Madoff Investment Scandal. The Madoff investment scandal broke in December 2008, when former NASDAQ Chairman Bernard Madoff admitted that the wealth management arm of his business was an elaborate Ponzi scheme. Madoff founded the Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in 1960, and was its Chairman until his arrest.[1][2][3] At his firm he employed his brother Peter as Senior Managing Director and Chief Compliance Officer (Peter has since been sentenced to 10 years in prison), Peter's daughter Shana Madoff as the firm's rules and compliance officer and attorney, and his sons Andrew and Mark (Mark committed suicide by hanging exactly two years after his father's arrest).
Alerted by his sons, federal authorities arrested Madoff on December 11, 2008. On March 12, 2009, Madoff pled guilty to 11 federal crimes and admitted to operating the largest Ponzi scheme in history.[4][5] On June 29, 2009, he was sentenced to 150 years in prison with restitution of $17 billion. Background[edit] American International Group. American International Group, Inc. – also known as AIG – is an American multinational insurance corporation with over 63,000 employees globally. AIG companies serve customers in more than 130 countries around the world; the company is a provider of property casualty insurance, life insurance and retirement services, and mortgage insurance.
AIG’s corporate headquarters are in New York City, its British headquarters are in London, continental Europe operations are based in La Défense, Paris, and its Asian headquarters are in Hong Kong. According to the 2013 Forbes Global 2000 list, AIG was the 62nd-largest public company in the world.[4] As of February 20, 2014, it had a market capitalization of $73.11 billion, per FactSet. History[edit] The American International Building on 175 Water Street, New York City.
The Early Years: 1919 to 1939[edit] International and Domestic Expansion: 1940 to 1959[edit] Reorganization and Specialization: 1960 to 1979[edit] In 1960, C.V. 2000s[edit] The U.S. "Windows 7 is the same as Ubuntu" Obviously, this isn't true. Their underlying architectures are quite a bit different, Gnome looks different than the 7 UI, etc., but to an average 17-year-old, there just wasn't any meaningful difference between the two operating systems.
The other day, I posted a blog titled "Windows 7: Good enough to pay for? " I described how I'd installed the Windows 7 Release Candidate on my son's computer for his take on the OS after living with Ubuntu 9.04 (and 8.10 before that) for a few months. It's summer break, so he basically spends every waking moment when he's not actually interacting face-to-face with friends on the computer. No better time to have a kid do some serious testing, right? I asked him last night about his initial impressions of Windows 7 and, in typical teenage fashion, as he was bouncing between Meebo windows and browser tabs, he said it was "nice. " Of course there isn't. Retail banks should be ring-fenced, says commission. 11 April 2011Last updated at 15:28 Watch: Sir John Vickers calls for 'retail ring-fence' UK banks' retail operations should be "ring-fenced" from their investment banking arms, the Independent Commission on Banking has recommended.
However, in its interim report the commission stopped short of recommending the two should operate as separate entities. It said more competition was needed in retail banking, including the sell-off of more Lloyds branches. The commission's final recommendations will be published in September. The banking commission was set up by the government last June to review UK banks after the financial crisis.
However, the government is under no obligation to implement its recommendations. Bank shares reacted positively to the report, with Barclays shares up 3.6% and Royal Bank of Scotland 3.2% higher by mid-afternoon trading. Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said he felt the report was "tough" on banks. Cash reserves Continue reading the main story Key recommendations 'Allowed to fail' Who, What, Why: Why does the UK give aid to India? 1 March 2011Last updated at 12:52 India has more people living in poverty than the entirety of sub-Saharan Africa The government is expected to freeze the level of assistance given to India at £295m ($480m) a year.
But why does a nuclear power with its own space programme need British aid? In a widely-signalled move, it is anticipated that International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell will announce the amount of aid given to India will be maintained at 2009/10 levels. But the decision has attracted criticism from newspapers and politicians who say the UK taxpayer does not need to donate to a state that is itself a foreign aid donor, which is classified by the World Bank as a middle income country (MIC) and whose economy is growing at nearly 10% a year. However, advocates of aid say a third of the planet's population who are below the World Bank's extreme poverty line live in India. Indeed, there is little doubt the nation is experiencing a boom. Massive inequalities. US looks for friends in fight against undervalued yuan. 8 February 2011Last updated at 07:09 Chinese producers have boomed as their cheap currency helped make their products more attractive China's currency is back in the spotlight amid reports that the US has sought to increase the number of countries pushing for a stronger yuan.
