Thank you for taking action on banking crimes!


I signed the Avaaz petition because I would love to see the bankers go to prison. That would be well justified.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/bankers_behind_bars_g/

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/10/us-banks-recoveryplans-idUSBRE87905N20...

http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/m=02&d=20120810&t=2&i=640921938&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE8790BAT00

Exclusive: U.S. banks told to make plans for preventing collapse

By Rick Rothacker
Fri Aug 10, 2012 8:41am EDT
(Reuters) - U.S. regulators directed five of the country's biggest banks, including Bank of America Corp and Goldman Sachs Group Inc, to develop plans for staving off collapse if they faced serious problems, emphasizing that the banks could not count on government help.

The two-year-old program, which has been largely secret until now, is in addition to the "living wills" the banks crafted to help regulators dismantle them if they actually do fail. It shows how hard regulators are working to ensure that banks have plans for worst-case scenarios and can act rationally in times of distress.

Officials like Lehman Brothers former Chief Executive Dick Fuld have been criticized for having been too hesitant to take bold steps to solve their banks' problems during the financial crisis.

According to documents obtained by Reuters, the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency first directed five banks - which also include Citigroup Inc,, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co - to come up with these "recovery plans" in May 2010.

They told banks to consider drastic efforts to prevent failure in times of distress, including selling off businesses, finding other funding sources if regular borrowing markets shut them out, and reducing risk. The plans must be feasible to execute within three to six months, and banks were to "make no assumption of extraordinary support from the public sector," according to the documents.

Spokespeople for the five banks declined to comment. The Federal Reserve also declined to comment.

Recovery plans differ from living wills, also known as "resolution plans," which are required under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law. Living wills aim to end bailouts of too-big-to-fail banks by showing how they would liquidate themselves without imperiling the financial system.

"Recovery plans are about protecting the crown jewels," said Paul Cantwell, a managing director at consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal. "It's about, 'How do I sell off non-core assets?' The priority is to the shareholders. A resolution plan is about protecting the system, taxpayers and creditors."

The recovery plans are being used as part of regulators' ongoing supervisory process. In Britain, recovery and resolution plans have both been part of the living will requirements for large banks.

Mike Brosnan, senior deputy comptroller for large banks at the OCC, said the regulator continuously evaluates contingency planning at the banks and savings associations it supervises.

"Recovery plans required of the largest banks are helpful in ensuring banks and regulators are prepared to manage periods of severe financial distress or instability affecting the banking sector," he said.

This summer, nine global banks submitted living wills to the Fed and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, and regulators released the public portion of the documents.

The recovery plans requested in 2010, meanwhile, have received little publicity. The names of the banks required to submit them have not been previously disclosed, and Reuters obtained them only through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The Fed supplied Reuters with the letters requesting plans from banks, but not the banks' actual plans because they were deemed confidential supervisory information. The regulator said it was withholding 5,100 pages of information.

MOVING FURTHER FROM DISASTER

Five years after the financial crisis, concerns remain about whether blow-ups at big banks could lead to another round of taxpayer bailouts. Trading losses have cost JPMorgan nearly $6 billion so far, and scandals such as the alleged rigging of an international interest rate benchmark have only highlighted the risks lurking inside big banks.

These disasters have damaged banks' reputations, but not their balance sheets. Most are still profitable, and in recent years the five banks have improved their capital bases and liquidity. They also have been subjected to annual Federal Reserve stress tests that measure whether the banks have sufficient capital to weather severe economic scenarios.

Bank of America and Citigroup, in a sense, have already been executing the kind of moves called for in the recovery plans. Both have been selling off non-core operations and assets to streamline their sprawling businesses, after receiving multiple bailouts during the financial crisis.

Bank of America in June 2011 told Fed officials that it could shed branches in some parts of the country if it needed to raise capital in an emergency, a person familiar with the matter said in January. The proposal was part of a series of options provided to the Fed, including issuing a tracking stock for Bank of America's Merrill Lynch operations.

But just because the bank proposed selling branches does not mean it's a desirable move or highly probable, the person said. In the past year, Bank of America has shown progress in building capital without such actions. Its Tier 1 common capital ratio increased to 11.24 percent of risk-weighted assets as of June 30 from 8.23 percent a year earlier.

