12-06-2016, 09:00 AM
From Dave Emory's Spitfire List
And:
Quote:Another "Collateralized Death Obligation" at Zurich Insurance
POSTED BY DAVE EMORY â‹… JUNE 4, 2016POST A COMMENT EMAIL THIS POST PRINT THIS POST
TAGS COLLAPSE, CORPORATE STATE, ECONOMIC BAILOUT, WALL STREET
Dave Emory's entire life*time of work is avail*able on a flash drive that can be obtained here. The new drive is a 32-gigabyte drive that is cur*rent as of the pro*grams and arti*cles posted by early win*ter of 2016. The new drive (avail*able for a tax-deductible con*tri*bu*tion of $65.00 or more.) (The pre*vi*ous flash drive was cur*rent through the end of May of 2012.)
WFMU-FM is pod*cast*ing For The RecordYou can sub*scribe to the pod*cast HERE.
You can sub*scribe to e-mail alerts from Spitfirelist.com HERE.
You can sub*scribe to RSS feed from Spitfirelist.com HERE.
You can sub*scribe to the com*ments made on pro*grams and postsan excel*lent source of infor*ma*tion in, and of, itself HERE.
COMMENT: In FTR #s 772, 792 and 823, we noted the remark*able num*ber of sus*pi*cious deaths in the global finan*cial indus*try, usu*ally dis*missed as "sui*cides," often despite over*whelm*ing evi*dence to the con*trary. Now, the for*mer CEO of Zurich Insur*ance Group, Mar*tin Senn, has joined his for*mer CFO (Pierre Wau*thier), allegedly tak*ing his own life.
The deaths of Senn and Wau*thier are the lat*est in what some see as an unusual num*ber of sui*cides in the realm of Swiss finance" . . . . He [Mar*tin Nav*ille] knew Senn, who was pres*i*dent of the cham*ber, as well as Wau*thier, who had British-French dual cit*i*zen*ship. He also knew Carsten Schloter, the German-born head of tele*coms group Swiss*com, who took his life in 2013, and Alex Wid*mer, head of bank Julius Baer, who com*mit*ted sui*cide in 2008. . . .. . . . Staid for most of its nearly 150 years, Zurich Insur*ance rose to promi*nence in the 1990s with a series of takeovers. But its for*tunes turned in 2001, when the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States left it with heavy losses, while run*away expenses at its head*quar*ters hit the bot*tom line and share*holder trust. . . ."
We note in pass*ing that the 9/11 attacks inflicted heavy losses on Zurich Insur*ance. Whether or not that had any*thing to do with the deaths remains to be determined.
"A Sec*ond Zurich Insur*ance Exec*u*tive Has Com*mit*ted Sui*cide" by Alanna Petroff; CNN Money; 5/30/2016.
The for*mer CEO of Zurich Insur*ance Group, Mar*tin Senn, has taken his own life just months after leav*ing the com*pany."An Unusual Num*ber of Top Exec*u*tives in Switzer*land Are Com*mit*ting Sui*cide" by John Miller and John O'Donnell [Reuters]; Busi*ness Insider; 6/3/2016.
Senn's death comes less than three years after the company's for*mer CFO, Pierre Wau*thier, also com*mit*ted suicide.
"It is with great shock and sad*ness that we must inform you of the sud*den death of Mar*tin Senn," Zurich Insur*ance said in a state*ment on Mon*day. "His fam*ily informed us that Mar*tin took his life last Friday."
Senn, 59, was a long-time employee of the insurer, serv*ing as its chief exec*u*tive for six years before step*ping down in Decem*ber.
Senn said he was con*fi*dent that Zurich was well posi*tioned to meet its tar*gets at the time of his res*ig*na*tion, but did acknowl*edge some "setbacks."
The com*pany had been plan*ning a large acqui*si*tion of the U.K. insur*ance firm RSA Group, but the deal was scup*pered in Sep*tem*ber due to a "dete*ri*o*ra*tion in the trad*ing per*for*mance of Zurich's gen*eral insur*ance busi*ness," accord*ing to an RSA statement.
