The Case of Nobu Su

[David Guyatt]

I rarely watch the Keiser Report, mostly because I find Max Keiser often too flippant and mouthy for digestion. But he is a former Wall Street banker and when he gets serious he knows what he's talking about. For this reason I recommend that you tune into his today's show wherein he interviewed Taiwanese billionaire shipping magnate, Nobu Su. It should be freely available on Max Keiser's website in a couple of days. I've diarized to check for it and when available will post it here.

The underlying story of Nobu Ru is not receiving much (read "none") attention by our beloved MSM who have simply turned a blind eye. Typical, I'm afraid. It regards how his company, TMT, was defrauded in order to provide necessary collateral required by the NY Fed for the bailing out of Wall Street banks - notably AIG - following the 2007/8 banking crisis. Had AIG been allowed to go belly up, the entire banking sector would've been fucked. I mean, dead and buried fucked. Not even a last minute injection of human blood could've revived the company of the the undead, because in their avarice, boundless greed and penchant for manipulation they had fallen on their own wooden stake. imo :-)

Read the report from GlobalNewsWire.com

Nobu Su: "Financial Crisis Was Planned to Rescue Bankers"




[URL="https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2016/01/08/800414/0/en/Nobu-Su-Financial-Crisis-Was-Planned-to-Rescue-Bankers.html#"]
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January 08, 2016 03:00 ET | Source: Today Makes Tomorrow Group


HONG KONG, Jan. 08, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TMT Chairman Nobu Su has written to RBS' Chief Executive Ross McEwan and RBS former non-executive director John McFarlane (current Chairman of Barclays PLC), requesting an explanation of the now controversial USD 85 million margin call made by the bank in August 2008.
Six years since his first plea for a clarification, Nobu Su is still unclear as to how the exact figure was calculated, commenting on a number of occasions that "USD 85 million as an even number is not a computer algorithm."
According to Nobu Su, during the course of 2008, the calculation of margin by RBS was consistently and significantly incorrect, and in the account statements produced by the bank, TMT collateral assets were often valued wildly incorrectly.
Following many years of intense research, the entrepreneur and acclaimed inventor firmly believes that the USD 85 million margin call was related to the infamous AIG bailout rescue of 2008, with TMT shares indirectly insuring the emergency syndication loan by JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, or the PDCF (Prime Dealer Credit Facility) accepted by New York FRB to lend over USD 200 billion.
He became further convinced of this following the revelations made by the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke. In his book "The Courage to Act: A Memoir of a Crisis and its Aftermath", published in October 2015, Mr. Bernanke focuses on the central bank's role as the lender of last resort, discusses efforts that injected liquidity into the banking system and describes the ongoing structural and regulatory problems that need to be addressed.
Nobu Su comments: "The Financial Crisis was not some kind of unfortunate accident. Having read Mr. Bernanke's latest book, Hank Paulson's On the Brink' and the official Financial Crisis Inquiry report, it is clear and worrying that governments have no mechanism for searching the balance sheets of companies that hold enormous life-or-death power over our societies, and that inconceivably massive financial institutions such as the New York Fed have no real system for auditing themselves."
"The convenient timing of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley changing their license to bank holding companies' (commercial banks) on September 23, 2008, to allow themselves to receive almost USD 40 billion dollars from the New York Fed without due diligence is in violation of official procedures and frankly criminal. The way these two institutions were treated radically differently from others, with lavish rescues and no consequences, demonstrates that something is clearly amiss."
"It appears to me that the bending of rules' was a recurring theme throughout the crisis. Governments allowed Barclays to acquire Lehman for USD 1.75 billion (USD 250 million for the Lehman operations and USD 1.5 billion for the New York Headquarters and two data centres) - an action which resulted in a six year litigation battle on what were and weren't included in the sales of assets while sold part of Lehman to Nomura in Japan to avoid excuse of British FSA (Financial Services Authority) clearance. The acquisition transformed Barclays into the global investment bank that Bob Diamond had longed for. The question is, was this fortunate timing or planned? "
"Warren Buffet said Derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction, but my case proves that TMT's balance sheet, which appears to have been hijacked by RBS, played a key role in the survival of the global banking system in the financial crisis. It was planned to receive unlimited funds from world central banks following quantitative easing policy until today."
"In his book, Ben Bernanke confirms that section 13(3) was applied in 1932 only in the largest amount USD 300,000 for typewriter manufacturers. If that is the case, the controversial '85' number was just picked up one month before the Lehman-AIG week without any ground by policy makers, in order to break the Central Bank constitution."

