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Cuban Bank Can't Block Fund's €72M Debt Claim
by Gunnar Larson 20 Nov '24

20 Nov '24

Cuban Bank Can't Block Fund's €72M Debt Claim <https://www.law360.co.uk/financial-services-uk/articles/2262655?nl_pk=a94fc…> By Eddie Beaver Cuba's former central bank can't block an offshore fund from suing it for over €72 million ($76.2 million) of unpaid sovereign debt because the lender authorized the assignment of the debt to the fund, a London appeals court ruled Tuesday. Read full article » <https://www.law360.co.uk/financial-services-uk/articles/2262655?nl_pk=a94fc…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.co.uk/financial-services-uk/articles/2262655?nl_pk=a94fc…>

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FCA Charges 4 Men With Fraud Over Collapse Of Credit Union
by Gunnar Larson 20 Nov '24

20 Nov '24

FCA Charges 4 Men With Fraud Over Collapse Of Credit Union <https://www.law360.co.uk/financial-services-uk/articles/2262754?nl_pk=a94fc…> By Christopher Crosby The Financial Conduct Authority has charged four men with fraud over the collapse of a credit union for cab drivers that required a £21 million ($26.6 million) payout to more than a thousand customers from a government bailout scheme six years ago. Read full article » <https://www.law360.co.uk/financial-services-uk/articles/2262754?nl_pk=a94fc…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.co.uk/financial-services-uk/articles/2262754?nl_pk=a94fc…>

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Fwd: 60 seconds is all it takes
by Gunnar Larson 20 Nov '24

20 Nov '24

Daddy: They are making 843-5734 jokes here. The 208 part of it, do you see 10? I love you, Gunnar ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: KamalaHarris.com <info(a)contact.kamalaharris.com> Date: Tue, Nov 19, 2024, 7:31 PM Subject: 60 seconds is all it takes To: <g(a)xny.io> ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [image: Harris for President] <https://click.contact.kamalaharris.com/ss/c/u001.iIBo0N5fSFzEFL40Tn-vtbMETC…> *943.* That’s the number of donations we need TODAY from New York to begin building the resources to hold Trump and his cabinet accountable and defend the progress we’ve made these past four years. But we’re running out of time. We need this grassroots team to help raise the resources we need to defend our democracy and ensure that we can hold Trump and his cabinet accountable. *60 seconds.* You can make your first contribution to the Harris Fight Fund program in less than 60 seconds. Even a quick donation of $50 is enough to help us in this fight. And with only hours left to hit our goal today, NOW is the best time to rush your support. *It might not seem like $50 will make the difference, but if everyone reading this email pitches in what they can, we’ll be able to go toe-to-toe with Donald Trump every step of the way and show him what he’s up against. So, please:* *Can you make your first $50 contribution to the Harris Fight Fund program?* <https://click.contact.kamalaharris.com/ss/c/u001.NV3IV8RXB3BPG-RgoenRivizIu…> *If you've saved payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:* $50 >> <https://click.contact.kamalaharris.com/ss/c/u001.NV3IV8RXB3BPG-RgoenRivizIu…> $75 >> <https://click.contact.kamalaharris.com/ss/c/u001.NV3IV8RXB3BPG-RgoenRivizIu…> $100 >> <https://click.contact.kamalaharris.com/ss/c/u001.NV3IV8RXB3BPG-RgoenRivizIu…> $250 >> <https://click.contact.kamalaharris.com/ss/c/u001.NV3IV8RXB3BPG-RgoenRivizIu…> $500 >> <https://click.contact.kamalaharris.com/ss/c/u001.NV3IV8RXB3BPG-RgoenRivizIu…> Other >> <https://click.contact.kamalaharris.com/ss/c/u001.NV3IV8RXB3BPG-RgoenRivizIu…> Thank you, Team Harris-Walz ------------------------------ DONATE <https://click.contact.kamalaharris.com/ss/c/u001.NV3IV8RXB3BPG-RgoenRivizIu…> TAKE ACTION <https://click.contact.kamalaharris.com/ss/c/u001.xqm-apKpWqGuZCDDu9wrxR9IXP…> SHOP <https://click.contact.kamalaharris.com/ss/c/u001.iIBo0N5fSFzEFL40Tn-vtWsZwF…> ------------------------------ This email was sent to *g(a)xny.io <#m_-5419543047667544758_>*. Thank you so much for being a supporter. But we don't want to bother you. If you’d like to unsubscribe from all Harris for President emails, you can *click here <https://click.contact.kamalaharris.com/ss/c/u001.qUXRBnqZ7T8nxbpAcIVwoUsWLk…>* . Contributions or gifts to Harris Victory Fund are not tax deductible. We sincerely thank you for your help and support. Paid for by Harris Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee authorized by Harris for President, the Democratic National Committee and the State Democratic Parties in these states: AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, and WY. The first $41,300/$15,000 from a person/multicandidate committee (“PAC”) will be allocated to the DNC. The next $3,300/$5,000 from a person/PAC will be allocated to Harris for President’s Recount Account. The next $510,000/$255,000 from a person/PAC will be split equally among the Democratic state parties from these states: AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, and WY. Any additional funds will be allocated to the DNC, subject to applicable contribution limits. A contributor may designate their contribution for a particular participant by contacting *info(a)kamalaharris.com <#m_-5419543047667544758_>*.The allocation formula above may change if following it would result in an excessive contribution.

