Yearly Archives: 2013

The Head of the Cyprus Central Bank is Named Panicos (Panic Us).

"Now the government must open the banks’ doors with no bailout from the EuroGroup, the officially unnamed group of eurozone finance ministers. Cypriots will be able to pull euro currency out of the banks. That will force the Cypriot banks to sell assets. Their value will fall. They will not be able to cover these losses for long — a few weeks. Maybe less. Would you keep your money in a banking system that needs a bailout? Wait a minute. You already do. So do I. Cyprus was the first system to get to the edge of the abyss." Continue reading →

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Royal Air Force plane takes one million Euros to Cyprus

"The government sent a Royal Air Force plane to crisis-hit Cyprus on Tuesday carrying one million euros in emergency loans for British military personnel, the defence ministry said. The cash cargo flight was a 'contingency' plan in case banks in Cyprus stopped giving out money as the island deals with the fallout from a controversial eurozone bailout deal, a spokesman said. 'An RAF flight left for Cyprus this afternoon with one million euros on board as a contingency measure to provide military personnel and their families with emergency loans,' the spokesman said in a statement to AFP." Continue reading →

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Chase “Glitch” Makes Customers’ Money Disappear

"I don't know how much money you have in your bank account, but I'm willing to bet that if you logged into your banking's website and saw $0.00 across the board, you might be a little concerned. Some Chase customers earlier this week found themselves in this exact situation, leading many, as you might expect, to believe that they could have been hacked. Fortunately, no such thing occurred." Continue reading →

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Is Illinois a bigger default risk than Iraq?

"In a well-publicized move, Illinois decided earlier this week to forgo a $500 million bond offering after the interest rate it had to pay wary investors to buy the bonds rose too high. Illinois must already pay 1.4 percentage points more than states with a AAA rating to attract investors to its debt, thanks to a recent downgrade of the state's financial status by Standard & Poor's, which noted among other things the state's failure to fix its poorly funded pension system. How wary are investors of the state's debt?" Continue reading →

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Illinois Lies

"Illinois, which has the worst-funded state pension system in the United States, agreed on Monday to settle federal civil securities fraud charges alleging it repeatedly misled municipal bond investors about the underfunding of its pensions, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The settlement of charges that Illinois failed from 2005 to early 2009 to fully tell investors the risks of buying $2.2 billion worth of its municipal bonds is the latest blow to the state's reputation as fiscally troubled and crippled by a pension shortfall of $98.6 billion." Continue reading →

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French minister in charge of combating tax avoidance resigns over Swiss bank account

"Jérôme Cahuzac, French budget minister, resigned on Tuesday night following the opening of a judicial inquiry into a secret Swiss bank account allegedly held in his name but which he has repeatedly denied having. His resignation was announced by the Elysée Palace following weeks of mounting pressure on the Socialist politician. The move by prosecutors to open a full investigation into the Swiss UBS bank account he allegedly used to hide assets from the tax authorities, made Cahuzac's position untenable and deeply embarrassing for the Socialist government as he was the minister in charge of combating tax avoidance." Continue reading →

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Renouncing Your U.S. Citizenship: Is Divorcing Uncle Sam Right For You?

"The billionaire co-founder of Facebook, the only American member of Monty Python, a Civil Rights Leader with a PhD from Harvard, the founder of Carnival Cruise Lines and owner of the Miami Heat NBA franchise, and arguably the best chess mind to ever live have more in common than you might think. So what do Eduardo Saverin, Terry Gilliam, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ted Arison, Bobby Fischer and thousands of U.S. citizens living in Canada have in common? The answer is all five have renounced their U.S. citizenship." Continue reading →

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Florida investment adviser charged with selling $8 million of fake Facebook shares

"A Florida investment adviser was charged Tuesday with selling $8 million of fake Facebook shares ahead of the social network’s highly anticipated public offering, officials said. The Justice Department said Craig Berkman, 71, was arrested on two separate securities fraud schemes involving Facebook shares. Berkman received a total of at least $8 million from these schemes, most of which he 'misappropriated for his own benefit,' a Justice Department statement said. Investors discovered the fraud when they tried to redeem their shares in 2012, officials said." Continue reading →

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First Bitcoin Hedge Fund Launches From Malta

"Similar to a mutual fund or hedge fund for alternative assets, Exante’s Bitcoin Fund permits institutions and high-net worth individuals to access the vibrant bitcoin market with a licensed product. The fund shares are distributed exclusively through the Exante Hedge Fund Marketplace platform. Authorized and regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority, Exante offers the Bitcoin Fund with an initial minimum subscription of $100,000 and a 0.5% upfront subscription fee. However, U.S. persons and U.S. institutions will not be able to access the fund directly; according to the disclaimer, 'U.S. Persons may not subscribe either directly or indirectly for shares.'" Continue reading →

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