Amazon sold £7billion in UK and paid no taxes

April 5, 2012

By IAN GRIFFITHS | THE GUARDIAN | APRIL 6, 2012

Amazon.co.uk, Britain’s biggest online retailer, generated sales of more than £3.3bn in the country last year but paid no corporation tax on any of the profits from that income – and is under investigation by the UK tax authorities.

Regulatory filings by parent company Amazon.com with the US securities and exchange commission (SEC) show the tax inquiry into the UK operation, which sells nearly one in four books sold in Britain, focuses on a period when ownership of the British business was transferred to a Luxembourg company.

The SEC filings, highlighted by Bookseller magazine, show that in the past three years, Amazon has generated sales of more than £7.6bn in the UK without attracting any corporation tax on the profits from those sales.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) refused to confirm it was investigating Amazon.co.uk, and its inquiries could be a routine audit. But Amazon’s tax affairs are being investigated in the US, China, Germany, France, Japan and Luxembourg.

Amazon, which launched in the UK in 1998, is the UK’s most popular retail website, with more visitors than Argos, Next and Tesco. It sells a vast array of goods other than books and recently won an award for offering the best customer service in the UK.

But the business that people voted for is not British-owned. The UK operation avoids tax as the ownership of the main Amazon.co.uk business was transferred to a Luxembourg company in 2006. The UK business is now owned by Amazon EU Sarl and the UK operation is classed only as an “order fulfilment” business. All payments for books, DVDs and other goods go directly to Luxembourg. The UK business is simply a delivery organisation.

The latest 2010 accounts for Amazon EU Sarl show the Luxembourg office employed just 134 people, but generated turnover of €7.5bn (£6.5bn). In the same year, the UK operation employed 2,265 people and reported a turnover of just £147m. According to the SEC filings, UK sales that year were between £2.3bn and £3.2bn. Amazon in the US has earned an average 3.5% profit margin over the past three years.

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Understand History To Understand The Current Markets

August 30, 2011

Bob Chapman
International Forecaster
August 20, 2011

The Fed has been behind all the failings of the markets, Europe now a disaster waiting to happen, about leveraged speculation and counterparty risk, now we have an escalating debt crisis, the perpetual creation of money is the theft of the value of labor due to the inflation that is caused.

Every professional has their own method of analyzing markets, finance and economies, and some do well coming up with the direction of social and political issues as well. The other 97% miss one-half to two-thirds of the time. That is not very good and one asks why? The answer is simple they really haven’t studied history as well as they should have.

Some believe that the crisis in Europe is the heart of today’s problems. It certainly is a strong integral part, but not the primary causation. The 3-year old finance bubble was created by the Federal Reserve, which began the situation starting in 1993. We saw the dotcom boom, which they could have stopped in its tracks. All they had to do is raise margin requirements from 50% to 60% temporarily. After that collapse in mid-March 2000, they decided rather than purge the systems, as they as well should have done in 1990-92, they created another bubble in real estate. They have been trying to recover from that bubble and other layover problems since we’d say 2000.

Yes you can blame Europe for its part, but the blame lies with the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, and the banks and personages, who control those entities. Those in England, Europe and in the US, who control business, finance and economics from behind the scenes, have played the parts they have in order to bring about world government. If you can perceive and accept that from an historical perspective, they you can understand what is really going on.

European banks are struggling with their fundings and credit is drying up. This is what happened in 2008. As a result Europe is a disaster waiting to happen. Europe is finally realizing this is all about debt. The socialists want it go away, just disappear but it does not happen that way. Debt and credit default swaps will in the end rule the day.

Few reflect back to 12 years ago when the Maastricht Treaty was being approved. The cornerstone was public debt that was not supposed to be more than 3% of GP. That did not last long. Then Italy and Greece, with the help of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan helped these two basket cases qualify for the euro and euro zone by Mickey Mousing their balance sheets. We saw one interest rate fits all and we knew the euro was doomed before it got started. The condition of the euro zone and Europe is certainly terrible, but so are US debt problems. Policy decisions are bad, but not any worse than they are in the US.

We see pundits trying to separate sovereign debt from bank debt. They are one in the same, because the banks control the governments, and tell them what to do. Europe particularly France, was very upset last week when SoGen was rumored to be insolvent. The answer from those accused was rubbish. SoGen has a history of one of the most criminal banks in the world, so what is new. Just more criminality. SopGen and France are under pressure because they own loads of PIIG debt and are being asked to supply more funds to bail out their neighbors, a role they cannot fulfill without going under themselves. The situation France is in is three times worse what it was in 2008. Everyone expects France and Germany to bail out the bankrupts and that cannot happen. Neither the banks nor the governments can continue to do what they have been doing and at the same time control their financial systems and economies. Now you can understand why CDS credit default swaps trade above 180, when they traded at 80 in 2008. We feel that if the six countries in trouble are not allowed to default it will take the other nations under as well. There is much at stake here. Not only the insolvency but also the breakup of the euro zone and the euro and the dream of using them as a template for a new world order.

In addition it is very significant CDS for Brazil jumped from 35 to 152 as did Mexico, which is an indirect result of what is going on in Europe, UK and the mortgage bond market and by cutting back 30% on loans to small and medium sized businesses. Although they are very leveraged in their other operations, such trading and global leveraged speculation include great counterparty risk. This time exposure is somewhat different but the exposure in the theatre could be just as bad risk wise as it was in 2008. Generally speaking they are not long gold and silver bullion and shares, they are for the most part short. The venue that could be very dangerous is derivatives. The way these major banks and countries have become interconnected the danger always persists and once a fallout begins it could bring down all major banks and countries. Don’t let that fact escape you. They dodged the bullet in 2008, but they might not the next time. The carry trade is as large as it has ever been and the cost of borrowing is close to zero, again, encouraging taking on too much risk.

This past two weeks currency markets have seen large swings, especially in second and third tier countries. No one knows the size of carry trades affecting these countries. We have seen a number of countries quickly give up almost all of their dollar gains of the past several months and the Swiss and Japanese have spent billions of dollars trying to push down the value of their currencies, but to no avail. The euro and the dollar have stayed about the same, but we see the euro weaker due to ongoing financial problems, which contrary to conventional wisdom have not been solved. Throughout Europe not only has money been lent at very low rates, but also much of it is uncollectible. This broken European bubble will deflate for some time to some. It will affect all other sovereign debt negatively as well. These are the borrowers of part of that $16.1 trillion that was lent by the Fed over the last few years, which has never been paid back. European banks are buried in debt and the politicians, whom they own, will do their best to protect them. Unfortunately, there is no painless solution. The contagion is underway and the latest meeting to solve these problems was a failure. The latest European version of the issuance of quantitative easing to buy Italian and Spanish bonds will prove to be futile, just another attempt with taxpayer funds to bail out the banks. This possible “Black hole of Calcutta” at this point puts Europe in a worse position compared to the US, which is no piece of cake, and probably won’t far any better in the future. The working out of US problems will just take longer. As each day passes and in spite of the disinformation, confidence in Europe and the US falters and rightly so. The US has no periphery to support essentially Europe does and that is in favor of the US, but ultimately US problems are far more overwhelming.

