What will be Wall Street’s punishment for fraudulently manipulating the LIBOR?
By louisehartmann
An analysis by Morgan Stanley finds that Wall Street stands to be hit with at least $22 billion in penalties over its involvement in rigging key interest rates that underlie trillions of dollars of investments around the world. But that’s a low number – as hundreds of thousands of litigants – from individuals, to cities, to businesses – might have cases against the banks as this investigation continues – and it’s learned just how much money the banks stole from everyone else over the last few decades.
If the claims against the banks get too high, then Wall Street may need another bailout just to cover for their crimes. This will be a make-or-break moment for our nation – an opportunity for “we the people” to once and for all end Wall Street’s domination of our economy – and turn banking back into a safe, useful, and boring industry once again. Keep an eye on this because, as this scandal grows, so does our opportunity to clamp down on Wall Street.
Comments
#2
I am looking for an easy way to sum this up, and that is when an all American means came to me.
It is just like Pete Rose. From Wikipedia; In his autobiography My Prison Without Bars, published by Rodale Press on January 8, 2004, Rose finally admitted publicly to betting on baseball games and other sports while playing for and managing the Reds. He also admitted to betting on Reds games, but said that he never bet against the Reds.
In other words he bet on the games he felt he could win based on inside information. Maybe the truly American ideas are Baseball and insider trading. Sorry apple pie.
#3
LIBOR metaphor as explained in the 1983 Trading Places http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R2rHuq7eq4
#4
Bust 'em up and nationalize 'em. Put Blankfein and Dimon in the lowest prison cells and let THEM eat cake for a change
#5
I just wanted to say "Thank You Thom"! Keep up the great work and have a great weekend!
#6
They should pay--out of their personal fortunes which apparently are ill-gotten gains--no bail outs, no corporate welfare, no more stealing from consumers. They MUST PAY for THEIR crimes.
#7
Nationalize the banks. Fire the officers and boards, and ban them forever from the industry, and reinstate Glass Steagall. Once enacted let new boards form and appoint new officers.
#8
It's really important that these guys go to prison. Fines are NOT enough. For them, fines are just part of the game....and REAL prison, not gentlemens prison.
#9
Taxpayers effectively own these businesses. We should exercise our option.
Since banks no longer service their customers but are in effect gambling houses, there is a need for someone to provide the basic services they no longer provide. Their assets should be converted to public utility and run conservatively with a strong citizen oversight board.
The Banksters are playing a game of chicken with us by promoting a financial myth. 22 billion is not going to bankrupt them and neither will putting those (many, many) who committed felonies in jail.
#10
LIBOR Punishment?
Ask Bernie Madoff (He's #61727-054 at Federal Correctional Institution, Butner Medium, Butner NC until November 2139). -- Nevermind, he can't seem to ever answer truthfully. Ask some of his victims.
It's essential that these scumbags do time, lots of it; because they no-doubt have their ill-gotten loot stashed in secure off-shore tax-havens. No bail-outs that's for sure -- -- -- EXCEPT, the way things are rigged, fines mean nothing and total institution failure would likely gut millions of folks' pension and retirement funds. The guillotine perhaps? rack? burning at the stake?
#11
These people will never be put in jail because they believe they have done nothing wrong!!
The same people that created the system control the system,who is going to regulate them?
The only way things will change is a complete overhaul of who we are being in relation to each other,
What are the wall street banksters and the people who control these banks BEING ?who are they ?what are they trying to do ? is this working to produce the highest outcomes for society?
#12
Public executions by Guillotines worked out quite nicely for the French! Although quite messy until they modernized it. And the thought of this kind of retribution by the people kept would-be ruling elite shaking in their boots for quite a while.
The American way used to give audiences quite a kick when the scoundrel sh!t his britches at the end of a rope. But that wild west has been lost through a "more civil" form of execution(lethal injection?) if at all....but they have no problems with capital punishment in Texas...so maybe we should round up all the bad old offending capitalist pigs and send them to Texas for a real Wild West shindig and noose party. Roast their butts over a Texas barbeque spit then feed that garbage to the hogs. Then do a mass exorcism on the hogs to cast out the demons. Those bible beltsters would love it. Hang em high...or cut off their f..in 'eads already, French style.