Tier 1 refers to a bank's core capital and has been the main focus of regulators in assessing a bank's capital adequacy.

MENTIONED IN PASSING

The banks' chief risk officers, and in the case of Citigroup, Chief Executive Vikram Pandit, received letters in May 2010 instructing them on what to include in the recovery plans. The requests stemmed from January 2010 crisis management meetings held by regulators. The letters sent to the five banks were nearly identical.

Each plan was to address severe financial stress at the firm, as well as "general financial instability." The plans should be capable of being executed ideally within three months, but no longer than six months, the documents said.

The plans should "make appropriate assumptions as to the valuations of assets and off-balance sheet positions," the documents said.

Recovery plans have been mentioned in public before, but only in passing. In testimony to Congress in July 2010, Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo said the "largest internationally active U.S. banking organizations" were working on recovery plans. The initiative stemmed from work led by the Financial Stability Board, a body that coordinates the work of international financial regulators, he said.

In a presentation in March, JPMorgan Chase said it had a recovery plan in place and said it was ordered by regulators. The presentation was organized by Harvard Law School and was closed to the media at the time, but is available online. (here)

(Reporting By Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, North Carolina; Additional reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)

http://www.infowars.com/gop-sues-to-force-obama-compliance-on-fast-and-furious/

GOP sues to force Obama compliance on Fast and Furious

http://media.washtimes.com/media/image/2012/08/13/fast-and-furious_live_s160x104.jpg6b0792c8b16666e54b27e0cc67c7ba293b779df5

Stephen Dinan
Washington Times
August 13, 2012

House Republicans on Monday asked the federal courts to intervene and force the Obama administration to turn over documents from the botched Fast and Furious gun-walking operation, escalating what had been a simmering constitutional crisis.
House Speaker John A. Boehner said President Obama and his team were ignoring a congressional subpoena — something the courts have long recognized as valid — and said lawmakers were left with no choice but to ask the third branch to referee.
“By stonewalling Congress and ignoring a contempt order, the Justice Department has left the House no choice but to take legal action so we can get to the bottom of the Fast and Furious operation that cost border agent Brian Terry his life,” Mr. Boehner said.
Read full article

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/aug/13/gop-sues-force-obama-compliance-...

http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=249498

Bankers Being Arrested Worldwide (video) Make Viral

Posted By: Mr.Ed [Send E-Mail]
Date: Friday, 17-Aug-2012 01:52:08







Bankers being arrested worldwide (video) Make Viral

posted July 29th 2012

London the global headquarters for global banking fraud.

Bankers Arrested In Iceland, Ireland, UK, USA, Switzerland, India, France, Russia, Austria..

GET OUT OF THE BANKS NOW, while you still can. (It’s all part of the agenda for the U.S.)

VIDEO:

Bankers Arrested In Iceland, Ireland, UK, USA, Switzerland, India, France, Russia, Austria...VIRAL 4 - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmOZ3jtGtCc

FULL ARTICLE HERE:

Paul Stramer - Lincoln County Watch - Tea Party Silver - Silver Snowball: Bankers Arrested In Iceland, Ireland, UK, USA, Switz

http://www.paulstramer.net/2012/08/bankers-arrested-in-iceland-ireland-uk.html



Bankers Arrested In Iceland, Ireland, UK, USA, Switzerland, India, France, Russia, Austria...VIRAL 4

Andrew Tyrie: Bob Diamond's evidence 'lacked candour'

Published on Aug 18, 2012 by PhaqueOrfTV
The chairman of the Treasury Select Committee says Bob Diamond, the former
chief executive of Barclays, "answers fell well short of what
Parliament expects" during its investigation into the Libor
rate-rigging scandal.
Category:
News & Politics

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3572869.htm

RBA faces questions over bribery connections

Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Broadcast: 21/08/2012
Reporter: Nick McKenzie
Eight former executives from companies owned by the Reserve Bank of Australia are facing committal for trial over charges of bribing foreign officials and questions of connection to the central bank are being asked.

