Thursday, January 19, 2012

Deutsche Bank Again Under Fire From Internal Whistleblower Accusing Bank Of Fudging Numbers

Back In May 2009 Zero Hedge was the only website to post (following a NYT Dealbook takedown for reasons unknown) the lament of one, now former, Deutsche Bank employee and whistleblower, Deepak Moorjani, who made it very clear that going all the way back to 2006, Deutsche Bank was allegedly fabricating data, and misleading investors about its commercial real estate holdings, courtesy of a lax regulatory strcuture and the "lack of a system of checks and balances". To wit: "At Deutsche Bank, I consider our poor results to be a “management debacle,” a natural outcome of unfettered risk-taking, poor incentive structures and the lack of a system of checks and balances. In my opinion, we took too much risk, failed to manage this risk and broke too many laws and regulations. For more than two years, I have been working internally to improve the inadequate governance structures and lax internal controls within Deutsche Bank. I joined the firm in 2006 in one of its foreign subsidiaries, and my due diligence revealed management failures as well as inconsistencies between our internal actions and our external statements. Beginning in late 2006, my conclusions were disseminated internally on a number of occasions, and while not always eloquently stated, my concerns were honest. Unfortunately, raising concerns internally is like trying to clap with one hand. The firm retaliated, and this raises the question: Is it possible to question management’s performance without being marginalized, even when this marginalization might be a violation of law?" The story was promptly drowned, despite our attempts to make it very clear just what practices the bank was engaging in in the follow up exclusive titled "One Whistleblower's Fight Against Goliath Over the Definition of Risk." Today, the questionably legal practices by Deutsche Bank are once again brought to the forefront with the Propublica article of former WSJ journalist Carrick Mollenkamp titled "Deutsche Analyst Sounded Alarm When Asked to Alter Numbers." This is the second time a pseudo-whistleblower has spoken out against an endemic culture of fraud at the German bank in two years. And nobody cares of course, for obvious reasons - the Zen-like tranquility of the status quo may never be disturbed, or else the endless crime and corruption lurking in the shadows will be exposed for all to see.









Keystone Aftermath Arrives: Canada Pledges To Sell Oil To Asia, As US Becomes Source Of "Uncertainty"

America's loss is China's gain. In the aftermath of the Keystone XL fiasco, which will see not only a number of jobs "uncreated" but a natural source of crude lost, Canada is already planning next steps. Which will benefit Shanghai directly and immediately. As Bloomberg reports, "Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in a telephone call yesterday, told Obama “Canada will continue to work to diversify its energy exports,” according to details provided by Harper’s office. Canadian Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver said relying less on the U.S. would help strengthen the country’s “financial security.” The “decision by the Obama administration underlines the importance of diversifying and expanding our markets, including the growing Asian market,” Oliver told reporters in Ottawa." Ironically, it is diversifying away from the US, with its ever soaring, politically-predicated uncertainty, that is a source of stability and diversification. But it is not only crude. Wonder why no jobs are being created? Wonder why despite record low mortgage rates there is no bottom in sight for housing? Simple - nobody can plan one month, let alone one year ahead for any US-based venture or business. The political risk is simply too great - whether it is contract law (see GM and Chrysler) or simple solvency (see record high levels of cash hoarded by companies), it is there, and as long as it is there, there will be no hiring, no capex spending, no growth, and no real improvement in the economy, the real economy, not that defined by where the Russell 2000 closes on any given day.




The death of ambition

 

 

 

 

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Bank Of America Earnings Comedy

Dave in Denver at The Golden Truth - 1 hour ago
*The minute this thing [Comex/LBMA/ETF paper fraud vs. actual physical demand] gets away and we start to have a real market and prices start to reflect real supply/demand, it will bring in a lot more demand at the same time supply is being diminished. This is why you’re going to have price moves of staggering dimensions. - John Embry, interview with King World News **LINK* John Embry is one of the few precious metals market participants that is worth paying attention to - at least that I've found in my 10+ years of doing exclusively this sector. I couldn't agree more with the c... more » 



SEIU Gears Up For Thuggery

by Joel McDurmon, AmericanVisionNews.com:
“Something questionable is going,” says a Washington Examiner editorial, because the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is advertising a $65,000/year job for someone with the following qualifications:
• Train and lead members in non-violent civil disobedience, such as occupying state buildings and banks, and peaceful resistance.
• Plan and execute strategic direct action field plans including banner drops, bank takeovers, and capitol occupations with membership, other local unions, and coalition partners.
• Execute field plans for special campaigns including contract campaigns, ballot initiatives, COPE contributions, general membership growth and the broader campaign to fight for a fair economy.
(For those not familiar with SEIU nomenclature, “COPE” stands for Committee on Political Education, which the national union describes as the “300,000 SEIU members, staff and retirees who contribute an average of $7 a month.” That at least explains the source of some $25.2 million of SEIU’s beaucoup campaign money for Democrats.)
Read More @ AmericanVisionNews.com