Too tough? Over reacting, you say? When you think about how many people have suffered and died from the deeds of these conniving capitalist pigs...it really is tantamount to a war that they have been waging against us.
In war, the US has butchered millions of innocent people in other countries...and now they are doing the same with their own people...not with bullets or bombs or drones (yet); but these Nazis have their own death panels in insurance companies that determine who lives or dies based on profit...and their system of corruption destroys the jobs and wages that keep people from dying of starvation and serious illness. Unless the people massively rebel against those who are waging war against us things will only get worse. More and more people will eventually suffer and die from the enemy who is waging war against us.
Or, the least we could do is to confiscate all their ill-gotten gains and throw them into prison...so that when, if ever, they get out...all they have are their rags and a shopping cart to push around in the streets.
One thing I keep hearing the Republicans say over and over again in defense of not raising taxes for the rich is that it would threaten jobs in the US. That is such a bunch of horse manure and a hollow argument because they have been responsible for shipping our jobs overseas. They don't care if we don't have jobs here in the US unless they are all minimum wage or worse. All they care about is getting maximum profits in the shortest amount of time...and they then say "to hell with jobs in the US".
And Romney is such a lying sack of spit....but I'm not really surprised that he can barely tell those lies with a straight face..on second thought he does seem to have a constant arrogant, smirking-chimp demeanor. If you want jobs to come back to America...don't vote for Romney...that's for sure...Romney's forte is destroying jobs.
#13
Libor : definition "The opposite of Labor"
(1) : Defintion , A shell game created by politicans and banksters to skim money off the top of workers incomes though maniplulation of interest rates , without directly raising of taxes.
(2) Definition , A psycho~logical warfare game to beliitle humanity by stealing their time, (and money) through the ceremonial manipulations of secret numbers on a computer keyboard, ie black magic.
(3) Definition , A confidence scam ( rico law applies ) in which a small group of private banksters conspires though illegal agreements to manipulate interest rates between each other and limit competition to raise the general cost of borrowing money , TO THE WHOLE WORLD!
#14
You got it right, Pantherx!
#15
Lets face it with the say no ( by the contract that they signed) Koch-Teapublicans in control of the house nothing will be done to these thefts. If you think thats bad folks that a real good look at what the KTP say they will do if they win in November, End all regulations on everything, in other words turn the WEALTHY/CORPORATIONS LOOSE TO DO WHAT EVER THEY WANT. We had a real bad taste of no regulations while GW Bush was president, if you remember he De-regulated Wall-Street and gave more tax breaks/Welfare to those very same people. Now they want to do it again? A Vote of R will take our country backward, while a Vote of D will keep our country moving forward, It's as simple as that. Oh and by the way don't forget the KTP want to block every citizen of the USA that will not vote for them, isn't that what President Putan of Russia does? Has the Koch-Teapublican become a branch of the Communist Party?
#16
This country will continue to keep rolling back no matter who is elected...it will just roll back faster with Republicans. The Democrat Party is still bought and owned by the ruling elite. They have to put up a pretense that they will save us...but they won't. If you even bother to vote this time around...yes, vote for Obama, but not because you believe he will make much of a difference from people like Bush, but because you just don't like Republicans and what they stand for. At least the Democrats tell us sweet nothings in our ears...things we want to hear...but, of course, they will screw us...just like the Republicans...in the end...anyway. The game is rigged and the ruling elite will continue to win unless people get off their beliefs that all we have to do is to elect a Democrat. Yes, I'd much rather see Obama as president, on one hand, than old grinning-chimp, job-destroying Romney; but, on the other hand, if Romney is elected, then maybe that would finally push the people to riot in the streets and boycott and demonstrate and whatever. When the ruling elite fear the people, that is when things will change.
