EU fines five major banks 1 bn euros for currency collusion

Yahoo – AFP, May 16, 2019

.With collusion between traders, clients may not have gotten the best rates (AFP
Photo/Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS)

Brussels (AFP) - The EU's powerful anti-trust authority on Thursday fined five major banks -- including Barclays and Citigroup -- more than a billion euros for collusion in the massive foreign exchange currency market.

The European Commission sanctioned Barclays, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Citigroup, JPMorgan and Japan's MUFG Bank a total of 1.07 billion euros ($1.2 billion) after finding that traders colluded to fix exchange rates using electronic chat rooms, a statement said.

The commission said Swiss giant UBS received no fine as it revealed the collusion to the authorities.

"These cartel decisions send a clear message that the commission will not tolerate collusive behaviour in any sector of the financial markets," said EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

"The behaviour of these banks undermined the integrity of the sector at the expense of the European economy and consumers," she added.

The decision involves two cases of forex manipulation, with the first known as "Essex Express 'n the Jimmy" because all the traders (except Jimmy) lived in the county to the east of London, the commission said.

The other one was called "Three-way banana split", though the EU's executive arm did not explain why.

"Some of the traders created the chat rooms and then invited one another to join, based on their trading activities and personal affinities, creating closed circles of trust," the commission explained.

The collusion took place between 2007 and 2013, roughly the years of the financial crisis and has been sanctioned by other authorities, including the US.

Except Japan's MUFG, the banks cooperated with the commission and in return received lighter fines than the EU's maximum amount.

"We are pleased to resolve this historical matter, which relates to the conduct of one former employee. We have since made significant control improvements," said a spokesperson for JPMorgan.

Several of the banks, including Barclays, had already provisioned for the fines in earlier filings.

Indonesia Wants to Use Yuan for Trades in Asean

Jakarta Globe, 2 August 2015

Jakarta. Indonesia is proposing the use of China's yuan for trade and investment purposes in Asean‎ countries in a bid to counter further impacts from the stronger US dollar against currencies in the region, a minister said on Tuesday.

The 10 members of the Asean region, including Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, mostly use US dollars for international trade. But a strengthening greenback has made imports and servicing debt more expensive, pushing some to consider turning to the yuan.

"We want to push [the use of the yuan] when Indonesia trades with China in particular," Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said at the House of Representatives. "Bank Indonesia is preparing the mechanism so it will be attractive for traders."

Trade Minister Thomas Lembong also brought up the issue on Monday after a meeting with the president.

He said Indonesia should push harder for broader use of the Chinese currency in the region because Asean economies were "much more in tune" with China.

The rupiah traded at an average of 14,700 per US dollar on Monday morning, its weakest point since 1998, according to the counter price at state-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia. It has lost about 13 percent of its value against the dollar this year.

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"The U in Kundalini"- Oct 18, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Kundalini, Unification, EU, Nobel Peace Prize 2012, Middle East, South America, Only 5 Currencies on Earth, Old Souls, Duality will dismiss, 3D Humanity will melt with Multi dimensional higher self, Global Unity… etc.)

Deutsche Bank co-CEOs resign

The CEOs of Deutsche Bank, Anshu Jain and Jürgen Fitschen, have said they will resign, confirming reports that surfaced on Sunday. The bank has been hit by a number of troubles in the recent past.

Deutsche Welle, 7 June 2015

Jain will be stepping down on June 30, and Fitschen will stay with the bank until next year's main shareholders meeting in May, the bank said in a statement on Sunday. As of July 1, John Cryan, who has been on the Deutsche Bank supervisory board, will be co-CEO with Fitschen until he departs.

The Wall Street Journal, citing an insider, reported Sunday that Germany's largest bank would be announcing the change in leadership.

Last month, labor representatives at the bank's Frankfurt headquarters had called for Jain's resignation amid a revamp expected to slash jobs in a bid to pare down Deutsche Bank's retail and investment banking exposure.

Legal battles

Fitschen is on trial for fraud at a Munich court on allegations that he failed to correct false testimony given by his former colleagues in a court case linked to the collapse of German media mogul Leo Kirch's TV empire.