The recent commitment of the Fed for zero interest rates for the next two years showed great weakness and will in time come back to haunt them. This was another reward for Wall Street speculators and another moldy bone thrown to the nations savers and elderly. There is no question Wall Street and banking, which own the Fed are desperate, to make such a commitment. The decision for QE 3 was made 15-months ago when we predicted it. We could see it coming and we know the decisions of the last 11 years and the pressure being exerted on the Fed will ultimately bring about its demise, and its days of looting the American public will be over. What the Fed and the ECB have done in greed and for their dream of world government is over. We are closing in on payback time, as desperate measures become more noticeable and a solution remains out of their reach. They will pay for what they have done to us.

Even though we expect at least a few more years of unrestrained leveraged speculation, it will then come to an end. It has become a crucial factor for monetary policy championed by both Sir Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke. Wall Street and baking love it, because their positions allow them to create inside information, which allows them to make money consistently with little or no risk. We also have the SEC and the CFTC perpetually looking the other way aiding and abetting their criminal behavior. If you add in that there are no limits to what they can do you essentially have an ongoing free for all. This is unrestrained finance via a policy of zero interest rates. This gives Wall Street and banking a license to steal.

All this has caused a bubble and that bubble is in the process of bursting, a product of fiscal and monetary stimulus. That is not only in the US, UK and Europe, but worldwide As a result confidence in the global system is being lost. De-leveraging of bullish bets in markets of bonds and stocks is underway. Ironically these speculators are short gold and silver and the shares. Short covering is in process with some even switching to the long side in the gold and silver bullion and share markets. How any economist could believe that leveraged speculation reduces risk is beyond us. Fortunately the other shoe has dropped and such theory has been disproved.

The result of all this is that we have an escalating debt crisis worldwide and now the experts in and out of government do not have any solutions as to how to rectify the situation. The sovereign debt crisis has been underway since the early 1970s. This experience shows you how long bad things can last. Before this is over trillions of dollars will be defaulted upon. The days of overwhelming stimulus to gain traction in the economy or economies is in the process of being ineffective. We like to call it the law of diminishing returns. The $2.3 to $2.5 trillion we project that the Fed will have to create in the coming fiscal year will at best produce GDP growth of zero. The minute the Fed and Congress stop feeding the system we will be looking at negative growth of 5%. We are headed toward crunch time and there is no avoiding it. Uncertainty and instability are America’s and the world’s next challenge. Currencies are going to react widely. Gold and silver will fly along with the gold and silver shares as a result of debt and falling economies accompanied by inflation. The big problem will not only be de-leveraging, but also the opaque derivative markets and the Exchange Traded Funds, many of which are leveraged. Yes, it will be a very rough ride, so you had best get ready for it. We never had a recovery and the trappings of growth are quickly falling away. Extending the time line for all these problems is coming to an end, but it probably will not be abrupt. There will be all kinds of terrible events, but it looks like the elitists are going to play this out over an extended time frame before they attempt to pull the plug. That means these problems could be extended out five or even ten more years on a degenerating basis. That also means we will continue to have limited wars for financial gain and distraction. The strategy has been and will continue to be to keep creating money and credit and allow inflow to reduce the size of the debt. These comments regarding debt quoting Bernanke and throwing money from helicopters and Greenspan’s admission that the US cannot be downgraded, because it can always print money are flippant and very unprofessional. What they have both done rather than allow the US government to default is to perpetually create money and credit to paper over the economy’s failure. This process increases inflation that quietly steals the value of purchasing power like a thief in the night. Both men can be classified as thieves for having done to the American people and others by stealing the fruits of their labor. This trick used by money masters and politicians for centuries is little understood by the public and most cannot understand how it works and the ultimate ramifications. These characters and others create additional debt, which is followed by other nation’s central banks, which has created a race to the bottom and eventually all nations cannot pay their debts and default. Eventually in order to prevent a collapse in the financial system a meeting is held such as was held at the Smithsonian talks in the early 1970s, or the Plaza Accord in 1985 and the Louvre Accord in 1987. All currencies are revalued and devalued and there is multilateral debt settlement. We believe that is how all this will come about.

Evidentially a deal has been made from behind the scenes to relieve the Fed of having to produce $850 billion in stimulus and that task has been delegated to Mr. Obama. The President, while calling for budget cuts, is calling for $850 billion for stimulus 3. Observing recent actions by Congress some idiotic excuse will be made up and like magic stimulus 3 will appear. We also suggest that the President will use the London rioting as a cause for such stimulus. Remember never let a crisis go to waste. It is sure to be sold in the behalf of preservation of order. We do not believe the powers behind government will get the desired results.

Admittedly, Ben Bernanke inherited a can of worms from Sir Alan Greenspan. Ben has been able to accumulate $3 trillion worth of an assortment of Treasuries, Agencies and CDS, and MBS’s, also known as toxic waste, over the past few years. Those moves decidedly have been negative for the rating of US government debt. The rating really should have been lowered five years ago during the Greenspan years and perhaps even sooner than that. Due to massive increases since 2006 by the Fed we now already are in a bubble.

The 12 person congressional debt commission, we like to refer to as the Obama Enabling Act, patterned after Adolph Hitler’s legislation of 1933, which allowed him to become dictator of Germany, supposedly will produce moderate spending cuts. Knowing that Standard and Poor’s has warned this “Star Chamber” proceeding, which bypasses Congress, that there are not substantial cuts in Social Security and Medicare, that S&P will again lower the US debt rating. Everyone seems to overlook that fact. That means that if there is not large Social Security and Medicare cuts and an increase in taxes, S&P will strike again, and the bond market will burst, and Mr. Bernanke’s house of cards will collapse. As we explained previously the debt extension could have been passed in 15 minutes, but it wasn’t because the powers behind government the Council on Foreign Relations, wanted to chop up SS and Medicare, and to put this panel in place. All is never what it seems to be.

