'Iceland Model: How to Deal with Bankers Should Be Standard for Whole World'

In Iceland four former bank chiefs have been jailed for fraud - the sentences go as far as five years behind bars. They're accused of concealing that a Qatari investor bought a stake in their firm, using cash lent from the bank itself - illegally. The deal took place just ahead of the collapse of the bank due to huge debts. RT talks to economic expert Charlie McGrath, founder of news website Wide Awake News about Iceland's economy.

Former US Marine: President Obama Should Be Tried for Treason

The Middle East is at its boiling point. Syria is devastated by raging war. Israel threatens to deal with Iran once and for all -- with Washington towering over regional affairs. What is at the cornerstone of American foreign politics? With Iran and the US going through a diplomatic thaw, what game will Tel Aviv play? Today we look at these issues through the eyes of a member of the few, but one not proud: a former US marine who burned his passport and became an anti-war activist.

Queen Talks of 'Lax' Bankers and 'Toothless' Regulators behind Financial Crisis

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Queen has spoken about "lax" City workers and a banking regulator which "didn't have the teeth" to intervene as she discussed the causes of the financial crisis during a visit to the Bank of England

With her face on every banknote and coin in circulation, it is only natural that the Queen takes a sharp interest in the nation's finances, as she showed on a visit to the Bank of England today.

Her Majesty suggested the financial crisis of 2008 had happened because the Financial Services Authority “didn’t have the teeth” to rein in the biggest risk-takers.

The Duke of Edinburgh, meanwhile, had a typically blunt piece of advice for the Bank’s executives: “Don’t do it again!”

The Queen and the Duke grilled Bank of England staff during a visit which included a tour of a vault stacked with £27 billion worth of bullion.

Suit Kapadia, one of the Bank’s financial policy experts, said he wanted to answer a question the Queen asked academics at the London School of Economics in 2008 about why no one saw the financial crisis coming.

“Oh!” said the Queen, looking slightly taken aback.

Mr Kapadia said the City had got “complacent” because it thought risk was being managed better than it was, and the financial system had become too interconnected.

The Queen agreed: “People got a bit lax … perhaps it was difficult to foresee.”

She asked if the financial system was less interconnected now and concurred with a suggestion that part of the problem had been the lack of powers given to the Financial Services Authority. “They didn't have the teeth,” she said. » | Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter | Thursday, December 13, 2012

Vince Cable Tells Shareholders: Throw Out Bank Cheats

THE GUARDIAN: Bosses preside over 'moral quagmire', says business secretary, as Barclays chief Bob Diamond is summoned to face MPs

Vince Cable has urged shareholders in UK banks to rise up and purge their companies of corrupt executives, who he says have allowed "systemic abuse" to take root in the banking system.

The business secretary, writing in the Observer, says it is now clear that no one at Barclays Capital, the investment bank that triggered the market-rigging scandal, is prepared to take responsibility for endemic corruption, so the ultimate owners of banks must take matters into their own hands.

Describing the problems in UK banking as "a moral quagmire of almost biblical proportions", Cable says the government is taking urgent action, including creating a clearer separation between "casino-style investment banking" and retail banking on the high street. Ministers will this week begin a review into the libor system under which banks lend to each other and Cable hints that US-style criminal sanctions, such as the threat of prison terms, could be considered against those who abuse it.

But he says shareholder power will be crucial. "Regulators are a backstop: they don't own banks," he writes. "The governance at the top of our leading banks has been shown to be lamentably weak. No one at the top of Barclays will take responsibility for systemic abuse.

"Shareholders, the owners, have a major responsibility here. I am bringing in legislation to strengthen their control over pay and bonuses, through binding votes, but shareholders have to get a stronger grip on weak boards and out-of-control executives." » | Toby Helm, Jamie Doward and Jill Treanor | Saturday, June 30, 2012

Church Leaders Accuse Bankers of Losing Their 'Moral Moorings'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Church of England has launched a fierce new attack on bankers accusing them of greed and having "slipped their moral moorings".

A series of senior figures stepped up their attack on the City in an assault that comes a week after the Church refused to evict protesters from outside St Paul's Cathedral in central London.