If found guilty, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

Deutsche Bank was also fined $55 million (49.5 million euros) by US regulators last month for misstating important financial data regarding its potential losses during the 2008 financial crisis.

In addition, the bank is facing several other legal battles. Allegations include charges that it manipulated currency markets, rigged the Libor and Euribor interest rates and did business with countries subject to US sanctions, such as Iran.

The bank has 45,803 staff in Germany and 98,615 globally.

glb/rc (Reuters, AFP, dpa)

Related Article:

CEO shockwaves at Germany's biggest bank

Belgium charges HSBC with fraud involving diamond dealers

Yahoo – AFP, November 18, 2014

Belgium charges HSBC with fraud, laundering: prosecutor

Brussels (AFP) - Belgian prosecutors charged a subsidiary of British bank HSBC on Monday with fraud and money-laundering worth hundreds of millions of euros, mainly for diamond dealers in the industry's international hub of Antwerp.

Swiss subsidiary HSBC Private Bank SA (Suisse), which is wholly owned by the Asia-focused banking giant, allegedly helped hundreds of clients cheat the Belgian state, a statement from the prosecutors said.

HSBC said in a statement that it "will continue to cooperate to the fullest extent possible".

It is the latest in a series of international investigations into practices ranging from currency exchange rigging, Libor rigging and product mis-selling that has damaged the reputation of major banks.

Banking practices also had helped to spark the 2008 global financial crisis that led to a worldwide recession.

The Belgian prosecutor said the HSBC subsidiary was being charged with serious and organised fraud, money-laundering, criminal conspiracy and illegally functioning as a financial intermediary.

It said the allegations "date back several years and involve soliciting and managing the assets of wealthy clients, mainly from the Antwerp diamond industry."

"The Swiss bank is also suspected of knowingly favouring and encouraging fiscal fraud, giving privileged clients to offshore accounts, particularly in Panama and the Virgin Islands."

Antwerp, a port in Belgian's northern Flemish-speaking region, is home to the global dealers syndicate for diamonds.

In 2012, Belgium's justice minister ordered an inquiry into a growing controversy over possible tax fraud among diamond traders in Antwerp after French authorities handed a list of dozens of dealers suspected of placing assets in Switzerland.

HSBC apologised for its lapses, said reforms had been put in place, and
admitted it was 'horrified' by what it found. Photograph: Gary Cameron/Reuters 

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Five big banks hit with $3.2bn forex rigging fines

Yahoo – AFP, Roland Jackson, 12 Nov 2014

British bank HSBC and US peers Citigroup were among five banks fined

by regulators (AFP Photo/Facundo Arrizabalaga)

The hefty fines centred on London, the world's biggest hub for the $5.3-trillion-per-day forex market, and the British government hailed a move to "clean up corruption" in the City as the financial centre's reputation has been badly damaged in recent years.

British banks HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), US peers Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase, and Swiss lender UBS have all been fined by Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

JPMorgan is one of five banks facing

 huge fines over alleged foreign exchange

rigging (AFP Photo/Timothy A. Clary)

The FCA hit the five banking giants with a record penalty of £1.1 billion ($1.7 billion, 1.4 billion euros), while the CFTC has fined them $1.4 billion.

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) also announced a settlement of 134 million Swiss francs ($139 million) with UBS over the matter.

Barclays uncertainty

However Barclays -- which was at the heart of the 2012 Libor rate-rigging affair -- was not included in the settlements and remains under investigation by authorities.

The uncertainty sent Barclays' share price sliding 2.15 percent to 229.55 pence in early afternoon deals on the falling FTSE 100 index. The bank had last month set aside £500 million for a potential fine to settle forex allegations.

In recent years, a string of scandals has damaged the reputation of major banks, which sparked the notorious 2008 global financial crisis that led to a subsequent worldwide recession.

The FCA said that it found "ineffective controls" at the five banks between 2008 and 2013, allowing traders "to put their banks' interests ahead of those of their clients, other market participants and the wider UK financial system".

"The traders put their own interests ahead of their customers. They attempted to manipulate the market and abused the trust of the public and us as regulators," FCA chief executive Martin Wheatley told reporters at a press conference in London.

The FCA said that it had proposed new rules for the 36 banks operating in the foreign exchange market.

