Goldman fined as settlement talks seen near

Goldman fined as settlement talks seen near

news.yahoo.com...

NYSE FINES GOLDMAN
Separate from the SEC fraud charges, Goldman's market-making unit
has been censured and fined $450,000 after U.S. regulators found
hundreds of violations in how it processed customer trades involving
short sales of stocks.

The SEC and NYSE Regulation said on Tuesday Goldman Sachs Execution
& Clearing LLP violated emergency requirements adopted in September
2008, two days after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc went bankrupt, to
limit naked short selling.

u have got to be kidding me.
millions gone and they are
only fined less than half
a mil.

Talking about a slap on the wrist !!!!

and the DOW falls 220



[edit on 4-5-2010 by boondock-saint]

yeah that seems to be the current state of society.

The more you steal while you're in a high position, the more you can get away with.

All that open corruption scares me, it is a big sign that the economy will crash and these folks are trying to make a profit from it.

What a travesty.

I think Max Keiser said it best when he said "Goldman Sachs are scum"

And quite frankly so are the SEC.

what would happen if YOU defrauded the american people millions of dollars

do you think the government would just fine you less than half a million dollars and ask you "please don't do that again"

I mean we live in a country where drug addicts do more prison time than murderers.

What does this tell you?

It is about control. Of course they aren't going to do anything serious to an Obama campaign contributor, Goldman is friends with Republicans AND Democrats. They are above the law, they cannot be charged with FRAUD.

Goldman Sachs really are a vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity.

What are people meant to do if the governments and regulators won't even bother trying to enforce the law, when crimes of this scale are being perpetrated?

And this happens all the time. People constantly get away with this stuff. Everywhere I look all I see is corruption and lies.

But these banks have destroyed the global economy and still nobody stops them? All they get is a slap on the wrist, because hey everyone else is doing it too right?

Maybe WW3 isn't such a bad idea after all.

[edit on 5-5-2010 by belial259]

You all need to read this.

it's not often i come across anything in financial circles thats true because they all have a VI but if you look at what has happend over the past couple of years then a lot of what this guy says is true

Fraudonomicks

Part one

There was a strange moment last week during President Obama’s speech at Cooper Union. There he was, groveling before a cast of Wall Street villains including Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein, begging them to “Look into your heart!” like John Turturro’s character in Miller’s Crossing…when out of the blue, the POTUS dropped this bombshell: “The only people who ought to fear the kind of oversight and transparency that we’re proposing are those whose conduct will fail this scrutiny.”

The Big Secret, of course, is that every living creature within a 100-mile radius of Cooper Union would fail “this scrutiny”—or that scrutiny, or any scrutiny, period. Not just in a 100-mile radius, but wherever there are still signs of economic life beating in these 50 United States, the mere whiff of scrutiny would work like nerve gas on what’s left of the economy. Because in the 21st century, fraud is as American as baseball, apple pie and Chevrolet Volts—fraud’s all we got left, Doc. Scare off the fraud with Obama’s “scrutiny,” and the entire pyramid scheme collapses in a heap of smoldering savings accounts.

That’s how an acquaintance of mine, a partner in a private equity firm, put it: “Whoever pops this fraud bubble is going to have to escape on the next flight out, faster than the Bin Laden Bunch fled Kentucky in their chartered jets after 9/11.”

And that’s why this SEC suit accusing Goldman Sachs of fraud is really just a negotiating bluff to give Obama’s people some leverage—or it’s supposed to be, anyway—according to the PE guy. He dismissed all the speculation that the fraud investigations would turn on other obvious villains like Deutsche, Merrill, Paulson & Co., the Rahm Emmanuel-linked Magnetar and so on.

“You don’t get it, Ames. Even Khuzami, the SEC guy in charge of the Goldman case, is a fraud; the ******er was Deutsche’s general counsel when they pulled the same CDO scam as Goldman. You have no idea how deep this goes.”

And it’s clear that a lot more people here are aware of how fundamentally rotten things are but they’re not willing to face the big fraudonomics bummer yet, preferring instead to stick with specific accusations.

