morgan Chase with $29 billion in financing to acquire Bear Stearns. During the financial crisis, the Fed provided JP Morgan Chase with an 18-month exemption from risk-based leverage and capital requirements. The Fed also agreed to take risky mortgage-related assets off of Bear Stearns balance sheet before JP Morgan Chase acquired this troubled investment bank.
2. Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, served on the New York Fed's Board of Directors from 2006-2011. General Electric received $16 billion in low- interest financing from the Federal Reserve’s Commercial Paper Funding Facility during this time period.
3. Stephen Friedman. In 2008, the New York Fed approved an application from Goldman Sachs to become a bank holding company giving it access to cheap Fed loans. During the same period, Friedman, who was chairman of the New York Fed at the time, sat on the Goldman Sachs board of directors and owned Goldman stock, something the Fed’s rules prohibited. He received a waiver in late 2008 that was not made public. After Friedman received the waiver, he continued to purchase stock in Goldman from November 2008 through January of 2009 unbeknownst to the Fed, according to the GAO.
During the financial crisis, Goldman Sachs received $814 billion in total financial assistance from the Fed.
4. Sanford Weill, the former CEO of Citigroup, served on the Fed's Board of Directors in New York in 2006. During the financial crisis, Citigroup received over $2.5 trillion in total financial assistance from the Fed.
5. Richard Fuld, Jr, the former CEO of Lehman Brothers, served on the Fed's Board of Directors in New York from 2006 to 2008. During the financial crisis, the Fed provided $183 billion in total financial assistance to Lehman before it collapsed.
6. James M. Wells, the Chairman and CEO of SunTrust Banks, has served on the Board of Directors at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta since 2008. During the financial crisis, SunTrust received $7.5 billion in total financial assistance from the Fed.

7. Richard Carrion, the head of Popular Inc. in Puerto Rico, has served on the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since
2008. Popular received $1.2 billion in total financing from the Fed's Term Auction Facility during the financial crisis.
8. James Smith, the Chairman and CEO of Webster Bank, served on the Federal Reserve's Board of Directors in Boston from 2008-2010. Webster Bank received $550 million in total financing from the Federal Reserve's Term Auction Facility during the financial crisis.
9. Ted Cecala, the former Chairman and CEO of Wilmington Trust, served on the Fed's Board of Directors in Philadelphia from 2008-2010. Wilmington Trust received $3.2 billion in total financial assistance from the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis.
10. Robert Jones, the President and CEO of Old National Bancorp, has served on the Fed's Board of Directors in St. Louis since 2008. Old National Bancorp received a total of $550 million in low-interest loans from the Federal Reserve's Term Auction Facility during the financial crisis.
11. James Rohr, the Chairman and CEO of PNC Financial Services Group, served on the Fed's Board of Directors in Cleveland from 2008-2010. PNC received $6.5 billion in low-interest loans from the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis.
12. George Fisk, the CEO of LegacyTexas Group, was a director at the Dallas Federal Reserve in 2009. During the financial crisis, his firm received a $5 million low-interest loan from the Federal Reserve's Term Auction Facility.
13. Dennis Kuester, the former CEO of Marshall & Ilsley, served as a board director on the Chicago Federal Reserve from 2007-2008. During the financial crisis, his bank received over $21 billion in low-interest loans from the Fed.
14. George Jones, Jr., the CEO of Texas Capital Bank, has served as a board director at the Dallas Federal Reserve since 2009. During the financial crisis, his bank received $2.3 billion in total financing from the Fed's Term Auction Facility.
15. Douglas Morrison, was the Chief Financial Officer at CitiBank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, while he served as a board director at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank in 2006. During the financial crisis, CitiBank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota received over $21 billion in total financing from the Federal Reserve.
16. L. Phillip Humann, the former CEO of SunTrust Banks, served on the Board of Directors at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta from 2006-2008. During the financial crisis, SunTrust received $7.5 billion in total financial assistance from the Fed.

17. Henry Meyer, III, the former CEO of KeyCorp, served on the Board of Directors at the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland from 2006-2007. During the financial crisis, KeyBank (owned by KeyCorp) received over $40 billion in total financing from the Federal Reserve.
18. Ronald Logue, the former CEO of State Street Corporation, served as a board member of the Boston Federal Reserve Bank from 2006-2007. During the financial crisis, State Street Corporation received a total of $42 billion in financing from the Federal Reserve.

Sabrina

24th June 2012, 20:11

http://www.thrivemovement.com/banking-history-timeline-follow-money

BANKING HISTORY TIMELINE - FOLLOW THE MONEY
Elite banking families – including the Rockefellers, Rothschilds, and Morgans – have gained control of the global economy through the central banking system. They set up the Federal Reserve in the US in 1913 and have been manipulating the market to benefit themselves ever since. This timeline shows the pattern of American Presidents being assassinated after challenging central bankers and their monopoly on money, and the Federal Reserve’s artificial creation of booms and busts that causes people to lose their jobs, homes, and retirements, while the bankers further consolidate wealth and control.

1694 – Bank of England Established

First Central Bank established in the UK. Served as model for most modern central banks.

1744- Mayer Amschel Rothschild, Founder of the Rothschild Banking Empire, is Born in Frankfurt, Germany

Mayer Amschel Rothschild extended his banking empire across Europe by carefully placing his five sons in key positions. They set up banks in Frankfurt, Vienna, London, Naples, and Paris. By the mid 1800’s they dominated the banking industry, lending to governments around the world and people such as the Vanderbilts, Carnegies, and Cecil Rhodes.

1757- Colonial Scrip Issued in US

Debt free, fiat currency was printed in the public interest. As Benjamin Franklin said,

“In the colonies we issue our own money. It is called colonial scrip. We issue it in proper proportion to the demands of trade and industry to make the products pass easily from the producers to the consumers. In this manner, creating for ourselves our own paper money, we control its purchasing power and we have no interest to pay no one.”

1776 – American Independence

1791 – Congress Creates the First US Bank – A Private Company, Partly Owned by Foreigners – to Handle the Financial Needs of the New Central Government

Previously, the 13 states had their own banks, currencies and financial institutions.

1816 – The Privately Owned Second Bank of the US was Chartered – It Served as the Main Depository for Government Revenue, Making it a Highly Profitable Bank

1832 – Andrew Jackson Campaigns Against the 2nd Bank of the US and Vetoes Bank Charter Renewal

Andrew Jackson was skeptical of the central banking system and believed it gave too few men too much power and caused inflation. He was also a proponent of gold and silver and an outspoken opponent of the 2nd National Bank. The Charter expired in 1836.

1833 – President Jackson Issues Executive Order to Stop Depositing Government Funds Into Bank of US

By September 1833, government funds were being deposited into state chartered banks.

Jan 30, 1835 – Jackson Escapes Assassination

Assassin misfired twice.

1833-1837 – Manufactured “boom” created by central bankers – money supply Increases 84%, Spurred by the 2nd Bank of the US

The total money supply rose from $150 million to $267 million.[1]

1837-1843 – Terrible Depression

343 of the 850 banks in the US closed entirely as largest banks consolidated wealth and power.[2]

1861 – American Civil War

1862-1863 Lincoln Over Rules Debt-Based Money and Issues Greenbacks to Fund the War

Bankers would only lend the government money under certain conditions and at high interest rates, so Lincoln issued his own currency – “greenbacks” – through the US Treasury, and made them legal tender. His soldiers went on to win the war, followed by great economic expansion.

April 15, 1865 – Lincoln Assassinated

1881- President James Garfield, Staunch Proponent of “Honest Money” Backed by Gold and Silver, was Assassinated

Garfield opposed fiat currency (money that was not backed by any physical object) and was a strong advocate of a bi-metal monetary system. He had the second shortest Presidency in history.

1907- Banking Panic of 1907

The New York Stock Exchange dropped dramatically as everyone tried to get their money out of the banks at the same time across the nation. This banking panic spurred debate for banking reform. JP Morgan and others gathered to create an image of concern and stability in the face of the panic, which eventually led to the formation of the Federal Reserve. The founders of the Federal Reserve pretended like the bankers were opposed to the idea of its formation in order to mislead the public into believing that the Federal Reserve would help to regulate bankers when in fact it really gave even more power to private bankers, but in a less transparent way.

1908 – JP Morgan Associate and Rockefeller Relative Nelson Aldrich Heads New National Monetary Commission

Senate Republican leader, Nelson Aldrich, heads the new National Monetary Commission that was created to study the cause of the banking panic. Aldrich had close ties with J.P. Morgan and his daughter married John D. Rockefeller.

1910 – Bankers Meet Secretly on Jekyll Island to Draft Federal Reserve Banking Legislation

Over the course of a week, some of the nations most powerful bankers met secretly off the coast of Georgia, drafting a proposal for a private Central Banking system. Those in attendance included Nelson Aldrich, A.P. Andrew (Assistant Secretary of the Treasury), Paul Warburg (Kuhn, Loeb, & Co.), Frank Vanderlip (President of National City Bank of New York), Charles D. Norton (president of the Morgan-dominated First National Bank of New York), Henry Davidson (Senior Partner of JP Morgan Co.), and Benjamin Strong (representing JP Morgan).

Dec 23, 1913 – Federal Reserve Act Passed

Two days before Christmas, while many members of Congress were away on vacation, the Federal Reserve Act was passed, creating the Central banking system we have today. It was based on the Aldrich plan drafted on Jekyll Island and gave private bankers supreme authority over the economy. They are now able to create money out of nothing (and loan it out at interest), make decisions without government approval, and control the amount of money in circulation.

1913 – Income tax established -16th Amendment Ratified

Taxes ensured that citizens would cover the payment of debt due to the Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, which was also created in 1913.The 16th Amendment stated: “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.”

1914 – JP Morgan and Co. Profits from Financing both sides of War and Purchasing Weapons

J.P. Morgan and Co. made a deal with the Bank of England to give them a monopoly on underwriting war bonds for the UK and France. They also invested in the suppliers of war equipment to Britain and France.

November 1914 – Federal Reserve Banks Open

1921-1929 – The “Roaring 20’s” – The Federal Reserve Floods the Economy with Cash and Credit

From 1921 to 1929 the Federal Reserve increased the money supply by $28 billion, almost a 62% increase over an eight-year period.[3] This artificially created another “boom”.

1929 – Federal Reserve Contracts the Money Supply

In 1929, the Federal Reserve began to pull money out of circulation as loans were paid back. They created a “bust” which was inevitable after issuing so much credit in the years before. The Federal Reserve’s actions triggered the banking crisis, which led to the Great Depression.

October 24, 1929 – “Black Thursday”, Stock Market Crash

The most devastating stock market crash in history. Billions of dollars in value were consolidated into the private banker’s hands at the expense of everyone else.

1930- Great Depression Begins

1929-1933- Federal Reserve Reduces Money Supply by 33%

June 4, 1963 – Kennedy Issued an Executive Order (11110) that Authorized the US Treasury to Issue Silver Certificates, Threatening the Federal Reserve’s Monopoly on Money

This government issued currency would bypass the governments need to borrow from bankers at interest.

Nov. 22, 1963 - Kennedy Assassinated

December 1963 – Johnson Reverses Kennedy’s Banking Rule and Restores Power to the Federal Reserve

1999 – The Financial Services Modernization Act Allows Banks to Grow Even Larger

Many economists and politicians have recognized that this legislation played a key part in the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007. It repealed part of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 and allowed investment banks, commercial banks, securities firms, and insurance companies to merge. Citigroup was a major proponent of this particular bill (it had already merged with Travelers Insurance and needed to find a way to legally keep the corporation together). The government gave Citi officials the opportunity to review and approve drafts before the legislation was introduced and to modify it as they desired. Robert Rubin, Treasury Secretary at the time, helped move the bill forward in early 1999. He then stepped down from the Treasury position in July, joined CitiGroup in October, and the bill was passed in November. The Center for Responsive Politics also found that members of Congress who supported the bill received twice as much money from the banking sector than those who opposed it.[4]

2000-2003 – The Federal Reserve Extends “Easy Credit”, Lowers the Federal Fund Rate from 6.5% to 1%[5] and Sets up Another Financial “Boom”

2004 – Investment Banks and the SEC Cut a Deal

On April 28, 2004, five of the biggest investment banks, including Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs (then run by Henry Paulson, who later became Secretary of the Treasury), met with members of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), urging them to allow voluntary regulation of themselves, so they could determine themselves how much money they could make up out of nothing to loan into circulation. This is known as the banks leverage ratio, or amount of assets to borrowing ratio. Up until 2004, the amount of debt the banks could take on was limited. However, in 2004, the SEC agreed to let banks regulate themselves and take on as much debt as they wanted, therefore unleashing billions of dollars for high-risk investment packages. Under this new voluntary regulation the Bear Stearns ratio, for example, jumped to 33 to 1.[6] Not long after, the economy collapsed and financial wealth and power was again further consolidated into the hands of the private bankers who run the Federal Reserve.

2004-2006 – Federal Reserve Sets Off New “Bust” by Making Loans and Adjustable Rate Mortgages More Expensive, Raising Fed Fund Rates to 5.25%[7], This contracts the market.

2007-2010 – Worst Financial Crisis Since the Great Depression

The financial crisis impacted people around the world – millions lost their homes, jobs, and retirement funds. Many of the smaller banks were absorbed by others, which allowed the biggest banks to further consolidate wealth and eliminate competition. In 2008, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. bought up both Washington Mutual (the biggest bank to “fail” in the history of the United States) and Bear Stearns (the fifth largest investment bank).

2010 – JP Morgan Chase Reports Record Profits

The bank made a record profit of $17.4 Billion in 2010. [8]

[1] http://wiki.mises.org/wiki/Panic_of_1837

[2] http://wiki.mises.org/wiki/Panic_of_1837

[3] “The Inflationary Factors”: http://mises.org/rothbard/agd/chapter4.asp

[4] “Money and Votes Aligned in Congress’s Last Debate Over Bank Regulation” by Massie Ritsch, September 23, 2008. http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/09/money-and-votes-aligned-in-con.html

[5] Open Market Operations Archive, The Federal Reserve: http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/openmarket_archive.htm

[6] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/business/03sec.html?pagewanted=1

[7] http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/openmarket.htm#2006

[8] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12189494

Sabrina

25th June 2012, 06:09

Problems with UK's Nat West bank still continues still...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/banking/9352947/Fury-as-NatWest-bank-glitch-drags-on.html
25 June UK

Fury as NatWest bank glitch drags on

RBS is warning its 17 million customers that the backlog caused by a technical glitch could take at least another two days to clear, meaning that the computer failure will have lasted for more than a week.

Customers deluged online forums with complaints yesterday, saying that they were unable to pay bills and were concerned about the impact it could have on their credit ratings.

The crisis has hit customers at RBS and two of its subsidiaries, NatWest and Ulster, and the bank admitted that the chaos caused by a technical glitch is so severe that it does not even know how many accounts are affected.

Yesterday, more than 1,200 NatWest branches were opened on a Sunday for the first time in its history, while a further 1,000 branches will be open until 7pm today in an attempt to ease the problem.

RBS has pledged to compensate affected customers by refunding overdraft charges or penalty fees incurred because of the computer glitch, and help them deal with credit rating agencies. However, it was not clear how long it would take to make refunds.
.........................
Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of the Commons Treasury select committee, said: “It seems scarcely credible that something like this, which has caused problems for hundreds of thousands of people, could have gone on for so long. No doubt the committee will want a full explanation.”
full story at link

Sabrina

25th June 2012, 06:39

http://en.tengrinews.kz/politics_sub/10974/

25 June USA

US commerce secretary resigns after car crashes

US commerce secretary John Bryson announced his resignation Thursday, just weeks after he was involved in a sequence of car crashes in California that were blamed on a seizure, AFP reports.

In a letter to President Barack Obama, Bryson said he would leave the cabinet, judging his June 9 seizure "could be a distraction from my performance as secretary."

"Our country would be better served by a change in leadership at the department," he continued.

Bryson is under a felony investigation in California over the two hit-and-run incidents.

full story at link

Sabrina

25th June 2012, 06:48

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jun/19/olympic-park-london-2012-games

UK Olympics

Olympic Park legacy chief to step down after London 2012 Games

Andrew Altman was one of the two key members who had approved West Ham's controversial bid for the Olympic Stadium

Andrew Altman, the chief executive of the body overseeing the regeneration of the Olympic Park after the Games, is to step down in August.

The American, brought in to overhaul plans for the Park by then Olympic Park Legacy Company chair Baroness Ford in 2009, has been at the helm throughout the controversy over the future of the stadium and its transition into the London Legacy Development Corporation.

The announcement of Altman's departure, who arrived with a strong urban planning reputation for his work in New York and Washington, comes shortly after Ford herself stood down.

London mayor Boris Johnson, now in sole control of the LLDC, appointed Transport for London deputy chair Daniel Moylan to succeed her. Ford had intended to stay until after the Games but was persuaded to leave early.

The pair decided to tear up plans to build high rise apartments and instead focused on family friendly housing in the north of the Park and a more urban feel in the south of the 500 acre site, to be renamed the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park after the Games.

But they also endured a bruising battle over the fate of the £468m Olympic Stadium. They awarded it to West Ham but were then forced to abandon the deal in the face of legal pressure from Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient, and a complaint to the European Commission
that it may have broken state aid rules.
full story at link

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1662818/Fairfax-editors-resign

Australia 25 JUne

The editors of the Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne Age have resigned from Fairfax Media following a tumultuous week at the media group.

There have been several high-profile resignations at Fairfax Media, including Sydney Morning Herald editor Amanda Wilson and publisher and editor-in-chief Peter Fray, Fairfax journalists reported on Twitter.

full story at link

Sabrina

25th June 2012, 06:54

http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/content/illuminati-kingpin-shoots-himself-being-taken-prison-have-nwo-mass-arrests-begun-earnest

Illuminati 'Kingpin' Shoots Himself Before Being Taken To Prison; Have The NWO Mass Arrests Begun In Earnest?

21 June 2012

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase of Romania shot and wounded himself on Wednesday, apparently in a suicide attempt, hours after the country’s Supreme Court ruled he must serve a two-year sentence for corruption.

Mr. Nastase is the most senior Romanian politician to be jailed since the overthrow of Communism in 1989.

The court’s decision shocked Romania, a poor country where senior politicians have long been seen as above the law. Analysts hailed it as a sign of political maturity in a nation struggling to shed a culture of graft and lawlessness that was honed during decades of Communist rule.

Mr. Nastase, who will turn 62 on Friday, had denied any wrongdoing and insisted that the case was politically motivated.

He had appealed his March 30 sentence after he was convicted of illegally raising $2 million for his failed presidential campaign in 2004 by drawing from the profits of an event organized by a state agency. Mr. Nastase was prime minister in a leftist government from 2000 to 2004 and before that was foreign minister.

Read more @

www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/europe/romanian-ex-premier-adrian-nastase-shoots-and-wounds-himself.html

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Iceland Dismantles Corrupt Gov't Then Arrests All Bankers

Wb3AGqZJE68

more on Iceland:

http://real-economics.blogspot.no/2012/06/arresting-banksters.html

kersley

25th June 2012, 08:13

Sabrina. I'm so glad you kept up with this thread and never gave up like most do on here. You're so focus and dedicated to the cause.
Slowly but surely, things are starting to happen. The world needs to follow the trends set by Iceland.. This is our chance to save our children's future

Sabrina

25th June 2012, 08:33

Transcript of a Lisa Harrison interview with Cobra this month - use discernment as usual! :)

http://lisamharrison.com/pdf/Transcript%20of%20Cobra%20Interview%20with%20Lisa%20Harrison%20June%202012.pdf

jackovesk

25th June 2012, 15:00

Media shake-up rolls on: three Fairfax editors sacked in one day

June 25, 2012

http://images.brisbanetimes.com.au/2012/06/25/3403148/wilsonfray729-420x0.jpg
Stepping down ... Amanda Wilson and Peter Fray.

There was more shock news for Fairfax today, with the announcement that its top editors are standing down.

The Sydney Morning Herald's publisher and editor-in-chief , Peter Fray, and first female editor, Amanda Wilson, announced they are leaving the company. The Age's editor-in-chief, Paul Ramadge, is also stepping down.

The announcement comes after last week's revelation that Fairfax is to shed 1900 jobs.

In an emotional announcement to the newsroom today, Wilson said it had been an honour and a privilege to lead the paper as editor for the past 18 months.

She said with a major newsroom review about to be unveiled, the time was right for her to pursue new challenges.

"This newsroom is about to go through profound change as Garry [Linnell, editorial director] implements the editorial restructure that some of you have been working on. When I first saw the plan, there was one glaring omission – the role of editor that I currently have. Thanks guys!

"But seriously, change on this scale is never easy. I know, because I've seen a lot of change in the 17 years I've been here. And in recent years as editor or Peter's deputy I've had to oversee some huge and really tough changes, and push through very big cuts to our resources.

"So this is the right time for me to hand over the reins to someone else and let them lead this transition."

Fray, who will leave the company on July 5, thanked his colleagues, saying he had learned so much during his time at Fairfax and would offer any support he could to those who now led the editorial operation into this new era.

He said that although he did not have a new job to go to, it was an exciting opportunity for him to see what more he could achieve in the profession he loved.

"This is a collaborative industry and we are at our best when we work together toward a common goal.
And to that end, I wish everyone all the very best," he said.

Fairfax Metro Media Editorial Director, Garry Linnell, said in a statement: "We are saying farewell to two champions of our profession, and their decision to leave brings to a close two very distinguished careers with Fairfax.

"Two key editorial appointments for The Sydney Morning Herald will be announced later today."