[David Guyatt]

More:

Asian businessman sues RBS & former CEO Fred Goodwin for negligence

The Taiwanese businessman and inventor, Nobu Su, has launched a lawsuit in Singapore against former RBS Chief Executive, Fred Goodwin, and other RBS employees, claiming that they breached their fiduciary duties to the bank and were negligent in protecting his business interests.


By Business Matters / January 26, 2016




The lawsuit alleges that between 2007 and 2009, Mr. Goodwin who had his knighthood removed over his role in the bank's near-collapse in 2008 along with two members of staff who held senior posts at the time of the alleged wronging, conspired to injure Mr. Su by unlawful means.
In his claim, Mr. Su tells of how he placed his trust in the bank, only to discover RBS fraudulently misled him of his true commercial position and consistently issued inaccurate statements with improper and erroneous margin requirements, resulting in considerable loss and damage to his business interests. According to the businessman, the defendants maderemittances and transfers on a number of occasions for their own purposes without his consent.

The claim names the defendants as: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (trading as RBS Greenwich Futures), The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (Singapore Branch), Fred Goodwin, Neena Birdie and Marie Chang.
Nobu Su, who is Chairman of the shipping company TMT, has long been disgruntled with RBS. In 2008, Labour MP Pat McFadden, who was on the Banking Standards Commission and the Treasury Select Committee, wrote to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and RBS on Mr. Su's behalf to query the alleged disappearance of USD 3.6 billion dollars from TMT's account held with RBS during the weekend of the US presidential election.

[David Guyatt]

And no one sits still when the dark heart of the beast is challenged, I suppose.

100. Nobu Su, TMT

• Friday 12 December 2014, 00:01
  
• by Lloyd's List Editorial
  
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• TOP 100
  

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Su: our final entry in the Top 100 has turned showing up in court into a spectator event.

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Lawsuits and court appearances have become the order of the day for the Taiwanese tanker owner
BATTLING to retain a piece of his one-time financial empire, Taiwanese tanker owner Nobu Su has turned showing up in court into a spectator event.
A suit filed in November through Mr Su's F5 investment company is seeking damages for dilution of shareholdingsfollowing the merger of Star Bulk and Oceanbulk, and the subsequent purchase by the merged entity of Excel Maritime Carriers' 34 bulkers.
The Taiwanese owner was a co-founder of Star Bulk alongside Petros Pappas in 2006 and served as co-chairman and then director until 2008, when he resigned after a "falling-out" with the Greek owner. He has blocked the merger from the outset.
Also in November, Mr Su was defeated in London High Court in alawsuit brought by Greek shipowner Polys Haji-Ioannou involving the sale by Mr Su, with an agreement to repurchase at a higher price, of forward freight agreements to the Greek owner in 2008. Mr Su failed to repurchase because of a cash crunch.
In July, Mr Su brought a suit against New York-listed Vantage Drilling, in which he owns a 33% stake. Vantage sued the Taiwanese owner in 2012 in Houston, Texas, for breach of fiduciary duty and fraud involving a dispute over a deal transferring ownership to Vantage of four jack-up rigs and two deepwater drillships.
Vantage says Mr Su had lied about the financial dispensation of the contracts on some of the vessels.
Mr Su, as chairman of Today Makes Tomorrow, appeared in the Top 100 for the first time in 2013.

From Lloyds List

[David Guyatt]

Go to 12:59 for the Nobu Su interview

[Lauren Johnson]

This is really fascinating. One would suspect that this happened on a much, much larger scale.

I find it sad that Mr. Su is so understanding of the Fed's plight. It had to save the system somehow. I would think this would be their reaction. ::::::::

The global economic model is to make money breaking things, and then make money "fixing" them. Life is good. ::::