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El Cartel de la Reserva Federal: Un Parásito Financiero

June 21, 2011

Por Dean Henderson
Adaptación Luis R. Miranda
20 de junio 2011

Parte Final

El padre del fundador de la Unión Mundial Federalista, James Warburg fue Paul Warburg, que financió a Hitler con la ayuda de Brown Brothers Harriman, socio de Prescott Bush. [1]

El coronel Ely Garrison fue un amigo cercano tanto de Roosevelt, como del presidente Woodrow Wilson. Garrison escribió en Roosevelt, Wilson y la Reserva Federal, “fue Paul Warburg el hombre que creó la Ley de Reserva Federal después de que el Plan Aldrich despertó resentimiento y oposición en todo el país. El cerebro de ambos planes era el barón Alfred Rothschild de Londres. “

El Plan Aldrich se fraguó en una reunión secreta de 1910 en el complejo privado de JP Morgan en Jekyll Island, Carolina del Sur entre el teniente Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller y Paul Warburg de la dinastía bancaria alemana Warburg. Aldrich, un congresista de Nueva York, más tarde se casó en la familia Rockefeller. Su hijo Winthrop Aldrich presidió Chase Manhattan Bank. Mientras que los banqueros se reunieron, el coronel Edward House, otro títere Rockefeller y confidente cercano del presidente Woodrow Wilson, estaba ocupado convenciendo a Wilson de la importancia de un banco central privado y la introducción de un impuesto sobre la renta a nivel nacional. Un miembro del personal de la Casa de Representantes fue el privilegiado de M16 británico, el General Julius Klein. [2]

Wilson no necesitó mucho convencimiento, ya que estaba en deuda con el magnate del cobre Cleveland Dodge, cuyo mismo nombre fue usado en la empresa Phelps Dodge que se convirtió en una de las compañías mineras más grandes del mundo. Dodge financió la carrera política de Wilson. Wilson llegó a escribir su discurso inaugural en el yate de Dodge. [3]

Wilson era un compañero de clase de los Dodge y Cyrus McCormick de Princeton. Ambos fueron directores del National Bank de Rockefeller (ahora Citigroup). El foco principal de Wilson era la superación de la desconfianza que el público tenía de los banqueros, sobre lo cual el alcalde de Nueva York John Hylan, también se quejó en 1911 cuando sostuvo: “La verdadera amenaza a nuestra república es el gobierno invisible que, al igual que un pulpo gigante, se extiende en su longitud viscosa sobre nuestras ciudades, estados y nación. A la cabeza está un pequeño grupo de casas bancarias, generalmente conocido como los banqueros internacionales “. [4]

Sin embargo, las ocho familias prevalecieron. En 1913, nació el Banco de la Reserva Federal, con Paul Warburg como su primer gobernador. Cuatro años más tarde, los EE.UU. entró en la Primera Guerra Mundial, después que una sociedad secreta conocida como la Mano Negra asesinado el archiduque Fernando de Habsburgo y su esposa. El Archiduque era amigo del Conde Czerin, quien más tarde dijo: “Un año antes de la guerra él [ el archiduque] me informó de que los masones habían decidido asesinarlo.” [5]

Ese mismo año, los bolcheviques derrocaron la monarquía Hohehzollern en Rusia con la ayuda de Max Warburg y Jacob Schiff, mientras que la Declaración de Balfour condujo a la creación de Israel. Esta declaración fue escrita por el sionista Lord Rothschild.

En la década de 1920 el Barón Edmund de Rothschild fundó la Comisió de Economía Palestina, mientras que las oficinas de Kuhn Loeb de Manhattan ayudaron a Rothschild a formar una red para el contrabando de armas a los escuadrones de la muerte sionistas empeñados en apoderarse de las tierras palestinas. El General Julius Klein supervisó la operación y dirigió al Cuerpo de Contrainteligencia del Ejército de los EE.UU., que más tarde produjo a Henry Kissinger. Klein desvió fondos del Plan Marshall para Europa hacia células terroristas sionistas en Palestina después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. La canalización de los fondos se dio a través del Instituto Sonneborn, que fue controlado por el magnate de la química de Baltimore, Rudolph Sonneborn. Su esposa Dorothy Schiff está relacionada con los Warburg. [6]

Kuhn Loeb llegó a Manhattan con los Warburg. Al mismo tiempo, los Bronfman llegaron a Canadá como parte de la Comisión de Colonización Judía de Moisés Montefiore. Los Montefiores llevaron a cabo el trabajo sucio de la nobleza genovesa desde el siglo 13. Los di Spadaforas hicieron esa función para la casa italiana de Saboya, que fue financiada por la familia de Israel Moses Seif, nombre del cual se origina la palabra Israel que fue dada como nombre para el actual estado judío. Harold Sebag Montefiore es el jefe actual de la Fundación Jerusalén, el ala sionista de los Caballeros de San Juan de Jerusalén. Los Bronfman (el nombre significa “gente del alcohol” en yiddish) se unieron a Arnold Rothstein, un producto del imperio de los Rothschild, para fundar el crimen organizado en la ciudad de Nueva York. Rothstein fue sucedido por Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Robert Vesco y Santos Trafficante. Los Bronfman se mezclaron con los Rothschild, Loeb y Lamberts. [7]

El año 1917 también vio la adición de la 16 ª Enmienda a la Constitución de los EE.UU., la imposición de un impuesto sobre la renta nacional, a pesar de que fue ratificado por sólo dos de los 36 estados requeridos. El IRS es una empresa privada registrada en Delaware. [8] Cuatro años antes, la Fundación Rockefeller se puso en marcha, para proteger la riqueza de la familia de las disposiciones fiscales, mientras que manipulaba la opinión pública a través de la ingeniería social. Uno de sus tentáculos es el Consejo General de Educación estadounidense.

En la Carta Ocasional # 1 del Consejo dice: “En nuestros sueños tenemos recursos ilimitados y las personas se entregan con perfecta docilidad al alcance de nuestros moldeo. Las convenciones de la educación actual desaparecerán de su mente y, sin vernos obstaculizados por la tradición, vamos a trabajar nuestra propia buena voluntad a un pueblo rural agradecido y sensible. Vamos a tratar de no hacer estas personas ni a ninguno de sus hijos filósofos o hombres de ciencia… de los cuales tenemos amplia oferta. “[9]

Aunque la mayoría de los estadounidenses piensan que la Reserva Federal como una institución del gobierno, esta es de propiedad de las Ocho Familias. El Servicio Secreto es empleado por la Reserva Federal, y no por el Poder Ejecutivo. [10]