Of Wilson, who will leave the company on Friday, he said: "I have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for what Amanda has achieved during her leadership of the Herald.

"Her first priority has always been the integrity of the masthead - and the welfare of those around her. She has been a fiercely passionate editor who has worn her love for - and dedication to - the Herald on her sleeve every single day of her editorship.

"She has consistently produced a Herald that has broken stories and engaged in the independent journalism its readers expect from it."

Metro Media's chief executive, Jack Matthews, said: "It would be difficult to find two journalists with the commitment to integrity and independence in their profession they have always displayed.

"When the Metro group was formed a little over a year ago, it was a clear signal that Fairfax was embarking on a new path. Amanda embraced that change and was a leader in helping our editorial staff understand and support those changes.

"All of us will be saddened to see Peter leave. I will miss his charm and intelligence. I fully respect his desire to seek new opportunities in publishing outside of the company."

Fairfax chief executive Greg Hywood, said: "Peter has contributed greatly to the transformation of Fairfax from a print only to a genuine multiplatform media company. Peter excelled as an editor and publisher combining his great feel for journalism with an ability to get the best out of his people.

"Amanda has been an exemplary editor of The Sydney Morning Herald. She continued to build the reputation of the newspaper while at the same time guiding it through a period of enormous change. This is of little surprise as she has shown such skill and dedication throughout her 17 years at Fairfax. We wish her the very best for her future."

Fairfax reporters took to Twitter to express their sadness about the loss of the two editors.

The Herald's education editor Andrew Stevenson wrote: "Behold #Fairfax, the editor-less paper. Next sail the rudderless ship."

The SMH's crime editor Lisa Davies described an emotional newsroom.

"Tears in the newsroom. Garry Linnell, recently appointed editorial director, also appears v emotional as he pays tribute to Amanda and Peter."

"Very sad to hear of @AWilsonSMH and Peter Fray's departure from @smh. I enjoyed working under both editors," the Herald's court reporter Louise Hall tweeted.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/media-shakeup-rolls-on-three--fairfax-editors-quit-in-one-day-20120625-20xlj.html

A Simple Human

25th June 2012, 17:19

Greek finance minister resigns, crisis deepens (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/25/us-greece-idUSBRE85M0AW20120625) (Reuters)

Greek finance minister resigns, crisis deepens
By Harry Papachristou and Karolina Tagaris | June 25, 2012

Greece's new finance minister resigned because of ill health on Monday, throwing the government's drive to soften the terms of an international bailout into confusion days before a European summit.

Vassilis Rapanos, 64, chairman of the National Bank of Greece, was rushed to hospital on Friday, before he could be sworn in, complaining of abdominal pain, nausea and dizziness. Greek media said he had a history of ill-health.

The office of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who himself only took office last Wednesday following a June 17 election, said Rapanos had sent a letter of resignation because of his health problems and it had been accepted.

Samaras himself has only just emerged from hospital after undergoing eye surgery to repair a damaged retina. Both he and Rapanos had already said they would not be able to attend the June 28-29 European summit.

It was a worryingly chaotic start for the new government, formed after the second election in a month, which faces a rocky road in responding to huge domestic opposition to a harsh international bailout in the face of steadfast European opposition to any watering down of its terms.

Only hours before Rapanos's resignation, a hospital bulletin said he would be discharged on Tuesday. He had undergone a gastroscopy and colonoscopy, an official at the Hygeia Hospital told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The tests "showed everything is completely normal", it said.

According to a source from one of the three parties in the new coalition government, Rapanos had been under heavy pressure from his family to turn down the stressful job because of his health problems.

Earlier on Monday the three party leaders had announced a trans-Atlantic roadshow to try to persuade skeptical lenders to give them more time to repay the country's massive debt.

TROIKA VISIT POSTPONED

The medical problems of Samaras and Rapanos had also forced a postponement of the first meeting between the new government and Greece's "troika" of international lenders, originally slated for Monday.

Samaras's government, an unlikely alliance of right and left that emerged from the June 17 election, has promised angry Greeks it will soften the punishing terms of a bailout saving them from bankruptcy in exchange for deep economic pain.

But euro zone paymaster Germany has strongly rejected major concessions.

Berlin signaled on Monday that Europe would wait for the troika's report on Greece before taking any decisions on how to make adjustments to the bailout package to compensate for weeks of political paralysis and a deeper than expected recession.

A new date for the troika visit has not been set.

Samaras, 61, emerged from hospital on Monday with a bandage over one eye. He was under orders not to fly or make the long road trip to Brussels, doctors said.

Speaking to Mega TV earlier, government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou had said Rapanos had told Samaras on Friday, after being offered the job, that he had a "chronic situation" that he had learned to live with and that it would not effect his ability to do the demanding and stressful job.

Kedikoglou later said the government was not expected to name a replacement for Rapanos before Tuesday.

The government said Samaras and the leaders of his two coalition allies - the Socialist PASOK and smaller Democratic Left - would take their case for renegotiating the bailout conditions to Europe and the United States as soon as the prime minister was well enough.

($1 = 0.7977 euros)

(Additional reporting by Lefteris Papadimas, George Georgiopoulos and Tatiana Fragou; Writing by Barry Moody)
End

Apparently Vassilis Rapanos has a history of ill-health (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/25/greece-rapanos-idUSA8E8HF01P20120625). So make of this story what you will.

Sabrina

25th June 2012, 17:25

For the record, a lot of excitement about mass arrests and plans for a global government via Drake. We seem to be in the same old 3D world as of Monday afternoon GMT - but who knows what excitement's unfolding behind the scenes :)...

http://the2012scenario.com/2012/06/preparing-for-the-mass-arrests/#more-130095

Preparing for the Mass Arrests
2012 JUNE 24
Posted by Steve Beckow

Lady Dragon is working with Geoffrey West of Cosmic Vision News (listen past the 33:00 minute mark of Drake’s broadcast below) to cover the mass arrests if they begin today (Monday). The presence of troops in St. Louis and the attempt to move Agenda 21 to world acceptance leads Drake to believe that the push may start today, although no one knows for sure.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.the2012scenario.com/Drake+Vital+News.mp3

You can help Geoff report this event by watching the Internet for news yourself and sending in news tips to the “Contact Us” form in the righthand column of the 2012 Scenario site. Suzanne will screen what comes in and forward it to Geoff. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to acknowledge your mailed-in tips.

An Hour with an Angel has been pre-recorded but may be augmented with a live Cosmic Vision News broadcast at BlogTalk Radio here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/inlight_radio

I have no idea whether the mainstream media will (1) cover them or (2) if they do, cover them from a truthful standpoint. If the mass arrests do begin today, chances are we’ll switch from regular news posting to coverage of them. All the 2012 Scenario editors have been invited to assist and invitations went out as well to other 2012-related editors on other blogsites, who have agreed to cooperate. Everything else may be put on hold while these events are in process. If they do occur.

I’d caution people not to judge President Obama if he has called troops out. He works for the Light and his action may have been designed to provide a reason for the beginning of the arrests.

You might be advised to lay in a moderate supply of cash (small bills) and a moderate supply of food and drink. But there is no cause for alarm or anxiety. The arrests have been planned for a very long time and the outcome is assured.

And, again, nothing at all may happen tomorrow. However, the presence of troops in St. Louis seems to suggest that it might.

and

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/
yesterday - 24 June
Drake on Global Voice Radio 6-24-12… Vital Updates… MP3s… Note: “Please Hold This Call and This Entire Situation in the Higher Light”

[UPDATE 1503 HST: Before I knew anything about all this, this morning I viewed this message from GaiaPortal; wow, does it harmonize with this] [UPDATE 1530 HST: Do try to keep an open mind regarding all of the information presented here. I cannot "agree" or "disagree" with many of the items discussed here, especially regarding current political figures, because I do not know about those things. There is a lot going on at this moment, energetically, on all levels. That's all I "get".] [UPDATE 1933 HST: Here is a very well written summary of this call by Nancy Detweiler.]
http://the2012scenario.com/2012/06/nancy-detweiler-drakes-weekend-update-on-mass-arrests-with-breaking-news/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nancy-detweiler-drakes-weekend-update-on-mass-arrests-with-breaking-news

As the title says, and I would agree, this show does include vital updates. Also, as the title says, I suggest that we all, “Please Hold this Call and this Entire Situation in the Higher Light.” Drake appears at about 6:40 of the show here (music has been removed).

Note that Drake has received “a report”, that is important, namely, that TPTW (The Powers That Were), are trying to bring in a One World Government (surprise, surprise). He is quite “upset” and definitely energized by what is going on.

Again, I encourage each of you to hold this call and hold this situation in the Higher Light, as you listen to the call, and remain free from fear. This is one of the best things that we can do for this planet, at this time (in my mind).

I’ve removed all the music (so if you want to hear that, go here).

MP3s were volume boosted and the music was removed. The mp3s below are already configured for upload to iPod, iPhone, MP3 player.

—————————————————————————

MP3s (each part, 30 min., 5 MB) (volume boosted)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6 (17 min.)
Complete show (without music) (2 hr. 47 min., 29 MB)

—————————————————————————

Links
Radio Show Links:
Global Voice Radio Network (NEW LOCATION): http://www.blogtalkradio.com/global-voice-radio-network
Current show (6-24-12): http://www.blogtalkradio.com/global-voice-2012-radio-network/2012/06/24/gvr–drakes-vital-weekend-update–sunday
GlobalVoice2012.us

Drake’s recommended sites:
http://americannationalmilitia.com/ (this is Drake’s home website; sign up and get auto email when green light is given)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/137466796377979/
http://wramsite.com/
Teri Hinkle’s website: http://restoredusa.blogspot.com

and here's Dragon Lady on it all as well:

http://www.ladydragon.com/news2012/25061201.html

Sabrina

25th June 2012, 17:39

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/debt-crisis-live/9353031/Debt-crisis-live.html

25 June

Debt crisis: live

Cyprus applies to Europe for a bail-out to protect its financial sector from exposure to Greece, as global markets tumble ahead of this week's EU summit.
(10.41 Fitch has downgraded Cyprus to junk, citing the increasing cost of rescuing its banks, which are heavily exposed to Greece).

• European shares slide ahead of EU summit
• Spain formally requests a bank bailout of up to €100bn
• Germany to Greece: stop asking for help and start cutting
• New Greek leader Samaras to miss key EU summit
• EU president Van Rompuy to unveil banking union plan
• Soros: Europe needs fund to buy Italian and Spanish bonds

and
13.08 On the same day that Spain has formally requested a rescue package for its banks, Reuters is now reporting that Moody's is to downgrade Spain's banks in the next hours. That follows a downgrade of Spain's sovereign rating by three notches on June 13.

full info. at link

Sabrina

25th June 2012, 17:50

Benjamin Fulford's latest on it all:

http://lucas2012infos.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/benjamin-fulford-full-update-it-has-become-impossible-for-the-cabal-to-hide-the-truth-they-are-being-defeated-25-june-2012/#more-17412

Benjamin Fulford – Full Update – It Has Become Impossible For The Cabal To Hide The Truth; They Are Being Defeated – 25 June 2012
Posted on June 25, 2012 by lucas2012infos

Last week the cabal controlled media in the West tried to pretend the Rio summit was a failure even though $513 billion was pledged by 100 nations to fight poverty and environmental destruction. It was a cabal failure because $513 billion that, in the past, would have been handed over to the rich by the poor is instead being given by middle income countries to the poorest countries. This is undeniable proof the international boycott of the war-mongering, mass murdering leaders of the United States and many European countries is intensifying. The cabalists are trying to pass the pain on to their own slave people and this is why there is a “financial crisis” in the West.

The cornered cabalists are threatening, yet again, to start WW3, this time in Syria, but they know they will all be hunted down and killed if they seriously try to carry out their plan to murder 5 billion people. They have only one choice, and that is to appear in front of a truth and reconciliation committee and ask for forgiveness.

There are no deadlines being given because you cannot give a deadline to a dying monster, you just have to wait for nature to take its course.

In fact the Rockefellers, Rothschilds and other cabal families are even now negotiating with the White Dragon Society for a win-win solution to the ongoing stand-off. These negotiations have reached many agreements in principle.

Essentially, the Rothschilds and Rockefellers want to continue to be plutocrats carrying out massive investment projects even as they understand the days of secret, centralized control by a family run cabal must end. The question is whether the military and agency types are feeling generous enough to allow them amnesty in exchange for appearing before a truth and reconciliation committee.

In any case, there will be a meeting between a Rockefeller representative and a White Dragon representative in Asia this week that may clarify things somewhat.

There is a lot of talk of arrests this week, notably from “Drake,” however, our direct sources cannot confirm this. As David Icke pointed out, this writer has in the past quoted sources claiming deadlines that came and went with nothing happening. That is why we no longer quote specific deadlines.

The White Dragon Society itself has never put out a specific deadline. It merely tries to drain the financial swamp until all the swamp creatures are flushed out. However, since it is hard to know exactly how many creatures there are or how deep the swamp is, it would be a mistake to come up with specific dates. If some sort of mass action was planned, we would certainly not give the bad guys any advance warning.

However, we do have some interesting new disclosures to make. A Chinese communist government source revealed some interesting secret history that is useful as background information to the current “financial crisis.”

The information was corroborated by a CIA source.

The story is that when President Nixon formally recognized the Chinese communist government in the early 1970’s he gave them some of the gold that the Chinese Nationalist government had evacuated to the US in the 1930’s. In exchange, he asked the Chinese to help the US avenge their humiliation in Vietnam. The Chinese communists agreed and kept their promise by invading Vietnam in 1979. When they did that, the Soviet Union sent a large tank army into the desert region of China. Deng Xiaoping then ordered that army destroyed with a hydrogen bomb. After that, the Chinese withdrew from Vietnam to prevent the situation from escalating out of control.

This explains the sudden warming between China and the US in the 1970’s. It also explains the difference of opinion between the Nationalist government in Taiwan and the mainland Chinese government over the rights to some of the historical gold.

However, both sides agree, as do 150 nations, that the historical treasures of the world should be used to back a new financial system that will strive to end poverty and stop environmental destruction. Even the British Royal family and the British Commonwealth are on board now.

The remaining cabal controlled countries, mainly Western Europe and the US, however, are still fighting tooth and nail to prevent this from happening.

Last week this writer, at the request of the White Dragon Society and the Red and Blue went to visit Father William Currie, Dean emeritus of the Jesuit Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. This writer first met Father Currie more than 30 years ago when he studied at Sophia. Father Currie is a long term colleague of Jesuit “Black Pope” Adolfo Nicholas. Father Currie was asked to get Vatican help to release 7000 trillion yen that are sitting frozen in the accounts of the Bank of Japan.

He was told that Catholic charities could distribute those funds in proportion to the amount of Catholics in the world. That would have meant 10 million yen each (about $120,000) for every Catholic man, woman and child on earth.

He was also told and shown documents proving that 2 billion Asians had a belief system compatible with Christianity and were offering an alliance with the Catholic Church to fight poverty and end environmental destruction.

He refused point blank to even pass on the evidence or request to his colleagues. This made it very clear to this writer that the Catholic Church top hierarchy is more interested in creating a centrally controlled global fascist empire than it is in helping the poor and preserving the environment.

In fact, if you think about it, the Catholic Church, spiritual and temporal heirs to the Roman Empire, murdered Jesus Christ. They then publicly displayed, in effigy, his tortured and murdered body as a warning to other slaves. The last thing the Catholic Church wants is for the Messiah to return because the first thing Christ would do if he returned would be to denounce and then forgive his murderers.

Father Currie was then told that Adolfo Nicholas would become Peter the Roman, the last pope. Even if Catholic hierarchy tries to weasel out of their destiny by appointing someone else, whoever they appoint will be the last pope.

This does not mean that the Christian faith and God that exists in the hearts of most Catholics will end. It merely means that the Satanic gangsters at the top of the church hierarchy, who were never Christian even from the founding days of Christianity, will finally face the wrath of the true creator.

Nor does this mean the White Dragon Society is advocating the destruction of Rome and all its historical treasures as is mentioned in the prophecy of Peter the Roman. It merely means that if the gangsters holding up inside the Vatican (especially the Vatican bank) do not give up, events will escalate inevitably towards their doom.

In a related development, the recently arrested fugitives from the Aum Shinrikyo cult that was responsible for releasing deadly Sarin gas into the Tokyo subway system have fingered Kim Jong Il as the mastermind behind that attack. The trail from Kim Jong Il leads to the Satanic P2 lodge that controls the Vatican.
The wife of Japanese power broker Ichiro Ozawa is also giving testimony that points towards the P2 as being the ultimate source of the order to set off a nuclear and tsunami terror attack against Japan on March 11, 2011.

A recent attempt to poison this writer with a heart attack inducing drug has been detected. The Satanists need to understand the days when they could murder, bribe and lie their way out of trouble have ended. Humanity as a whole will now be motivated by friendship and love, not by terror.

www.benjaminfulford.net link to original article

danceblackcatdance

25th June 2012, 18:08

thx for all the updates :).. all feels like the biggest crazyass sci-fi movie of all time taking place in slo mo...

Sabrina

25th June 2012, 18:21

http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/kuwait-cabinet-resigns-local-tv-2012-06-25-1.464526

Kuwait cabinet resigns
By AFP
Published Monday, June 25, 2012

The Kuwaiti cabinet submitted its resignation to the oil-rich Gulf state's ruler on Monday, days after the top court nullified legislative elections, the private Al-Rai television channel reported.

The cabinet was formed just over four months ago following a February parliamentary election in which the opposition scored an impressive victory, achieving a majority.

It was the ninth cabinet to resign in the OPEC member since February 2006. Two of the cabinet's 16 ministers had been forced to quit over the past few weeks.

Sabrina

25th June 2012, 18:28

Fire River Gold Corp. Accepts Resignations of Senior Management and Board Members
PR Newswire

VANCOUVER, June 25, 2012

VANCOUVER, June 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Fire River Gold Corp. [TSXV: FAU | OTCQX: FVGCF | FSE: FWR] (the "Company") today announced that it has accepted the resignations of the following individuals, effective immediately: Richard Goodwin, President and director, Timothy Smith, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and Board members, Linda Holmes and C. Douglas Lang.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.lloydslist.com/ll/sector/tankers/article401530.ece

BP chartering manager resigns after corruption claims

Monday 25 June 2012,

BP GLOBAL chartering manager Lars Dencker Nielsen has resigned after being accused of corruption.A BP spokesperson confirmed reports that Mr Nielsen had stepped down but refused to make any further comment, saying that the chartering manager’s resignation was “a personal decision.

Sabrina

25th June 2012, 18:49

CNBC CNBC: we are slaves to the central banks

q1KnJbBJTE0

6 sec: “Do we all work for Central Bankers? Is this Global Governance at last? Is it One World.. with the Central Bankers in charge?”
1 min: “To answer your question: We are absolutely slaves to Central Banks”
1 min 16sec: “Markets are driven by policy now, they’re not driven by market forces”
1 min 26 sec: “Fiat currency that’s continually watered down… so the markets go up and we feel good about it”
2min 25 sec: “We are basically beholden to Central Bankers”
2min 30sec: “…admits (Federal Reserve) are debasing currency and borrowing our way to false prosperity”
2min 48sec: “Every Central Bank in the world has to devalue their currency”
3min 28sec: “Free markets will fight back and ultimately they’ll win”

A Simple Human

25th June 2012, 22:09

13.08 On the same day that Spain has formally requested a rescue package for its banks, Reuters is now reporting that Moody's is to downgrade Spain's banks in the next hours. That follows a downgrade of Spain's sovereign rating by three notches on June 13.

Moody's downgrades Spanish banks (http://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-downgrades-Spanish-banks--PR_249316) (Moody's)

Moody's downgrades Spanish banks
Global Credit Research | June 25, 2012

Moody's Investors Service has today downgraded by one to four notches the long-term debt and deposit ratings for 28 Spanish banks and two issuer ratings.

Today's actions follow the weakening of the Spanish government's creditworthiness, as captured by Moody's downgrade of Spain's government bond ratings to Baa3 from A3 on 13 June 2012, and the initiation of a review for further downgrade. For more details on the rationale for the sovereign downgrade, please refer to the press release (http://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-downgrades-Spains-government-bond-rating-to-Baa3-from-A3--PR_248236).

Moody's adds that today's downgrades of the long-term debt and deposit ratings also reflect the lowering of most of these banks' standalone credit assessments.

The debt and deposit ratings declined by one notch for three banks, by two notches for 11 banks, by three notches for ten banks and by four notches for six banks. The short-term ratings for 19 banks have also been downgraded between one and two notches, triggered by the long-term ratings changes.

Today's actions reflect, to various degrees across these banks, two main drivers:

(i) Moody's assessment of the reduced creditworthiness of the Spanish sovereign, which not only affects the government's ability to support the banks, but also weighs on banks' standalone credit profiles, and

(ii) Moody's expectation that the banks' exposures to commercial real estate (CRE) will likely cause higher losses, which might increase the likelihood that these banks will require external support.

This notwithstanding, Moody's views positively the broad based support measures being introduced by the Spanish government to support the Spanish banking system as a whole. Moody's will assess the impact of the upcoming recapitalization on banks' creditworthiness and bondholders once the final amount, timing and form of funds flowing to each individual bank are known.

The ratings of both Banco Santander and Santander Consumer Finance are one notch higher than the sovereign's rating, due to the high degree of geographical diversification of their balance sheet and income sources, and a manageable level of direct exposure to Spanish sovereign debt relative to their Tier 1 capital, including under stress scenarios. All the rest of the affected banks' standalone ratings are now at or below Spain's Baa3 rating.