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BREAKING: Trump Names Wall St. Exec. For Chief Commerce Role
by Gunnar Larson 20 Nov '24

20 Nov '24

BREAKING: Trump Names Wall St. Exec. For Chief Commerce Role <https://www.law360.com/banking/articles/2262996?nl_pk=feb6bbba-7878-4d39-be…> By Alex Lawson Donald Trump will nominate longtime Wall Street financier Howard Lutnick to head up the U.S. Department of Commerce, the president-elect announced Tuesday, selecting a top member of his transition team to oversee a vast bureaucracy that grapples with key trade policies. Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/banking/articles/2262996?nl_pk=feb6bbba-7878-4d39-be…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/banking/articles/2262996?nl_pk=feb6bbba-7878-4d39-be…>

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BREAKING: Trump Taps Dr. Oz For CMS Head
by Gunnar Larson 20 Nov '24

20 Nov '24

BREAKING: Trump Taps Dr. Oz For CMS Head <https://www.law360.com/health/articles/2263036?nl_pk=6422bbc2-a823-4be5-9a9…> By Courtney Bublé President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday he will nominate TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz to be administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/health/articles/2263036?nl_pk=6422bbc2-a823-4be5-9a9…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/health/articles/2263036?nl_pk=6422bbc2-a823-4be5-9a9…>

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Apple Is Loaning Its Brand to the Great Vampire Squid to Offer FDIC-Insured Savings Accounts
by Gunnar Larson 19 Nov '24