With a corrupt political system of voting for one of two corrupt parties that are owned by the ruling elite...Heads I win, Tails you lose...things will only get worse. The democrats only pander a false hope that they will, in the end, stab us all in the backs. The Republicans do it overtly and don't even try to hide it. Their base consists of a few wealthy elite along with a mass of useful idiots that vote against their best interests. The Democrats base consists of a few wealthy elites along with a mass of useful idiots that vote against their best interests. Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dumb! The Republican useful idiots get confused and befuddled by superficial things but end up voting against their best interests. The Democrat useful idiots believe their candidates will actually fulfill their campaign promises and that "they have no other choice". But they do have a choice and it could really change things if they, massively, vote for someone outside of the good-ole-boy, entrenched two party system. And, providing the third party candidates win, wrecking the two-party system....will they actually live up to their ideals and promises...or will they also get bought out by the ruling elite? I believe that the ruling elite would not hesitate to assassinate someone they couldn't control. So, the only other way is to massively rebel. We have to scare the crap out of the ruling elite...make them believe that they will lose everything they stole from us. It worked in FDR days. He could only make the changes he did because of the massive boycotts and uprising of the people...strikes...riots.
#17
Either Obama wins and we will go back to the same old illusions of hope we can('t) believe in (ie: continuing Bush's policies, murdering innocent civilians with drones, continuing to shield the criminal ruling elite and giving them big tax breaks while burdening the rest of us with the costs of idiot foreign and domestic policies...and prosecuting whistleblowers of government wrongdoing).....
...or Romney wins and they do all of the above in a very covert manner...and worse.
...or, the people take more active roles in overthrowing the bastards who will end up killing us anyway.
If Romney wins....the people may resort to the last thing much earlier....
If Obama wins...it will just keep people hopeful and placid for a little while longer.
Revolution is inevitable...just a matter of time. Because the policies of the ruling elite will not change in our favor otherwise.
#18
If these huges fines simply get paid into the Treasury, I fear they will become the next excuse to keep tax rates low for the ultra wealthy who have benefitted from this criminal scheme. There needs to be some system for the people harmed by the LIBOR manipulation to receive the benefits of these fines, including home borrowers who have lost their homes, credit card borrowers who had to declare bankruptcy, college kids who had to drop out of college they could no longer afford or high school kids who were never able to go to college, people whose financial lives have been devasted which has wrought personal devastation in their lives, the widows and widowers of people who have committed suicide facing the loss of their homes and their possessions.... the people who have yet to get any bailout after all the corporate thieves have received government bailouts on top of their criminal manipulations....
#19
Does spizzerinctum require a proctologist?
#20
1980 we had interest rates above 20%, but we had plenty of good middle class jobs that created a strong middle class tax base, and a strong upper class tax base to sustain our economy. This was all because of FDR and a very wise Congress, that in 1933 realized that although Capitalism was the greatest tool in the world it could not be, without some regulations. They knew that Greed had caused th Great Depression and without regulating capitalism it would happen again. Enter Ron Reagan and enter the beginnning of the fall of the USA, through De-Regulation and Greed. Ron told use that if he gives the wealthy/corporations a big Tax Break/Welfare they will create more jobs, and to our surprize it sure did, well over 5 million of them were created but in other countries, while the USA lost them. The first factory to close up and move off shore was the GM Termstead Plant located in Genesee County, MI. Since then the GOP has given the USA, more tax breaks/welfare to the W/C, A 1000 points of light along with the biggest service nation in the world, the bail out of the SNL's, more tax breaks, 2 11year wars, the total collapes of the world banking system along with their bail outs and the housing market in the USA. Then to assure that the USA wouldn't rebound the Koch-Teapublicans all signed a contract to just so NO to the USA, and if any of the remaining GOP would not always say NO, they would run a KTP member against them. They want total contol, just like President Putan and his Communist Party.
