Investigating the Banks

The Guardian reported this week on the opening of a fraud investigation in the UK into some of the activities of the UK component of the Icelandic bank Kaupthing: you can read the article here.

11 replies on “Investigating the Banks”

Some uncanny apparent similarities with Anglo et al. (e.g. possible financing of Kaupthing share purchases by Kaupthing itself).

@Stephen D.
I agree on the almost uncanny similarities to Anglo. The question one has to ask is whether everything that allegedly occurred in Anglo is now in the public domain? A lot was revealed around the time of nationalisation but very little since. The investigators must have uncovered some new questionable behaviour at Anglo? Why is the investigation taking so long and why are we hearing so little?

It may be that the establishment agree with the view expressed by one commentator on bank investigations:

“It also raises the disturbing question as to why Irish banks appear to be suffering a bigger loss of confidence than those of the UK or US.

This is where the relatively unimportant investigations become important. They add to the general impression that things in Ireland are largely out of control. They make it look — probably unfairly — that Ireland has problems which others do not. In finance, how things look is what matters.

At home, they may also be contributing to the manifest failure of the public to grasp what is happening, and what we will have to endure to come through it.”

The attitude of the establishment is, “Least investigated, soonest mended.”
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/raid-may-be-interesting-but-its-not-that-important-1651857.html

I saw an episode of ‘House MD’ on TV not so long ago. There was one comment which House made, which I found quite interesting. The patient turned out to have some kind of cerebral parasite, malaria. But the odd thing was that all of the ‘tests’ ran on the patient were done using the best computer automated technology available.

Eventually House commanded his ‘lab rats’ to take a blood sample from the spine and put it under an old fashioned microscope. The ‘lab rats’ were astonished. They could clearly see the parasite with the human eye applified by a simple lense. Whereas the computer, which all its sophistication was too dumb to figure out what is ‘obvious’ to human beings.

My best guess, is that some clever clogs in our financial system have been very quick to appreciate how financial regulation is done nowadays. But with all of the sophistication of automated technology, it has created this gapping loophole where people just don’t look anymore. Strange isn’t it?

Don’t forget the fact of the agreement documents of Irish Nationwide suddenly going bye-bye also. It is difficult to conceal the fact at this stage, that many lawsuits filed were more like guns being held to the brain of our political system to force their hand some more. I often wonder how ‘sudden’ and ‘un-planned’ that infamous all-night meeting at Dept of Finance was last September. Could it be all staged? Or a certain proportion of it staged?

Staged I mean in order that the government will not look stupid while selling the country away as ransom. That is a small price to pay for a government to avoid looking stupid right?

I also have to come clean and ask a fairly simple question as to why after all of the dust settles, that our best experts on what to do with ‘working out the mess’ still appear to be our banks? What makes them so special? It is almost as if nothing ever happened. Who gave them back the steering wheel and instructed them to restart the bus and begin driving? Even though the ‘vehicle’ has been deemed un-operational.

But I don’t basically get it. Levers are being pulled as we speak, things are being set in motion. What I cannot figure is why our banking institutions are allowed to re-start building development? Their motivation being to sort out their own problems, for themselves. Okay, inadvertedly this might solve some of everyones’ problems.

I am slowly beginning to understand the green party’s political motivations at this stage. The attempt to replace the engine now with something entirely different – before we run down the path and get too heavily commited to that course. But evidence lately would suggest, that new plan has been lobbed straight back on the shelf.

This can not end well. Who is bracing themselves for another crash? I think someone who commented here was correct. This current crisis was too mild. We haven’t even been bothered to diagnose symptoms. We were too lazy. Future generations will not be thankful to us. An investigation at this point would be timely. Is there that much pressure on the ‘system’ to simply re-boot the engine that got us into trouble to begin with? Is that going to solve it?

I suppose the longer the old engine is left around without being re-booted, the more obvious it ‘appears’ that certain parties investments were unwise to begin with. The long the old engine lies ‘idle’ the more likely that Ireland will get around to asking some questions, taking a good look at the problem and the symptoms. The more likely certain dead parts of the system are likely to stink and draw people to investigate. We couldn’t have that happen, could we?

Eliot Spitzer is a good guy.
A former New York Attorney General and Governor of New York State.
He really brought the Wall Street bankers to book.

If he liked to engage a few hookers now and then, so what.
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

The Good Professor would do well to engage with Mr. Spitzer in deciding how to discover what our bankers were REALLY up to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOy9-wGaiIM
.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/34140503#34140503

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