British banks HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), US peers Citigroup

 and JPMorgan Chase, and Swiss lender UBS have all been fined by Britain's

 Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the US Commodity Futures Trading

 Commission (CFTC) (AFP Photo)

The investigation homed in on trading in the world's top 10 currencies, known as the "G10".

Traders at the different banks "formed tight knit groups in which information was shared about client activity", the British regulator said.

It added that traders used code to identify clients without naming the them. They referred to themselves with nicknames like "The 3 Musketeers", "The Players" and "The A-team".

'Conflicts of interest'

"The banks failed to manage obvious risks around confidentiality, conflicts of interest and trading conduct," the FCA said.

At the same time, the CFTC said in a separate statement that the five banks were being punished for "attempted manipulation of, and for aiding and abetting other banks' attempts to manipulate, global foreign exchange benchmark rates to benefit the positions of certain traders."

It added that Citi, HSBC, JPMorgan, RBS and UBS had "coordinated trading with other banks in private chat rooms in their attempts to manipulate" the market.

The CFTC also ordered the banks to "cease and desist from further violations, and take specified steps to implement and strengthen their internal controls and procedures."

Bank of England governor Mark Carney expressed deep concern over the forex scandal.

Regulators say banks attempted to

manipulate global foreign exchange
benchmark rates to benefit certain traders
(AFP Photo/Scott Olson)

"We have been concerned about the circumstances around this and the conduct in markets more generally," Carney said Wednesday.

News of the FCA fine was welcomed by the British government.

"Today we take tough action to clean up corruption by a few so that we have a financial system that works for everyone," said finance minister George Osborne.

"The banks that employed them face big fines -- and I will ensure that these fines are used for the wider public good."

The total FCA fine is a record amount and eclipses the £532 million penalty it handed down over the Libor scandal.

Christopher Dembik, an economist at Saxo Bank in France, said the fines were "extremely weak and perfectly manageable" compared to the banks' holdings.

But he added that it did show a "willingness" of regulators "not to repeat the mistakes made in the last global financial crisis."

JPMorgan Faces US Criminal Investigation Into Currency Trading

Jakarta Globe, Hugh Son & Michael J. Moore, Nov 04, 2014

People walk inside JP Morgan headquarters in New York. (Reuters Photo/
Eduardo Munoz)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it faces a US criminal probe into foreign-exchange dealings and boosted its maximum estimate for “reasonably possible” losses on legal cases to the highest in more than a year.

The firm is cooperating with the criminal investigation by the Department of Justice as well as inquiries by regulators in the UK and elsewhere, it said on Monday in a quarterly report.

The largest US bank said it might need as much as $5.9 billion to cover losses beyond reserves for legal matters, up $1.3 billion from the end of June, and the most since mid-2013.

“In recent months, US government officials have emphasized their willingness to bring criminal actions against financial institutions,” the bank wrote of the general legal environment. “Such actions can have significant collateral consequences for a subject financial institution, including loss of customers and business.”

Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, 58, who led the New York-based firm through $23 billion in settlements last year, is contending with an international probe into whether traders at the biggest banks sought to profit by rigging currency rates. Citigroup and Zurich-based UBS AG disclosed last week they also face criminal inquiries by the Justice Department into their foreign-exchange dealings. Citigroup cut third-quarter results to include a $600 million legal charge.

‘No assurance’

“These investigations are focused on the firm’s spot FX trading activities as well as controls applicable to those activities,” JPMorgan said its report. While the company is in talks to resolve the cases, “there is no assurance that such discussions will result in settlements,” it said.

Banks are facing foreign-exchange probes by authorities on three continents, people with knowledge of the situation have said. Richard Usher, JPMorgan’s chief currency dealer in London, left the company amid efforts to settle a UK probe into allegations of foreign-exchange rigging, people with knowledge of the moves said last month. He hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing.

JPMorgan booked $1.01 billion in legal expenses during the third quarter, tied “in large part” to the currency probes, Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake said on Oct. 14. Cases could cost banks as much as $41 billion combined to settle, analysts at New York-based Citigroup, led by Kinner Lakhani, said last month.

