Recently I have posted on two threads about misbehaviour by major banks.
The most recent thread ' http://www.lpsg.com/images/misc/tag.png Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond has resigned with immediate effect
was about Barclays, which recently was publicised for fixing the inter-bank LIBOR rate for its own commercial advantage. Not the only bank involved, apparently, but the first to settle for a stonking great fine in punishment.
Previously RBS board blackmail government into giving bonus
was spurred by the essentially bankrupt and nationalised RBS bank top executives paying themselves big bonuses. Not the only people doing this, Diamond from Barclays was also paying himself a huge sum despite his bank at the same time being under investigation for criminal activity which had happened while he was part of the management there. The entire industry is guilty of overpaying itself 'performance' bonuses when the performance in question might have been to run the company into the ground.
In the last few days Standard Chartered bank has been accused of money laundering. In this instance US authorities have been interested specifically in banking connections with Iran, which they reckon Standard Chartered has deliberately hidden. One commentator this morning suggested that if SC is forced to reveal all its transactions the information might be enough to cause the collapse of the Iranian government, by effectively closing gown all its international trade. Busy people,then.
Not the first instance of money laundering. HSBC has been accused of laundering massive amounts of Mexican drug money. Lord Green, who was chief executive from 2003 to 2006 while this was happening is now an adviser to the the UK government on banking (but it was happening for longer than this, so I wouldnt want to unfairly place all the blame on him!). Other banks too have from time to time been accused of money laundering.
Famously, the collapse of Greek government finances was aided and abetted by Goldman Sachs, who were employed to help hide the real level of national debt inside complex financial instruments.
Lehman brothers, and other US banks, were heavily involved in the process of providing mortgages to people who could not afford them, and then creating financial investment bonds based upon those mortgages and the imagined returns which they would make, These were sold worldwide...creating a world recession when it was discovered the bonds were worthless. The cost of this has been staggering.
Rather than the diverse threads about all this, I thought we should have one thread with a general title to bring together discussion on bank scandals. Being in the Uk the news we get concentrates on British banks, but it would be fascinating to know how all this is reported in the US. I am sure there will be a new bank scandal along any minute now.
The most recent thread ' http://www.lpsg.com/images/misc/tag.png Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond has resigned with immediate effect
was about Barclays, which recently was publicised for fixing the inter-bank LIBOR rate for its own commercial advantage. Not the only bank involved, apparently, but the first to settle for a stonking great fine in punishment.
Previously RBS board blackmail government into giving bonus
was spurred by the essentially bankrupt and nationalised RBS bank top executives paying themselves big bonuses. Not the only people doing this, Diamond from Barclays was also paying himself a huge sum despite his bank at the same time being under investigation for criminal activity which had happened while he was part of the management there. The entire industry is guilty of overpaying itself 'performance' bonuses when the performance in question might have been to run the company into the ground.
In the last few days Standard Chartered bank has been accused of money laundering. In this instance US authorities have been interested specifically in banking connections with Iran, which they reckon Standard Chartered has deliberately hidden. One commentator this morning suggested that if SC is forced to reveal all its transactions the information might be enough to cause the collapse of the Iranian government, by effectively closing gown all its international trade. Busy people,then.
Not the first instance of money laundering. HSBC has been accused of laundering massive amounts of Mexican drug money. Lord Green, who was chief executive from 2003 to 2006 while this was happening is now an adviser to the the UK government on banking (but it was happening for longer than this, so I wouldnt want to unfairly place all the blame on him!). Other banks too have from time to time been accused of money laundering.
Famously, the collapse of Greek government finances was aided and abetted by Goldman Sachs, who were employed to help hide the real level of national debt inside complex financial instruments.
Lehman brothers, and other US banks, were heavily involved in the process of providing mortgages to people who could not afford them, and then creating financial investment bonds based upon those mortgages and the imagined returns which they would make, These were sold worldwide...creating a world recession when it was discovered the bonds were worthless. The cost of this has been staggering.
Rather than the diverse threads about all this, I thought we should have one thread with a general title to bring together discussion on bank scandals. Being in the Uk the news we get concentrates on British banks, but it would be fascinating to know how all this is reported in the US. I am sure there will be a new bank scandal along any minute now.