Banks

[eshmun]

JP Morgan Chase announced (on Wednesday) the settlement of criminal charges with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Reserve related to antitrust violations relating to trading in FX markets between July 2010 and Jan 2013.

 

http://investor.shareholder.com/jpmorganch...eleaseID=914105

 

Eshmun

 

 

 

[eshmun]

More on last Wednesday's bank criminal settlements related to global currency manipulation.

 

Eshmun

 

"Over the course of more than five years, traders at the banks colluded to rig the $5.3 trillion-a-day currency benchmarks that sit at the very center of the global economy, directly impacting some $3.6 trillion in savings held by pensions funds, governments and asset managers.

 

The fines to the Department of Justice and other regulators put the total tab from foreign-exchange misdeeds at more than $10 billion. Last year a half-dozen lenders -- including JPMorgan, Citigroup and RBS -- handed over a combined $4.3 billion to regulators in Switzerland, the U.S. and the U.K.

 

Barclays, which unexpectedly pulled out of the previous settlements, paid the largest fine in this round, at $2.4 billion. The bank "engaged in a brazen ÃÆâ€â„¢ÃƒÆ’ƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¡Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¬ÃƒÆ’â€Â¹Ãƒƒâ€Â¦ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å“heads I win, tails you loseÃÆâ€â„¢ÃƒÆ’ƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¡Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¬ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¾Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ scheme to rip off their clients," said Benjamin Lawsky, New York's top financial regulator, in a statement. The bank will fire eight staff involved in the misconduct."

 

http://www.ibtimes.com/major-banks-slapped...foreign-1930024

 

 

 

[blacksheep]

Credit Suisse in a spot of bother overseas

 

1. Mozambique: FBI Investigating U.S.$2 Billion Secret Debt

 

By Joseph Hanlon

The U.S. Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating the role of three banks in the $2 bn Mozambique secret debt, the Wall Street Journal reported (WSJ 6 Nov). They are the Swiss bank, Credit Suisse, and the Russian Bank, VTB, which together organised the syndicated loans and bonds, the French Bank BNP Paribas, which was involved in the loan syndication. The FBI is looking at whether the banks facilitated improper payments to senior Mozambican officials, and the Justice Department is also examining whether the banks helped Mozambican officials borrow more debt than the countryÃÆâ€â„¢ÃƒÆ’ƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¡Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¬ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¾Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢s economy could reasonably repay, the WSJ said. The investigation has been going on for more than a year, and the FBI was in Maputo in June 2016.

 

Authorities in the US, UK and Switzerland are also investigating possible security law violations and possible money laundering.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201711130690.html

 

2. Credit Suisse Pays $135 Million to Settle New York FX Probe

 

Credit Suisse AG will pay $135 million to resolve currency-manipulation allegations by New YorkÃÆâ€â„¢ÃƒÆ’ƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¡Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¬ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¾Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢s banking regulator, the latest echo from authoritiesÃÆâ€â„¢ÃƒÆ’ƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¡Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¬ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¾Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ long-running scrutiny of foreign-currency trading at big banks.

 

Traders at the Zurich-based bank, prodded by executives in some cases, shared information about clientsÃÆâ€â„¢ÃƒÆ’ƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¡Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¬ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¾Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ currency orders, talked to traders from other banks and in some instances front-ran customer orders in an effort to boost the bankÃÆâ€â„¢ÃƒÆ’ƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¡Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¬ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¾Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢s own profits, New YorkÃÆâ€â„¢ÃƒÆ’ƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¡Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¬ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¾Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢s Department of Financial Services said as it announced a settlement on Monday.

 

The bank also used software on its electronic trading platform to cancel out customersÃÆâ€â„¢ÃƒÆ’ƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¡Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¬ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¾Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ trades that stood to be costly for the bank, according to a consent order describing conduct from 2008 to 2015.

 

Credit Suisse traders at the time used electronic chat rooms to talk with a small knot of traders whoÃÆâ€â„¢ÃƒÆ’ƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¡Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¬ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¾Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ve been accused of manipulating currency prices and referred to themselves as ÃÆâ€â„¢ÃƒÆ’ƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¡Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¬ÃƒÆ’â€Â¦ÃƒƒÂ¢Ãƒ¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…âہ“The Cartel.ÃÆâ€â„¢ÃƒÆ’ƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¡Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¬ÃƒÆ’â€Å¡Ãƒƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚ÂÂ

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/201...w-york-fx-probe

[nipper]

HSBC has closed some accounts for companies associated with South Africa's Gupta brothers as it investigates its own possible ties to the business friends of President Jacob Zuma who have been accused of corruption by politicians in the country. HSBC on Friday said it had no direct business ties with the family but has "closed a number of accounts for associated front companies" wherever it has found such accounts.

That's one version of it;

 

HSBC 'ignored money laundering warning' in South Africa scandal ... ... www.bbc.com/news/business-41835937 Nov 2, 2017 - The controversy relates to the close relationship between the wealthy Gupta family and South African President Jacob Zuma.

[blacksheep]

Nobody Need Fear a Banking Inquisition

By David Fickling

 

One reason is that Australian Royal Commissions and Commissions of Inquiry, for all their powers and pomp, tend to be paper tigers. Despite dozens of investigations carried out over the years and millions of column inches dedicated to their proceedings, it's remarkably hard to find evidence of lasting policy effects.After the Cole commission into the country's construction industry reported in 2003, the government struggled for years to pass related legislation in the absence of opposition support. The over-representation of indigenous Australians in prison has been rising for decades, despite that factor being named as one of the central issues of a 1991 commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody. Inquiries into an insulation-subsidy program and trade-union corruption set up by the current government in 2013 were treated by the opposition as politicized star chambers.

 

While a commission will probably divulge embarrassing details and chew up executives' time, it's hard to argue real political change will result. Ultimately, only shifts that receive sufficient bipartisan support make it through Australia's parliament.

read more - https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2...ing-inquisition

[blacksheep]

The credit rating agencies aren't predicting the banks will be adversely impacted in funding markets after the government announced a Royal Commission into the banking sector.

Read more: http://www.afr.com/#ixzz4ztBs8U5L

Shortman shows the total dollar amount of all shorted shares on the big 4 banks are reasonably low, suggesting this inquiry wasn't anticipated or, if it was, it won't have much impact on their respective SP's?

THE BIG FOUR BANKS (ANZ, CBA, NAB, WBC)

https://www.shortman.com.au/market

[mrbear]

They will beat them to a pulp with a feather duster for sure,cheers mrbear

[arty]

see my contribution to the topic - here:

http://www.sharescene.com/index.php?s=&amp...st&p=880550

[blacksheep]

Interesting article - Ten Years Later, World's Biggest Banks Keep Getting Bigger

 

Too big to fail back in the GFC period

 

But if and when another crisis hits, the biggest players will be far larger than they were during the last crash.

https://marketintelligence.spglobal.com/our...-getting-bigger

[jacsar]

even the Germans are not immune to irregularities.... Steinhoff owns Australian retailers such as Best and Less, Snooze, Freedom, Harris Scarfe and Fantastic Furniture. Banks owning these companies and the parent must be worried today about any loans they have with the Steinhoff companies. MoodyÃÆâ€â„¢ÃƒÆ’ƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¡Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¬ÃƒÆ’¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢Ã¢â€š¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÆ’…¾Ãƒâہ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¢s downgrade will focus minds today.

If the parent collapses or is placed in administration, the futures of these Australian retailers will be clouded. .... http://www.sharecafe.com.au/sharecafe.asp?a=AV&ai=46837