During a visit to Brazil, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner discussed the manipulation of currency values, the Reuters news agency reported. He also urged Brazil to put pressure on China to allow the yuan to appreciate, the Wall Street Journal said. China is accused of keeping its currency weak to boost trade. The US argues a weak currency gives China an unfair advantage in global trade, keeping Chinese exports at artificially low prices. The US hopes it will find a willing partner in Brazil because Chinese imports are also hurting its economy.
Brazilian industry leaders recently complained to the government that manufacturers were struggling to compete with a slew of cheap Chinese goods at home and globally. Currency war's key battlegrounds. 9 November 2010Last updated at 00:14 By Andrew Walker Economics correspondent, BBC World Service Dominique Strauss-Kahn said co-operation between countries had weakened since the financial crisis It has been called a "currency war", by the International Monetary Fund's managing director and the Brazilian finance minister among others. IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn told the BBC last month that there were signs that countries were trying to use their currencies "as a weapon". For his part, Brazil's Guido Mantega said competitive devaluations by advanced countries amounted to a new trade war. "We're in the midst of an international currency war," he told a meeting of industrial leaders in September.
"This threatens us because it takes away our competitiveness. " But what does it all mean? There are several main elements, two of them fairly new, but the first is a long-standing one. It is China's policy of managing its currency and limiting its movement against the US dollar. Financial Crisis Was Avoidable, Inquiry Finds. Many of the conclusions have been widely described, but the synthesis of interviews, documents and testimony, along with its government imprimatur, give the report — to be released on Thursday as a 576-page book — a conclusive sweep and authority. The commission held 19 days of hearings and interviews with more than 700 witnesses; it has pledged to release a trove of transcripts and other raw material online.
Of the 10 commission members, the six appointed by Democrats endorsed the final report. Three Republican members have prepared a dissent focusing on a narrower set of causes; a fourth Republican, Peter J. Wallison, has his own dissent, calling policies to promote homeownership the major culprit. The majority report finds fault with two Fed chairmen: , who led the central bank as the housing bubble expanded, and his successor, , who did not foresee the crisis but played a crucial role in the response.
Like Mr. Democrats also come under fire. Continue reading the main story. Tanzania orders Chinese out of Dar es Salaam market. 7 January 2011Last updated at 16:00 The authorities do not want foreigners to take jobs that can be done by locals Chinese traders in Tanzania's main city of Dar es Salaam have been give 30 days to stop trading in a busy market. The deputy industry minister said Chinese businessmen were allowed into the country as investors, but not as "vendors or shoe-shiners". Lazaro Nyalandu said these jobs could "be carried out by locals", Tanzania's Citizen paper quotes him as saying.
A BBC reporter says there are many foreigners trading illegally in Tanzania, especially from China. They have opened up many small retail and wholesale shops, the BBC's Hassan Mhelela in Dar es Salaam says. But the Chinese traders are sometimes resented for their business acumen, he says. Mr Nyalandu made the comments at Kariakoo market, which the government wants to become an export centre for the East African nation. China's Hu grants aid to Tanzania. China's President Hu Jintao has granted $22m (£15m) in aid to Tanzania as he continues his tour of Africa. Tanzania is one of the largest African recipients of Chinese aid and bilateral trade rose by nearly 50% in 2007. Mr Hu has visited Mali and Senegal and will end his tour in Mauritius. China's trade with Africa has boomed in recent years but has stalled recently. China wants to show that it is not only interested in Africa because of its oil and mineral wealth, say analysts. 'Exemplary ties' After witnessing the signing of a number of aid deals with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, President HU praised their two countries' relationship.
"The traditional friendship between China and Tanzania... can be viewed as an exemplary relationship of sincerity, solidarity and co-operation between China and an African country, and for that matter between two developing countries," Mr Hu said. China is getting oil from Angola and Sudan, and minerals from Zambia, Congo and many others. Mitch Daniels: US faces 'survival-level' economic threat. <img name="holdingImage" class="holding" src=" alt="Mitch Daniels" /><div class="warning"><p><strong>Please turn on JavaScript.
