BUSTED: Bankers Caught On Tape, Joking About Bailout, And How They’d Never Pay It Back

Julia La Roche
Business Insider
June 24, 2013
Once again, we have some more embarrassing conversations between bankers…
The Irish Independent, a Dublin-based newspaper, has uncovered tapes of an internal phone conversation from September 2008 between two executives at Anglo Irish Bank during its bailout deal and they sound pretty scandalous. The Irish Independent points out that the recordings show they misled the Central Bank.
The executives from the recording have been identified as John Bowe (head of the bank’s capital markets) and Peter Fitzgerald (director of retail banking).

However, Bowe “categorically denied” that he misled the Central Bank and Fitzgerald, who wasn’t involved in discussions with regulators, said he was unaware of any intention to mislead, the report said.
WARNING: Graphic language!

Either way, the newly revealed recordings are still embarrassing.
Here are some partial excerpts (via the Irish Independent):
The two bankers begin their conversation jokingly comparing themselves to being able to walk on water and drink beer out of both hands.
John Bowe: ”Hello”
Receptionist: ”John I have Peter Fitz for you.”
Bowe: ”Oh yeah, OK.”
Bowe: ”As me granny used to say, you must be therapeutic…”
Peter Fitzgerald: ”What does that mean? Can I work the computer is it? (Both laugh)
Bowe: ”Therapeutic. Therapeutic…I was just ringing you.”
Fitzgerald: ”I’m ambidextrous as well. It means I can walk on land and water.” (More laughter)
Bowe: ”You can drink, you can drink beer out of both hands…” (laughter)
Then they get down to business.  Bowe tells Fitzgerald that they met with the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA) the previous day about getting €7 billion.  They laugh how they will never be able to pay it back.
Bowe:  ”So we went down … and we basically said. In Central, yeah. And I mean, to cut a long story short we sort of said. ‘Look, what we need is seven billion euros…and we’re going to give you and we’re going to give you, what we’re going to give you is our loan collateral so we’re not giving you ECB, we’re giving you the loan clause.
“We gave him a term sheet and we put a pro not facility together and we said that’s what we need. And that kind of sobered up everybody pretty quickly, you know.”
Fitzgerald: ”Yeah.”
Fitzgerald: ”And is that €7 billion a term?”
Bowe: ”This is €7 billion bridging.”
Fitzgerald: ”Yeah.”
Bowe: ”So … so it is bridged until we can pay you back … which is never.” (Both laugh)
Then they joke how the regulators would need to change their underpants after hearing the terms of that deal.
Bowe: ”So under the terms that say repayment, we say; ‘No …’” (laughter)
Fitzgerald: (Laughing) “None…just none. Not applicable. OK and what did he say? ’I need a change of underwear?’
Fitzgerald: ”Jesus that’s a lot of dosh … Jesus f—–g hell and God … well do you know the Central Bank only has €14 billion of total investments so that would be going up 20 … Gee..that would be seen.
Bowe: (Laughing) “There was a bit of that … there was a bit of that.  ’And how would we do that? We would need to give you … we need to … ‘Jesus you’re kind of asking us to play ducks and drakes with the regulations.’ And we said: ‘Yeah.’ We said: ‘Look what we are telling you is if we get into difficulties, we have 100,000 plus lump sum depositors in Ireland all of whom would be very vocal.’”
Fitzgerald asks Bowe how he came up with the 7 billion figure.  Bowe responds that like then-CEO David Drumm, he picked it out of his “arse.”
Fitzgerald: ”Ah we are, yeah, yeah and, em, what, how did you arrive at the seven?
Bowe: ”Just, as Drummer would say, ‘picked it out of my arse’, you know. Em … I mean, look, what we did was we basically said: ‘What is the amount we can securitize over the next six months?’ And basically say to them: ‘Look our problem is time, it’s not our ability to create the liquidity, the enemy is time here.’”
Fitzgerald: “Yeah.”
Bowe: ”So we can rebuild, in other words, we can rebuild the liquidity off our loan book, but what we can’t do, we can’t do it now and the balance sheet’s leaking now.”
Bowe tells Fitzgerald that they actually need more money than the 7 billion figure.
Bowe: Yeah and that number is seven, but the reality is that actually we need more than that. But the strategy here is you pull them in, you get them to write a big [check] and they have to keep, they have to support their money, you know.”
Fitzgerald: ”Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They’ve got skin in the game and that’s the key.”
Bowe: ”They have and they have invested a lot. If they saw, if they saw, the enormity of it up front, they might decide, they might decide they have a choice. You know what I mean? They might say the cost to the taxpayer is too high. But … em … if it doesn’t look too big at the outset…if it looks big, big enough to be important, but not too big that it kind of spoils everything,
Fitzgerald: ”Yeah, Yeah.”