JPMorgan slid 0.4 percent to $60.66 in extended trading on Monday in New York. The shares had gained 4.1 percent this year through the close of regular trading, trailing the 9.3 percent advance for the 85-company Standard & Poor’s 500 Financials Index.

Holder’s vow

The bank separately estimated that fourth-quarter sales and trading revenue will drop by about $300 million, or 8 percent, amid a push to simplify the company. Costs in the division will be lowered by about $200 million as the firm sells units including its physical commodities business as part of that effort, it said.

US Attorney General Eric Holder announced in May that authorities were pursuing criminal cases against banks, showing that financial institutions aren’t too big to prosecute. The Justice Department later wrested guilty pleas – once viewed as a death penalty for a bank – from Credit Suisse Group AG’s main bank subsidiary for helping Americans avoid taxes, and from BNP Paribas SA for handling banned transactions involving Sudan, Iran and Cuba.

US firms began disclosing estimates for possible legal losses after the US Securities and Exchange Commission told finance chiefs in 2010 they should provide investor guidance “when there is at least a reasonable possibility” costs will be incurred, even if the risk is too low to require reserves.

JPMorgan said its estimated range, spanning no cost to as much as $5.9 billion as of Sept. 30, “involves significant judgment, given the varying stages of the proceedings.” It already has set aside money to cover several hundred legal proceedings, and it may boost those accruals further if additional expenses become probable.

Bloomberg

EU fines JP Morgan for rigging interest rates

Yahoo – AFP,  Bryan McManus, 21 Oct 2014

The European Commission fined US banking giant JP Morgan more than 61 million
 euros ($78 million) for its role in rigging benchmark international interest rates
(AFP/Timothy A. Clary) 

The European Commission fined US banking giant JP Morgan more than 61 million euros ($78 million) on Tuesday for its role in rigging benchmark international interest rates.

JP Morgan worked with Royal Bank of Scotland in 2008-09 to fix interest rates on Swiss franc LIBOR contracts, another example of major banks colluding "instead of competing with each other," EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said.

"Our economy needs a healthy, transparent, well-functioning financial sector. This is why antitrust rules in this sector must be strictly enforced," Almunia said.

LIBOR, the London Interbank Offered Rate, is a key benchmark, in effect used to price the trillions of dollars (euros) in financial instruments, from student loans to mortgages, bought and sold everyday on the markets.

Tiny differentials add up to huge profits and abuse of LIBOR and related benchmarks around the world have been discovered by authorities probing the markets after the global financial crisis of 2007-08.

Many critics blame the collapse on the reckless and corrupt practices allowed to flourish in what they say was an 'anything goes' attitude in parts of the world of high finance, with governments then forced to step in at huge cost to the taxpayer to bailout failed banks -- including RBS, which is now state-owned.

Many of the biggest banks have been ensnared by US and British LIBOR probes, among them Barclays and Lloyds of Britain, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, Bank of America and Bank of New York Mellon.

At the same time, there are parallel investigations into charges that the top banks similarly rigged foreign exchange rates to get an unfair advantage.

Almunia said that a second similar LIBOR case involved RBS, JP Morgan and Swiss giants UBS and Credit Suisse who fixed a pricing element for the contracts which should have been determined by market forces.

Fines imposed in this second investigation, dating back to events in 2007, brought the total to some 94 million euros, he said.

Both decisions were based on a settlement with the banks, who "recognised their involvement and in exchange received a reduction of 10 percent of their respective fines," the Commission said in a statement.

RBS paid no fine, however, because it owned up to the Commission.

"Acting against financial cartels is one of our top priorities, given the importance of a healthy, transparent, well-functioning financial sector for the entire economy.

"All market players in this sector must be aware that no violation of antitrust rules will be tolerated," the statement concluded.

HSBC and Citigroup suspend foreign exchange traders amid rigging probe

US regulators arrive in London to step up joint investigation with Financial Conduct Authority into alleged market manipulation

The Guardian, Reuters, Friday 17 January 2014

The Canary Wharf offices of Citigroup and HSBC, which have both suspended
two foreign exchange traders. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian

HSBC and Citigroup have both suspended foreign exchange traders as a global probe into possible currency market manipulation intensified.

