Mainstream News

Gold Fix Study Shows Signs of Decade of Bank Manipulation

"The London gold fix, the benchmark used by miners, jewelers and central banks to value the metal, may have been manipulated for a decade by the banks setting it, researchers say. The paper is the first to raise the possibility that the five banks overseeing the century-old rate -- Barclays Plc, Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) and Societe Generale SA (GLE) -- may have been actively working together to manipulate the benchmark. Authorities around the world, already investigating the manipulation of benchmarks from interest rates to foreign exchange, are examining the $20 trillion gold market for signs of wrongdoing." Continue reading →

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RBS has lost all the £46bn pumped in by the taxpayer

"Royal Bank of Scotland has lost all the money invested in it by the taxpayer six years ago when the lender came close to collapse. The bank has confirmed its total losses since its bailout have now drawn level with the £46bn pumped into it in 2008 in return for an 81pc stake. RBS made a loss last year of £8.2bn, its sixth consecutive annual loss, taking its cumulative losses to £46bn. The scale of the losses means that all the capital provided by the taxpayer has now been used up dealing with the toxic legacy assets on the bank's balance sheet. Despite, the loss RBS said it had put aside £576m to pay staff bonuses for 2013." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRBS has lost all the £46bn pumped in by the taxpayer

Mongolia at a crossroad as boom brings challenges

"Dozens of office buildings are being erected at quick pace, while residential developments featuring fancy colours and rococo terraces are rising just across the road. Ulan Bator’s construction boom is adding new momentum to the country’s economic growth. Mongolia’s vast, largely untapped deposits of gold, copper, coal and uranium might be worth as much as US $3 trillion. In a country of only 2.8 million people, that represents a huge opportunity. 'By 2030, Mongolia will become one of the three richest countries in Asia by GDP per capita after Singapore and Japan,' Alisher Ali, founder of the investment group Silk Road Finance, said earlier this year in an interview." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMongolia at a crossroad as boom brings challenges

SNB Sees $10 Billion Loss for 2013 as Gold Price Plummets

"Switzerland’s central bank will scrap its annual payment to the government for 2013 after a gold-price decline caused a loss of 9 billion francs ($10 billion). Switzerland’s 26 cantons are the central bank’s biggest shareholders. Together with the government, they receive an annual payment of 1 billion francs if the distribution reserve isn’t negative after appropriation of profit. The SNB’s gold holdings are the target of a popular initiative that demands that at least 20 percent of the central bank’s assets be in the form of gold. The measure would also block the sale of such holdings and require all SNB gold to be located in Switzerland. The SNB is listed on the Zurich stock exchange." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSNB Sees $10 Billion Loss for 2013 as Gold Price Plummets

U.S. Treasury cautions Bitcoin businesses on compliance duties

"The U.S. Treasury Department’s anti-money laundering unit has mailed roughly a dozen letters to businesses linked to the digital currency Bitcoin warning they may be money transmitters and be required to comply with federal law and regulation, a Treasury spokesman told Compliance Complete. These letters, sent in recent weeks by Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), are a form of 'industry outreach' aimed at making Bitcoin businesses aware of their potential anti-money laundering compliance obligations, FinCEN spokesman Steve Hudak said." Continue reading →

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China Bites Into Bitcoin

"China’s actions over the past weeks have put BTC China’s future in doubt. After Chinese regulators held a closed-door meeting to warn financial companies against working with exchanges, BTC China was swiftly abandoned by two payment processors. 'There are 300 payment processors in China. We’re going to go down the list and find one that will work with us,' says an optimistic Lee. He doesn’t think the government is trying to put him out of business but rather put the screws on Bitcoin to cut down on the rampant speculation. 'They haven’t declared exchanges illegal. That gives us room to maneuver, so there’s still hope.'" Continue reading →

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India may ease gold import curbs later this month

"Indian officials are in discussions to cut a record high import duty on gold and relax rules on exports, government sources said, after the measures helped narrow the country's trade deficit and now threaten to encourage smuggling. With three duty hikes last year to a record 10 percent and onerous restrictions tying purchases to exports, official arrivals shrank almost 90 percent in the six months to November, helping China displace India as the world's top gold buyer. The decision to cut the import duty is likely to be taken anytime this month, said one of the government sources, who has direct knowledge of the deliberations but did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia may ease gold import curbs later this month

India may ease gold import curbs later this month

"Indian officials are in discussions to cut a record high import duty on gold and relax rules on exports, government sources said, after the measures helped narrow the country's trade deficit and now threaten to encourage smuggling. With three duty hikes last year to a record 10 percent and onerous restrictions tying purchases to exports, official arrivals shrank almost 90 percent in the six months to November, helping China displace India as the world's top gold buyer. The decision to cut the import duty is likely to be taken anytime this month, said one of the government sources, who has direct knowledge of the deliberations but did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia may ease gold import curbs later this month

Who Needs Bitcoin? Venezuela Has Its ‘Sucre’

"The late Venezuelan president created the sucre, a virtual currency designed to dethrone the dollar as the main trading currency used with his country's regional trading partners: Ecuador, Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua. The sucre is managed by a board of central-bank representatives, which has helped bolster its use. Ecuadorean companies exported $737 million worth of goods to Venezuela using the sucre system in the first nine months of 2013, an 80% increase from the same period in 2012, according to Ecuador's central bank. That growth has drawn attention from the country's regulators, which are cracking down as fraud involving the virtual currency rises." Continue reading →

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‘The Hazards of Lending to Bitcoin Users’

"Creditors are likely more concerned with restricting Bitcoin acquisition or use by borrowers due to the uncertain regulatory landscape, irreversible nature of payments, extreme volatility of value and anonymity of the system. Thus, credit agreements may contain covenants prohibiting borrowers from using or accepting Bitcoin, or operating Bitcoin accounts. In addition, diligence questionnaires and credit agreements may contain representations and warranties that the borrower does not use or accept Bitcoin, nor does the borrower have a Bitcoin wallet. Such provisions are just beginning to appear in credit agreements when use of an emerging payment system is apparent." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘The Hazards of Lending to Bitcoin Users’