IRS Sent $46,378,040 in Refunds to 23,994 ‘Unauthorized’ Aliens at 1 Atlanta Address

Terence P. Jeffrey
CNS News
June 24, 2013
The Internal Revenue Service sent 23,994 tax refunds worth a combined $46,378,040 to “unauthorized” alien workers who all used the same address in Atlanta, Ga., in 2011, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
That was not the only Atlanta address theoretically used by thousands of “unauthorized” alien workers receiving millions in federal tax refunds in 2011. In fact, according to a TIGTA audit report published last year, four of the top ten addresses to which the IRS sent thousands of tax refunds to “unauthorized” aliens were in Atlanta.
The IRS sent 11,284 refunds worth a combined $2,164,976 to unauthorized alien workers at a second Atlanta address; 3,608 worth $2,691,448 to a third; and 2,386 worth $1,232,943 to a fourth.

Other locations on the IG’s Top Ten list for singular addresses that were theoretically used simultaneously by thousands of unauthorized alien workers, included an address in Oxnard, Calif, where the IRS sent 2,507 refunds worth $10,395,874; an address in Raleigh, North Carolina, where the IRS sent 2,408 refunds worth $7,284,212; an address in Phoenix, Ariz., where the IRS sent 2,047 refunds worth $5,558,608; an address in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., where the IRS sent 1,972 refunds worth $2,256,302; an address in San Jose, Calif., where the IRS sent 1,942 refunds worth $5,091,027; and an address in Arvin, Calif., where the IRS sent 1,846 refunds worth $3,298,877.
Since 1996, the IRS has issued what it calls Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) to two classes of persons: 1) non-resident aliens who have a tax liability in the United States, and 2) aliens living in the United States who are “not authorized to work in the United States.”
The IRS has long known it was giving these numbers to illegal aliens, and thus facilitating their ability to work illegally in the United States. For example, the Treasury Inspector General’s Semiannual Report to Congress published on Oct. 29, 1999—nearly fourteen years ago—specifically drew attention to this problem.
“The IRS issues Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) to undocumented aliens to improve nonresident alien compliance with tax laws. This IRS practice seems counter-productive to the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s (INS) mission to identify undocumented aliens and prevent unlawful alien entry,” TIGTA warned in that long-ago report.
The inspector general’s 2012 audit report on the IRS’s handling of ITINs was spurred by two IRS employees who went to members of Congress “alleging that IRS management was requiring employees to assign Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) even when the applications were fraudulent.”
In an August 2012 press release accompanying the audit report, TIGTA said the report “validated” the complaints of the IRS employees.
“TIGTA’s audit found that IRS management has not established adequate internal controls to detect and prevent the assignment of an ITIN to individuals submitting questionable applications,” said Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George. “Even more troubling, TIGTA found an environment which discourages employees from detecting fraudulent applications.”
In addition to the 23,994 tax refunds worth a combined $46,378,040 that the IRS sent to a single address in Atlanta, the IG also discovered that the IRS had assigned 15,796 ITINs to unauthorized aliens who presumably used a single Atlanta address.
The IRS, according to TIGTA, also assigned ITINs to 15,028 unauthorized aliens presumably using a single address in Dallas, Texas, and 10,356 to unauthorized aliens presumably living at a single address in Atlantic City, N.J.
Perhaps the most remarkable act of the IRS was this: It assigned 6,411 ITINs to unauthorized aliens presumably using a single address in Morganton, North Carolina. According to the 2010 Census, there were only 16,681 people in Morganton. So, for the IRS to have been correct in issuing 6,411 ITINS to unauthorized aliens at a single address in Morganton it would have meant that 38 percent of the town’s total population were unauthorized alien workers using a single address.
TIGTA said there were 154 addresses around the country that appeared on 1,000 or more ITIN applications made to the IRS.

