February 2013 – Financial Treason & Crime

02/25/201303/13/2021

Article: UBS, FINRA, and Naked Short Selling: “Duration, Scope and Volume of The Trading Created a Potential for Harm to The Integrity of The Market.”

UBS, FINRA, and Naked Short Selling: “Duration, Scope and Volume of The Trading Created a Potential for Harm to The Integrity of The Market.”

Larry Doyle, 25 February 2013

Last summer I tagged Wall Street’s industry funded police at FINRA as being little more than meter maids. With a recent review of FINRA’s largest fine imposed in its history, I now realize that I have actually done a serious disservice to those diligent and hard working meter maids patrolling our cities and towns. How so?

Let’s navigate and look more deeply into FINRA’s $12 million fine imposed on those paragons of virtue who ran Union Bank of Switzerland’s equity operations.

What did UBS do to deserve FINRA’s “largest” fine? Continue reading “Article: UBS, FINRA, and Naked Short Selling: “Duration, Scope and Volume of The Trading Created a Potential for Harm to The Integrity of The Market.””

02/06/201303/20/2021

Article: Royal Bank of Scotland fined £390 million for LIBOR failings

Article - Media, Publications

Royal Bank of Scotland fined £390 million for LIBOR failings

John Fitzsimons, 06 February 2013

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been fined £390 million for its attempts at manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR).

LIBOR is essentially the rate at which banks lend money to each other. Every day banks are required to submit their interbank borrowing rates confidentially to Thomson Reuters, which then works out LIBOR on behalf of the British Bankers’ Association. For more on LIBOR and why it matters, check out What is Libor?

An FSA investigation found that over a four year period between January 2006 and November 2010 employees of RBS engaged in all sorts of activities that would lead to incorrect LIBOR submissions. By lying about what its real interest rates were, RBS was in a position to manipulate the market, allowing its traders to cash in.

The FSA’s investigation found at least 219 documented requests for inappropriate submissions, with 21 individuals involved identified.

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02/04/201305/22/2020

Web: The Lessons From Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne’s Gun Caper

Web

The Lessons From Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne’s Gun Caper

Gary Weiss

gary-weiss.com, 4 February 2013

I was appalled (but not surprised) to learn about Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne’s latest escapade: a couple of weeks ago, he was arrested at Salt Lake Airport trying to carry a loaded Glock handgun onto an airplane.

I was even less surprised by the revelation, buried in a police report, that he sleeps with the gun every night, ready to drill any intruding “miscreants” with .40-caliber, bone-shattering hollow-point bullets.

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