19 Nov '24

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2023/04/apple-is-loaning-its-brand-to-the-gr… By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: April 18, 2023 Apple, maker of the iPhone and one of the top brands in the world, has decided to get deeper in bed with Goldman Sachs, a Wall Street trading house with more than 100 years of ignominious history. Goldman Sachs was infamously branded as “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money” by Matt Taibbi in the pages of Rolling Stone. Of all things to offer through Goldman Sachs, Apple thinks it’s a swell idea to offer a high-yielding, FDIC-insured savings account – that is ultimately backstopped by the U.S. taxpayer if Goldman Sachs blows up – which it came close to doing in 2008. Apple’s credit card is already offered through Goldman Sachs. In an SEC filing on February 24, Goldman Sachs acknowledged that its credit card division is under federal investigation. A check at the complaint database of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a federal agency, shows that hundreds of consumer complaints have been filed against the Goldman Sachs/Apple credit card. The Apple credit card via Goldman Sachs was only launched three years ago in August of 2019. Goldman wrote the following at the time: “Goldman Sachs is the issuer of the card and is responsible for underwriting, customer service, the underlying platform and all matters related to regulatory compliance through Goldman Sachs Bank USA.” Among the hundreds of complaints filed at the CFPB is the following from a resident of Nevada. The complaint was filed on February 8 of this year: (Redacted material was done by the CFPB.) “Late last year, Apple credit card pulled a hard inquiry on my credit and issued me an Apple credit card. I did not request this credit card, so I contacted XXXX about this matter. Apple credit card closed my account and stated to me that they noted my account was closed because they could not verify that I requested, authorized, or applied for this credit card. I believe this credit card was requested by an XXXX store agent, without my authorization, when I purchased a new iphone. I believe this because the agent signed me up for several other offers that I did not request. These matters have been resolved with XXXX. Regarding the hard inquiry, the XXXX representative told me to contact each credit reporting agency to request that the hard inquiry be removed from my credit report. XXXX will be reporting this account as closed due to unable to verify that I applied for the credit card. Thank you for assisting in the removal of the hard inquiry with each agency.” In announcing the new savings account venture with Goldman Sachs yesterday, Apple provided the following information: “Once a Savings account is set up, all future Daily Cash earned by the user will be automatically deposited into the account. The Daily Cash destination can also be changed at any time, and there’s no limit on how much Daily Cash users can earn. To build on their savings even further, users can deposit additional funds into their Savings account through a linked bank account, or from their Apple Cash balance.” [Bold emphasis added by Wall Street On Parade.] Linking one’s primary bank account to anything connected to Goldman Sachs should be very carefully considered. Goldman Sachs is a global bank and has been a target of hackers in the past. (See here and here, for example.) Complaints filed at the CFPB about the Apple/Goldman Sachs credit card include complaints regarding hacking. On January 13 of this year, the following hacking complaint was filed by a resident of California: “I signed up for an Apple Card, and then my Apple account got hacked. I started getting charges on my Apple Card, and got billed statements by mail, but none of the charges were made by me. I’ve made numerous attempts to contact Apple, but they keep telling me to try to log into my account to fix the issue. I can not get into my card because it got hacked and the phone number connected to it has been changed by the hacker as well. They can not help me get into my account AND they can not stop the charges. My credit line on that card is also only {$12000.00}, but somehow this hacker his racked up charges upwards of {$30000.00} when this shouldn’t be even possible? Not a single transaction was from me, and I can not stop them. This is affecting my well being and also my credit score. I desperately need help to stop them and fix this situation. Please help me.” On August 11 of last year, a resident of Michigan filed this complaint with the CFPB: “A Goldman Sachs Apple Card was linked to this AppleID. I reported the hack to Apple within minutes of it happening. Despite my fast action in reporting the problem, the hacker then made purchases of approximately {$22000.00}. Other charges came through the account, as late as XX/XX/2022, despite the fact that all cards associated with this account were supposed blocked/frozen on XX/XX/XXXX. Access to my AppleID is lost forever as the hacker is in control of it. Goldman Sachs/Apple Card refuses to issue a new card using my new XXXX XXXX. They say I cannot apply for a new card until all issues are resolved and that I must cancel the old account and reapply for credit as if they do not know me nor my excellent history with that account. In order to reapply, the old card must be paid off in full, including a monthly installment purchase of a product from Apple. Account cancellation and reapplying will impact my credit score. The company said that my hacking/fraud may or may not be used in considering a new application for credit. As of today, two months later, the issues have not all been resolved. So, I wait.” Dubious dealings at Goldman Sachs go all the way back to the leadup to the Wall Street financial crash of 1929. During the asset bubble of 1928, Goldman ran the Goldman Sachs Trading Company, a closed end fund (called a trust in those days) that Goldman Sachs created and offered to the public at $104 a share. The trust was filled with conflicted investments while paying Goldman a hefty management fee. Within a few years after the crash, the Goldman Sachs trust was trading at a buck and change. On May 20, 1932, Walter Sachs, President of the Goldman Sachs Trading Company, was interrogated by the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency. The Committee concluded that Goldman Sachs fleeced its customers to line its own pockets. On April 27, 2010 the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing and interviewed multiple executives of Goldman Sachs over its role in the subprime crisis. That hearing was following by an in-depth report from the Subcommittee. Among the findings were the following regarding Goldman Sachs: “When Goldman Sachs realized the mortgage market was in decline, it took actions to profit from that decline at the expense of its clients. New documents detail how, in 2007, Goldman’s Structured Products Group twice amassed and profited from large net short positions in mortgage related securities. At the same time the firm was betting against the mortgage market as a whole, Goldman assembled and aggressively marketed to its clients poor quality CDOs that it actively bet against by taking large short positions in those transactions. New documents and information detail how Goldman recommended four CDOs, Hudson, Anderson, Timberwolf, and Abacus, to its clients without fully disclosing key information about those products, Goldman’s own market views, or its adverse economic interests. For example, in Hudson, Goldman told investors that its interests were ‘aligned’ with theirs when, in fact, Goldman held 100% of the short side of the CDO and had adverse interests to the investors, and described Hudson’s assets were ‘sourced from the Street,’ when in fact, Goldman had selected and priced the assets without any third party involvement. New documents also reveal that, at one point in May 2007, Goldman Sachs unsuccessfully tried to execute a ‘short squeeze’ in the mortgage market so that Goldman could scoop up short positions at artificially depressed prices and profit as the mortgage market declined.” Goldman Sachs also has the distinction of being the only Wall Street firm to have an executive submit his resignation via the OpEd page of the New York Times. On March 14, 2012, Greg Smith, a 12-year veteran of Goldman Sachs and a Vice President, explained why he was resigning, writing in part: “…how callously people talk about ripping their clients off. Over the last 12 months I have seen five different managing directors refer to their own clients as ‘muppets.’ ” The muppets’ reference went viral as internet memes, including law professor and former Wall Street veteran Frank Partnoy reworking the lyrics of Bret McKenzie’s song, “Man or Muppet.” (See video below.) For what Goldman Sachs has been up to more lately, see our reports: Goldman Sachs Criminally Charged by Justice Department – and Its Stock Closes Up $2.49 and Goldman Sachs Is Being Sued for 27 Separate Stock Offerings It Underwrote. Good luck, Apple, with your co-branding idea from hell.