That part of the company's busi*ness was under pres*sure after it was forced to pay out $275 mil*lion in claims related to a major port explo*sion in Tian*jin, China.
Wau*thier, who worked under Senn, was found dead at his home in Switzer*land in August 2013.
The exec*u*tive had writ*ten a note before his death that men*tioned Zurich's well-known for*mer chair*man, Josef Ack*er*mann, who sub*se*quently resigned from his post. . . .
. . . . Acquain*tances of Senn, 59, said he had been with*drawn since he was ousted from the com*pany late last year, though few details of the cir*cum*stances that led to him shoot*ing him*self at his fam*ily home in the upmar*ket Alpine resort of Klosters have emerged.
Mar*tin Nav*ille, chief exec*u*tive of the Swiss-American Cham*ber of Com*merce, said the busi*ness cir*cles where Senn and Wau*thier once moved had been left shocked, pon*der*ing what could have been done to pre*vent the tragedies.
"The only thing you can do is to be more atten*tive to signs," Nav*ille said.
He knew Senn, who was pres*i*dent of the cham*ber, as well as Wau*thier, who had British-French dual cit*i*zen*ship. He also knew Carsten Schloter, the German-born head of tele*coms group Swiss*com, who took his life in 2013, and Alex Wid*mer, head of bank Julius Baer, who com*mit*ted sui*cide in 2008. . . .
And:
Quote:LinkFTR #772 Body Count II: (Collateralized "Death" Obligations)
POSTED BY DAVE EMORY â‹… FEBRUARY 9, 2014POST A COMMENT EMAIL THIS POST PRINT THIS POST
TAGS ANTI-TRUST, ARGENTINA, ASSASSINATION, BAILOUT, BITCOIN, BUNDESBANK, COLLAPSE, DEUTSCHE BANK, ECONOMIC BAILOUT, FEDERAL RESERVE, MONEY LAUNDERING, PAUL MANNING, UNDERGROUND REICH, WALL STREET
Dave Emory's entire life*time of work is avail*able on a flash drive that can be obtained here. (The flash drive includes the anti-fascist books avail*able on this site.)
Lis*ten: MP3
Side 1 Side 2
Since this broad*cast was made, there have been a num*ber of other sus*pi*cious deaths in the finan*cial indus*try, set forth in this post.
Intro*duc*tion: One of the sur*real, almost hal*lu*ci*na*tory finan*cial instru*ments that were at the cen*ter of the 2008 finan*cial col*lapse were CDO'scollateralized debt oblig*a*tions. As a num*ber of legal inves*ti*ga*tions into mis*chief appar*ently com*mit*ted by major finan*cial insti*tu*tions on a num*ber of fronts have gained momen*tum, there has been a rash of sui*cides linked to the busi*nesses under inves*ti*ga*tion. Both JP Mor*gan Chase and Deutsche Bank have been the focal point of more than one of these inves*ti*ga*tions. Both have expe*ri*enced the "sui*cides" of cur*rent or for*mer exec*u*tives within a very short period of time.
These sui*cides are occur*ring at a time in which the EU is attempt*ing to shore up Euro*pean banks after the finan*cial melt*down. (Be sure to exam*ine the com*ments on the linked post above, as they con*tain crit*i*cal sup*ple*men*tal infor*ma*tion.) The mor*tal*ity rate among Lon*don based bank*ing exec*u*tives has been par*tic*u*larly high in recent years. We won*der if the high mor*tal*ity rate, the ongo*ing cap*i*tal trou*bles and legal inves*ti*ga*tions plagu*ing the firms may be related to these deaths. Are we look*ing at col*lat*er*al*ized "death" obligations?
Pro*gram High*lights Include:
1. A for*mer Deutsche Bank man*ager was found dead, an appar*ent sui*cide. "Ex-Deutsche Bank Man*ager Found Dead in Appar*ent Suicide" by Belinda Gold*smith and Thomas Atkins; Reuters; 1/28/2014.
- The death of for*mer Deutsche Bank exec*u*tive William Broeksmit, who was found hanged in London.