In addition, Moody's has also downgraded (i) the ratings for senior subordinated debt and hybrid instruments of affected entities; (ii) all rated government-backed debt issuances from Spanish banks; and (iii) the long-term debt ratings of Instituto de Credito Oficial (ICO), which are based on an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee from the Spanish Government.

Please click this link http://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_143393 for the list of Affected Credit Ratings. This list is an integral part of this press release and identifies each affected issuer. For additional information on bank ratings, please refer to the webpage containing Moody's related announcements: http://www.moodys.com/bankratings2012.

Sabrina

26th June 2012, 10:21

https://jhaines6.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/soros-europe-has-3-days-to-avoid-a-fiasco-that-could-turn-fatal/

SOROS: Europe Has 3 Days To Avoid A Fiasco That Could Turn Fatal
Posted on June 25

It seems Soros is giving us a timeline here, as well. The crisis is now very public.

Joe Weisenthal
Source: Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/soros-we-have-three-days-2012-6#ixzz1yoJYGjls
SOROS: Europe Has 3 Days To Avoid A Fiasco That Could Turn Fatal
story at link above

As we wrote about last night, investor George Soros is out with a new proposal on how to fix the Eurozone crisis.

The basic idea is: A new “debt redemption fund” would be launched, which would have the ability to buy up sovereign debt funding itself via ECB backed Treasuries with the safest risk weighting. In exchange for countries being able to fund itself via that fund, they would have to agree to various structural reforms. Any failure to deliver on reforms would get a penalty, but not a fatal one. Eventually after all the reforms were made, a more complete fiscal union/Eurobonds scheme could be enacted.

Today he’s done a big interview with Bloomberg TV promoting the idea.

His most stark warning: If Europe doesn’t solve anything at its summit over the next three days, Europe could be left with a fiasco that could be fatal, because Greece might leave the Eurozone without a major firewall being in place.

Anyway, the tension building up to this week’s EU summit is pretty intense, and Soros has just the stakes. This will be the theme of the week.

For more on how Soros plans to fix the Eurozone, see here >

Related articles at main jhaines link above.

Germany must step up to save eurozone, George Soros says (guardian.co.uk)
Soros pushes EU to start joint debt fund or risk summit fiasco (ekathimerini.com)
BBC News – George Soros says three months to save the euro (2012indyinfo.com)

and Reuters today on the forthcoming EU Summit:

The two-day summit in Brussels on June 28-29 will be the 20th time EU leaders have met to try to resolve a crisis that has spread across Europe since it began in Greece in early 2010.

A fifth euro zone country turned to Brussels for emergency funding on Monday when Cyprus announced it was seeking a lifeline for its banks and its budget, hours after Spain submitted a formal request to bail out its banks.

"With EM (emerging market) risks still subject to global/European market developments, investors will likely remain reluctant to make strong directional calls." said Barclays Capital analysts in a research note, adding that they would stay long in U.S. dollars, especially against European currencies.

SPAIN CONTAGION FEARED (that word again...:) )

Spain, which has asked Brussels for up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion), is likely to pay its highest short-term borrowing rates in over six months on Tuesday as it sells more short-term debt.

Moody's Investors Service late on Monday cut the long-term debt and deposit ratings for 28 Spanish banks and two issuer ratings, following a downgrade to the sovereign rating to just above junk status earlier this month.

The main driver behind the markets' pessimistic view was Germany's persistent resistance to issue common euro zone bonds to underpin the zone's single currency, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday said sharing debt liability within the 17-nation euro area would be "economically wrong and counterproductive".

Investors also were feeling jittery about how Italy, the euro zone's third-largest economy, would finance its huge public debts. Rome plans to sell zero-coupon and inflation-linked bonds on Tuesday and medium- and longer-term bonds on Thursday.

Greece remained a drag on markets, with its new government calling for the renegotiation of the terms of its 130 billion euro bailout, which is keeping the country afloat at a heavy cost to the economy.

danceblackcatdance

26th June 2012, 11:13

Edit: sorry, got carried away :becky:

Alie

26th June 2012, 16:19

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303640804577490453901955204.html

"On CNBC & in WS Journal today there were the headlines about NEWS CORP SPLITTING into TWO publicly traded companies, separating its publishing assets from its entertainment businesses ...

A final decision on the split hasn't been made. News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch has previously opposed such a move, which has been discussed internally for several years, say people familiar with the situation. Mr. Murdoch has recently warmed to the idea, said one person familiar with the situation."

IS THERE SOMETHING MORE BEHIND THIS?

Sabrina

26th June 2012, 18:30

26 JUne 6.31 BST UK TIME

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE THEN TODAY??

http://news.sky.com/story/952931/fraud-ring-in-hacking-attack-on-60-banks

Fraud Ring In Hacking Attack On 60 Banks

Some 60m euro is stolen from bank accounts in a massive cyber raid, after fraudsters raid dozens of banks around the world.

By Pete Norman, Sky News Online
Sixty million euro has been stolen from bank accounts in a massive cyber bank raid after fraudsters raided dozens of financial institutions around the world.

According to a joint report by software security firm McAfee and Guardian Analytics, more than 60 firms have suffered from what it has called an "insider level of understanding".

"The fraudsters' objective in these attacks is to siphon large amounts from high balance accounts, hence the name chosen for this research - Operation High Roller," the report said.

"If all of the attempted fraud campaigns were as successful as the Netherlands example we describe in this report, the total attempted fraud could be as high as 2bn (£1.6bn)."

The automated malicious software programme was discovered to use servers to process thousands of attempted thefts from both commercial firms and private individuals.

The stolen money was then sent to so-called mule accounts in caches of a few hundreds and 100,000 euro (£80,000) at a time.

Credit unions, large multinational banks and regional banks have all been attacked.

Sky News defence and security editor Sam Kiley said: "It does include British financial institutions and has jumped over to North America and South America.

"What they have done differently from routine attacks is that they have got into the bank servers and constructed software that is automated.

"It can get around some of the mechanisms that alert the banking system to abnormal activity."

The details of the global fraud come just a day after the MI5 boss warned of the new cyber security threat to UK business.

McAfee researchers have been able to track the global fraud, which still continues, across countries and continents.

"They have identified 60 different servers, many of them in Russia, and they have identified one alone that has been used to steal 60m euro," Kiley said.

"There are dozens of servers still grinding away at this fraud – in effect stealing money."

and

http://investmentwatchblog.com/breaking-alert-huge-worldwide-cyber-bank-raid-ongoing-confirmed-e60m-taken-by-1-server-estimated-e2-billion-taken-by-another-59-servers/#.T-n8rpjqpIB

BREAKING ALERT: Huge Worldwide Cyber Bank Raid Ongoing, Confirmed €60M Taken By 1 Server, Estimated €2 Billion Taken By Another 59 Servers…This Is Huge!!

Breaking on Sky just now…..
Momma coop further down has link. Also check sky news twitter feed..

Cyber Raid..

McAfee Virus researchers have uncovered a series of attacks on financial services industry on high balance accounts, some transfers of over 100,000 Euros have been reported…….

Over 60 million euros stolen so far from Dutch, Italian and Germany banks……

Some guy talking about it before saying its China, possibly geeks in a warehouse he said, also said that the west, UK and US on the offensive…

Is this Cyber Robbery or Cyber War…

UPDATE:

Guy on sky news again….

They have attacked UK and US , over 60 servers around world attacking banks, attacks are ONGOING still, €60m confirmed from 1 server, they estimate over €2 billion from other servers.

This is Huge and explains what happed to RBS..[googlevid]

http://news.sky.com/templates/watch-live

http://www.breakingnews.com/

There is a blip about it here. you have to scroll down a bit

also here: http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/26/3118002/mcafee-guardian-analytics-cyber-attacks-banking-systems-europe

“The majority of attacks appear to have taken place across European banking systems, but McAfee warns that it has found evidence of attacks at Latin American and North American financial institutions too. The company is warning that 60 servers have been processing thousands of attempted thefts from high-value accounts over a period of months, resulting in attempts to steal at least €60 million (US$78 million). McAfee says that if all the attempted fraud attacks were successful then the total attempted fraud could be as high as €2 billion ($2.49 billion).”

Sabrina

26th June 2012, 18:37

Busy news day today. This is covered on the Avalon Drake thread. Whether you follow him or not, for the record this went out as a Facebook announcement this afternoon (well my UK time) and includes a White House announcement.

https://www.facebook.com/events/354417017962902/

Drake has called a full state of emergency and readiness.

Militia's are all on full alert!!!!

This is NOT...repeat NOT the Green light just yet.

This is the cabal's last gasp effort to try to take over and take our guns...please be prepared to stop that if need be. We will be posting VERY IMPORTANT UPDATES in the coming hours and days....please allow us to post by refraining from unrelated posts on the GV2012 page.

http://nesaranews.blogspot.com/2012/06/obama-declares-national-emergency.html

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/06/25/letter-russian-highly-enriched-uranium

http://joemiller.us/2012/06/last-weeks-rio20-conference-about-shackling-the-planet-under-a-global-government/

Avalon thread on it here (no. 2400 onwards):

http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?43793-Drake-Updates-clarifications-and-more/page120

What do US based Avalonians think about the White House announcement??

Sabrina

26th June 2012, 19:32

More on the story via AFP French Press Agency in the last 2 hours - what's the story behind the story eh? :)

Cyber attacks hit global banks for $80 mn: study

A wave of cyber attacks has likely stolen at least $80 million from bank accounts in Europe, the United States and elsewhere, a security report said Tuesday.

The joint report by Guardian Analytics and McAfee said "Operation High Roller" was led by criminals attacking cloud-based servers in a global fraud campaign.

The report from the two US firms said the attacks tried to steal between $75 million and $2.5 billion (60 million to two billion euros) from at least 60 banks worldwide.

The ring used "sophisticated" techniques including automation and targeted high-value accounts in Europe before moving to Latin America and the United States, it said.

"This is a serious new threat that is actively targeting American financial institutions," a statement from Guardian Analytics said.

"To the best of our knowledge the scheme has already netted nearly $80 million worldwide, and it could be much higher."
The report offers insight into hacking into banks, which is often not disclosed by financial institutions.
"As this research study goes to press, we are working actively with international law enforcement organizations to shut down these attacks," the report said.

In the attacks uncovered earlier this year, the criminals "attempted transfers to mule business accounts as high as 100,000 euros," the report said.
"Where Europe has been the primary target for this and other financial fraud rings in the past, our research found the thefts spreading outside Europe, including the United States and Colombia."

In the United States, "victims were all companies with commercial accounts with a minimum balance of several million dollars."

In most cases, the victims were found through online reconnaissance and "spear phishing," which uses a fake email to get an account holder's login details and password.

The first attacks affected "a popular bank in Italy and its consumer and business accounts" and used SpyEye and Zeus malware to transfer funds to a "mule account" or pre-paid debit card where the thief could retrieve the funds quickly and anonymously.

But later attacks showed increased automation and sophistication, in some cases taking over the victim's account without an attacker's active participation. In some cases, the criminals were able to bypass smartcard readers which offer extra authentication used in many European banks.

"This ring adds many breakthroughs: bypasses for physical 'chip and pin' authentication, automated mule account databases, server-based fraudulent transactions," the report said.

It said the attacks hit "every class of financial institution: credit union, large global bank, and regional bank."
In some attacks, transactions were routed through a server in California, but the researchers said they "found evidence of the fraudster logging in from Moscow, Russia, to manipulate some of the transactions."

Sabrina

26th June 2012, 20:16

Could be they need to distance some of the holdings from the hacking scandals - or there's more as you say - it's an ALice in Wonderland world at the moment... :)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303640804577490453901955204.html

"On CNBC & in WS Journal today there were the headlines about NEWS CORP SPLITTING into TWO publicly traded companies, separating its publishing assets from its entertainment businesses ...

A final decision on the split hasn't been made. News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch has previously opposed such a move, which has been discussed internally for several years, say people familiar with the situation. Mr. Murdoch has recently warmed to the idea, said one person familiar with the situation."

IS THERE SOMETHING MORE BEHIND THIS?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/9357699/News-Corp-split-could-be-part-of-bigger-masterplan.html

News Corp split could be part of bigger masterplan
The idea of splitting News Corporation’s newspaper interests from its television ones is not a new one, but never has it had so much traction with the boss.

Rupert Murdoch has spent decades assembling disparate newspaper, book, television and film businesses under the News Corp umbrella, starting with the Adelaide Advertiser, an Australian regional paper he inherited from his father some 60 years ago.

He has clung to his newspaper assets ever since, with a terrier-like tenacity, arguably driven as much by his emotional ties to newsprint and the influence it wields as his appetite for making money.

This dogged attachment makes the revelation that News Corp may split its newspaper and book publishing interests from its television ones, in two listed companies, all the more historic.

Over the years there have been numerous calls by News Corp shareholders for the business to sell off its newspapers, particularly those in Britain where Mr Murdoch’s assets include The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun. That way, News Corp could focus on its faster-growing entertainment businesses such as America’s Fox television network and 20th Century Fox film studios, they claimed. It would also attract new shareholders.

“There are lots of investors who wouldn’t buy News Corp stock because of its publishing assets,” explains David Joyce, an analyst at Miller Tabak & Co in New York.

A split would also help to prevent the contagion at News Corp’s newspaper business from spreading to other parts of the group.

The scandals over phone hacking and payments to police by News of the World journalists have trashed News Corp’s reputation in Britain, but it is their threat to wreak havoc on the other side of the Atlantic that has investors really worried. The media business is the subject of investigations by both the US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which might take years to reach their conclusions but could have severe consequences.
News Corp investors have stepped up pressure on the company to spin off its newspaper assets as fast as possible, to cut out the cancer of the hacking scandal before it gets any worse.

Of course, distancing News Corp’s television assets from its damaged newspapers could prove useful if the DoJ and FBI investigations find against Mr Murdoch’s son James, News Corp’s deputy chief operating officer , who was in charge of News International at the time of the hacking investigation. It could also dampen some of the corporate governance concerns clouding News Corp’s long-held ambition to take full control of BSkyB, the pay-TV operator in which it holds a 39pc stake.

However, these are not the only likely motivations behind Mr Murdoch’s apparent change of tack. Splitting News Corp into two separate companies may well be the first step in a more drastic plan.

The Murdochs are expected to take 40pc of the voting stock in each of the listed companies, reflecting their current level of control of the entire News Corp empire, but sources do not expect their shareholdings to remain at this level for long. Instead, Mr Murdoch, recognising the diminishing powers of his newspapers to influence the political landscape, could sell the family’s interests in the News Corp publishing business and invest those funds in the television and film business instead. The move would hand his family a majority stake in News Corp, priming it to take the company private in a leveraged buy-out.

Shaking off those pesky shareholders would allow Mr Murdoch to return to running the company as he sees fit and to reinstate his long-held plan for James to succeed him.

True, it sounds a bit like a game of chess. But if history shows one thing it is that Mr Murdoch always has his eye on the next move. And if shows another, it is that he wants to be able to pass News Corp on to his children – just as his father handed the Adelaide Advertiser to him – and to have the sprawling media empire he has pieced together over a lifetime remain synonymous with the Murdoch name.

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Edit: sorry, got carried away :becky:

You were popping the champagne cork as the arrests were announced - admit it... oh in one of the other dimensions :)...

Sabrina

27th June 2012, 09:46

Not an arrest but a coup d'etat according to Wilfred Hartnagel's site:

Asuncion, Paraguay, 26.06.2012 03:00h

http://infoholix.net/blog/

Ex bishop Fernando Lugo, democratically elected president of Paraguay, was impeached on Friday 22.6.12 and ousted two hours later at 18:30h.

This is a coup d'état directed by the USA supported by Germany, UK and Spain.

The constitution of Paraguay states that an impeached president must be given 18 days to prepare his defence for an impeachment hearing at the senate. Hence the constitution was violated.

The foreign ministers of most South American states left Rio when they heard about the impeachment and headed for Asuncion. They unanimously declared that this is a coup, a new form of institutional coup. By Saturday morning all South American governments, including the right wing government of Chile, had declared that this is a coup and they will not recognize this new government. They withdrew their ambassadors.

In contrast the USA used its Canadian poodle to declare that the new government is legitimate. Spain made a similar statement in Pentagonese - the rest of Europe remains silent as of tonight. Excluded from the "rest of Europe" is Germany of course, their minister for development, Dirk Niebel, arrived in Asuncion hours before the impeachment was announced. He was the first to shake hands with the new dictator, de facto president Federico Franco, and declared that the impeachment was a "normal process in compliance with the constitution". He offered economic assistance to the full ability of Germany. (meaning that the arms deals that Lugo rejected can now be signed).

We can learn from this that Angela Merkel has a crystal ball that tells when "economic opportunities arise", it can even predict that the highest court of Paraguay will rule a day later that the constitution can be suspended in an emergency situation that threatens the security of the country. Hence Dirk Niebel used the same words in interviews given to the media (abc.com.py, ultimahora.com.py, etc) that the high court would use a day later.
None of this was reported in Germany or anywhere in Europe - but well covered throughout South America.

Should this ever become an issue in Germany I'm positive Merkel will blame the Paraguayans for not sticking to the protocol as instructed: first you make the court ruling, then you impeach. This will satisfy the informational needs of the German public - and of the rest of Europe.

Before we go into details of why and how the culprits have staged this coup let's look at some background info about Paraguay:

a. some 400.000 sqkm in size, about 10% larger than Germany. The Paraguay river splits the country into a populated east (40%) and an unpopulated west, the Chaco (60%).

b. population was 6 million in 2008 when president Lugo got elected. Only about 150.000 live in the Chaco. The largest colony there are the Menonites, a pacifistic religious group originating from Germany, some 30.000 settled there in the 1930s. They farm some 500.000 hectares, all organically for religious believes. They enjoy complete autonomy - no taxes, military service or any kind of restrictions. I have based my model for Permaculture Paraguay, a sustainable society to be created, http://infoholix.net/category.php?mId=111 on their form of autonomy.

c. a further 2 million lived in exile in Argentina, Spain and USA. How many of these have returned since is unknown.

d. Paraguay gained its independence from Spain in 1811. The war against the trialliance of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay followed 1865-70. This reduced the population to one third but Paraguay remained independent. Repopulation added a broad mix of nationalities over the next century. Germans founded Oberneuland, Nuevo Germania, Hagenau, Brits Nuevo Londres, Italians Nuevo Italia, Japanese La Colmena, .... and many more.

Noteworthy is the fact that those Germans running away from Hitler came in the thirties and the wanted Nazies that could not be found anywhere arrived after WWII.

These Europeans and Asians add up to about one million people, the indigenous Guarani are 5 million. Guarani is also the official language and the name of the currency. Guarani means human in Guarani.

e. The dictator Alfredo Stroesser (Austrian origin) and his Colorado party ruled Paraguay 'til 1989. His Colorado party continued to rule 'til 2008 extending the dictatorship to 61 years, the longest in South America.
For ineffable reasons Paraguayans are proud of the fact that their dictatorship was the only one in South America not installed by the USA but supported by Germany.

f. A British style "first past the post" system ensured that 20% of votes are enough to obtain all seats. The remaining parties share the remaining 80%, the Radical Liberals are in second position with 15%.

In 2008 the Radical Liberals and eight further small parties nominated Fernando Lugo, known as the catholic bishop of the poor, as their mutual candidate. Lugo was elected president with 41%. All seats but two, however, were gained by Colorado as the smaller parties did not put up a mutual candidate in constituencies, but each presented its own - a fairly brainless endeavor.

Lugo was inaugurated 15.8.2008 for a five year term. A second term is not permitted by the constitution.

g. On 5.9.2008 the first coup attempt was launched. A leaked document from the US embassy acknowledged the new government in detail. The army stayed loyal to Lugo and the coup was suffocated in a gentlemen like fashion. Vice president Federico Franco was supposed to become the new president, the very same Franco who is de facto president now. Two years later this document was published by Wikileaks, (note: in conjunction with US activities in Ecudor which enabled Correa, the democratically elected president of Ecuador, to squash the coup against him - a possible reason why Assange chose to apply for asylum there).

h. Economy: Py is the world's 4th largest producer of soy, Genetically Modified soy, controlled by Monsanto. Some 350 oligarchs produce it. They employ private militias amounting to about 20-25,000 men lead by mercenaries from US and UK but also South Americans trained by the School of the Americas in US. In comparison the Py army has 13,000 men and the Policia National 9,000. The Policia National did the dirty work under the dictatorship, the army is fairly clean - most unusual for South America.

i. An average farm has 2,000ha (5,000acres). Estancias start at 20,000ha. Traditionally oligarchs would have a few hundred hectares under fruit and vegetables, the rest is jungle.
Somewhere on that land live peasants growing their own, they provide the man-power for the oligarch's farming activity. Yields are roughly $200 - $500 per hectare. So oligarchs make plenty of cash and are rich in land. The price for a hectare ranges from $500 to $2,000 depending on location.

Now enter Monsanto and GM-soy. The yield is $6,000/ha and costs for mechanized farming are $3,000/ha, leaving $3,000 to the oligarch. Consequently the entire 20,000ha get put under soy - the fines for deforestation paid with a smile - the peasants are no longer needed and get removed.