They spoke of a financial sector which sets a moral tone for a society which had become "scandalously unfair".

The interventions included:

• A call in an article in The Sunday Telegraph today for fundamental reform of how the financial world works. It was made by Ken Costa, a former bank chairman and the Church’s newly appointed leader of an initiative to build links with the City;

• The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, said executive salaries were creating a gulf between rich and poor that made “societies less cohesive” and called for an end to official honours for financiers;

• Dr Giles Fraser, the cleric who quit as canon chancellor of St Paul’s over plans to evict protesters, said there was “financial injustice” that had to be addressed;

• A report written by Dr Fraser on behalf of a think tank endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is to be published tomorrow, claiming the City’s reliance on technology was dehumanising its values. » | Jonathan Wynne-Jones and Kamal Ahmed | Saturday, November 05, 2011

This is all the result of Reaganism and Thatcherism. The Old Gipper and the ol' 'Milk Snatcher' have a lot to answer for. In Britain, Maggie Thatcher institutionalised greed; in the US, Reagan did the same. – © Mark

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Meltdown: The Men Who Crashed the World
The first of a four-part investigation into a world of greed and recklessness that led to financial collapse.
Watch video here
Read short article here

Barroso Proposes Penalties for Rogue Bankers
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Financiers accused of skulduggery could become subject to criminal sanctions under laws set to be proposed by the president of the European Commission.

Jose Manuel Barroso has said he will this week propose “individual criminal responsibility for financial players to be recognised in European law”.

The plans for an EU-wide directive would focus on curbing high frequency trading.

“We have seen abusive behaviour, and some of this caused the current crisis. We are going to clamp down on these practices,” Mr Barroso told Le Parisien. “Those who violate the rules will face criminal penalties. This will be a first in European legislation and a strong signal.”

The Commission will invoke new powers under Article 83 of the Lisbon Treaty allowing the EU to impose minimum rules and sanctions on member states when needed “to ensure the effective implementation” of EU policies.

The clause allows the EU to broaden the European Arrest Warrant beyond limited areas such as terrorism, drug-trafficking, and money-laundering to softer crimes if they have a “cross-border dimension”. Read on and comment » | Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | Sunday, October 16, 2011

Thank God for someone like Barroso. At least he speaks for the people. The UK government won't act. The US government won't act. It looks as if the European government is willing to act. Let them do so! The banksters need to have their wings clipped. I'm all for it. I am foursquare behind Barroso. More power to him! – © Mark

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Egyptian Banker Charged with Sexual Assault Is Granted Bail

THE GUARDIAN: Mahmoud Abdel-Salam Omar to reappear in court to face claims he sexually abused maid in luxury New York hotel

The former head of one of Egypt's biggest banks has been granted bail after being arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a maid at a luxury hotel in New York.

The arrest of Mahmoud Abdel-Salam Omar on Monday came two weeks after the then International Monetary Fund chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was charged with trying to rape a hotel maid at another Manhattan hotel.

Strauss-Kahn, who is under house arrest in New York, has denied charges of a criminal sexual act, attempted rape, sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching.
Manhattan criminal court judge Gerald Lebovits granted 72-year-old Omar bail for $25,000 (£15,000) cash and a $50,000 bond. » | Reuters in New York | Wednesday, June 01, 2011

This Week, Obama and Cameron Should Compare Notes – and Then Wake Up

THE SLOG: This is the last chance to put our banks back in the cage

For a few days starting tomorrow, President Obama will smile at the well-wishers in Britain, show deference to the Queen, and generally pretend to like us. While he’s around (and I’m not breaking any injunctions here) I understand he’s going to have an economics session with Prime Minister David Cameron.

If and when that meeting of barren minds takes place, they should be able to reach a simple conclusion: no matter how hard you try to get banks to behave like social animals, they will screw you and pump up their bonuses.

