Criminal Banks, MP's with shares, and privatising public property.
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http://rt.com/uk/252289-barclays-pfi-nhs-scandal/
Political activists gatecrashed Barclay’s AGM in Central London on Thursday to highlight the role of private finance initiatives (PFI) in “killing off” Britain’s public services, racking up unsustainable debt, dodging tax and funneling profits offshore.
Thursday’s demonstration marks the first of three planned days of protest to raise awareness about the impact of PFI projects on Britain’s schools and hospitals.
It was organized by The People vs PFI – a collective of grassroots organizations, students and NHS patients – who are calling for Britain's PFI contracts to be rendered null and void.
As debt relating to PFI projects continues to mount, the campaign group says PFI schemes are facilitating the “institutionalized theft” of ordinary Britons.
However, concern is growing in Britain that these lucrative contracts enable service contractors, construction companies and offshore firms to profit as Britain’s schools and National Health Service (NHS) hospitals are collapsing under the weight of unsustainable debt.
Barclays’ stake in these PFI projects remains largely obscured from public knowledge, despite the fact the bank presides over 60 such contracts.
As part of its probe, the Committee heard evidence from US investment bank Goldman Sachs on the likely cost of PFI for ordinary Britons in years to come. The bank told the PAC the cost of PFIs was at least twice that of regular government borrowing, had increased significantly since the global financial crisis, and “will never come down.”
The PAC's probe also uncovered Britain’s Treasury knew little about PFI investors’ tax arrangements.
The Treasury was unable to clarify whether PFI investors had paid tax in Britain on profits or equity gains – or whether Britain’s tax authorities had collected corporation taxes from PFI.
The People vs PFI argue Partnerships UK is anything but independent, and acts in the interest of big business. It also warns of a conflict of interest, given the body is “51 percent owned and staffed” by banks that profit from PFI deals.
Through Partnerships UK, Barclays offered financial advice to local councils in Britain on prospective PFI deals. It also extended loans and “interest rate hedging products” to various PFI consortia, while manipulating the Libor interest rates upon which these contracts were based.
READ MORE: ‘Jail rogue City traders’: Banks fined £2.6bn for market rigging
Campaigners representing The People vs PFI insist Barclays’ actions in this context were deliberate, self-serving and criminal. They argue Britons should not be liable for debts hinged upon fraudulently rigged Libor rates.
Commenting on the scandal, academic and PFI expert Allyson Pollock previously asked why Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) had not scrutinized PFI contracts that were “signed on the basis of manipulated interest rates, causing the repayments to rise annually.”
Pollock also posed the question of why the SFO had “not moved to open all PFI contracts to forensic examination.”
The bank’s AGM began at 10am on Thursday and is due to continue throughout the day.
Throughout the course of the meeting, campaigners present will challenge the bank on how much profit it made from Partnerships UK, how much tax it dodged on lucrative PFI projects and how many PFI contracts it presides over since the 2013 sale of its infrastructure wing to London-based venture capital firm 3i.
Barclay’s has also been criticized by UK campaigners for aggressive tax avoidance, with its now defunct Structured Capital Division being previously dubbed a “tax avoidance factory.” The tax dodging scheme met its final demise in 2013, as revelations regarding Barclays’ role in the Libor rigging scandal became apparent.
http://rt.com/business/252389-deutsche-bank-libor-fine/
Germany’s biggest lender has been fined $2.5 billion by US and UK regulators for manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), the benchmark for interest rates on trillions of dollars of financial contracts.
This is the biggest fine to date over Libor rigging.
The fixing of the interest rates by Deutsche Bank employees in London and Frankfurt from 2005 to 2009 was deliberate, and the employees were aware that it was wrong, the New York State Superintendent of Financial Services Benjamin M. Lawsky said on Thursday.
“Deutsche Bank employees engaged in a widespread effort to manipulate benchmark interest rates for financial gain.” He also added that it’s “individuals who do deliberate wrongdoing while markets do not manipulate themselves.”
Deutsche Bank also agreed to plead guilty to US criminal charges and acknowledged that its internal monitoring systems were insufficient to prevent the manipulation of Libor, the statements from regulators said Thursday.
The bank said it will install an independent monitor to ensure it complies with New York laws.
The authorities have ordered seven managers suspected of involvement in the rigging to be fired. They are reportedly among more than two dozen employees believed to have taken part. Most have already left the bank.
Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday it had added €1.5 billion ($1.61 billion) in litigation reserves in the first quarter, on top of the €3.2 billion it had previously set aside. It is the latest financial institution to be fined by the US and UK in their seven-year investigation. Last year BNP Paribas was fined nearly $9 billion after pleading guilty to violating US sanctions. Germany’s second largest bank, Commerzbank AG paid $1.45 billion in March for a similar misdemeanor.
http://rt.com/uk/252289-barclays-pfi-nhs-scandal/
‘Institutionalised theft’: Barclays’ PFI contracts based on rigged interest rates ‘bleeding NHS & schools dry,’ say activists
Published time: April 23, 2015 13:06
Thursday’s demonstration marks the first of three planned days of protest to raise awareness about the impact of PFI projects on Britain’s schools and hospitals.
It was organized by The People vs PFI – a collective of grassroots organizations, students and NHS patients – who are calling for Britain's PFI contracts to be rendered null and void.