Then you expand your growing area: spray your small neighbors with Monsonato's Round-up. It kills everything, Paraguayans call it "mata todo". Nothing will grow on this land now but Monsanto's soy. No fruit, no vegetable, no flower and no bee survives. Peasants become ill, very ill, - miscarriages and birth defects - they abandon their land or sell it cheaply to the oligarch. (soy-hectare now trading at $7,000)

These peasants are called the "sin terras", the landless. They fill the slums around Asuncion - some 100,000 or so. They elected Lugo who promissed to remedy the situation. (see listings under "Organics" on infoholix.net)

Under capitalistic principles this is all perfectly ok. The owner has the right to grow whatever generates the highest profit. He depreciates the land over 7 to 10 years, the soil is completely ruined by then, not even Monsanto's soy is viable then. So he needs to retain profits and buy more land - an infinite source. The ecological damage is collateral damage to be paid for by society.

j. Near Mariscal Estigarriba, in the Chaco, in reach of the borders to Bolivia and Argentina is a huge US military base - landing strip for the biggest planes and housing for 16,000 troops.(G W Bush owns 40,000ha next to it) Lugo refused to extend the military cooperation agreement and kicked all US troops out of Py.

Obama needs it now - he can't wait for the end of Lugo's term as president in August 2013.
Obama needs it now - that's the reason for the coup now.

The coup required the cooperation of all senators - those on the payroll of the US, Germany, Spain and UK - 39 out of 45 senators.

I shall detail what Obama needs this base so urgently for now and what the Europeans get out of it. I post updates on my blog: infoholix.net/blog.

On Tuesday: Mercosur meeting in Argentina.
On Wednesday: OAS meeting in Peru.

Lugo will attend both as the ligitimate president of Py. Franco is not invited.

Lugo has put up a website: paraguayresiste.com
- shows a funny video: cutting off power to TV Publica after Lugo made a surprise announcement on this public tv channel,
- the BBC reported 200 demonstrators: try to spot them among the thousands - don't know how many thousands - there are no official figures - I was there, felt like the same crowd that was at his inauguration which was reported as 250,000.

Sabrina

27th June 2012, 09:54

Rio+20: Lord Monckton Breaks Down the Rio Conference

I don't buy into Monckton's label of the Markists being behind it - IMO that's just a label for whoever is manipulating it all, but interesting info. on it all.

Kaulipapele on it:

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/wow-lord-christopher-monckton-on-rio20-a-mad-gig-the-cabals-attempts-to-bring-about-one-world-government-failed-the-game-is-up-video-and-mp3/

[UPDATE 2058 HST: For a bit more detailed look into this conference, including the lavish accommodations, see this Alex Jones interview of Lord Monckton, on site at the Rio-20. Thank you Kendall for sharing this!!]

Thanks so much to Ally for sending this to my attention. This video statement appears to be quite a big confirmation of some great news… that the attempts to bring about a “One World Government” at the Rio+20 conference have failed.

Yesterday, the Drake and company had mentioned “Agenda 21″, and the intent to create a “One World Government.” Then here’s what Ben started his article with today.

“Last week the cabal controlled media in the West tried to pretend the Rio summit was a failure even though $513 billion was pledged by 100 nations to fight poverty and environmental destruction. It was a cabal failure because $513 billion that, in the past, would have been handed over to the rich by the poor is instead being given by middle income countries to the poorest countries. This is undeniable proof the international boycott of the war-mongering, mass murdering leaders of the United States and many European countries is intensifying. The cabalists are trying to pass the pain on to their own slave people and this is why there is a “financial crisis” in the West.”

So now we have this video, from Liberty News Network, with Lord Christopher Monckton, chief policy advisor to the Science and Public Policy Institute and former science advisor to Margaret Thatcher, explaining, exactly that happened.

This is only a 10 minute video, so listen carefully and enjoy the message. I’ll throw in the highlights below. Just below the video is the accompanying text.

Note: “Pointy head” apparently is a term that means something like, “intellectual, especially in a self-important or impractical way.”

Click here to hear or download the MP3 of this video.

Highlights

0:55 Whole conference had “stink of death upon it”.
2:50 The real ambition [of Greenpeace] has nothing to do with the environment.
3:20 Had everything to do with destroying the economies of the West, from within.
4:15 From their [cabal's] point of view, conference was a failure.
4:30 The cabal [Kp's word] intentions were to allow the U.N. to become effectively a one world government (Al Gore, Jacques Chirac, et al, have been talking about it).
6:10 The original document (of Rio?) concluded that not climate change, but poverty was the main problem in the world.
7:15 The fact that poverty is considered number 1, focuses attention on bringing the world out of poverty.
8:00 Prosperity stabilizes the world population.
9:00 Our footprint on the world should not be too heavy.
9:26 But these concerns were not discussed at the conference, rather they were effectively talking about means of bringing freedom to an end worldwide.
9:37+ They lost. They lost big time… The game is up.
.

D3bH3_-dQVs

Sabrina

27th June 2012, 09:59

More on UK banking chaos:

Bank cancels corporate hospitality
(UKPA) – 2 hours ago 27 June

Royal Bank of Scotland has cancelled its corporate hospitality at Wimbledon from Wednesday as it continues to deal with the IT meltdown which left thousands of customers without access to cash.

The bank, which says it is finally getting on top of the crisis, said it would be "inappropriate" to continue providing the hospitality.
It also confirmed it had cancelled a one-day golf tournament at Gleneagles in Scotland that was due to feature golf legend Jack Nicklaus. Sponsorship of sporting events is unaffected, a spokeswoman said.

The beleaguered bank had already hosted clients for the first two days of the Wimbledon championships and had planned to do so for the rest of the fortnight.

The move came as Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King said bank bosses should be subject to a "detailed investigation" over the affair.

RBS successfully updated all but 1% of NatWest and RBS account balances on Monday night.
RBS Group has had less success sorting out the delays experienced by Ulster Bank customers, but it hopes to restore a full service for the start of next week.

The bank said in a statement: "Technical issues have caused considerable disruption to many of our retail and business customers, as well as customers of other banks. We have made significant progress in resolving the issues and are working around the clock to put things right for our customers.

"Under the circumstances, we felt it would be inappropriate to provide client hospitality at Wimbledon. Our people are focused on resuming normal service for our customers as soon as possible."

The bank declined to divulge how much money it had planned to spend on hospitality. RBS and NatWest have around 15 million accounts between them, but it is still unclear how many were affected by the disruption.
Copyright © 2012 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

and

Ireland 27 June

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0627/ulster-bank-payments.html

Next week before Ulster Bank payments are fixed

The Managing Director of Branch Banking at Ulster Bank, Jim Ryan, said the ATM system is now fully back in operation and work is continuing to clear a backlog of transaction delays.

Payments into and out of Ulster Bank accounts have been disrupted for a week now, with the bank blaming technical issues for the problems.

After the issue first arose the bank said the backlog of payments would be cleared by Monday of this week.
However, it later revised that saying the number of payments that needed to be processed was unprecedented.
Yesterday the bank confirmed that no customer, including those of other banks, would be left out of pocket as a result of the problems.
Mr Ryan said customers who are in need of money due to delays over last week's technical fault should visit their branches to make a claim.

Customers who are unable to get to their local branch through the usual methods can call their branch or 1800-205100 for assistance.
Meanwhile, Royal Bank of Scotland has cancelled its corporate hospitality at the Wimbledon tennis championship in London, saying it was "inappropriate" to host clients there while still dealing with the fallout of the severe computer glitch.

and

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/banking/9358252/RBS-computer-failure-caused-by-inexperienced-operative-in-India.html

RBS computer failure 'caused by inexperienced operative in India'
The computer glitch at the Royal Bank of Scotland which left millions of customers unable to access their accounts could have been caused by just one junior technician in India, it was suggested last night.
yeah right:)

The “inexperienced operative” accidentally wiped information during a routine software upgrade, it has been claimed.

The member of staff, who was working on the programme for the Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and Ulster Bank, is believed to have been based in Hyderabad, India.

According to technology website The Register, at least some of the team responsible for the error were recruited in India following redundancies in the department in the UK.

Unions have already blamed the fiasco on the decision to outsource much of the company’s IT jobs, as Indian staff are paid as little as £9,000, compared with £50,000 their British counterparts were paid.

Stephen Hester, chief executive of RBS, said that there was “no evidence” that outsourcing had caused the problems.

He said: “The IT centre in Edinburgh is our main centre, it is nothing to do with overseas. Things go wrong. Things go wrong in technology.

“We have to learn the lessons from what went wrong here and try to make then less likely to happen in the future.”

The error is understood to have occurred after a software update froze part of the banks’ computer systems last Wednesday, affecting 17 million customers.

Although the problem was resolved on Friday, it created a backlog of more than 100 million transactions that were not paid in or out of bank accounts as they should have been.

Deleted information then had to be painstakingly re-entered into the bank group’s computer system.
A source, who worked for RBS for “several years”, told the Register an “inexperienced operative” had made an error while performing the relatively routine task of backing out of an upgrade.

He said: “When they did the back-out, a major error was made. An inexperienced person cleared the whole queue ... they erased all the scheduling.”
RBS have not yet commented on the claims.

The bank has already promised customers will be reimbursed for the cost of fines or late payment fees incurred as a result of the delays. Banking experts said that the cost to RBS of dealing with the IT problems, including extra staff costs as well as the money to reimburse customers, is already likely to be between £50 million and £100 million.

Mr Hester has also admitted that the bonuses of senior members of RBS staff are likely to be reduced because of the incident.

He said: “All of us are judged in part by customer service, from me on downwards. And we should be.”

Earlier this year Mr Hester was forced to waive a share bonus worth £963,000 after a public outcry and political pressure.

The Financial Services Authority said: “We will expect RBS-NatWest to provide us with a complete account of the issues once this is fully resolved and to take any necessary steps to ensure that the risks of these problems occurring again are addressed.”

Sabrina

27th June 2012, 10:03

More on the Euro.

You have to be a subscriber to get economist Nouriel's latest article, but the headline says where he thinks it's going:

WHAT'S ON NOURIEL'S MIND
Who Will Exit First? Grexit, Fixit, Quitaly, Going Dutch or a German D-Euro?
By Nouriel Roubini
Jun 26, 2012 3:10:00 PM | Last Updated
There are increasing signs that other EZ member states could decide to cut and run, even before Greece does.

and

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/debt-crisis-live/9358201/Debt-crisis-live.html
full info. as it unfolds at the link

Debt crisis: live
Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande will meet in Paris today to try to square their differences on the debt crisis ahead of this week's summit, as Spain's prime minister said the country could not fund itself for a long time at current yields.

• Angela Merkel: no eurobonds for 'as long as I live'
• Rajoy: Spain cannot finance itself for long
• Spain mulls VAT hike in austerity push
• EU banking union plans 'a threat to London'
• Merkel and Hollande to meet in Paris
• Italy's 6-month debt costs near 3pc

Sabrina

27th June 2012, 10:15

More on the banks' cyber attack story from yesterday (bail outs... cyber attacks... follow the money I suppose :) )

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2012/06/bank_cyber_attack_under_formal.php

Bank cyber attack under formal investigation

Wednesday 27 June 2012 The Netherlands

An effort to electronically steal €35.6m from two Dutch banks is under formal investigation from the government's electronic crimes task force, Nos television reports.

An investigation published by internet security specialist McAfee and Guardian Analytics showed on Tuesday that cybercriminals had tried to syphon off cash from 60 financial institutions worldwide.

The two Dutch banks were not named. According to the NRC, spokesmen for ABN Amro, ING and Rabobank declined to confirm or deny the possibility they were involved. A spokesman for the Dutch banking association would only say banks are subject to many attempted hacks every year.

The McAfee report said some 5,000 Dutch business accounts were affected. The shift from consumer to business accounts allows fraudsters to transfer larger sums of money without hitting money laundering limits, the report said.

Cybercrime involving fake or stolen internet bank accounts and phishing cost society €35m last year, up from €10m on a year ago, the Dutch central bank said in May.

and

http://www.cbronline.com/news/mi5-chief-warns-of-cybercrime-threats-expert-reaction-270612

MI5 Chief warns of cybercrime threats: expert reaction

CBR rounds up expert reactions on MI5’s Director warning on cybercrime threats to businesses and governments.

Jonathan Evans, the director general of the security service, said in a speech that the organisation is fighting an "astonishing" level of cyber-attacks against the UK industry. He pointed out that one UK business has suffered £800m in losses from cyber attacks.

Evan's warning speech comes in the wake of Italian, German and Dutch banks being targeted in a €60m euro cyber bank heist.

Evans warned that internet vulnerabilities are being taken advantage of by criminals as well as states. He says that it is likely terrorist will use cyber vulnerabilities to attack infrastructures in the future.

CBR looks at expert reactions on the cybercrime warning from MI5.

David Harley, senior research fellow, ESET

MI5 is fairly typical of a security service in the Western World. It answers to the government, but doesn't have the same view of the world (or of security) as the government. Make no mistake: the Security Services and the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure was aware of and working against a wide variety of attacks long before cyber-terrorism and cyber-warfare became hot political issues, and long before UNIRAS/NISCC/CPNI became so publicly aligned with those elements of the private sector that are intermeshed with the public sector elements of the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI).

Governments, on the other hand, are driven not only by the need to respond appropriately (whatever 'appropriate' means), but the need to reassure the electorate that they're doing something, and most governments nowadays have acknowledged the need to maintain defences against cybercriminals and cyber-warriors of all flavours, as well as acknowledging more often that they are working proactively in cyber-espionage and cyber-sabotage, and all the other cyber-nuisances and cyber buzzwords. Also, there has been plenty of discussion about the precautions being taken to minimize the dangers posed by the Olympics.

Andy Kellett security principal analyst, Ovum

Generally malicious attacks focus on three levels: Nation state sponsored attacks are seen as targeted, well-resourced, and well-organised. Traditional financially-motivated cybercriminals continue to silently hoover up sensitive business, customer, and account information in order to make a profit. The third element is significantly different. It involves groups who are motivated by the prospect of publicity and are now organised to the extent that hacktivism is known to have stolen more data in the last year than the traditional models. All add to increased attack volumes and all continue to be more pervasive in their approaches. The need to ensure that the Olympics are fully protected at all levels of security is paramount. It also raises the profile of all forms of malware attack and the need to make sure that the time focused on building security defences has been well spent.

Ross Brewer, managing director and vice president of international markets at LogRhythm

The threat of terrorism is shifting from physical acts of violence to a more subtle, silent war that is fought from behind a computer screen. Cyber warfare is no longer a product of a Minority Report-esque era - and it seems that MI5 is now placing the issue directly under the microscope. Considering the discovery of the Flame malware, Google's warning to vulnerable users about state-sponsored attacks, and recent headlines around the ACAD/Medre.A virus, it is becoming clear that Governments and businesses must take urgent action to boost security and ensure that any vulnerabilities are addressed.

There are clear examples of how a cyber attack can lead to loss of information and financial repercussions for big businesses, but as this threat develops and becomes more sophisticated, the potential to compromise critical assets and cause real world damage grows exponentially. What's more, as our world becomes progressively more connected - with the internet controlling most aspects of daily life from cars, to traffic systems to cash machines and other infrastructure - the problem becomes more complex, vulnerabilities increase and urgent steps must be taken to ensure that security procedures are aligned

William Beer, Director at PwC information and cyber security practices

Businesses should be operating under the presumption that an attack is likely and be ready to respond. By building resilience into their incident response and crisis management capabilities, businesses can make themselves much better prepared in the event of an attack and minimise the potential fallout.

Cyber security is not only a technical issue, but a core business imperative. Faced with attackers who move quickly and unpredictably, organisations also need to be able to act and respond quickly and flexibly. Being prepared for a cyber attack is not just about having a good IT policy but good governance across the business. When attacked, businesses need to be able to rely on well thought through plans and respond assertively.

Frank Coggrave, general manager for Guidance Software

In the old days companies could hide in the herd with other companies and hope that the sick or weak (in security terms) would be picked off. Now the attackers are getting wiser and richer by focusing on the fatter, healthier companies. The herd doesn't work anymore, so you're on your own and have to make sure your security and processes work perfectly - not just better than the worst.

Paul Davis, director of Europe at FireEye

Recent news surrounding state-sponsored malware attacks serves to reinforce the notion that we have entered a new era of cyber threats. As evidenced by Jonathan Evans' latest speech and breaking news of financial losses at banks across Europe, cyber espionage is more prevalent than people realise - and it is time that governments and businesses take note. In most cases, the victim organisations perform damage control before the breach becomes public. That said, as attacks become more advanced and complex, it is very likely this type of activity will become more visible to the public - particularly as cybercriminals begin to target critical infrastructure and other systems that could have a greater impact on human lives. More worryingly, as these attacks become more high-profile, others could potentially learn from these techniques, making future attempts even more difficult to defend against.

Cyber attacks have become a new form of 'cold conflict', where nation states are able to affect each other through indirect means. This evolved threat landscape now means that any organisation, government or nation must urgently up the ante on pre-emptive security before it is too late. Over-reliance on traditional signature-based perimeter defences and heuristics means that too many are still lulled into a false sense of security - while woefully exposed to zero day, unknown attacks. Instead, more must be done to ensure continuous monitoring of all network activity so that attacks can be thwarted at an early enough stage to prevent any widespread damage.

Ash Patel, country manager for UK & Ireland, Stonesoft

I am glad to see the government has finally stood up and announced the real concerns around cyber-attacks. It is unfortunate that they have taken so long to speak up, however, I imagine it was more of a case of ensuring they had all the correct information before making any announcements. Given the complexity and rate at which cyber-attacks are growing, I'm grateful that there is at least one organisation that is making an effort to safeguard us, and all our personal and sensitive data, along with our Critical National Infrastructure.

Dr. Kevin Curran senior member of the IEEE and reader in Computer Science at the University of Ulster

The prevalence of cyber espionage is starting to suddenly become visible. Indeed, 2012 may become the year of cyber espionage. To date, we could only speculate but recent US admissions to involvement in previous malware bring it to the fore. Now companies know that it is not a matter of if but when rogue nations come looking for their data or to wreck havoc in their systems. It is incredibly difficult to estimate which countries are heavily conducting research into cyber war as it is not as simple as perhaps counting the size of their armies or weaponry.

Cyber espionage by governments is using increasingly clever methods and tools to attack systems and governments. Issues of national and worldwide safety are at risk here. The reason this risk exists is that the Internet offers little or no regulation, potentially huge audiences, anonymity of communication and a fast flow of information

Adam Kujawa, Malware Intelligence Analyst at Malwarebytes and former government security contractor

Cyber weapons have been in use for war-fighting for quite a while. I am sure there is a countless number of hidden highly-specialist malware currently either stealing information or sitting hidden deep in crucial government systems ready to deploy their particular payload. Cyber-attacks of this type are deeply advanced, and whilst resolute technological defenses can be erected, these responses are often reactive to a new exploit or flaw which has been discovered.

Social media is also increasingly a bain for government security, because it allows foreign governments to gather information about all public facing assets which might be involved in particular projects, targeting individuals who have access to internal networks. This is not hard using Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. This information can then be used to target that particular individual in a number of ways, all ultimately intending to use social engineering to sneak information stealing software into a secure area. Once in, malware can stay hidden for days, weeks, months or even years, stealing information and obfuscating itself, feeding back a detailed information picture to the controller.

modwiz

27th June 2012, 11:21

This Avalonian American thinks the EO is an attempt at hysteria making. Furthermore the language is focused on Russian assets and therefore should be of no, or little, consequence to the average American, IMO. Of course, any American who is part of a militia should be at some kind of readiness to mobilize these days. Their presence for stability in chaotic times is more important than many perceive.

About the Monckton video: Brilliant and uplifting. There are some nobility who not only have the best interests of all at heart and mind, but the mental and organizational gifts to see the vision of a better future come to being. He was a fine example of the Grail type of leadership that creates a form of governance that allows the best and brightest to share their gifts in common. Where integrity and the happiness of people are the rewards of a job well done.

A Simple Human

27th June 2012, 18:17

T-Mobile USA CEO Philipp Humm Suddenly Resigns (http://allthingsd.com/20120627/t-mobile-usas-ceo-philipp-humm-suddenly-resigns/?mod=atdtweet) (All Things D)

T-Mobile USA CEO Philipp Humm Suddenly Resigns
By Tricia Duryee | June 27, 2012

Philipp Humm, the CEO of T-Mobile USA, has suddenly resigned, according to the company.

Jim Alling, T-Mobile’s COO, will take over his duties while a search is under way.

In a statement, the company said that Humm is going to pursue a career outside of Deutsche Telekom, which owns the U.S. wireless carrier.

Humm will be able to rejoin his family, which stayed back in Europe, when he took the job two years ago.

In a statement, Deutsche Telekom’s Rene Obermann said: “Philipp Humm has given the company some important initiatives over the past years: Under his leadership the cost situation at T-Mobile USA has vastly improved and he led the company during a difficult phase regarding the planned merger with AT&T.”

Indeed, Humm joined the company during a rough time, overseeing what would have been one of the biggest telecom mergers in U.S. history — if the U.S. government hadn’t blocked it. More recently, he conceded in an interview with AllThingsD that “There is no second AT&T deal around.”

Now, as an independent company, the fourth-largest wireless provider is focused on turning itself around, by slowing the number of customer defections and rolling out a new 3G network that can support iPhones sold by AT&T.
End

T-Mobile USA CEO Philipp Humm Resigns (http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/258417/tmobile_usa_ceo_philipp_humm_resigns.html) (PC World)

T-Mobile USA CEO Philipp Humm Resigns
By Stephen Lawson, IDG News | June 27, 2012

Philipp Humm has resigned as CEO of T-Mobile US, the fourth-largest U.S. mobile operator, and will be replaced by Chief Operating Officer Jim Alling on an interim basis.

Humm will leave T-Mobile USA as well as its parent company, Deutsche Telekom, where he ran the German mobile business before coming to the U.S. He will rejoin his family, who still live in Europe, T-Mobile said Wednesday.