- The alleged sui*cide of Gabriel Magee, who sup*pos*edly jumped from the roof of the JP Mor*gan build*ing in London.
- The alleged sui*cide of Rus*sell Invest*ments exec*u*tive Mike Dueker, who sup*pos*edly killed him*self at a time when the com*pany was under investigation.
- The dis*ap*pear*ance of a Wall Street Jour*nal reporter who was look*ing into finan*cial irreg*u*lar*i*ties in the com*modi*ties mar*ket. The same story notes the sus*pi*cious cir*cum*stances of the deaths of Magee and Dueker.
- The sup*posed suicideby nail gunof an Amer*i*can Title exec*u*tive at a time when the com*pany was under investigation.
- For*mer Deutsche Bank chair*man Josef Ackermann's res*ig*na*tion from the Zurich Insur*ance Group fol*low*ing the "sui*cide" of a key aide in August of 2013.
- As Argentina has attempted to sta*bi*lize the for*eign exchange hold*ings of its banks, a very sus*pi*cious and lethal fireoccurred at a sup*pos*edly fire-proof stor*age facility.
- Another bit*coin exchange has halted trad*ing, plung*ing the dig*i*tal cur*rency in value. Just wait until the bit*coin*ers start killing each other to steal each oth*ers' bit*coins. This sup*posed panacea to the world's finan*cial ills is already exhibit*ing all of the estab*lished finan*cial world's ills, and some that the main*stream fis*cal com*mu*nity has thus far avoided. The bit*coin*ers may need their own dig*i*tal cur*rency to kill each other, per*haps named "hitcoin."
William Broeksmit, a for*mer senior man*ager at Deutsche Bank with close ties to co-Chief Exec*u*tive Anshu Jain, has been found dead at his home in Lon*don in what appears to have been a sui*cide. Jain and the bank's other co-CEO Juer*gen Fitschen announced Broeksmit's death in an inter*nal mail to Deutsche Bank employ*ees. When asked about the death, London's Met*ro*pol*i*tan Police issued a state*ment say*ing a 58-year-old man had been found hang*ing at a house in South Kens*ing*ton on Sun*day after*noon and been pro*nounced dead at the scene. Police declared the death non-suspicious. Broeksmit, a U.S. national, was an instru*men*tal founder of Deutsche's invest*ment bank and one many bankers, includ*ing Jain, who joined Germany's flag*ship lender from Mer*rill Lynch in the 1990s, when Deutsche launched plans to com*pete on Wall Street. Broeksmit was also a prin*ci*pal actor in Deutsche's efforts to unwind its riskier posi*tions and to reduce the size of its bal*ance sheet in the wake of the global finan*cial cri*sis. His death comes at an uncom*fort*able junc*ture for Jain and Fitschen, whose reign has been dogged by poor results and legal trou*bles since they took over from Josef Ack*er*mann in 2012. ... The two CEOs are expected to defend their reform record at the bank's annual news con*fer*ence on Wednes*day. Last week, they revealed that lit*i*ga*tion and restruc*tur*ing costs had pushed Deutsche to a sur*prise loss in the fourth quar*ter of 2013.
CLOSEST ALLY
Broeksmit, who worked as head of risk and cap*i*tal opti*mi*sa*tion, was viewed as one of Jain's clos*est allies and a key player in the bank's attempts to recover fol*low*ing the finan*cial cri*sis. Jain sought to have Broeksmit join the man*age*ment board as head of risk man*age*ment in 2012. But in a major set*back for both men, Ger*man reg*u*la*tor Bafin blocked the appoint*ment, say*ing Broeksmit lacked expe*ri*ence lead*ing large teams. Bafin was not imme*di*ately avail*able for com*ment. The Bun*des*bank, which also over*sees Deutsche, declined to com*ment. Broeksmit worked along*side Jain at Mer*rill Lynch before join*ing Deutsche in 1996 as part of group of roughly 100 bankers who, along*side Edson Mitchell, formed the core of Deutsche's new invest*ment bank*ing busi*ness. Mitchell, one the bank's most pow*er*ful exec*u*tives, died in a plane crash in 2000.2. A JP Mor*gan exec allegedly com*mit*ted sui*cide at roughly the same time.