The Great Pipeline Face-Off

By Art Patnaude
It was no coincidence that the president of Azerbaijan visited Brussels Friday: in a week his country and Europe will learn how they will be linked by one of the strongest bonds known to man–fossil fuels.
Next Friday, the Shah Deniz consortium–in which the main players are the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic, or SOCAR BP PLC, BP.LN +0.48% and Norwegian state oil company Statoil AS STL.OS +0.63%A–will decide whether to transport gas from the Caspian Sea to Italy through the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, or to Austria using a rival planned pipeline, Nabucco West.
If President Ilham Aliyev, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, or President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy knew which one has the edge, they didn’t let on.
Both pipelines have their benefits and disadvantages, and lobbyists for TAP and Nabucco have been working for years to convince the consortium that theirs is best. Standing side by side, Mr. Aliyev and Mr. Barroso both said that either choice is a “win-win” for everyone involved.
“We want to be as close as possible to Europe, and we are very glad that we see the same approach from the European side,” Mr. Aliyev said.
There is little doubt why there is so much agreement here. Azerbaijan has 2 trillion cubic meters of proven gas reserves it wants to sell. Europe is perceived to be its best bet. This is just fine with the Europeans, who are desperately trying to wean themselves off a dependence on Russian natural gas, which accounts for around one-quarter of the EU’s imports.
Mr. Barroso said the so-called Southern Gas Corridor, through which the Azeri gas will flow, could provide more than 10% of the annual needs in Europe over the medium term.
The final choice will stem from a range of factors involving considerations like profits, engineering, and crucially, politics. Mr. Barroso said that Shah Deniz’s two options present “a commercial decision for the consortium.” But, he added, “I would like to stress also that both Nabucco West and TAP are of strategic importance for the diversification of our gas supplies for our single energy market.”
No matter the winner, Mr. Barroso is not ruling out having the other pipeline built at some point down the line. Just as well, because it’s not like Russia is sitting back watching its relevance diminish. State-gas monopoly Gazprom's OGZPY -1.20% South Stream pipeline is aiming to start delivering gas to Europe before the projected 2019 date of either TAP or Nabucco.
So to the two front-runners: take your marks, and get set to go.

FBI Calls Destruction of GMO Sugar Beets in Oregon 'Economic Sabotage'

In a breaking development, the FBI confirms that 1,500 GM Sugar Beet plants were destroyed this month in Oregon, in what they are calling an act of "Economic Sabotage."

Sayer Ji
Activist Post

When GM pollen blows into a non-GM farmer's fields and irreversibly contaminates his crop with 'biopollution,' who does the law side with? Historically, Monsanto. Also, it's not called 'economic sabotage' but rather 'copyright infringement,' and the victim not the aggressor is threatened with economic ruin.

When Monsanto's unapproved and therefore illegal GM wheat is found years after open field trials growing freely in an Oregon wheat field, the entire state crop's export fate is held in limbo, jeopardizing the present and future living of thousands of farmers and their dependents, with Monsanto receiving little more than a reprimand, followed by rapid USDA assurance that despite a lack of approval their GM wheat is "safe."

Given the unfair rules of the game, no wonder some folks in Oregon, having been treated much like feudal peasants, are taking things into their own pitchfork-bearing hands.

So, when the FBI investigates the destruction of genetically modified sugar beets from two fields in Southern Oregon's Jackson County this month, the act is immediately labeled "economic sabotage," presumably against the multinational corporation who owned the plants.

How fitting an FBI description, considering that Monsanto already planted these 'evil seeds' of doubt by suggesting their unapproved GM wheat in Oregon was a result of sabotage, and not negligence on their part.


According to the Spokesman Review, "The agency [FBI] said in a statement Thursday that about 1,000 sugar beet plants were destroyed on June 8, and more than 5,000 plants were destroyed on a different plot three nights later."

The article went on to explain that the plants were owned by the Swiss-based biotech company Sygenta, and that the FBI spokewoman, Beth Anne Steele, would not comment on the manner in which the crops were destroyed "...because we don't want to encourage copycats."

When multinational corporations like Monsanto have already succeeded in genetically modifying the political system, splicing in their ex-executives and lawyers into positions of great power within the government [see image above], how can folks rely on these Monsanto, Dow and Sygenta-influenced regulatory agencies, and the enforcement arms within their control, to make decisions in the interest of their health or basic civil rights?