Un intercambio entre el senador Edward Kennedy (D-MA) y el entonces presidente de la Fed, Paul Volcker, en las audiencias del Senado en 1982 es instructiva. Kennedy debió pensar en su hermano mayor John cuando le dijo a Volcker que si él fuera ante el comité como miembro del Tesoro de EE.UU. las cosas serían muy diferentes. Volcker, fumando un cigarro, respondió desdeñosamente: “Eso es probablemente cierto. Pero creo que fue diseñado intencionalmente esta manera “. [11] El representante Lee Hamilton (D-NY) lo dijo a Volcker que: “La gente cree que lo que el consejo de los suyos hace no tiene un impacto muy profundo en sus bolsillos, y sin embargo es un grupo de personas, básicamente, inaccesibles para ellos y que no son responsables ante ellos. “

El presidente Wilson habló de “un poder tan organizado, tan completo, tan penetrante, que mejor no se debía hablar sobre este poder.” Pero el representante Charles Lindberg (D-NY), fue más contundente, clamando contra la Ley de la Reserva Federal aprobada por Woodrow Wilson, que había sido hábilmente apodado el “proyecto de ley del Pueblo”. Lindberg declaró que la Ley, “… establece el Trust más gigantesco en la tierra … Cuando el Presidente firme esta ley, el gobierno invisible movido por el poder del dinero va a ser legitimado. La ley creará inflación cada vez que ellos quieran inflación. A partir de ahora, las depresiones económicas se crearan científicamente. El gobierno invisible por el poder del dinero, que se probó que existe durante la Investigación Trust, va a ser legalizado. Todo el concepto del banco central fue diseñado por el mismo grupo que se suponía debía ser erradicado”. [12]

La Reserva Federal se compone de casi todos los bancos en los EE.UU., pero su agencia de Nueva York es la principal en virtud de sus recursos de capital enorme. El verdadero centro de poder dentro de la Reserva Federal es el Comité Federal de Mercado Abierto (FOMC), en el que sólo el presidente de la Fed de NY tiene un puesto de votación permanente. La FOMC dirige cuestiones sobre la política monetaria que se aplica desde el piso 8 de la Fed de Nueva York, una fortaleza diseñada como el Banco de Inglaterra. [13]

En el quinto piso subterráneo de esta mole de piedra de 14 pisos se encuentran 10.300 toneladas de oro que en su mayoría no pertenece a Estados Unidos, pero que es 1 / 3 de las reservas de oro del mundo. [14]

El mundo del dinero es cada vez más informatizado. Con la introducción de complicados instrumentos financieros -por parte de las Ocho Familias- como derivativos, opciones, opciones de compra a futuro, el volumen de las transacciones interbancarias dio un salto cuántico. Para manejar esto, la Reserva Federal construyó una “autopista” de inquietante conocida como CHIPS (Clearing Interbank Payment System ), que tiene su sede en Nueva York y sigue el modelo de Euro-Clear de Morgan en Bélgica, también conocido como La Bestia.

Cuando la Reserva Federal se creó cinco bancos de New York, Citibank, Chase, Chemical Bank, Manufacturers Hanover y Bankers Trust, tenían una participación del 43% en la Fed de Nueva York. En 1983 estos mismos cinco bancos aumentaron su participación a 53% de la Fed de Nueva York. Para el año 2000, la recién fusionada Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase y Deutsche Bank combinaron sus fuerzas para tener una porción aún mayor, al igual que la facción europea de las Ocho Familias. Colectivamente, poseen acciones mayoritarias en cada corporación del Fortune 500 donde la mayor parte de las acciones y títulos son de renta fija. En 1955, estos cinco bancos representaban el 15% de todas las operaciones de bolsa. En 1985 estaban involucrados en el 85% de todas las transacciones de valores. [15]

Aún más poderosos son los bancos de inversión que llevan los nombres de muchas de las Ocho Familias. En 1982, mientras que el banquero Morgan presidió las negociaciones entre Gran Bretaña y Argentina después de la Guerra de las Malvinas, el presidente Reagan impulsó la Regla 415 de la Comisión de Intercambio (SEC), lo que ayudó a consolidar los valores de suscripción en las manos de seis casas de inversión, propiedad de las Ocho Familias: Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Salomon Brothers, First Boston y Lehman Brothers. Estos bancos consolidaron su poder a través de la manía de las fusiones de los años 1980 y 1990.

American Express se tragó tanto a Lehman Brothers-Kuhn Loeb -que se había fusionado en 1977- como a Shearson Lehman-Rhoades. La Banca de Israel Moses Seif de la Svizzera Italiana compró una participación del 7% en Lehman Brothers. [16] Salomon Brothers atrapó Philbro de la familia sudafricana Oppenheimer, luego compró Smith Barney. Los tres se convirtieron en parte del Grupo Travelers, dirigidos por Sandy Weill de la familia David-Weill, que controla Lazard Freres a través del socio senior Michel David-Weill. Citibank compró entonces el Grupo Travelers para formar Citigroup. SG Warburg, del cual Chartered Oppenheimer consolidado y posee una participación del 9%, se unió al al Banco BP Paribas, que se fusionó con Merrill Lynch en 1984. Union Bank de Suiza adquirió Paine Webber, mientras que Morgan Stanley Dean Witter compró las operaciones de Discover de Sears.

First Boston, controlado por Kuhn Loeb se fusionó con Credit Suisse, que ya había absorbido White-Weld, para convertirse en CS First Boston -el actor principal en el mercado de eurobonos sucios de Londres. Merrill Lynch -se fusionó con Bank of America en 2008- es el actor principal en este comercio en el lado de EE.UU.. La Sociedad Suiza de Bancos se fusionó con el mayor de Londres, casa de inversiones SG Warburg para crear SBC Warburg, mientras que Warburg se entrelazó más con Merrill Lynch a través de su asociación con Mercury Assets en 1998. El Warburg se formó otra empresa con la Unión de Bancos Suizos, UBS Warburg apoyó la creación. Deutsche Bank compró Fideicomiso Banca y Alex Brown para convertirse por un periódo breve en el banco más grande del mundo, con $ 882 mil millones en activos. Con la derogación de la Ley Glass-Steagal, la línea entre la banca de inversión, la banca comercial y la privada desapareció.

Este puñado de bancos de inversión ejercen una enorme cantidad de control sobre la economía global. Sus actividades incluyen el asesoramiento a países del Tercer Mundo en sus negociaciones de deuda, manejo de las fusiones y la creación de empresas para llenar un vacío económico a través de la puesta en marcha de la oferta inicial pública de acciones (OPI), suscripción de todas las acciones, suscripción de todas las empresas y la emisión de bonos del gobierno, y empujando el carro de la privatización y la globalización de la economía mundial.

Un presidente reciente del Banco Mundial fue James Wolfensohn, de Salomon Smith Barney. Merrill Lynch tenía $ 435 mil millones en activos en 1994, antes de que el frenesí de las fusiones llegara. El mayor banco comercial en el momento, Citibank, sólo tenía $ 249 mil millones en activos.