Humm joined T-Mobile USA in May 2010 and became CEO in November of that year. During his tenure at the company's helm, he oversaw its failed merger with AT&T and its emergence after that process. In a press release, Deutsche Telekom Chairman Rene Obermann said Humm had improved the cost situation at T-Mobile. "Now we need someone who can convert initiatives into market-successes," Obermann said.

T-Mobile has 33.4 million subscribers on its GSM and HSPA network and plans to offer LTE service beginning next year. Earlier this week, it announced a plan with Verizon Wireless for a spectrum swap.

Sabrina

28th June 2012, 05:53

Another banking scandal unfolding implicating banks worldwide.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18621354

More banks face interest rate rigging investigation

28 June

A number of banks are being investigated and could face sanctions after Barclays was fined £290m ($450m) for trying to manipulate interest rates at which banks lend to each other.

Regulators in Europe, the US and Asia have said that investigations into other banks are "ongoing".

The UK's Financial Services Authority said the early signs were that Barclays had not been the only firm involved.

Barclays has said its actions "fell well short of standards".

Its traders lied to make the bank look more secure during the financial crisis and, sometimes - working with traders at other banks - to make a profit.

Chief executive Bob Diamond and three other top executives at the bank are to give up their bonuses this year.

Mortgage deals
Tracey McDermott, director of enforcement at the FSA, which imposed fines alongside the US financial regulator, told the BBC: "We have a number of investigations that are ongoing.

"Obviously we need to look at each case on its own particular facts but the initial indications are that Barclays was not the only firm that was involved in this."

The US Department of Justice also said criminal investigations into "other financial institutions and individuals" was ongoing.

Other big names believed to be under investigation include Citigroup, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Barclays' misconduct relates to the daily setting of the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) and the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor).

These are two of the most important interest rates in the global financial markets and directly influence the value of trillions of dollars of financial deals between banks and other institutions.

They can also affect lending rates to the public, for instance with some mortgage deals.

It is not yet clear whether Barclays staff actually succeeded in manipulating the interest rates to the bank's advantage and therefore whether it had any impact on borrowers.

While the FSA said only that the Barclays employees had attempted to do so, the US Department of Justice said that on some occasions they did affect the Libor and Euribor rates.

Former City minister Lord Myners told the BBC's Newsnight that any Barclays staff responsible for manipulating the Libor rate should face the prospect of going to prison.

He said the behaviour of Barclays staff was the worst he had seen.

"This is the most corrosive failure of moral behaviour I have seen in a major UK financial institution in my career," he said.

"I think fines and public criticism will not stop these behaviours. These behaviours will not stop until the people perpetrating it or responsible for overseeing them face the prospect of criminal charges and the prospect of going to jail."

Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Commons treasury committee, said it would summon Mr Diamond to account for what had happened.

"Banks were clearly acting in concert. I fear it's not going to be the end of the story, that we are going to find that other banks have been involved," he said.

'Accepted culture'
The fine imposed on Barclays is part of an international investigation into the setting of interbank rates between 2005 and 2009.

Each day the British Bankers' Association (BBA) and the European Banking Association publish the the Libor and Euribor rates by taking an average of the estimated rates submitted to them by leading banks.

Between 2005 and 2008, the Barclays staff who submitted estimates of their own interbank lending rates were frequently lobbied by its derivatives traders to put in figures which would benefit their trading positions, in order to produce a profit for the bank.

And between 2007 and 2009, during the height of the banking crisis, the staff put in artificially low figures, to avoid the suspicion that Barclays was under financial stress and thus having to borrow at noticeably higher rates than its competitors.

The FSA pointed out that Barclays traders were quite open about their routine attempts to lobby their colleagues who submitted the bank's estimate of its borrowing costs to the BBA.

It was particularly concerned because it appeared to be "accepted culture" among some staff.

"Requests to Barclays' submitters were made verbally and a large amount of email and instant message evidence consisting of derivatives traders' requests also exists," the FSA said.

In one instance, a trader recounted a conversation in which he had "begged" the submitter to put in a lower Libor figure.

"I'm like, dude, you're killing us," he said. His manager replied, "just tell him to... put it low".

In turn, the staff submitting the data would respond to the traders' requests.

"For you…anything," said one. "Done… for you big boy," said another.

And: "I owe you big time... I'm opening a bottle of Bollinger."

Sabrina

28th June 2012, 06:33

More on the new banking scandal

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2012/jun/27/bob-diamond-barclays-libor-scandal?newsfeed=true

28 June

Can Bob Diamond hang on after Barclays Libor scandal?

The outside world will want to know why no director of Barclays has offered his resignation - a voluntary waiving of boardroom bonuses is woefully inadequate

Let's phrase it in the lingo of a Barclays derivatives trader: dude, this is serious ****.

Barclays tried to manipulate a $550tn market for almost half a decade. Internal controls and risk management functions were inadequate. The compliance department failed to do its job. The bank's actions created the risk that the stability of the UK financial system would be threatened.

Add up that collection of misdemeanours and even £290m of fines, plus a voluntary waiving of boardroom bonuses, is woefully inadequate. The outside world will want to know why no director of Barclays has offered his resignation.

OK, John Varley, chief executive during the saga described in devastating detail by regulators in the UK and the US, has already left the bank. But Bob Diamond, today's chief executive, was running Barclays Capital, the division housing the derivatives dudes seeking to profit by manipulating the Libor rate.

None of the various regulators' reports suggest that Diamond or any other executive director at Barclays knew what was going on – they, we must assume, are not the "senior management" referred to in the FSA report who gave instructions to reduce Libor submissions. But should the top brass have known what was going on? Why doesn't the buck stop at the top when the reputation of the bank has been so badly damaged?

Barclays seems to hope that expressions of "the utmost regret" plus the sacrifice of bonuses by Diamond and three others to reflect "collective responsibilty" will suffice. It may also be hoping that, as this is an industry-wide investigation, revelations elsewhere will show Barclays not to be unique in its dishonesty.

Can Diamond tough this one out? At the moment, that looks a tight call. As for 12-1 odds on Varley being the next governor of the Bank of England, don't risk a penny.

and

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2165468/Bob-Diamond-shamed-giving-bonus-Barclays-fined-290m-attempting-rig-money-markets.html

Banks rigged interest rates: Barclays fined £290m after damning emails reveal how greedy traders fiddled figures to make fortunes

Traders promised each other bottles of Bollinger as they colluded to trick money markets to mask the true state of the Barclays balance sheet

Interest rates on the wholesale money markets affect homeowners because they influence the interest fluctuations on variable rate mortgages

Lloyds, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland admit they are also being investigated over alleged involvement in the scam

MPs call for police to be called in to investigate banks' 'appalling' conduct

full story at link

and

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/barclays-said-to-settle-regulatory-claims-over-benchmark-manipulation/?ref=global

Barclays Settles Regulators’ Claims Over Manipulation of Key Rates

Regulators delivered the first blow in a major investigation into whether big banks had improperly set key interest rates that affected how consumers and companies borrowed money around the world.

full story at link

Sabrina

28th June 2012, 06:48

Yet more on latest banking debacle...

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2012/06/27/1062301/libor-manipulation-done-for-you-big-boy/

LIBOR manipulation? Done for you, Big Boy

Posted by Lisa Pollack on Jun 27 14:21.

The statements of CFTC and Department of Justice in the US, and FSA in the UK, are out concerning Barclays’ $200m, $160m, and £59.5m fines respectively for “attempted manipulation of and false reporting of LIBOR and Euribor Benchmark rates”. The FSA fine is the largest the agency has ever imposed.

From the CFTC statement:

The Order finds that Barclays attempted to manipulate interest rates and made related false reports to benefit its derivatives trading positions

The Order also finds that Barclays made false LIBOR reports at the direction of members of senior management to protect its reputation during the global financial crisis
LIBOR determines hundreds of trillions of payments, but it’s cobbled together survey-style. Each banks’ submissions are visible. Here’s the question they are asked (at present, full methodology available here):

“At what rate could you borrow funds, were you to do so by asking for and then accepting inter-bank offers in a reasonable market size just prior to 11 am?”
Additional detail from the CFTC release (emphasis ours):

In addition, the attempts to manipulate included Barclays’ traders asking other banks to assist in manipulating Euribor, as well as Barclays aiding attempts by other banks to manipulate U.S. Dollar LIBOR and Euribor.

The Order also finds that throughout the global financial crisis in late August 2007 through early 2009, as a result of instructions from Barclays’ senior management, the Bank routinely made artificially low LIBOR submissions to protect Barclays’ reputation from negative market and media perceptions concerning Barclays’ financial condition.
From here it starts to get really juicy. Thank goodness for people who will put anything in an email, eh?

Barclays’ traders located at least in New York, London and Tokyo asked Barclays’ submitters to submit particular rates to benefit their derivatives trading positions, such as swaps or futures positions, which were priced on LIBOR and Euribor. Barclays’ traders made these unlawful requests routinely, and sometimes daily, from at least mid-2005 through at least the fall of 2007, and sporadically thereafter into 2009. The Order relates that, for example, one trader stated in an email to a submitter: “We have another big fixing tom[orrow] and with the market move I was hoping we could set [certain] Libors as high as possible.”
As “high” as possible? Gosh, there was even an internal push and pull about whether the rate should be lower (good for reputation) or higher (good for certain derivatives transactions)?

In addition, certain Barclays Euro swaps traders, led at the time by a senior trader, coordinated with and aided and abetted traders at other banks in each other’s attempts to manipulate Euribor, even scheming to impact Euribor on key standardized dates when many derivatives contracts are settled or reset.

The traders’ requests were frequently accepted by Barclays’ submitters, who emailed responses such as “always happy to help,” “for you, anything,” or “Done…for you big boy,” resulting in false submissions by Barclays to the BBA and EBF.
Keep your head down:

According to the Order, senior managers even coined the phrase “head above the parapet” to describe high LIBOR submissions relative to other banks.
At least one guy figured out that email can be used to cover oneself in the face of distasteful instructions:

As the U.S. Dollar senior submitter said in October 2008 to his supervisor at the time, “following on from my conversation with you I will reluctantly, gradually and artificially get my libors in line with the rest of the contributors as requested. I disagree with this approach as you are well aware. I will be contributing rates which are nowhere near the clearing rates for unsecured cash and therefore will not be posting honest prices.”
Ouch.

There are even more of these in the final notices, e.g. Sections 56-60 of the FSA’s notice for the number of request made to Barclays’ submitters.

Highlights:

iii. On Monday, 13 March 2006, the following email exchange took place:

Trader C: “The big day [has] arrived… My NYK are screaming at me about an unchanged 3m libor. As always, any help wd be greatly appreciated. What do you think you’ll go for 3m?”

Submitter: “I am going 90 altho 91 is what I should be posting”.

Trader C: “[…] when I retire and write a book about this business your name will be written in golden letters […]”.

Submitter: “I would prefer this [to] not be in any book!”
on 27 May 2005:

Submitter: “Hi All, Just as an FYI, I will be in noon’ish on Monday […]”.

Trader B: “Noonish? Whos going to put my low fixings in? hehehe”

Submitter: “[…] [X or Y] will be here if you have any requests for the fixings”.
Requests from external traders:

For example, on 26 October 2006, an external trader made a request for a lower three month US dollar LIBOR submission. The external trader stated in an email to Trader G at Barclays “If it comes in unchanged I’m a dead man”. Trader G responded that he would “have a chat”. Barclays’ submission on that day for three month US dollar LIBOR was half a basis point lower than the day before, rather than being unchanged. The external trader thanked Trader G for Barclays’ LIBOR submission later that day: “Dude. I owe you big time! Come over one day after work and I’m opening a bottle of Bollinger”.
It goes on and on…

Frankly it makes us feel a little nostalgic for the days that one would sit at a Bloomberg and (just for giggles) compare the LIBOR submissions of banks to where they issued their latest floating rate paper — the number of basis points over LIBOR was… revealing.

Related links:
Full CFTC report
Full FSA notice
The basics of LIBOR - BBA
Barclays pays $450m to end Libor probe – FT

This entry was posted by Lisa Pollack on Wednesday, June 27th, 2012 at 14:21 and is filed under Capital markets. Tagged with barclays, Barclays Capital, cftc, euribor, fsa, Libor.

Sabrina

28th June 2012, 18:38

http://the2012scenario.com/2012/06/federal-reserve-audit-approved-by-us-house-committee/#more-130977

Federal Reserve Audit Approved by US House Committee

2012 JUNE 28

Ron Paul’s Federal Reserve Audit Approved by House Committee
By Stephen C. Webster, Raw Story – June 27, 2012

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/06/27/ron-pauls-federal-reserve-audit-approved-by-house-committee/

One of Rep. Ron Paul’s (R-TX) lifelong policy goals is on the brink of becoming a reality.

In a nearly unanimous voice vote on Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee approved a bill that would require the U.S. Federal Reserve to conduct a first-ever complete audit of its books and divulge details about its monetary policy discussions. The bill is expected to be taken up by the full House of Representatives sometime next month.

Paul, a longtime critic of the Fed and fiat currencies in general, had previously supported an audit that became part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. That audit required the Fed to disclose its lending practices during the 2008 financial crisis, revealing that the bank doled out more than $16 trillion in loans and assets swaps to financial institutions all over the world in an effort to stabilize global markets and keep credit flowing.

Paul, however, felt that the audit which ultimate cleared the U.S. Senate was a stripped down version of what he believes is needed, and most of his colleagues now agree. His bill has garnered an impressive bipartisan coalition of more than 257 co-sponsors — more than half the House — giving it enough votes to pass.

The Senate version, introduced by Paul’s son Rand (R-KY), faces a tougher road. All of its 20 co-sponsors are Republican, and it has been stuck in the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, which is chaired by Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD). He has not said whether the bill will be marked-up for debate.

Sabrina

28th June 2012, 19:01

More on latest banking scandal.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2165468/Ed-Miliband-demands-CRIMINAL-probe-Barclays-scandal-3-2bn-wiped-bank-share-plunge.html

Ed Miliband demands CRIMINAL probe into Barclays interest rate rigging scandal as £3.2bn is wiped off bank in share plunge

Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond today faced demands for his resignation as shares in the bank slumped after it was fined a record £290million for rigging interest rates.

Labour leader Ed Miliband called for a criminal investigation into the scandal which is set to engulf a number of other top British banks.
Serious Fraud Office investigators are in talks with the City watchdog over the affair, Chancellor George Osborne said, while an ongoing US criminal probe helped increase demands for similar action this side of the Atlantic.

Barclays' shares closed 15.5 per cent lower at 165.6p today, wiping £3.2 billion from its value.

Mr Diamond has agreed to give up his bonus following the scandal, which involved Barclays and other banks fixing crucial interest rates to mask the scale of their bad debts.

But pressure is growing for him to quit, and the value of Barclays shares fell dramatically today at the prospect of future instability at Britain's third-largest bank.

full story at link

Sabrina

29th June 2012, 05:57

More on latest banking scandal. Now this WILL lead to 'high profile' resignations. THis is a big story. It's July (nearly). It's happening...Sab.:)

29 June

20 more banks were rigging interest rates: British bankers now facing criminal inquiry over scandal that was kept secret for years
Barclays shares drop 15 per cent as pressure on Diamond grows

George Osborne promises new criminal sanctions for market abusers

Hundreds of bankers across three continents are embroiled in the interest-rate fixing scandal that has left Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond fighting to save his job.

As pressure intensified on Britain’s highest paid banking boss to quit, MPs heard a string of other financial institutions across the world were under investigation.

At least 20 banks are believed to be under suspicion, with growing demands for a criminal investigation.

Barclays’ shares crashed by 15.5 per cent in a day as the implications sank in, wiping £3.7billion from its value, with other banks also hit.
Barclays has been fined £290million after devastating emails revealed that its traders manipulated the London Interbank Rate (Libor) – the rate at which banks lend money to each other.

Chancellor George Osborne told the Commons the exchanges ‘read like an epitaph to an age of irresponsibility’.

RBS, HSBC and Lloyds all named as under investigation as scandal widens

n the blackest day for Britain’s finance industry since the 2008 economic crisis:

Serious Fraud Office investigators were revealed to be in talks with financial watchdogs over the scandal
David Cameron and Ed Miliband piled pressure on Mr Diamond to resign

Barclays and other banks were braced for a damning verdict today in an official report on mis-selling of complex loans to 28,000 small firms

Mr Osborne promised new criminal sanctions for those guilty of market abuse

Downing Street faced a growing clamour for a judge-led public inquiry into the ethics of Britain’s banks

'Epitaph to an age of irresponsibility': George Osborne today briefed MPs in the Commons about the unfolding bank trading scandal

full story at link

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2166242/20-banks-rigging-rates-British-bankers-facing-criminal-inquiry-scandal-kept-secret-years.html#ixzz1z9uKpdBQ

Robert J. Niewiadomski

29th June 2012, 07:36

Not a resignation or arrest yet but a sort of prelude to it (maybe...)

House charges Holder with contempt of Congress
CBSNEWS: June 28, 2012 4:51 PM, Updated 5:35 p.m. ET

(CBS News) The House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress Thursday for failing to provide documents relating to the Fast and Furious gunwalking program.
The House took two votes, one on criminal contempt charges, which passed 255-67. The criminal contempt of Congress is likely not to go anywhere as the Justice Department, which Holder heads, is the department responsible for opening a criminal investigation.

Full story: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57463209/house-charges-holder-with-contempt-of-congress/

Kimberley

29th June 2012, 18:39

From BIX WEIR just now:

We are starting to see signs that there is massive chaos at the HUB of market rigging operations- the New York Federal Reserve. With the looming Fed audit vote in mid July, the Fed's ability to pull rabbits out of their hat to control the US Dollar is wobbling. With the dollar showing signs of instability (an instantaneous .50 drop last night and down 1.22 since yesterday) the Fed is helpless to continue their support operation.

With this in the background it was announced today that the Chief Market Rigger, Brian Sack, who was supposed to retire today is withdrawing his retirement...

Sack Withdraws Resignation, to Remain at NY Fed
www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/06/29/business/29reuters-usa-fed-sack.html

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Brian Sack, who oversees the Federal Reserve's open market actions, and who was to leave the New York Fed bank on Friday, will instead stay on as senior advisor to President William Dudley.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced on Friday that Sack has withdrawn his resignation and starts the new position June 30. He will no longer be involved with the group that oversees market activities.
END

There are no accidents anymore. This is the planned destruction of the un-backed fiat monetary system which will destroy the Bad Guys, revive the US Gold Standard and return the US to a Constitutional Republic.

My birthday is next Wednesday (yep- I was born on the 4th of July:) and it's shaping up to be a real doozy of a firework show!

Stay buckled up.

Bix Weir
www.RoadtoRoota.com

Alie

29th June 2012, 19:07

Shocking Death of a Wall Street Trader at Court Yesterday (http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-marin-swallows-pill-in-court-2012-6)

=========================================

http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-marin-swallows-pill-in-court-2012-6#ooid=VwMHI5NTrBVEEdrAbiGEozGPTEKYszXA

Alie

29th June 2012, 21:13

Interesting from Reuters: (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/27/us-banks-bailouts-wills-idUSBRE85Q0AZ20120627)

Big banks craft "living wills" IN CASE THEY FAIL

"(Reuters) - Five of the biggest banks in the United States are putting finishing touches on plans for going out of business as part of government-mandated contingency planning that could push them to untangle their complex operations.

The plans, known as living wills, are due to regulators no later than July 1 under provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law designed to end too-big-to-fail bailouts by the government. The living wills could be as long as 4,000 pages.

Since the law allows regulators to go so far as to order a bank to divest subsidiaries if it cannot plan an orderly resolution in bankruptcy, the deadline is pushing even healthy institutions to start a multi-year process to untangle their complex global operations, according to industry consultants."

There's more in link.

Sabrina

30th June 2012, 21:44

http://divinecosmos.com/start-here/davids-blog/1062-green-light

David Wilcock's thoughts on Drakes announcement about imminent arrests.

Sabrina

30th June 2012, 21:47

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18640916

30 JUne UK

Ministers to order Libor bank rate review

n independent review of the workings of the Libor inter-bank lending rate has been announced by the government in the wake of the Barclays fine.

Barclays was fined £290m ($450m) for attempting to manipulate the Libor, and other banks are being investigated.

Barclays boss Bob Diamond has been summoned to appear before the Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday.

Labour leader Ed Miliband has called for a public inquiry into the customs and practices of the banking industry.

Earlier this week, the Financial Services Authority and US Department of Justice fined Barclays, and investigations are under way into HSBC, RBS, Citigroup and UBS.

The independent review, which will examine the future operation of Libor - the daily rate set by the British Bankers' Association (BBA) - will be established next week and report by the end of summer.

It will ensure amendments can be made to the Financial Services Bill which is currently going through Parliament. It will also examine whether to target institutions or individuals and whether to launch criminal prosecutions rather than impose fines.

Andrew Tyrie, the select committee chairman, said Mr Diamond's hearing would focus on the Libor scandal, which he described as "the most damaging I can recall".

"The public's trust in banks has been even further eroded. Restoring the reputational damage must begin immediately," Mr Tyrie added.

Barclays' chairman, Marcus Agius, will appear on Thursday.

'Corrupt elite' (interesting wording BBC)...

full story at link

Alie

1st July 2012, 13:01

From the Independant

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/banking-scandal-greedy-shoddy-deceitful-a-modern-cesspit-7901949.html

Banking scandal: Greedy, shoddy, deceitful. A modern cesspit

It was a week of truly shocking revelations. Will the banks finally be brought to book for their behaviour?