Obama tried to get help to the repossession sector of the US housing market, using Federal funds. The idea was ill-conceived (chucking good money after bad) but at least three major banks used the funds fraudulently, and are now the subject of SEC investigations. His man Bernanke has been pumping Fed funds into the banking sector, in an effort to increase liquidity into the economy, for nigh on two and a half years – depending on who you believe about when it stopped, or if it ever stopped. This ‘POMO’ (Permanent Open Market Operations) scheme’s main achievement has been to send the Dow through the roof: the banks used the money for two purposes – to underwrite multinational megamergers, and buy stocks on behalf of their clients. Jobs have been lost, not created, as a result of this double-cross.

Cameron and his Chancellor George Osborne first of all tried to get the banks to set an example, and forego bonuses for 2010. Bob Diamond explained that this item would not be on the agenda, and they ended up paying themselves more than ever. Almost no money has filtered through to the small business sector after QE, and the financial sector – that’s the banks, remember – is still the only bit of the economy holding its end up. Not hard when you consider they’ve been doing it mainly with taxpayers’ money. Manufacturing has grown, but much as the Government tries to hype this, growth on a base of 12% of all economic output is a spit at the tornado of problems we face. » | John Ward |Monday, May 23, 2011

Wulff hält Bankern wegen Finanzkrise Standpauke
REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Berlin - Bundespräsident Christian Wulff hat den Banken die Leviten gelesen.

Die Ursachen der Finanzkrise seien nicht beseitigt, warnte das Staatsoberhaupt am Donnerstag auf dem Deutschen Bankentag in Berlin: "Ohne einen grundlegenden Kurswechsel drohen neue Finanzkrisen." Noch eine Rettungsaktion mit Steuer-milliarden könne sich der Staat nicht leisten. Auch Kanzlerin Angela Merkel warnte, die Institute könnten sich bei künftigen Finanzkrisen nicht auf neue Staatshilfen verlassen. Die Branche räumte Fehler ein, warnte aber vor einer Überlastung ihrer Ertragskraft durch die Regulierungsoffensiven der Politik.

"Haben wir aus den Fehlern wirklich gelernt?", fragte Wulff die versammelte deutsche Hochfinanz: "Mein Fazit lautet: Nein - weder haben wir die Ursachen der Krise beseitigt, noch können wir heute sagen: Gefahr erkannt - Gefahr gebannt." Er habe Zweifel, dass der mit der Pleite der US-Investmentbank Lehman Brothers im Herbst 2008 ausgelöste globale Schock dauerhaft nachwirke. "Manchmal scheint mir, dass dank der staatlichen Krisenmaßnahmen der Schreck bei vielen verflogen ist und die alten Verhaltensweisen zurückgekehrt sind." Die Krise habe die Politik an die Grenze ihrer Möglichkeiten gebracht. Eine so große, konzertierte Rettungsaktion sei nicht wiederholbar.

Bis Ende des vergangenen Jahres hatte der Staat zur Stützung wackelnder Banken Garantien von bis zu 400 Milliarden Euro und bis zu 80 Milliarden Euro an Eigen-kapitalhilfen bereitgestellt. Überall in Europa mussten sich die Regierungen schwer verschulden, um ihre Geldinstitute zu sichern. Das ist eine der Hauptursachen für die grassierende Schuldenkrise in der Euro-Zone. » © Reuters | Donnerstag, 31. März 2011

Anger at the Banks Is Justified, Mervyn King Says
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has expressed "surprise" that the public is not more angry with the bankers who caused the recession.

In some of his strongest language yet, Mervyn King today claimed the fall in households' living standards was the fault of the financial services sector and he expressed sympathy that innocent families paying the price.

"The people whose jobs were destroyed were in no way responsible for the excesses of the financial sector and the crisis that followed," he told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee.

In most aspects, he said, the economy had been on a sound footing before the crisis. Previous downturns were often caused by inefficiencies or weak management and were useful opportunities to improve systems. "None of that applied in this crisis," he said. "We had quite a successfully operating economy."

The people who are now suffering "did not get bonuses of the scale people in the financial sector got". The financial crisis may have occurred two years ago but, as austerity measures kick in, "the cost is now being felt", he said.