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Goldman Sachs: The Vampire Squid’s Alum Control Two Fed Banks, the U.S. Treasury, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England
by Gunnar Larson 19 Nov '24

19 Nov '24

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2020/01/goldman-sachs-the-vampire-squids-alu… By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: January 23, 2020 ~ Protester Wears a Swamp Creature Costume Outside Goldman Sachs Headquarters, January 17, 2017 Protester Wears a Swamp Creature Costume Outside Goldman Sachs Headquarters, January 17, 2017 The head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (Robert S. Kaplan), the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (Neel Kashkari), the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury (Steve Mnuchin), the President of the European Central Bank (Mario Draghi) and the head of the Bank of England (Mark Carney) all have two things in common: they sit atop vast amounts of money and they are all alums of Goldman Sachs. In addition, the immediate past President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, William Dudley, which secretly sluiced over $29 trillion to bail out Wall Street banks during the financial crisis and has now opened its money spigot for trillions of dollars more, worked at Goldman Sachs for more than two decades, rising to the rank of partner and U.S. Chief Economist. Goldman Sachs has been variously depicted as “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money,” by Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone; or the amoral investment bank that bundled mortgages it knew would fail and sold them to their clients as good investments so that it could make millions betting against them (shorting); or the place where greed became so over-the-top that a vice president, Greg Smith, resigned on the OpEd page of the New York Times, writing that his colleagues callously talked “about ripping their clients off.” Smith’s bosses were implicated as well: “Over the last 12 months I have seen five different managing directors refer to their own clients as ‘muppets,’ ” wrote Smith. Today, Goldman Sachs is under a criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and under a criminal indictment by Malaysia for its role in bribery and embezzlement of its sovereign wealth fund known as 1MDB. Goldman Sachs’ notorious history has not stopped its alum from magically landing in government positions that control, create or funnel giant piles of money. Despite Donald Trump’s first run for President on a populist platform of cleaning the swamp in Washington, a full month before he even took his seat in the Oval Office, he had nominated or appointed the following individuals to his administration: Steve Mnuchin, a former 17-year veteran of Goldman Sachs and a foreclosure king during the financial crisis to be his Treasury Secretary; Steve Bannon, who had previously worked in Mergers and Acquisitions at Goldman, was to become Trump’s Senior Counselor and Chief White House Strategist. Gary Cohn, the sitting President and Chief Operating Officer of Goldman, was picked by Trump to lead the National Economic Council and be his chief strategist in developing his economic policy. In the two years prior to the 2008 financial crash on Wall Street, Cohn was Co-President of Goldman. Cohn became a multi-millionaire from the business done in those years, earning $27.5 million in restricted stock and options just in the year 2006. As Greg Gordon of McClatchy Newspapers would report in 2009, a key part of Goldman’s business in the years before the crash operated like this: “In 2006 and 2007, Goldman Sachs Group peddled more than $40 billion in securities backed by at least 200,000 risky home mortgages, but never told the buyers it was secretly betting that a sharp drop in U.S. housing prices would send the value of those securities plummeting.” Cohn and Bannon have since left the Trump administration. Mnuchin remains as U.S. Treasury Secretary. Mnuchin is hardly the first Goldman Sachs alum to serve as U.S. Treasury Secretary. Robert Rubin was U.S. Treasury Secretary in the Bill Clinton presidency. Rubin was a long-tenured partner at Goldman Sachs who rose to the rank of Co-Chairman of the firm. Rubin was a key player in the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act during the Clinton administration. Glass-Steagall had kept the U.S. financial system safe for 66 years by banning Wall Street’s trading houses from owning federally-insured, deposit-taking banks. Just nine years after the repeal, Wall Street would collapse again in a replay of 1929 – another period when Wall Street’s trading houses owned deposit-taking banks and used the funds to make fatal, speculative gambles. Henry (Hank) Paulson served as U.S. Treasury Secretary in the George W. Bush