Posted by Larry Doyle on February 8th, 2013 9:04 AM |
I have long maintained that senior executives on Wall Street were very much aware of the collusive racketeering in the Libor rigging scandal. Why so? When a trader ‘makes it rain,’ that is, he is connected to a P/L that generates hundreds of millions of dollars, you better believe that the execs up the chain of command will want to know how the money is being made.
To think otherwise would display a level of naivete not found in these markets.
What evidence do we learn this morning that supports my premise that senior execs on Wall Street were aware that Libor was being manipulated? Let’s navigate as the WSJ writes about the “Rain-Man” >>>>>>>> (more…)
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 7th, 2013 6:19 AM |
What does it mean when news that one of the world’s largest financial firms pays a $612 million fine for behaviors that clearly smack of racketeering and nobody even blinks?
I will tell you what it means. It means that free market capitalism is losing, and cronyism in the financial system is simply becoming more deeply embedded. Do you disagree? (more…)
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 25th, 2013 7:25 AM |
To think that scandalous activity of the size and scope involved in the rigging of Libor would be confined to a mere handful of traders and brokers is so ridiculous as to be laughable.
Yet, to this point, every institution connected to this racket would try to have us believe just that. Well, we can disavow that attempt to minimize the fallout of this manipulation at one bank. Which one is that? (more…)
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 11th, 2013 8:49 AM |
Senior executives at major Wall Street banks claiming they ‘knew nothing‘ of the scandalous rigging of Libor that generated untold billions of dollars in revenue over a multi-year time period might only be compared to one other comedic actor. Which one is that? How could we ever forget the fabulously funny . . .
While Schultz, Hogan and the boys brought enormous comic relief to so many, there is little to laugh about rigged markets and incomplete information emanating from Wall Street. (more…)
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 10th, 2013 8:51 AM |
“Investment capital goes where it’s welcome and stays where it’s appreciated.” Maine governor Paul LePage
The more information one holds, the better positioned he is to take increased risk. If that information were to include the ability to influence if not outright manipulate a game/market, then one’s risk profile —that is, the size of one’s position — is likely to really increase.
Can you imagine if you were playing the tables in Vegas and you had knowledge as to what the dealer held and what he was likely to pull, what would you do? (more…)
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 21st, 2012 9:24 AM |
The American public in totality is not stupid, although they are often treated that way by many in Washington.
Scandalous behavior within major Wall Street institutions has run rampant over the last decade — and likely a lot longer than that — and been addressed almost uniformly with token fines (relative to revenues generated) that are little more than a cost of doing business. Why does such scandalous behavior persist? (more…)
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 20th, 2012 9:03 AM |
The intrigue surrounding the greatest financial fraud “of all time” could fill many a book and many a movie theatre. While the intrigue may make for riveting reading and viewing, the simple fact is this fraud comes with an exceptionally high cost for investors, consumers, and society as a whole.
How did the web of this manipulation grow so large? Where were the regulators and internal compliance people to snuff it out and bring some semblance of order to what can only be defined as “organized racketeering?”
While little focus has yet been shone on the regulators or those in compliance at the banks involved, we now begin to see some cracks in the Libor rigging foundation in terms of addressing the fact that senior executives were aware and involved in this manipulation. (more…)
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 19th, 2012 1:59 PM |
I have maintained literally from the outset that the manipulation and rigging of Libor and other benchmark interest rates could not have occurred without the knowledge and blessing of senior executives within the banks.
We read today that senior executives at UBS were very much aware of the collusive practices that went on for years. The question now begs what will happen from here. Will selected executives who may have left the firm voluntarily or otherwise be allowed protective cover? Remember, justice neglected is justice denied. (more…)
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 19th, 2012 6:54 AM |
GUILTY!!
Why would anybody want to do business with an institution that systematically participated in a widespread fraud over a period of years? I guess that very statement could likely be said of many global banks in regard to the scandal encompassing the manipulation of Libor.
Today, though, the scarlet letter is applied to the Union Bank of Switzerland as it pleads guilty to fraud in the manipulation of Libor and other benchmark interest rates. This bucket shop has agreed to pay a $1.5 billion fine. (more…)
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 13th, 2012 2:00 PM |
With news leaking that Union Bank of Switzerland is poised to pay a $1 billion fine for its involvement in the manipulation of Libor, we once again are led to the conclusion that, for those involved in running the major global financial institutions, “CRIME PAYS.”
It is insulting to those who have even an ounce of decency in their body to think that institutions such as Barclays, UBS, and certainly many more can engage in the “biggest financial fraud of all time” and simply write a check for their complicity.
The “biggest financial fraud of all time,” LD? Yes, I have defined this price rigging racket in just such a fashion many times. Those are not merely my words today. Who else joins me and echoes those sentiments? (more…)