Here at the #BarclaysAGM! #binPFI - It's bleeding our public services dry! pic.twitter.com/XoI7jFwA8b
— The People vs PFI (@PPLvsPFI) April 23, 2015
The campaign group argues the private finance initiatives are toxic for Britain’s public purse, and are operated by the private sector “for the private sector.” It warns overpriced PFI contracts, dependent on criminally rigged LIBOR rates, have burdened British tax payers with debts of £240 billion. As debt relating to PFI projects continues to mount, the campaign group says PFI schemes are facilitating the “institutionalized theft” of ordinary Britons.
Mounting debt
PFIs have been adopted in many states worldwide as part of a broader program of privatization and financialization. First introduced in Britain under ex-Conservative Prime Minister John Major in 1992, they were set up to use private capital to fund public infrastructure development.However, concern is growing in Britain that these lucrative contracts enable service contractors, construction companies and offshore firms to profit as Britain’s schools and National Health Service (NHS) hospitals are collapsing under the weight of unsustainable debt.
Barclays’ stake in these PFI projects remains largely obscured from public knowledge, despite the fact the bank presides over 60 such contracts.
Sid Ryan next up at #BarclaysAGM asking about #Barclays role in #PFI deals causing staff cuts, service closures, offshoring of tax & profits
— The People vs PFI (@PPLvsPFI) April 23, 2015
Nevertheless, the costly and clandestine nature of these PFI deals has been denounced by campaigners and MPs. In 2011, a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) inquiry into PFI contracts revealed the deals were shrouded in secrecy. As part of its probe, the Committee heard evidence from US investment bank Goldman Sachs on the likely cost of PFI for ordinary Britons in years to come. The bank told the PAC the cost of PFIs was at least twice that of regular government borrowing, had increased significantly since the global financial crisis, and “will never come down.”
The PAC's probe also uncovered Britain’s Treasury knew little about PFI investors’ tax arrangements.
The Treasury was unable to clarify whether PFI investors had paid tax in Britain on profits or equity gains – or whether Britain’s tax authorities had collected corporation taxes from PFI.
A call for accountability
Barclays boasts a 6.1 percent share of the Treasury’s PFI taskforce, according to The People vs PFI. The initiative was privatized by Labour in 1999/2000 and subsequently renamed Partnerships UK. The body has offered advice to local councils on PFI deals since its founding.The People vs PFI argue Partnerships UK is anything but independent, and acts in the interest of big business. It also warns of a conflict of interest, given the body is “51 percent owned and staffed” by banks that profit from PFI deals.
Through Partnerships UK, Barclays offered financial advice to local councils in Britain on prospective PFI deals. It also extended loans and “interest rate hedging products” to various PFI consortia, while manipulating the Libor interest rates upon which these contracts were based.
READ MORE: ‘Jail rogue City traders’: Banks fined £2.6bn for market rigging
Campaigners representing The People vs PFI insist Barclays’ actions in this context were deliberate, self-serving and criminal. They argue Britons should not be liable for debts hinged upon fraudulently rigged Libor rates.
Commenting on the scandal, academic and PFI expert Allyson Pollock previously asked why Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) had not scrutinized PFI contracts that were “signed on the basis of manipulated interest rates, causing the repayments to rise annually.”
Pollock also posed the question of why the SFO had “not moved to open all PFI contracts to forensic examination.”
The bank’s AGM began at 10am on Thursday and is due to continue throughout the day.
Throughout the course of the meeting, campaigners present will challenge the bank on how much profit it made from Partnerships UK, how much tax it dodged on lucrative PFI projects and how many PFI contracts it presides over since the 2013 sale of its infrastructure wing to London-based venture capital firm 3i.
Barclay’s has also been criticized by UK campaigners for aggressive tax avoidance, with its now defunct Structured Capital Division being previously dubbed a “tax avoidance factory.” The tax dodging scheme met its final demise in 2013, as revelations regarding Barclays’ role in the Libor rigging scandal became apparent.
http://rt.com/business/252389-deutsche-bank-libor-fine/
Deutsche Bank hit with record $2.5bn fine for rate-rigging
Published time: April 23, 2015 12:24
Edited time: April 23, 2015 13:10
Edited time: April 23, 2015 13:10
This is the biggest fine to date over Libor rigging.
The fixing of the interest rates by Deutsche Bank employees in London and Frankfurt from 2005 to 2009 was deliberate, and the employees were aware that it was wrong, the New York State Superintendent of Financial Services Benjamin M. Lawsky said on Thursday.
“Deutsche Bank employees engaged in a widespread effort to manipulate benchmark interest rates for financial gain.” He also added that it’s “individuals who do deliberate wrongdoing while markets do not manipulate themselves.”
Deutsche Bank also agreed to plead guilty to US criminal charges and acknowledged that its internal monitoring systems were insufficient to prevent the manipulation of Libor, the statements from regulators said Thursday.
The bank said it will install an independent monitor to ensure it complies with New York laws.
The authorities have ordered seven managers suspected of involvement in the rigging to be fired. They are reportedly among more than two dozen employees believed to have taken part. Most have already left the bank.
Deutsche Bank are to pay a record $2.5 billion fine to settle Libor investigation http://t.co/fzvBefeESo pic.twitter.com/s2mcen7EWc
— WSJ News Graphics (@WSJGraphics) April 23, 2015
The verdict puts an end to a long-running investigation by US federal and New York State regulators and law-enforcement officials, as well as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday it had added €1.5 billion ($1.61 billion) in litigation reserves in the first quarter, on top of the €3.2 billion it had previously set aside. It is the latest financial institution to be fined by the US and UK in their seven-year investigation. Last year BNP Paribas was fined nearly $9 billion after pleading guilty to violating US sanctions. Germany’s second largest bank, Commerzbank AG paid $1.45 billion in March for a similar misdemeanor.
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