Regulators from the United States arrived in London this week, stepping up an investigation in which they are working with Britain's financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, to determine whether traders at some of the world's biggest banks colluded to manipulate the $5.3 trillion-a-day (£3.2tn) foreign exchange market.

The investigations centre on senior traders' communication of client positions via electronic chatrooms, which also featured prominently in a probe into the rigging of a key interest rate known as the London interbank offered rate, or Libor.

As the currency investigation ramps up, the banks themselves are scrutinising their employees more closely and most are carrying out internal investigations.

Sources told Reuters that Deutsche Bank suspended several traders in New York this week, while US regulators descended on Citigroup's London offices.

A spokesman for HSBC confirmed on Friday the bank had suspended two foreign exchange traders in London, but declined further comment.

The two HSBC traders suspended are Edward Pinto and Serge Sarramegna, said a person with direct knowledge of the situation.

Their positions were not known, but Sarramegna has in the past been head of the G10 spot foreign exchange desk, according to numerous reports. Both men are listed as active on the UK regulator's register of financial industry professionals.

The two men could not immediately be reached at their office phones or company email addresses. Sarramegna could not be reached at his home in Essex.

A Citigroup spokesman said two foreign exchange traders had been sent "on leave".

The Citi traders are London-based Anthony John and Andrew Amantia, who works in New York, a source with knowledge of the matter said. Both are G10 spot currency traders at the US bank.

The source said the men were suspended on Thursday as a result of investigations into chatroom communications.

Neither man could be reached at their office telephone numbers.

Several traders at several banks have been suspended or sent on leave. Citi last week fired its head of European spot foreign exchange trading, Rohan Ramchandani, after a prolonged period on leave, one source with knowledge of the matter said.

Deutsche Bank, Citi and HSBC are three of the biggest players in the FX market.

The Financial Conduct Authority began a formal investigation into the currency market in October and the US justice department is also investigating possible manipulation.

The FCA is focusing on around 15 banks, which it has asked – or required – to provide information about currency trading activities.

Rabobank faces £600m fine as Libor scandal resurfaces

Dutch mutual expected to become fifth financial institution to face huge penalty for attempting to rig benchmark interest rate

TheGuardian, Jill Treanor, Monday 28 October 2013

The FCA and US regulators are poised to announced larger than expected
penalties on Rabobank. Photograph: David Levene

The Libor rigging scandal could be reignited on Tuesday when Dutch mutual Rabobank is expected to become the fifth financial institution to be hit with a huge fine for attempting to rig the benchmark interest rate.

The bank is thought to be facing fines of more than £600m from regulators on both sides of the Atlantic, which are continuing their investigations into alleged manipulation of the key interest rate.

London's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and regulators in the US are thought to be poised to levy larger than expected penalties on Rabobank, a co-operative-style institution whose roots lie in financing agriculture and which escaped the financial crisis without a taxpayer bailout.

The bank has been warning that it faced a fine for Libor rigging since the summer when it revealed it had made a provision of an undisclosed sum in preparation for the regulatory action.

The Libor scandal was first exposed in June 2012, when Barclays was fined £290m for its role in attempting to manipulate the rate; its top management was subsequently forced out. Since then, Royal Bank of Scotland, Swiss bank UBS and the money broker Icap have been fined. UBS received the highest penalty of £940m.

Rabobank said last week that details of its punishment were getting closer to publication. "Various authorities have almost completed their investigation into Rabobank's role in the Libor and Euribor setting process," the bank said. "Rabobank expects to be able to enter into settlements with these authorities within the next two weeks. Rabobank is not yet in a position to comment on possible settlement amounts."

When it took a provision for Libor, it pointed out that it had been named as defendant in civil litigation in the US and that it would defend itself against any such claims.

At the time of the fine against Barclays, City regulators said they were investigating seven other potential cases, which appears to indicate there are still three outstanding.

The regulator declined to comment on Monday night and Rabobank declined to elaborate on its previous statements.

Since the Libor scandal broke, regulators have begun to scrutinise the way other benchmarks are set, such as those in the foreign exchange markets. Earlier this month, the FCA began an investigation that is expected to be on the scale of Libor after gathering information on the £3tn-a-day currency markets. The regulators are looking at the way traders may have been able to influence the way currency benchmarks are set and have also been scrutinising the way energy markets operate.