It remains "a big political problem", he added: "I'm surprised the real anger hasn't been greater than it has." >>> Philip Aldrick, Economics Editor | Tuesday, March 01, 2011

The Week in Review Podcast: Bankers, Marriage and Politics on Screen
THE GUARDIAN: Three years into the financial crisis, what makes banker bashing so persistent? Plus, Meryl Streep's turn as Margaret Thatcher, and is our celebrity culture tarnishing marriage?

Listen to podcast here

Good on Ya, Mr. Cable! Good on Ya!
MAIL ONLINE: Business Secretary Vince Cable today had a remarkable dig at bankers with a sick gag about one being mown down by a disgruntled driver.

In an astonishing joke with reporters he suggested a motorist would not slow down to avoid a financial services worker in the road.

The Liberal Democrat cabinet minister has been a fierce critic of bankers and has advocated taking a 'very strong approach' to beating down their bonuses.

But his gag shared with reporters at a Westminster Press Gallery lunch today, went 'too far', critics said.

He asked what the difference was between a cat being found dead on a motorway and a banker being found dead.

'There were skid marks around the cat,' said Mr Cable. Vince Cable jokes over bankers being 'mown down on motorways' >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Thursday, January 27, 2011

David Cameron: No 'Revenge' on Bankers
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Voters must stop seeking to “take revenge” on banks and accept they are vital to the economic recovery, David Cameron has said.

Mr Cameron said he understood public anger over bonuses. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
Signalling he is prepared to defy public opinion, the Prime Minister indicated he will reject demands for punitive action on bankers bonuses and admitted his approach could be unpopular.

Taxpayers are “rightly angry” about bankers getting huge bonuses, Mr Cameron said.

But he insisted he will not court short-term popularity by trying to “hammer” the financial sector.

Instead, he said, the Coalition will try to strike a balance between heeding calls to impose tough rules on the banks and allowing them to get on with lending to British businesses.

“It’s about getting the balance right. It’s not going to be easy and it won’t satisfy everybody,” Mr Cameron said.

"But we’ve got to try to work for that balance rather than just think, let’s take revenge on people because they’ve made us mad as hell."

City investment banks are beginning their bonus season, informing staff about their payments for 2010, with total bonuses expected to be £7 billion.

It emerged yesterday that JP Morgan, a US bank, will pay £1.87 billion in salary and bonuses to its London staff. They will enjoy an average payout of £234,180.

Other large payments will be announced in the coming weeks, including bonuses at state-owned RBS. >>> James Kirkup, Political Correspondent | Friday, January 14, 2011

THE SUNDAY TIMES: Golden goodbye for bank bosses: Outgoing chief executives at HSBC, Lloyds and Barclays will pocket millions from highly lucrative advisory contracts >>> Iain Dey | Sunday, January 16, 2011 (£)

Mark Steel: We Owe It to Bankers to Feel Their Pain
THE INDEPENDENT: At last someone has dared to defend the oppressed people of the banking community. Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays, who himself has to suffer the trauma of an £8m bonus, said yesterday that the bankers' "period of remorse and apology should be over". And you feel his pain, because the first words to cross your mind when you see a banker are "remorseful and apologetic". Then you're left worrying, "Oh, how I wish the poor souls were slightly less burdened with remorse about their bonus, and didn't apologise with such agonising sincerity about putting it into their wife's name in a series of untraceable accounts based in uninhabitable islands off Ecuador."

But at last they've learnt to stand up for themselves, and Bob Diamond has emerged as their Martin Luther King. Soon the whole banking community will declare: "Say it out loud, I'm 27 million quid in the black and I'm proud." >>> Mark Steel | Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Bankers 'Caused Credit Crisis for Kicks'
THE TELEGRAPH: Forget the thorny problems of risk, regulation and even reward: bankers blew up the financial system for the thrill of it, according to one British academic.


A New York trader holding his head in his hands in 2008, as the Dow Jones dropped below 9,000 for the first time in five years Photo: The Telegraph
With a theory that will alarm Business Secretary Vince Cable, Dr Paul Crosthwaite of Cardiff University has argued that bankers and other investors took on excessive risks not just to make money but for the "desire" and "exhilaration" of destruction.

