Guess Which Major Bank Loses The Most From Brexit?
Submitted by Tyler D.
04/14/2016 15:55 -0400
Banks have been lobbying intensively against Brexit. Among those leading the charge is Goldman Sachs. For three years, the bank’s executives have publicly warned about the downsides of leaving the EU... and now we know why (hint - it's not concern for the common man).
As The Wall Street Journal reports, about a decade ago, Goldman launched project “Armada,” a plan for a hulking European headquarters on the site of an old telephone exchange in London.
Unbundling this kind of structure will be expensive and time-consuming, lawyers and bankers say. Goldman is mapping out which jobs might be hit by a loss of this passport, or the right to sell services across the EU, while scoping out European countries where it has existing banking licenses and infrastructure that could quickly be scaled up, according to a person familiar with the matter. Goldman also has a banking license in Germany, for instance.
In the event that this passport was lost, derivative and currency trading with EU counterparts would likely be hit hard. A large portion of euro currency and securities trading takes place through London, outside the eurozone. In the event of Brexit, EU authorities may well press for the trading of euro securities to be cleared within the trading bloc, bankers say.
Today, Goldman services Middle Eastern and African customers in London too. Some 90% of its 6,000 staff based in Europe are in London. Europe, the Middle East and Africa accounted for 27% of Goldman’s $33.8 billion of net revenue in 2015.
But faced with the prospect of spending billions of dollars to rejig their operations, banks have been lobbying intensively against Brexit.
Among those leading the charge is Goldman Sachs. For three years, the bank’s executives have publicly warned about the downsides of leaving the EU.
The bank has donated around $700,000 to a group which is lobbying against Brexit, according to a person familiar with the matter. Its executives have signed warning letters to major British newspapers. An EU flag currently flutters above its London headquarters. Last fall the bank organized events on the sidelines of opposition Labour and governing Conservative party conferences to debate the role of the U.K. in Europe.
During the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in January in Switzerland, Gary Cohn, president of Goldman Sachs, reiterated a well-rehearsed warning. “It is imperative for the U.K. to keep the financial-services industry in the U.K.,” he said, adding, “I don’t know what would replace that industry.”
The advocacy by U.S. banks has antagonized those, often at smaller brokers or hedge funds, who say the U.K. financial sector would be less heavily regulated outside the EU and thrive.
“Why would the Americans be interested in what is good for the U.K.?” said Howard Shore, executive chairman of Shore Capital Group PLC, an investment group.
“They are interested in what is good for their bank.”
Shocking!! So next time you read a research piece proclaiming the catastrophe Brexit would be, consider the above... because fo rnmow it's all about the "undecided"
Deutsche Bank Confirms Silver Market Manipulation In Legal Settlement, Agrees To Expose Other Banks
Tyler D.
04/14/2016 17:19 -0400
Back in July of 2014, we reported that in an attempt to obtain if not compensation, then at least confirmation of bank manipulation in the precious metals industry, a group of silver bullion banks including Deutsche Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC (later UBS was also added to the defendants) were accused of manipulating prices in the multi-billion dollar market.
The lawsuit, which was originally filed in a New York district court by veteran litigator J. Scott Nicholson, a resident of Washington DC, alleged that the banks, which oversee the century-old silver fix manipulated the physical and COMEX futures market since January 2007. The lawsuit subsequently received class-action status. It was the first case to target the silver fix.
Many expected that this case would never go anywhere and that the defendant banks would stonewall indefinitely: after all their legal budgets were far greater than the plaintiffs.
Which is why we were surprised to read overnight that not only has this lawsuit against precious metals manipulation not been swept away, but that the lead defendant, troulbed German bank Deutsche Bank agreed to settle the litigation over allegations it illegally conspired with Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC Holdings Plc to fix silver prices at the expense of investors, Reuters reported citing a court filing by law firm Lowey.
Terms were not disclosed, but the accord will include a monetary payment by the German bank.
It goes without saying, that there would have been neither a settlement nor a payment if the banks had done nothing wrong.
According to Reuters, Deutsche Bank has signed a binding settlement term sheet, and is negotiating a formal settlement agreement to be submitted for approval by U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni, who oversees the litigation. A Deutsche Bank spokeswoman declined to comment. Lawyers for the investors did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
As noted above, investors had accused Deutsche Bank, HSBC and ScotiaBank of abusing their power as three of the world's largest silver bullion banks to dictate the price of silver through a secret, once-a-day meeting known as the Silver Fix.
None of this will come as a big surprise to readers, most of whom have been aware that this took place for years.
But wait there's more.
In a curious twist, the settlement letter reveals a stunning development, namely that the former members of the manipulation cartel have turned on each other. To wit:
“In addition to valuable monetary consideration, Deutsche Bank has also agreed to provide cooperation to plaintiffs, including the production of instant messages, and other electronic communications, as part of the settlement. In Plaintiff’s estimation, the cooperation to be provided by Deutsche Bank will substantially assist Plaintiffs in the prosecution of their claims against the non-settling defendants.”
The full shocking letter can be read here:
Since this is just one of many lawsuits filed over the past two years in Manhattan federal court in which investors accused banks of conspiring to rig rates or prices in financial and commodities markets, we expect that now that DB has "turned" that much more curious information about precious metals rigging will emerge, and will confirm what the "bugs" had said all along: that the precious metals market has been rigged all along.
Finally, we'll just remind readers that the US commodity "regulator", the CFTC in 2013 closed its five year investigation concerning allegations that the biggest bullion banks manipulate silver markets and prices. It proudly reported in September 2013 that it found no evidence of wrongdoing and dropped the probe. This is what it said:
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) Division of Enforcement has closed the investigation that was publicly confirmed in September 2008 concerning silver markets. The Division of Enforcement is not recommending charges to the Commission in that investigation. For law enforcement and confidentiality reasons, the CFTC only rarely comments publicly on whether it has opened or closed any particular investigation. Nonetheless, given that this particular investigation was confirmed in September 2008, the CFTC deemed it appropriate to inform the public that the investigation is no longer ongoing. Based upon the law and evidence as they exist at this time, there is not a viable basis to bring an enforcement action with respect to any firm or its employees related to our investigation of silver markets.
In light of this confirmation that the CFTC's probe was "lacking" perhaps it is time for the so-called regulators who at the time was headed by ex-Goldmanite Gary Gensler (and assisted by "revolving door" expert and HFT lobby sellout Bart Chilton) to reopen its investigation?