administration and was on hand to make sure Wall Street got its massive bailout in 2008 during the worst financial crash since the Great Depression. Paulson received a massive windfall on his sale of his $480 million in Goldman Sachs’ stock when he left Goldman as CEO to become U.S. Treasury Secretary in 2006, getting out ahead of the details of Goldman’s role in the subprime debt crisis. Sometimes the revolving door swings the other way at Goldman Sachs. E. Gerald Corrigan served as the President of the New York Fed from 1985 to 1993. One year later, Corrigan was on the payroll of Goldman Sachs as a Managing Director. He made partner two years later and worked there for the next 22 years. After landing at Goldman, Corrigan co-chaired a secretive group that was made up of the chief risk officers of the Wall Street banks. It was called the Counterparty Risk Management Policy Group (CRMPG). The group’s plan was to periodically release erudite-sounding reports to regulators suggesting that Wall Street could police itself under a set of “Guiding Principles” in order to escape further scrutiny or regulation of its insane levels of derivatives. Representatives from banks like Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch sat on key committees of the Group and helped to formulate the “Guiding Principles” for Wall Street. Lehman Brothers filed bankruptcy on September 15, 2008 – just five weeks after a report from the group on managing risk was released. One day before the Lehman collapse, Merrill Lynch had collapsed into the arms of Bank of America. In March of that year, Bear Stearns had flamed out spectacularly and was absorbed by JPMorgan with billions of dollars in help from the New York Fed. Also in 2008, Citigroup received the largest taxpayer bailout in U.S. history. It was later revealed by the Government Accountability Office that Citigroup had also secretly received over $2.5 trillion in cumulative, below-market, loans from the New York Fed – a significant part of which were made against collateral of junk bonds and stocks, which were in freefall at the time the New York Fed accepted them as collateral. According to an email obtained by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) from Patrick M. Parkinson of the Federal Reserve to Steven Shafran (an official of the U.S. Treasury Department who had joined it in February 2008, also from Goldman Sachs to serve under Paulson), the Counterparty Risk Management Policy Group’s plan for dealing with a major defaulting counterparty was going to be relied upon. Shafran wrote as follows: “Tim [Geithner, President of the New York Fed] will ask Corrigan to accelerate formation of the private-sector default management group (DMG) that was proposed by CRMPG III. Specifically, we will ask the group to advise us on: (1) the information that we would need to obtain from a troubled dealer to assess the potential impact of closeout of a dealer’s OTC derivatives books on its counterparties and on financial markets; and (2) the information that a potential acquirer of a troubled dealer’s OTC derivatives book (and possibly also related hedges) to assess the potential risks and returns from such an acquisition. The group’s advice (and what we learn in the course of inquiries at Lehman) would inform the next steps in the MIS project and ultimately what our expectations will be with respect to dealer MIS.” The email was dated September 5, 2008 and marked “Highly Confidential.” Just 10 days later, Lehman Brothers filed bankruptcy, triggering a mass wave of panic and contagion among its derivative counterparties around the globe. The insidious role of Wall Street banks in the takeover of key federal government posts, in the financing of federal candidates’ political campaigns, in behind-the-scenes enactment of legislation to further their disastrous money schemes, and in the effective takeover of the Presidential transition teams that pick the President’s cabinet, is a public corruption scandal of epic proportion that the front pages of U.S. newspapers have ignored for far too long. It’s up to engaged Americans to force the debate with letters to the editor and protests in front of newspaper offices across America. Related Articles: Goldman Sachs Top Lawyer Is Part of a Secret Banking Cabal as CEO Blankfein Denies One Exists This Goldman Sachs Chart Explains the 2008 Financial Collapse and Why Wall Street Is Still a Dangerous Casino Goldman Sachs’ Rich Man’s Bank Backstopped by You and Me Goldman Sachs Beats Another Fraud Rap: Can the Public Ever Get Justice in New York Courts? Blowing the Whistle on the New York Fed and Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs Smears Greg Smith: Shades of Christian Curry Barofsky Book: Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley Would Have Failed Next Goldman Sachs to America: F*** You!