My position on this was, “Good, throw the book at those crooks too, I don’t see what the problem is here.”

This was exactly what I argued a week ago, during a verbal slapfight with that acquaintance of mine. We were making a scene in a Midtown yuppie restaurant, arguing over just how much damage Wall Street had caused, and what to do about it.%u202F

His position was indefensible, and he knew it, so he switched tactics:

“OK Ames, which bankers would you throw the book at? Because you’re arguing that they’re all guilty. So which ones do you go after? Two of them? Three? Half of them?”

“Every last one of them. Lock ’em up in one of their private prisons.”

“Not gonna happen, Che.”

“Che? Me? Listen, Scarface, I’m about law and order. Don’t any of you PE degenerates believe in that anymore?”

“OK, here’s the deal, Che. I’m going to walk you through this nice and slow so that even an agave-sweetened hippie like you can understand this. Stick with me, this is gonna be a little complicated. Ready?” And so he began.

reply to post by LieBuster


I've read that article. And I know what they're trying to say. But at the same time I grew up in a prosperous world where Europe and the USA were incredibly rich and Australia had a bright future ahead of it.

Now all that is gone because of these people and their greed. The bright future I once saw won't come to pass.

Is a world ruled by criminal bankers really what anyone wanted?

part 2

“Let’s say the government decides one day, ‘You know, we oughta listen to Che here, let’s throw the book at every firm and every executive that our people can make a case against. Because you know, gosh, it’s all about rule of law and blind justice, just like Che says.’ OK, so now this means indicting just about every serious player in finance, so they take down Goldman Sachs, they take down Citigroup, JP Morgan, BofA… and they also serve all the big funds who are at least as guilty, if not more. So they shut down Pimco, Blackrock, Citadel… maybe they indict Geithner and Summers, haul in some of Bush’s crooks… right?”

“Go on, I’m gonna order some hot, buttered popcorn for this. Don’t mind me.” I liked what I was hearing so far.

“OK, now guess what you’ve just done? You’ve just caused the markets to completely tank. Remember what happened after the Lehman collapse? Remember how popular that made every politician in Washington? Still wondering why they coughed up a trillion bucks? They were scared for their lives; that’s why they voted for that bailout. You’d have done the same goddamn thing. But if we go after everyone guilty of fraud and theft, the market crash this country would see would make 2008 look like Sesame Street. Open that can of worms labeled ‘Fraud’ and the whole ******ing economy collapses. You may as well prosecute people for masturbating. No one will know where the fraud investigation stops and who will be charged next—everyone will try to cash out, and the markets will tank to zero. And guess what happens when the markets tank to zero? Every ******ing American with a retirement plan, or an investment portfolio, or a 401k—every state pension plan in the country, every teacher’s pension fund, every fireman’s pension—every last one of them will be wiped out. That’s what the Lehman collapse taught us.”

“Us? It didn’t teach anything but that this country is run by maniacs.”

“Jesus H. Christ, you’re even more clueless than the idiots who managed the Lehman collapse. I mean, didn’t everyone get it how badly those idiots screwed up with Lehman? It was the biggest screw-up this hemisphere has ever seen. You had Secretary Paulson and Fed Chief Bernanke scratching their asses not knowing what to do, so then they go, ‘OK, we’re supposed to be a free market economy, and we’re supposed to be the Republicans—let’s try something different for a change since nothing else is working. Let’s go out on a limb and actually give this “free market” thing a whirl. Who knows? Maybe the “free market” really works the way we always say it does. Nothing else seems to work, let’s let the free market decide Lehman’s fate. Maybe corporate-socialism isn’t the answer.’ So they hung Lehman out in the free-market, and BAM! The. #. Hit. The. Fan. No #, dudes—the free market is for suckers, didn’t your daddy teach you idiots that? Not only did Lehman collapse—everything collapsed; confidence in the entire system collapsed. And here’s what I’m trying to explain to simpletons like you: Our economy is just a confidence game. Don’t ask me how it got this way, don’t care.”

I tried saying something insulting to him, but he just talked right over me. He was on such a roll.

