Ten Banks, Including JPM, Goldman, Deutsche, Barclays, SocGen And UBS, Probed For Gold Rigging

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/23/2015 22:17 -0500

No matter how many times the big banks are caught red-handed manipulating precious metals, some failed former Deutsche Bank prop-trader (you know who you are) will take a vociferous stand based on ad hominem attacks and zero facts that no, what you see in front of you is not precious metal rigging at all but a one-off event that has nothing to do with a criminal banking syndicate hell bent on taking advantage of anyone who is naive and dumb enough to still believe in fair and efficient markets. 

The last time this happened was in November when we learned that "UBS Settles Over Gold Rigging, Many More Banks To Follow", and sure enough many more banks did follow, because in Europe, where the stench of gold market manipulation stretches far beyond merely commercial banks, and rises through the central banks, namely the BOE and ECB, culminating with the Head of Foreign Exchange & Gold at the BIS itself, all such allegations have to be promptly settled or else the discovery that the manipulation cartel in Europe involves absolutely everybody will shock and stun the world, which heretofore was led to believe that such things as gold market (not to be confused with Libor or FX) manipulation only exist in the paranoid delusions of a few tinfoil fringe-blogging lunatics.

However, as usually happens, someone always fails to read the memo that when it comes to gold-market manipulation one must i) find nothing at all incriminating if one is a paid spokesman for the entities doing the manipulation such as former CFTC-sellout Bart Chilton or ii) if one can't cover it, then one must settle immediately or else the chain of revelations will implication everyone.

This time, that someone is the US Department of Justice, which as the WSJ just reported, is investigating at least 10 major banks for possible rigging of precious-metals markets. The DOJ is shockingly doing so "even though European regulators dropped a similar probe after finding no evidence of wrongdoing, according to people close to the inquiries." Of course, the reason why said probe was dropped in Europe is because it would have implicated virtually the entire trading desk at the biggest and most important European bank: Deustche Bank, as well as the biggest bank in Switzerland, UBS and UK's own Barclays, reveal a manipulation cartel rivaling even that of Libor. And once traders at the commercial banks turned sides and squealed for the prosection, well then it would be the central banks' turn next. Which is why it was imperative to bring this investigation to a quiet end.

But not in the US.

According to the WSJ, "prosecutors in the Justice Department’s antitrust division are scrutinizing the price-setting process for gold, silver, platinum and palladium in London, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has opened a civil investigation, these people said. The agencies have made initial requests for information, including a subpoena from the CFTC to HSBC Holdings PLC related to precious-metals trading, the bank said in its annual report Monday.

HSBC also said the Justice Department sought documents related to the antitrust investigation in November. The two probes “are at an early stage,” the bank added, saying it is cooperating with U.S. regulators.

Who is involved in this latest gold-rigging scandal? Why everyone! ... which makes it immediately obvious why the European regulator had to promptly cover up the whole affair. Under scrutiny are Bank of Nova Scotia , Barclays PLC, Credit Suisse Group AG , Deutsche Bank AG , Goldman Sachs Group Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Société Générale SA, Standard Bank Group Ltd. and UBS AG , according to one of the people close to the investigation.

Robert Hockett, a law professor at Cornell University, said it is “not particularly surprising” that the Justice Department is plowing ahead despite the decision by European regulators.  

Recent scrutiny of big banks’ operations in the physical commodities markets and criticism of the Justice Department’s financial-crisis track record make it “quite understandable” that the agency would investigate allegations of precious metals price-rigging.

Last year, the FCA fined Barclays £26 million ($40.2 million) for lax controls after one of its traders allegedly manipulated the gold fix at the expense of a client.

Swiss regulator Finma settled last year allegations of foreign-currency manipulation with UBS. The regulator said it found “serious misconduct” among precious-metals traders at UBS, including “front running,” or trading ahead of, the silver-fix orders of one client. A spokeswoman for UBS, which said at the time that it “instituted significant cultural and compliance changes,” declined further comment.