Sovereigns At One-Month Tights Ahead Of Capital-Raise-Plan and Debt-Swap Deadline

The rolling euphoria continues. European sovereigns have performed well again today with a significant surge into the close (helped earlier by ECB buying and optically successful auctions). Italian 10Y is trading back at 450bps over Bunds (one-month tights) and European banks ripped higher in equity and credit markets (as belief in capital raising plans takes hold). As we noted earlier, GGBs have been underperforming all week but equities and credit seem unstoppable here. USDJPY has crumbled in the last hour or so (around the same time as sovereign spreads started to accelerate their compression) and Treasuries (and Bunds) are very significantly underperforming (with the former now 13bps higher in 30Y for the week). While the dollar continues to weaken (and EUR strengthen back over 1.29) commodities are 'oddly' rolling over with Copper, Oil, Gold, and Silver all well off their earlier highs as Europe closes.




Japanese Media in South Carolina on Ron Paul




Silver, Liberty & Ron Paul – What Could Be Better?


[Ed. Note: If you love silver, liberty and Dr. Ron Paul, you've come to the right place. Now let's pull em all together: Buy physical silver, crash JP Morgan. Elect Ron Paul, end the Reign of the Banksters. Win, win. Thanks to our pal Troy for bringing these "honorable" .999 silver rounds to our attention. Check em out, link below. ~SGT]
See Them @ ProvidentMetals.com




Ron Paul Townhall at the Marriott Spartanburg









Gold Will Sell For at Least Twice the Current Price in the Next Few Years

by David Schectman, MilesFranklin.com:
Two years ago gold was $1,100 and silver was $16.18. The Dow was 10,725. Compare the performance of all three. Gold is UP 50%. Silver is UP 89%. The Dow is UP 17%.
Gold has now crossed above its 200-day MA (see chart below) and is heading towards its 50-day MA, which stands at $1,678. If gold can close above $1,678 it will have turned clearly bullish and should head for the $1,700′s.
[...] It’s 6:15 a.m. New York time, on Thursday and gold is $1,664. The $1,678.63 50-day moving average is not that far off now. The last time gold was north of the 50-day moving average was in early December. When gold closes above both the 50-day and the 200-day moving averages, the momentum funds and technical funds will start to re-enter the market and gold should move up fast. Gold is already comfortably above the 200-day moving average, which stands at $1,634.30.
Read More @ MilesFranklin.com




“Gingrich Lacks the Moral Character to be President”

by Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz, ABCNews.Go.com:

Newt Gingrich lacks the moral character to serve as President, his second ex-wife Marianne told ABC News, saying his campaign positions on the sanctity of marriage and the importance of family values do not square with what she saw during their 18 years of marriage.
In her first television interview since the 1999 divorce, to be broadcast tonight on Nightline, Marianne Gingrich, a self-described conservative Republican, said she is coming forward now so voters can know what she knows about Gingrich.
Read More (and Watch the Video) @ ABCNews.Go.com





Perry Ends Presidential Bid – Predictably, Endorses Gingrich the Globalist

from DailyCaller.com:
A source close to Texas Gov. Rick Perry confirmed to The Daily Caller that Perry is planning to end his bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday.
The news comes just two days before the South Carolina primary — an event Perry said he hoped would reinvigorate his presidential campaign.
Perry’s campaign schedule was largely empty Wednesday and Thursday, blogger Dave Weigel reported in a tweet.
After disappointing returns in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, polls showed Perry struggling to reverse his misfortunes in the “First in the South” primary.
Read More @ DailyCaller.com





Chinese Banks Promote Retail Gold Sales

by Rujun Shen, IBTimes.com:
(REUTERS) — For Chinese shipping executive Ping Bo buying gold is the best way to protect his family’s wealth and give his 10-year-old son a headstart into adulthood.
“For my son, the idea is that he will get a nice stash of gold that he can cash out when he turns 21 or when he gets married,” said Ping, one of over 2 million people that have opened accounts in the past two years to accumulate gold at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).
The ICBC launched the accounts in April 2010. The gold that it has bought to back them is only a fraction of total Chinese demand, but the explosive growth in the number of investors that have signed up is a symptom of the wider demand for the precious metal in the world’s most populous country.
Read More @ IBTimes.com





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