Related Articles:

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Rabobank fined $1bn over Libor

World Bank Whistle-Blower: “Precious Metals to Serve as an Underpinning for Paper Currencies"

Silver Doctors, 7 May 2013

I had the opportunity yesterday to speak with one of the western world’s most courageous and astute women, Karen Hudes, Former Senior Counsel to the World Bank—now turned whistle-blower.

It was a powerful conversation, as Karen spent 20 years with the World Bank as an attorney and economist, before being “let-go” after reporting internal fraud and corruption.

During the interview Karen indicated that the world is rapidly changing, with western power structures breaking down, economic & political influence gravitating to BRICs nations, all amid a pending currency transition which will highly favor precious metals.   Hudes stated: “All of the countries of the world are going to allow precious metals to serve as currency, and this will be an underpinning for paper currency, as we’ll have both systems at the same time.”

From Tekoa Da Silva:

Starting out by discussing the shocking centralized power she witnessed while working at the World Bank, Karen explained that, “A study done by three [Swiss] systems analysts who used mathematical modeling [shows] how the [world's] 43,000 transnational corporations were being controlled through interlocking corporate directorates. There’s a group of 147 companies, most of them are financial institutions, and what they’ve done, is through the interlocking directorates, they control 40% of the net worth of these [43k] companies, and 60% of their earnings…so that group has been using the presidency of the World Bank as kind of a puppet to dominate the world—that’s [now] finished.”

A major shock to that centralized power base, according to Karen, was the recent move by BRICs nations leaders to bypass the World Bank for their financing needs, by establishing their own development bank. “As the BRICs [nations] economic power grows,” she explained, “they’re not going to be strangled anymore through the grabbing [of] their resources…So their decision to start their own development bank was their way of letting [world] governments know…that its time to end this corruption.”

Major moves toward monetary independence are also being made by growing numbers of U.S. states, Karen added. She explained that, “The states are starting to have legislation recognizing gold and silver bullion as legal currency. This is [also] a very strong signal the states are sending to the federal government, that the time to get serious about ending the corruption in the financial system is now here.”

When asked her thoughts on what this all means for the world monetary system, Karen said, “What’s going to happen, is we’re going to have all the countries of the world, sit down and figure out what’s going to be the best, most orderly transition from the current system that we have, [which has] profound imbalance and unsustainable deficits…[this change] is going to happen as each country makes its preference known, because the system we have now is not transparent, and the biggest change [in the new system], is that there’s going to be transparency.”

That transparency may be found through a gold-backed currency system, Karen noted, as, “All of the countries of the world are going to allow precious metals to serve as currency, and this will be an underpinning for paper currency, [as] we’ll have both systems at the same time. This is my guess, as I mentioned—I am an economist.”

As a final comment speaking towards her difficult journey as a World Bank whistle-blower, Karen said, “I’ve been struggling now for years, to tell the American public what’s [been] going on. I haven’t gotten through, because this [financial] group has bought up the press and has been spreading disinformation systematically. That undermines the whole point of a democracy. How can voters vote without an informed opinion, without the information that they’re entitled too? So this strangle-hold on information is going to end in very short order.”

——

This was a powerful interview conducted with a great American patriot and honorable world citizen. Karen is setting an example for the history books, and her interview is required listening for global thinkers and market students.

To listen to the interview, left click the following link and/or right click and “save target as” or “save link as” to to your desktop:

>>Interview with Karen Hudes (MP3)

To learn more about Karen and support her work, visit: Kahudes.net

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World Bank Insider Blows Whistle on Corruption, Federal Reserve - New

World Bank Whistle-blower. Confidence in the Dollar as an International Currency Is Waning.

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Archangel Michael on the World’s Movement into the Golden Age, March 24, 2013 – Part 2/2

“… GW: Shifting to events that are taking place in Europe at this point in time, it seems that the events in Europe are reaching or about to hit a breaking point of some kind. Several leaders, including Nigel Farage and allegedly Russian Prime Minister Medvedev have suggested that people should be removing their money from their accounts as the cabal may attempt a last ditch grab for money.

Now, I know, and perhaps many know, that the current system is corrupt and that there will have to be a degree of change in the current system before people will be willing to embrace the new system.