You mean to say that the banks that were for decades rigging Libor... and FX... and bonds... and stocks... oh, and gold, were let go with a slap on the wrist and a promise to "change their ways" and not to do it again?  Yup, that's exactly right.

So what happens next? Well, we finally will find just how much of a banker-controlled muppet the so-called US attorney general truly is. Recall that a week ago he gave his subordinates 90 days to being cases against individuals for their role in the financial crisis.

Well here is the perfect opportunity.  Should Holder let this latest mass criminal ring go without any incarceration, one can officially stick a fork in the US justice system, which is meant for everyone, but the rule-flouting bankers who can clearly get away with absolutely anything.

As for the rigging in the gold market, rigging which begins with the lowliest prop-traders at Deutsche Bank and involves every single central bank and High Frequency trading outfit and is now a proven fact, we have explained over the years and thousands of times just how to end it all, so instead of wasting readers' time on this topic yet again, here are just two very simple solutions how to fix this one particular market:

So simple, even the most corrupt US Attorney General caveman can do it.

Source ZeroHedge

HSBC's Long History of Money Laundering

1st pub. by CV 12.19.2012

Long History of HSBC Money Laundering

If there was any lingering doubt about the supremacy of the internationalist banker over the canons of law, the latest HSBC exemption from criminal charges proves that the real masters of the planet are the criminal banksters. 

HSBC's bank clients linked to dictators, arms dealers and tax dodgers

by Gerald Ryle, 02.08.2015

Secret documents reveal that global banking giant HSBC profited from doing business with arms dealers who channeled mortar bombs to child soldiers in Africa, bag men for Third World dictators, traffickers in blood diamonds and other international outlaws.

The leaked files, based on the inner workings of HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm, relate to accounts holding more than $100 billion. They provide a rare glimpse inside the super-secret Swiss banking system — one the public has never seen before.

The documents, obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) via the French newspaper Le Monde, show the bank’s dealings with clients engaged in a spectrum of illegal behavior, especially in hiding hundreds of millions of dollars from tax authorities. They also show private records of famed soccer and tennis players, cyclists, rock stars, Hollywood actors, royalty, politicians, corporate executives and old-wealth families.

These disclosures shine a light on the intersection of international crime and legitimate business, and they dramatically expand what’s known about potentially illegal or unethical behavior in recent years at HSBC, one of the world’s largest banks.

How the offshore banking industry shelters money and hides secrets has enormous implications for societies across the globe. Academics conservatively estimate that $7.6 trillion is held in overseas tax havens, costing government treasuries at least $200 billion a year.

In many instances the records do describe questionable behavior, such as bankers advising clients on how to take a range of measures to avoid paying taxes in their home countries — and customers telling bankers that their accounts are not declared to their governments.

Highlights from ICIJ's investigation:

The reporters found the names of current and former politicians from Britain, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Kenya, Romania, India, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Tunisia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Paraguay, Djibouti, Senegal, the Philippines and Algeria, among others. They found several people on the current U.S. sanctions list, such as Selim Alguadis, a Turkish businessman alleged to have supplied sophisticated electrical goods to Libya’s secret nuclear weapons project, and Gennady Timchenko, a billionaire associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin and one of the main targets of sanctions imposed on Russian individuals and businesses in response to the annexation of Crimea and the crisis in eastern Ukraine. 

The files reflect a spectrum of royalty, from King Mohammed VI of Morocco to the Crown prince of Bahrain, Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, to Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, the beloved cousin of Queen Elizabeth II of England, to dozens of members of Saudi Arabia's ruling family. Many were partial or full beneficial owners of accounts. The role of the King of Morocco was not specified.

Business figures and political donors from the U.S. include the billionaire owner of the Victoria’s Secret lingerie chain, Les Wexner, who in 2012 donated $250,000 to a super PAC supporting former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney; the Israeli diamond-dealing Steinmetz family, and the financier and philanthropist S. Donald Sussman, whose account predated his marriage to Democratic Congresswoman Chellie Pingree of Maine. 