"UPDATE 3-JP Mor*gan IT Exec*u*tive Plunges to Death at Bank's Lon*don HQ" by Costas Pitas and Laura Noo*nan; Reuters; 1/28/2014.
A JP Mor*gan tech exec*u*tive fell to his death from the U.S. bank's 33-storey tower in London's Canary Wharf finan*cial dis*trict on Tues*day in what British police said was a "non-suspicious" inci*dent. Police were called to the glass sky*scraper at 8:02 GMT, where a 39-year-old man was pro*nounced dead at the scene after hit*ting a lower 9th-floor roof. Wit*nesses said the body remained on the roof for sev*eral hours. Lon*don police said no arrests had been made and the inci*dent was being treated as non-suspicious at this early stage. A source famil*iar with the mat*ter con*firmed the deceased was Gabriel Magee, a vice pres*i*dent with the JP Morgan's cor*po*rate and invest*ment bank tech*nol*ogy arm, who had been an employee since 2004. . . . . . . . Though the details of Tuesday's inci*dent are still unclear, occa*sional sui*cides by peo*ple work*ing in London's big banks have pro*voked crit*i*cism of the demands placed on some finan*cial ser*vices work*ers. A Bank of Amer*ica exchange man*ager jumped in front of a train and another man jumped from a seventh-floor restau*rant, both in 2012. A German-born intern at Bank of Amer*ica died of epilepsy last year in London. . . .3. The chief econ*o*mist at Rus*sell Invest*ments was found dead, yet another alleged suicide.
"Rus*sell Invest*ments Chief Econ*o*mist Dueker Found Dead" by Zachary Tracer, Noah Buha*yar and Jeff Kearns; Bloomberg; 1/31/2014.
Mike Dueker, the chief econ*o*mist at Rus*sell Invest*ments, was found dead at the side of a high*way that leads to the Tacoma Nar*rows Bridge in Wash*ing*ton state, accord*ing to the Pierce County Sheriff's Depart*ment. He was 50. He may have jumped over a 4-foot (1.2-meter) fence before falling down a 40 to 50-foot embank*ment, Pierce County Detec*tive Ed Troyer said yes*ter*day. He said the death appeared to be a suicide.
Dueker was reported miss*ing on Jan. 29, and a group of friends had been search*ing for him along with law enforce*ment. Troyer said the econ*o*mist was hav*ing prob*lems at work, with*out elab*o*rat*ing. Dueker was in good stand*ing at Rus*sell, said Jen*nifer Tice, a com*pany spokes*woman. She declined to com*ment on Troyer's state*ment about Dueker's work issues. "We were deeply sad*dened to learn today of the death," Tice said in an e-mail yes*ter*day. "He made valu*able con*tri*bu*tions that helped our clients and many of his fel*low asso*ciates." Dueker worked at Seattle-based Rus*sell for five years, and devel*oped a business-cycle index that fore*cast eco*nomic performance.
He was pre*vi*ously an assis*tant vice pres*i*dent and research econ*o*mist at the Fed*eral Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He pub*lished dozens of research papers over the past two decades, many on mon*e*tary pol*icy, accord*ing to the St. Louis Fed's web*site, which ranks him among the top 5 per*cent of econ*o*mists by num*ber of works pub*lished. His most-cited work was a 1997 paper titled "Strength*en*ing the case for the yield curve as a pre*dic*tor of U.S. reces*sions," pub*lished by the reserve bank while he was a researcher there.