En 1991, Merrill Lynch manejaba el 26,8% de todas las fusiones globales de bancos. Morgan Stanley manejaba el 16,8%, Goldman Sachs 16,3%, Lehman Brothers 16,1% y Credit Suisse First Boston el 14,5 %. Morgan Stanley hizo $ 60 mil millones en las fusiones de empresas en 1989. Para el año 2007, al reflejarse el efecto de la eliminación de Glass-Steagel, los diez asesores de NMA fueron: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, UBS Warburg, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank y Lazard. En el campo Underwriting de la bolsa de valores para el año 1991 los cuatro primeros colocados eran Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley y CS First Boston. En el ámbito de la privatización global en los años 1985-1995, Goldman Sachs abrió el camino haciendo $ 13,3 mil millones de dólares de sus negocos. UBS Warburg hizo $ 8,2 mil millones, BNP Paribas $ 6,8 mil millones, el CS First Boston $ 4,9 mil millones y BNP -propietario de Merrill Lynch $ 4,4 mil millones. [17]

En 2006 BNP Paribas compró el famoso Banca Nacionale de Lavoro (BNL), que lideró la carga en el armamento de Saddam Hussein. De acuerdo a las finanzas mundiales, ahora es el banco más grande del mundo, con cerca de $ 3 trillones en activos.

Los principales compradores de deuda de EE.UU. en los nueve primeros meses de 1995 llevaban el mismo nombre familiar. Merrill Lynch compró $ 74,2 mil millones en los mercados de deuda de EE.UU., o el 15,3% del total. Lehman Brothers manejaba $ 52,5 mil millones, Morgan Stanley $ 47,4 mil millones, Salomon Smith Barney $ 45,6 mil millones. CS First Boston, Chase Manhattan y Goldman Sachs completan los siete principales. Los tres primeros compradores de deuda municipal de ese año fueron Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch y UBS Paine Webber. En el mercado euro -los cuatro primeros suscriptores en 1995 fueron UBS Warburg, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank y Goldman Sachs. [18] Deutsche Bank Morgan Grenfell ingenió la adquisición de sociedades en Europa.

Los actores dominantes en el mercado de futuros de petróleo, tanto en el Intercambio Mercantil de Nueva York como en la Bolsa de Petróleo de Londres son Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Goldman Sachs (a través de su filial J. Aron), Citigroup (a través de su unidad Philbro) y Deutsche Bank ( a través de la adquisición de Bankers Trust). En 2002 Enron Online fue subastada por una corte de bancarrota para UBS Warburg por $ 0 dólares. UBS fue el primero en compartir los beneficios del monopolio de Enron Online con Lehman Brothers después de los dos primeros años de la operación. [19] En 2008 la desaparición de Lehman, comprado por Barclays hizo con que este último recibiera su parte.

Tras el fiasco de Lehman Brothers y el colapso económico siguiente de 2008, los Cuatro Jinetes de la banca se hicieron aún más grande. JP Morgan Chase adquirió a Bear Stearns y Washington Mutual por centavos. Bank of America Merrill Lynch se apoderó de Countrywide. Wells Fargo tomó el control sobre las oscilaciones de Wachovia Bank de EE.UU.. Barclays tiene un acuerdo ventajoso para los restos de Lehman Brothers.

El ex presidente del Comité Bancario de la Casa de Representantes, Wright Patman (D-TX), declaró sobre la Reserva Federal, y las Ocho Familias, “Estados Unidos tiene hoy en efecto, dos gobiernos. Nosotros somos el gobierno debidamente constituido. Segundo, tenemos un gobierno independiente, sin control y sin coordinación que es el Sistema de la Reserva Federal, que opera los asuntos relacionados al dinero que están reservados constitucionalmente al Congreso”. [20]

Desde la creación de la Reserva Federal, la deuda de EE.UU. (en su mayoría debida a las Ocho Familias) se ha disparado de $ 1 mil millones a mas de $ 14 trillones en la actualidad. Esto supera con creces el total de toda la deuda de los países del tercer mundo combinados. Esos países también deben sus deudas a las mismas Ocho Familias, que poseen la mayoría de todos los bancos centrales del mundo.

Como el senador Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) señaló: “Los banqueros internacionales ganan dinero mediante la extensión de crédito a los gobiernos. Cuanto mayor sea la deuda del estado político, mayor será el interés que se tiene que pagar a los prestamistas. Los bancos centrales de Europa (también) son poseídos y controlados por intereses privados. Reconocemos que es una especie de manera nebulosa en que los Rothschild y los Warburg de Europa y las casas de JP Morgan, Kuhn Loeb & Co., Schiff, Lehman y Rockefeller poseen y controlan la inmensa riqueza. ¿Cómo adquirieron este gran poder financiero y como lo emplean? Es un misterio para la mayoría de nosotros. “[21]

[1] Behold a Pale Horse. William Cooper. Light Technology Press. Sedona, AZ. 1991. p.81

[2] Dope Inc.: The Book that Drove Kissinger Crazy. The Editors of Executive Intelligence Review. Washington, DC. 1992.

[3] Democracy for the Few. Michael Parenti. St. Martin’s Press. New York. 1977. p.67

[4] Descent into Slavery. Des Griffin. Emissary Publications. Pasadena 1991

[5] The Robot’s Rebellion: The Story of the Spiritual Renaissance. David Icke. Gateway Books. Bath, UK. 1994. p.158

[6] The Editors of Executive Intelligence Review. p.504

[7] Ibid

[8] Ibid

[9] Ibid. p.77

[10] “Secrets of the Federal Reserve”. Discovery Channel. January 2002

[11] The Confidence Game: How Un-Elected Central Bankers are Governing the Changed World Economy. Steven Solomon. Simon & Schuster. New York. 1995. p.26

[12] Icke. p.178

[13] Solomon. p.63

[14] Ibid. p.27

[15] The Corporate Reapers: The Book of Agribusiness. A.V. Krebs. Essential Books. Washington, DC. 1992. p.166

[16] The Editors of Executive Intelligence Review. p.79

[17] “Playing the Middle”. Anita Raghavan and Bridget O’Brian. Wall Street Journal. 10-2-95

[18] Securities Data Corporation. 1995

[19] CNN Headline News. 1-11-02

[20] The Rockefeller File. Gary Allen. ’76 Press. Seal Beach, CA. 1977. p.156

[21] Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History that Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons and the Great Pyramids. Jim Marrs. HarperCollins Publishers. New York. 2000. p.77

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The Federal Reserve Cartel: A Financial Parasite

June 21, 2011 1 Comment

by Dean Henderson
June 20, 2011

Final Part

United World Federalists founder James Warburg’s father was Paul Warburg, who financed Hitler with help from Brown Brothers Harriman partner Prescott Bush. [1]

Colonel Ely Garrison was a close friend of both President Teddy Roosevelt and President Woodrow Wilson.  Garrison wrote in Roosevelt, Wilson and the Federal Reserve, “Paul Warburg was the man who got the Federal Reserve Act together after the Aldrich Plan aroused such nationwide resentment and opposition.  The mastermind of both plans was Baron Alfred Rothschild of London.”