A representative for Sussman said the account was not his, adding that he had made a passive investment in a technology venture fund. The representative said it was this fund that had the account, the existence of which he learned for the first time when questioned by ICIJ. “Mr. Sussman’s investments were minority interests,” the spokesman said, “and he had no involvement in the funds’ management, investment decisions, or other activities.” 

An analysis of the files by ICIJ shows that many individuals linked to accounts took extra precautions to protect their identities, even though HSBC staff repeatedly assured customers they were already bound by tight Swiss banking secrecy. 

Clinton Foundation Donors

The files show Richard Caring, a major donor to British politics, transferring $1 million to the Clinton Foundation, a nonprofit set up by the former U.S. President Bill Clinton with the stated mission to “strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence.”

The donation to the Clinton Foundation was requested in December 2005. The previous month, Caring funded a champagne and caviar extravaganza at Catherine the Great’s Winter Palace in St Petersburg, Russia, flying in 450 guests to be entertained by Sir Elton John and Tina Turner and addressed by Bill Clinton. The event raised more than £11 million for a children’s charity.

A number of other prominent donors to the Clinton Foundation appear in the files, including the Canadian businessman Frank Giustra and German motor racing superstar Michael Schumacher, a seven-time Formula One champion. A representative of Schumacher, who is listed as a beneficial owner of an account closed in 2002, told ICIJ that he is a long-term resident of Switzerland.

A spokesman for the Clinton Foundation told The Guardian it “has strong donor integrity and transparency practices that go well beyond what is required of U.S. charities, including the full disclosure of all of our donors."

Links to Al Qaeda?

HSBC’s clients’ links to Al Qaeda were first publicly raised in the July 2012 U.S. Senate report, which cited an alleged internal Al Qaeda list of financial benefactors. The Senate report said the list came to light after a search of the Bosnian offices of the Benevolence International Foundation, a Saudi-based nonprofit organization that the U.S. Treasury Department has designated as a terrorist organization.

Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, referred to the handwritten list of the 20 names as the “Golden Chain.”

From the moment the names on the Golden Chain list were made public in news reports in the spring of 2003, the Senate subcommittee stated that HSBC should have been “on notice” and aware these powerful business figures were high risk clients.

Though the significance of the Golden Chain list has since been questioned, the ICIJ found what appear to be three Golden Chain names with HSBC Swiss accounts that existed after that date.

Read the full story on ICIJ.org and explore the data.

Silver bullion banks accused of manipulation in U.S. lawsuit

Absolutely no effective congressional oversight worthy of the name has been standing guard on these crooks. We learned years ago the banksters are in bed with the regulators and they're all raking in the booty. Common investors can take a hike. We expect nothing significant judicially to develop from this. You certainly don't require  five years to "probe the allegations." We just pass it along for your info.

https://comparesilverprices.com/

We would suggest you follow the coin dealer premiums on the 1 oz. eagles to get a general idea on the availability of silver. We are of the understanding that only 5% or so of the 5,000 oz. contracts actually receive silver as settlement. Banksters are settling for the US$ price paid in paper fiat, not bullion. A beginning start for tracking might be here.

---

​N​EW YORK Fri Jul 25, 2014 6:41pm EDT

A closed branch of Deutsche Bank is pictured in a parking a parking garage in Bochum May 17, 2013.Credit: Reuters/Ina Fassbender

(Reuters) - Silver bullion banks Deutsche Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC have been accused of manipulating prices in the multi-billion dollar market in a lawsuit filed on Friday.

The lawsuit was filed in a New York district court by J. Scott Nicholson, a resident of Washington DC and alleges that the banks, which oversee the century-old silver fix, manipulated the physical and COMEX futures market since January 2007.

Nicholson is seeking class-action status for the lawsuit, which was registered in the Southern District of New York.

Deutsche Bank and HSBC declined to comment. Nova Scotia was not immediately available for comment.

The lawsuit comes after a series of separate lawsuits were filed since March, accusing gold bullion banks of rigging the daily gold price.