Some resort to pulling up, burning and otherwise destroying the plants themselves. Are they terrorists or freedom fighters? And if you answer affirmatively to the latter definition, will you yourself be defined as an "economic saboteur," or terrorist?

This article first appeared at GreenMedInfo.  Please visit to access their vast database of articles and the latest information in natural health.

“Incredibly Bad Sentiment” Makes Gold & Bonds a Buy Says Marc Faber, as All Assets Sink Again

London Gold Market Report


“Incredibly Bad Sentiment” Makes Gold & Bonds a Buy Says Marc Faber, as All Assets Sink Again

PRECIOUS METALS fell for the 5th session in six Monday morning in London, with gold retreating to $1280 per ounce as the US Dollar rose and most other tradable assets fell once again.

London and Paris’ stock markets dropped 2.0% by lunchtime. Commodities also fell, extending their worst 1-week drop since October.

Silver prices retouched last Thursday’s 34-month low of $19.65 per ounce.

Gold last week lost 6.9% against the US Dollar, its worst drop since the crash of mid-April and the 8th worst Friday-to-Friday of the last 5 years.

“The relatively mild nature of the attendant ETF [trust fund] liquidations at only 18.8 tonnes is surprising,” writes Marc Ground at Standard Bank, noting that the 19 weeks of consecutive exchange-traded gold fund selling have averaged more than 28 tonnes.

“Perhaps the ETF sell-off is losing momentum.”

For the gold price, however, “We’re down 40% from the [2011] top,” said Tom Kendall, head of precious metals research at Credit Suisse, to CNBC this morning, “and that’s some very strong momentum for gold bulls to fight against.

“What we’ve seen is a lot of fear removed from the markets over the last two to three years. One of the big fears now playing against gold prices is the fear that we’re going back into a world of positive real interest rates.”

Government bond yields rose further Monday morning as debt values fell, taking 10-year US Treasury yields up to 2.64%.

Nearly one percentage higher from 12 months ago, 10-year US yields are now well above the last reading of US consumer price inflation at 1.7%.

“Right now equities, bonds and gold are very over-sold,” said Dr.Marc Faber – author of the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report – to Bloomberg on Friday, “and they could easily rally.”

Compared to the stock market however, “sentiment in bonds and gold is incredibly negative. In other words, as a contrarian I would rather buy bonds and gold than equities.”

Also giving a reading contrary to the headlines about ending QE which followed Ben Bernanke’s press conference last Wednesday, “Unless the economy has essentially fully recovered by mid-2014, more QE will be forthcoming,” said Faber.

“Gold miners are as hated as anything I’ve seen,” CNBC today quotes Arnold Espe, co-manager and vice-president of mutual fund portfolios at USAA.

World-leading gold miner Barrick will this week lay off one third of the 400 staff at its corporate HQ, the Toronto Sun reports.

In US gold futures and options, speculative traders last week slashed their bullish betting below the “net long” low of late 2008, new data showed Friday.

Globally, fund managers now hold a record-low allocation to commodities, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

US investors have meantime pulled a record volume of money out of bond funds this month, according to TrimTabs Investment Research, beating the previous low of October 2008.

“Lost decade for bonds looms with growing stocks returns,” says a newswire headline today.

Meantime in China – the world’s second-heaviest market for gold after India – the Shanghai and Shenzen stock markets today sank 5.3% and 6.1% respectively, the worst 1-day drops in 4 years.

With overnight interest rates still high, but well below this month’s spike above 10%, “Overall bank liquidity conditions are at a reasonable level,” said the People’s Bank in a statement on its website this morning.

Instead of pumping loans into China’s money markets, the PBoC tells commercial banks to “prudently manage risks that have resulted from rapid credit expansion.”

Over in India today, shares in major gems and jewelry companies sank by up to 20% on rumors of fresh government action to try and curb gold demand and thus imports.

“Falling gold prices, [Reserve Bank] policy, and impositions of high taxes are primary reasons,” the Economic Times quotes A.K.Prabhakar at Anand Rathi Financial Services, who also warns that “demand for gold will slump further” if buyers are forced to show their tax-number PAN card.

Purchases worth over 500,000 Rupees ($8,300) already require the buyer to present their PAN card, which is issued by the Income Tax Department.

