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STORIES:
Which
Country Goes Bankrupt Next? (Hint: It's Not Who You Think) - (www.dailyfinance.com) When Greece defaulted on its
government bonds in March, it was the first country of any
size to take such a step since the great Argentine default of 2002. It won't be
the last. Now, quibblers contend that Greece didn't really default on
its debt. Instead, the country presented its creditors with a take-it-or-leave-it
offer: Write off all but 46.5% of the debt, or watch Greece declare bankruptcy
and lose it all. (They took the 46.5%). But that's still a technical default --
and that's now what Belize is proposing to do, too. According to The Wall Street Journal, Belize is telling
its creditors that unless they write off 45% of its debt, or give it a 15-year
holiday from debt payments, the country will default on the whole shebang.
Customer
Deposits Are Property of the Bank: Close Your Account NOW - (www.infowars.com) Fast forward to August 9th of
2012, and the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (CCA) rules that BNYM can be moved to first
in line of creditors over the customers that had their funds stolen by SMG. When
a banking customer deposits their money into their bank account, the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Securities Investor
Protection Corporation (SPIC) are in place to protect the
customer from fraud or theft. The ruling from the CCA means that these
regulatory systems will not insure customer funds, investments, depositors and
retirees who hold accounts in banks. In fact, the banking institution is now
legally allowed to use those customer funds deposited as collateral, payment on
debts for loans made, or free use on the stock market to purchase investments
as the bank sees fit.
Fred
Grede, SMG trustee, explained that brokers are no longer
required to keep customer money separate from their own. “It does not bode well
for the protection of customer funds.” Since the ruling gives banks the right
to co-mingle customer funds with their own, no crime can be committed for the
use of customer deposited monies.
Why
bank stocks are immune to scandal - (money.cnn.com)
Banks have had their share of
bad publicity recently, but investors continue to give them the benefit of the
doubt. Standard Chartered (SCBFF) is a prime example. The British bank's stock has
recouped nearly all of the losses sustained earlier this month, when the bank
was accused of laundering money for Iran. U.S.-listed shares plunged to a low
of $18.65 on Aug. 7, one day after banking regulators in New York threatened to revoke Standard Chartered's license. In the
span of a week, the stock (both in the U.S. and in London) gained 14% after the
bank settled the case, and is nearly back
to where it was before the scandal. Standard Chartered has plenty of company. Barclays
(BCS), another leading British bank, paid
$453 million in fines to U.S. and U.K. regulators in June to settle allegations
it manipulated key lending rates, including the closely watched Libor, going
back to 2008.
The
15 Richest Members Of Congress - (www.businessinsider.com)
It's
no secret that members of Congress are much more wealthy than the rest of the
country. The average net worth of a Senator is more
than $14 million, and the average net worth of a member of the House of
Representatives is nearly $6 million. Thanks to analysis from The Hill, we've
put together the richest of the rich, looking at the top 15 members of Congress
and how they're worth.
Mass. tells Fannie, Freddie to follow new mortgage law – (www.reuters.com) Massachusetts on Thursday told Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that the two government-controlled mortgage financecompanies would be required to offer "commercially reasonable loan modifications" under a new law in the state. The notification, in a letter from state Attorney General, Martha Coakley to the regulator of Fannie and Freddie, raises the stakes in a dispute between the two over the benefits of cutting mortgage debt for struggling homeowners. "I write to inform you of the new Massachusetts law requiring all creditors, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to take commercially reasonable steps to avoid foreclosure upon certain mortgage loans," Coakley said in the letter, to Ed DeMarco, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Mass. tells Fannie, Freddie to follow new mortgage law – (www.reuters.com) Massachusetts on Thursday told Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that the two government-controlled mortgage financecompanies would be required to offer "commercially reasonable loan modifications" under a new law in the state. The notification, in a letter from state Attorney General, Martha Coakley to the regulator of Fannie and Freddie, raises the stakes in a dispute between the two over the benefits of cutting mortgage debt for struggling homeowners. "I write to inform you of the new Massachusetts law requiring all creditors, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to take commercially reasonable steps to avoid foreclosure upon certain mortgage loans," Coakley said in the letter, to Ed DeMarco, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
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