The five banks in those lawsuits have denied the allegations.

This is the first case to target the silver fix, although the silver market, whose prices have gyrated wildly in recent year, is no stranger to regulatory and legal scrutiny.

In a five-year probe, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission investigated allegations that some of the world's biggest bullion banks distorted silver futures prices.

The U.S. commodity regulator found no evidence of wrongdoing and dropped the probe last September. A long-running class-action antitrust lawsuit including similar accusations was dismissed at the end of last month by a federal appeals court.

The lawsuit also comes at a critical time for precious metals markets, as regulators investigate trading around the setting of London's daily gold and silver price benchmarks and the industry tries to find alternative ways to price their dealing.

​Source Reuters​

ETF Securities joins LME with silver fix plan

To say these evolving developments could provide silver's price with levitation may be an understatement. Obviously, they've run out of plunder in London. Whether the Shanghai exchange will line their purses likewise, we'll have to see.

 

Bloomberg News | June 5, 2014 10:51 AM ET
More from Bloomberg News

BloombergThe proposal made to the London Bullion Market Association would use a five-minute auction process that occurs on the London Stock Exchange and based on ETF Securities’ silver-backed fund that trades on the bourse

ETF Securities Ltd., an exchange-traded-products provider with about $19 billion of assets, proposed an alternative to the century-old London silver fixing benchmark process that’s set to end in August.

The proposal made to the London Bullion Market Association would use a five-minute auction process that occurs on the London Stock Exchange and based on ETF Securities’ silver-backed fund that trades on the bourse, said Graham Tuckwell, chairman and founder of the Jersey-based company. The company is talking to the LSE about moving the auction capability from 4:30 p.m. to noon, when the present silver fixing process is held, he said.

Related

• Historic silver price ‘fix’ coming to an end after 117 years
• How London’s gold and silver prices are ‘fixed’

The London Silver Market Fixing Ltd. will stop running the fixing on Aug. 14 after Deutsche Bank AG said it will withdraw from the process, leaving just two banks to conduct the ritual. The LBMA began a consultation in May seeking views for an alternative to the benchmark that’s used by miners to central banks. The London Metal Exchange got requests to provide a daily rate, CME Group Inc. has said it’s also helping to find a way to set prices and Platts said today it’s in talks with the LBMA.

“The system is already in place, it’s ready to go,” Tuckwell said today by phone from Amsterdam. “Our securities are settled in metal already. It’s a very transparent process.”

Regulatory focus on financial benchmarks is intensifying after rigging was uncovered in everything from interbank lending rates to currencies. Economists and academics have said fixings are susceptible to manipulation and lack sufficient regulation, while traders say the processes are efficient and crucial reference points for the market.

Deutsche Bank, HSBC Holdings Plc and Bank of Nova Scotia conduct the silver fixing each day at noon. The German bank said it’s withdrawing from fixings as it scales back its commodities business. It stopped taking part in gold fixings in May after failing to agree on a sale of its seat and postponed its April 29 resignation from the silver rate to Aug. 14.

During the silver fix, the three member banks declare how much metal they want to buy or sell for clients as well as their own accounts. Traders relay shifts in supply and demand to clients and take fresh orders as the price changes, before the fix is made. The first silver fixing took place in 1897.

Used as a benchmark to price holdings at, the fixing also allows participants to physically buy and sell metal. The proposal made by ETF Securities could allow the transfer of physical metal two days later, Tuckwell said.

“The only thing we need really to talk to the LSE about is asking to arrange the auction at midday, rather than at 4:30 p.m.,” he said. “They are already putting in place the possibility of having intraday auctions in all securities of about mid-September.”

The LME said May 29 it had requests from industrial and financial companies, has defined a “robust” process for a daily price and is working with the LBMA in consulting with the market. CME Group said that day it’s “working closely with the precious metals industry and LBMA to reduce market disruption by helping to find a robust transaction-based way to set the daily spot price.” An LBMA survey as part of the consolation closed May 30.