Pol*icy Meetings
Dueker worked at the reserve bank from 1991 to 2008, start*ing as an entry level research econ*o*mist, then advanc*ing to senior econ*o*mist, research offi*cer, and assis*tant vice pres*i*dent, accord*ing to Laura Gir*resch, a spokes*woman. He helped the bank's pres*i*dent pre*pare for Fed*eral Open Mar*ket Com*mit*tee pol*icy meet*ings and wrote and edited for eco*nomic pub*li*ca*tions, she said. Dueker served as edi*tor of the reserve bank's research pub*li*ca*tion, Mon*e*tary Trends, and also was an asso*ciate edi*tor of the Jour*nal of Busi*ness and Eco*nomic Sta*tis*tics, Gir*resch said. "He was a val*ued col*league of mine dur*ing my entire tenure at the St. Louis Fed," said William Poole, who was pres*i*dent of the reserve bank from 1998 to 2008. "Every*one respected his pro*fes*sional skills and good sense." . . . .4. A Wall Street Jour*nal reporter dis*ap*peared at around the same time. This story notes that the deaths and dis*ap*pear*ances are suspicious.
"A Rash of Deaths and a Miss*ing Reporter With Ties to Wall Street Investigations" by Pam Martens; Wall Street Jour*nal; 2/3/2014.
In a span of four days last week, two cur*rent exec*u*tives and one recently retired top rank*ing exec*u*tive of major finan*cial firms were found dead. Both media and police have been quick to label the deaths as likely sui*cides. Miss*ing from the reports is the salient fact that all three of the finan*cial firms the exec*u*tives worked for are under inves*ti*ga*tion for poten*tially seri*ous financial fraud.
The deaths began on Sun*day, Jan*u*ary 26. Lon*don police reported that William Broeksmit, a top exec*u*tive at Deutsche Bank who had retired in 2013, had been found hanged in his home in the South Kens*ing*ton sec*tion of Lon*don. The day after Broeksmit was pro*nounced dead, Eric Ben-Artzi, a for*mer risk ana*lyst turned whistle*blower at Deutsche Bank, was sched*uled to speak at Auburn Uni*ver*sity in Alabama on his alle*ga*tions that Deutsche had hid $12 bil*lion in losses dur*ing the finan*cial cri*sis with the knowl*edge of senior exec*u*tives. Two other whistle*blow*ers have brought sim*i*lar charges against Deutsche Bank.
Deutsche Bank is also under inves*ti*ga*tion by global reg*u*la*tors for poten*tially rig*ging the for*eign exchange mar*kets an action sim*i*lar to the charges it set*tled in 2013 over its traders' involve*ment in the rig*ging of the inter*est rate benchmark, Libor.
Just two days after Broeksmit's death, on Tues*day, Jan*u*ary 28, a 39-year old Amer*i*can, Gabriel Magee, a Vice Pres*i*dent at JPMor*gan in Lon*don, plunged to his death from the roof of the 33-story Euro*pean head*quar*ters of JPMor*gan in Canary Wharf. Accord*ing to Magee's LinkedIn pro*file, he was involved in "Tech*ni*cal archi*tec*ture over*sight for plan*ning, devel*op*ment, and oper*a*tion of sys*tems for fixed income secu*ri*ties and inter*est rate derivatives."
Magee's par*ents, Bill and Nell Magee, are not buy*ing the offi*cial story accord*ing to press reports and are plan*ning to travel from the United States to Lon*don to get at the truth. One of their key issues, which should also trou*ble the police, is how an employee obtains access to the rooftop of one of the mostly highly secure build*ings in Lon*don.Nell Magee was quoted in the Lon*don Evening Stan*dard say*ing her son was "a happy per*son who was happy with his life." His friends are equally mys*ti*fied, stat*ing he was in a happy, long-term rela*tion*ship with a girlfriend.
JPMor*gan is under the same global inves*ti*ga*tion for poten*tial involve*ment in rig*ging for*eign exchange rates as is Deutsche Bank. The firm is also said to be under an inves*ti*ga*tion by the U.S. Senate's Per*ma*nent Sub*com*mit*tee on Inves*ti*ga*tions for its involve*ment in poten*tial mis*con*duct in phys*i*cal com*modi*ties mar*kets in the U.S. and London.
