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THE GOLDMAN SACHS AFFAIR: CORRUPTED JUSTICE, OR AN UNTOUCHABLE FINANCIAL SECTOR?
The first hypothesis which comes to mind with regard to the American Justice Department’s decision on Friday not to prosecute the bank Goldman Sachs for its alleged role in the Subprime crisis, is of course of corruption at the very heart of the Department. The facts…
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FORMER C.O.O. OF BARCLAYS, JERRY DEL MISSIER’S HEARING, BEFORE A BRITISH PARLIAMENTARY SELECT COMMISSION
Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
Up to now in the LIBOR affair, the witness statements before the parliamentary select committee have essentially seen everyone lying to protect their own interests. The inevitable result is a sort of cacophony, compounded by strategy changes half-way through, which was particularly the case for Bob…
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THE FOUR YEARS NEEDED TO CREATE A SCANDAL
Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
Over recent years you may have seen me carrying out extremely complex complications such as this: “it needed four years – between 1929 and 1933 – before any genuine measures were taken at the time of the Great Depression!” And it was this kind of calculation…
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THE HEARING OF PAUL TUCKER, DEPUTY-GOVERNOR OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND, BEFORE THE BRITISH TREASURY SELECT COMMITTEE
Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
Paul Tucker, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, made a statement this afternoon before a British Treasury Select Committee. The reason for his presence today was that on the 4th July, before this same committee, Bob Diamond (who was the Chief Executive of Barclays…
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LIBOR: WE AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET
Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
From the Financial Services Authority’s Final Notice of their decision, dated the 27th June, to impose an 85 million Pound fine on Barclays Bank (less a reduction of 30% for exemplary co-operation with the enquiry) due to their manipulation of the LIBOR interbank rates, two…
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LIBOR: DELAYED INDIGNATION
Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
The paradox of the 2008 ‘LIBOR scandal’ – in addition to its familiar ring in 2012 – is that, as I alluded to at the time and as I recalled a few days ago, the fraud was well-intentioned for once: the ‘philia’ of Aristotle, the…
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BARCLAYS BEFORE A BRITISH PARLIAMENTARY SELECT COMMITTEE
Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
I watched the hearing of Bob Diamond live, who had resigned the day before from his post as Chief Executive of the British bank Barclays.
Diamond was extremely polite but his tactics in response to the questions posed him were very skilful: the more brutally a…