“Platts is in talks with LBMA officials, financial entities and others regarding continuity, transparency and best practices in the silver market,” Kathleen Tanzy, a spokeswoman in New York at the energy and commodities news and price publisher, said in an e-mailed statement today. “ Continuity in the provision of benchmarks, prices and assessments is critical to preserve the integrity of markets.”

Silver was fixed at $18.81 an ounce today. The metal for immediate delivery declined 2.5 percent this year, according to Bloomberg generic pricing.

“Clearly it gives us a higher profile in the market,” Tuckwell said. “It’s worth our doing.”

Bloomberg.com

London gold-fix banks accused of manipulation in U.S. lawsuit

LONDON Wed Mar 5, 2014 9:38am EST

via Reuters

Logos are seen outside a branch of Barclays bank in London July 30, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Toby Melville

(Reuters) - The five banks involved in setting the London benchmark gold price have been accused in a lawsuit of price manipulation, a filing with a U.S. federal court in New York showed.

Big Banks are getting away with funding Terrorism: HSBC whistleblower Everett Stern

Can't you just imagine the hissy fits our Republican-controlled House Oversight committees are going to have when they hear about this one? Wow! How could these crimes have gotten by their vigilance on their watch?

---

Terrorism funding just one thing big banks are getting away with - whistleblower Everett Stern

January 20, 2014 08:30 

Download video (214.62 MB) 

Banks say they are the pillar of the modern society – ruling the streams of money across the globe and keeping a tight grip on the world’s economy; What is going on in offices of top level management is kept in a most valuable secrets. 

Silver Manipulation - HSBC Connection To US Mint? Christian Garcia & Mike Maloney - YouTube

The absence of whistleblowers coming out of the banking cartel is an indicator how void their people are of conscience and morality. Will the Congressional committee chairman having the Oversight mandate for the US Mint please step forward.

Published on Sep 10, 2013

http://www.goldsilver.com See Christian's original video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll-9un...

For more information about Gold & Silver or Mike Maloney, visit the Why Gold & Silver channel and subscribe: http://goo.gl/emXEB

Consulates and the Vatican in chaos as HSBC tells them to find another bank

By Joanne Hart, Financial Mail On Sunday

 UPDATED: 02:55 EST, 4 August 2013

Diplomats in London have been thrown into chaos after Britain’s biggest bank, HSBC, sacked them as customers and gave them 60 days to move their accounts.

Gold Continues To Bleed From the COMEX

Posted Wednesday, 26 June 2013
By Steve St. Angelo, SRSrocco Report

As the paper price of gold falls even lower due to market manipulation, gold continues to bleed from the COMEX Warehouse stocks.  Another 156,310 ounces were removed from the Customer inventories.  What is even more interesting is how much gold has been removed from the COMEX since the beginning of the year.

Banking giant HSBC ‘a criminal enterprise’

Whistleblower makes damning case in video interview
Published: 05/08/2012 at 9:19 PM
author-image Jerome R. Corsi


The global banking giant HSBC is a “criminal” operation, charges a former officer for the company’s southern New York region in a video interview with WND.

US Bank Gold Positions Explode At Highest Rate On Record; Short Positions Collapse

June 10, 2013 | By Tekoa Da Silva

In a fascinating reaffirmation of the fundamentals of the gold bull market, US Banks & Large Traders as defined by the CFTC as being, “commercially engaged in business activities hedged by use of the futures or option markets,” have quietly flipped from being tremendously short gold in late 2012, to now being tremendously long.

Furthermore, the speed of this change in positioning has occurred at the fastest rate since the data set began in mid-2000.

Is HSBC Really ‘Too Big to Jail’?

 By Yahoo! Finance Mon, Mar 11, 2013 7:10 PM EDT

By Bartlett Naylor

In December of last year, HSBC (HBC) admitted to money laundering violations covering $200 trillion worth of transactions involving Mexican and Columbian drug cartels, groups allegedly aligned with terrorist organizations, sanctioned nations and others.