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
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Mar*tin Senn

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.
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. . . .

"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.

. . . . 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. . . .

Quote:

FTR #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:

• 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."
  

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.

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.
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. . . .

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.
"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. . . .

New York, NY In 2015 there was a popular "conspiracy theory" floating around the internet after a rash of mysterious "suicides" by high profile banking professions. What once looked like wild speculation is now beginning to resemble a vast criminal conspiracy connected to the Libor, interest-rigging scandal.Over forty international bankers allegedly killed themselves over a two-year period in the wake of a major international scandal that implicated financial firms across the globe. However, three of these seemingly unrelated suicides seem to share common threads related to their connections to Deutsche Bank. These three banker suicides, in New York, London, and Siena, Italy, took place within 17 months of each other in 2013/14 in what investigators labeled as a series of unrelated suicides.

"In each case, the victim had a connection to a burgeoning global banking scandal, leaving more questions than answers as to the circumstances surrounding their deaths," according to the New York Post. "But all three men worked for, or did business with, Deutsche Bank."

Financial regulators in both Europe and the U.S. in 2013 began a probe that would ultimately become known as the Libor scandal, in which London bankers conspired to rig the London Interbank Offered Rate, which determines the interest banks charged on mortgages, personal and auto loans. The scandal rocked the financial world and cost a consortium of international banks, including Deutsche Bank, about $20 billion in fines.
David Rossi, a 51-year-old communications director at the world's oldest bank, Italian Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which was on the brink of collapse due to heavy losses in the derivatives market in the 2008 financial crisis, fell to his death on March 6, 2013. At the time of his death, Monte Paschi was being investigated for its handling of billions in these risky derivative bets involving Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch.
According to a report in the NY Post:

A devastating security video shows Rossi landing on the pavement on his back, facing the building an odd position more likely to occur when a body is pushed from a window.
The footage shows the three-story fall didn't kill Rossi instantly. For almost 20 minutes, the banker lay on the dimly lit cobblestones, occasionally moving an arm and leg.
As he lay dying, two murky figures appear. Two men appear and one walks over to gaze at the banker. He offers no aid or comfort and doesn't call for help before turning around and calmly walking out of the alley.
About an hour later, a co-worker discovered Rossi's body. The arms were bruised and he sustained a head wound that, according to the local medical examiner's report, suggested there might have been a struggle prior to his fall.

Ultimately Italian authorities ruled Rossi's death a suicide. Rossi's widow, Antonella Tognazzi, protested vigorously at the suggestion her husband's death was a suicide, telling the Italian press that her husband "knew too much." Tognazzi pointed to the alleged suicide note from Rossi as a prime example of the suspicious nature of his death. In the note, Rossi refers to Antonella Tognazzi as Toni, but according to Tognazzi, that was not something he ever called her.

In October 2014, two Monte Paschi executives were convicted of obstructing regulators and misleading investigators by Italian authorities over the bailed-out Italian bank's finances in the wake of the acquisition of Banca Antonveneta which was heavily financed by Deutsche Bank.
In January of this year, Italian authorities civilly implicated three Deutsche Bank executives, including Michele Faissola, the wealth management director of the German bank charging them with colluding with Monte Paschi in falsifying accounts, manipulating the market and obstructing justice.
Another of the mysterious deaths being revisited is that of William Broeksmit, 58, a Deutsche Bank exec was found hanging from a dog leash tied to a door at his London home in January 2014. Broeksmit was found among a mess of financial papers, with a number of notes to friends and family nearby. A Deutsche Bank colleague, Michele Faissola, was called and arrived minutes later and began suspiciously going through the financial documents and reading the suicide notes.

"Yes, he killed himself," stepson Val Broeksmit told the NY Post. "But there's a question: could it be suicide by extortion, could it be suicide by pressure or saying if you don't do this, we're going to do this? There's a couple suspicions I have."

Broeksmit's stepson still wonders what his father's colleague was searching for amongst the mess of financial documents. Adding to the suspicious nature of his stepfather's death, Val provided the NY Post email messages revealing that prior to his death, Broeksmit had just messaged friends about his excitement for an upcoming ski vacation scheduled for one week later.
Although a clinical psychologist revealed Broeksmit had been treated due to being "very anxious about authorities investigating areas of the bank at which he worked," his depression over the Libor scandal had subsided, as his doctor gave him a clean bill of health only a month before his death.
According to the report by the NY Post:

A month before his death, William Broeksmit wrote in what his son says shows his anger to fellow executives, asking why he should take the lead on the sticky matter of the upcoming Federal Reserve-mandated stress test for the bank.
He also questioned the "generous" loan-loss numbers being used by the bank, afraid that federal regulators would see the bank was losing more on loans than the books showed. Large losses could lead the feds to slap the bank with restrictions.
"Who is recommending that I do this? I am supposed to be an independent director and this puts me further into a role aligned with management," he wrote.

New York City attorney, Calogero "Charles" Gambino, 41, was a married father of two, and Deutsche Bank's in-house lawyer for 11 years at the bank's downtown headquarters. Gambino primarily worked on defending the Deutsch Bank against Libor charges and other regulatory probes.
In October 2014, Gambino's was found hanging from an upstairs balcony of his Brooklyn home, with a rope that was snaked through the banister and tied off on the newel post on the first floor. There was no note found and the family has steadfastly refused to comment on his death.
In his work as corporate counsel for Deutsche, Gambino had dealings with many of the bank's European executives including Michele Faissola and William Broeksmit and had intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the bank's operations. Gambino's death was ruled a suicide.
In the cases of Gambino, Rossi and Broeksmit, authorities seemingly never looked for, nor discovered, the apparent connections that reveal a deadly international criminal conspiracy at work.
However, authorities in Siena, Italy have recently exhumed the body of banker David Rossi, 51, and reopened their investigation into his death. They are expected to release their findings at the end of the month.
The common thread in each of these deaths is that all of the dead bankers had intimate knowledge of the international Libor scandal as it related to Deutsche Bank. It seems apparent that these men were killed to ensure their silence, thus allowing those responsible for the interest rigging scandal within Deutsche to avoid responsibility.

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Jay Syrmopoulos is a political analyst, free thinker, researcher, and ardent opponent of authoritarianism. He is currently a graduate student at University of Denver pursuing a masters in Global Affairs. Jay's work has been published on Ben Swann's Truth in Media, Truth-Out, Raw Story, MintPress News, as well as many other sites. You can follow him on Twitter @sirmetropolis, on Facebook at Sir Metropolis and now on tsu.