I don’t wish this question to sound alarmist to people, but is what is happening now one of the final, if not the final, straw that will help expose the banking cabal and allow the new system to be implemented? Is this new system ready? Or is it already being implemented? Or is it still only limited to preparatory work?

AAM: No, it is already underway. It is already being implemented. And yes, we do not wish to sound alarmist either, and so we also wish people to know that their resources, what they think of as their money, for those who have saved and put their faith in banking systems, they will be protected to a certain extent. So do not think that you have need to run out and remove all your monies, or that it will be completely gone. But yes, this is the beginning of a transition.

The expression of the lack of faith in particularly the European banking system causes enormous disruption, more significant perhaps than anywhere else. And so yes, it does have a domino effect, but it is not one simply shutting down [the old system] and a new system emerging. It is coming into balance with the new emerging as the old simply fades away.

Is it a last ditch effort on the part of those who have clung to the old paradigm of the 3rd, what you call the cabal? Yes, it is. But it matters not, because it is not going to work for them. Seldom are things such as this situation so black and white. There is always room for free choice and free movement and adjustment.

But in this situation it is simply evolution and expansion. And the expansion of the new, of the new paradigm, of what you think of as Fifth-Dimensional financial systems does not allow for systems that are based on greed and theft and control — and unfairness, basic unfairness, usury.

So, it is rather clearly defined. You have an expression that you use on Earth, “Out with the old.” And this is one of those situations where it is, in fact, the truth.

GW: Okay. So, along the lines of the leadership, or at least some of the leadership of what’s taking place in the financial sector globally, it has been reported that the apartment of the IMF managing director Christine Lagarde was raided last week.

Was this an attempt to expose her as part of the banking cabal, or was it an attempt to stop her from fulfilling the reforms that she is allegedly trying to bring to the international banking system?

AAM: It was an attempt to gather information and perhaps even destroy documentation that she is trying to bring forth for the reform of the financial situation. It was an unsuccessful raid.

GW: Okay. So what I’m hearing in your answer, then, is that Christine Lagarde is working for, I guess, the forces of light to bring the greater change to the IMF. Am I correct?

AAM: Yes. This one has had a real turn-around. No, we do not ever categorize individuals or groups or people as light or dark. But this one has truly committed herself to reformation.

She sees and she has the experience very clearly of knowing what does not work. And therefore she has committed her mission, her purpose to this reformation.

GW: Okay. And could the same be said about the new US Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew? Is he on board with all the changes and working for the reformation as well with Lagarde?

AAM: He is an agent and an angel of change. He could not be simply on board. He is a moving force. ‘…‘’

"The U in Kundalini"- Oct 18, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Kundalini, Unification, EU, Nobel Peace Prize 2012, Middle East, South America, Only 5 Currencies on Earth, Old Souls, Duality will dismiss, 3D Humanity will melt with Multi dimensional higher self, Global Unity… etc.)

BRICS nations thrash out World Bank alternative

Want China Times, Xinhua 2012-10-02

The 2012 BRICS Think-Tanks Forum in Chongqing, Sept. 26. (Photo/Xinhua)

Experts from five emerging world economic powers have told how a two-day forum for thinktanks this week reached consensus on creating a BRICS development bank designed to complement existing global financial institutions such as the World Bank.

Liu Youfa, deputy director of the China Institute of International Studies, said, "At the previous forum before the BRICS summit meeting in March, we were still discussing whether to create this bank, but now we are talking about how to create this bank."

The 2012 BRICS Think-Tanks Forum, held in southwest China's Chongqing municipality on Wednesday and Thursday, was part of efforts by the five countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — to create a BRICS development bank. Its establishment joined the official agenda when BRICS leaders agreed at the organization's summit in India's New Delhi in March to consider the possibility of creating a new development bank. They decided to convene expert meetings on the matter.

Being the first think-tank forum of its kind, briefed to advise governments of each BRICS country, experts at the event said in follow-up interviews that their agreement on the necessity and practicality of creating the bank would be presented to officials, who would advance the governments' decision making.

Ideas that carry weight

Liu Youfa said thinktanks are a preliminary step in government policy-making and the influence of their ideas in part depends on their feasibility and thoroughness.

