Article: Major players plead guilty in ‘funnel account’ scam at Rio Rico bank

Article - Media, Publications

Major players plead guilty in ‘funnel account’ scam at Rio Rico bank

Nogales International, 2 May 2021

Three key members of a scheme to transfer organized crime proceeds from the United States to Mexico through so-called “funnel accounts” opened at the Wells Fargo bank in Rio Rico have now pleaded guilty to federal charges.

The latest guilty plea, which was accepted by a judge during a hearing on Wednesday at U.S. District Court in Tucson, was from Carlos Antonio Vasquez, the former manager of the bank branch. He agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering – a crime that normally carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, but for which Vasquez will receive no more than 34 months (2 years, 10 months) in exchange for his plea.

The conspiracy reportedly lasted from February 2017 until August 2019. Continue reading “Article: Major players plead guilty in ‘funnel account’ scam at Rio Rico bank”

Article: THESE ARE THE TEN BIGGEST BANK FINES OF 2020

Article - Media, Publications

THESE ARE THE TEN BIGGEST BANK FINES OF 2020

ValueWalk, 07 May 2021

Banking regulators around the globe were busy last year despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Like any other year, the regulators imposed heavy fines on banks and financial institutions for a range of indiscretions, including money laundering, tax evasion and market manipulation. It is estimated that total bank fines amounted to more than $14 billion in 2020, with the U.S. accounting for the majority of them with 12 bank fines. Anti-money laundering (AML) breaches were the most common violation last year. Detailed below are the ten biggest bank fines of 2020. Continue reading “Article: THESE ARE THE TEN BIGGEST BANK FINES OF 2020”

Article: Wells Fargo Can Appeal Cert. Order In Overtime Suit

Article - Media, Publications

Wells Fargo Can Appeal Cert. Order In Overtime Suit

Max Kutner, 21 April 2021

Wells Fargo can challenge in the Third Circuit part of an order directing it to produce contact information for thousands of workers involved in a proposed collective and class action alleging off-the-clock overtime, a Pennsylvania federal judge has ruled.

In a memorandum order Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Colville agreed to certify Wells Fargo’s interlocutory appeal of a March 15 conditional certification order, which required the bank to provide contact information for sending notice to thousands of home mortgage consultants with arbitration agreements. The judge said a question of law existed about whether the arbitration issue should come up during conditional certification or at a later stage. Continue reading “Article: Wells Fargo Can Appeal Cert. Order In Overtime Suit”

Article: Morgan Stanley reveals nearly $1B loss from Archegos implosion

Article - Media, Publications

Morgan Stanley reveals nearly $1B loss from Archegos implosion

Reuters, 16 April 2021

Morgan Stanley lost nearly $1 billion from the collapse of family office Archegos Capital Management, the bank said Friday, muddying its 150 percent jump in first-quarter profit that was powered by a boom in trading and deal-making.

Morgan Stanley was one of several banks that had exposure to Archegos, which defaulted on margin calls late last month and triggered a fire sale of stocks across Wall Street. Continue reading “Article: Morgan Stanley reveals nearly $1B loss from Archegos implosion”

Article: New Wells Fargo Employee Walked Through All The Crimes He’ll Be Asked To Commit

Article - Media, Publications

New Wells Fargo Employee Walked Through All The Crimes He’ll Be Asked To Commit

NEWS IN BRIEF, 31 March 2021

Editor: This is SATIRE.  It is also REALITY.  Deal with it.

NEW YORK—Meeting with an HR representative for his first day on the job, new Wells Fargo employee Kyle Menardi was walked through all the crimes he’ll be asked to commit, sources confirmed Wednesday. “The crimes we do here are pretty straightforward, and most new employees get a hang of how to do them within a couple of weeks,” the HR rep informed Menardi, adding that he should prioritize getting a handle on the more day-to-day insurance and securities fraud, and then turn his attention to learning about the company’s more long-term scamming and market manipulation criminal projects. Continue reading “Article: New Wells Fargo Employee Walked Through All The Crimes He’ll Be Asked To Commit”

Article: US and eurozone consumer confidence hit one-year highs; German inflation jumps – as it happened

Article - Media, Publications

US and eurozone consumer confidence hit one-year highs; German inflation jumps – as it happened

Graeme Wearden,  30 March 2021

US consumer confidence has leapt sharply this month, hitting its highest level since the pandemic began. Stimulus spending and vaccine rollout are spurring hopes of an economic recovery.

US house prices have also continued their recent climb:

In the eurozone, economic confidence has also jumped to a one-year high. Industrial firms, services companies and consumers all reported more optimism about the future.

French consumer confidence also picked up.

In Germany, inflation has risen – hitting 2% on an EU-harmonised basis. Economists predict it will keep rising in the coming months, with higher energy prices partly to blame. Continue reading “Article: US and eurozone consumer confidence hit one-year highs; German inflation jumps – as it happened”

Web: Our Financial Oligarchy; Emperors of a Brave New World

Web

Our Financial Oligarchy; Emperors of a Brave New World

They own the regulators; they own the brokerage houses; they own the clearing houses; they own all of your investments; and it’s even been shown that they can exert complete control over the government.

To understand how these banks exert complete control over our financial system, one must first understand the securities clearance system.

In the United States of America, there is only one central clearinghouse: The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, and for almost 50 years they have maintained a virtual monopoly over this essential service.

It is a private corporation that is owned by these mega-banks and brokers.

Read full free book online with many illustrations

PDF (470 Pages): Our Financial Oligarchy Back-Up

Article: Whistleblower Wall Street Has Engaged in Widespread Manipulation of Mortgage Funds

Article - Media

Whistleblower: Wall Street Has Engaged in Widespread Manipulation of Mortgage Funds

Heather Vogell

ProPublica, 15 May 2020

Securities that contain loans for properties like hotels and office buildings have inflated profits, the whistleblower claims. As the pandemic hammers the economy, that could increase the chances of another mortgage collapse.

Read full article.

Fined: Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC nka Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC Fined by FINRA

Fined

Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC nka Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC Fined by FINRA

An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $175,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to reasonably supervise a former registered representative who excessively traded equity positions in accounts belonging to an elderly customer. The findings stated that the customer was 88 years old when the trading commenced and that as a result of the excessive trading, she paid at least $300,000 in commissions and other fees.

Read full report.

Article: Secrets and Lies of the Bailout

Article - Media

Secrets and Lies of the Bailout

Matt Taibbi

Rolling Stone, 4 January 2013

It has been four long winters since the federal government, in the hulking, shaven-skulled, Alien Nation-esque form of then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, committed $700 billion in taxpayer money to rescue Wall Street from its own chicanery and greed. To listen to the bankers and their allies in Washington tell it, you’d think the bailout was the best thing to hit the American economy since the invention of the assembly line. Not only did it prevent another Great Depression, we’ve been told, but the money has all been paid back, and the government even made a profit. No harm, no foul – right?

Read full article.

Article: Fed Defies Transparency Aim in Refusal to Disclose

Article - Media

Fed Defies Transparency Aim in Refusal to Disclose

Mark Pittman, Bob  Ivry, Alison Fitzgerald

Bloomberg cited by Yonkers Tribune

The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in September they would comply with congressional demands for transparency in a $700 billion bailout of the banking system. Two months later, as the Fed lends far more than that in separate rescue programs that didn’t require approval by Congress, Americans have no idea where their money is going or what securities the banks are pledging in return.

Read full article.

THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?