Can not get more in but the bottom line is the whole system is so bent and that as soon as the law brings a case of fraud then all the big players $hit themselves and run for cover and last time they did that it cost us $12tr in handouts to the banksters.

if politicians allow the law to run it course we get a meltdown and they too will find themselves on the end of a rope and i must admit, knowing what i know i would more then likely have to let the banksters walk for now but this only buys us a bit of time so for now i'm spending $22 to get $1 face value silver eagles.

I can not see a way they can close the book without riots breaking out so enjoy the time you have left and get ready for the big one.

Originally posted by belial259
reply to post by LieBuster

 

I've read that article. And I know what they're trying to say. But at the same time I grew up in a prosperous world where Europe and the USA were incredibly rich and Australia had a bright future ahead of it.

Well yes if you consider debt = rich like it has been for the past 50 years for the western world and savings=poor like it is in China but those days are about to come to an end which come as no surprise to anyone that can add 1 + 1.

"Is a world ruled by criminal bankers really what anyone wanted? "

it's a bit too late for that one.

They bribe politicains so no one can build houses and then think we are all going to go down the casino and spend £250,000 on a cardboard box (Gambling chips) so we can join the game but the queue at the checkout is backing up into the casino room and rumor has it they are about to run out of money.

i don't think it's worth joining the back of the queue but make sure you pay the drinks tab before you try to exit else the bouncers on the door won't let you out.

makes me smile here on ATS where people are talking about super weeds (true as it is) growing all over the place will take a chunk out of mankind and yet they can not see what is happening right in front of their own eyes.

Here in the UK the MPC has moved the decision date back untill after the election and with interest rates at 0.5% can anyone guess what way they are going because the £ needs propping up.

No jail time or nothing. Wow! I always heard that to become rich you have to be willing to screw over some people. They seem to be real good at it. Our politicians make a living of screwing us over and here is another example to go into the books. Thanks for bringing this up. Another reason I am for killing all corporations like these. It is disgusting.

hate to say this but....
prosecute!! let the economy fall!! seize their assetts, declare a year of jubilee, wipe out all debt, and use whatever capital we have to help those are the most affected by all this (ya know, retirees who've just lost their nest egg, ect....).

I don't know, it sounds to me like this one guy is admitting, ya we are all crooks, frauds, but there's nothing no one can do about it, if they try, we'll wipe yas all out!

only...they ARE wiping us out! and making a nice profit while doing it!!

I don't go for extortion, or blackmailing, or whatever category this would fall under...
prosecute them!!! us common folk will do what we always do, extend a hand to help those around us that needs the help and muddle through more than likely. and, then maybe there will be a real light at the end of the tunnel instead of just another imitation set out by these guys to drag more of us under!
otherwise, they will just play the same game again and again, draining more and more out of us.....the end will probably be the same, only well.....I say let the parasite die before the host, not starve to death afterwards!

I'm trying to buy some more silver from someone i've traded with before and have transfured some cash into his account and we agreed the balance is to be paid on delivery, in cash once the quality of the goods have been inspected.

Nothing unusual in that type of deal you would think so i contacted the Isle of man bank who i've have been using for the past ten years to arrange it so i could collect £6k from nat west here in the UK and have not had trouble before because they are part of the same group and the IOM does not have branches in the UK.

been on the phone for an hour and they won't let me have my own money aftre i told them why i wanted cash and they went on about money laundering laws.

i've worked for this bank in the past on the isle of man and know they turn over all details to the UK's tax man and i also know anything over £5k is questioned which is fine with me i have nothing to hide but no matter how i tried and argued they would not give me my cash.

well feck that it's not that much, it's my money and i will do with it as i like and i object having to tell someone what i intend to buy with my money.

The more these banks try to stop me dealing in cash then the more i will do it because bells are starting to ring big time and yes i know paper notes might not be worth much if shtf but they sure are worth more than digits on a computer on a little iseland in the middle of the sea.

IOM you can stick your 0.6% interest on the account because in relation to the risk, it's too little and i'm voting with my feet before you turn into another iceland and don't tell me that will never happen because we know about the bank on the island that went bust many years back and saw a lot of people go under.