The Aldrich Plan was hatched at a secret 1910 meeting at JP Morgan’s private resort on Jekyl Island, SC between Rockefeller lieutenant Nelson Aldrich and Paul Warburg of the German Warburg banking dynasty.  Aldrich, a New York congressman, later married into the Rockefeller family.  His son Winthrop Aldrich chaired Chase Manhattan Bank.  While the bankers met, Colonel Edward House, another Rockefeller stooge and close confidant of President Woodrow Wilson, was busy convincing Wilson of the importance of a private central bank and the introduction of a national income tax. A member of House’s staff was British MI6 Permindex insider General Julius Klein. [2]

Wilson didn’t need much convincing, since he was beholden to copper magnate Cleveland Dodge, whose namesake Phelps Dodge became one of the biggest mining companies in the world.  Dodge bankrolled Wilson’s political career. Wilson even wrote his inaugural speech on Dodge’s yacht. [3]

Wilson was a classmate of both Dodge and Cyrus McCormick at Princeton.  Both were directors at Rockefeller’s National City Bank (now Citigroup).  Wilson’s main focus was on overcoming public distrust of the bankers, which New York City Mayor John Hylan echoed in 1911 when he argued, “The real menace to our republic is the invisible government which, like a giant octopus, sprawls its slimy length over our city, state and nation.  At the head is a small group of banking houses, generally referred to as the international bankers”. [4]

But the Eight Families prevailed.  In 1913 the Federal Reserve Bank was born, with Paul Warburg its first Governor.  Four years later the US entered World War I, after a secret society known as the Black Hand assassinated Archduke Ferdinand and his Hapsburg wife.  The Archduke’s friend Count Czerin later said, “A year before the war he informed me that the Masons had resolved upon his death.”[5]

That same year, Bolsheviks overthrew the Hohehzollern monarchy in Russia with help from Max Warburg and Jacob Schiff, while the Balfour Declaration leading to the creation of Israel was penned to Zionist Second Lord Rothschild.

In the 1920’s Baron Edmund de Rothschild founded the Palestine Economics Commission, while Kuhn Loeb’s Manhattan offices helped Rothschild form a network to smuggle weapons to Zionist death squads bent on seizing Palestinian lands.  General Julius Klein oversaw the operation and headed the US Army Counterintelligence Corps, which later produced Henry Kissinger.  Klein diverted Marshall Plan aid to Europe to Zionist terror cells in Palestine after WWII, channeling the funds through the Sonneborn Institute, which was controlled by Baltimore chemical magnate Rudolph Sonneborn.  His wife Dorothy Schiff is related to the Warburgs. [6]

The Kuhn Loebs came to Manhattan with the Warburgs. At the same time the Bronfmans came to Canada as part of the Moses Montefiore Jewish Colonization Committee.  The Montefiores have carried out the dirty work of Genoese nobility since the 13th Century.  The di Spadaforas served that function for the Italian House of Savoy, which was bankrolled by the Israel Moses Seif family for which Israel is named.  Lord Harold Sebag Montefiore is current head of the Jerusalem Foundation, the Zionist wing of the Knights of St. John’s Jerusalem.  The Bronfmans (the name means “liquorman” in Yiddish) tied up with Arnold Rothstein, a product of the Rothschild’s dry goods empire, to found organized crime in New York City.  Rothstein was succeeded by Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Robert Vesco and Santos Trafficante.  The Bronfmans are intermarried with the Rothschilds, Loebs and Lamberts. [7]

The year 1917 also saw the 16th Amendment added to the US Constitution, levying a national income tax, though it was ratified by only two of the required 36 states.  The IRS is a private corporation registered in Delaware. [8]  Four years earlier the Rockefeller Foundation was launched, to shield family wealth from the new income tax provisions, while steering public opinion through social engineering.  One of its tentacles was the General Education Board.

In Occasional Letter #1 the Board states, “In our dreams we have limitless resources and the people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hands. The present education conventions fade from their minds and, unhampered by tradition, we will work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive rural folk.  We shall try not to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning or men of science…of whom we have ample supply.”[9]

Though most Americans think of the Federal Reserve as a government institution, it is privately held by the Eight Families.  The Secret Service is employed, not by the Executive Branch, but by the Federal Reserve. [10]

An exchange between Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Fed Chairman Paul Volcker at Senate hearings in 1982 is instructive.  Kennedy must have thought of his older brother John when he told Volcker that if he were before the committee as a member of US Treasury things would be much different.  Volcker, puffing on a cigar, responded cavalierly, “That’s probably true. But I believe it was intentionally designed this way”. [11]  Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-IN) put it to Volcker that, “People realize that what that board of yours does has a very profound impact on their pocketbooks, and yet it is a group of people basically inaccessible to them and unaccountable to them.”

President Wilson spoke of, “a power so organized, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breaths when they speak in condemnation of it.” Rep. Charles Lindberg (D-NY) was more blunt, railing against Wilson’s Federal Reserve Act, which had cleverly been dubbed the “People’s Bill”.  Lindberg declared that the Act would, “…establish the most gigantic trust on earth…When the president signs this act, the invisible government by the money power will be legitimized.  The law will create inflation whenever the trusts want inflation.  From now on, depressions will be scientifically created.  The invisible government by the money power, proven to exist by the Money Trust Investigation, will be legalized.  The whole central bank concept was engineered by the very group it was supposed to strip of power”. [12]

The Fed is made up of most every bank in the US, but the New York Federal Reserve Bank controls the Fed by virtue of its enormous capital resources.  The true center of power within the Fed is the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), on which only the NY Fed President holds a permanent voting seat.  The FOMC issues directives on monetary policy which are implemented from the 8th Floor of the NY Fed, a fortress modeled after the Bank of England. [13]

In the fifth sub-basement of the 14-story stone hulk lie 10,300 tons of mostly non-US gold, 1/3 of the world’s gold reserves and by far the largest gold stock in the world. [14]

The world of money is increasingly computerized.  With the introduction by the Eight Families of complicated financial instruments like derivatives, options, puts and futures; the volume of inter-bank transactions took a quantum leap.  To handle this the fed built a superhighway eerily known as CHIPS (Clearing Interbank Payment System), which is based in New York and modeled after Morgan’s Belgium-based Euro-Clear – also known as The Beast.

