Tweet
I'm talking about calling a spade, a spade....
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/bu...er=rss&emc=rss
My question is how long it will take the banksters to have the lead prosecutor spitzered?;)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/bu...er=rss&emc=rss
With municipal bond investigations spreading to Europe from the United States, Italian authorities have seized about $300 million in assets of four global banks — JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, UBS and Depfa — whose officials have been accused of fraud.
The Guardia di Finanza in Milan, the financial police of Italy, took over real estate properties, bank accounts and stock holdings on Monday to assure it could collect from the banks if their officials were found guilty and the banks were held responsible.
The seizures stem from the banks’ handling of a $2.2 billion municipal bond issue and related financial contracts known as swaps that Milan undertook to retire other debt in June 2005. The lead prosecutor accused the bankers of misleading the city and falsely claiming that the deal would generate savings. If all the costs had been properly included, the prosecutor said, the entire deal would have been illegal under a national law that allows restructuring of debt only if it produces a savings.
Alfredo Robledo, the prosecutor in Milan, suspects the banks made $130 million in illicit profits, according to information obtained in a joint investigation by the Italian business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore and The International Herald Tribune. He is also investigating transactions by the banks with other local Italian governments and the possibility that public officials received kickbacks.
About 35 billion euros ($46 billion) in bonds were issued by local Italian governments over the last decade, mostly by the London units of large banks based in the United States and Europe. A former executive from one of the banks being investigated in Milan said that all of these could be subject to challenge.
[...]
Beside the 10 bankers, Giorgio Porta, Milan’s general manager at the time of the deal, and Mario Mauri, then a financial adviser to the mayor, are also under investigation. The Italian prosecutor could soon request help from the British regulator in determining whether intermediary or consultant fees were paid by the banks and to whom.
The Guardia di Finanza in Milan, the financial police of Italy, took over real estate properties, bank accounts and stock holdings on Monday to assure it could collect from the banks if their officials were found guilty and the banks were held responsible.
The seizures stem from the banks’ handling of a $2.2 billion municipal bond issue and related financial contracts known as swaps that Milan undertook to retire other debt in June 2005. The lead prosecutor accused the bankers of misleading the city and falsely claiming that the deal would generate savings. If all the costs had been properly included, the prosecutor said, the entire deal would have been illegal under a national law that allows restructuring of debt only if it produces a savings.
Alfredo Robledo, the prosecutor in Milan, suspects the banks made $130 million in illicit profits, according to information obtained in a joint investigation by the Italian business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore and The International Herald Tribune. He is also investigating transactions by the banks with other local Italian governments and the possibility that public officials received kickbacks.
About 35 billion euros ($46 billion) in bonds were issued by local Italian governments over the last decade, mostly by the London units of large banks based in the United States and Europe. A former executive from one of the banks being investigated in Milan said that all of these could be subject to challenge.
[...]
Beside the 10 bankers, Giorgio Porta, Milan’s general manager at the time of the deal, and Mario Mauri, then a financial adviser to the mayor, are also under investigation. The Italian prosecutor could soon request help from the British regulator in determining whether intermediary or consultant fees were paid by the banks and to whom.
Comment