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Why the Vampire Squid Wants Small Depositors’ Money in 1 Frightening Chart
by Gunnar Larson 19 Nov '24

19 Nov '24

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2016/04/why-the-vampire-squid-wants-small-de… By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: April 27, 2016 Goldman Sach's Advertising Slogan Is "Progress Is Everyone's Business." Goldman Sach’s Advertising Slogan Is “Progress Is Everyone’s Business.” Back in 2010, with the public still numb from the epic financial crash and still in the dark about the trillions of dollars of secret loans the Federal Reserve had pumped into the Wall Street mega banks to resuscitate their sinking carcasses, Matt Taibbi penned his classic profile of Goldman Sachs at Rolling Stone, with this, now legendary, summation: “The world’s most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.” Historically, what smells like money to Goldman Sachs has been eight-figure money and higher. As recently as 2013, the New York Times reported that Goldman had a $10 million minimum to manage private wealth and was kicking out its own employees’ brokerage accounts if they were less than $1 million. Now, all of a sudden, Goldman Sachs Bank USA is offering FDIC insured savings accounts with no minimums and certificates of deposits for as little as $500 with above-average yields, meaning it’s going after this money aggressively from the little guy. What could possibly go wrong? The last utterances we ever hoped to see bundled into a bank promotion were the words “Goldman Sachs” and “FDIC insurance” and “peace-of-mind savings.” But that’s what now greets one at the new online presence of Goldman Sachs Bank USA, thanks to the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999, which allowed high-risk investment banks like Goldman Sachs to also own FDIC-insured, deposit-taking banks. Goldman Sachs has been paying lots of fines for wrongdoing in the past few years, topping off at a cool $5 billion earlier this month for what the U.S. Justice Department characterized as “serious misconduct in falsely assuring investors that securities it sold were backed by sound mortgages, when it knew that they were full of mortgages that were likely to fail.” There was also the $550 million settlement in 2010 with the SEC for Goldman allowing the hedge fund run by billionaire John Paulson to secretly assist it in creating a portfolio designed to fail so Paulson could short it, while Goldman sold it to its own clients without divulging this pesky detail. Students of Wall Street history may also recall that Goldman’s hubris leading up to the crash of 1929 played a role in why the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 banned casino-like investment banks from getting near insured deposits. Prior to the ’29 crash, Goldman ran the Goldman Sachs Trading Company, a closed end fund (called a trust in those days). Goldman Sachs also offered that deal to the little guy at $104 a share. The fund appeared to investigators as a dumping ground for Goldman while also paying it a hefty management fee. The little guy who bought the shares at $104 a share at the top of the bull market was left with about a buck and change after the ’29 crash. So why this generous move now by Goldman Sachs Bank USA to offer above average returns to the little guy? It likely has a lot to do with the chart below from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) December 31, 2015 report on the four largest banks based on derivatives exposure. According to the report, the credit exposure from derivatives versus the bank’s risk-based capital is as follows: JPMorgan Chase 209 percent; Bank of America 85 percent; Citibank 166 percent and Goldman Sachs (wait for it) – a whopping 516 percent. Not to put too fine a point on it, but you might recall that one of the key promises of the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation was that after the largest bank bailout in financial history in 2008, these derivatives were going to be pushed out of the insured bank into bank affiliates that would not endanger the taxpayer-backstopped deposits and force another monster taxpayer bailout in the next crisis. This became known as the “push-out rule” which could never seem to materialize into a hard and fast law. Then, in December 2014, Citigroup simply used its muscle to legislate the rule out of existence. The Obama administration also promised that Dodd-Frank would put an end to these trillions of dollars of opaque derivatives being traded in the dark between firms as private contracts (over-the-counter). Dodd-Frank promised to bring them into the sunshine at central clearinghouses. But the December 2015 report from the OCC makes clear that’s just another failed promise, stating: “In the first quarter of 2015, banks began reporting their volumes of cleared and non-cleared derivatives transactions, as well as risk weights for counterparties in each of these categories. In the fourth quarter of 2015, 36.9 percent of the derivatives market was centrally cleared.” According to the OCC, as of December 31, 2015 there were $237 trillion in notional derivatives (face amount) at the 25 largest bank holding companies with the bulk of that amount on the books of the insured banks. That compares with $169 trillion on the books of the 25 largest bank holding companies at December 31, 2007, just prior to the implosions on Wall Street. This means there has been an explosive 40 percent increase in eight years when the Obama administration was supposed to be reining in risk on Wall Street. When you hear Hillary Clinton repeatedly tell the public that she wants to continue along the same pathways as President Obama and that the restoration of the Glass-Steagall Act is not needed, let the image of Goldman Sachs Bank USA and its FDIC insurance logo and its $41 trillion in derivatives come to mind. Four Largest Banks by Derivatives -- Ratio of Credit Exposure to Risk-Based Capital: OCC Report Dated December 31, 2015 Four Largest Banks by Derivatives — Percentage Ratio of Credit Exposure to Risk-Based Capital: OCC Report Dated December 31, 2015

