Standard Chartered

Mark-To-Market Manipulation Hides $90 BILLION Losses For UK Banks

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– Mark-To-Market Manipulation Hides $90 Billion Losses For UK Banks (ZeroHedge, March 12, 2013):

Some have attributed the resurrection of the financial markets (or more appropriately the banks) from the March 2009 lows to the IASB/FASB changes to factual to fantasy accounting. The Telegraph reports today that from PIRC’s and the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee that while banker bonuses continue to rise (for now), ‘hidden’ losses among UK banks could total GBP60 Billion (USD 90 Billion). HSBC topped the list with GBP10.4 Billion in bad debts that have yet to be written off and while the ‘accounting’ bodies are suggesting they will address criticism of this farce, as one analyst notes, they “can still make unprofitable lending appear profitable.” Regulators expect to hear plans from lenders on how they intend to fill these holes before the end of the month to coincide either with the FPC’s meeting on March 19 or a statement scheduled for March 27. While outright recaps are unlikely, banks are expected to
restructure and set out plans to raise their capital levels over the next
couple of years. More fantasy…

Via The Telegraph,

PIRC has calculated the amount of bad debts the banks may have to write off in coming years but have yet to subtract from profits, together with other items such as deferred bonuses not booked.

HSBC, which is the biggest bank by assets, was shown to have £10.4bn of hidden losses, the Royal Bank of Scotland has £9.4bn, and Barclays has £7.3bn. Lloyds Banking Group has £2.5bn and Standard Chartered £2.2bn. Together the undeclared losses total £31.8bn.

Read moreMark-To-Market Manipulation Hides $90 BILLION Losses For UK Banks

What To Do When Every Market Is Manipulated

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– What To Do When Every Market Is Manipulated (ZeroHedge, Aug 16, 2012):

Hint: cut the strings

If you don’t know who the sucker at the card table is, it’s you.

~ old gambler’s saying

What do the following have in common?

LIBOR, Bernie Madoff, MF Global, Peregrine Financial, zero-percent interest rates, the Social Security and Medicare entitlement funds, many state and municipal pension funds, mark-to-model asset values, quote stuffing and high frequency trading (HFT), and debt-based money?

The answer is that every single thing in that list is an example of market rigging, fraud, or both.

Read moreWhat To Do When Every Market Is Manipulated

Confused Why So Many Foreign Banks Are Suddenly Being Charged By The US? Here’s Why

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– Confused Why So Many Foreign Banks Are Suddenly Being Charged By The US? Here’s Why (ZeroHedge, Aug 8, 2012):

It’s very simple really. Please point out where on the below list of Top 20 contributors to a randomly selected US politician, in this case New York’s Chuck Schumer, can one find Standard Chartered, Barclays, or HSBC?

And there’s your answer, which should also explain why banks such as Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, etc, will never be subject to the same kangaroo court in which suddenly everyone is shocked, shocked, that banks were manipulating Libor and laundering money or doing any other thing which bankers do day after day, every day.

Oh yes, there is an election coming up too…

‘You F—ing Americans. Who Are You To Tell Us, The Rest Of The World, That We’re Not Going To Deal With Iranians’ (Business Insider)

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In other news:

– Standard Chartered Bank accused of scheming with Iran to hide transactions (Guardian, Aug 6, 2012)

– ‘You F—ing Americans. Who Are You To Tell Us, The Rest Of The World, That We’re Not Going To Deal With Iranians’ (Business Insider Aug 6, 2012):

Today the New York State Financial Authority accused UK investment bank Standard Chartered of having facilitated $250 billion worth of transactions on behalf of Iran (you can download the full complaint here).

We identified the most shocking details here, but one line stands out and is probably going to end up being a Wall Street Classic

Read more‘You F—ing Americans. Who Are You To Tell Us, The Rest Of The World, That We’re Not Going To Deal With Iranians’ (Business Insider)