The events of the past few days are proof that not all organised criminals go around carrying violin cases. Some sit jacketless in City offices, bent over computer screens, rigging interest rates. Others give their salesmen's smiles to small-scale entrepreneurs desperate for a loan, and make them buy products that are as much a swindle as a three-card trick. And, if there's the slightest whiff of official action that might cramp their style, there's always some big-shot to whisper to the Government: "That's a lovely economy you've got there. You wouldn't want it to have an accident, would you?" The voice of the protection racket down the ages.

If that reads like a caricature, it is more authentic than the portrait the banks paint of themselves in their multinational, happy-clappy TV advertising – actorly voiceovers oozing sincerity and shots of nicey-nicey advisers handing out financial sweeties. The reality for us ordinary customers is pin numbers, over-charging and calls to Delhi to speak to a man who says his name is Eric. The real money is made elsewhere.

While some bank staff (the disposable foot soldiers – Royal Bank of Scotland has made 36,000 of them redundant in the past five years) cash our cheques, the organisations themselves and their risk-takers operate on different streets, in different ways, and make telephone-numbers money.

We know that because we read of the banks' profits, their staff bonuses and the fancy cars and homes they buy with them. What most of us didn't know before 2007 was exactly how they made it. And neither did the Government. Like some corrupt Southern governor kept in office courtesy of subsidies from the local hoodlums, it took the money but didn't really want to know too much about how it was made. Best not to ask too closely.

But the banks over-reached themselves. They expanded too rapidly, and got their fingers into too many sweet pies. And in 2007 and 2008, their schemes began to unravel. We learnt about sub-prime mortgages, liars' loans, and derivatives where mad-money loans were carved up, repackaged, sold and re-sold so that any connection between borrower and the final lender was broken.

It sounds as crazy as tulip mania, but these, we were told, were the Masters of the Universe, super-clever people able to turn financial tap water into vintage wine, and our cash deposits and banked salaries into untold billions.

But how smart were they? We gradually discovered that, in the world of banking, there were entire continents of incompetence. An early example: banks' statistical modelling assured them that a 20 per cent fall in US house prices was a once in every three billion year event. A recent one: the routine software upgrade that was turned, by NatWest, RBS, and Ulster Bank into a financial hiatus affecting millions.

We learnt more. We always knew some of these pinstriped goodfellas got hurt amid the rivalries and turf wars. Now we learnt that the mayhem they created, the speculation they sprayed around, could catch entire populations in its crossfire. In the words of George Osborne on Thursday: "The failures in our banks and financial system have cost the country billions and put thousands out of work."

And, as we daily absorbed the cost of this, we learnt about mis-selling of personal loan insurance. Hundreds of thousands were sold these policies, which were little more than a means for banks to impose a tax on their customers when they were at their most needy. So now we knew they were not only greedy and sometimes incompetent, but often up to sharp practices. After all, customers are muppets, aren't they?

Then last week, with the revelations about their rigging of interest rates, we learnt they were dishonest as well. The Libor scandal (the technicalities of which are explained in our Q&A), came to light on Wednesday when Barclays was the first bank (of potentially 20) to be fined by US and UK regulators for attempting to rig a fundamental part of the world financial system for their own benefit.

The Libor is no small matter. It affects the cost of no less than $554trn (£353trn) in financial contracts around the world. Barclays' misconduct, according to Tracey McDermott, the acting director of enforcement and financial crime at the Financial Services Agency (FSA), was "serious, widespread, and extended over a number of years". The US regulator said Barclays co-ordinated with traders at other banks to make false submissions, and confirmation came from London that banks were acting in concert. Criminal investigations are now under way.

The day after the Libor shenanigans broke, there came news of a further racket: the rooking of small businesses via interest-rate swap arrangements. These are complicated derivatives products sold as protection – or to act as a hedge – against a rise in interest rates, without the customer fully grasping the risks. Banks have sold around 28,000 interest-rate protection products to customers since 2001, according to the FSA ...

more at link

Taurean

1st July 2012, 14:01

Brilliant Tony Robinson Rant

6G_dmxmHYts

Sabrina

1st July 2012, 21:08

A UK e petition below.

As financial scandals unfold, people are starting to get that something's not right. Financial commentators are getting the same. Perhaps that's a shift in consciousness in itself to propel the whole thing forward. Scott Mowry in a radio interview, said that he thought the financial world needed to unravel first before disclosure (of our off planet brothers and sisters). Makes sense to me.

Public inquiry into wrongdoing and ethics of bankers

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/35421

e-petition - UK

Responsible department: Her Majesty's Treasury

We the undersigned call for an independent, judicial public enquiry into fraud, wrongdoing and ethics of British banks, their management and their staff, and the role of the British Bankers Association. The terms of reference of this inquiry should also include the manipulation of interest rates on about £225 trillion of assets. The inquiry must have full powers to compel witnesses to appear on oath, and to obtain all forms of evidence.

Sabrina

1st July 2012, 21:17

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18665719

1 July

Barclays bank chairman Marcus Agius to resign

The BBC's Robert Peston reports on the ''momentum'' that was building for Mr Agius to goContinue reading the main story

There will be an announcement on Monday morning, BBC business editor Robert Peston says.

It comes after Barclays was fined £290m ($450m) for attempting to manipulate the Libor inter-bank lending rate.

Earlier, it emerged the Royal Bank of Scotland had sacked four traders over their alleged involvement in the Libor-fixing scandal.

The dismissals happened at the end of last year.

Barclays was fined after the Financial Services Authority (FSA) found its traders had lied about the interest rate other banks were charging it for loans. Investigations are also under way at RBS, HSBC, Citigroup and UBS.

Giving a lower reading than the true rate would give the impression other banks thought it was a better risk to lend to than it was.

Libor (London Inter Bank Offered Rate) is the rate at which banks in London lend money to each other.

Diamond support
Robert Peston said Mr Agius's decision was not wholly unexpected as he was first in the firing line as far as shareholders were concerned and Barclays had been thinking it needed a new chairman for some time.

There is a perception, which is perhaps false, that he is not quite tough enough”

Robert Peston
Business editor

Mr Diamond has insisted he will not resign over the scandal.

He is due to appear before the Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday, with Mr Agius set to follow on Thursday.

The BBC's business editor said earlier that, in making false submissions about their borrowing costs, Barclays managers believed they were operating under an instruction from Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker.

He said this belief came about after a telephone conversation in the autumn of 2008 between Mr Tucker and Bob Diamond, who at the time ran Barclays' investment bank, Barclays Capital.

Mr Tucker did not issue this instruction. But he and Mr Diamond have different recollections of their conversation.

So what Mr Diamond recalls about this telephone conversation might turn out to be the most explosive and important part of his testimony to MPs on the Treasury Select Committee, our correspondent added.

Independent review
In a letter to the committee last week, Mr Diamond condemned the inappropriate behaviour of a "small number" of employees who had tried to make profits for their own benefit.

In his open letter to chairman Andrew Tyrie MP, Mr Diamond pointed out that authorities found no evidence that knowledge of the manipulation, for which it has been fined £290m, went any higher than "immediate desk supervisors".

Robert Peston said he believed Barclays board had "thrown its weight" behind Mr Diamond, considering him to be the best man to clean up the bank's culture.

Earlier, the head of the Financial Services Authority, Lord Turner, said the FSA's fine for Barclays was its strongest currently available sanction and the law should be tightened to tackle misbehaviour in banking.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr programme there should be a presumption a director of a failed bank should not work in the industry again.

Business Secretary Vince Cable is considering criminal sanctions for bank directors. He said those in charge of failed banks should face prosecution - a view echoed by Lord Turner.

Ministers have announced an independent review of the Libor workings, which will be established next week and report by the end of summer.

On Saturday, Labour leader Ed Miliband called for a public inquiry into the customs and practices of the banking industry.

Sabrina

1st July 2012, 21:28

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9368025/FSA-head-urges-tighter-law-for-failing-bankers.html

1 July UK

FSA head urges tighter law for failing bankers

Adair Turner, head of the Financial Services Authority, said the Libor scandal had "justifiably angered people" and called for tighter laws
on failing bankers.

Barclays, Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority, said the law should be tightened to tackle misbehaviour in banking.
He told the BBC that the Government was looking at his suggestions about changing the law as to the liability of directors, which were dubbed "more heads will roll" proposals.

"If you are the director of a bank that's failed, it's not a matter of bad practice but simply causing problems for the whole economy, whether there should be a presumption that you should not be allowed back into the industry again," he said.
His comments came after Barclays was this week fined £290m over rate fixing allegations. Ministers have also announced an independent review into the inter-bank lending rate in the wake of revelations that it was rigged by Barclays and other financial institutions.

The government said the independent review will consider the future operation of the so-called Libor rate and the possibility of introducing criminal sanctions for its manipulation.

full story at link

Sabrina

1st July 2012, 21:31

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/barclays-libor-corruption-phony-ploy-to.html#more

Barclay's LIBOR Corruption a Phony Ploy to Strengthen the Bloomberg/Qatar QIBOR?

Reposted from The Daily Bell

Barclay's LIBOR Corruption a Phony Ploy to Strengthen the Bloomberg/Qatar QIBOR?
Thursday, June 28, 2012 – by Staff Report

Barclays Libor fix trail leads to senior managers ... Senior Barclays managers were worried over negative headlines during the financial crisis and contributed to a culture that fixed key funding rates artificially low, U.S. and UK regulators said in reaching a settlement with the bank. The findings based on internal emails and other communications raise questions about how high up the Barclays management chain came instructions to submit lower rates, and who knew about the rate rigging. – Reuters

Dominant Social Theme: The corruption of these Western banks is terminal!

Free-Market Analysis: So Barclay's resides at the "heart of darkness" which is LIBOR – various rates at which banks and the rest of can borrow. Something isn't quite right about this.

Bloomberg is busy setting up QIBOR in Qatar, and the putative explanation is that there is too much corruption in London. Now we have an example of corruption! Convenient? Right on time ...

QIBOR is just like LIBOR and those involved will "set" the rate at which banks borrow after conversing with banks themselves. This is a US$ 90 trillion market and thus the movement of this facility from London to Qatar is no small event.

If one were interested in moving such a large market, charges of corruption would surely be helpful. And lo and behold, we are reading about them everywhere.

What is the big deal about financial corruption? It is simply a fact that the world's modern central banking is shot through with corruption. How could it be otherwise? It begins with central banks that fix the price of money and its volume and continues from there.

When a small group of people have the power to basically print as much money as they want – and do – then to act surprised that "corruption" permeates the entire system is somewhat, well ... manipulative in our view.
This LIBOR "scandal" has a manufactured smell to it in our humble opinion. For one thing, the headlines are screaming about Barclay's as if the bank was manipulating rates UP (and maybe they did). But this Reuters story indicates that rates were being set artificially low – because of a fear that Barclay's would be seen as a gouger.

Here's more from the story

Barclays was fined $453 million on Wednesday for manipulating interbank lending rates over several years. These are known as Libor and Euribor, underpinning trillions of dollars of derivatives deals plus corporate and personal borrowing rates.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice and the UK's Financial Services Authority settled with Barclays on a civil basis, while Canadian authorities said they still had an open investigation.
The Justice Department said it still had a criminal investigation in progress.

Barclays Chief Executive Bob Diamond, the investment bank unit's boss at the time of the rate fixings, and three of his key lieutenants, said they were giving up their 2012 bonuses in response.
Investigators faulted individual derivatives traders for fixing rate submissions for their own profit, while Barclays was slammed for regularly reporting lower borrowing rates than it was actually paying throughout the financial crisis.
Staff responsible for submitting rates in some instances told colleagues of "internal political" pressure to set these low, the FSA's report shows.

Barclays "senior management at high levels" became concerned over the media scrutinizing the bank's funding access early in the financial crisis, in August 2007.

"Senior management's concerns in turn resulted in instructions being given by less senior managers at Barclays to reduce Libor submissions in order to avoid negative media comment," the UK's FSA said in its report. "The origin of these instructions is unclear."

The U.S. CFTC said specific instructions to lower submissions came from "senior Barclays Treasury managers". They asked submitters to provide rates at a level where Barclays wouldn't be "sticking its head above the parapet."
We can see from this reporting, assuming it is accurate, that Barclays was setting rates to the advantage of borrowers. This is what central bankers do all the time – keep short interest rates at extremely low levels via their price-fixing authority.

While central bankers manipulate money all the time to try to "restimulate" economies that have been blown to bits by their previous manipulations, when Barclays does it in a somewhat timid fashion all hell breaks loose.
For Barclays, such matters suddenly constitute criminality. We would submit the criminal manipulations go a good deal higher and run all the way up to the power elite itself, which apparently controls about 150 central banks around the world.

Top central bankers can do basically whatever they want to – or so we can see in the modern day – but let Barclays try to offer information that would skew rates lower and you're suddenly talking about the depths of depravity.
It reminds us a little about the Murdochian phone-tapping saga going on in England today. The British Parliament has drawn up rules to obtain every single email and other kind of electronic communication in that long-suffering country but various News Corp. employees are being dragged through an endless investigation into phone tapping.
The public sector, or those who operate in the shadows behind the public sector, are immune to these sorts of criminal charges. This system worked especially well in the 20th century when people were less aware of those operating behind the "curtain."

But today, thanks to what we call the Internet Reformation, it is increasingly clear that the system is one two-track criminality. At the very top the laws do not apply. Elites are exempted based on "national security concerns" and worries about "economic contagion" that provides justifications for the most outrageous manipulations.
In this case, we would tend to believe that this perception of massive LIBOR criminality is at least somewhat manufactured. For one thing, LIBOR is the creation of banks that meet regularly to "set" (fix) lending rates. The process itself is criminal to begin with in the sense that it is a kind of open conspiracy.

As free-market types, we have no trouble with collusion generally, but these banks all partake of state privileges in one way or another. The larger banking process is chock-full of government privilege and exemptions. Most of the "money" banks use are now electronic digits in one way or another provided to them by designated central banks.
The second reason we are suspicious of the motivations surrounding this Barclay's "affair" is that the powers-that-be are moving a good deal of financial activity to the Middle East. The elites are working hard to create an amalgam of Islamic and Western finance, and placing LIBOR in Qatar – as QIBOR – is just one more element of this larger plan, in our view. Bloomberg, as a corporation, is a designated instrument of this strategy.

Conclusion: There is plenty swirling in the background of all this. Criminality in this case, may surely be in the "eye of the beholder." And those who proclaim the most loudly to be "shocked" are perhaps the least surprised.

Sabrina

1st July 2012, 21:41

http://lucas2012infos.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/lawsuit-filed-against-convicted-felon-george-soros-donald-trump-colluded-in-multi-billion-money-launderingbankruptcy-fraud-scheme-30-june-2012/

Volubrjotr – Lawsuit Filed Against Convicted Felon George Soros & Donald Trump – Colluded In Multi $Billion Money Laundering/Bankruptcy Fraud Scheme – 30 June 2012

NEW YORK, NY – Law Offices of David H. Relkin, Esq. on behalf of Leslie Dick Worldwide Ltd. has filed a Federal RICO Complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Case No. 08-CV-7900) against George Soros, Deutsche Bank, Vornado Realty Trust, Fortress Investment Group, Donald J. Trump & 12 other RICO conspirators for $4.2 Billion in damage

full story at link

Sabrina

2nd July 2012, 19:42

http://2012indyinfo.com/2012/07/01/ex-citigroup-vp-gets-eight-years-for-stealing-22-million/

Ex-Citigroup VP gets eight years for stealing $22 million

By Jessica Dye

NEW YORK | Fri Jun 29, 2012 5:33pm EDT

(Reuters) – A former Citigroup Inc (C.N) vice president who admitted to embezzling more than $22 million was sentenced on Friday to 8 years in prison, federal prosecutors said.

Gary Foster, 35, pleaded guilty in September to siphoning the money from his employer between 2003 and 2010, transferring the funds to Citigroup’s cash account before wiring it into his own personal account at a different bank.

He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Eric Vitaliano in Brooklyn federal court to 97 months on the bank fraud charge.

“While obviously we anticipated this would be a serious sentence, since it was a serious crime, we’re grateful that the judge took other matters into account,” including a public statement read in court Friday accepting responsibility and apologizing for the theft, said Isabelle Kirshner, a lawyer for Foster.

A spokesman for Citigroup declined comment.

Federal prosecutors said Foster “steadily and repeatedly enriched himself for many years at his employer’s expense,” according to a pre-sentencing court filing.

Foster was able to evade detection for years by making false accounting entries that made it seem like the wire transfers were in support of existing Citigroup contracts, when they were actually being transferred to his account, according to the complaint. He used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle, purchasing luxury automobiles including a Ferrari and Maserati, and properties in Brooklyn, Manhattan and New Jersey, prosecutors said.

The fraud was uncovered during an internal audit of Citigroup’s treasury department. Citigroup immediately informed the authorities and cooperated with the federal investigation, according to an affidavit from Thomas D’Amico, a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The government said it had seized cars and property from Foster worth approximately $14 million, which he forfeited pursuant to a plea agreement.

Foster, who worked for Citigroup for 10 years, was a vice-president in the treasury finance department when he left the company in January 2011. He was arrested in July at John F. Kennedy Airport.

He voluntarily returned to the United States from a trip to Bangkok after his family told him there was a warrant for his arrest, his lawyers said.

The case is U.S. v. Foster, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, No. 11-601.

For the U.S.: Michael Yaeger and Karen Hennigan.

For Foster: Isabelle Kirshner of Clayman & Rosenberg.

(Reporting by Jessica Dye; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Sabrina

2nd July 2012, 19:53

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/barclays-chairman-marcus-agius-quits-in-bid-to-stop-the-bleeding-7902913.html

2 july Uk

Barclays chairman Marcus Agius quits in bid to stop the bleeding

The chairman of Barclays confirmed today that he is stepping down as the storm over the interest rate fixing scandal led to sackings at another high street bank and political pressure grew for a City-wide criminal investigation.

The departure of Marcus Agius was announced this morning as the embattled bank moved to satisfy political demands for a senior executive to take responsibility for the debacle which has wiped billions off its share price and shaken confidence in Britain's financial institutions.

In his statement this morning, Mr Agius said: he was "truly sorry" and that "the buck stops with me."

The move came after it emerged that the taxpayer-funded Royal Bank of Scotland has sacked four traders over the scam and Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, said he supported a police inquiry into the manipulation of the Libor inter-bank lending rate.

The hardening of government rhetoric – Mr Cable says the Serious Fraud Office is re-examining evidence of rate-fixing – came as Barclays and other banks at the heart of the scandal braced themselves for "BP-style" lawsuits that are likely to cost billions of pounds in compensation.

The Barclays board hopes that the departure of Mr Agius, who had a difficult relationship with shareholders, will relieve some pressure on the bank's embattled chief executive, Bob Diamond.

Mr Agius is due to go before the Treasury Select Committee on Thursday and is expected to appear despite his resignation.

He will be replaced, at least in the interim, by Sir Michael Rake, an experienced City figure who is currently the bank's senior independent director.

His resignation letter is expected to accept that the buck stops with him and to offer an apology to staff, customers and shareholders for the "devastating blow" to the bank's reputation from an "unacceptable standard of behaviour".

Mr Agius earned £750,000 a year for a three-day week and was on 12 months' notice. He also held 232,000 shares, worth £378,000.

Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday that Mr Diamond told City analysts hours after his bank had been hit with a record fine that he was confident the firestorm "will fade".

An email circulated by staff at the investment giant Morgan Stanley following a face-to-face meeting last Thursday showed Mr Diamond to be in a bullish mood, insisting that he had no intention of resigning despite admitting that the exposure of the rate fixing was a "significant blow" and he expected matters would "get worse before better".

Mr Diamond's position remains precarious despite his insistence that he will remain in his post. Patience Wheatcroft, a Conservative peer and a former non-executive director of Barclays, yesterday joined the list of those, including the Labour leader Ed Miliband, who have called for his resignation.

A copy of the memo obtained by The Independent reveals how the bank boss said he feared the scandal would lead to what analysts described as "more political intervention" and that it reinforced the "bad caricature" of the industry. Mr Diamond, who last year called for an end to banker bashing, said he expected pressure on the industry would recede once reforms had been put in place to deal with the question of what to do with banks deemed "too big to fail".

Under the heading "Political and Regulatory Aftershocks", the Morgan Stanley memo based on Mr Diamond's comments said: "[He] fears more political intervention. Thinks political and regulatory pressure will fade as the too-big-to-fail question is addressed… but that is for the longer term and things get worse before better."

The £17m-a-year chief executive also acknowledged that Barclays and other British banks under investigation for rate fixing, including RBS and Lloyds Banking Group, face the prospect of a wave of compensation suits and raised BP, which is facing a total bill of up to £40bn for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, as "a case in point". A Barclays spokesman said yesterday: "We do not comment on analyst notes."

Mr Diamond will be asked about the size of Barclays' legal liabilities when he appears before MPs on the Commons Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday for what is likely to be an uncomfortable examination of his actions to deal with rate fixing.

It emerged yesterday that the Barclays boss held a conversation in 2008 with Paul Tucker, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, about the bank's predictions for Libor, which acts as a benchmark for financial instruments worth £229trn worldwide.

MPs are likely to ask Mr Diamond why, following his telephone call with Mr Tucker, managers of Barclays' investment arm believed the Bank of England had sanctioned the practice of making the bank look stronger than it was by submitting lower interest rates than it was actually paying itself.

The Financial Services Authority, said last week that Barclays and the Bank of England had agreed that the central bank gave no instruction for Barclays to falsify its submissions during the conversation.