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BREAKING: DA Says Trump Sentencing Could Be Delayed Until 2029
by Gunnar Larson 19 Nov '24

19 Nov '24

BREAKING: DA Says Trump Sentencing Could Be Delayed Until 2029 <https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/2262822?nl_pk=153d4a8a-6fb9-4a5…> By Frank G. Runyeon Manhattan prosecutors on Tuesday suggested that President-elect Donald Trump's criminal sentencing could be delayed until after he serves out his next term, but urged a judge not to throw out his conviction over an alleged hush money scheme. Letter attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/2262822?nl_pk=153d4a8a-6fb9-4a5…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/2262822?nl_pk=153d4a8a-6fb9-4a5…>

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Fwd: FBI Top Stories: Online Platform Provides Current Data on Law Enforcement Suicides
by Gunnar Larson 19 Nov '24

19 Nov '24

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: FBI <fbi(a)subscriptions.fbi.gov> Date: Tue, Nov 19, 2024, 11:49 AM Subject: FBI Top Stories: Online Platform Provides Current Data on Law Enforcement Suicides To: <g(a)xny.io> Online Platform Provides Current Data on Law Enforcement Suicides An FBI database established in 2021 to help prevent law enforcement suicides and increase awareness and understanding of the occurrences is now online. Nov. 15, 2024 Full Story <https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/online-platform-provides-current-data-on-l…> ------------------------------ <https://www.facebook.com/FBI> <https://twitter.com/FBI> <https://www.youtube.com/user/FBI> <https://www.fbi.gov/e-mail-updates?utm_campaign=email-Immediate&utm_medium=…> * You have received this message because you are subscribed to one or more of the following categories: FBI Top Stories * Manage Subscription <https://delivery.fbi.gov/account-reminder> | Unsubscribe <https://delivery.fbi.gov/subscriber/c57956fe9830b3f02d21fe7a2581942df706f0b…> If you have questions about this service, email us at delivery(a)subscriptions.fbi.gov. Help <https://www.fbi.gov/e-mail-updates?utm_campaign=email-Immediate&utm_medium=…> | Privacy Policy <http://www.fbi.gov/privacy_policy?utm_campaign=email-Immediate&utm_medium=e…> | Visit FBI.gov <https://www.fbi.gov/?utm_campaign=email-Immediate&utm_medium=email&utm_sour…>

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