One day after Magee's death, on Wednes*day, Jan*u*ary 29, 2014, 50-year old Michael (Mike) Dueker, the Chief Econ*o*mist at Rus*sell Invest*ments, is said to have died from a 50-foot fall from a high*way ramp down an embank*ment in Wash*ing*ton state. Again, sui*cide is being pre*sented by media as the likely cause. (Do peo*ple hold*ing Ph.D.s really attempt sui*cide by jump*ing 50 feet?) ... Accord*ing to a report in The New York Times in Novem*ber of last year, Rus*sell Invest*ments was one of a num*ber of firms that received sub*poe*nas from New York State reg*u*la*tors who are prob*ing the poten*tial for pay-to-play schemes involv*ing pen*sion funds based in New York. No alle*ga*tions of wrong*do*ing have been made against Rus*sell Invest*ments in the matter.
The case of David Bird, the oil mar*kets reporter who had worked at the Wall Street Jour*nal for 20 years and van*ished with*out a trace on the after*noon of Jan*u*ary 11, has this in com*mon with the other three tragedies: his work involves a com*modi*ties mar*ket oil which is under inves*ti*ga*tion by the U.S. Senate's Per*ma*nent Sub*com*mit*tee on Inves*ti*ga*tions for pos*si*ble manip*u*la*tion. The FBI is involved in the Bird investigation.
Bird left his Long Hill, New Jer*sey home on that Sat*ur*day, telling his wife he was going for a walk. An inten*tional dis*ap*pear*ance is incom*pat*i*ble with the fact that he left the house wear*ing a bright red jacket and with*out his life-sustaining med*i*cine he was required to take daily as a result of a liver trans*plant. Despite a con*tin*u*ous search since his dis*ap*pear*ance by hun*dreds of vol*un*teers, local law enforce*ment and the FBI, Bird has not been located.
When a series of tragic events involv*ing one indus*try occur within an 18-day time*frame, the sta*tis*ti*cal prob*a*bil*ity of these events being ran*dom is remote. Accord*ing to a num*ber of media reports, JPMor*gan is con*duct*ing an inter*nal inves*ti*ga*tion of the death of Gabriel Magee. Given that JPMor*gan, Deutsche Bank and Rus*sell Invest*ments are sub*jects them*selves of inves*ti*ga*tions, a more seri*ous, inde*pen*dent look at these deaths is called for.5a. The day this pro*gram was recorded, another finan*cial ser*vices exec*u*tive was found dead, allegedly hav*ing com*mit*ted sui*cide by shoot*ing him*self with a nail gun!
"4th Finan*cial Ser*vices Exec*u*tive Found Dead; From Self-Inflicted Nail-Gun Wounds'" by Tyler Dur*den; zerohedge.com; 02/07/2014.
The ugly rash of finan*cial ser*vices exec*u*tive sui*cides appears to have spread once again. Fol*low*ing the jump*ing deaths of 2 Lon*don bankers and a former-Fed econ*o*mist in the US, The Den*ver Postreports Richard Tal*ley, founder and CEO of Amer*i*can Title, was found dead in his home from self-inflicted wounds from a nail-gun.
Talley's com*pany was under inves*ti*ga*tion from insur*ance reg*u*la*tors. Via The Den*ver Post, Richard Tal*ley, 57, and the com*pany he founded in 2001 were under inves*ti*ga*tion by state insur*ance reg*u*la*tors at the time of his death late Tues*day, an agency spokesman con*firmed Thurs*day. It was unclear how long the inves*ti*ga*tion had been ongo*ing or its pri*mary focus. A coroner's spokes*woman Thurs*day said Tal*ley was found in his garage by a fam*ily mem*ber who called author*i*ties. They said Tal*ley died from seven or eight self-inflicted wounds from a nail gun fired into his torso and head.
Also unclear is whether Talley's sui*cide was related to the inves*ti*ga*tion by the Col*orado Divi*sion of Insur*ance, which reg*u*lates title companies.5b. More about the back*ground of the late, unfor*tu*nate Mr. Talley:
"Under Inves*ti*ga*tion, Amer*i*can Title CEO Dead in Grisly Sui*cide" by David Migoya; The Den*ver Post; 2/7/2014.