Transcript
LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Australia's worst corporate corruption scandal is currently playing out before a Victorian court. Eight former senior executives from two firms owned by the Reserve Bank of Australia are facing allegations that they paid tens of millions of dollars in bribes to win banknote printing contracts overseas. But a major part of this scandal has remained hidden until tonight, and it's never been the subject of any inquiry.

It concerns what top officials inside the Reserve Bank itself knew about bribery and corruption inside the RBA's subsidiaries well before the scandal became public and police began their probe in 2009. The Reserve governor Glenn Stevens has told Parliament several times since then that the RBA was in the dark about corruption and bribery inside its firms before the 2009 expose. But 7.30 has obtained damning new evidence that contradicts those claims, and is likely to reignite debate about whether the Gillard Government needs to call a broad inquiry into the affair. Nick McKenzie has this exclusive report with assistance from Richard Baker of the The Age newspaper.

NICK MCKENZIE, REPORTER: An extraordinary case is unfolding in Victoria's county court. Eight former executives from two companies owned by the Reserve Bank of Australia are facing committal for trial. They are the first Australians to ever face charges of bribing foreign officials.

HAMISH FITZSIMMONS, REPORTER (July 2011): After a two year investigation they were charged with offences relating to bribes allegedly paid to foreign officials to secure contracts for their companies.

CHRIS MCDEVITT, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE: These charges are significant. It is Australia's first prosecution under foreign bribery legislation.

NICK MCKENZIE: The case has dogged Australia's central bank since mid-2009 when The Age newspaper began exposing the activities of the RBA's banknote makers, Note Printing Australia and Securency, which are fully and half-owned by the Reserve. The scandal concerns their business dealings overseas.

DAVID CHALKIN, FMR ADVISER TO ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S DEPT: The basic allegations is that these companies and the senior managers in those companies bribed foreign public officials in order to get business, and that is a crime under Australian law.

NICK MCKENZIE: But there is a major part of this scandal that has never been thoroughly examined by any inquiry. It has remained a secret until tonight, and it goes to the very top of the Reserve Bank itself.

DAVID CHALKIN: This is not about a number of individuals accused of corruption. This is about what the Reserve Bank of Australia knew about that corruption, and it goes to the question of the integrity of the most important financial body in Australia.

EXCERPT FROM PROMOTIONAL VIDEO: Let me introduce a master piece of Australian design and technology: Australia's new $5 plastic note.

NICK MCKENZIE: The Reserve Bank companies at the heart of this scandal, Securency and Note Printing Australia, print the polymer banknotes which was pioneered in country in the 1980s. They've made tens of millions of dollars selling the RBA's plastic banknote technology to foreign governments.

Now it's alleged that middle men in Malaysia, Nepal and other countries paid big bribes to foreign officials to help secure some of those sales. But the question is: how much did the Reserve Bank know of these allegations before they became public in 2009?

STEVEN CIOBO, LIBERAL MP: Could you explain to me the first time that the Reserve Bank board became aware that there may be an issue that required closer scrutiny?

NICK MCKENZIE: In repeated parliamentary hearings, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens has insisted the bank knew little or nothing about corruption and bribery in its firms before the stories hit the press in 2009.

GLENN STEVENS, GOVERNOR OF THE RESERVE BANK: The time at which we became aware of the allegations that were made by the newspapers was when they were made. No one in the Reserve Bank or on our board had ever had put to us those allegations before that time.

NICK MCKENZIE: But 7.30 has learned that much more was known inside RBA headquarters than its top brass have let on. In June 2007, two years before the scandal broke in the media, a secret meeting was held at the bank's headquarters in Martin Place, Sydney. Bank sources have revealed who was there: Deputy Governor Ric Battelino and this man, Brian Hood. Brian Hood is a former long-time umpire with the Victorian football league turned senior business executive. In 2007 he was the company secretary of RBA firm Note Printing Australia. At the Martin Place meeting with Deputy Governor Ric Battelino, Brian Hood revealed he had "serious concerns about probity issues" which had not been adequately addressed inside the RBA firm. Six months ago Glenn Stevens was asked if the Reserve Bank was directly told of probity concerns inside NPA.