</strong> Media requires JavaScript to play. </p></p></div> Governor Mitch Daniels on why he believes the stimulus is not working Newsnight's Paul Mason meets Mitch Daniels, the Republican governor of Indiana who is tipped to challenge Barack Obama for the US presidency in 2012. "America faces for the first time, other than the nuclear threat of a few decades ago, a genuine survival level issue," Mitch Daniels says. "My reading of history is that there are points of no return, past which nations will not recover to anything like their previous strength. " It is apocalyptic language, and since Mr Daniels is widely regarded as having a decent chance of becoming the next US president, all the more alarming.
But towards what, I ask him, perennial decline? "Decline might not be the right word. A Failure of Capitalism. Financial crisis of 2007–2010. The TED spread (in red) increased significantly during the financial crisis, reflecting an increase in perceived credit risk. The financial crisis of 2007–2008, also known as the Global Financial Crisis and 2008 financial crisis, is considered by many economists the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.[1] It resulted in the threat of total collapse of large financial institutions, the bailout of banks by national governments, and downturns in stock markets around the world.
In many areas, the housing market also suffered, resulting in evictions, foreclosures and prolonged unemployment. In the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis palliative fiscal and monetary policies were adopted to lessen the shock to the economy.[19] In July 2010, the Dodd–Frank regulatory reforms were enacted in the U.S. to lessen the chance of a recurrence.[20] Background[edit] Share in GDP of U.S. financial sector since 1860[27] The U.S. Subprime lending[edit] List of entities involved in 2007–2008 financial crises - Wikipedia ... A list of companies, governmental and quasi-governmental agencies (government-sponsored enterprises), and/or non-profit organizations involved in the various economic and financial crises of 2007–2008. Housing Bubble[edit] United States[edit] National Builders[edit] Real estate and appraisal[edit] Associations[edit] Mortgage crisis[edit] Subprime lenders[edit] Other lenders[edit] Washington MutualWachoviaSuntrustLuminent Mortgage CapitalAegis Wholesale1st National Bank of ArizonaGreenPoint Mortgage FundingVelocity Commercial LenderFremont Investment & LoanResMAE Mortgage CorpAmericans Brokers ConduitIndyMac Bank Insurers[edit] Secondary and securitized mortgage market[edit] Banks[edit] Governmental and quasi-governmental[edit] Central Banks[edit] Credit rating agencies[edit] [edit] Fannie Mae, Federal National Mortgage AssociationFreddie Mac, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Nonprofit Organization[edit] Community Organization[edit] Credit Counselors[edit] Hope Now Alliance Supporters[edit]
Bilderberg Group. The Bilderberg Group, Bilderberg conference, Bilderberg meetings or Bilderberg Club is an annual private conference of approximately 120–150 political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia and the media.[1][2] About two thirds of the participants come from Europe and the rest from North America; one third from politics and government and the rest from other fields.[1][3] §Origin[edit] The original conference was held at the Hotel de Bilderberg in Oosterbeek, Netherlands, from 29 to 31 May 1954. It was initiated by several people, including Polish politician-in-exile Józef Retinger, concerned about the growth of anti-Americanism in Western Europe, who proposed an international conference at which leaders from European countries and the United States would be brought together with the aim of promoting Atlanticism – better understanding between the cultures of the United States and Western Europe to foster co-operation on political, economic and defense issues.[4]
List of acquired or bankrupt banks in the late 2000s financial crisis ... This is a list of financial institutions that have been affected by the Great Recession. The list includes banks (including commercial banks and investment banks), building societies and insurance companies that have either been: taken over or merged with another financial institution;nationalised by a government or central bank; ordeclared insolvent or liquidated. In the United States, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) may assume deposits of banks or allow other banks to assume them. The largest banks to be acquired have been the presumed Merrill Lynch acquisition by Bank of America, the Bear Stearns acquisition by JPMorgan Chase, and the Countrywide Financial acquisition also by Bank of America. Acquisitions[edit] British banking rescue scheme[edit] Her Majesty's Government announced a scheme to acquire stakes in 3 of the largest UK banks.
Failures[edit] United States[edit] United Kingdom[edit] Latvia[edit] See also[edit] Notes[edit] References[edit]