According to Liu, the consensus from the forum has three main aspects: the need to build a legal framework, the need to establish a theoretical framework and the need to further discuss technical issues. The first of these concerns defining the legal status of the bank, the second was to explain its purpose, and the third was about how the bank should be run and capitalized and other specific matters.

Leonid Grigoriev, deputy director of the Russian Energy Agency and professor of the Higher School of Economics, said, "We generally agreed to create this bank. We scanned all the related issues to be further discussed and formed our opinions on them, issues such as the mode, the capitalization, the purpose of the bank.

"What we did is groundwork and solving technical issues. The rest is for political negotiations, but the governments need ideas in making decisions, especially those from other countries."

Such think-tank forums are usually held right before BRICS leader meetings, as they were before the summit in New Delhi this year and the one in Sanya, China, last year. Interviewed experts said much of the content of the reports formed at the two forums eventually appeared on the summit declarations.

According to HHS Viswanathan, a distinguished fellow of India's Observer Research Foundation, this week's event did not produce a report, but its discussion will surely be included in the report of the next forum, set to take place in South Africa before the next summit there in 2013.

Viswanathan told Xinhua that India expects to see the bank established as soon as possible. Although no timetable was set, a road map has become clear after this week's forum and all five sides are clear what to do next: figuring out the bank's form of organization, equity shares, head office and other issues.

At March's summit, the BRICS leaders also directed finance ministers to examine the feasibility and viability of the bank, set up a joint working group for further study, and report back to them before the next summit.

Experts at the forum clarified that the study by the working group was not as thorough as their discussion and that finance ministers usually focus on domestic issues.

The experts said in interviews that they believe a detailed plan that covers the issues mentioned above could be forwarded to the five governments in a year and that, if the plan is adopted, the governments will probably later set up a preparatory committee to kick off the bank's establishment.

Alternative to World Bank

The Delhi Declaration, issued after the BRICS summit, said the new development bank's aim was "mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries, to supplement the existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development."

When explaining why the BRICS countries need a development of their own, many experts found fault with the existing global financial institutions, in particular the World Bank, for not providing adequate capital for much-needed large infrastructure projects in BRICS and other developing countries.

Yaroslav Lisovolik, member of the Management Board of Deutsche Bank Russia, said the bulk of world savings and financial resources was concentrated in the developing world, but the pattern of the past decade had seen developing countries channelling a significant part of their reserves into the developed world.

For the BRICS, the creation of a development bank may support the institutional base of BRICS integration. For other developing nations, the bank could address one of the greatest reserves for growth in the world economy — the development of infrastructure, Lisovolik said.

Since the word BRIC was coined 10 years ago to group four leading emerging economies — later expanded to include South Africa — its member countries have consistently grown faster than developed nations. By the end of 2011, the BRICS account for 42% of the world's population, 20% of GDP, and 15% of international trade.

Despite that, experts at the meeting said BRICS countries did not have a corresponding role in global governance, particularly in a world financial system dominated by the United States and Europe.

BRICS and other developing countries have continuously called for reform of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The Delhi Declaration said, "We welcome candidatures from the developing world for the position of the President of the World Bank. We reiterate that the Heads of the IMF and the World Bank be selected through an open and merit-based process."

"Furthermore, the new World Bank leadership must commit to transform the Bank into a multilateral institution that truly reflects the vision of all its members, including the governance structure that reflects current economic and political reality."

The developing world's reform efforts have not made much progress yet. Most noticeably, in 2011, developing countries failed to agree to a powerful alternative to Christine Lagarde, who eventually won the nomination to IMF chief.

Oliver Stuenkel, a professor of international relations from Brazil, said at the forum that the United States and Europe remained reluctant to fully include emerging powers into existing financial structures, and a BRICS development bank could indeed become an effective tool to serve emerging powers' needs, while bypassing restrictions and political pressures from US- and Europe-funded banks.

Forum delegates generally agreed the BRICS banks should be a supplement to the World Bank and other multilateral or bilateral financial institutions, and its creation was not intended to subvert the current Bretton Woods system. However, they said the BRICS bank could put pressures on the current system and compete with the World Bank.

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