Foreign Collusion, Naked Shorting (Counterfeiting) & Money Laundering — All Illicit Wealth
Europe plans ban on naked short selling
Steve Johnson and Baptiste Aboulian
Financial Times, 23 May 2010
European politicians have proposed a complete ban on naked short selling, significantly widening the scope of the clampdown implemented last week by Angela Merkel, the German chancellor.
Naked shorting is already banned in the US, Hong Kong, Australia and Brazil, but the idea of a complete European-wide ban is likely to provoke controversy in some quarters.
Mark Mitchell, DeepCapture, 21 May 2010
Well, the current state of the global financial markets is certainly interesting. I mean, you have to be a bit sick in the head, but if you think about it the right way, it really is “interesting” — sort of like, oo-wee, look, the girl in the cute leotard is falling off the tightrope, there’s no net, and she’s going to go “splat” when she hits that pavement. How interesting! And check it out, the circus animals have gone berserk — the tigers are tearing the trainer into bloody shreds, the elephants are stampeding, the tent might very well collapse, maybe we’re doomed, and look at those clowns – they’re still smiling. How deliciously interesting! Continue reading “Article: Europe Comes to Terms With Market Manipulation; the SEC and the American Media Bury Heads in the Sand”
The Wall Street Journal, 21 May 2010
Richard Blumenthal, the Democratic Senatorial candidate from Connecticut, is in trouble this week for lying about having fought in Vietnam. The former Marine reservist admits he “misspoke” on several occasions about his military service and is otherwise unapologetic, but the revelation has thrown open a race that Mr. Blumenthal appeared to have in the bag. Continue reading “Article: The Other Blumenthal Scandal”
Germany bans naked short-selling, swaps speculation
China Daily, 19 May 2010
Germany prohibited naked short-selling and speculating on European government bonds with credit-default swaps in an effort to calm the region’s financial markets, sparking investor anxiety about increasing regulation.
The ban, which took effect at the midnight of May 18 and lasts until March 31, 2011, also applies to the shares of 10 banks and insurers, German financial regulator BaFin said in an e-mailed statement. The step was needed because of “exceptional volatility” in euro-area bonds, BaFin said. Continue reading “Article: Germany bans naked short-selling, swaps speculation”
Germany bans naked short-selling
Holder Hansen, Andreas Rinke
Reuters, 18 May 2010
Germany, in an attack on the financial speculation on which it blames much of the euro zone’s debt crisis, on Tuesday announced a ban on some high-risk bets that prices of bonds and stocks will fall.
Analysts, however, were skeptical that Germany’s surprise move to ban some trades in a strategy known as naked short selling could be effective in taming market volatility, with one saying it suggested “desperation.”
Deutsche Bank’s naked wrist slap
Colin Barr
Fortune, 23 May 2010
Securities industries watchdogs have had it with naked short selling — and if the biggest securities firms don’t watch out, they could be left with some unsightly welts on their wrists.
13 May 2010
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it has fined two broker-dealers a total of $925,000 for executing numerous short sale orders in violation of Regulation SHO and for related supervisory violations. FINRA fined New York’s Deutsche Bank Securities $575,000 and Boston’s National Financial Services (NFS) $350,000.
Some lawmakers also shorted stocks, congressional records show
Robert O’Harrow Jr., Dan Keating
The Washington Post, 5 May 2010
As Congress criticized Wall Street for the proliferation of risky derivatives investments and short-selling practices in recent years, some lawmakers privately made highly speculative investments in derivatives funds that sometimes aimed to profit from a decline in the overall performance of the stock market or Treasury bonds, congressional financial disclosure forms show.
Goldman to pay $450,000 over short-selling
March Gordon
Associated Press, 4 May 2010
Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay $450,000 to settle regulators’ allegations that it violated a rule related to short-selling of stocks in 2008-2009, it was announced Tuesday.
The banking company did not admit or deny wrongdoing in paying the civil penalties in agreements with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Stock Exchange’s regulatory arm.
SEC v Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing, L.P.
4 May 2010
These proceedings relate to GSEC’s response to the Commission’s September 17, 2008 emergency order enacting temporary Rule 204T to Regulation SHO (“Rule 204T” or the “Rule”). That Rule was an important part of the Commission’s response to concerns about the effects of “naked” short selling upon securities prices.
PDF (8 pages): SEC v Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing, L.P.
Goldman Sachs settles short-sales allegations
Associated Press business staff, 04 May 2010
WASHINGTON — Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay $450,000 to settle regulators’ allegations that it violated a rule related to short-selling of stocks in 2008-2009, it was announced Tuesday.
The banking company did not admit or deny wrongdoing in paying the civil penalties in agreements with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Stock Exchange’s regulatory arm.
The case involving Goldman’s stock-trading business is unrelated to the SEC’s civil fraud charges filed against the firm last month over mortgage securities transactions it arranged. Goldman has denied the allegations in that case and said it will contest the charges in court. Continue reading “Article: Goldman Sachs settles short-sales allegations”
THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?
