This is a #disgrace. #BaFin chief admits watchdog made errors ahead of @Wirecard collapse – #Wirecard & #BaFin persecuted me because of weak hands & having Israeli/British background. https://t.co/7Fo3h3F8GS via @FT
— Fraser Perring – Grand Poobah of “criminal” shorts (@AIMhonesty) March 27, 2021
Article: Germany says FinCEN money laundering revelations are not new
Article - Media, PublicationsGermany says FinCEN money laundering revelations are not new
Holger Hansen and Andreas Rinke, 21 September 2020
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s finance ministry said on Monday that a slew of news reports about money laundering among global banks including Deutsche Bank DBKGn.DE did not appear to contain revelations which were unknown.
“To the best of our knowledge, the cases with a German connection have been dealt with and the necessary consequences have been drawn,” a spokeswoman said.
German regulator BaFin is a unit of Germany’s Finance Ministry.
Article: The woman shaking up Wall Street
Article - MediaThe woman shaking up Wall Street
Safi Thind, SquareMile, 7 February 2020
“Valeant had a certain reputation within the industry,” she says. “I knew it was already engaged in unethical, potentially fraudulent practice. Pharmaceuticals are a very established industry, when someone tries to disrupt it and post unusual numbers, there’s probably something wrong.”
Article: German watchdog updates market manipulation case against Wirecard
Article - Media, PublicationsGerman watchdog updates market manipulation case against Wirecard
Douglas Busvine, 23 June 2020
BERLIN, June 23 (Reuters) – Germany’s financial watchdog said on Tuesday it had filed an updated case against Wirecard , saying the collapsed payment company’s disclosure of a $2.1 billion financial hole showed it had sought to mislead markets.
The regulator Bafin said it had filed a follow-up to an earlier complaint with Munich prosecutors as it now suspected Wirecard’s accounts for 2016, 2017 and 2018 had misstated revenues and assets.
“This also strengthens the suspicion that the information contained in its financial reports sent false signals for Wirecard’s share price and thus violated a ban on market manipulation,” Bafin said in a statement.
Article: Prosecutors search Wirecard premises in market manipulation probe
Article - Media, PublicationsProsecutors search Wirecard premises in market manipulation probe
Thomas Escritt, 05 June 2020
BERLIN, June 5 (Reuters) – Prosecutors in Munich said they had searched the premises of financial services company Wirecard and opened proceedings against its management board as part of a market manipulation probe by BaFin, Germany’s financial regulator.
In a statement on Friday, prosecutors said the company was suspected of having issued misleading information which may have impacted Wirecard’s share price between March 12 and April 22.
Wirecard confirmed in a statement that its premises had been searched as part of an investiugation targeting its management board. It said it was cooperating fully with the investigation.
Article: Germany’s BaFin investigating Wirecard communication ahead of audit publication
Article - MediaGermany’s BaFin investigating Wirecard communication ahead of audit publication
Reuters, 8 May 2020
BaFin had previously said it would include the findings of the KPMG audit in its ongoing investigation into suspected market manipulation in Wirecard stock.
Comment: Regulatory agencies are easy to manipulate as a secondary means of direct market manipulation. They address only a tiny fraction of the crimes being committed by naked short sellers, while being easily spoofed into helping naked short sellers because they take fraudulent whistleblowers at face value when it suits them to do so.
Tweet: $WDI (WireCard)
TweetI think the "Germans" are now embarrassed about $WDI and have been misled at every turn.. Enough is enough Bafin, you have put alot of people at risk, time to act like a Securities Regulator @FD @FelixHoltermann
— Marc Cohodes (@AlderLaneeggs) April 29, 2020
Article: Regulators across Europe clash over bans on short selling
Article - MediaRegulators across Europe clash over bans on short selling
Philip Stafford, Laurence Fletcher, Robert Smith
Financial Times, 30 March 2020
France, Spain and Italy issued one-day prohibitions against betting on falling share prices for selected companies — and then longer bans of between one and three months, applied to all stocks listed on their domestic markets. Belgium, Austria and Greece swiftly followed suit, while Esma, the pan-European regulator, demanded tighter standards on reporting of short positions. Markus Ferber, an influential European MEP, urged a co-ordinated ban across the continent. But the clampdown has been partial.
Article: German regulator files complaint on alleged Wirecard manipulation
Article - MediaGerman regulator files complaint on alleged Wirecard manipulation
BaFin targets two FT journalists and several short-sellers after reports hit payments group’s share price
Olaf Storbeck
Financial Times, 16 April 2019
The German financial watchdog has filed a criminal complaint against two Financial Times journalists and several short sellers, accusing them of potential market manipulation over reports about suspected accounting irregularities at payments processor Wirecard.
Continue reading “Article: German regulator files complaint on alleged Wirecard manipulation”
Article: Deutsche Bank hit by record $2.5bn Libor-rigging fine
Article - Media, PublicationsDeutsche Bank hit by record $2.5bn Libor-rigging fine
Jill Treanor, 23 April 2015
Germany’s Deutsche Bank has been fined a record $2.5bn (£1.7bn) for rigging Libor, ordered to fire seven employees and accused of being obstructive towards regulators in their investigations into the global manipulation of the benchmark rate.
The penalties on Germany’s largest bank also involve a guilty plea to the Department of Justice (DoJ) in the US and a deferred prosecution agreement. The regulators released a cache of emails, electronic messages and phone calls showing the attempts to move the rate used to price £3.5tn of financial contracts. Continue reading “Article: Deutsche Bank hit by record $2.5bn Libor-rigging fine”
Article: Watchdog says jury out on CDS short-selling impact
Article - Media, PublicationsWatchdog says jury out on CDS short-selling impact
Huw Jones, 18 June 2012
There is no firm proof that short-selling credit default swaps (CDS), blamed by some policymakers for exacerbating Greece’s debt problem, damages the underlying government bond market, the world’s top securities body said.
CDS are contracts written by large banks that insure the buyer against a default in an underlying asset such as a government or corporate bond. Continue reading “Article: Watchdog says jury out on CDS short-selling impact”
Article: German regulator issues naked short-selling ban
Article - MediaGerman regulator issues naked short-selling ban
NDTV, 25 November 2011
Germany’s market regulator announced a ban on Tuesday on so-called naked short-selling of eurozone government debt and shares of major financial companies, a move that came as European officials seek to strengthen control of markets.
Article: Naked Short Selling Banned By EU
Article - Media, PublicationsNaked Short Selling Banned By EU
Global Custodian, 15 September 2010
European Regulators have issued new rules aimed at controlling naked short selling and derivatives trading. Naked short selling, where the investor sells shares short without confirming the availability of the stock, has been banned.
Investors will also be forced to disclose their short position in a firm to regulators if it exceeds 0.2%, and to the market as a whole if it crosses 0.5%. Investors will have to disclose short positions on sovereign bonds, even if the position was obtained using credit default swaps.
The ban on naked short selling by the European Commission will be enforced from July 2012 after approval from the European Parliament. Previously, the seller did not have to prove their ability to obtain the stock. According to todays proposal, in order to “to enter a short sale an investor must have borrowed the instruments concerned, entered into an agreement to borrow them, or have an arrangement with a third party to locate and reserve them for lending so that they are delivered by the settlement date [at the latest 4 days after the transaction].” Continue reading “Article: Naked Short Selling Banned By EU”
Article: Europe Comes to Terms With Market Manipulation; the SEC and the American Media Bury Heads in the Sand
Article - Media, PublicationsMark 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”
Article: Germany bans naked short-selling, swaps speculation
Article - Media, PublicationsGermany 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”