"For its participants and speculators alike, the crash is not simply an object of fear or anxiety, or even of mere fascination, but also of an inchoate but urgent desire," Dr Crosthwaite wrote in an article published in Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities. Continue reading and comment >>> Louise Armitstead, Chief Business Correspondent | Saturday, October 23, 2010

I believe that these irresponsible gits should be jailed for causing such pain to others. The fact that they get such huge bonuses for their destruction just adds insult to injury. Fie on them all! – © Mark

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Bravo, Mr Cable! Bravo! Vince Cable Attacks Bankers as 'Spivs and Gamblers'
THE TELEGRAPH: Vince Cable has attacked the “spivs and gamblers” who he claimed are more of a danger to the economy than militant union leaders.



The Business Secretary told the Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool that it was right that the public was angry about the bankers’ bonuses.

He refused to tone down his comments, which have angered business leaders, about the “murky world of capitalism.”

He said: “I make no apology for attacking spivs and gamblers who did more harm to the British economy than Bob Crow (the RMT union leader) could achieve in his wildest Trotskyite fantasies, while paying themselves outrageous bonuses underwritten by the taxpayer. There is much public anger about banks and it is well deserved.”

In another move that is likely to anger the Conservatives Mr Cable revelled in the fact that the Lib Dems had forced David Cameron to drop his pre-election commitment to a new inheritance tax limit.

To cheers from the Lib Dem delegates, he said: “You'll remember our Conservative colleagues campaigned in the General Election to lift the inheritance tax burden on double millionaires. But they have dropped that commitment.

“They have gone halfway to accepting our case for equalising income tax and capital gains tax rates. They have accepted in the Coalition Agreement that the priority for cutting income tax is for low earners not top earners.”

He also repeated his wish for a new tax on properties worth more than £2 million.

Mr Cable said: “I personally regret that mansion tax did not make it into the Coalition Agreement but in a coalition we have to compromise. But we can and should maintain our distinctive and progressive tax policies for the future.”

Mr Cable was unrepentant for talking about capitalism's failings.

He said: “The Government's agenda is not one of laissez-faire. Markets are often irrational or rigged. So I am shining a harsh light into the murky world of corporate behaviour. >>> Andrew Porter, Political Editor | Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Terror Group In Warning To 'Criminal' Bankers
YAHOO! NEWS: The Real IRA has said it will resume attacks on the UK mainland - with banks and bankers its principal targets.

Vowing to alternate between "military, political and economic targets", the republican terror group has said that bankers are "criminals" and their role in funding Britain's colonial and capitalist system "has not gone unnoticed".

Responding to questions from The Guardian, a spokesman for the Real IRA said: "We have a track record of attacking high-profile economic targets and financial institutions.

"The bankers grease the politicians' palms, the politicians bail out the bankers with public funds, the bankers pay themselves fat bonuses and loan the money back to the public with interest.

"It's essentially a crime spree that benefits a social elite at the expense of many millions of victims." >>> Sky News | Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Why Doesn’t Somebody Jail These SOBs?
TIMES ONLINE: The chairman of Britain’s biggest state-owned bank has defended multimillion-pound salaries for senior staff, despite widespread objections.

Sir Philip Hampton told the BBC Today programme that although banking sector remuneration was “astonishingly high”, staff at Royal Bank of Scotland would leave unless they were paid the market rate.

Politicians in each of the main parties have called for caps on bankers’ bonuses and Sir Philip — whose bank is 83 per cent owned by the taxpayer — has a difficult task in persuading the public that they are justified.

Sir Philip conceded that it was difficult to defend the pay gap between most people and some bank staff, but he told the BBC: “If we don’t pay our top people, they leave very quickly. Our top people are very much in demand and we have seen a significant loss of our top people.” RBS chief Sir Philip Hampton defends 'astonishingly high' bankers’ pay >>> Helen Power | Friday, April 30, 2010

“The US Economy Will Not Recover For At Least Another Decade” – Engdahl

RUSSIA TODAY: “The US economy will not recover for at least another decade” – Engdahl: American bankers see themselves as the gods of money, a class above mere mortals, and they can do what they wish, said renowned economic researcher and historian William Engdahl in an interview with RT. >>> | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010

WIKI: F. William Engdahl >>>