Before com*ing to Col*orado, Tal*ley was a for*mer regional finan*cial offi*cer at Drexel Burn*ham Lam*bert in Chicago, where he met his wife, Cheryl, a vice pres*i*dent at the com*pany. The two mar*ried in 1989.6. For*mer Deutsche Bank chief Josef Ack*er*mann resigned his posi*tion with the Zurich Insur*ance Group fol*low*ing the "sui*cide" of a key exec*u*tive of that firm.
Tal*ley had formed a num*ber of com*pa*nies, some now defunct, accord*ing to the Col*orado sec*re*tary of state's office. Among them: Amer*i*can Escrow, Clear Title, Clear Creek Finan*cial Hold*ings, Swift Basin, Sumar, Amer*i*can Real Estate Ser*vices, and the Amer*i*can Alliance of Real Estate Professionals. . . .
"Zurich Chair*man Josef Ack*er*mann Quits over Sui*cide Claims" by Alis*tair Osborne; The Tele*graph [UK]; 8/29/2013.
Josef Ack*er*mann, the for*mer chief exec*u*tive of Deutsche Bank, said he was resign*ing because he did not want to "dam*age" the rep*u*ta*tion of the Swiss insurer already reel*ing from the death of Pierre Wauthier.Mr Wau*thier, 53, who was mar*ried with two chil*dren, was found dead at his home in lake*front sub*urb of Zug out*side Zurich. On Tues*day police said he appeared to have taken his own life. In a brief state*ment, Mr Ack*er*mann, 65, said: "The unex*pected death of Pierre Wau*thier has deeply shocked me. I have rea*sons to believe that the fam*ily is of the opin*ion that I should take my share of respon*si*bil*ity, as unfounded as any alle*ga*tions might be."
His enig*matic remarks, which the insurer declined to clar*ify, sent shock*waves through the finan*cial com*mu*nity as reports sug*gested that Mr Ackermann's attempt to "shake up" the insurer had put Mr Wau*thier under insuf*fer*able pres*sure. His widow, Fabi*enne Wau*thier, was also said to have accused Zurich's man*age*ment of dri*ving her hus*band "into a cor*ner" and that Mr Ackermann's "tough man*age*ment style" had been a key fac*tor in his death, accord*ing to a Swiss news website.
One for*mer col*league of Mr Wau*thier was quoted say*ing: "Pierre was under a lot of pres*sure because there was a lot more pres*sure from above on the share price, this was an open secret. Wau*thier had effec*tively reached his career ambi*tions, CFO was his dream." . . . .7. Fol*low*ing an announce*ment by the Argen*tine gov*ern*ment con*cern*ing for*eign exchange tal*lies held by that country's banks, a very sus*pi*cious fire occurred in a stor*age facility.
"Argen*tine Bank*ing Sys*tem Archives Destroyed By Deadly Fire" by Tyler Dur*den; zerohedge.com; 2/5/2014.
While we are sure it is a very sad coin*ci*dence, on the day when Argentina decrees lim*its on the FX posi*tions banks can hold and the Argen*tine Cen*tral Bank's reserves account*ing is ques*tioned pub*li*cally, a mas*sive fire killing 9 peo*ple has destroyed a ware*house archiv*ing bank*ing sys*tem documents.
As The Wash*ing*ton Post reports, the fire at the Iron Moun*tain ware*house (which pur*port*edly had mul*ti*ple pro*tec*tions against fire, includ*ing advanced sys*tems that can detect and quench flames with*out dam*ag*ing impor*tant doc*u*ments) took hours to con*trol and the sprawl*ing build*ing appeared to be ruined. The cause of the fire wasn't imme*di*ately clear though we sug*gest smelling Fer*nan*dez' hands... We noted yes*ter*day that there are major ques*tions over Argentina's reserve honesty...
While first print is pre*lim*i*nary and sub*ject to revi*sion, the size of recent dis*crep*an*cies have no prece*dent. This sug*gest that the gov*ern*ment may be attempt*ing to man*age expec*ta*tions by tem*porar*ily fudg*ing the "esti*mate " of reserve num*bers (first print) while not com*pro*mis*ing "actual" final reported numbers.