When the Fed was created five New York banks- Citibank, Chase, Chemical Bank, Manufacturers Hanover and Bankers Trust- held a 43% stake in the New York Fed.  By 1983 these same five banks owned 53% of the NY Fed.  By year 2000, the newly merged Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Deutsche Bank combines owned even bigger chunks, as did the European faction of the Eight Families. Collectively they own majority stock in every Fortune 500 corporation and do the bulk of stock and bond trading.  In 1955 the above five banks accounted for 15% of all stock trades.  By 1985 they were involved in 85% of all stock transactions. [15]

Still more powerful are the investment banks which bear the names of many of the Eight Families. In 1982, while Morgan bankers presided over negotiations between Britain and Argentina after the Falklands War, President Reagan pushed through SEC Rule 415, which helped consolidate securities underwriting in the hands of six large investment houses owned by the Eight Families: Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Salomon Brothers, First Boston and Lehman Brothers.  These banks further consolidated their power via the merger mania of 1980s and 1990s.

American Express swallowed up both Lehman Brothers-Kuhn Loeb – which had merged in 1977 – and Shearson Lehman-Rhoades.  The Israel Moses Seif’s Banca de la Svizzera Italiana bought a 7% stake in Lehman Brothers. [16]  Salomon Brothers nabbed Philbro from the South African Oppenheimer family, then bought Smith Barney. All three then became part of Traveler’s Group, headed by Sandy Weill of the David-Weill family, which controls Lazard Freres through senior partner Michel David-Weill.  Citibank then bought Travelers to form Citigroup. S.G. Warburg, of which Oppenheimer’s Chartered Consolidated owns a 9% stake, joined the old money Banque Paribas- which merged into Merrill Lynch in 1984.  Union Bank of Switzerland acquired Paine Webber, while Morgan Stanley ate up Dean Witter and purchased Discover credit card operations from Sears.

Kuhn Loeb-controlled First Boston merged with Credit Suisse, which had already absorbed White-Weld, to become CS First Boston- the major player in the dirty London Eurobond market.  Merrill Lynch – merged into Bank of America in 2008 – is the major player on the US side of this trade.  Swiss Banking Corporation merged with London’s biggest investment house S.G. Warburg to create SBC Warburg, while Warburg became more intertwined with Merrill Lynch through their 1998 Mercury Assets tie up.  The Warburg’s formed another venture with Union Bank of Switzerland, creating powerhouse UBS Warburg.  Deutsche Bank bought Banker’s Trust and Alex Brown to briefly become the world’s largest bank with $882 billion in assets.  With repeal of Glass-Steagal, the line between investment, commercial and private banking disappeared.

This handful of investment banks exerts an enormous amount of control over the global economy.  Their activities include advising Third World debt negotiations, handling mergers and breakups, creating companies to fill a perceived economic void through the launching of initial public stock offerings (IPOs), underwriting all stocks, underwriting all corporate and government bond issuance, and pulling the bandwagon down the road of privatization and globalization of the world economy.

A recent president of the World Bank was James Wolfensohn of Salomon Smith Barney.  Merrill Lynch had $435 billion in assets in 1994, before the merger frenzy had really even gotten under way.  The biggest commercial bank at the time, Citibank, could claim only $249 billion in assets.

In 1991 Merrill Lynch handled 26.8% of all global bank mergers.  Morgan Stanley did 16.8%, Goldman Sachs 16.3%, Lehman Brothers 16.1% and Credit Suisse First Boston 14.5%.  Morgan Stanley did $60 billion in corporate mergers in 1989.  By 2007, reflecting the repeal of Glass-Steagel, the top ten NMA advisers in order were: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, UBS Warburg, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Lazard. In the IPO stock underwriting field for 1991 the top four were Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and CS First Boston.  In the arena of global privatization for years 1985-1995, Goldman Sachs led the way doing $13.3 billion worth of deals.  UBS Warburg did $8.2 billion, BNP Paribas $6.8 billion, CS First Boston $4.9 billion and Paribas-owner Merrill Lynch $4.4 billion. [17]

In 2006 BNP Paribas bought the notorious Banca Nacionale de Lavoro (BNL), which led the charge in arming Saddam Hussein. According to Global Finance, it is now the world’s largest bank with nearly $3 trillion in assets.

The leading US debt underwriters for the first nine months of 1995 bore the same familiar names.  Merrill Lynch underwrote $74.2 billion in the US debt markets, or 15.3% of the total.  Lehman Brothers handled $52.5 billion, Morgan Stanley $47.4 billion, Salomon Smith Barney $45.6 billion.  CS First Boston, Chase Manhattan and Goldman Sachs rounded out the top seven.  The top three municipal debt underwriters that year were Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and UBS Paine Webber.  In the euro-market the top four underwriters in 1995 were UBS Warburg, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs. [18]  Deutsche Bank’s Morgan Grenfell branch engineered the corporate takeover binge in Europe.

The dominant players in the oil futures markets at both the New York Mercantile Exchange and the London Petroleum Exchange are Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Goldman Sachs (through its J. Aron & Company subsidiary), Citigroup (through its Philbro unit) and Deutsche Bank (through its Banker’s Trust acquisition).  In 2002 Enron Online was auctioned off by a bankruptcy court to UBS Warburg for $0.  UBS was to share monopoly Enron Online profits with Lehman Brothers after the first two years of the deal. [19] With Lehman’s 2008 demise, its new owner Barclays will get their cut.

Following the Lehman Brothers fiasco and the ensuing financial meltdown of 2008, the Four Horsemen of Banking got even bigger. For pennies on the dollar, JP Morgan Chase was handed Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. Bank of America commandeered Merrill Lynch and Countrywide. And Wells Fargo seized control over the reeling #5 US bank Wachovia. Barclays got a sweetheart deal for the remains of Lehman Brothers.

Former House Banking Committee Chairman Wright Patman (D-TX), declared of Federal Reserve Eight Families owners, “The United States today has in effect two governments.  We are the duly constituted government.  Then we have an independent, uncontrolled and uncoordinated government in the Federal Reserve System, operating the money powers which are reserved to Congress by the Constitution”. [20]

Since the creation of the Federal Reserve, US debt (mostly owed to the Eight Families) has skyrocketed from $1 billion to nearly $14 trillion today.  This far surpasses the total of all Third World country debt combined, debt which is mostly owed to these same Eight Families, who own most all the world’s central banks.

As Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) pointed out, “International bankers make money by extending credit to governments.  The greater the debt of the political state, the larger the interest returned to lenders.  The national banks of Europe are (also) owned and controlled by private interests.  We recognize in a hazy sort of way that the Rothschilds and the Warburgs of Europe and the houses of JP Morgan, Kuhn Loeb & Co., Schiff, Lehman and Rockefeller possess and control vast wealth.  How they acquire this vast financial power and employ it is a mystery to most of us.”[21]

[1] Behold a Pale Horse. William Cooper. Light Technology Press. Sedona, AZ. 1991. p.81

[2] Dope Inc.: The Book that Drove Kissinger Crazy. The Editors of Executive Intelligence Review. Washington, DC. 1992.

[3] Democracy for the Few. Michael Parenti. St. Martin’s Press. New York. 1977. p.67

[4] Descent into Slavery. Des Griffin. Emissary Publications. Pasadena 1991

[5] The Robot’s Rebellion: The Story of the Spiritual Renaissance. David Icke. Gateway Books. Bath, UK. 1994. p.158

[6] The Editors of Executive Intelligence Review. p.504

[7] Ibid

[8] Ibid

[9] Ibid. p.77

[10] “Secrets of the Federal Reserve”. Discovery Channel. January 2002

[11] The Confidence Game: How Un-Elected Central Bankers are Governing the Changed World Economy. Steven Solomon. Simon & Schuster. New York. 1995. p.26

[12] Icke. p.178

[13] Solomon. p.63

[14] Ibid. p.27

[15] The Corporate Reapers: The Book of Agribusiness. A.V. Krebs. Essential Books. Washington, DC. 1992. p.166

[16] The Editors of Executive Intelligence Review. p.79

[17] “Playing the Middle”. Anita Raghavan and Bridget O’Brian. Wall Street Journal. 10-2-95

[18] Securities Data Corporation. 1995

[19] CNN Headline News. 1-11-02

[20] The Rockefeller File. Gary Allen. ’76 Press. Seal Beach, CA. 1977. p.156

[21] Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History that Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons and the Great Pyramids. Jim Marrs. HarperCollins Publishers. New York. 2000. p.77

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Goldman Sachs Defrauded Investors, sent bailout outside U.S.A

July 29, 2010 1 Comment

by Karen Mracek and Thomas Beaumont

Goldman Sachs sent $4.3 billion in federal tax money to 32 entities, including many overseas banks, hedge funds and pensions, according to information made public Friday night.Goldman Sachs disclosed the list of companies to the Senate Finance Committee after a threat of subpoena from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Ia.

 Asked the significance of the list, Grassley said, “I hope it’s as simple as taxpayers deserve to know what happened to their money.”

 He added, “We thought originally we were bailing out AIG. Then later on … we learned that the money flowed through AIG to a few big banks, and now we know that the money went from these few big banks to dozens of financial institutions all around the world.”

 Grassley said he was reserving judgment on the appropriateness of U.S. taxpayer money ending up overseas until he learns more about the 32 entities.

 SETTLEMENT: Goldman Sachs admits it misled investors, pays $550M fine

GOLDMAN CONSENT: SEC vs. Goldman Sachs

JUDGEMENT: Final judgement of defendant

 Goldman Sachs (GS) received $5.55 billion from the government in fall of 2008 as payment for then-worthless securities it held in AIG. Goldman had already hedged its risk that the securities would go bad. It had entered into agreements to spread the risk with the 32 entities named in Friday’s report.

 Overall, Goldman Sachs received a $12.9 billion payout from the government’s bailout of AIG, which was at one time the world’s largest insurance company.

 Goldman Sachs also revealed to the Senate Finance Committee that it would have received $2.3 billion if AIG had gone under. Other large financial institutions, such as Citibank, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, sold Goldman Sachs protection in the case of AIG’s collapse. Those institutions did not have to pay Goldman Sachs after the government stepped in with tax money.

 Shouldn’t Goldman Sachs be expected to collect from those institutions “before they collect the taxpayers’ dollars?” Grassley asked. “It’s a little bit like a farmer, if you got crop insurance, you shouldn’t be getting disaster aid.”

 Goldman had not disclosed the names of the counterparties it paid in late 2008 until Friday, despite repeated requests from Elizabeth Warren, chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel.

 ”I think we didn’t get the information because they consider it very embarrassing,” Grassley said, “and they ought to consider it very embarrassing.”

 FINANCIAL REFORM: How Congress rewrote the regulations

FIXED? Will new regulations prevent future meltdowns?

FINANCIAL OVERHAUL AND YOU: Mortgages, debit cards, loans, more

 The initial $85 billion to bail out AIG was supplemented by an additional $49.1 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, known as TARP, as well as additional funds from the Federal Reserve. AIG’s debt to U.S. taxpayers totals $133.3 billion outstanding.

 ”The only thing I can tell you is that people have the right to know, and the Fed and the public’s business ought to be more public,” Grassley said.

 The list of companies receiving money includes a few familiar foreign banks, such as the Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays.

 DZ AG Deutsche Zantrake Genossenschaftz Bank, a German cooperative banking group, received $1.2 billion, more than a quarter of the money Goldman paid out.

 Warren, in testimony Wednesday, said that the rescue of AIG “distorted the marketplace by turning AIG’s risky bets into fully guaranteed transactions. Instead of forcing AIG and its counterparties to bear the costs of the company’s failure, the government shifted those costs in full onto taxpayers.”

 Grassley stressed the importance of transparency in the marketplace, as well as in the government’s actions.

 ”Just like the government, markets need more transparency, and consequently this is some of that transparency because we’ve got to rebuild confidence to make the markets work properly,” Grassley said.

 AIG received the bailout of $85 billion at the discretion of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which was led at the time by Timothy Geithner. He now is U.S. treasury secretary.

 ”I think it proves that he knew a lot more at the time than he told,” Grassley said. “And he surely knew where this money was going to go. If he didn’t, he should have known before they let the money out of their bank up there.”

 An attempt to reach Geithner Friday night through the White House public information office was unsuccessful.

 Grassley has for years pushed to give the Government Accountability Office more oversight of the Federal Reserve.

 U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, a Waterloo Democrat, said he would propose that the House subcommittee on oversight and investigations convene hearings on the need for more Federal Reserve oversight. Braley is a member of the subcommittee.

 Braley said of Geithner, “I would assume he would be someone we would want to hear from because he would have firsthand knowledge.”

 Braley also noted that the AIG bailout was negotiated under President George W. Bush, a Republican.

 He said he was confident that the financial regulatory reform bill signed by President Obama this week would help provide better oversight than the AIG bailout included.

 ”There was no regulatory framework in place,” Braley said. “We had to put something in place to begin reining them in. I’m confident they will begin to be able to do that.”

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