GLENN STEVENS (February 2011): If you're asking did the person in question write a letter or something to the bank, I don't think that he did, no.

PANEL MEMBER (February 2011): Or discuss it with the bank.

GLENN STEVENS (February 2011): Not to my knowledge.

NICK MCKENZIE: But in fact shortly after the Martin Place meeting, Brian Hood set out his concerns in great detail in a five page memo addressed to the Reserve's Deputy Governor Ric Battelino. RBA sources have given The Age newspaper and 7.30 a copy of that memo. It's explosive, detailing what Brian Hood saw as corrupt behaviour involving Note Printing Australia and massively excessive multimillion dollar payments to its overseas agents - including this man, Abdul Kayum, a Malaysian arms dealer who the memo revealed was working for both NPA and Securency. The memo to Mr Battelino reveals the extraordinarily large payments made by the RBA firm to its Malaysian agent had been used to make:

EXCERPT FROM MEMO (voiceover): Payment to others including officials and politicians.

NICK MCKENZIE: The agent had said that:

EXCERPT FROM MEMO (voiceover): ...dealing through networks was the accepted way of doing business in that part of the world.

NICK MCKENZIE: And the same agent had asked for:

EXCERPT FROM MEMO (voiceover): ...commission funds owing to him be directed to an ANZ Brisbane account. The agent would not explain what position or role the nominated individual had.

NICK MCKENZIE: 7.30 has shown a copy of the 2007 Hood memo to Sydney University corruption expert and former government adviser Dr David Chaikan.

DAVID CHAIKAN: I would rate it as a smoking gun because of the nature of the warnings. For example, it was being stated that the company secretary had heard first hand from agents they were making corrupt payments to politicians of political parties. That was also confirmed by a senior manager in Note Printing Australia. And you add that with all the documentary evidence such as that the negotiations with these agents were not being documented; that arrangements were being made to pay these agents, they also weren't documented; that requests were being made to make payments to third parties. All these are clear warning signs of corruption and you don't need to be a corruption expert to interpret those warning signs.

NICK MCKENZIE: The memo documents similar concerns about commissions paid to agents in Nepal. Hood reported that the Nepali agent had complained:

EXCERPT FROM MEMO (voiceover): There was little left for him after servicing others.

NICK MCKENZIE: This was apparently because the Nepali agent:

EXCERPT FROM MEMO (voiceover): ...made donations to political parties.

NICK MCKENZIE: The memo also reveals Note Printing Australia deliberately misled the Nepal central bank, about how much it was paying its agent there.

EXCERPT FROM MEMO (voiceover): NPA had knowingly understated commissions to the Nepal central bank, which requires such disclosure.

HOWARD WHITTON, FMR UN ETHICS ADVISER: This is an extraordinary way of doing business.

NICK MCKENZIE: 7.30 has also shown the Hood memo to former United Nations corruption fighter turned ethics adviser Howard Whitton.

(to Howard Whitton) What was the core message of that memo?

HOWARD WHITTON: The core message was this organisation is out of control, we're doing either bad things or illegal things in other countries, we're covering it up; and the management of the organisation is not taking any of the desirable or indeed necessary - legally necessary - steps to stop it.

NICK MCKENZIE: Hood reported to Battelino that when he'd earlier raised bribery concerns inside NPA, he was warned by the firm's managing director Chris Ogilvy, who was also a Securency director.

EXCERPT FROM MEMO (voiceover): Ogilvy asked me to back off and not push too hard with investigations.

NICK MCKENZIE: What's your view as to what the RBA should have done?

HOWARD WHITTON: The RBA should have called the cops.

NICK MCKENZIE: No question.

HOWARD WHITTON: No question at all. They have clear evidence from a responsible official who has a legal duty to advise the RBA as the parent of Note Printing Australia that corrupt conduct, criminal conduct was happening on their watch, and it would seem to me that it was obvious that the AFP should have been called in at that point.

DAVID CHAIKAN: What was being alleged by the company secretary is that any investigation by him was being stymied by the senior management of Note Printing Australia. Those two factors together should mean that you call in the Australian Federal Police.

More on 'Fast and Furious' goes to court.