If this is so, it is a dan*ger*ous game to play and one likely to back-fire. Dur*ing a bal*ance of pay*ments cri*sis as Argentina is under*go*ing such manip*u*la*tion of offi*cial sta*tis*tics (and one so crit*i*cal for mar*ket sen*ti*ment) is detri*men*tal to the needed con*fi*dence build*ing around the tran*si*tion in the FX regime.
And today the gov*ern*ment decrees lim*its on FX hold*ings for the banks... Argentina's cen*tral bank pub*lished res*o*lu*tion late yes*ter*day on web*site lim*it*ing fx posi*tion for banks to 30% of assets. Banks will have to limit fx futures con*tracts to 10% of assets: res*o*lu*tion Banks must com*ply with res*o*lu*tion by April 30 And then this happens...
Via WaPo, Nine first-responders were killed, seven oth*ers injured and two were miss*ing as they bat*tled a fire of unknown ori*gin that destroyed an archive of bank doc*u*ments in Argentina's cap*i*tal on Wednes*day. The fire at the Iron Moun*tain ware*house took hours to con*trol... The destroyed archives included doc*u*ments stored for Argentina's bank*ing indus*try, said Buenos Aires secu*rity min*is*ter Guillermo Montenegro.
The cause of the fire wasn't imme*di*ately clear. Boston-based Iron Moun*tain man*ages, stores and pro*tects infor*ma*tion for more than 156,000 com*pa*nies and orga*ni*za*tions in 36 coun*tries. Its Argentina sub*sidiary adver*tises that its facil*i*ties have mul*ti*ple pro*tec*tions against fire, includ*ing advanced sys*tems that can detect and quench flames with*out dam*ag*ing impor*tant doc*u*ments. . . . "There are cam*eras in the area, and these videos will be added to the judi*cial inves*ti*ga*tion, to clear up the motive of the fire and col*lapse," Mon*tene*gro told the Diar*ios y Noti*cias agency.7. New York State is begin*ning its own inves*ti*ga*tion into the manip*u*la*tion of the For*eign Exchange marketa $5 tril*lion a day oper*a*tion.
"New York's Top Finan*cial Reg*u*la*tor Inves*ti*gates Cur*rency Trad*ing" by Chad Bray; The New York Times; 2/5/2014.
The busi*ness of trad*ing cur*ren*cies is in a state of flux as top exec*u*tives leave and traders are sus*pended or fired in the face of inves*ti*ga*tions into poten*tial manip*u*la*tion of the $5 trillion-a-day for*eign exchange mar*ket. The lat*est reg*u*la*tor to start an inquiry into whether more than a dozen banks manip*u*lated the price of for*eign cur*ren*cies is New York State's top finan*cial reg*u*la*tor, Ben*jamin M. Lawsky. . . .8. Another bit*coin exchange has halted trad*ing, plung*ing the dig*i*tal cur*rency in value. Just wait until the bit*coin*ers start killing each other to steal each oth*ers' bit*coins. This sup*posed panacea to the world's finan*cial ills is already exhibit*ing all of the estab*lished finan*cial world's ills, and some that the main*stream fis*cal com*mu*nity has thus far avoided. The bit*coin*ers may need their own dig*i*tal cur*rency to kill each other, per*haps named "hitcoin."
"Bit*coin Value Plunges as Mt. Vox Exchange Halts Activ*ity" by Carter Dougherty; bloomberg.com; 2/7/2014.
Bit*coin plunged more than 8 per*cent today after a Tokyo-based exchange halted with*drawals of the dig*i*tal cur*rency, cit*ing tech*ni*cal mal*func*tion. Mt. Gox, a pop*u*lar exchange for dollar-based trades, said in a blog post it needed to "tem*porar*ily pause on all with*drawal requests to obtain a clear tech*ni*cal view of the cur*rency processes." It promised an "update" not a reopen*ing on Mon*day, Feb. 10, Japan time. . . .