The repercussions from the Libor manipulation, which took place between 2005 and at least 2009, and led to Barclays being fined £290m by American and British regulators, extended to a second UK bank for the first time when RBS said it had dismissed four traders over the practice at the end of last year. The sacked men were named last night as Paul White, Neil Danziger, Andrew Hamilton and Tan Chi Min.

Mr Tan, who was sacked for gross misconduct for trying to influence Libor rates, claimed in court papers filed yesterday that the bank had condoned the practice and it was common for senior staff to make rate requests to maximise profits. The bank, which is still struggling to overcome the computer glitch which froze millions of clients out of their accounts, declined to comment on the sackings.

Mr Cable supported a call from Lord Blair, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, for a police investigation into what he said appeared to be evidence that Barclays staff had perpetrated a conspiracy to defraud.

David Cameron is also under pressure to widen the terms of a review of the way in which Libor rates are set.

Rake's progress: new man in charge

Polo-playing Sir Michael Rake is a serial chairman of some of Britain's biggest companies who as a young man flunked his professional exams but went on to become the country's highest paid accountant

As a schoolboy he dreamt of becoming an RAF pilot but when his hopes were dashed because of a skin complaint he turned to accountancy. He had postings in Europe and the Middle East before his career took him to the chairmanship of KPMG International and an annual income of £3.6m.

Sabrina

2nd July 2012, 19:57

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18677356

2 JUly UK

Bank inquiry launched after Libor rate-rigging scandal

Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a full parliamentary inquiry of the banking sector following the Barclays rate-rigging furore.

He told the House of Commons the manipulation of the Libor interest rates had been a "scandal".

The review will run alongside a narrower inquiry specifically into the Libor market, also announced on Monday.

The comments follow news the Serious Fraud Office is considering whether to bring criminal charges.

In addition, Barclays will conduct its own "root and branch review" after receiving a fine of £290m ($450m) over the Libor affair.

Mr Cameron said the full parliamentary committee of inquiry would be headed by the chairman of the Treasury Committee, Andrew Tyrie.

full story at link

Sabrina

2nd July 2012, 20:03

There´s a lot coming out...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18673220

2 JUly

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is to pay $3bn (£1.9bn) in the largest healthcare fraud settlement in US history.

The drug giant is to plead guilty to promoting two drugs for unapproved uses and failing to report safety data about a diabetes drug to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The settlement will cover criminal fines as well as civil settlements with the federal and state governments.

The case concerns the drugs Paxil, Wellbutrin and Avandia.

Deputy US Attorney General James Cole told a news conference in Washington DC that the settlement was "unprecedented in both size and scope".

Doctors bribed
GSK, one of the world's largest healthcare and pharmaceuticals companies, admitted to promoting antidepressants Paxil and Wellbutrin for unapproved uses, including treatment of children and adolescents.

The company also conceded charges that it held back data and made unsupported safety claims over its diabetes drug Avandia.

In addition, GSK has been found guilty of paying kickbacks to doctors.

"The sales force bribed physicians to prescribe GSK products using every imaginable form of high-priced entertainment, from Hawaiian vacations [and] paying doctors millions of dollars to go on speaking tours, to tickets to Madonna concerts," said US attorney Carmin Ortiz.

As part of the settlement, GSK agreed to be monitored by government officials for five years.

GSK said in a statement it would pay the fines through existing cash resources.

Andrew Witty, the firm's chief executive, said procedures for compliance, marketing and selling had been changed at GSK's US unit.

"We have learnt from the mistakes that were made," Mr Witty said. "When necessary, we have removed employees who have engaged in misconduct

Sabrina

2nd July 2012, 20:10

For the record, here`s the latest from David Wilcock.

UPDATE 7/1: ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AGAINST ONE OF OUR TOP INSIDERS http://divinecosmos.com/start-here/davids-blog/1062-green-light

Yesterday, after I wrote the above, I found out that one of our most influential and high-ranking insiders was attacked by a very sophisticated bio-weapon last week.

It could very well be that this was done to try to cut off one of our most important sources of insider information.

I was shocked by this. I did always know this person was taking a great risk in speaking to me, and that he could end up disappearing at any time as a result -- so I had already prepared myself for something like this possibly happening.

The story has all the makings of a great film sequence, and maybe someday I will put it into a script. If it were not so real, I would find the drama of what just happened very invigorating.

It does sound hard to believe, and I'm sure plenty of people will think I'm fabricating this. That's fine. I'm going to share a basic overview of the information with you anyway, without giving away details that could compromise the investigation.

After the arrests I hope this can all be made public and open. In the years I've worked with this person, nothing like this has ever happened before.

DIRECT INJECTION -- SUPPOSEDLY UNDETECTABLE

Read much more at the link

Http://divinecosmos.com/start-here/davids-blog/1062-green-light

and

Bill Brockbrader-Wood´s answer to the Wilcock story :

http://lucas2012infos.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/current-update-ix-nay-from-bill-brockbrader-bill-wood-on-wilcocks-story-2-july-2012/

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/02/democratic-party-of-japan-resignations_n_1642618.html

2 July Japan

Democratic Party Of Japan Resignations Deal Harsh Blow To Prime Minister Yoshihiko

TOKYO — A powerful politician and dozens of his followers quit Japan's ruling party on Monday and are likely to form their own rival bloc, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

Ichiro Ozawa and 49 other lawmakers submitted their resignations to the Democratic Party of Japan, and others could follow later, party officials said. Thirty-eight are members of the lower house of Parliament, where a loss of 11 more seats would end the ruling party's majority and could force Noda to call new elections.

Ozawa, 70, played a key role in the party's rise to power in 2009, defeating the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party. He has been a vocal critic of Noda's plan to double Japan's sales tax to 10 percent by 2015.

The tax hike has passed the lower house and is expected to be approved by the less-powerful upper house since it has the backing of the two largest opposition parties.

Ozawa said the ruling party has "betrayed" the public by teaming up with the opposition to ram through the tax hike.

"The Democratic Party under Prime Minister Noda is no longer the one that achieved a power change," Ozawa told a news conference. "We are looking at forming a new party in order to return to our initial principle of establishing a political system in which the people can have a choice."

Ozawa declined to give further details about the new grouping, but said it would focus on addressing the people's main concerns, such as nuclear safety, in addition to opposing the tax increase. He said a decision on policies and other details of a new party would be announced in a few days.

The party split will make it harder for Noda to achieve his policy goals in Parliament.

Noda, who has been in office only since September, has made the tax hike the centerpiece of his efforts to finance government programs as Japan's population rapidly ages. Opponents say a higher sales tax would hurt the economy, which was hit hard by last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami and has been sputtering for years under one of the largest public debt burdens in the developed world.

full story at link

Sabrina

2nd July 2012, 20:16

http://lucas2012infos.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/vatileaks-bertone-wants-to-resign-but-ratzinger-rejects-the-request-2-july-2012/

Vatileaks, Bertone Wants To Resign. But Ratzinger Rejects The Request –

2 July 2012 Italy

(Translated via google from Italian.)

In late June, reports “the Republic”, the Secretary of State has asked to resign to Pope Benedict XVI after the scandal leaked documents from the IOR and the Holy See, which criticized him for his “management of government.” The Pope, however, prefers to wait for the policies of 2013
Editor of The Done Daily | July 2 2012

Tarcisio Bertone, who met Pope Benedict XVI Gave his resignation as Secretary of State . Returned to sender because the Pope says, “is neither the case nor the time.” Ten days ago, writes Republic, the cardinal in the vortex of the scandal Vatileaks that reveal tensions within the Vatican circles, would have brought a wave of his hand back documents disseminated by the media and newspapers that gave him up for leaving . Reason that had brought the prelate to give an interview to the Christian Family in which he explained that the publication of the Pontifical cards stolen in the apartment violated a “constitutional right guaranteed in Italy” and Article 5 which states: “Freedom and the secrecy of correspondence and any other form of communication is inviolable. “

The Pope confirms his position as he had done also in May, when the turmoil in the Holy See had led to the dismissal by Ettore Gotti Tedeschi at the head of the IOR and the arrest of the Pope’s butler, Paul Gabriel, found in possession of confidential papers. The former president of the Vatican Bank also talk of a cranny opened at the institution on behalf of a layman used as a vehicle for money laundering. Without specifying, however, the name on that might be involved in cases Major events, P4 and Finmeccanica. For this reason, the currency of the Guardia di Finanza police of Rome is investigating “a dozen accounts for religious, but actually it was used as a straw man by whom he needed to move behind the screen of anonymity.”

Among the sensitive documents emerged in recent weeks the letters sent to Bertone, secretary of the Council of the Vatican bank vice president Carl Anderson and Hermann Schmitz. where you explained how Gotti Tedeschi threw “shadows on the work of Ratzinger.” And in February the Done was also published letters from Bertone former bishop of Milan Dionigi Tettamanzi, president of the Toniolo, showing that the Secretary of State in March 2011 arrogated to itself the right to dismiss the chairman of the symbol of relations between Church and politics.

As for Gabriel, however, on charges of aggravated theft was not an attack against the security of a State (or of receiving stolen property). Gabriel is considered a man of mild character, almost naive, incapable of conspiring against the Pope, even if driven by a good feeling, is not the mind, if anything, an arm. A cell of a network that was trying to convey the power and drive the conflict between Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and the rest of the Holy See in fibrillation for succession and ambitions.

In documents leaked from the Vatican halls, the Secretary of State was quoted and criticized “for his handling of government”, because it had pushed for the third time to ask Ratzinger leaving office. The Pope does not want to give in to pressure from the Ravens and the controversy fueled by the press. Although, on the other hand, continued pressure from foreign archbishops and in particular the Australian cardinal Pell, convinced of the need for a replacement at the top of the Vatican Secretariat. But the right time has not arrived yet and probably prefer to wait for Benedict XVI in 2013. Only after the election results, possibly, could be the long-awaited change of guard. Or, conversely, a further extension of the assignment.

Read more in original Italian article: http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2012/07/02/vatileaks-bertone-vuole-dimettersi-ma-ratzinger-respinge-la-richiesta/280972/
www.soundofheart.org – The Galactic Free Press - link to article

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http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,16066074,00.html

2 July Germany

The president of Germany's domestic intelligence agency, known as the Verfassungsschutz, has resigned his post. Heinz Fromm had come under pressure for his agency's handling of a high-profile neo-Nazi investigation.

Heinz Fromm has been in charge of Germany's domestic intelligence agency since 2000. He offered his resignation to Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich on Monday, and the conservative minister accepted early in the afternoon.

Fromm came under pressure last Wednesday when it emerged that members of his agency had shredded files that were tied to a high-profile investigation into a neo-Nazi cell in Germany.

The small group, calling themselves the National Socialist Underground (NSU), had evaded capture for over a decade - killing nine foreigners living in Germany and one German policewoman in that period.

full story at link

Sabrina

2nd July 2012, 20:23

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9368816/Libor-rigging-was-institutionalised-at-major-UK-bank.html

Libor rigging 'was institutionalised at major UK bank'

Interest rate rigging was institutionalised at one of Britain's biggest banks, an insider has claimed, with market manipulation openly discussed between managers, staff and customers.

Barclays was last week fined £290m for trying to fix the inter-bank lending rate but, in a first person account for The Daily Telegraph, a salesman at another major UK bank has claimed that "everyone knew" and "everyone was doing it".

At the insider's bank, around 30 people – including managers and treasurers – attended an internal meeting in early 2008 where the policy of submitting artificially low Libor rates was explained in detail and fully justified.

Documents released alongside Barclays' settlement last week also showed that UK regulators were aware that banks had been understating Libor but did not act, painting an endemic picture of corruption across the industry.

According to the bank insider, who asked to remain anonymous, manipulating the inter-bank rate had become so widespread that there was a technical phrase to describe it – the "dislocation of Libor from itself".

The bank even dispatched sales teams to customers to explain that borrowing rates were rising because the real rate of Libor was higher than the stated rate.

full story at link

Sabrina

2nd July 2012, 20:33

http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-07-01/big-banks-have-criminally-conspired-2005-rig-800-trillion-dollar-market

Big Banks Have Criminally Conspired Since 2005 to Rig $800 Trillion Dollar Market

Submitted by George Washington on 07/01/2012 21:40 -0400

We noted Friday:

Barclays and other large banks – including Citigroup, HSBC, J.P. Morgan Chase, Lloyds, Bank of America, UBS, Royal Bank of Scotland– manipulated the world’s primary interest rate (Libor) which virtually every adjustable-rate investment globally is pegged to.

***

That means they manipulated a good chunk of the world economy.
We actually understated the impact of the Libor scandal.

Specifically, more than $800 trillion dollars worth of investments are pegged to the Libor rate. As the Wall Street Journal reports today:

More than $800 trillion in securities and loans are linked to the Libor, including $350 trillion in swaps and $10 trillion in loans.
(Click here if you don’t have a subscription to the Journal).

Remember, the derivatives market is approximately $1,200 trillion dollars. Interest rate derivatives comprise the lion’s share of all derivatives, and could blow up and take down the entire financial system.

The largest interest rate derivatives sellers include Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Goldman and JP Morgan … many of which are being exposed for manipulating Libor.

They have been manipulating Libor on a daily basis since 2005.

They are still part of the group of banks which sets Libor every day, and none have been criminally prosecuted.

They have received a light slap on the wrist from regulators, which – as nobel economist Joe Stiglitz points out – is just the cost of doing business when fraud is the business model.

Indeed – as Bloomberg notes – they’re probably still manipulating the rate:

The U.K. bankers and regulators charged with reviewing Libor in the wake of regulatory probes are resisting calls to overhaul the rate because structural changes risk invalidating trillions of dollars of contracts.

The group, established by the British Bankers’ Association in March after probes into allegations that traders rigged the London interbank offered rate … won’t propose structural changes such as basing the rate on actual trades or taking away oversight of the benchmark from the BBA, the people said.

Libor is determined by a daily poll that asks banks to estimate how much it would cost them to borrow from each other for different timeframes and in different currencies. Because banks’ submissions aren’t based on real trades, academics and lawyers say they are open to manipulation by traders. At least a dozen firms are being probed by regulators worldwide for colluding to rig the rate, the benchmark for $350 trillion of securities.

“I don’t see a significant enhancement to the reputation of Libor without basing it on actual transactions,” said Rosa Abrantes-Metz, an economist with Global Economics Group, a New York-based consultancy, an associate professor with New YorkUniversity’s Stern School of Business and the co-author of a 2008 paper entitled “Libor Manipulation?” [Shah Gilani also warned of Libor manipulation in 2008, and Tyler Durden, Max Keiser and others started sounding the alarm at or around the same time.]

“It would only be disruptive if current quotes are inaccurate,” so resistance “is suspicious,” she said.

***

Traders interviewed by Bloomberg in March at three firms said they were given no guidance on how Libor should be set and there were no so-called Chinese walls preventing contact between the treasury staff charged with submitting the rate and traders who stood to profit on where Libor was set each day. They regularly discussed where Libor would be set with their colleagues and their counterparts at other firms, they said.

“Sadly the response looks to be very consistent with the response of policy makers to the banking disasters we’ve seen over the last four years — cosmetic changes, but nothing substantial happens,” said Richard Werner, a finance professor at the University of Southampton. “It’s insufficient and doesn’t really go to the heart of the problem.”

Sabrina

2nd July 2012, 20:37

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-scam-wall-street-learned-from-the-mafia-20120620#ixzz1zTWxBPr3

The Scam Wall Street Learned From the Mafia
How America's biggest banks took part in a nationwide bid-rigging conspiracy - until they were caught on tape

story at link

Sabrina

2nd July 2012, 20:41

Well it´s certainly peak resignation and fraud uncovering time....

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/01/us-usa-utah-mormons-idUSBRE86000N20120701

Mormons quit church in mass resignation ceremony

(Reuters) - A group of about 150 Mormons quit their church in a mass resignation ceremony in Salt Lake City on Saturday in a rare display of defiance ending decades of disagreement for some over issues ranging from polygamy to gay marriage.

Participants from Utah, Arizona, Idaho and elsewhere gathered in a public park to sign a "Declaration of Independence from Mormonism."

"This feels awesome," said Alison Lucas, from West Jordan, Utah, who took part in the rally amid soaring temperatures. "I don't know if I would have had the courage except in a group."

The Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is known for its culture of obedience, and the mass ceremony was a seldom-seen act of collective revolt.

After gathering in the park, participants hiked a half-mile up nearby Ensign Peak, scaled in 1847 by church President Brigham Young to survey the spot where his Latter-day Saints would build a city.

At the top, those gathered gave three loud shouts of "Freedom," cheered, clapped and hugged.

"It's been a hard journey and this is a symbolic end," said event organizer Zilpha Larsen, of Lehi, Utah. "I just hope that it boosts people up and helps them feel more comfortable in their decision."

The church bills itself as the one "true" Christian faith, and its theology promises families eternal relationships among those who remain faithful, sealing those gifts through special religious rites.

Among the reasons cited by those resigning are the church's political activism against gay marriage and doctrinal teachings that conflict with scientific findings or are perceived as racist or sexist.

Others cite inconsistencies in the Mormons' explanation of its own history, including the practice of polygamy. The church renounced plural marriage over a century ago as Utah was seeking statehood.

Asked about the resignations, a church spokesman said the church loves and respects each member.

"People make their own decisions about the direction they will follow in life," spokesman Michael Purdy said in an email. "While there are very few who take this action, it is sad to see someone choose to leave. We wish them well."

The most recent figures show the Mormon church claims 14.4 million members worldwide. The number of those resigning from the church are not publicly reported.

Among prominent Mormons is Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee facing off against President Barack Obama in November. Should he win office, Romney would be the first Mormon elected to the White House.

'WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL'

Some leaving the church Saturday did so with trepidation, as Mormon culture often stigmatizes those who fall away, leaving some without social or business connections.

"It's hard, so we have to be very careful," said Robin Hansen, a participant who said she quit over a "culture of abuse" which she believes is cultivated by church teachings promoting obedience.

Hansen said her husband had not joined her in leaving the faith because he works in a church-related business and could lose his job if he doesn't maintain his membership.

To resign from the church, Mormons must submit a formal letter asking their names be removed from church rolls, a church instructional handbook for lay leaders published on the Internet in 2010 shows.

On Saturday, participants filled a basket with their letters for mailing by Larsen, who split with the church over doubts about the veracity of a translation of ancient Egyptian writings which are included in sacred Mormon texts.

A sixth-generation Mormon, Kris Fielding, 35, traveled from Phoenix for the resignation event in part to represent those who do not yet have the courage to do so, he said, including his wife, who worries about reaction from their families.

Married in a Mormon temple, Fielding said the couples shared disaffection from their faith is tied in part to their local church leader's response to questions Fielding had about polyandry and polygamy - taking multiple husbands and wives - in the early church.

"I went to him looking for a faithful perspective. He called my wife and told her she needed to find a new husband," Fielding said.

He said he felt relief after his decision.

"The monkey's off the back ... I don't feel like I have to explain myself or the positions of the church anymore."

Sabrina

2nd July 2012, 20:50

http://americankabuki.blogspot.ie/2012/07/debt-based-banking-its-all-about-to-end.html#more

Debt Based Banking: It's All About to End

This is from a new blog by Andrew Kemp. He come's out of the gate swinging with this article! Welome to fray Andrew!

earthupgrade.wordpress.com

Business Insider: It’s All About to End
Posted on July 1, 2012

Sorry for the doom and gloom, but it really isn’t. When is the beginning of the end of a prison a bad thing when the good guys are on the inside and the guardsmen are bankers?

When I say ‘It’, I don’t just mean a snivvly little recession, or even a depression, I mean the whole system of fiat currency and debt financing. As a recap, fiat currency is not backed by anything, so its value is only what people trust it is worth. Now that people are realising that our money is NOT backed by gold or metals or anything, and that even making money out of thin air won’t solve the problems, our trust in the very paper money causing the problems is, well, nil. When I say ‘debt financing’, I mean that everything is based on debt. This starts with the central banks, which lend money to governments and populations at interest, which requires more money to be printed to pay off the original currency issue, and so on and so on.

The first video explains the debt financing side of things, and the second video explains the fiat currency side of things (fractional reserve banking). Take both together, and you can see that we are deliberately indebted with money that is worthless:

full story and videos at link

Sabrina

2nd July 2012, 21:07

http://lucas2012infos.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/andreas-wassermann-and-peter-wensierski-catholic-church-fears-growing-vatican-bank-scandal-2-july-2012/

2 July VATICAN

Andreas Wassermann And Peter Wensierski – 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.

The Vatican scandal over shady bank accounts and millions in suspect transfers began shortly before sunrise on June 5 on Via Giuseppe Verdi, a picturesque street in the old part of Piacenza, a town in northeastern Italy. An elderly gentleman in a tailor-made suit had just left his house with a leather briefcase dangling from his right hand. He was on his way to his car.
It was to be an important day for Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, who had recently been fired as the head of the Vatican bank — even if it turned out differently than he’d expected. Tedeschi was planning to go to the Vatican on that morning, but he never got there. The 67-year-old banker missed the high-speed train to Rome, meaning he couldn’t, as he had planned, get into a taxi at the Italian capital‘s central station for the short journey across the Tiber Riverto the Vatican. There, he had hoped to take the documents out of his briefcase and hand them over to a confidant of the pope.

Instead, Gotti Tedeschi found four men waiting for him in the street — not a hit squad as he feared at first, but investigators with the Carabinieri, Italy’s national military police force. Even before he reached his car, they presented him with a search warrant and escorted him back to his house. For several hours, they searched through his sparsely furnished, cloister-like home office. At the same time, other officers were searching through Gotti Tedeschi’s office in Milan. Among the objects they confiscated were two computers, two cabinets’ full of binders, a planner and his briefcase.