Once again we have more WallStreet failure, and the Koch-Teapublicans want to give us more of the same if they win in the November elections. (which they want to fix by blocking citizens from voting for the other party like Russia's President does). They are running a person that has told so many lies, that he has confused himself, how ever not the citizens of our once great country. We only see a lier that has something in his yearly tax forms that he doesn't want us to see? Mitt wants to have a wide open country where the wealthy/Corporations/he, can do what ever they want, with out any restrictions/regulations at all. They want to take our Social Security and Medicare away, along with our Health Care. It's everthing for them and to hell with the rest of us. No I didn't forget that President Clinton signed the NAFTA BILL that led to more lost jobs, but he was still the only President thhat has left office with a surplus in both S.S. and his last ballanced budget. This election is clearly like driving a car, if you put the transmission in R it will go in reverse/backwards. However if you put it in D it will go foreward, and we'll just have to hope that the KTP don't then put it in neutral/NO becuase once again the USA will go nowhere. Have a great day.
#21
Vote the Republicans out in November and pass laws that start putting criminals in prison for such fraud at same rate as young people with a marijuana cigarette. People in this country must wake up, stop being led by their noses, and understand the power the people of this country really have through the ballot box, but more importantly in their purchasing selections. Imagine what we could do with the Koch brothers if we quit buying their products. The same goes for every company that have exported jobs. People must accept the fact no one is going to do the job for us. We have to do it ourselves.
#22
Max Keiser been all over this for some time . His prediction no one will be prosecuted , the corruption goes to far up the food chain , right to Cameron,Clegg and Obama. I agree.
#23
From my view, one of the largest flaws of the Constitution is not just the saying “we the people”, as this saying is very much grossly convoluted by mainstream media. To address this towards the American banking system which is tightly connected to international affairs is the problem that is not “self – evident”. Yes Mr., and Mrs. America we the people now know these truths are not self-evident. Again, the key players, the media, hate radio and sedition cable, Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, Savage, of course the Karl Rove the master hate message meister loaded with Wahhabi oil money pounds away, deliberate, intentional, deception, fraud, which is criminal, all in our face license by our government, we the people, in the electromagnetic spectrum. It feels like America gets slapped silly while they take our tax money.
Yes the Bush Cheney conglomerate always was tightly connected to Arab oil money. From my view the keystone pipeline of money laundering was sheltered by mainstream media during the Bush years. Totally bribing media commercial time, likely inducing fat payroll contacts.
A very devastating book by C. Lewis “the buying of the President” gives detailed examples of the Stampede by Companies such as Halliburton and the Carlyle Group, Cheney Bush companies making partnerships in the Cayman Islands while having principal business office six blocks from the White House. What happened to the media then? Bought off through legal commercial advertising. The media from Joe in the morning to red eye at night have no morals; they took the money and screwed America back then. And now.
Now Romney getting nailed for avoiding taxes through those similar kind money operations had been accomplished by Bush and Cheney. Again according to C. Lewis, for the center of public integrity said it very well to show the unholy business of these men. C. Lewis said “if history is any guide, George W. Bush will not seek to undo the regulations that helped hide so many financial transactions from view. After his entire presidency has been characertized by a zeal for secrecy, an unrelenting push to stem the free flow of information.”
Here the key to the unholy hypocrites, the Republican mantra, remove regulation, but it’s excellent to have regulation to hide corruption, graft, and criminally insane money laundering, a great plus to have regulation on Senate and Congressional rules or procedures. Or worse have siblings well connected working against America. Exampled as Scalia’s son, Justice Scalia's oldest son, Eugene, followed his father into law and is currently in private practice. He was one of the attorneys representing George W. Bush in Bush v. Gore, (2000), which addressed the Florida election recount. Talk about in your face unholy connecting Scalia to help the newly appointed decider. Nothing in the media, Scalia did not recuse himself did he? Obviously a total injustice, Scalia did not excuse himself from the case because of a possible conflict of interest or lack of impartiality. The media obviously bought off. Huge in your face corruption.
Then the media is trying to figure why the young people are telling us all something. By deliberate atrocities.
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A simple way to explain the Libor Fraud is:
Heads I win, tales you lose.
you're welcome.