A central bank committee proposed in February making PAN cards mandatory for all gold purchases. India has a 1% wealth tax, applied on assets and portfolios worth over INR 1,500,000 ($25,000).

The government of neighboring Sri Lanka at the weekend imposed a new 10% import tax on gold, aimed at restricting gold smuggling to India spurred by New Delhi’s recent curbs.

Adrian Ash

Stocks Drop 1% on Fed, China Fears; Dow Falls 200, Vix Jumps 10%

Stocks Drop 1% on Fed, China Fears; Dow Falls 200, Vix Jumps 10%
Published: Monday, 24 Jun 2013 | 10:50 AM ETBy: JeeYeon Park | CNBC.com Writer
Stocks eased off their lows but were still sharply in the red across the board Monday, with major averages extending steep losses from the previous week, amid worries the Federal Reserve may start to wind down its stimulus measures may be winding down and fears over a possible credit squeeze in China.
(Read More: Early Movers: THC, GOOG, MSFT & More)
"We're currently in a risk off environment that has built up over the recent days," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial Group. "Here in the U.S., it will be important to watch the economic data over the next few months—if the economy can be supported with higher interest rates, investors should return to equities. But if the economy is unable to stand on its own and the Fed still wants to take away the punch bowl, that could spell more difficulty for the equity markets."

5,853%...the Wonga annual rate of interest: Payday firm's 1,600% rise leads to calls for tighter regulation

Payday loan firm gave new projection of what it costs to borrow based on smaller sums

Set the example on their website but haven't changed their charges

Wonga has been instructed to improve practice by the Office of Fair Trading

Practices: The Office of fair Trading has told the biggest payday loan firms to improve how they inform customers and chase debts

Payday loan giant Wonga has increased the interest rate it uses to illustrate the cost of borrowing to 5,853 per cent – a rise of 1,600 per cent.
The move has triggered more calls for tighter regulation of an industry that cashes in on hard-up borrowers.
Most customers of payday loan firms only take out small amounts over a short period to tide them over until they get their salary.
But lenders are required by law to give a representative annual percentage rate of interest (APR), setting out what the loan would cost over a year, so customers can make comparisons with other firms easily to find the cheapest deal.
Wonga used to give the example of a £207 loan over 20 days, with interest and charges of £47.42 and an APR of 4,214 per cent.
But it now uses a new example of someone borrowing a smaller sum of £150 for 18 days, with interest and charges of £33.49 and an APR of 5,853 per cent.
Wonga has not actually increased its charges or interest rates, but says it has voluntarily changed the loan example it uses on its website as a better reflection of how customers borrow.
The firm argues that the APR calculation, which makes assumptions about borrowing money over a full year, is not the best way to illustrate the cost of its loans to customers.
A spokesman said: ‘We made the change as the way our customers are using the service has changed.

 

More are taking out shorter loans for smaller amounts, which, perversely, has the effect of increasing the representative APR. Providing a clear and full cost up front is one of our responsible lending policies.’

How much? Wonga has pushed up its typical APR to 5,853 per cent but it says that customer's will pay less

Short term fix: Most customers of payday loan firms only take out small amounts over a short period to tide them over but lenders have to set out what the loan would cost over a year

On its website, it tells customers: ‘While shorter Wonga loans cost less in real terms for our customers, this trend means a bigger representative APR. It’s crazy but true.’

Wonga and the 49 other biggest payday loan firms have been put on notice by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to improve the way they agree loans, provide information to customers and chase debts.

Interest: The projected APR for small Wonga loans is considerable

Some customers have been given loans without proper checks that they are earning and can afford repayments.
Others have been allowed to roll over short-term loans several times, pushing interest charges to punishing levels.
Several firms have used heavy-handed tactics to chase debts. 
Earlier this year, it emerged that a father killed himself after being harassed by payday loan firms demanding repayments.
Anthony Breeze, 36, from Bolton, burned to death after dousing himself in petrol and setting himself alight.
A Citizens Advice study found the firms are fuelling debt and misery by lending to the vulnerable, including people who are drunk, the under-18s and the mentally ill.
Its chief executive, Gillian Guy, said: ‘High interest rates are just one of the problems people face when taking out payday loans – hefty charges, rollovers and having their bank accounts drained, leaving them in serious financial hardship and struggling to repay money they’ve borrowed.’