The investigators were pleased. While they made but little headway in their corruption investigation involving a client of a company Gotti Tedeschi had once headed, an Italian subsidiary of the Spanish banking giant Santander, they stumbled upon something else in there search which proved to be spectacular.

The documents confiscated from Gotti Tadeschi, a former confidant of the pope, provided Italian law-enforcement officials insight into the innermost workings of the Vatican bank. The secret dossier includes references to anonymous numbered accounts and questionable transactions as well as written and electronic communications reportedly showing how Church banking officials circumvented European regulations aimed at combating money-laundering.

full story at link

Star Tsar

2nd July 2012, 21:09

Sabrina

2nd July 2012, 21:09

JZcqRvuOpK8

Sabrina

2nd July 2012, 21:16

I so hope so Sabrina but my streetwiseness tells me when you've got a scam going you ride it till the wheels fall off.
Can't see them relinquishing their grip without us having a heavy price to pay...
:twitch:

Looks as tho´a lot of wheels are falling off the buses at the mo wearing my own street wise hat :)

Sabrina

3rd July 2012, 09:13

http://lucas2012infos.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/volubrjotr-political-vel-craft-breaking-prison-time-looms-romney-urged-to-resign-ineligible-mitt-romney-begins-his-cronie-organized-criminal-acts-2-july-2012/

Volubrjotr – Political Vel Craft – Breaking – Prison Time Looms – Romney Urged To Resign: Ineligible Mitt Romney – Begins His Cronie Organized Criminal Acts! – 2 July 2012

( Lucas : Political Vel Craft – author Volubrjotr reports on lawsuit against Romney that could make Romney resign.)

“crime and violence taking place at state conventions, where bones were being broken, fingers broken and voting machines rigged.” He compared the Romney campaign to “an organized-crime syndicate, like locusts, committing crimes to influence votes.”
– Attorney Richard Gilbert

Attorney Richard Gilbert explains that American popular support for Presidential Candidate Ron Paul is so strong that it was impossible for Americans to tolerate blatant criminal acts that were being repeatedly committed to steal the election.

Two Words For Those Upset By The Rand Paul Endorsement Of Mitt Romney: Not Eligible!
Maine Election Fraud Documented: Election Fraud & Voter Fraud Are Two Different Criminal Beasts!
Ron Paul’s nomination is too important and his legacy so respectbeen amassed from Team Romney’s careless trek from state to state breaking multiple election laws as ed that millions of Americans are demanding Romney be disqualified for election fraud. A mountain of evidence has an organized crime syndicate.

full story and videos at link

Sabrina

3rd July 2012, 09:19

Barclays chairman has already resigned. Chief Executive Diamond said he wasn´t going. Now he has. Significant resignations here. :)

Barclays boss Bob Diamond resigns amid Libor scandal

3 July UK

Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond has resigned with immediate effect.

The move comes less than a week after the bank was fined for trying to manipulate inter-bank lending rates, sparking a government inquiry and calls for criminal investigations.

Mr Diamond said he was stepping down because the external pressure on the bank risked "damaging the franchise".

Chancellor George Osborne said he hoped it was the "first step towards a new culture of responsibility" in banking.

"It is the right decision for the country," Mr Osborne said, saying the country needed a strong Barclays concentrating on lending and contributing to economic recovery.

Chairman Marcus Agius, who had announced his own resignation on Monday, will now take over the running of Barclays until a replacement is found.

"I am deeply disappointed that the impression created by the events announced last week about what Barclays and its people stand for could not be further from the truth," Mr Diamond said in a statement.

He will still appear before MPs on the Treasury Committee on Wednesday to answer questions about the Libor affair.

"I look forward to fulfilling my obligation to contribute to the Treasury Committee's enquiries related to the settlements that Barclays announced last week without my leadership in question," Mr Diamond said.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, told the BBC that Mr Diamond's resignation was "the right decision".

"There are many questions to be answered about the rate fixing and Barclays will have to answer many of those questions," said Mr Alexander.

"Responsibility has been taken in the right way. Hopefully this will help Barclays to establish the right culture in the future."

Resignation calls
Last week, regulators in the US and UK fined Barclays £290m ($450m) for attempting to rig Libor and Euribor, the interest rates at which banks lend to each other, which underpin trillions of pounds worth of financial transactions.

Staff did this over a number of years, trying to raise them for profit and then, during the financial crisis, lowering them to hide the level to which Barclays was under financial stress.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who has launched an inquiry into banking standards, has described the rigging of Libor rates as "a scandal".

The Serious Fraud Office is also considering whether to bring criminal charges.

After Mr Agius announced his resignation on Monday, politicians and shareholders continued to call for Mr Diamond to go.

Responding to news of his departure, opposition leader Ed Miliband said: "It was clear Bob Diamond was not the man to lead the change that Barclays needed."

He repeated Labour's criticism of the terms of the parliamentary inquiry, to be led by the head of the Treasury Committee, that the government announced this week.

"This is about the culture and practices of the entire banking system which is why we need an independent, open, judge-led, public inquiry."

Mr Diamond is one of the UK's highest paid chief executives, earning £20m last year, and was described as "the unacceptable face" of banking by the then business secretary Lord Mandelson in 2010.

George Osborne: "I think Bob Diamond has made the right decision for Barclays, and also the right decision for the country"
He was head of Barclays Capital, its investment bank division, when his staff were trying to manipulate the key inter-bank rates.

"He maintains that he didn't know what was going on," says BBC business editor Robert Peston. "He feels he was hounded out."

It emerged over the weekend that Mr Diamond spoke to the deputy governor of the Bank of England Andrew Tucker about Barclays' Libor submissions at the height of the credit crunch in 2008.

The details of that telephone conversation will be an important area of questioning at this week's hearing of the Treasury Committee.

Barclays' managers came to believe, after the conversation between Mr Diamond and Mr Tucker, that the Bank of England had sanctioned them to lie about what they were paying to borrow when providing data to the committees that set the Libor rate.

BBC

Alie

3rd July 2012, 21:18

Found this on American Kabuki

Barclays blames 'senior Whitehall figures' for Libor scandal
as Bob Diamond resigns - live feed
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jul/03/bob-diamond-quits-barclays

• 2008 email implicates Bank of England and Labour government in Libor manipulation
• Barclays briefs media on CEO's departure - 3.25pm onwards
• COO Jerry Del Missier also resigns - full details
• Sir Mervyn King implicated.....
• Will Diamond now 'declare war' on Bank of England?
• Boris Johnson still values Diamond
• Barclays statement here

Note: The Bank of England is Rothschild . It is, like the Federal Reserve (co-owned by blood-line families along with the Rothschilds) , anything but Government owned, despite its official sounding name. All central banks are Rothschild owned but 2 (I believe Russia and China). The BIS is also a Rothschild enterprise.

* EDIT Here's an even more revealing article (Stage set for fireworks after Barclays board meltdown Bob Diamond's bitter departure from Barclays has left the lender at war with the Bank of England.)

Stage set for fireworks after Barclays board meltdown

"Bob Diamond's bitter departure from Barclays has left the lender at war with the Bank of England.

Never before has the board of a major British company imploded so spectacularly.

When last Friday night Barclays Bank directors retired for the weekend, they were still calculating they could ride out the storm.

The bank had been caught rigging interest rates. It had coughed up £290m to settle with regulators and seen the shares slide 15pc in a day.

But, despite the calls for the heads of chief executive Bob Diamond and chairman Marcus Agius, Barclays insisted the pair were going nowhere – and neither was Jerry del Missier, the chief operating officer.

Four days later, all three had quit – though, in one of the more bizarre episodes in UK corporate life Agius resigned on Monday only to return a day later in a temporarily bigger role.

more at link

danceblackcatdance

3rd July 2012, 22:00

Seems like the wheels fell off a while ago, bit like the chicken running round doesn't know it's heads been cut off yet... Anyway, great updates.. really appreciate thx :)

Sabrina

4th July 2012, 09:38

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.

Sabrina

4th July 2012, 09:44

Interesting revelations to come about about the City of London this week by the look of it:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jul/03/bob-diamond-quits-barclays-libor-scandal
4 July UK

Bob Diamond cuts up rough as he quits Barclays
Chief executive forced out as he prepares riposte over Libor rate-fixing scandal

Bob Diamond, the boss of Barclays who has resigned from the embattled bank, was expected to come out fighting for his reputation on Wednesday when he appears before a powerful committee of MPs.

The high-profile and outspoken banker is expected to unleash a wave of explosive revelations about the role of City watchdogs and senior Whitehall figures in the manipulation of crucial interest rates that landed the bank with a record £290m fine last week.

The chancellor, George Osborne, who had been putting the banker under intense pressure to quit, said his sudden resignation was "the right decision for Barclays – and for the country". "I think Bob Diamond's resignation is the first step towards the new age of responsibility we need to see."

After an extraordinary 24 hours during which the bank's chairman, Marcus Agius, quit only to be temporarily reinstated once Diamond had departed, the role of Bank of England officials in the rate-rigging scandal is likely to take centre stage in the hearing with MPs.

With Barclays in turmoil, Diamond is fighting for his own reputation, which politicians have used to symbolise the culture of greed in City banking. Diamond, under pressure from the banking regulator and the governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King, quit after he decided he would be the lightning rod for the scandal at the hearing.

The American-born banker, who could be in line for a payoff of £22m, is facing pressure to walk away with nothing after being paid £100m by the bank in the past six years. There are also calls by shareholders for the bank to look at ways of clawing back bonuses paid in the past.

full story at link

and via the Huffington Post:

Robert Diamond, Disgraced Barclays Banker, Pulls Out Of Romney Fundraiser

WASHINGTON -- A disgraced London banker has rescinded an offer to co-host a high-dollar fundraiser for Mitt Romney, sparing the GOP hopeful the difficulty of appearing at a lavish event with a man embroiled in scandal.

Romney's plan to hold a fundraiser in London this summer with Barclays CEO Robert Diamond was reported June 28 by the London Telegraph. The cost of the dinner seemed to shock the British paper, which noted that "the price of invitations dwarfs the amounts paid for such fund-raisers in British politics."

Sabrina

4th July 2012, 09:57

4 July

FRANCE
French Police Raid Sarkozy’s Home, Offices in Illicit-Campaign-Funding Inquiry

Police raids on Tuesday targeting the home and offices of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy aim to turn up evidence in alleged illegal campaign funding of conservatives by L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy may be gone from power, but he’s not forgotten — especially among French justice officials. On Tuesday, investigating magistrates looking into alleged illegal campaign funding of Sarkozy’s conservative Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party raided three different sites linked to the former head of state — including the swank 16th-arrondissement villa, Montmorency, he shares with his millionaire wife Carla Bruni. It’s unknown whether those searches turned up anything salient to the high-profile case, which involves at least one person claiming that Sarkozy himself pocketed illicit donations for his 2007 presidential campaign. Sarkozy has previously denied that he or his party received such funds. The former President did not immediately respond to Tuesday’s developments from Canada, where he’s spending what is now a ruined family vacation.

The raids — which also targeted the offices of Sarkozy’s personal attorney as well as his own legal practice — were launched by judges investigating allegations of illegal campaign financing that arose from a long-running, real-life soap opera. It began with a legal case filed by the daughter of billionaire L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, who claimed her frail mother was being fleeced by a cabal of unscrupulous, self-serving advisers and intimates – one of whom received “gifts” from the elder Bettencourt of over $1 billion, including a tropical island. The inquiry into those contentions has since snaked outward into the political world, where they’ve ensnared several leading UMP officials, including key Sarkozy backers. Press revelations in the case produced both substantiated accusations and unconfirmed claims that combined to create a negative image of France’s former ruling conservatives in the public mind — all of which factored significantly into Sarkozy’s re-election loss. Central to it was the perception that Sarkozy and the right accorded favors, tailored policy and even turned a blind eye to tax evasion to retain the political and financial support of their superwealthy patrons. By mid-2010, the scent of scandal had become so strong within Sarkozy’s inner circle that the President was forced to use a nationally televised address to counterattack — with limited success, as the election results attested in the end.

full story here

Read more: http://world.time.com/2012/07/03/french-police-raid-sarkozys-home-offices-in-illicit-campaign-funding-inquiry/#ixzz1ze7CI5Bz

and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18693321

French police search Nicolas Sarkozy home and office

The allegations relate to the financing of Mr Sarkozy's 2007 election campaign

Police have carried out searches of the home and offices of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy as part of a campaign financing probe.

A law firm in which Mr Sarkozy owns shares was also searched, reports say.

The investigation is related to allegations that Mr Sarkozy's 2007 presidential election campaign received illegal donations from France's richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt.

Mr Sarkozy has previously denied all wrongdoing.

He is currently in Canada with his family, his lawyer, Thierry Herzog, told the AFP news agency.

In presidential elections in May, Mr Sarkozy lost to Socialist challenger Francois Hollande, and his presidential immunity from prosecution ended on 16 June.

Tens of thousands of euros were allegedly funnelled to Mr Sarkozy's campaign by Ms Bettencourt's office.

full story at link

Sabrina

4th July 2012, 10:21

http://inagist.com/all/219893058249043971/

UK Independent newspaper headline yesterday:

WILL WE SEE CITY BANKERS BEHIND BARS

and

4 July

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-libor-conspiracy-were-the-bank-of-england-and-whitehall-in-on-it-7906916.html

The Libor Conspiracy: Were the Bank of England and Whitehall in on it?

The Bank of England was dragged into the interest-rate rigging scandal last night after an email was released suggesting it may have encouraged banks to doctor their borrowing costs during the financial crisis.

The email – an account of a conversation between the chief executive of Barclays, Bob Diamond, and the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Paul Tucker – appears to show Barclays was under the impression that manipulating rates was being sanctioned at the highest level.

The email was released by Barclays ahead of today's high-profile showdown between Mr Diamond and MPs on the Treasury Select Committee. Mr Diamond is certain to be asked what advice he received from the Bank of England on the reporting of Barclays' Libor rates.

Any suggestion that the manipulation was authorised by Mr Tucker, the Permanent Secretary at the Treasury Sir Nicholas Macpherson or government ministers would be highly damaging and increase pressure for a full public inquiry.

The email came at the end of a day of dramatic developments in which it emerged that:

* Mr Diamond could be in line for a payment of up to £30m after announcing his immediate departure as head of the bank. Barclays was said to be attempting to get its former chief executive to waive up to £20m in bonus payments.

* Mr Diamond's resignation was triggered by a call from the Governor of the Bank of England Sir Mervyn King to Barclays' chairman, Sir Marcus Agius. Some reports suggested Sir Mervyn told Barclays that unless Mr Diamond went, the BoE might not stand as the backer of last resort.

But it was the release of an internal Barclays email which could prove the most significant development.

The email, dated 30 October 2008, was from Mr Diamond, then head of Barclays Capital, to John Varley, Barclays' chief executive, and copied in to Jerry del Missier, then co-head of the investment bank.

In it he details a phone conversation with Mr Tucker who was concerned at Barclays' high reported Libor borrowing costs. Mr Diamond said the Deputy Governor told him he had received calls "from a number of senior figures within Whitehall" to question "why Barclays was always toward the top end of the Libor pricing". Mr Diamond said he told him that the Treasury should be told it was because other banks were under-reporting their own borrowing costs. He said the response was, "Oh, that would be worse".

In the most damaging section of the email Mr Diamond says he was told the calls from the Treasury were "senior", before appearing to give a strong hint that Barclays should also under-report its borrowing rates. He said Mr Tucker told him: "it did not always need to be the case that we appeared as high as we have recently."

But in its submission to the select committee Barclays claimed that was not what Mr Diamond meant by the email. "Subsequent to the call, Bob Diamond relayed the contents of the conversation to Jerry del Missier," Barclays said.

"Bob Diamond did not believe he received an instruction from Paul Tucker or that he gave an instruction to Jerry del Missier. However, Jerry del Missier concluded that an instruction had been passed down from the Bank of England not to keep Libors so high and he therefore passed down a direction to that effect to the submitters."

In a hastily convened conference call yesterday afternoon Barclays' chairman Marcus Agius refused to provide any explanation for the apparent contradictions within the bank's submission.

"There is a hearing of the Treasury Select Committee tomorrow when this will be addressed," he said.

Despite repeated questions Mr Agius refused to explain further.

The Tories are hoping to embroil the shadow Chancellor Ed Balls in the scandal. Although he was not a Treasury minister at the time he was close to Gordon Brown. Mr Balls said he knew nothing about senior figures in Whitehall applying pressure over Barclays' Libor pricing.

Bob Diamond’s own note of a phone call with Paul Tucker, Bank of England Deputy Governor, 29 October 2008

Mr Tucker reiterated that he had received calls from a number of senior figures within Whitehall to question why Barclays was always toward the top end of the Libor pricing...

I asked if he could relay the reality, that not all banks were providing quotes at the levels that represented real transactions, his response “oh, that would be worse”...

I noted that we continued to see others in the market posting rates at levels that were not representative of where they would actually undertake business...

Shock in the City: The day banks were called to account

7.40am Barclays announces the resignation of chief executive Bob Diamond with immediate effect. Chairman Marcus Agius, who announced his own resignation on Monday, returns to the role and will lead the bank until a replacement is found.

8.01am Barclays' shares fall in early morning trading, dropping around 3 per cent to 163p.

8.18am The Chancellor, George Osborne, who was appearing on Radio 4's Today programme, says he welcomes Diamond's resignation, calling it "the first step towards the new age of responsibility we need to see."

8.40am Labour leader Ed Miliband says that Diamond's resignation was "necessary and right".

8.48am Barclays' shares recover, up 1 per cent to 170p.

11.59am BBC business editor Robert Peston tweets that Governor of Bank of England Mervyn King and the chair of the FSA told Barclays they would be, in Peston's words, "happy for Diamond to go".

2.45pm Barclays' chief operating officer Jerry del Missier resigns.

3.22pm Barclays publishes its submission to the Treasury Select Committee, chaired by Andrew Tyrie, ahead of today's hearing with Bob Diamond. It contains an email from Diamond, detailing a phone call between himself and the deputy governor of the Bank of England, Paul Tucker, in October 2008, in which Tucker appears to tell Diamond that Barclays need not set the Libor rate "as high as we have recently". The email refers to "senior figures within Whitehall" questioning Barclays setting of the Libor rate.

3.25pm Agius says Diamond and del Missier have put "the future of the bank ahead of their careers".

3.40pm Diamond's daughter, Nell, defends her father on Twitter, writing: "No one in the world I admire more than my dad. 16yrs building Barclays. Shame to see the mistakes of few tarnish the hard work of so many."

4.56pm Barclays shares close down 1.35 per cent at 168.4p.

Sabrina

4th July 2012, 10:25

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/a-growing-vatican-bank-scandal-threatens-catholic-church-image-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.

The Vatican scandal over shady bank accounts and millions in suspect transfers began shortly before sunrise on June 5 on Via Giuseppe Verdi, a picturesque street in the old part of Piacenza, a town in northeastern Italy. An elderly gentleman in a tailor-made suit had just left his house with a leather briefcase dangling from his right hand. He was on his way to his car.

It was to be an important day for Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, who had recently been fired as the head of the Vatican bank -- even if it turned out differently than he'd expected. Tedeschi was planning to go to the Vatican on that morning, but he never got there. The 67-year-old banker missed the high-speed train to Rome, meaning he couldn't, as he had planned, get into a taxi at the Italian capital's central station for the short journey across the Tiber River to the Vatican. There, he had hoped to take the documents out of his briefcase and hand them over to a confidant of the pope.
Instead, Gotti Tedeschi found four men waiting for him in the street -- not a hit squad as he feared at first, but investigators with the Carabinieri, Italy's national military police force. Even before he reached his car, they presented him with a search warrant and escorted him back to his house. For several hours, they searched through his sparsely furnished, cloister-like home office. At the same time, other officers were searching through Gotti Tedeschi's office in Milan. Among the objects they confiscated were two computers, two cabinets' full of binders, a planner and his briefcase.

The investigators were pleased. While they made but little headway in their corruption investigation involving a client of a company Gotti Tedeschi had once headed, an Italian subsidiary of the Spanish banking giant Santander, they stumbled upon something else in there search which proved to be spectacular.

The documents confiscated from Gotti Tadeschi, a former confidant of the pope, provided Italian law-enforcement officials insight into the innermost workings of the Vatican bank. The secret dossier includes references to anonymous numbered accounts and questionable transactions as well as written and electronic communications reportedly showing how Church banking officials circumvented European regulations aimed at combating money-laundering.
full story at link

Sabrina

4th July 2012, 10:53

http://www.tdarkcabal.blogspot.ca/2012/07/july-1-2012-white-hats-report-43.html

The White Hats report on the latest financial revelations.

Sabrina

4th July 2012, 10:58

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

4th July 2012, 11:18

http://rt.com/business/news/banks-crisis-failure-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/episode-309-max-keiser/

and

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/07/02/ex-brokers-say-jpmorgan-favored-selling-banks-own-funds-over-others/?src=me&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

4th July 2012, 11:38

Billy

4th July 2012, 14:09

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

4th July 2012, 19:20

Lettherebelight

4th July 2012, 19:29

http://stevefrazer.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/bonuses1.png

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

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

Sabrina

5th July 2012, 19:58

http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/137813/burma-39-s-vp-resigns-in-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

5th July 2012, 21:10

Pretty blunt reports coming out at the moment -

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/05/world/asia/japan-fukushima-report/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

6th July 2012, 19:06

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/05/countrywide-loan-discounts_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

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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 , 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."

[B]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.